Chapter 361: Mole: No Mole, Preparing to Catch the Mole

After Ji Ming's series of operations, this group of Shadow followers that had developed within the kingdom unintentionally formed a strategic 'mutual complement' with the intelligence agency set up by the Mist Forest Church in Glory.

If we say the Mist Forest side is Ji Ming, fearing to startle the snake, he only turned the poisonous snake—an important figure—into his own people; thereafter, their information on this side is unilaterally transparent to us.

As for the Shadow Church side, all high-ranking powerhouses except the Concealed Archbishop were secretly given a keyword system by Ji Ming.

Upon hearing certain words arranged in a specific order, they would be triggered into a hidden hypnosis program, becoming absolutely reliable aides to the speaker of those words.

Just like that, they still have to thank us.

"Thanks to having you, the God's Chosen, otherwise our church would surely suffer heavy losses today!"

He very generously stuffed Ji Ming with a large batch of useful and useless supplies as supplementary funds; the Concealed Archbishop kept sighing as if seeing relatives.

"Is it that the Great God thought of everything? Originally, Shadow divine power already had such an advanced usage method, to the point that even human memories can be deleted!"

"It's just a special usage method; you are still gradually optimizing it, and it should be handed to you for trial use not long from now."

"Oh wow, that's great!!!"

He habitually drew a pie for Lao Yang Tou's subordinates; Ji Ming was about to leave when he suddenly remembered another very important matter.

... Never mind, although there's a small risk, I'll still say it; if successful, it could add an extra layer of protection to the lies, which wouldn't be bad.

Thus he indicated the Archbishop to reopen the isolation magic array, and with a solemn face told him his 'small discovery'.

The Archbishop listened, his eyes widened, and he almost dropped his staff.

"This... my lord, is this true?"

Although Ji Ming's cicada has now mistakenly evolved into an iron-thread worm, reversely parasitizing the mantis, he has not forgotten how he originally caught it.

The Concealed Archbishop thought he had completely occupied the Wind Shadow Territory, having already corrupted the local Holy Light followers completely.

Little did he know that beyond the heavens there are more heavens; a higher-level Mist Forest Church had already planted its spies in his team, right there watching.

Therefore, even now, within the Shadow Grand Cathedral where all the worthy have gathered, young and old together, average senior believers, Ji Ming could still notice a few while he was just hypnotizing.

Although his loyalty to the Shadow Church is merely lip service, with no sincerity at all.

But since he is now recognized by them as the God's Chosen and has taken their things.

Then doing a little merit could also better consolidate his position.

In the future, when directing them to do things, perhaps no hypnosis would be needed, and they would all rush forward howling.

But after obtaining the traitor list written by Ji Ming and arresting those named on the spot, then conducting a thorough search, the followers found nothing suspicious on them.

However, the Concealed Archbishop was not therefore anxious, for if they could really find traitors that easily, their ability to infiltrate to this extent would make them look utterly incompetent.

So he waved his hand, and a necromancer sturdy enough to not look like a mage walked over, took off the lantern at his waist, and pulled out a twisted ghost from it.

The Shadow Church indeed lacks substantial mind magic, but that does not mean they have no way to control followers and search for traitors.

Just as they previously controlled the Wind Shadow Count, by stuffing a remnant soul of a Calamity Heart Demon inside, they can perform a full memory scan and thought control.

As for why such means have not been fully laid out……

One reason is that finding a being willing to cooperate, dead, and a Confusing Heart Demon that satisfies all three prerequisites is extremely rare; thus only an important target like the Wind Shadow Count can long occupy a duty post,

On the other hand, as a high-level existence among the uncanny, when the Confusing Heart Demon becomes chaotic and twisted, devouring and assimilating who knows how many undead souls while developing parasitism, the damage to the host's body is considerable.

Either he is a Shadow Warrior cultivated by the church, having undergone full-body transformation, able to adapt to any uncanny parasitism and completely ignore the harm caused by aftereffects.

Or they have someone like the Wind Shadow Count, who is wealthy and powerful, unafraid of soul damage, able to take restorative medicine as water daily, healing injuries as they come, making it irrelevant.

But.

Although most of those suspected of being traitors fail to meet those standards, now is not the time to worry about these things.

So that high-ranking necromancer directly used the undead of the Confusing Heart Demon to launch an investigation.

However, after conducting a full mental scan on the first suspected traitor, the Confusing Heart Demon ghost that crawled out of his brain still wore a puzzled expression.

After hesitating a moment, it then began to chitter into the mage's ear.

"Oh oh... ah? This is impossible!"

After hearing its account, he was clearly a big guy, yet the necromancer's demeanor was like a child caught stealing snacks, hands and feet at a loss.

While he was pondering how to report to the Archbishop, the God's Chosen hiding in the shadows stepped forward.

"How so, still nothing found?"

The mage glanced at the Archbishop, stepped back a few paces while his lips trembled.

"... Yes, my lord."

Having said that, he shrank his neck, feeling that no matter what, he would surely be killed to silence him today.

However, the God's Chosen laughed heartily and said firmly.

"Not finding it is correct!"

Having said that, he walked over to the suspected traitor and indicated the Confusing Heart Demon to burrow in for another check.

"Do you really think the Mist Forest Church is just a group of gentle plant protectors? Wrong! Their soul-related capabilities are far stronger than yours!"

For the same thing, you can investigate, but you also need to know how to investigate.

Just opening a computer disk lets you see it, yet many people delete software only knowing how to delete shortcuts, right?

Indeed, this time, with Ji Ming's assistance, the Confusing Heart Demon found a contradiction in an utterly ordinary memory.

Upon careful examination, the filling part in the middle turned out to be too thin, completely unlike a firsthand experience.

Moreover, the fundamental purpose of the Mist Forest Church altering their memories is to facilitate their better infiltration, not to truly make them die-hard Shadow followers.

Therefore, hidden in the deepest part of their memories is a underlying design that can be triggered by special means and, when danger arises, promptly restore important memories.

And now, the Confusing Heart Demon has found the gateway to that design; thus there's no need to go in and check further, for its very existence proves everything.

But precisely because of this discovery, the traitor triggered his self-preservation—or rather, his silencing mechanism—and the bewilderment in his eyes instantly turned sharp.

"Ughyah!"

He shouted hoarsely, drew a dagger from his bosom, and stabbed at the Shadow God's Chosen who had destroyed all this and now stood beside him.

But this shadow itself is merely a disguise Ji Ming wears; in fact, his hand has always been holding a gun.

So, in the next second, a crisp sound ended the assassin's action; in the gunsmoke, a bullet hole appeared on his forehead, his body then slumped and fell helplessly to the ground.

That strange cry was naturally not a vent of frustration; it was precisely the password to awaken all those lying in wait.

In an instant, regardless of whether the suspects' earlier expressions were doubtful, innocent, indignant, or surprised, they all turned into a uniform madness at this moment.

Moreover, seeing that even the closest comrade had failed, their first action was not to try to break out or drag someone along as a shield, but……

"Pfft!"

Implanting a poison‑hiding tooth in the mouth is no technical challenge; this band of fanatics didn't hesitate at all—men, women, old and young—all chose suicide immediately.

This saved Ji Ming a lot of trouble; he had originally come here intending to unleash a massacre with the box cannon he'd been given that held the Aurora, but in the end he only needed to fire one shot to settle everything, which counts as gaining merit.

Faced with this lot who could seek death so nonchalantly, the surrounding cultists who thought themselves already crazy enough were left dumbfounded—truly feeling inferior.

Only after the last person stopped struggling did the church, which had been silent for a long time, finally hear its first sound.

It came from the Hidden Archbishop, a despairing sigh.

"How terrifying……"

To him now, the scepter was no longer a symbol of mighty display but merely a crutch to keep his body from collapsing.

The archbishop walked to the Chosen One's side, and sobs could be heard beneath his mask.

"Why has this happened?"

Because among these traitors were several who, even before he became archbishop, had relied on each other as close friends—true bosom brothers.

He did not want to, nor would he believe they were traitors! But what lay before him forced him to believe.

After all, if they weren't traitors, why would they so readily sacrifice their own lives without hesitation?

But precisely because of this, he grew all the more steadfast in his conviction.

Alas, those people are not worthy of trust!

Only by helping oneself root out their Chosen One can one truly be a trustworthy comrade!

Ji Ming: Yes, clap!

【Savior, this is his train of thought; you probably shouldn't know it, right】

"Do we still need to know? Look at the conviction almost bursting from his eyes—everything's self‑evident, alright!"

Thinking of this, the Hidden Archbishop hastily gritted his teeth and promised.

"Chosen One, regarding today's affair, I will certainly give you an explanation!"

"Three months! No, one month! I will make sure that not a single mole remains in the Hui Guang Kingdom branch of the Shadow Church!"

Ji Ming, hearing this, was instantly more moved; on one hand he thought, "Old man, this biggest mole of mine is right before you—go ahead and catch a fart!" while on the other he soothed him.

"Moles must be caught! But it's also a long‑term task—not something solvable in one or three months. You need to keep focusing on this, making crackdowns routine, habitual, normal—understood?"

"Okay, I got it!"

"No way, are you really just obediently following like a subordinate?"

Ji Ming felt amused inside and continued giving orders.

"Besides, we've just pulled out a bunch of moles from the Forest Church here; they'll surely send people to investigate Windshadow Territory. I suggest we all withdraw quickly, change our base, and not let them grab a loose end!"

"Understood!"

Helping the Shadow Church root out moles is actually a move that kills two birds with one stone: on one hand it thoroughly completes the PUA of the Hidden Archbishop; on the other it forcibly gives the Forest Church a problem that must be dealt with.

With this pretext, the Poison Snake can, after its seven‑day latency ends, openly split its forces, making the intelligence network appear to be continuously assassinating the princess while actually pouring most of its effort into the Shadow Church.

By then, the Shadow Church's Hui Guang branch will be desperately evading the Forest Church's purge, while the Forest Church's Hui Guang branch will strive to maintain its intelligence network as best it can.

As for our party, we will return to the Royal Capital amid a clamor of gongs, drums, and firecrackers, with extreme difficulty.

Thus, everyone is toiling, everyone is striving, everyone is also happy, because everyone has achieved their goal!

This instantly turned our double win into a quadruple win.

That's practically like Qin Shi Huang touching an electric switch—winning big time!

Moreover, since the Shadow Church is preparing to relocate, there's no longer any need to use the Bewitching Demon's lingering spirit to control the Count.

Thus, Ji Ming simply took the dazed Count and left the Shadow Church hall as a matter of course.

He raised his head, gazed at the moon above the canopy—wrapped in metal, it shone like a mirror—and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Before I came, this was a dead‑end situation; after I left, this place is all my family……

"Hey, wake up."

He produced a poison gas grenade and waved it under the Count's nose; the Count immediately regained his senses.

"Whoa!"

"Uh…… Ji Ming, Chosen One?"

He looked around dazedly, feeling his mind was a tangled mess; it would take a while to tease out thoughts.

"I am…… ah, okay, I know who I am, so where is this and what happened?"

Ji Ming certainly couldn't tell him that he had previously been possessed by the Bewitching Demon, turned paranoid, and dragged a stranger he'd just met that night to catch his wife cheating—a lunatic.

So he erased the parts that might affect his future life, revising it to the Count being controlled by heresy, intending to lure the Chosen One into an ambush in the lower city to kill him.

But before all this happened, the extraordinarily wise and martial Chosen One promptly noticed the oddity on the Count's person and, using the Lord's radiance, saved the lost lamb!

God of Holy Light: Good, clap!

"Ah, I see—no wonder I always felt my former self was odd; turns out I was controlled by an evil god?"

The Count, frightened limp, leaned against the wall, panting for a while before regaining his reason.

"Then…… I…… please come with me back to the manor, Chosen One; I will immediately lead troops to exterminate those damned heretics!"

"No, that would be too late; if we delay, they might deem the mission failed and withdraw, leaving us to strike at empty air."

After raising his objection, the Chosen One pondered a moment, fixing his gaze on the Count's eyes.

"Mr. Count, assassinating me is a big deal; I'm sure they've worked out many remote‑contact methods with you—do you have a password to tell them the mission's been called off?"

The Count furrowed his brow, flipped through his memory, and discovered... huh? How coincidental, it seems there really is!