Chapter 2399: Love for the Evil God's Faith 04

This is the edge of the Holy City. It is a place abandoned by the Light.

Those who gather here are oppressed by nobles and hunted by the imperial family; most are vicious evildoers.

But even more are ordinary people implicated in power struggles and exiled, as well as half‑beasts and goblins rejected by the theocracy and deemed unfit to live in the Empire.

They are dim, they scrape by, living toward death.

The air is murky, permeated with the smell of blood.

Sai Mu Er silently merged into this shadow.

His face was covered with an exquisite silver butterfly mask, revealing only a graceful jawline and a hint of blood‑red lips.

His ink‑black hair flowed like night, falling to his waist, swaying slightly with his steps.

The eyes revealed beneath the mask were pure and eerily blood‑red, scanning the surrounding chaos with a near‑enjoying languor.

In the foul, bloody aura, the suppressed dark power within him surged like awakening vines, drawing on chaotic strength and making Sai Mu Er feel a strange exhilaration.

He passed through the crowded, noisy throng, and wherever he went, the clamor unconsciously sank low.

Du Ya handed over a pipe.

The pipe was antiquely styled, inlaid with an elaborate skull entwined with thorns.

Sai Mu Er took it, idly playing with it at his fingertips, and walked toward the deep chamber where a strange sign hung.

An inverted holy sword hung there, symbolizing a complete overturning of faith in the Light.

Jin Chen's silhouette silently appeared before the ornate, dust‑covered old mirror, which reflected the scene of Sai Mu Er stepping into the room.

Seeing the figure that had shed its disguise and wantonly released a dark aura, Jin Chen raised his brows slightly, a flicker of pleasure crossing his eyes.

His form flickered and dissipated like rippling water where he stood.

In the most inconspicuous shadow of the corner, a man wearing a wide‑brimmed hat and a coarse stablehand's cloth coat quietly appeared.

Jin Chen held a cup of murky ale, his hat brim pressed low, revealing only a hard‑set jawline.

No one would notice his appearance; Jin Chen leaned against the wall, his gaze piercing the crowd to fall upon the figure with black hair and blood‑red eyes.

Sai Mu Er leaned sideways in an armchair upholstered in dark velvet.

The high back of the chair accentuated his already slender figure.

Sai Mu Er casually rested his arm on the armrest, holding the ornate pipe between his fingers; thin smoke curled upward, blurring the cold outline beneath his mask.

Du Ya stood silently behind him.

In the center of the room, an iron cage stood out prominently.

Inside the cage was a disheveled man whom Sai Mu Er recognized.

A noble tied to the imperial family by marriage, moreover a demon who delighted in massacring seventeen lower‑class youths.

At this moment, the lofty noble had lost his former arrogance, yet he still struck the cage with a harsh exterior and a fearful interior, his voice hoarse as he shouted abuse.

"Hei Yuan… so you're Hei Yuan, you scum spat upon by the theocracy! Maggots! It's only right that I kill you! Dare you move against me?"

"The Light God will protect His faithful followers; your souls will be cast into the eternal holy flame to endure the harshest purification!"

He tried to invoke fear with the threat of faith.

The surrounding crowd burst into a suppressed roar, their eyes burning with deep‑seated hatred.

But they bear the theocracy's mark and cannot kill the noble outright; they can only hope in Hei Yuan.

Only Du Ya reacted differently, his gaze turning to Sai Mu Er in the chair, complex.

Sai Mu Er half‑lowered his eyelids; his dark lashes and pallid skin contrasted sharply, his blood‑red pupils in the dim light like a dove‑blood gem—profound, icy, breathtakingly beautiful.

He listened to the noble's hysterical shouting until the man roared again.

"Don't you have any faith? Hah! You lot, rats in the gutter! Perhaps you worship that exiled, light‑shunning Dark Evil God? A pathetic bunch of…"

In the corner, Jin Chen's leisurely turn of the wine cup paused for a moment.

Exiled?

Where did this rumor come from?

Sai Mu Er seemed intrigued by the word, tilting his head slightly.

Dark Evil God.

He had never heard of this deity's existence.

Sai Mu Er slowly lifted his gaze to the face inside the iron cage, twisted by fear and rage.

"Your faith is not sincere. If it were, you would not take pleasure in slaughtering the innocent, so…"

"As a follower once favored by the Father God, I will kill you with my own hands."

Sai Mu Er's crimson lips curled into a smile; he rose gracefully, handing the pipe casually to Du Ya behind him.

The cage door opened; he stepped inside, releasing the dark aspect that had long been suppressed by the Light God's power.

The noble's fury gradually turned to fear; he screamed for mercy, instinctively stirring the faint wood‑aligned spiritual power within him, a few fragile vines struggling to thrust toward Sai Mu Er.

Sai Mu Er's pallid fingers curled into claws; dark power instantly devoured that pitiful hint of green, enveloping the noble entirely.

The shrill scream cut off abruptly.

That hand, beautiful as porcelain, easily pierced the noble's chest and crushed his filthy heart.

Blood spattered, a few drops landing on the edge of his exquisite mask, bright and shocking.

Sai Mu Er withdrew his hand, his fingertips dripping viscous fluid, ignoring the limp corpse on the ground as he walked straight out of the cage.

Someone nearby handed him a clean cloth; he leisurely wiped the blood from his fingers and the back of his hand, a pleased low laugh rising.

This scene was fully taken in by Jin Chen, who sensed that dark and light powers coexisted within Sai Mu Er……

The thought of usurping the Light God grew stronger in his heart.

Ling Gun Gun, sprawled on the table stealing a drink, flipped over, curiously looking over, mourning the Light God in silence.

After cleaning up, Sai Mu Er left the iron cage.

As he walked out, passing the wooden table in the corner, a figure blocked his way.

He was an inconspicuous stablehand.

Under the wide brim of his hat, only his jaw and thin lips were visible.

He held a cup of wine, offering it to Sai Miu Er, his voice low and hoarse.

"Do you want to know about the dark god?"

Sai Miu Er's steps did not stop; his blood-red pupils swept over the shadow beneath the other's hat brim.

He raised his hand, using the back of his finger to gently push the cup back.

"Too bad," Sai Miu Er said, "I'm not interested."

He lingered no longer, his figure merging into the deeper night outside the door.

The raven followed silently at his side, whispering: "The enemy you seek…… another clue has been found. In five days, on the baptism day of the prince's twins, that person will appear."

Sai Miu Er stood before the broken window that the moonlight could barely reach; hearing this, his eyes flickered slightly and he nodded.

At the corner table, Jin Chen watched the pushed-back cup of cloudy ale, the corner of his mouth beneath his hat brim curling into a meaningful arc.

Immediately, his figure vanished like smoke scattered by the wind.

【Detected Villain Blackening Value -2, total 78!】