Chapter 95: Ancient Rite of Sacrifice (4)

Ah—

A shriek split the air. The remaining dozen or so cultists dropped where they stood, each with a bloody hole torn through the throat.

“A five-star Awakened! Such murderous intent!” George frowned. Only then did he sense Shade’s presence. Leaning on his staff, he stepped out of the carriage.

By now, Shade looked like a pool of black liquid, clinging to the bodies of several dead cultists and feeding on their flesh and blood.

Though old, George was still remarkably nimble. The moment he climbed down from the carriage, he lunged straight at Shade. White light blazed from his staff, making him seem like a god descending to earth.

Dragging bits of cultist flesh behind her, Shade slipped through the shadows cast by the nearby buildings and quickly devoured the dozen corpses clean. That act only enraged George further. He abandoned the carriage entirely and began hunting her down.

“Josen, take the carriage and go back first. I’ll return after I deal with this heretic!”

George’s voice, thick with restrained fury, carried from afar.

Josen sighed at the old companion’s hot temper, though he was not overly worried. It was only a small fry skilled at running away; he believed George would settle it quickly enough.

Just as he was about to drive the carriage back, several sheets of white paper suddenly appeared around it. Though they looked soft, they were as sharp as blades, and in an instant they sliced the expensive solid-wood carriage to splinters.

Bathed in white light, Josen walked slowly out from the wreckage without a scratch on him. Then he turned toward the shadows beside the alley, where Han Bai and Zitong were concealed by Shade’s black liquid.

“So you fused with a spirit. You’re from the Purification Society, aren’t you? Looks like your target is us?” As Josen spoke, he did not neglect his defense. A shield of white light quickly enveloped him, its surface covered in sacred scripture from holy sites.

Then Josen swung his staff. White light turned into countless arrows that shot toward Han Bai and Zitong, instantly shredding the white paper Han Bai had prepared for a sneak attack into confetti. Zitong seized the opening and transformed into a long violet gauze, tightening it hard around the shield surrounding Josen.

Han Bai’s body then became a gigantic drill made entirely of white paper, spinning madly against the shield.

Josen, who had originally wanted to play safe and counterattack from defense, had thoroughly trapped himself. He could only pour all his power into the shield and hold on, or else their attacks would break through all too easily; after all, his close-combat ability was rather poor.

Of course, the white-light arrows he continued to unleash still forced Han Bai and Zitong to remain on guard. For a time, the three were locked in a stalemate.

On the other side, Shade was also in a bitter fight.

George’s energy seemed endless. The white radiance emitted by his staff would erase any part of the black liquid it touched. At this level, he was far stronger than their earlier senses had suggested.

That made Shade abandon the idea of using the wraith she carried within her. George’s white energy faintly suppressed the resentment of the living, and if she could not deal with him, she might end up losing the spirit inside her as well.

Shade kept fleeing through the shadows around her, but the black liquid was still steadily dissolved by the white light George unleashed. All of it was a part of Shade’s fusion with that wraith; if too much was lost, not only would the wraith’s power be severely reduced, it might even backfire on her.

By then, Shade might very well end up like the scarred man Wu Zui had killed—taken over by the wraith and transformed by it. That fate was worse than death.

Just when Shade felt she was about to lose control over the wraith inside her, Zhang Meng, who should have been causing chaos in the holy site square, suddenly appeared here instead. Covered head to toe in resentment from the living, he instantly drew George’s attention, allowing Shade to catch her breath and use that resentment to soothe the wraith within.

Though Zhang Meng had only a four-star aberration inside him, he had already fused with it completely. His aberrant body, combined with resentment from the living, was the perfect match for George.

Soon, with Zhang Meng acting as a shield that feared no injury, the two of them combined to kill George. After Shade restricted his movement and Zhang Meng closed in, George was twisted into a knot like a strip of wire.

When Shade and the others returned to the carriage, they found Han Bai and Zitong being utterly crushed by Josen. Josen seemed to have discovered Han Bai’s weakness; every attack cost him one more duplicate body, and Zitong’s gauzy garment had been torn with more and more fresh rents.

“George? You actually killed him!”

Josen glanced at Shade and immediately noticed George’s corpse hidden within her shadow. The death of an old friend who had accompanied him for years sent him into a fury. He roared, and the shield around him exploded at once, turning into white crystalline beams that shot outward in attack.

Han Bai lost yet another duplicate, and Zitong’s gauze robe suffered even more tears. Shade slipped into the surrounding shadows, while Zhang Meng’s body showed no fear at all toward the white crystal beams. He strode forward with great, determined steps and charged straight at Josen.

White light burst all around. Zhang Meng’s body was punched through with one bloody hole after another. When the light finally subsided, a figure Josen knew all too well stood before him. That single instant threw off his judgment.

“George? You—”

A hand made entirely of black liquid pierced through Josen’s heart, while the blood-red heart inside still beat in bewilderment. In the end, Josen, deprived of his shield, was killed in a surprise attack by the George transformed from black liquid.

The four of them took the two corpses with them and left the renowned religious holy site. By now, the remaining cultists were far too few to support the site’s grand reputation. The holy place was dead in all but name.

Though they did not know why Zhang Meng had secretly helped them, the chief credit this time was once again Shade’s. As for the fact that Josen was stronger than George, that could only be blamed on Zitong, the team leader, for misjudging the situation.

With George and Josen’s corpses added to the haul, the four still needed two more bodies equivalent to five-star Awakened.

There were already very few people left in the world who still practiced the ancient methods, and with the additional requirement that they be equivalent to six-star Awakened, the search became even harder.

If they insisted on going after a six-star powerhouse, then with the four of them in their half-crippled state, they would simply be walking to their deaths. Besides, Shade had already secured three major contributions; her receiving an extra reward from the president was now a fact.

On this point, no one would have the nerve to deceive the president.

At that moment, the others were unwilling to take on any more risk for the sake of the last two heads. The best outcome would be to find two more five-stars and settle it. As for six-stars, no one was thinking about that anymore.

Once the standard was lowered, the options multiplied. The four split into two groups and quickly dealt with the remaining two corpses. An especially amusing incident even occurred during the split: both Zitong and Shade refused to be on a team with Han Bai.

In the end, only the burly Zhang Meng could be paired with him, which left Han Bai, who had wanted to travel with Shade, muttering under his breath beside Zhang Meng’s ear for quite some time.

After the four reunited, they carried the five corpses and set out for the place the president had named. This was not in the Meidadu that Chen Jack had once mentioned, but in an ancient civilization spanning many centuries, and it was also the first stop of the ancient ritual.

On a huge pentagonal stone altar were many unknown carved grooves, covering the entire platform. Around them were five ring-shaped patterns set apart on all sides; the placement clearly suggested that objects were meant to be laid there.

At this moment, the president of the World Cleansing Society wore a black cloak and stood with his back to the others in the empty space at the center of the altar’s top tier, examining the ritual runes he had carved. His figure was almost a larger version of Shade, which explained why Han Bai had said she seemed to have feelings for the president.

Baman, George, Josen, and the two filler five-star corpses were placed by the four of them at the five edges of the altar, exactly as the president had instructed. As for the actual procedure, that would require the president to act personally.

Yet the black-cloaked figure, still facing away from them, did not hurry to begin the ritual. Instead, he asked, “Who took first credit?”

“It belongs to the Fifth Elder!” Zitong answered as the team leader.

“Shade? Well done! Whatever you want, just say it.” The president, his face hidden by the black cloak, spoke generously to Shade.

“President, I would like you to help me find someone. Chen Ming, a man from the Huaguo Nation, who once stayed at the orphanage in Sanyang City.” Shade bent low, her tone full of reverence. In the eyes of the World Cleansing Society, the president was almost equivalent to a deity.

Because as long as he was willing to pay the price, he seemed to know almost everything.

“Chen Ming from the orphanage in Sanyang City, Huaguo? Heh, that is your request? What is your relation to him? Worth going to such lengths for?” The black-robed figure standing on the altar seemed intrigued, his tone tinged with curiosity.

Though the president still had not turned around, Shade felt the weight of his gaze.

“He is my elder brother,” Shade answered in a low voice.

“I see. You have consumed so much resentment from the living that you are nearly unable to suppress the wraith inside you. Merely telling you where he is would put you at a disadvantage. Very well, I happen to be going that way. I’ll visit Binhai City and bring back your brother, who now goes by the name Chen Jack.”

Only then did the president turn to face the four of them.

Under the black robe there was only utter darkness; the four of them still could not see a face, as though there were nothing beneath that immense black garment at all, only emptiness floating there.

Shade, however, paid no mind to the president’s appearance. The sheer amount of information left her slightly stunned.

The painter is my brother? I’m actually this close to him?

The others were equally shocked. They had never expected Shade to use such a precious opportunity to find someone, and even less that the person she sought would also be an elder within the World Cleansing Society.

“Thank you, President!”

Coming back to herself, Shade immediately said gratefully.

“Mm. Your speed is faster than I expected, and the quality is excellent. I still need to retrieve the core object of the ritual myself. Put the flesh of these corpses into the grooves, and place the heads in the five empty rings. I’ll return shortly.”

As he spoke, the black-robed figure twisted and vanished from the altar, heading straight for Binhai City.