Chapter 94: The Blue Sacred Figure

“Hey.”

Zhou Yun turned his head and waved to the gray-leather-clad hooded woman approaching him.

The woman wore an extremely plain gray leather suit, tightly fitted to her body, her face concealed beneath her hood.

She moved almost silently, having trailed behind them since they entered the Thirteenth District.

Only just now had she stealthily surfaced, attempting to draw near without a sound.

Had Zhou Yun’s senses not been blessed by that pale deathly will and grown increasingly acute, he would not have noticed her so easily.

The gray-leather-clad woman froze awkwardly in place, seemingly surprised that Zhou Yun had spotted her.

“Who are you?!” Leina spun around in surprise.

Following Zhou Yun’s gaze, she finally noticed the gray-leather-clad woman.

Had the woman not been unarmed, carrying only two long stilettos strapped at her waist, Leina might have already unleashed a psychic cannon.

“I am the Sixth Seat Assassin of the Daughters of Death.” The woman’s voice was low and hoarse as she performed a subtle Hawk Salute toward Zhou Yun and Leina.

“Sixth Seat?” Leina watched the woman warily.

“Just call me Sixth Seat. Only the Chief Assassin of each generation is worthy of a name.”

The woman calling herself Sixth Seat spoke in a hoarse tone:

“You are Leina and Zhou Yun of the Ark Gang, correct?”

Sixth Seat’s gaze flickered briefly over Leina, then settled on Zhou Yun, who wore a faint smile.

Her eyes held a trace of caution.

Her skills, honed since childhood, her body modified with flesh and injected with various drugs, her form blessed by the Death God—she had believed herself capable of absolute silence.

Yet this man had spotted her. And it seemed he had known she was there all along, merely waiting for her to emerge from the shadows.

No wonder the Viceroy had ordered the Chief Assassin to assassinate him.

Sixth Seat withdrew her wary gaze, suppressed her doubts, and feigned respect as she pointed toward the nearby gray-white church:

“I am aware of your purpose. This way, please.”

Sixth Seat gestured, signaling Zhou Yun and Leina to follow.

As they walked, Zhou Yun studied the leather-clad woman with quiet interest.

He pondered: where exactly should he use that secret phrase?

After a moment’s thought, Zhou Yun leaned close to Sixth Seat and whispered:

“Only sacrifice death. Only worship the Death God.”

Sixth Seat blinked in confusion, then performed a Hawk Salute and murmured: “The Death God hungers for death.”

And then?

That was it? Nothing more?

Zhou Yun frowned. It seemed this phrase was not meant to be used here.

Was it only effective when confronting a higher authority of the Daughters of Death?

As Zhou Yun pondered, the three arrived before the church.

“Zhou Yun, look.” Leina leaned close and whispered.

She pointed to the pale church.

Between its stone bricks lay countless bleached bones, twisted and coiled like intricate reliefs.

The entire church appeared built from piled bones, sending a chill down the spine.

Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow.

This church was indeed the one he had seen in the Undernest’s illusion.

“The bones of the righteous shape the temple of death. Their spirits shall return to the Death God’s throne.”

Sixth Seat spoke devoutly, guiding them into the church.

Inside lay a deep, pitch-black corridor, dim and cold, lit only by a few sparse white candles hanging between the bone-stone walls.

The dim light fell upon stone statues nestled in recesses along the walls.

Each statue resembled a tall woman clad in black leather and hood, nearly identical in form.

Zhou Yun studied the inscriptions beneath the statues—written in High Gothic.

He could not read them.

“Chief Assassin. Marika.”

“Chief Assassin. Aya.”

“Chief Assassin. Cassandra.”

“Chief Assassin. Hassan.”

“Chief Assassin. Yaruto.”

Leina whispered them aloud; she understood some High Gothic.

Her gaze halted on the final statue:

“Chief Assassin. Dishi.”

These are the statues of our successive Chief Assassins.

Sixth Seat, walking ahead, said as she led them:

“Each Chief Assassin, under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, dreams of past Chief Assassins, learns the killing arts bestowed by the Death God, and receives a name granted by the Death God himself.”

“Each Chief Assassin is a weapon chosen by the Death God, to bring Him more death.”

“It must be hallucinations from the drugs,” Leina muttered beside him.

She claimed to be chosen by the Emperor, yet had never seen or heard His voice.

Yet this strange heretical cult claimed their leader had been personally blessed by the Emperor and granted His name.

Leina could not accept it.

“I think it might be true,” Zhou Yun’s lips twitched slightly.

Because several of those Chief Assassin names appeared in human third-millennium literature and games—all associated with assassins.

The rest he didn’t recognize; likely names from post-third-millennium cultural works.

The Sixth Seat Assassin walking ahead glanced at Zhou Yun with slightly softened eyes.

“You are more favored than your companion—you grasp the mysteries of the Death God.”

“Even in death, you may find your way to His throne.”

“Just don’t get pulled up, burning in flames, doing pointless labor…” Zhou Yun muttered something that sounded utterly bizarre to others.

Sixth Seat gave him a puzzled look.

Under her guidance, Zhou Yun and Leina entered the deepest chamber of the church.

The entire church was shrouded in darkness, filled with faint whispers, light footsteps, and the scrape of leather against stone.

Leina took several seconds to adjust to the gloom.

Rows of rough, pale stone benches lined the chamber, where several young women in white leather knelt, murmuring prayers.

The air carried a strange chill and heaviness; Leina’s nose caught an odd fragrance.

It smelled like… wine, fermented blood, and drifting death.

Leina heard the trickle of water and followed its source.

Blood, blackened and crimson, flowed from both sides of the church into a circular pool at its far end.

Ten women knelt devoutly beside the pool, clad in gray leather, praying silently.

Beneath the statue of the Emperor at the church’s far end, a woman in a tight black leather suit with a chain-linked hood soaked in the blood pool, head bowed in prayer.

“That’s your Chief Assassin?” Zhou Yun glanced at Sixth Seat.

Sixth Seat nodded slightly. “The Chief has not yet completed her prayer. Please, follow me to the assigned room to rest and wait. When her prayer ends, the Chief will meet with you personally to discuss cooperation.”

Zhou Yun nodded slightly. The two followed Sixth Seat into a simple room.

Inside stood two wooden chairs, a small table, and on it, several protein blocks—nothing else. The simplicity was stark.

After they entered, Sixth Seat performed a quiet Hawk Salute and departed.

“Zhou Yun…” Leina sat beside him, whispering. “I scanned the room with psychic energy—no immediate danger.”

“But these Daughters of Death assassins… the more I watch them, the more wrong they feel.”

“They might…”

Leina made a throat-slitting gesture.

Zhou Yun only smiled, countering: “How’s the battle with the Gene Thieves going?”

“I’ve been putting out fires everywhere, and you handled all the logistics—Ark Gang’s supply flow is much smoother now. We can hold out a few more days.”

Leina’s expression was grim; the battle was clearly going poorly.

“Don’t worry. Today, we’ll get new reinforcements,” Zhou Yun smiled.

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“Are you really that confident?” Leina shook her head.

“It’s not like we’ll die.” Zhou Yun leaned back against the bed, closed his eyes, and rested.

Dishi rose from the blood pool, blackened blood dripping from her body.

“Chief.” Sixth Seat saw Dishi emerge and approached her side.

“How were the two?” Dishi asked softly, her voice like a cold wind through the dark church.

“The woman has strong psychic power, but she’s not clever.”

Men have keen senses; he easily detected me and seems to know quite a bit about us.

The Sixth Seat’s voice grew heavier:

“He appears to trust us, but more so he trusts himself—this man is difficult to handle.”

Dichi gave a slight nod and moved briskly forward; the Sixth Seat hurried to follow.

“Whoever they are, whatever their status, death will visit them all equally.”

“Death is irresistible, for the Chosen of Death has descended upon Asford—we must offer him even more death in his honor.”

Dichi’s tone was as calm as night, bringing the Sixth Seat a sense of comfort.

Suddenly, the Sixth Seat remembered what Zhou Yun had said to her on the road.

“Oh, by the way, Chief, this man is strange and inexplicable.”

The Sixth Seat thought for a moment and said:

“On the road, he suddenly whispered to me: ‘Only sacrifice death, only worship the Death God.’”

“That’s not a prayer from our scriptures—it’s bizarre. Could this man be from another Death-Worshipping sect—”

“What did you just say?!”

Dichi’s voice sharply rose, her gaze toward the Sixth Seat filled with horror.

“I said—he whispered to me on the road: ‘Only sacrifice death, only worship the Death God.’”

The Sixth Seat was startled; she had never seen Dichi react like this.

After all, they had been trained since childhood—including mentally—and under normal circumstances, such intense emotional fluctuations were impossible.

“Only sacrifice death, only worship the Death God.”

Dichi’s eyes grew slightly vacant; after a moment, she turned to the Sixth Seat with tension:

“Was he blue?”

“. No, Chief, you think he’s…” The Sixth Seat’s eyes also flickered with fear.

“Not blue—but how could he…?” Dichi’s gaze was thick with confusion.

According to what she had seen in the Emperor’s revelation,

the Chosen of Death should have been a blue, sacred presence reciting: “Only sacrifice death, only worship the Death God.”

That was the Chosen of Death.

She had to meet that man named Zhou Yun.

“She’s here.”

In the Death-Worshipping sect’s small room, the winged figure within the white light suddenly spoke.

A brilliant, radiant white light—visible only to Zhou Yun—marked the invisible Chief Assassin Dichi, hidden in the room’s shadows.

It seemed the Death-Worshipping assassins had some skill; Zhou Yun had faintly sensed someone enter, but he couldn’t fathom how she had slipped silently into this sealed room.

She now crouched in the shadows, watching Zhou Yun without a sound.

Zhou Yun’s lips twitched slightly.

He had a strong urge to ask Dichi: Are you defecating?

Zhou Yun broke off a piece from the protein block on the table, rolled it into a ball, and held it between his fingers.

Plop!

He flicked the protein ball with his finger.

The ball struck the wall, bounced lightly, and shot straight toward Dichi, crouched in the corner.

Since returning from the Undercity, Zhou Yun had found his marksmanship growing increasingly refined—even unnaturally so.

He couldn’t explain whether it was due to the Yellow Fur Spirit’s blessing, or if, as the winged figure in the white light claimed, his subdimensional nature had been partially recognized.

Dichi, hidden in the corner, saw the ball flying toward her and swiftly dodged—yet—

Thud!

The ball struck her forehead with a crisp sound.

The air fell utterly silent; Leina turned her head, bewildered, toward the source of the noise.

Dichi also rose slowly from the shadows, rubbing her forehead, equally stunned.

Even a bullet should have been dodged—not a ball made of protein.

Dichi, Zhou Yun, and Leina stared at each other in the room.

Finally, Zhou Yun broke the silence.

“I am the Chosen of Death. The Emperor sent me.”

Zhou Yun looked at Dichi with calm expression.

“Only sacrifice death, only worship the Death God.”

“Huh?” Leina stared at Zhou Yun, bewildered. “You—the Chosen of Death?”

“Of the three here, only one wasn’t invited by the Emperor. Guess who?” Zhou Yun glanced at Leina and shrugged.

Leina’s face twisted into a frown.

“But…” Chief Assassin Dichi said hesitantly, “In the Emperor’s vision, the Death God appeared as a blue, sacred figure…”

“. Huh?” Leina looked even more confused between Dichi and Zhou Yun.

“. Blue?” Zhou Yun’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

After a moment of silence, he said: “Both of you, leave the room.”

Dichi bowed slightly and slipped soundlessly out of the room.

Leina blinked, equally bewildered, and walked out.

Zhou Yun pulled out Body Clay from his fourth-dimensional pocket.

(End of Chapter)