Chapter 99 - Mortals Drown (Part III) (Patreon)

Lucian had paid to stay at the inn for a week, mostly because he had no bronze coins, only gold and silver ones. Also, it could take that long for his entire plan to unfold, so it was better to be safe. However, he knew the bait had been cast when people rushed inside the inn, five little pairs of eyes and ears picking up the terror and anger from each one of them.

When they heard what happened in the Tidal Church, the inn's drunkards overturned chairs and tables, screaming to the heavens and following the rioting crowd. Through the rats, Lucian overheard conversations on the streets about fires spreading around the Tidal Church branches in the slums and docks.

Most importantly, through the twenty rats surrounding the East Bo Merchant Chamber’s mansion, he detected spies rushing in different directions. Guards and sailors wearing the coat of arms of the Azure Royal Fleet were also hurrying toward the Mist Monarch Ship, shouting about arsonists and rogue cultivators causing trouble.

Many of them were shouting about protecting the goods, puzzled as to why most of the commoners targeted their fleet.

It was no coincidence.

Lucian had infected several adults with the urge to incite chaos and loot the Azure Royal Fleet on the previous night. The cultivators were just an unexpected bonus. His goal was to ignite the population’s frustration over the lack of work, money, and food. The sudden grief and fury caused by the massacres inside the Tidal Church served as the last spark that ignited the riot.

He was certain that the most powerful figures capable of suppressing the unrest would initially focus on the noble district. This would give enough time for the riot to grow and the chaos to spread.

After the wave of guards and cultivators allied to the Azure Royal Fleet rushed toward the docks, Lucian sent the rats inside the East Bo Merchant Chamber's mansion. Even small as they were, if too many rats moved together, they would inevitably attract suspicion, so Lucian carefully spread them apart and sent them forward in batches.

Once every rat had infiltrated the mansion and begun using smell and sound to track people, Lucian felt a tug on his Blood Essence. Frowning inwardly, he realized that a few of the mental seeds he planted on those teenagers were being cleansed and needed more Blood Essence to stabilize.

Lucian dispersed those seeds immediately. Inwardly, he reminded himself to investigate later what kind of person could accomplish such cleansing. Still, he was not overly concerned. Any technique that strengthened the soul or mind would likely produce such an effect. Shoving the matter aside for later, he refocused on the rats in the mansion.

Within minutes, he had mapped the locations of most people present. Fortunately for him, his target proved to be among the easiest to locate, largely because Chairman Bo Huang was surrounded by guards and hurried toward the basement.

Converging there, fifteen rats moved silently through the darkness, using walls and wooden beams to remain unnoticed.

The other five went searching for servants.

Approaching the half dozen people gathered near Bo Huang, Lucian listened to their conversation from multiple directions.

“Report the situation,” Bo Huang ordered. He was dressed in simple robes, his hair neatly tied, showing his calm in this chaotic mess.

“There was a coordinated attack across all branches of the Tidal Church a few minutes ago,” one of the guards said. This one wore cultivator robes and carried a wooden staff strapped across his back, leading the group.

“What about Prince Xuan’s men?” Bo Huang asked immediately.

Another guard responded. He was an elderly man in dark robes holding a black turtle shell in his hands. “Chaos,” he hissed, his withered fingers and long nails tapping against the shell. “Death. Thievery.”

“Scribe Bei is saying that they moved to suppress the unrest at the docks and prevent further killings and looting,” a smaller young woman added, scanning the mansion corridors vigilantly.

Chairman Bo Huang nodded slowly and stopped questioning them.

Besides the three people who had already spoken, two mansion servants carried scrolls and writing tools for Bo Huang to continue working. No one knew how long the unrest would last, and Bo Huang didn't want to disrupt the East Bo Merchant Chamber’s operations.

As they descended the basement stairs, Bo Huang suddenly asked, “Did Yu Ren send any notice? Was the Shadow Alliance involved in this?”

Shaking her head, one of the servants answered, “We received no message, Chairman.”

“Useless wench,” Bo Huang scowled.

Then, suddenly, screams echoed from behind them. The three cultivators instantly unleashed investigative techniques focused on the corridor above. There, four servants were rushing toward them while screaming, with slashing wounds covering their faces and arms.

One of them, a cook, bled profusely from his severed arm.

Scribe Bei hissed as the black turtle shell in his hands lit up with starlike spots. "Mantis.”

“It’s a decoy!” the young woman shouted, pulling four thorns from beneath her robes and hurling them toward the approaching servants.

Sharp plucking sounds echoed through the corridor. The thorns pierced the servants’ skulls, causing their heads to explode and their corpses to collapse onto the floor.

“Go to the basement!” the man wielding the wooden pole shouted. He tightened his grip on the weapon and shoved Bo Huang and the two servants down the stairs, activating a hidden talisman to open the door.

At the same moment, starlight flickered once more across the black turtle shell, and Scribe Bei hissed louder this time. “Oriole!"

“Where?!” the young woman shouted. She unleashed her aura of a middle-stage Qi Condensation cultivator along her Qi perception.

Flowers and thorny branches erupted across the walls as she searched for concealed enemies with a compound technique. It had both investigative and offensive features! Meanwhile, the man carrying the wooden pole slammed the butt of his weapon against the ground and closed his eyes.

A moment later, he frowned deeply and muttered, “What are these things?”

With a sudden leap, he spun through the air, commanding Wood Qi and wind around the wooden pole before smashing it into the floor.

The wood cracked violently. From the point of impact, dozens of compressed wind blades burst outward, slicing across the corridor toward specific locations.

“Mei Gui, there are small things on the walls!” he shouted, gathering Qi once more and spinning his pole. “I can’t detect them through my Qi perception! Be careful!”

The young woman named Mei Gui nodded and sent thorned roots burrowing into the walls, securing the damaged parts of the mansion's foundation while searching for whatever her friend had warned her about.

Meanwhile, Bo Huang and the two servants had already reached the secure basement and closed the door, and Scribe Bei remained motionless above. Starry points of light revolved around the old man as he muttered a cryptic chant beneath his breath.

Watching everything from multiple perspectives simultaneously, Lucian focused primarily on the black-robed elder who smelled faintly of corpses and incense.

A divination technique, I presume, Lucian thought, carefully redirecting the rats away from the branches and wind attacks. I could also feel something protecting Bo Huang’s mind. Given the Rune of Lust's reactions, it originated from him.

He calmly adjusted his plans.

Because of Scribe Bei's warning, the group had dealt with the hypnotized servants and begun searching for the rats far earlier than Lucian originally anticipated. This meant the advantage of surprise had already been lost. If Lucian had been present with his true body, judging by the movements and reactions of the trio, he believed he could have killed them directly.

However, in his current rat form, with his strength divided and weakened through the Rune of Sloth, confronting them head-on would be extremely difficult.

Of course, he had clear reason for not using his true form. That couldn't change.

Fortunately for him, the trio had never been his true target, and Lucian had never possessed any aversion toward underhanded warfare.

While these people hunted his rats, five others, who were not following Bo Huang, controlled additional servants and forced them to rush toward the basement.

Curiously, among the people Lucian attempted to control, several resisted. Most of them were hidden cultivators he had failed to identify, while a few others were mortals possessing unusually strong minds. All these mortals had blade weapons, which caught his attention.

Still, the mansion housed many common workers and servants. Controlling a number he judged sufficient for the task, Lucian forced more than two dozen servants and workers to rush toward the basement carrying sharpened tools.

The moment Mei Gui and the man wielding the wooden pole noticed them, each unleashed a barrage of attacks. Instead of aiming at the incoming people, they attacked the walls!

The duo were experienced cultivators and guessed that the charging servants were merely a distraction intended to divert their attention from the true hidden threat. Because of this, Mei Gui strengthened the structure while wind blades attempted to slice the hidden rats in half.

As a result, the enraged servants closed the distance and prepared to attack her. However, before they could succeed, countless wind blades tore through them.

Bodies split apart into bloody chunks and scattered across the corridor floor.

“Mu Feng, don’t lose focus! I can protect myself,” Mei Gui shouted, making pulling motions with both hands to support the collapsing ceiling, which had begun to crack apart from the constant barrage of techniques.

Mu Feng sighed before sending another wave of wind blades weaving between the thorny flowers and branches, targeting the rats.

Among the three of them, he was the only one capable of locating the hidden rats, mostly because they lacked Qi. If not for his peculiar investigative technique that combined Wood Qi with the wind, not even he would be able to achieve that.

While the cultivators concentrated on the creatures hiding beneath the floorboards, not letting them slip into the basement, four pairs of crimson eyes emerged silently beneath the piles of gore and severed limbs left behind by the dead servants.

From the original five rats buried inside the servants, only one was hit by a wind blade and cut in half.

This should be enough, Lucian thought calmly.

Every rat suddenly stopped moving as Lucian activated the Rune of Lust through his Blood Essence and directed its power toward Scribe Bei. Originating from every single rat, a crushing wave of intent flooded the old man’s mind.

The starlight technique surrounding him faltered as Scribe Bei coughed up blood. Then, while wind blades shredded apart the unmoving rats, Lucian projected an image directly into the old scribe’s weakened mind. The illusion showed a darkened spear piercing through the basement’s walls, about to kill Chairman Bo Huang!

Lucian himself had never entered the basement, as it was sealed by stone walls and protected by a single guarded entrance, but he had observed enough from the outside to create a reasonably convincing image.

Scribe Bei’s eyes widened as his mind shook violently beneath the mental assault.

“Failed... target...” he hissed desperately through bloodied lips.

“They got to Bo Huang!” Mei Gui shouted. She rushed toward the basement entrance without caring about her companion's condition.

Trusting Scribe Bei’s warning, Mu Feng ceased his attacks and followed closely behind Mei Gui, passing the old scribe while the latter vomited blood onto the floor. He had dealt with most of the rats, but knew this didn't matter if Bo Huang died.

Because his technique was interrupted near its completion, Scribe Bei suffered a minor Qi deviation, rupturing two meridians in the process. That was also the reason he didn't notice the illusion, along with Lucian's empowered runes. While the old man recomposed himself, Mu Feng and Mei Gui reached the sealed basement entrance and activated their talismans.

The moment the stone door shifted aside, both Mei Gui and Mu Feng spread their perception throughout the room below and rushed inside.

Along with them, the remaining rats moved.

Bo Huang, who had only just sat down, frowned and rose once more.

“What happened?” he demanded. “Did you deal with the attackers already?”

The two servants organizing scrolls nearby exchanged puzzled looks and glanced at the cultivators. Normally, only one guard would enter the basement while the others remained outside protecting the entrance. Their confusion deepened because they had no idea what was happening above.

The moment she heard Bo Huang and saw the peaceful basement, Mei Gui’s eyes widened in horror. Then, she waved her hand immediately. With a burst of Qi, a wall of thick vines surged upward from outside, sealing the basement entrance shut once more.

Reacting just as fast, Mu Feng spun the wooden pole in his grasp and slammed it against the ground, unleashing another investigative technique to search for hidden creatures within the room.

He had stopped the previous one when he rushed inside.

Mu Feng soon located two rats in the room and instantly unleashed wind waves that shredded them apart.

Slightly relieved, he looked back at Bo Huang to tell him everything was fine. He did it just in time to see the Chairman sit back down, pick up a letter opener from the nearby table, and drive it directly into his own right eye.

“Chairman!” the two servants screamed, rushing toward him.

“He’s still alive! Catch the assassin!” Mei Gui shouted. A green rose blossomed in her hand, while thorned vines restrained Bo Huang’s wrists and ankles. She could feel he had vitality and could be saved!

Stupefied, Mu Feng searched for the attacker, unable to see what was affecting the Chairman.

However, both cultivators froze in shock when the crying servants suddenly grabbed the bloodied letter opener and a hidden dagger and began stabbing repeatedly into Bo Huang’s neck.

With a flick of his wrists, Mu Feng unleashed razor-thin wind blades that decapitated both servants. Even so, neither he nor Mei Gui moved. Through their Qi perception, both had already sensed it.

Chairman Bo Huang, leader of the East Bo Merchant Chamber, was dead.