The Villain Saint is my secondary account

The moat of the inner city, as an artificial waterway connecting to the overseas, often served the purpose of discharging sewage from the city lord's mansion.

The sources of this sewage are naturally varied, including everything imaginable, and even the orcs' miso buff.

But that crucial sewage channel was precisely the route through which everyone was able to sneak into the city lord's mansion.

Shen San took out a talisman from his pocket, folded it into a small boat, and placed it on the river. The small boat seemed to have a spirit, twisting its bow and swimming upstream for a few meters before stopping on the opposite bank.

"The waterway leading to the city lord's mansion is located below that paper boat. It's quite dark in the river and the current is rapid, so remember the location."

Shen San said.

Koi is naturally skilled in water magic and shouldn't need any help. Therefore, Ye Xiao took out his staff, summoned a water bubble to wrap around his and Mingya's bodies, and distributed underwater breathing potions.

Before setting off, Mingya originally planned to add Ye Xiao as a friend on the system as a way to contact each other in case of crisis. After all, they were both players and happened to be in the same main city, so they might as well use the community system.

But unexpectedly, Mingya's friend request immediately prompted:

[System error, unable to add the other party as a friend]

After Mingya transmigrated, he landed directly on a deserted island, so he hadn't met many players and didn't know what was going on.

Ye Xiao was quite surprised, though. In his two lifetimes, this was the first time he had ever seen the World Tree system report an error.

Ye Xiao was amazed that even this system had things it couldn't do.

But upon closer reflection, he realized that he came from a future timeline, while Mingya was a player from a past timeline. In some ways, their system versions were even different, so the error message seemed reasonable.

Ye Xiao originally wanted to see if he could send messages across timelines after returning to the future. If he could, that would be incredibly awesome—a partner who existed in the past and could help change history. Ye Xiao found the thought terrifying.

Unfortunately, this cannot be published; the World Tree system does not allow such outrageous things to exist.

After making preparations, the four of them jumped into the moat one after another.

With the water bubbles separating the city from the dirty water of the moat, Ye Xiao wasn't worried about getting his clothes wet.

Finding the waterway in the murky river was quite difficult. Ye Xiao controlled the bubble to stay close to the wall and searched up and down for a while before finally finding a small square hole about half a person's height near the bottom of the river.

He manipulated himself and Mingya's bubbles to squeeze through the small hole. This section of the sewage channel was extremely narrow and cramped, and Ye Xiao had to crawl to barely pass through it.

Sewage filled the pipes, and he ran his hand over the stone wall through the foam membrane, feeling the pits and calcified lumps all around.

After walking along this long path for about six or seven minutes, we finally came to a huge pool.

If it weren't for the underwater breathing potion and the water magic bubble membrane, Ye Xiao couldn't imagine how torturous this waterway, which was enough to trigger claustrophobia, would have been.

"crash"

After Ye Xiao emerged from the water, Mingya and Jinli also appeared one after another.

With Ye Xiao's help in summoning the bubble membrane, and the koi itself being able to control the water flow to keep it dry, Mingya didn't get much water on her body.

Shen San was already waiting on the shore, holding a cold, radiant stone staff in his hand, and waved it to the people in the pool, "Here."

Looking around, Ye Xiao guessed that this should be a huge sewage pool, and the waterway they had just entered was one of the outlets used to discharge wastewater into the moat.

Upon closer inspection, sewage was observed gushing from water inlets connecting various locations within the city lord's mansion on the nearby walls.

Shen San led the group along the bank of the sewage pool, and along the way they could see large, black, snot-like worms stuck to the high places on the walls.

"Huh, what are those things? How can they even wriggle?"

Mingya felt a little nauseous when she saw it.

"It's probably a slug-like monster. These kinds of monsters often inhabit the sewers of cities with harsh environments."

Ye Xiao explained from the side, "However, they are not very active. As long as you don't provoke them, you don't need to worry too much about them attacking."

"The mere fact that they were in my sight was already a form of psychological attack on me."

Mingya's face turned pale.

The koi fish also frowned slightly, clearly not able to stand these things.

"We won't see you again after this."

Shen San said from the front, "However, everyone must be careful from now on. The next level is the dungeon below the city lord's mansion, where there will be many guards patrolling."

"Is your prince, and those Dark Shepherds, all in the dungeon?"

Ye Xiao asked.

Shen San shook his head. "They should be in the ceremonial room on the upper level of the castle. After all, it's just a deceptive form of house arrest. Putting them in the dungeon would be a bit outrageous."

As they spoke, the group arrived at a staircase entrance. This was likely an artificial passageway used for repairing and cleaning the sewage pool, and it was clearly very old, with patches of moss hanging on the stone bricks.

Climbing the stairs, at the top was a heavy iron door. Shen San seemed to have been prepared. He took out a key from his pocket, inserted it into the lock, fiddled with it for a few moments, and then pushed the door open.

The dark dungeon was silent and deserted, with only a few braziers hanging from the ceiling providing a faint light.

The group entered the dark dungeon, and the iron door behind them closed slowly and automatically, as if by some unknown force.

Footsteps echoed between the towering stone pillars, the atmosphere so quiet it was almost eerie.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone on this floor."

Mingya said, "Not to mention the guards, you can't even see a single hair on the prisoners."

"The lowest level of the dungeon has been abandoned for a long time, and most of the orc guards should be patrolling the upper levels."

As Shen San spoke, he suddenly quickened his pace, "I'll go ahead and scout things out first."

He had barely finished speaking and hadn't even taken a few steps forward when a large hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't rush. It's safer to stick together at times like this."

Ye Xiao's voice came from beside my ear, as if he was trying to persuade me, but the force that I couldn't break free from his hand clearly meant that it was not just a simple persuasion.

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Shen San's forehead. After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke.

"...When was it discovered?"

"I found out last night."

Ye Xiao took out the yellow talisman from his pocket and shook it.

Remember what Undine said? Ye Xiao was the only person who, after activating his spiritual vision, connected with her but didn't go insane.

In other words, everyone who had met Undine before Ye Xiao had met with misfortune.

Ye Xiao met Undine not because he wanted to, but because of the yellow talisman given to him by Shen San.

Undine naturally had no reason to lie, so how could Shen San not know what happened to the others who had previously used the yellow talisman to see Undine?

Putting all these things together, Shen San's motive for giving out that yellow talisman becomes quite clear.

"Mr. Shen, you must find it quite strange that I'm still alive, right?"

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Subduing Demons in the Dungeon

"bass"

Without another word, Shen San drew a throwing knife from his sleeve, aiming straight for Ye Xiao's throat.

Ye Xiao turned his head and dodged, letting the flying knife graz his face.

Taking advantage of this, Shen San shook off Ye Xiao's arm and took several steps back.

Mingya and Jinli were not surprised by the situation. Ye Xiao had told them beforehand, and the two immediately drew their weapons and went to block Shen San's other two sides.

In the silent dungeon, the four men drew their swords, and the atmosphere instantly turned tense and deadly.

"It seems I underestimated you, Mr. Ye."

Shen San's throat moved slightly as he slowly adjusted his gait.

Facing a grandmaster who could easily defeat those five attendants, he couldn't help but feel immense pressure. Even before the fight began, fine beads of sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

“Mr. Shen, I know that it is not an easy thing for you to choose to believe me between the Dark Shepherd and me.”

Ye Xiao simply crossed his arms, looking nonchalant, and didn't reach for the sword on his back.

"If possible, I don't want to fight you."

“You’re more reasonable than those five idiots, and you’re not a bad person either. Now that things are out in the open, you can leave, and we’ll move on with our lives. We won’t make things difficult for you.”

Shen San gave a helpless twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“Mr. Ye, I can see that you are an upright person at heart, but your uprightness is for the greater good. You will help those outside of this when you can. If you can't save them, then so be it.”

"I don't mean to criticize your actions, but for me, bringing the prince back is my only goal."

"Would you abandon the fight against the Dark Shepherds just to save a prince you've never met?"

Ye Xiao remained silent, but that was clearly his answer.

"So, I actually had no choice, Mr. Ye."

Shen San took out a simple short sword from his sleeve, and a faint white aura immediately enveloped his body.

"I'm really curious, what kind of person is that prince who was bewitched by the Dark Shepherd, that you are so loyal to him?"

Ye Xiao sighed, then simply flexed her wrists. "But since you insist on stopping me, then let's do it."

"Not drawing your sword?"

Shen San smiled bitterly.

"No need."

Ye Xiao waved to Shen San.

Almost the instant the words were spoken, Shen San's figure vanished into thin air.

A powerful gust of wind suddenly erupted from where he had been standing, causing Mingya and Jinli to take two steps back.

The flames in the surrounding braziers flickered, casting shadows and light within the dark dungeon.

In the blink of an eye, the fox-faced man had already drawn a straight line and appeared in front of Ye Xiao.

The short sword in his hand went straight for Ye Xiao's eyes.

They were so close that the cold glint of the sharp blades could be reflected in their dark pupils.

But he missed; the short sword passed right through the figure without any real contact.

Afterimage! ?

Shen San was startled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ye Xiao appear from below, his left arm trapping the hand holding the knife, and his right fist blasting out like a cannonball.

"boom"

The fist struck Shen San's handsome face solidly, suddenly unleashing a shockwave.

As the lights flickered, Shen San was thrown several meters away like a kite with a broken string.

The short sword also fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

Mingya's eyes widened. He hadn't even seen Shen San's shadow a moment ago, and now he'd been sent flying by a single punch?

"cough"

Shen San helped himself to the stone pillar beside him and barely managed to stand up, spitting out a mouthful of black blood onto the ground.

"You're really... ridiculously strong."

"You're not bad either."

Ye Xiao dusted off her trench coat and slowly walked towards Shen San.

Shen San gritted his teeth, his gaze reflecting the tall, thin figure approaching step by step. He pulled out two talismans from his sleeve. "I am Shen San, a senior official of the Observatory of the Great Zhou Dynasty of the Eastern Yang Continent and a retainer of the Shen Prince's Mansion."

"Finally... let me know your real name, okay?"

Ye Xiao paused for a moment, then spoke.

"Ye Xiao, the first knight under the command of the Holy Maiden of Light."

Mingya, who was listening to the conversation between the two, scratched his head in surprise, "Huh, is this the identity that a player who has been here for a week can have?"

On the other side, Shen San smiled, then pinched the talisman with two fingers together, his gaze becoming sharp.

Suddenly, an invisible, chilling wind swept through the dungeon.

"He's about to reveal his true form, Mr. Ye, be careful!"

As if sensing something, the koi immediately offered a reminder.