Chapter 191: A Different Place

Chapter 191: A Different Place

In the town, the young man who had earlier gathered information watched as Deya led her now much-reduced team out of the town. After she was completely gone, he snorted coldly and glanced back toward a certain direction within the town. “First, deal with all those pests. Anyone even slightly related… leave none alive!”

His voice wasn’t loud, only heard by the few Sanctuary Church members left beside him. They gave slight nods, their expressions unchanged. The Sanctuary Church’s method for dealing with Corpse Puppets wasn’t simply catching them and sending them to the stake, but their attitude in handling them was far less lenient than with Humans.

After investigation, the so-called peace in this town was only on the surface. A significant dark underbelly was hidden underneath. Many Mercenaries and Adventurers had been cheated because of this Black Mist. Some disappearances of young girls in the town were even heavily linked to it. This dark underbelly was just well concealed and never exposed before. Pity they ran into him this time!

Such things weren’t rare. The world was big, and they could happen anywhere. The Sanctuary Church couldn’t handle everything. If they encountered something and had time, they might step in. If they didn’t encounter it? How could they manage what they didn’t see?

Without time, if someone had the strength, they could clean it up simply, but not thoroughly—no rooting out the problem entirely… The young man believed if you couldn’t do that, it was best not to get involved. Wait until you had time later. If you cut the weeds but didn’t remove the roots, that dark underbelly would quickly recover. Later, to make up for losses, it might act even worse!

So when you encountered it, you either did nothing and waited for a reckoning later, or you finished it completely in one go.

Of course, some fringe figures in these dark underbellies usually weren’t hugely at fault. A bit of punishment was enough. If they showed true remorse, they could be let go. But the situation here was different. This town’s dark underbelly had run right into the line of fire. If they were still Human, the young man wouldn’t mind handling it the usual way. Now? Anyone even slightly connected—not one would get away!

One more Corpse Puppet meant a little more risk of disaster. With such a good opportunity to clear out many Corpse Puppets in this town, why not do it? Not only do it, but do it thoroughly. Even those remotely connected shouldn’t get away. Besides reducing the Corpse Puppets involved in the town’s dark underbelly, managing the remaining Corpse Puppets would be easier later.

So, an unseen purge swiftly unfolded in the town. The ordinary townsfolk felt nothing, but some in the town’s management saw something. A few still had ties to the dark underbelly. While they were busy cutting those ties, they were shocked to find the Sanctuary Church at their door. The members who came gave them no chance to argue, directly administering ‘Purification’!

As for what the ordinary townsfolk thought?

Oh~! They were tainted by evil forces, no longer their original selves, so they had to be dealt with, or they’d cause great harm… This statement held no fault regarding Corpse Puppets. And based on the Sanctuary Church’s power, some of the dirty secrets of these purged managers were quickly dug up!

Had they done bad things? Even better. No need to dress it up; just throw these shady dealings out there. Hadn’t done any? How could they be involved in the town’s dark underbelly without doing anything?

So this purge came and went quickly, meeting no resistance. When the Sanctuary Church’s follow-up handling team arrived to take over managing the town, everything in the town had already been fully… settled. The team leader looked at the young man before him, his tone somewhat emotional. “You… others dream of the Bishop position, yet you pay it no mind.”

“The Bishop identity doesn’t suit me, and I don’t want to be stationed anywhere,” the young man said with a stiff face. “You handle the town’s affairs from now on.”

The team leader gave a slight, bitter smile and shook his head a little. “With you here, what’s left for me to handle? We just need to secure this place properly, right?”

“Don’t think about running off.” Zheng Yichen yawned, hooking a claw. The little girl who had been quietly inching away was pulled back by several Mana Threads binding her. Seeing the dark dragon face so close, her expression remained… indifferent!

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Zheng Yichen took out a Lollipop and tossed it into her arms. This Lollipop was her food for the next month. Hungry? A few licks of this special Lollipop would fill her up. Three meals a day, licking slowly. Ordinary people might gain weight eating it, but Zheng Yichen saw no signs of her gaining weight… As for how he knew such details?

Of course, from checking her body!

The power inside her, deeply fused with every one of her cells—after several days of examination and study, Zheng Yichen finally figured something out. That power was indeed the Gray Mist Power from the Witch he encountered before, but its nature had changed. It seemed mixed with something else, causing a sort of Magical Modification chemical reaction, resulting in this peculiar existence that was the little girl. Moreover, as time passed, the fusion was deepening. It might eventually lose all visible trace of detection.

After that, Zheng Yichen’s research hit a bottleneck. Regarding Witch’s Power, he ultimately knew too little. He hadn’t even fully understood Mana itself. He could discover this much only because of the creative inspiration from knowledge from Earth. Otherwise, asking a proper Otherworld native to research this? Expecting discoveries in ten days or half a month? Dream on. Those without sufficient ability might find nothing in eight or ten years.

Anyway, since this power originated from the Undying Witch, Zheng Yichen figured there must be some backdoor in it. This backdoor could become a flaw that exposed him. After all, no matter how this power changed, it was spread by her. So she couldn’t possibly be unable to control the power she herself spread.

Now Zheng Yichen hesitated. Should he tell this little girl some truth? How to bring it up also troubled him. He couldn’t just say, ‘Hey! Little sister, Dragon Brother tells you, you actually died long ago. What’s moving now is just a shell…’

Would he be seen as crazy?

Forget it. He’d keep it to himself for now. First, find a way to remove the Undying Witch’s control over this power. As for the rest, Zheng Yichen had observed the little girl for several days. She ate, drank, slept, and even dreamed—perfectly normal. It seemed as long as no extra interference occurred, she could keep living until… dying of old age.

This was what made the little girl different from the Jiangshi he knew of from Earth. Having no Soul was the same point. But Jiangshi, however you put it, were set in form—what they were, they remained. The little girl before him would still grow. That power was latent. Scratching his head, Zheng Yichen didn’t think it would be a good thing if that power ever became active.