427: Shadow of a Thousand Faces

The oppressive feeling at the bottom of the mine had largely dissipated, but the death energy that had accumulated over thousands of years remained thick.

Shang Wan Ning looked at the Black Knight Lord, who was kneeling on one knee, his bone joints emitting a dull, grating sound, and she already had a plan in mind.

A Tier 5 Undead Lord, plus this entire pit of skeleton soldiers, was combat power delivered right to her doorstep for free.

Cultivating Yin soldiers and ghost messengers in the Underworld required consuming quite a lot of incense offerings resources; using these "wild" ones didn't make her feel bad, and it wouldn't be a pity if they were lost.

"Leonardo Cowell." She called out his name.

"I obey the divine oracle." The Black Knight Lord's Soul Fire burned steadily, revealing a docility that came after being purified.

"Take your subordinates, stay quietly in this area, keep them under control, and do not disturb the living."

"A group of 'Abyss Walkers' will come to take over later, and from then on, you will be under their jurisdiction."

"As you command, Your Majesty." Leonardo lowered his head. At this moment, his consciousness was clear; although the sorrow and indignation of three hundred years remained, he was no longer consumed by hatred.

For the divine existence before him who had purified his resentment with a mere wave of her hand, only pure awe remained.

Shang Wan Ning did not say anything more. With a slight movement of her divine sense, an encrypted message crossed the long distance and was transmitted into the mind of You Yu, who was busy at the Orc Royal Court:

"At the mine north of Chisong Town, I have subdued a Tier 5 Undead Lord and a group of skeleton soldiers; they are usable."

"Send a team of Guixu Walkers to take over immediately, and while you are at it, level the Viscounts Manor."

"The charge: colluding with the evil god 'Thousand-Faced Shadow'."

After arranging these matters, she did not want to stay in this place filled with bones any longer. Before leaving, she casually took a fragment of ore glowing with a dark red blood light from a comatose miner, which would serve as evidence for this trip.

Her figure flickered and disappeared from the mine. When she reappeared, she was standing in the night wind outside the mine. The evening breeze blew past, carrying away the death energy that had stained her body.

Shang Wan Ning did not return to the inn, but headed straight for the small woods near the meeting point she had agreed upon with Therese for the next day. As soon as she stood steady, a notification sound from Xiao Si rang in her Sea of Consciousness.

"Ding, the side quest 'Secrets Beneath the Mine' has been completed."

"Quest evaluation: Excellent."

"The Host has uncovered the truth of the mine: the ancestors of the Morris family buried the garrison knights alive and sacrificed them to an evil god to catalyze the blood marrow ore vein and undead, obtained key evidence (blood marrow ore sample), and subdued an undead legion."

"Quest reward: 100,000 incense points have been issued to your dashboard account."

"Note: The Host's performance this time was smooth and fluid; this system would like to call you the King of Scavenging."

Shang Wan Ning raised an eyebrow, her mood quite good.

Although one hundred thousand incense points were not a huge fortune, they were a pleasant surprise. More importantly, she had found a clue to a "free divinity."

She found a clean stone to sit on, intending to take advantage of the night to sort through the information related to this evil god.

Early the next morning, the morning light awakened Chisong Town, and the streets gradually became lively.

Therese arrived at the town entrance on time. The keenness of a Half-Elf made her notice something unusual: the north side of the town was exceptionally quiet, and even the scavengers who usually wandered around the mine were nowhere to be seen.

She suppressed the murmurs in her heart and scanned the area, spotting the Little Priestess standing by the roadside, nibbling on a honey pie.

The Little Priestess was still wearing that old linen dress, her cheeks puffed out, her eyes so clear that they seemed out of place in the messy surroundings.

"Miss Therese, good morning." Seeing her, Shang Wan Ning raised a sweet smile and handed over an oil-paper bag.

"I brought this for you; it's a honey pie from the auntie's shop, it's still warm."

Therese took the pie and took a bite; the crispy, sweet taste melted on the tip of her tongue.

Looking at the girl's cloudless face, she swallowed the question that had reached her lips: "What are your plans for today?"

Shang Wan Ning swallowed the food in her mouth, brushed the crumbs off her hands, and said in a relaxed tone: "I want to go to the library in town. My father once said that if you want to understand the customs of a place, you have to find the answers in its past."

This reason was impeccable.

Therese nodded: "I will accompany you." She still harbored doubts in her heart and wanted to see what this mysterious Little Priestess was really looking for.

The library of Chisong Town was adjacent to the town hall; it was an old stone building with not many books, mostly local chronicles and common historical legends of the continent.

The librarian was an old scholar with lenses as thick as wine bottle bottoms; he was indifferent to their arrival and didn't even lift his head.

Shang Wan Ning had a clear goal and walked straight to the bookshelf containing local chronicles and myths and legends. Therese randomly pulled out a bestiary to browse, but her eyes drifted toward the girl from time to time.

She saw the Little Priestess standing on tiptoe, struggling to take down several dusty, thick tomes from the top shelf, moving them to a table by the window, and reading them seriously.

She flipped through the books extremely quickly, her fingers gliding over the yellowed pages, her brows occasionally furrowing and then relaxing, as if she were quickly filtering for key information.

Therese couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Had the Little Priestess really seen the content on the pages?

Light filtered through the stained-glass windows, casting mottled spots of light on the tabletop, and time slipped away quietly amidst the sound of turning pages.

Suddenly, Shang Wan Ning's movements stopped.

Her gaze fixed on a passage about local ancient legends. The text was blurry, but it vaguely mentioned: When the Violet Kingdom was first established, there was a secret cult on this land that worshipped the "Faceless God," which was said to be able to change people's appearances and pry into others' thoughts, and was later exterminated by the founding king on charges of being an evil cult.

"Changing appearance... prying into thoughts..." Shang Wan Ning tapped lightly on these words, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Although the clue was vague, it faintly matched the characteristics of the "Thousand-Faced Shadow," and the direction was finally correct.

Below this record, there was also a fragment of a prayer, the handwriting twisted and eerie:

"We call upon the Lord of No Face, the ruler of a thousand forms."

"Please strip away the shell of perception, grant me the eye to see through the veil,"

"And beneath the myriad complexities, behold your crawling, unchanging, insane truth..."

Subconsciously focusing her attention to look closely, she felt that the structure of the text contained hidden mysteries; it did not look like the rambling of an ordinary evil cult, but rather like some kind of obscure energy beacon.

She quietly memorized the prayer, closed the book, carefully placed it back, and put on an innocent, harmless smile again: "Miss Therese, I'm done reading."

Therese closed the bestiary: "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, I saw many interesting stories." Shang Wan Ning nodded, naturally linking her arm with Therese's, "Let's go back, I'm a little sleepy."

Just as the two walked out of the library gate, the sound of rapid hoofbeats and commotion suddenly came from the other end of the street.

A team of black-clad knights with polished armor and an imposing aura were escorting several people wearing deep purple robes who exuded a cold air, galloping toward the north side of the town.

"It's the law enforcement team from the royal capital; who are those people in purple robes?"

"Looking at the direction, are they going to the Viscounts Manor?"

"Something big must have happened!"

Pedestrians on the side of the road hurriedly made way.