Chapter 143: 141 The Spy

Corrosive Agent, a poison extremely destructive to the environment.

The cost is not low, and most of its main materials are produced within the borders of the Empire of the Hidden...

Fahl calmly observed the withered field, his brows slightly furrowed.

He keenly noticed a phenomenon: the withering caused by the toxin was not evenly distributed.

The fields near several main irrigation ditches had withered most thoroughly, as if scorched by fire.

And some field plots slightly farther from the ditches and at a slightly higher elevation, though also showing signs of sickness, still had some wheat seedlings tenaciously turning yellow, not completely dead.

"My lord... have you seen what this actually is?" the old village head asked, trembling and following along, holding a thread of hope.

Fahl slowly stood up, brushed off the debris from his hands, and Lilian stepped forward to hold his hand and cast a Purification spell.

Fahl wore a look of confusion on his face and gently shook his head: "The situation is very complex; this is a malignant disease I have never seen before. Judging by these symptoms, I fear it is some kind of sickness mixed with withering, rot, and unknown factors. It appears to be contagious as well."

He deliberately avoided sensitive words like "Corrosive Agent" and "poisoning."

"Malignant disease... so it really is a plant disease!" the villagers' faces turned deathly pale.

"Can it be cured? My lord, please save our fields!"

Hearing "contagious," the village head dropped to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his aged face.

Most of the wheat fields in the village were adjacent; if this spread, wouldn't it lead to total crop failure?

Upon hearing this, the other villagers also began to beg earnestly.

Fahl did not rush to answer the village head's question; instead, he pointed to some fields that were still intact and asked, "Do these fields use the same ditch for irrigation as that completely withered field, or is there some difference?"

The village head wiped his tears, looked in the direction Fahl pointed, and paused for a moment: "Ah? It... it is water drawn from the same main ditch, but..."

As if remembering something, he pointed to the complex water diversion outlets between the ridges and continued:

"Our village's old water ditch was built several decades ago. To accommodate fields at different slopes, it was divided into several small branch ditches.

The area near the foot of the mountain, which withered the most severely, was directly flowed over by the main channel, carrying the largest volume of water.

These few plots you mentioned... seem to be served by the branch ditches.

That ditch has not been maintained for years; there are several places leaking severely, so the water flowing to that side is much less and much slower..."

Speaking thus, the village head clearly thought of something as well. "Are you saying the disease is... flowing down from the main ditch? I... I will order someone to block it immediately!"

Fahl grabbed the old village head and shook his head, saying, "Not necessarily. All the wheat in this area is dead; blocking it now would be meaningless."

He turned around and spoke loudly to the bewildered villagers: "Everyone, this disease is strange; I fear it requires more professional personnel to handle. But please do not worry; I will report this immediately, and someone will arrive to handle it within a few days."

After speaking, Fahl took no water and, amidst the villagers' grateful yet anxious gazes, left Deer Antler Village. The caravan drove along the road and quickly disappeared from the villagers' sight.

Deep night, all sounds silenced.

A figure like a ghost quietly slipped out from an inconspicuous corner somewhere in the village.

Using shadows and terrain, he avoided possible lines of sight with extreme professionalism; his target was exceptionally clear: those very branch ditches!

"This damn broken ditch, why divide the flow at all!" The shadow squatted by the branch ditch, pulling a black potion bottle with only a small half remaining from his chest, and said angrily, "I don't know if this little bit left is enough..."

"Enough for what?"

A curious voice exploded like thunder beside the shadow's ear; he turned around in horror.

He saw Fahl standing not far away with his hands behind his back, watching him with a light smile.

"You... you!?" He had clearly watched the caravan leave!

"Are all Demon Race spies as stupid as you?" Fahl, taking his time, mocked the fellow dressed as a villager before him. "One trick, and you came out."

Half a bottle of Corrosive Agent was thrown; Fahl easily dodged it.

Taking advantage of Fahl's dodging motion, the villager's hands transformed into two giant claws, tearing toward Fahl.

"You are the fool, daring to come alone!" Seeing his exposure, the spy immediately went all out.

"That is not necessarily true." Fahl stood in place, seeming not even prepared to dodge.

The spy naturally saw something was wrong, but with the arrow already on the string, he had no choice but to release; he still charged straight ahead. Yet he was stopped dead halfway.

There was nothing visible before him; what was stopping him?

First-rank magic—Hand of Frost!

Cold air spread from his chest; in an instant, the spy's body was completely frozen, leaving only his head exposed.

And right before him, light and shadow twisted, revealing Lilian's figure.

"It is a Shapeshifter." Lilian said, clapping her hands with some disgust.

Fahl nodded; "Shapeshifter" was a derogatory term for a Shapeshifter. This fellow before him could transform into dual claws, indeed a standard skill of a Shapeshifter.

Footsteps came from not far away; it was the two guards he had stationed at a distance.

The remaining two guards and eight clerical staff had stayed by the carriage.

Soon, everyone in the village was called up. Seeing the spy being carried by the guards to an open space, one farm woman screamed in terror.

"Yak? What is going on here?"

The two guards glanced at Fahl; upon receiving permission, they stabbed again and again, repeatedly piercing the spy's frozen claws.

The spy on the ground could endure at first, but before long, he was tortured by excruciating pain, howling loudly.

At the same time, that villager's face twisted, shifting through several faces in succession.

Seeing this, the guards finally stopped. "Just like that; this is a Shapeshifter."

"Then... then where is my husband?" the farm woman asked, trembling.

The guard shrugged, offering no answer, but the answer was obvious—it was certainly easier to hide a corpse than a living person.

The farm woman's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, caught in time by the villagers beside her.

Fahl pulled the village head aside to give a few instructions, leaving two gold coins for the village head to help those affected villagers get through the crisis.

He then left the village with the spy.

"You two, take this guy back and hand him over to the Chairman."

No further instructions were given; his father, having received the spy, would naturally take appropriate measures—no extra input from him was needed.

"Yes!" The two guards bowed, then left along the path they had come.

Fal returned to the carriage, intending to make no further stop—he would continue toward Mute Wind Village at first light.

Yet, lying inside the carriage, Fal could not rest.

Lilian, kneeling beside him, asked: "What's wrong? Catching a spy should be good news—why are you frowning so much?"

"I just can't figure out why."

Regular detection spells can't detect shapechangers—they're naturally excellent spies."

But their numbers have never been large; logically, they shouldn't be wasted like this."

Destroy some farmland?"

Even if the entire kingdom suffered total crop failure, it could still buy enough grain from the Forest Elves."

I can't understand what purpose this serves?"

Due to their unique environment and innate Druidic talents, the Forest Elves can, when necessary and at a certain cost, achieve explosive grain yields."

And to curb the expansion of the Hermit Empire, they clearly wouldn't want the humans on the front line to collapse without even fighting, merely because of food shortages."

So Fal couldn't understand—what purpose did the demons serve by wasting their own spies?"

"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it—will you really refuse to rest just because you can't figure it out?" Lilian murmured.

Fal sighed. Lilian was right—he should leave this headache to his Chairman father. Right now, he needed to consider how to handle the underground city's anomalies after assuming office next month. He'd heard the Church also planned to send people to assist...

(End of Chapter)