Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Kuso and his men have surrounded us!

The knights inside the house paled in shock. Some instinctively tried to rush out the window, while others raised their guns and pointed them wildly. The scene instantly spiraled out of control.

Ferru shouted sternly, "Stop!"

But nobody listened to him.

One of Moen's men suddenly overturned the kerosene lamp, spilling the oil and sending flames licking the floor.

The other grabbed Adel's daughter, held a dagger to her neck, and roared, "Don't come any closer! Or I'll kill her first!"

The girl screamed and froze.

Adel's eyes were bloodshot as he struggled frantically, yelling, "Let her go! Let her go!"

Herman scrambled backward, his mouth trembling as he cried, "Don't kill me, don't kill me..."

Taking advantage of the chaos, Moen raised his hand and fired two shots at Xilun!

boom!boom!

A flash of light erupted, and smoke filled the cramped room.

But Siren didn't even blink. He swayed, the bullet grazing his trench coat. He even managed to deflect the second shot by grabbing a flying wooden plank beside him.

The next moment, his internal energy circulated, and a muffled thunderous sound seemed to explode in his chest and abdomen.

The Xuan Yin Breathing Technique was simultaneously activated.

He pressed his palm against the oil spreading on the ground, and a chill swept out with the force of his palm. The flames that were originally leaping up were forcibly suppressed, and a layer of gray-white frost quickly formed on the surface, causing the fire to suddenly stop!

Moen's eyelids twitched violently as he read it.

This is second order!

It's a second-tier weapon that's far more terrifying than the rumors suggest!

"Walk!"

He gave a low shout, but instead of rushing towards the door, he kicked over the cabinet behind him and used the momentum to leap towards the back wall.

At the same time, his subordinate who had kidnapped the girl was also startled by his words and dragged her backward.

Seeing this, Feru finally lost his temper, roared, drew his sword, and charged forward.

"Release them!"

The blade flashed downwards, and the henchman hurriedly parried, the short sword clashing with the knight's longsword, sending sparks flying. The girl seized the opportunity to break free, stumbling and falling towards Adel on the ground.

Xilun took a step forward and was already in front of Moen.

Moen's pupils contracted. Without thinking, he raised his hand and drew a short, black stick from his waist. With a flick of the stick, a fine iron chain popped out, the end of which was a barbed iron spike. It viciously lashed out at Xilun's face.

This style is very similar to the Broken Bone Gang.

They don't care about decorum; they only care about how to ruin people as quickly as possible.

Xilun raised his hand and grabbed.

He actually gripped the iron chain in his bare hand, and the barbed hook was only half a foot away from his brow, yet it could not advance any further.

Moen felt as if he had thrown a chain into a mountain of iron, and his expression changed drastically.

"you--"

Xilun didn't give him a chance to finish speaking.

He tightened his grip and pulled forward sharply.

Moen was yanked forward, his chest gaping open. Xilen raised his knee and slammed it into Moen's abdomen.

boom!

Moen's eyes bulged out instantly, and he coughed up a bloody groan. His whole body arched down like a shrimp with a broken back.

Before he even landed, Xilun slammed down with an elbow!

With a loud crash, Moen smashed half of the countertop with his shoulder and back, sending wood chips flying, and he rolled into the corner of the wall.

These two moves were clean, ruthless, and utterly unpretentious.

Everyone in the room felt their scalp tingle.

With a single slash, Feru knocked the hostage-taker away, then kicked him to the ground with a backhand kick. However, he himself was also slashed on the shoulder by the short knife, and blood immediately seeped out.

But he couldn't care less about the pain; he just kept staring intently at Xilun.

too fast.

Moen, a ruthless character who had been on the edge of danger for over a decade, was treated like an immature child in Xiren's hands.

Just then——

Crack.

A very faint mechanical noise suddenly came from the corner of the wall.

Xilun's gaze turned cold, and he abruptly turned around.

Moen lay among the broken wood, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes held a frighteningly fierce look.

He pressed one hand into a crack in the floor, and somehow triggered something. The entire wooden wall behind him suddenly caved inward, revealing a dark hole just wide enough for one person to pass through.

typical!

"Hermann, that thing!"

Moen hissed and shouted.

Herman was still lying on the ground when he heard this, and he was struck dumb. He instinctively grabbed a metal box at his feet and crawled toward the tunnel.

But he had only crawled two steps when a boot stepped on his hand.

With a crisp click.

Herman let out a bloodcurdling scream like a pig being slaughtered.

Rena had somehow slipped in from the side of the door, stepping on him expressionlessly and lifting the metal box in one swift motion.

"Why are you running?"

Her tone was cold.

Herman was in so much pain that he was covered in sweat, tears and snot streaming down his face: "Don't kill me, don't kill me, I'll tell you everything..."

Upon seeing this, Moen's eyes almost bled.

But he knew even more clearly that if he hesitated for even a moment longer, he really wouldn't be able to leave.

He suddenly pulled a packet of powder from his pocket and slammed it hard onto the ground!

The white ash exploded with a loud bang, mixed with a pungent medicinal smell, and the entire room suddenly became blurry.

"Governor, watch out!"

Reina shouted sharply.

However, Celen was faster than her.

Listening from afar, the hurried, frantic breathing was impossible to hide.

He swayed and chased after the figure in the white ashes for several steps, his right hand reaching out to grab the figure in the darkness.

Moen heard the wind behind him and his soul trembled. He rolled desperately into the tunnel.

laugh!

Five fingers brushed across his back, tearing off large chunks of flesh, causing blood to spurt out.

Moen screamed in pain, but with this roll, he fell completely into the depths of the tunnel.

The next instant, the wooden planks of the tunnel suddenly flipped up, and a series of rapid bolt-pulling sounds came from inside, revealing that someone had prepared a sealing mechanism below.

The entire passageway rapidly collapsed inward, with splinters of wood and mud falling down, completely blocking it.

Xilun stood at the cave entrance and did not pursue them further.

It's not that we can't catch up.

But in that instant, his mysterious senses clearly captured—

The other end of the tunnel wasn't outside the mill, but deep in a flower field.

There was something amiss in that field of larks.

Rushing in at night could lead to problems in rescuing people, obtaining credentials, and taking control of the situation.

His gaze turned cold, and he finally stopped in his tracks.

As the cigarette ash dissipated, the room was a complete mess.

Baker fainted.

One of Moen's men was cut down by Fellu, while the other was pinned to the ground by musketeers rushing up from downstairs, his hands twisted behind his back, screaming in agony.

Adel and his daughter huddled together, trembling, but they survived.

Herman's hand was broken, and he lay on the ground crying and begging for mercy, his crotch soaked.

Feru gripped the blood-dripping knife, his chest heaving, staring at the blocked tunnel, his expression extremely complex.

Outside, Kusso strode upstairs, glanced around, and only breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he saw that Xilun was alright.

"Governor, the situation downstairs and outside is under control. Two escaped, but they've already headed towards the flower field, and our men dare not pursue them."

Xilun nodded: "Not chasing is the right thing to do."

Kusso was taken aback.

Xiren turned around and looked at the tin box in Rena's hand.

"Open."

Rena placed the box on the broken table and used her dagger to pry open the lock.

The moment the lid popped open, everyone's eyes fell on it.

There was no gold or silver inside.

There were only stacks of account books, land deeds, and invoices, along with a few envelopes still sealed with wax. On the top sheet of paper, a dark gray mark was prominently displayed.

The mark resembles a crow with its beak open, cawing, with a line of scribbled writing below it.

"Four days later, at the Black Dove Church, we will collect the first batch of floral soil, seedlings, and sacrificial soil."

The room suddenly fell silent.

"Sacrificial soil?" Kusso's expression changed.

Rena quickly flipped to the next few pages, her brows furrowing more and more as she read.

"Governor, it's not just Scamay." Her voice was slightly lower. "Black Birch, Mist Creek, Cold Spring, and four other nearby towns are all on the list."

The lark flower field was just a front; what they really wanted was the layer of 'mud' beneath the flower field.

It also said... "The roots should be soaked in the blood of the newly dead."

The Adel father and daughter turned pale upon hearing this.

Ferru's grip on the knife tightened little by little, his knuckles turning white.

He finally understood why there had been missing refugees in the flower fields outside the town lately, why people heard crying at night, and why that piece of land was expanding and becoming more and more sinister, yet no one dared to investigate further.

Hermann, however, seemed to have lost all his strength, lying on the ground and shaking his head desperately.

"I don't know, I really don't know! I was only responsible for collecting the land and money; everything else belonged to Mo Engan, to him! Your Excellency, I'm willing to confess, I'll confess everything—"

"Of course we have to explain."

Xilun didn't even look at him, only gazing in the direction of the flower field.

A night breeze blew through the window, causing the gray and white waves of flowers to ripple gently.

The sweet, fishy smell was stronger than before.

Deeper still, the faint whisper seemed to have been somewhat awakened by tonight's battle.

It's like something under the soil is slowly turning over.

Xilun paused for a moment, then spoke softly.

"Kuso".

"exist."

"Sealing off the town."

"yes!"

"Disarm and imprison all the knights involved. The mayor, the guards, and the accountant—don't let a single one escape."

"I need to register everyone, from house to house, who lost land, who is missing someone. I need the first list before dawn."

"clear!"

"Lena".

"exist."

"Organize this box overnight, separating it by township, name, and route. Then have someone dig up the entrance to the northern tunnel, but only halfway; don't go in yet."

Rena's heart skipped a beat: "You suspect there's something else beneath the flower field?"

Xilun hummed in agreement, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"Moun is not crazy."

"The thread that would make him risk his life to build wouldn't be just a little bit of ointment."

After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Ferru.

The knight commander's chest heaved, the sword still in his hand, but he had lost all his previous coldness and hardness, instead resembling a stone statue that had suddenly lost its spirit.

"What's your name?" Xilun asked.

After a moment of silence, Feru whispered, "Feru."

"Still trying to hold on to the bitter end?"

Ferru raised his head and met Xiren's gaze.

In that one look, there was shame, exhaustion, and a numbness born from being crushed by reality.

After a long while, he slowly put the knife down.

The tip of the knife touched the ground with a soft sound.

"I can say," Ferru said in a hoarse voice, "but on one condition."

Kusso's eyes widened immediately: "You dare to make demands?"

Xilun raised his hand to restrain him, signaling for Feiru to continue.

Ferru glanced at Adel and his daughter, then at the flower field outside the window, his throat bobbing as if he had finally made some kind of decision.

"Don't let the town descend into chaos."

"I know I'm guilty, but most of the knights in Scamare still have families. If you kill them all in one go, the town will be in complete chaos tomorrow. The old, the women, the children—no one will survive."

He spoke slowly and deliberately.

It wasn't so much a plea for life as it was a cry for help from someone who was about to collapse, pleading for the last chance to survive for this town that was being hollowed out.

Xilun glanced at him for a few moments, then said calmly, "That depends on whether what you're saying is worth it."

Ferru closed his eyes and nodded as if resigned to his fate.

"value."

"Because of that thing under the flower field... I've seen it once."

A night breeze suddenly blew in, causing the lamplight to flicker.

All eyes were on him.

Xilun simply stood by the window, gazing at the sea of ​​larks that shimmered with a pale light under the moonlight, a chill creeping into his eyes.

The waters of Scamander were indeed deeper than he had anticipated.

But it's okay.

Now that the hole has been torn open—

Next, we should follow this line and pull out the whole net inch by inch.

……

"When did you meet?"

Xilun stood by the window without turning around.

Ferru remained silent for two breaths, then slowly loosened his grip on the knife, as if he had finally snapped a string that had been stretched to its limit.

"Seven days ago, in the middle of the night."

His voice was hoarse, with a rough quality from a long sleeplessness.

"Moun said there was a lack of fertilizer in the fields to the south, and asked me to take four trucks there... I thought it would be cow dung or rotten grass, but when we got to the field, they threw the sacks on the ground and what was seeping out was blood."

The room was eerily quiet.

Adel instinctively pulled his daughter behind him, his face turning deathly pale.

Kusso frowned and couldn't help but swear.

Ferru seemed not to hear him and continued, "That night it was drizzling, and there was a circle of iron stakes in the middle of the field, with small bells and strips of cloth hanging from them. When the wind blew, they all made a soft tinkling sound... But what really gave me the creeps was not the sound of the bells."

As he said this, his Adam's apple bobbed, and for the first time, a genuine fear appeared in his eyes.

"It's singing."

"There were children singing, in a very low and soft tone, as if they were singing close to the ground... I didn't see them open their mouths first, I only saw the flowers moving. The whole patch of larks—the whole patch—all leaned toward the singing, as if they were listening."

Rena paused in flipping through the ledgers and looked up at him.

Xilun remained silent, only gesturing for him to continue.

Ferru took a deep breath, his face growing increasingly grim.

"Later, the gray-robed man cut open the sack, and two corpses rolled out: an old refugee and a boy who was still alive."

The boy struggled to crawl out, but after less than two steps, the ground cracked...it really cracked.

He stared at the ground, as if he were seeing that scene again.

"Many roots stretched out from below, white and thin, like rotten fingers, wrapped around his legs, and dragged him into the soil."

The child cried out "Mother!" and then was gone. After the earth was covered, the fragrance of the flowers grew stronger, and the song became clearer.

None of the people inside made a sound.

Only Hermann's gasps could be heard, each one more urgent than the last.

Ferru slowly closed his eyes.

"I drew my knife, but Moen held me down and said that if I dared to move, the whole town would be hanged tomorrow."

The gray-robed man was quite polite, even smiling at me, saying, "Sir, there's no need to be nervous. They're just borrowing soil to grow flowers..." But I noticed that what was stuck to the soles of his boots wasn't mud, it was flesh.

Why didn't you report it?

Kusso stared at him, his tone unfriendly.

Feru opened his eyes and met his gaze, a hint of numb anger in his eyes.

"To whom should we report this?"

"Should we report it to Hermann? Or to Moen? Or to the person who's already received their share of the flower field profits?"

Herman shuddered at these words and hurriedly shook his head: "I didn't! I just—"

Snapped.

Rena slammed an account book on the table, and the cover popped open with a thud.

"You remember exactly how many people each household lost, how many acres of land were buried, and how much flower soil was harvested."

Her voice was cold, not loud, but like a thin knife.

"Hermann, you didn't even spare the widow's small plot of land."

Hermann's lips trembled, sweat streamed down his face, and he wanted to explain, but his throat felt blocked, leaving only the indistinct syllables of "I...I...".

Xilun finally turned around.

"Who is that man in the gray robe?"

Ferru shook his head: "Moen only called him 'the substitute singer.' I didn't dare to look at him for long, but he was very young, spoke slowly, and seemed like a teacher in a church school... The more he seemed like one, the more creeped out I felt."

"Besides him, how many other people are there?"

"Seven or eight grey robes, two children, plus Moen's own men."

At this point, Ferro paused, his gaze growing more somber.

"Those two children are not like ordinary children."

Kusso narrowed his eyes: "How is it not legal?"

"It's too quiet."

Ferru clenched his fingers.

"You've seen starving orphans who would rush over bread at the sight of it, but they were different. A boy and a girl, both dressed in white, terribly thin, with thin silver threads wrapped around their necks, stood motionless in the rain. When they sang, the flowers swayed; when they weren't singing, they didn't even blink."

Reina asked, "Silver threads?"

"Like it's sewn into the skin and flesh."