Chapter 399: One-Sided Story

Chapter 399: One-Sided Story

There were many who targeted Lily, but as the protagonist, Zheng Yichen naturally attracted even more attention! And those who came here were no ordinary figures either; some were from minor factions, others were lone individuals hoping to try their luck—there were plenty of them!

Although most were targeting Zheng Yichen, a smaller portion were thinking about how to slack off better. For instance… kidnapping people was out of the question, but what about Zheng Yichen’s research notes and things like that?

Taking those would still be a win. He believed many would pay a high price for such items. So, over these past two days, Zheng Yichen encountered not only those who wanted to kidnap him, but also thieves. He witnessed all sorts of stealing tricks. At one point, after catching an Infiltrator who had sneaked into his Workshop, Zheng Yichen was shocked. How had they gotten in? He had locked the door so tightly!

Regarding Zheng Yichen’s situation, the factions that had taken action also grew hesitant. They had made so many attempts, yet not a single one succeeded… The people they sent out did bring something back, but those items held no real significance. After verification, they were all fakes—utterly devoid of research value and revealing no additional information. It was clear he had prepared well to deal with all of this.

Under normal circumstances, Zheng Yichen’s house in Kaja should not have been so easily invaded. However, with not a single person succeeding, the result was that more and more eyes turned to this place. “You’re just a Magic Pharmacist, not a Warrior or a Spellcaster. How could you possibly handle everyone trying to find something here?”

As long as they didn’t set their sights on Zheng Yichen himself, he turned a blind eye to the remaining thieves—so long as they didn’t cause malicious damage, he let them be.

Just as people were still puzzling over how to resolve this, and the stalemate couldn’t continue, news came from the Undying Witch. Instantly, most people’s attention shifted there. The Semi-Awakening Potion was good, but it was ultimately not the legendary finished product. Moreover, Zheng Yichen’s actions were traceable, and he wasn’t a threat to the world. After the news about the Undying Witch emerged, most of the attention on him drifted away. This was within Qin’s calculations. Although Zheng Yichen had displayed his Magic Potion Talent, the timing was delicate. It meant he couldn’t become the focus of everyone’s attention. Once the Undying Witch incident passed, things would gradually settle down.

“Oh, there’s news about the Undying Witch,” Zheng Yichen said, perking up after seeing the news on the Magic Weapon Forum. He tossed aside his current research. The promised new Magic Potion for the Sanctuary Church had long been completed. His current research was just to pass the time and refine the formula a bit more.

It wasn’t something that urgently needed solving. The main issue was still the Undying Witch. With Dan Marina’s hints, Zheng Yichen had already made some plans in case his identity was exposed. But plans weren’t always necessary; if he could avoid using them, he would. Right now, all plans were for the sake of the grand plan in the future, though that plan was still far from being realized.

Breaking through the sky’s ‘barrier’ wasn’t just about accumulating power or temporary resistance. What was truly needed was disregard… Only by disregarding it could one completely pass through that barrier. Speaking of which, what exactly was the structure of this world? The vast populace of the Otherworld lived beneath an impenetrable barrier. First of all, Zheng Yichen didn’t believe that thing was a normal product.

“We meet again,” Achille said calmly, looking at the young man before him. Oss hadn’t expected to run into Achille so soon after the Windwhisper Valley incident. Why?

The reason was they had discovered a secret location. This place wasn’t far from Windwhisper Valley—just a two-day journey. They passed by purely to take a shorter route home. They planned to return and sell that bottle of Magic Potion. Although distribution would be based on contribution, with Oss getting the most, the share of gold coins for Gale and the others was enough for them to quit the Adventurer life and settle down in a small Town.

With their skills, they wouldn’t just sit idle in that small Town; they could work as instructors at local Training Grounds during their free time. He believed those green kids would love to hear stories from seasoned Adventurers and learn their techniques and knowledge.

The trouble came from taking that shortcut. While cutting through, they stumbled upon a peculiar place. There, they were attacked by some undead creatures. These Necromantic Creatures were strange—unlike traditional undead, which could be destroyed by targeting the Soulfire. These had no real Soulfire… or rather, their Soulfire existed in another form. After Oss activated the fourth stage of his eye ability, he observed this anomaly.

The Soulfire of these Necromantic Creatures existed as Projections. This meant conventional methods couldn’t deal with them; even if destroyed, they could quickly revive, making them extremely troublesome.

Moreover, these Necromantic Creatures were incredibly powerful. Dealing with them took great effort. After resolving the situation, they intended to retreat, but their escape route was cut off. They were trapped there for nearly half a day before calling for help. The rescuers were members of the Sanctuary Church. Achille wasn’t there initially, but after the Sanctuary Church members who came to help detected traces of the Undying Witch’s Power here, Achille arrived.

However, he came a bit late. After searching, they discovered an underground space. There were many remnants left behind from some kind of experiment—it looked as if the Undying Witch had been researching a certain type of Necromantic Creature. But everything had been destroyed, and the Undying Witch was gone. Fortunately, she seemed to have left in a hurry, leaving behind plenty of clues for continued tracking.

All items left by the Undying Witch were collected. Even though she had destroyed them, if such things fell into others’ hands, they could still cause great trouble.

“Yeah, the second time,” Oss said, not knowing what else to say. He felt quite unlucky. He had just chosen a shortcut to return quickly and get rid of that extremely valuable Magic Potion he carried—the one he feared might accidentally shatter. Who knew they would so easily run into the Undying Witch? Luckily, for some reason, she didn’t attack directly but instead sent out some Necromantic Creatures to guard the place and deal with them.

Even so, without the Sanctuary Church’s help, they would have been wiped out there. The number of undead wasn’t infinite, but they could constantly revive. Even with Oss desperately activating the fourth stage of his eye ability to find their weaknesses, he only managed to destroy a small portion.

“To prevent a third meeting in such a short time, you should stay put for now,” Achille said bluntly. Oss looked startled, his gaze growing wary.

“Don’t misunderstand. I just think your luck is quite good. Staying temporarily might help with what comes next.”

“I don’t seem that strong, do I?” Oss remained reluctant. He just wanted to go home! Not get dragged into some unknown whirlpool. Only by truly experiencing certain things could one gain an intuitive sense of them.

For instance, when his sister was about to face that ordeal back then, Oss was nearly driven mad and prepared to risk everything. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have easily chosen the Cult… Now his sister’s future was secure, but Oss didn’t want any slip-ups on his part to plunge his sister into the same state he had been in!

Or even worse. Back then, Oss was mainly dealing with people. But if something happened to him, his sister would have to face a Witch. Although it seemed natural for the Sanctuary Church to deal with Witches, not everyone had to do it. Only those with sufficient strength should take on such tasks. He didn’t want his sister to become a ‘volunteer’ dedicated to fighting Witches because of this—the risk was too great!

Ultimately, Oss still had some selfishness. It was a ‘shadow’ left from his past experiences. For survival, for protecting those around him from harm—what was wrong with being a little selfish?

“Fine then. I am now formally detaining you for investigation on grounds of being a Cultist. If you haven’t committed any heinous acts, you may be dealt with leniently and set free,” Achille said expressionlessly.

“…” Oss nearly blurted out a curse, wanting to spray it right in that expressionless man’s face. “I’ve never done anything like that!!”

“One-sided story. Do you think I’d believe it?” Achille lightly straightened his clothes and glanced at Oss as he left. “Don’t try to run. Otherwise, this becomes an established fact.”

“The Sanctuary Church is really bullying people,” Gale said in a tent, feeling the treatment of Oss was extremely unfair. “They’re too overbearing!”

Oss shook his head helplessly. His identity as a Cultist was an undeniable fact. If someone used that against him, he really had no way out. The stain couldn’t be erased, and he wouldn’t get angry out of shame when it was brought up—after all, that stain had truly saved his world in the beginning. But still, it was irritating!