Chapter 376

Splash—

Late at night, in the manor's woodshed, Luosen dumped a bucket of icy well water over the captive's head.

Cough—cough—

The captive woke up.

He was a young man under thirty, with a well-proportioned, athletic build and a resolute gaze.

For safety, his clothes had naturally been stripped off, and his body was carefully examined to ensure he carried no lethal concealed weapons.

Of course, this wasn't done by Luosen, but by a cook named Laske in the manor.

The method was somewhat rough, but the examination was very thorough.

Luosen stared at the captive bound to the wooden frame from several meters away, one hand gripping the Extinction Law Sword, ready to prevent suicide.

"Name?"

Silence, and he looked at Luosen with an indifferent gaze, as if he had already seen through life and death.

In the past, if Luosen didn't use some special means, he would absolutely not be able to get any information.

But now, he had a better method.

Luosen fixed his gaze on the target and activated the time magic he had just learned, 'Past Insight'.

As the spell activated, Luosen saw overlapping phantoms appear on the man's body before him, and heard various sounds in his ears.

At the same time, Luosen's internal power was greatly depleted, but it was fine because he carried a kilogram of solar essence on him.

As the spell ran, he saw the man bound to the wooden frame fall off it and retreat all the way back.

Because it was a past event that had already occurred, the man and the images within about three meters around him were very cohesive and clear.

Luosen felt as if he were watching a movie played in reverse.

This man also mastered time magic; he quickly sensed Luosen's move and guessed his intention.

Instantly, fluctuations of time magic appeared on his body, beginning to interfere with Luosen's insight.

At the same time, Luosen felt the image before him become blurry, as if a white veil had been draped over the 'film'.

Such interference, even Laifu could hardly achieve perfect restoration.

After thinking, Luosen didn't rush to probe further; he patiently waited at the current point in time.

Time passed second by second; about five minutes later, the interference disappeared.

The reason was simple: the captive's power had been exhausted.

Only then did Luosen continue to look ahead.

He saw the captive return to the tree, then fall from it, and retreat all the way to a remote valley, where he found an unnamed armed unit—the same forty knights as before.

Afterward, the mysterious person retreated from the valley, all the way to Lyon Town, then arrived at a brothel in town named 'Fragrance Overflowing'.

He then retreated into the brothel's basement and met a masked mysterious person.

The masked mysterious person said: 'This is this mission.'

And handed the captive a scroll.

The captive glanced at the scroll's content, which Luosen naturally also saw; it read 'Merchant Luosen' in four characters, with an 'x' drawn above it.

Seeing this, it was already clear: this captive was merely a knife in the hand of some great figure.

Who is this 'great figure'?

Luosen turned his gaze to the masked mysterious person and followed him in another instance of time tracing.

This is an ultra-high-difficulty casting technique called 'Source Shift'.

In theory, as long as one's time aptitude and strength are both sufficiently strong, one can shift and trace the past of anyone in the world.

But theory is just theory; in practice, shifting ten times is already Luosen's limit, and that is thanks to Laifu's help.

If it were Tiralin, she could only shift three times.

His gaze pierced the past, following the masked mysterious person as he continued to retreat.

All that could be seen: the masked person first retreated to the brothel's second floor, removed his disguise, and revealed the identity of a prostitute.

She turned and joined a wild celebration.

In the midst of the revelry, a black crow flew in through the window, a bamboo tube tied to its leg.

Obviously, the prostitute was merely a mouthpiece.

"Really cautious."

Luosen had to perform a second 'Source Shift', turning his target to the black crow.

Following the black crow all the way, it soon flew out of Lyon Town and entered the backyard of a manor in the town's outskirts.

The backyard kept a large flock of black crows.

The situation was that the message had been delivered by another black crow.

Obviously, this was merely a relay station for the message.

Thus, Luosen performed a third Source Shift, following another black crow as it continued to fly.

Just like that, he kept flying and flying; soon came a fourth, fifth, and even sixth Source Shift.

By then, Luosen already understood that the ultimate mastermind behind the scenes must also be an adept of time magic.

He deliberately took this roundabout route to prevent the opponent from tracing him via Source Shift.

All the way up to the seventh Source Shift, Luosen's gaze followed the black crow back to the backyard of a manor in Lyon Town's eastern suburbs.

Entering the manor, his gaze followed the messenger who delivered the news from the backyard to the front hall, then up the stairs to the door of the second-floor study.

The study door was open; one could not see inside, only a scroll was slipped out from the crack, accompanied by a gentle middle-aged male voice.

"Ade, send this message out."

Having traced to this point, no further Shift was possible, as the image showed no entity suitable for shifting.

To find out what's behind the study, you must go to the manor yourself and conduct an on-site investigation.

But Luosen has only traced back seven times so far; he can still do it three more times.

"I don't believe you can keep hiding in the study without showing up."

Luosen thought for a moment, then his gaze continued to follow the messenger servant.

After he went downstairs, he shifted his target to the maid cleaning the living room, then waited patiently; this was the eighth trace-back shift, and the total time spent tracing back had already exceeded 16 hours.

Likewise, according to trace-back theory, if one's power is sufficient, one can trace back all the way to the world's origin.

But human power always has limits; given Luosen's current state, the furthest he can trace back is 48 hours.

Tilalin, meanwhile, only has six hours.

If it were her, she would have been lost long ago, but Luosen still has over a day to spare, so he waits patiently.

Of course, since it's a reverse trace-back, one doesn't need to wait in real time; one can greatly 'fast-forward'.

Thus he waited in reverse time for about '4 hours'.

During that time, through conversations among the maids, he learned that the manor lord's name was 'Aolande Knight', who owned farms and mines and was a renowned figure in Lyon Town.

"Crack—"

The study door opened.

A bland-looking middle-aged man walked out of the study.

The maid immediately bowed and addressed him as 'master'.

Luosen used the mirror hanging on the courtyard wall, catching a glimpse of the man's reflection, and immediately stopped tracing back.

This is naturally a trick taught by Tilalin, meant to avoid disturbing the other's threads of time and alerting them.

Because every chronomancer is extremely sensitive, especially to the threads of time that concern their own fate; even the slightest tremor could alert them.

After withdrawing his gaze, Luosen looked at the captive before him and asked, "Who do you serve?"

"I don't know."

Luosen believed this was true, given the mastermind's caution—they would never reveal their identity to a frontline tool.

This guy is just a bounty mercenary.

He then asked, "How did you get your power?"

The captive remained silent.

Luosen smiled and said, "You don't need to hide this; it has nothing to do with your mastermind, right?"

"As everyone knows, I'm a businessman who values reputation and likes fair trade."

"My terms are: you tell me your power source, and I'll not only heal your wounds but also set you free."

These words made the captive's expression twitch slightly.

Obviously, he was moved.

Luosen continued, "Alright, don't hesitate—speak up sooner, and you'll suffer less."

As he spoke, he flicked a finger at the man's body, releasing a natural healing technique at his left leg wound.

The wound on his thigh instantly healed at a visible speed.

This directly convinced him.

After taking a deep breath, he spoke.

"I used to be a demon-hunting warrior of the Church, but I left because I couldn't stand its internal corruption and decay, becoming a free demon hunter."

"Since childhood, I've practiced the method taught by the Church; within the Church, this practice is called Sun Meditation."

Luosen immediately asked, "Exactly how is the meditation done?"

"It's actually simple: just imagine in your heart a great, bright, eternal sun god, whose name is Aolaitesi."

These words made Luosen's heart twitch slightly.

"The captive didn't notice, and he continued, 'Through daily meditation, in as little as ten years or as long as a lifetime, a lucky few will receive the sun god's response and be granted divine power.'"

"The proportion of such lucky ones is not high; in ten years of meditation, out of ten warriors, roughly only one receives the god's favor."

Luosen nodded and said, "If you've left the Church, how can you still possess divine power?"

"The sun god only cares whether one's faith is pure; my faith in the sun god has never been tainted by worldly dust, and my hands have never been stained with ordinary people's blood."

"By contrast, most of the clergy in the Church have long forgotten their sacred duty and become lackeys of secular power."

Luosen was a bit confused: "If that's the case, won't the sun god punish those whose faith is impure?"

He felt that this 'sun god' was quite irresponsible.

The captive's face also showed bewilderment, but he gave himself a self‑comforting explanation.

"God is tolerant."

Luosen nodded to show he understood, then flicked his hand a few times at the man's wounds, healing them.

"I'm a merchant, not a devil."

"I never force people to trade with me, nor do I hide traps in my deals."

"Now I'm keeping my promise."

He used magic to undo the young captive's bonds: "You're free."

The young captive's face showed a hint of disbelief: "You really intend to let me go?"

"Otherwise? If I really wanted to kill you, why go through all this trouble?"

That's also true.

The young captive earnestly glanced at Luosen and said, "My name is Lainuo, the demon hunter Lainuo."

"I owe you my life, so I won't accept any bounty missions related to you."

"Thanks, I'll remember that."

Luosen nodded, turned and walked out of the woodshed, loudly said to the manor guard at the door: "Let him leave safely."

Returning to Tiralilin's side, she asked: "Dear, have you found the mastermind behind it?"

"I have found a heavyweight figure, but whether it is truly the mastermind needs further confirmation."

One can feel that this half-plane has experienced an excessively long time, with information exchange being extremely backward, thus giving rise to countless unknown secrets and tangled interests.

"Dear, what are you going to do?"

Luosen raised his hand and cast a few Three-ring spells on Tiralilin: "Stay safely in the manor and wait for me; I'll go check it out now."

He never gives his opponent a chance to catch his breath.

(End of chapter)