Chapter 193

Normally your combat output is fierce as a tiger, yet at crucial moments you just go compete in the chain‑dropping professional championship, right?

"Eleanor Priest, don't panic no matter what happens later; everything is under control, it's all……the arrangement of the great god."

Shengguang Laodeng: I didn't!

After saying hello in advance, Ji Ming walked alone up to the mastiff‑person, took advantage of the opponent's collapsed mental defenses, and used a particularly handy 【Suggestion Technique】.

He cleared his throat, lowered his voice, and began the interrogation.

"Tell me, who sent you here?"

The Killing God came to my side, and the mastiff‑person, frightened, jumped to his feet.

But the dog is indeed loyal; although his feet keep retreating, his face shows determination.

"No, I could never betray the great demon god Wendigo; I'll tell you his name!"

Wendigo!

The number of these things in existence is roughly equal to Ji Ming's face—basically nonexistent.

Moreover, not every god has a stable divine realm to transcend the world; some low‑level beings still proving the Dao can operate in the mundane world.

Ji Ming shifted his gaze, and because it was close, the evil‑god statue already revealed its true form.

Seated atop the stone base was a huge, terrifying creature—like a corpse yet like a demon—a skull‑headed sheep‑like aberrant being.

... Although I had expected it, you really reached out your hand to Sunlight City?

Ji Ming's heart tightened, and he pondered for a moment.

"What is his purpose in sending you here?"

The mastiff‑person bared his teeth and spoke with firm resolve.

"What good does asking do? Do you think I'd be stupid enough to tell you the secret of using the three families' conflicts in Inner City to carry out a massive blood sacrifice of souls?"

Eleanor: ……

"Besides you, has anyone else come to Sunlight City?"

"No! We definitely didn't send out twelve experts above level twenty!"

Alright, the scale of this is still quite big.

Ji Ming was about to ask further, but Wendigo himself apparently couldn't stand it anymore, and the statue beside him flashed red light in its eyes.

A bitter wind swept through this underground space, and an unseen presence manifested through the statue, bringing a dangerous gaze down upon them.

The air began to vibrate, the howling wind roared, and a strange melody transmitted to the mastiff‑person's head—exactly the same string music as before.

"You want to silence me? You're not even qualified."

The gong is just a medium; Ji Ming didn't need to strike it to activate the 【Farewell Technique】, so he opened his mouth and began chanting the 【Salvation Mantra】.

"By the supreme imperial decree, I deliver you lonely souls; all ghosts and monsters, all beings receive grace……"

One is a god from the Infinite Upper Realm, the other is the local Shadow God; the influences of these two different gods quietly collide in the air.

Unfortunately the Farewell Technique remains as strong as ever, with no difficulty or hindrance, easily breaking Wendigo's offensive and even causing a crack to appear on the statue.

What was meant to be a counterattack strike instead turned into a fierce bite.

Although the statue remained still, true to its name, a gray‑brown shadow began to climb and spread, filling the space as if trying to trap Ji Ming to death here.

Too bad Ji Ming has far too many cards in his hand!

He brought Eleanor to his side, took out a stack of 【Calming Talismans】, set up a magic array, and directly encircled the three of them.

Although its output is not as great as 【Saint's Judgment】, nor as convenient as 【Farewell Technique】, its advantage lies in being usable once with sustained output.

Pale golden light turned into a barrier; the shadow tried to cross this line made of talismans, but could only emit a faint sizzling sound, unable to achieve anything.

Inside the array, although Ji Ming did not continue to impose malice on the mastiff‑person, the array's pressure still prevented him from moving.

He could only lie on the ground like a defeated dog, blood and saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"What evil god, just this? I thought the God of Shadows would be so badass."

With a snort of laughter, Ji Ming kicked the mastiff and placed a Sunlight City map in front of him.

"Tell me, where are your accomplices?"

"They..."

The mastiff-man trembled as he extended a finger dripping with blood, marking a scarlet spot on it.

"They're not on Chake Street…… nor……"

Buzz~ buzz~

In a low, rumbling sound that sounded like a howl or the wind blowing, the Wendigo really couldn't sit still this time.

Shadows spread, turning into thick mist; within it, a hulking ram-headed creature with glowing red eyes loomed, raising its muscular arms and slamming down hard on the magic circle.

Thud!

Although it was still useless, the shocking boom still startled Ailinuo.

After all, compared to the hulking beast with no visible bounds lurking in the fog, this transparent golden film really looks eerie……

He could only grip his staff nervously and ask in a low voice.

"Um… um… can this thing hold up?"

"Don't rush; if it weren't for needing to pry information, I have plenty of ways to deal with him."

"How about this: you first help me watch the dog draw, and I'll exchange a couple of moves with him!"

After briefly comforting his teammates, Ji Ming's eyes lit up again.

The scorching holy light beam pierced the shield, directly blasting apart the ram's head formed from the mist.

Perhaps due to anger, or perhaps because the searing holy light was truly painful, a prolonged, deep low howl came from the mist.

However, with the idol as an anchor, the shadow's power was naturally not limited to this; soon it conjured another beastly silhouette.

But Ji Ming, armed with the Saint's Judgment for offense and the Tranquil Spirit Formation for defense, is far more composed than the frantic evil god who keeps punching trying to open a can.

You're anxious?

Therefore, until the mastiff person reported all the information, the beast shadows could do nothing to the three people in the formation, not even a bit, and could only keep howling.

Unfortunately, Wendigo had considered the possibility of personnel being compromised when arranging the plan.

Especially this way, being subjected to soul-related spells by others to forcibly interrogate relevant information.

Therefore, the mastiff person racked their brains, but could only mark five spots on the map before stopping their finger, their voice trembling.

There's more, but I really don't know!

Ji Ming thought carefully and realized there seemed to be nothing left to ask.

However, in order to extract the maximum utility, he still asked additionally.

Do you have any absolute secrets you cannot tell anyone, concerning Sunlight City… and… the Shadow God?

Who would have thought that, as soon as his words fell, the mastiff person, who had always been 'well-behaved', began to tremble violently.

His eyes widened, he clenched his teeth, as if something that absolutely could not be spoken was about to burst forth.

Could there be something even more secret than the information just mentioned that was enough to make a divine incarnation act?

Ailin Nuo, come a bit closer to me.

He threw out several more calamity-suppressing talismans to help stabilize the formation, and Ji Ming hurriedly took out his notebook to begin recording.

Who would have thought that, after the mastiff person finished sifting the chaff, the first thing out of their mouth was……

I'm actually a bone fetishist!

Taking a deep breath, he raised his voice with all his might.

Actually, I've had a crush on Lord Wendigo for a long time!

Ah?

Ah?

Hum?

It was as if a collective silence spell had been cast; just moments ago the basement had been filled with howling winds and crackling lasers, but suddenly it fell silent.

Only the mastiff person stubbornly lifted their head; although their face was covered in blood and burns, their eyes were filled with utmost determination.

From the moment I saw Lord Wendigo, I have already fallen hopelessly in love with Him!

His white bones, low voice, beautiful hand bone curves—every bit of Him makes me yearn endlessly!

Who knows where this crazy ugly thing got such deep affection, actually starting a violent confession in public.

Moreover, the wording is extremely affected and pretentious, as if the writing style had been honed by reading countless melodramatic novels.

Wait a moment!

Ji Ming, who was just watching the show, suddenly interrupted him.

I remember that in that weird council… wasn't there a lich? Why don't you like him?

Who would have thought the mastiff person looked disgusted and spat out hatefully.

Who would like that disgusting thing with the habits of a little girl!

A real man should like men! Big! Hard! Fierce! Strong!

For example, the strong and beautiful, genius-like Lord Wendigo!

Panting heavily, the mastiff person excitedly finished their confession declaration, but a hint of regret suddenly appeared on their face.

But I know that the great god has a grand undertaking, destined not to like me, so……

Although saying this will surely get me killed, but now that it's come to this, I must say it!

He took another deep breath and roared.

Actually, before the altar was even completed and the great god had not yet cast His gaze, I…… before his statue……

???

Ji Ming didn't know whether to cover Ailin Nuo's eyes or ears for a moment, so he simply squatted down and covered his own.

Ugh ah ah ah, what the hell is this? It's terrifying, forbidden for anyone from zero to ninety-nine years old to hear!

But who cares whether you listen or not; the name of this place is now Mastiff Person Square!

(Very sorry, because this sentence's content is extremely terrifying, likely to cause SAN value crisis, it has been automatically muted by the heavenly dao of the real world.)

Having quickly uttered those bizarre and crazy words, which were utterly a blasphemous challenge to the moral bottom line of living beings, the mastiff person burst out laughing.

So when the great god descends and contaminates this space with His shadow, I…… I am overly excited!

His body is already smeared with my taste, hahaha, I have already touched His greatness, hahahaha!

……

In a deathly silence, the surrounding gray mist suddenly thinned a bit, and then……

Ah!!!!!!

That was a deafening, maddening shriek.

Under the terrifying divine might, each wisp of mist seemed to turn into a spirit, launching relentless fierce attacks on the formation's shield.

How crazy; the formation that had been as solid as gold and bronze just a moment ago really began to shake, and it seemed only a matter of time before it would be broken apart.

Holy shit, you dare say anything, bro, you're on your own!

He pulled out a stack of calamity-suppressing talismans to clear the way; Ji Ming grabbed the dazed, lovelorn Ailin Nuo and hurriedly fled elsewhere.

Sure enough, not long after walking out, the unmaintained formation was crushed, and the mastiff person's miserable cries were utterly tragic.

Even with the deity statue serving as an energy conduit, performing a distant descent still consumes a lot of mana.

Therefore, after killing the mastiff person, the surrounding mist became much thinner; at least Wendigo could no longer come to clash divine power with Ji Ming.

But looking at the architect of all this, the remaining shadow still condensed into a gray horned demon.

Under the gaze of scarlet eyes, He spoke His first……

"Xiao Wen, you don't like someone's dog, so you don't like them, and then you even killed them after they just filed a complaint— isn't that going too far?"

Before he could even speak, Ji Ming cut him off and bombarded him with questions from head to toe, almost making the Wendigo split apart from anger.

His steady, pleasant voice turned twisted and mad.

"Profaner of gods, you will surely pay the price!"

Amidst the howling, the huge shadow kept shrinking, turning into a crimson evil‑god seal that slapped toward Ji Ming.

"Heh, still trying to stick in an eye?"

Ji Ming is all too familiar with this thing— basically, whenever a protagonist who's successfully overcome a higher‑level challenge provokes the big shot behind the scenes, they get smacked with one of these.

Too bad, even if I stood there and let you hit me, you couldn't break my defense— what's the point of you, useless, messing with this?

A suppressive talisman floated over, burned itself out on impact, and directly canceled the evil‑god seal, not even leaving a spark.

"What a beast……"

The Wendigo could only curse once before vanishing.

Looking around at the now‑normal surroundings, Ji Ming took out a small gong and tapped it.

"No life left? Weak as hell?"

"Ah, after all that trouble to go on an adventure, you guys aren't even capable of giving me a chance to kill you……"

As an honest man, he kept his word, first twisting off the opponent's head on the corpse of the Mastiff‑person that had been almost hacked to pieces.

This thing is too evil and too freakish— there's no need to toss it into a dungeon as an NPC; it would corrupt the children.

Then he eradicated the root, taking a shovel to completely smash the Wendigo's shattered idol, and even used holy light to light a few suppressive talismans as incense.

After cleaning up, Ji Ming brought Eleanor back to the hall.

What just happened was too shocking, but someone like Ji Ming, whose XP is already abnormal, naturally recovered quickly.

But pure as white paper, Eleanor, who'd received noble and academy education since childhood, had been dazed for a long time, and even now she's still completely bewildered.

As a developing effort‑type athlete, she might still need a long time to digest the terrifying knowledge she encountered today……

Looking at the light outside the church— though not exactly bright, it was much brighter than inside— she suddenly shuddered.

"How terrifying, how terrifying, how terrifying…… How could there be such a perverted person in this world!"

Suppressing the urge to light a cigarette, Ji Ming gave the look of someone who's been through it all.

"After you've been through a lot, you'll naturally know."

"But… I don't want to know……"

He sighed, folded the map, and handed it over.

"Although the process was a bit winding, this trip wasn't in vain— go try to verify the map's authenticity; I'll be waiting for your good news."

Eleanor hesitated a moment, then, after confirming it was just a map, she put it back into her pocket.

But then it seemed she suddenly discovered something, and she pulled out a crystal from it.

"This inside…… is the audio I just recorded, originally meant to be evidence, but I don't want it…… you, you take it!"

Like tossing away a southern cockroach, she said that and then fled, clutching her staff.

Holding the transparent blue crystal, Ji Ming picked up his medicine box and sighed again.

No time to waste— those two gang enforcers aren't idiots; they've already notified the people of the three Inner City families to come reinforce, the surroundings are getting noisier, and footsteps are rapidly approaching from all sides.

So Ji Ming took off his mask, tidied his appearance, returned to the guise of a wandering apothecary, and slipped away against the crowd.

Things went from bad to worse— first Mastiff‑people, then filthy maggots, then an evil‑god descent.

By rights, this should be a hidden high‑difficulty dungeon that even a solo player over level thirty would have to shed skin to survive.

Yet, after skipping class on multiple targeted skills, two rookies around level ten actually managed to cleave through it.

But this is really exhausting……

Dragging his weary body back to the commercial street, Ji Ming was about to rest when he saw a crowd of patients gathered again at his doorstep.

"Damn!"