Chapter 339

Qiu Dugu didn't hide it, saying: "This man is from the Shadow League—Bai Daoren, one of the Thirteen Daorens under the Shadow League!"

And 【Lei Yunxin】 is a deterrent artifact.

It has no effect during normal times, but when its host dies, it takes control of the corpse and transforms into a strange entity, with power equivalent to a mid-level Black Grade strange entity.

Only by defeating it or extracting 【Lei Yunxin】 can its actions be stopped.

However, the Alliance's records on it are limited to this.

Because 【Lei Yunxin】 itself is a deterrent artifact, designed to prevent others who know Bai Daoren's identity from attacking him lightly.

After all, a being that turns into a strange entity upon death—even the Alliance finds it inconvenient to handle, let alone Shadow League members, whose whereabouts are elusive and impossible to track.

But… I don't know who killed Bai Daoren."

As he spoke, Qiu Dugu's suspicious gaze flickered over Fang Yue.

Had he not seen Fang Yue's revealed power, he would never have thought an ordinary person could kill someone as important as Bai Daoren from the Shadow League.

But Fang Yue had already revealed himself—that terrifying power made even Qiu Dugu feel inferior.

Such a powerful cultivator killing Bai Daoren is no different from slaughtering a chicken.

It's just that the strange entity later manifested by 【Lei Yunxin】 is the most troublesome.

Regardless, Fang Yue truly helped Qiu Dugu out of a major predicament.

Supporting Fang Yue as they walked back, Qiu Dugu said: "We owe our success against Bai Daoren entirely to your intervention. If you ever need help in the future, just call me. Also, due to official duties, I must report today's events to my superiors. But don't worry—I'll do my best to get you admitted into the Alliance's system. Such immense power wasted outside the system is a complete waste!"

Fang Yue had already fully recovered, but he said nothing as Qiu Dugu supported him.

Only when he heard Qiu Dugu wanted to bring him into the Alliance did Fang Yue's eyelid twitch.

"What? You don't want to?"

Qiu Dugu immediately caught Fang Yue's expression change and asked.

"No… I certainly want to join the Alliance, but before that, I need to tell you something."

After hesitating a moment, Fang Yue decided to tell Qiu Dugu about the parchment.

"What?! Ma Shaoku wants to embezzle the Rain Grade artifact 【Parchment】? The one left in the Alliance is a fake 【Parchment】? And he wants to kill you, a witness, to cover it up?"

Qiu Dugu grew more and more shocked; when he heard Ma Shaoku was willing to murder to steal an artifact, fury surged instantly in his chest.

The Alliance exists to save the world—not for some people to abuse their positions for personal gain!

Qiu Dugu's face turned grim. He didn't want to believe his partner was such a person, but Fang Yue had no reason to lie. As for evidence, all it would take is verifying the authenticity of the 【Parchment】 sent to the central vault—then the truth would be clear.

As the two spoke of this, the Hair Giant Tree ahead became visibly clear.

Under Qiu Dugu's mental control, the Hair Giant Tree slowly collapsed and dissolved.

At the same time, he saw three figures standing where the Hair Giant Tree had been.

Two of them held bone spears, relentlessly stabbing the third person on the ground.

"Could there be another strange entity here, attacking them?!"

Qiu Dugu's expression changed; he and Fang Yue exchanged a glance and rushed forward together.

When they arrived, both froze.

The figure lying on the ground was unmistakably Ma Shaoku.

Ma Shaoku looked utterly pitiful.

His expression was numb and vacant, as if he had endured unbearable torment—dazed and unresponsive, even as Fang Yue and Qiu Dugu arrived.

Only A Ming and Bai Xiaoya noticed their return.

A Ming stopped thrusting his bone spear, happily asking about their condition, while Bai Xiaoya coldly drove one final spear into the shadowy silhouette above Ma Shaoku's forehead, then turned to Fang Yue.

"You alright?"

"Fine. That thing wasn't as strong as I thought."

Fang Yue briefly recounted his experience to Bai Xiaoya, while Qiu Dugu frowned and shook the half-smoke-converted Ma Shaoku.

Like calling back a soul, he kept shouting Ma Shaoku's name.

After shouting seven or eight times, Ma Shaoku suddenly gasped deeply, like a drowning man rescued—breathing heavily, eyes wide with terror as he scanned his surroundings.

His first sight was Qiu Dugu.

A jolt ran through him; Ma Shaoku nearly burst into tears.

They finally came to save me! They finally came to save me!

In those dozen minutes, he had nearly been driven mad.

That crazy woman didn't waste a single second—she furiously drove her bone spear through his body, ignoring every scream, roar, threat, or plea—he could do nothing, and she did only one thing, over and over: piercing his body with the bone spear, inflicting excruciating pain.

Within mere minutes, Ma Shaoku had surrendered, numb—he'd tried several times to drop his smoke state, become solid, and let the crazy woman kill him.

But in truth, he feared death too much to do it.

For the rest of the time, Ma Shaoku endured endless self-hypnosis and extreme agony.

Now, regaining awareness and seeing Qiu Dugu, he felt alive again—like a dying man's final surge of strength.

He immediately screamed, pointing at Bai Xiaoya behind Qiu Dugu.

"Kill her! Qiu Dugu, kill this woman right now! Kill her!!"

Ma Shaoku roared in a frenzied, almost hysterical voice.

He had never suffered such humiliation! Since obtaining the artifact, he'd considered himself superior, speaking to ordinary people with condescending superiority.

Who could have imagined that today, two ordinary people would torture him nearly to madness?

Though his body bore no wounds, his spirit was riddled with countless scars!

At Ma Shaoku's screams, Bai Xiaoya drew her bone spear and lunged toward his face—he shuddered violently, scrambling behind Qiu Dugu's back.

A full-fledged Alliance member, wielding great power and authority, reduced to this by Bai Xiaoya—an ordinary person—clearly showing how brutal her attacks had been, how deep the psychological trauma she left.

"These three are civilians. By regulations, we have no right to slaughter civilians."

"And... Ma Shaoku, let me ask you — the Rain-grade Oddity parchment, you were the one responsible for delivering it into the general inventory, weren't you?"

The previous sentence was still nothing much, at most it made Ma Shaoku feel angry.

But the following sentence directly gave Ma Shaoku a full-body case of goosebumps.

(End of chapter)