As Adair entered the bandit stronghold, Ye Xi arrived at the Sanctuary Church located in Baron Quentin’s domain. She placed the utterly exhausted Yuzu on the back of a Swift Dragon to rest before beginning her solo mission.
This was a desolate little town, mostly comprised of simple wooden huts devoid of any embellishment. Its residents, clad in plain coarse linen, moved with a listless air, casting a pall over the entire settlement.
The sole exception was a five-story building towering in the town’s center. Its remarkably stylish facade stood in stark contrast to the impoverished surroundings, an obvious mismatch.
Ye Xi approached a random passerby, offering them a small sum to inquire about the church’s location. The person, visibly thrilled, pointed the way before gleefully rushing towards the dazzling building.
Ye Xi paid no mind to the person’s odd behavior, heading directly towards the church.
She soon arrived before a structure that could only be described as abandoned. Had its silhouette not vaguely suggested a church, Ye Xi would have assumed she had been misled.
Surveying the utterly dilapidated church before her, Ye Xi had thought the one in Reiz was the worst she had seen. This one, however, managed to be even more decrepit.
The church roof was thick with dust, many of its decorations blurred beyond recognition, some even having fallen and buried deep in the soil. Weeds grew rampant, creeping from the ground all the way up to the rooftop.
The roof itself was incomplete, allowing wind and rain to sweep freely into the interior.
Ye Xi wondered if this crumbling edifice was even safe for habitation. Could anyone truly live here?
Dragging the gunny sack, Ye Xi approached the church door with a sliver of hope. She gently pushed the tightly shut wooden door.
This meager force proved to be the final straw, and the wooden door collapsed with a crash, leaving the church permanently open to the elements.
Ye Xi: “…”
She shifted her attention from the door, her gaze sweeping across the interior.
Statues of deities lay toppled, and the pews meant for prayer had been dismantled. There wasn’t even a single intact piece of furniture within.
This could only be described as… well, never mind.
Having never witnessed such a desolate church, Ye Xi turned to leave. It was clearly abandoned, a wasted trip.
“I’ll report this situation to Celine later,” Ye Xi muttered grimly. “To think such negligence exists! Celine should execute them without hesitation.”
Injured and in a foul mood, Ye Xi had already condemned the church’s supervisor to death for making her journey in vain.
“Wait, Miss Maid, are you here to worship?”
A sudden voice broke the silence. Ye Xi turned to see a scruffy, bearded man, even more disheveled than Reiz.
He watched Ye Xi with an inquisitive gaze.
Ye Xi assessed the bearded man. On the surface, he appeared to be nothing more than a common nobody, yet from his aura, Ye Xi knew he was far from weak.
She estimated it would take her roughly ten minutes to dispatch him in a head-on confrontation, which was quite respectable.
“No,” Ye Xi stated calmly. “I’m looking for the priest here. Do you know where he is?”
The bearded man chuckled. “Looking for the priest, eh? What a coincidence, I just happen to know where he is. But, hehe.”
Ye Xi pulled out a pouch of money and tossed it to the bearded man. The pouch landed on the ground, spilling a few gold coins.
The bearded man picked up the pouch, then bit a gold coin, revealing his yellowed old teeth. “It’s real, hehe.”
With that, he tossed the remaining money pouch back. Ye Xi caught it, her gaze fixed coldly on him.
The bearded man carefully tucked away the single gold coin. “Alright, consider this your knocking fee. Congratulations, you’ve opened my door. Now, you just need to complete my task, and I’ll tell you where the priest is.”
Ye Xi’s expression turned as placid as still water as she advanced towards the bearded man. “There’s no need for such trouble,” she said icily. “I have more direct ways to pry information from your mouth.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, terrifying. Miss Maid is truly terrifying. This killing intent is enough to chill one to the bone.”
The bearded man trembled all over, yet his words remained defiant.
“My lovely Miss Maid, I can tell you’re in a hurry. Why waste time on me? What if I, lacking backbone, give you false information? Wouldn’t that delay your matters even more?”
Ye Xi reached the bearded man. Just as he was about to speak, a searing pain in his abdomen forced him to swallow his words. He clutched his stomach and fell to his knees instantly.
“Perhaps you, who speaks such words, do not know what fear is. I have a very precise grasp of pain. That hurt quite a bit, didn’t it?”
Ye Xi’s indifferent voice sounded as if she were speaking to an insect she could crush at any moment.
“Truly terrifying, haha. I am very afraid of you, Miss. However, what I said earlier was also the truth. Under torture, I might really lie, you know. A busy lady like yourself shouldn’t have time to dally with a scruffy old man like me, right? Perhaps you should spend more time finding your future partner.”
The bearded man remained jovial, yet the occasional twitch of his facial muscles betrayed his forced demeanor.
“What do you want me to do?” Ye Xi asked.
“Hehe, see that building in the center? What I want you to do is very simple. Kill everyone on the third floor and above, and burn down the building while you’re at it. That shouldn’t be difficult for you, Miss, should it? From this killing intent, the lives you’ve taken must be numerous, and those you’ve killed likely weren’t simple folk. Simply clearing out common rabble wouldn’t generate such terrifying killing intent. Coincidentally, everyone inside is just rabble.”
“Hmph.”
Ye Xi couldn’t be bothered with further conversation with the man before her. Her *qi* instantly surged outward, enveloping the building in the town’s center, scanning everyone within.
“Indeed, it’s not difficult,” Ye Xi stated calmly. Then, a dagger shot out, pinning the scruffy man’s left foot to the ground.
“Mmm!” The bearded man grunted in pain, enduring it. At the same time, his pierced left foot began to turn purple, the discoloration slowly spreading over his skin and creeping upwards.
“Don’t try any tricks. I’ll be back in an hour. If you’re not here, you can wait to die. And make sure you watch over that gunny sack for me.”
After uttering these words, Ye Xi vanished without a trace.
Only the bearded man remained, gasping for breath. Just then, several children ran over, looking at him with concern.
He forced a smile, handed a gold coin to a child, and said, “Go to the apothecary in the south of town. Buy all the forget-me-nots and their seeds.”
One child cried, “Uncle, are you alright? Should I buy you some medicine for your wound?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” the bearded man said with a gentle smile. “I can’t use this money for that. The one who stabbed me is the one who has to heal me, hehe. Now go.”
****
Ye Xi had now arrived at the entrance of the opulent building. The words ‘Heaven and Earth’ were emblazoned above, and even before entering, Ye Xi caught a whiff of pungent smoke.
She strode inside, seeing a group of people puffing on pipes, exhaling clouds of smoke. Only then did she understand what kind of establishment this was.
Ye Xi noticed that the tobacco these pleasure-seeking smokers were stuffing into their pipes was the highly addictive Drunken Grass.
Drunken Grass was a forbidden plant, explicitly prohibited from cultivation and trade by all nations. This hallucinogenic plant had once swept across the continent, but it was later discovered that prolonged consumption led to extreme physical weakness, mental decay, and a high susceptibility to various diseases. Consequently, the Grand Cathedral and various countries jointly banned its use through both faith and law, initiating a large-scale destruction of the tobacco and plants.
To her surprise, she encountered it here again. No wonder the townspeople seemed listless; it appeared their bodies and wills had been hollowed out by the Drunken Grass.
Ye Xi even spotted the person who had given her directions earlier. Was he indeed using his newly acquired money to smoke here?
“This beautiful Miss Maid looks a bit unfamiliar. Is there anything I can do for you?”
A handsome young man approached, addressing Ye Xi with great politeness.
Ye Xi observed him. The young man didn’t seem to be smoking the ‘big smoke,’ yet no matter how he tried to conceal it, Ye Xi could discern the raw possessiveness and lust in his eyes. It seemed she had caught his attention.
Ye Xi stated her purpose directly: “It’s too chaotic here. I wish to go to the third floor and above.”
The young man paused, glanced around, and nodded. “Indeed, this place is not fit for a lady of your caliber to linger. Please, follow me.”
The young man offered his hand, but Ye Xi was not a maid accustomed to such courtesies. She ignored his outstretched hand and walked directly towards the staircase.
Seeing Ye Xi’s disregard, a flicker of violence crossed the young man’s eyes, then, as if nothing had happened, he followed her.
Nearby servers whispered among themselves.
“That woman is truly beautiful.”
“Hah, no matter how beautiful, she won’t be ours. It looks like the young master has his eyes set on her.”
“Not necessarily. Given how she dared to disrespect the young master, perhaps he’ll let us have a taste once he’s done playing, hahaha.”
“Now that’s something to look forward to, haha.”
These vulgar comments from the servers did not reach Ye Xi’s ears. Even if she had heard them, Ye Xi had no interest in bothering with such small fry.
Walking ahead, Ye Xi calmly asked the young man, “Are you very familiar with this place?”
The young man smiled, thinking himself charming. “Because my father owns this establishment.”
“Is that so? Who occupies the third floor and above?”
“That’s our office area. The bottom two floors are solely for entertaining these guests.”
Ye Xi began to understand what the bearded man wanted her to do. “I see, no wonder he made such a request. Is your father here as well?”
The young man asked curiously, “Yes, he is. Are you looking for my father, Miss?”
Ye Xi offered no further reply to the young man, who, feeling awkward, fell silent. Fortunately, they soon reached the third floor. The young man quickly stepped forward to open the door, which bore a sign reading “Staff Only,” and said gallantly to Ye Xi, “Please, beautiful lady.”
Ye Xi stepped inside, and the young man promptly followed, closing the door tightly behind them.
Ye Xi surveyed the lavish and spacious office area on the third floor. In stark contrast to the ‘paradise’ below, this seemed to be the real world; everyone was bustling and busy, their expressions reflecting the realities of human life.
“You asked if I was looking for your father, didn’t you? I’ll give you your answer now. I’m not here for your father, but for everyone on the third floor and above. A fool who wants to practice justice through slaughter has commissioned me to kill all of you.”
With that, the young man, still in thought, was decapitated before he could even utter his name.
This sight stunned everyone. Unfortunately, before they could even scream, they met the same fate as the young man.
They were killed by an invisible sharp blade, its presence discernible only through *qi*.
The third stage of *qi*, Profound Transformation, where *qi* condenses into a blade.
Ye Xi spent two seconds constructing a forty-meter-long blade, which then swept across the entire floor.
(One day)