Witch Redemption

That's why he's so frustrated right now. What can he do to find out who's behind this and wants to kill him?

Moreover, judging from today's "corpse collector," even in this incredibly backward slum, there are an overwhelming number of informants. He could consider using his valuable items, such as monster materials and monster magic cores, to bribe relevant intelligence, but the other party would definitely already know.

No matter what you do, you'll always fall behind others, so using benefits to buy intelligence is pointless.

It's possible that the guy behind this might even set a trap in the report. Given the cunning nature of these people, it's not impossible that he could be cheated by both sides.

"Too much trouble!"

In my past life, I was already annoyed by all sorts of interpersonal relationships and almost developed social anxiety. Now that I've transmigrated, I still have to worry about this kind of thing. I might as well go all out and let whoever wants to deal with me go. Since you guys are so powerful, you can't defend against them all no matter what. So just die!

Having already anticipated that this thing in his hand might cause unimaginable consequences, Li Lan pondered for a long time, and then felt relieved.

"Juliet, let's leave here for a while."

In any case, since it is a lawless place, the elves killed will not be punished as long as they are of the same slave class. Therefore, if there is a lack of resting places, it is best to just "borrow" them.

We can't really spend the night in these ruins, can we?

...... ...... ......

Late that night, Li Lan forcibly rented a dilapidated house in the northern part of the Scandal slum. After closing the doors and windows tightly, she stopped pretending to be blind.

He first pried open the floor tiles on the first floor, revealing the damp, dark gray soil underneath. Then he opened the sealed iron box and carefully stared at the grotesque, writhing black flesh.

"I learned about this when I was on the border of the Viana Theocracy. The soil in any monster-infested area is considered polluted, and fragile crops simply cannot grow in it. However, these areas protected by the temple's protective barrier are different; this is normal soil in the strictest sense."

The spiritual energy of a true god and the material energy that constitutes the physical body are terrible pollution to lower organisms. Li Lan didn't know what kind of chain reaction a mere tiny bit of a true god's physical body would cause.

He doesn't care anymore.

He pulled out a short knife and carefully cut into the wildly writhing black flesh. It wasn't as hard as he had imagined; instead, it sliced ​​through easily, like cutting tofu.

Even so, the silver blade quickly turned black and rusted at a speed visible to the naked eye, eventually disappearing completely.

If this happens when iron comes into contact with it, what would happen if a human body came into contact with it? Wouldn't it kill someone on the spot?

Li Lan felt that the thing in his hand was extremely disgusting and dangerous, like a time bomb, and that he himself might be affected.

Before the short knife was completely corroded, Li Lan quickly picked up the small piece of flesh that had been cut open, about the size of a mung bean.

When this small, shocking piece of flesh came into contact with the black soil, it quickly emitted a "squeaking" sound of corrosion. Then, the black flesh spread out in a frenzied writhing motion, turning into dense threads that spread in all directions, like veins.

That was an extremely terrifying speed. In almost an instant, these black threads, like tiny veins, had completely seeped into the ground and disappeared without a trace, as if nothing had ever happened.

An uneasy, extremely uneasy feeling welled up in Li Lan's heart. It was such an ordinary and unremarkable thing, but he felt that in that instant, the atmosphere of the entire area had changed.

It was an instinctive shudder, as if some great and terrifying being had descended upon this area, about to unleash a devastating storm.

"What's going to happen? Damn, this feels ominous! My dear Shub, you should at least have said the whole story!"

Desperate times call for desperate measures; this perfectly describes Li Lan's current state of mind. However, he doesn't have much of a way to turn back now.

Having confirmed that the dark gray, damp soil hadn't undergone any significant changes, Li Lan calmly covered the paving stone again, praying that nothing else should happen.

"Let's go somewhere else tomorrow. Since things are so unsettled right now, let's take this opportunity to pretend we're being chased to the point of desperation and then head towards the area where Rebecca and Susan used to live."

Plans are rigid, but people are flexible. Originally, the plan was to settle down in one place before considering gathering relevant information. But now it seems that Li Lan can no longer afford to dawdle. This is both a challenge and the best opportunity.

Since we're already in this slum area and can't run away, we might as well just keep going.

...... ...... ......

In the Skandar City Lord's Mansion, Lord Adrian was awakened from his deep sleep by a strong palpitation.

It was a feeling of impending doom, the oppressive atmosphere and uncontrollable fear made him suddenly sit up, his wildly beating heart unable to calm down for a long time.

"..."

Why is this happening?

I looked around and saw that nothing had happened; everything was as usual.

Am I overthinking it? Or is it just the influence of nightmares?

Those who can serve as city lords are all at the general level, according to the military rank system of the Elf Kingdom. Although they have not yet reached the level of awakening their origin, they are not far from it.

Adrian was very strong, and it was precisely because he was strong enough to be able to keenly sense the changes in the atmosphere and subconsciously think about what would happen next.

Restless and unable to contain his excitement, he unusually opened all the doors and windows of the room completely until the outside world was fully revealed to him. Only after the calm, as if a false alarm had passed, did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"This is the interior of the Elf Kingdom. Even the Crimson Night Torrent shouldn't evoke this kind of fear in me. Could it be that something has invaded?"

It's terrifying that it could make even a powerful figure at the level of a general tremble. No matter how you look at it, it seems utterly absurd.

"It has to be reported upstairs; otherwise, those guys at the top might have to take action themselves."

Even though it was already one in the morning, Adrian, who was wide awake, went to his desk again, turned on the magic crystal lamp on the desk, took out the relevant blank letters, and thought about how to report this anomaly. Unfortunately, he thought for a long time but did not know where to start, and finally sat on the desk in a daze.

He needs to know the whole story, because he can't just report his unusual feelings when there are no changes happening around him.

"Hey!"

Completely clueless and hesitant for a long time, this extremely frustrated elf uncle began to pick up a large stack of official documents on his desk and start processing them.

"At the end of last year, the leader of the Gian Corps confirmed the whereabouts of a foreign witch. Afterwards, the kingdom also organized some search teams to carry out a large-scale sweep of the border areas of the Elf Kingdom. Apart from one or two medium-sized troops being wiped out by high-level magical beasts, there was no valuable discovery. We don't know if this foreign witch will go to the Naga Kingdom instead."

"For at least the past six months, the kingdom's borders have been extremely secure. All outsiders who do not possess the kingdom's unique magic crystal card have had to undergo rigorous interrogation through multiple steps. To this day, none of the confirmed outsiders have any characteristics similar to this foreign witch."

"Around mid-May this year, Kewell sent a report saying that an old woman named 'Caitlyn Nassa' was a bit suspicious. He then arranged for many informants to monitor her and even hired many busybodies to try to get rid of her. As a result, the old woman became even more abnormal."

It's quite obvious that the old woman's displayed strength is only at the peak of a Platinum-level adventurer, at most reaching the lower level of a Legendary-level adventurer. If we consider the Elf Kingdom's military rank system, only mid-level Legendary-level adventurers are qualified to be called Major Generals, so this old woman is at most a quasi-Major General.

With such strength, how did he manage to survive so many encirclements and assassinations, carrying a burden to this day?

Incredibly, this old woman's entire family perished in the jaws of a high-level monster called "Lachu the Beast." Only she and her granddaughter escaped and remained missing for a long time.

Logically speaking, such trash should have had a hard time withstanding so many days of assassination attempts, right?

Below the level of demigods, all are ants, their lives far too fragile. If all the forces in the entire Skandar slums wanted this guy dead, the threat would probably be far greater than that of the high-level monsters in the monster region.

This old woman is highly suspicious!

Adrian had already made up his mind. He planned to escalate the situation, and if all else failed, he would have the border troops intervene and kill the old woman to end the matter once and for all.

The slave class, after all, wouldn't feel any pain if a whole cartload of them died.

"Furthermore, according to intelligence from the Dark Side, twenty orphans in the northern slums of Skandar have banded together to form a small group, and their behavior is highly suspicious. We will probably have to investigate this."

It wouldn't be surprising if any slave class in the slums united, given the many powerful forces there.

However, the fact that these children, whose average age is only about eight, collectively form a force is extremely unusual.

What kind of child could be so incredibly intelligent? Such precocity would be impossible without someone educating them from a young age; at least, in the dark and chaotic slums, it would be absolutely impossible for such a child to be born.

This may involve something that is worth investigating. As his subordinate Kewell said, it might be necessary to eliminate it in advance.

"Let the secret agents follow them closely; perhaps they can find some clues."

For a moment, Adrian wondered if it was related to the two witches who had disappeared. Although there had been rumors that the two witches had long since escaped from the city and died in the monster area, if they were really hiding in Skandar City, how could they have been missing for so many years?

There were once celestial beings who descended to earth and personally searched this land, but they couldn't find them, let alone these mortals now.

No, Adrian is completely unable to calm down right now, even though nothing unusual is happening outside the window.

Tonight will be a sleepless night for this powerful being.

...... ...... ......

On the morning of June 4, 10007 (Gregorian calendar), several days had passed since the night of the "poisoning of the earth".

Having dealt with yet another meticulously planned attack from the slave class, and swiftly eliminating the perpetrators, Li Lan felt that everything seemed no different from usual.

"Strange, the method that Shub taught me doesn't seem to be working?"

At first, Li Lan thought that was the case, but she soon noticed something strange. The slovenly elves that used to be everywhere in the slums were much fewer today.

I can clearly sense the presence of these elven slaves everywhere, so why are they all hiding in their respective dwellings?

Puzzled, Li Lan took Princess Juliet to the relief distribution center and suddenly realized that the number of elven slaves gathering today was one-fifth less than usual, which was a significant number.

"what happened?"

Just when he was still struggling with what seemed to be having no effect, this somewhat alarming situation occurred. Li Lan's heart sank inexplicably. No matter how stupid he was, he would never think that this was unrelated to his masterpiece from a few days ago. It seemed that it really worked, but he didn't know what the effect would be.

The square, once bustling with people, was now even more deathly silent than before.

Li Lan pondered for a long time before calmly leading Juliet to a corner of the square. They originally planned to eat there, but Li Lan noticed that Juliet's condition was a bit off today.

"Juliet, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Somewhat anxiously, Li Lan was extremely frustrated. He had originally thought that the two powerful figures had shown him the way, but it turned out to be a super move that attacked indiscriminately.

Just as those two bastards once said, if we're going to die, we'll all die together, even if it means mutual destruction.

This is not the effect Li Lan wants. To risk her own life and Juliet's by "poisoning" someone would be a foolish and disastrous outcome.

"I...I'm sorry...I..." Juliet uttered weakly. If Li Lan were to remove the blindfold, he would see that Juliet and the weaker elven slaves around her were all extremely pale, their faces like those of a dead person, devoid of any color.

They all looked like they were seriously ill, walking like zombies, weak and listless, as if they would collapse at any moment.

"I'm fine..."

Despite her weakened state, Juliet, not daring to cause any trouble for her master, lowered her head with a hint of shame, trying her best to appear strong.

Li Lan knew the little guy's temperament all too well. He shook his head. "We're not eating here today. Let's go back first. Tell me what's wrong with your health when we get back. That's an order!"

Unusual, completely unusual. Li Lan felt that the atmosphere in this area had been a bit ominous ever since that night, but he didn't expect it to take until today to completely erupt.

That speed is really quite good.

Just as he was about to leave with Juliet, a small, thin figure lying on the ground not far away caught Juliet's attention.

"Ok?"

"Grandma, it's that guy from before, the one with the scar on half his face..."

Juliet explained that she was seeking Li Lan's opinion.

In any case, with such a brat lying here, Li Lan could simply ignore him and leave. After all, the other party hadn't shown much enthusiasm when they received him last time, and the two hadn't had much interaction since then.

"Should we take her away?" Li Lan asked herself inwardly.

Li Lan thought for a moment, "What about her other accomplices?"

"I didn't see it," Juliet replied truthfully. She felt a tightness in her chest and could barely speak.

It has to be said that Li Lan hesitated for several seconds on this matter, but in the end, as if by some strange twist of fate, the familiar aura contained in this little guy made him unable to resist extending a helping hand.