Chapter 107 - Mourning Morning (Part I) (Patreon)

A squad of five guards removed debris from the Tidal Church branch near the docks, throwing bodies into carts after making sure they were truly dead by plunging bronze swords into their chests.

This type of work would not normally fall to them, but after the entire city descended into chaos the previous night, their superiors had ordered them to clean the area.

Aiding the military, throughout the districts, groups of cultivators moved under the City Council’s command, officially healing the wounded and punishing evildoers. However, behind the public eye, what was truly happening was a mass execution of those deemed too costly to save, the instigators of the riots, and the minor forces that had dared attack major forces.

Everyone of importance in the city moved under the pretense of restoring order, while in truth most were hastily securing benefits for themselves. Be it safeguarding their remaining goods or confiscating stolen valuables in the name of righteousness, they were all busy.

While all that happened, the current guards searched through the scorched remains of the broken church. Under the blazing midday sun, their metallic armor made them sweat heavily, exhaustion weighing down on their bodies.

One of the guards suddenly stumbled and fell, drawing scoffs from two of his companions who witnessed it. But none of them noticed the small black critter slipping beneath the man’s armor, nor the brief crimson glow that flashed through his eyes.

The fallen guard shook his head, paused, and stood back up. After recovering, he glanced toward the others and said, “I’ll check the garden.”

As he tapped his crotch meaningfully, the others understood immediately that he intended to relieve himself, so they ignored him and lazily continued thrusting their swords into corpses before tossing them into the carts.

“Some of these look like they died ages ago,” another guard muttered, staring at a shriveled corpse among the bodies. “Shit.”

One of his friends approached, frowned briefly, and then shook his head.

“I must be exhausted. I could’ve sworn it looked like a pretty young woman a few minutes ago,” he said, scratching his neck.

Too busy talking and dragging their task as much as they could, they didn't pay attention to the guard walking toward the opposite side of the church. Instead of peeing in the garden, he was tapping against the stone walls with the pommel of his sword.

He moved as though guided by something, pausing after each tap and waiting silently before moving onward. Eventually, after tapping near a broken pillar, he stopped and began tracing the surrounding area with careful strikes.

Upward. Downward. Left. Right.

He outlined an invisible square upon the stone wall, methodically tapping every section. After dozens of attempts, he stopped near the center and pressed one finger against the wall. Then, a finger-sized section of stone sank inward with a click, followed by the sound of mechanisms shifting behind the wall.

The stone surface trembled before sliding aside, revealing an opening just large enough for two people to enter.

Next, without hesitation, the guard stepped into the darkness. He loosened part of his bronze armor, and a small gap appeared near his shoulder. From it, two crimson eyes and a black furry nose emerged.

It belonged to a rat.

The tiny rat climbed onto the guard’s shoulder and sniffed the air cautiously. Within the rat’s left pupil, the faint image of a half-closed eye formed by three lines flickered in crimson light.

Controlling the creature from his Sea of Consciousness, Lucian frowned after he smelled the stale scent of blood and urine drifting from deeper within the corridor. Then, briefly checking on the other rats scattered across the city and feeding upon the blood of last night’s dead, he focused once more on the current critter.

I smell a ghoul down there, Lucian thought. But I can’t hear a heartbeat.

Commanding the guard through the Rune of Lust, Lucian inwardly groaned as the corridor suddenly lit up. From those lights, a cascade of water blades shot downward, slicing both the guard and the rat apart instantly.

Not being able to perceive Qi is the greatest weakness of the Rune of Sloth, Lucian thought while commanding another rat to enter through the hidden passage.

As the incoming rat scurried into the darkness, Lucian reflected on the previous night.

I was fortunate enough to recover without triggering the Curse of Wrath, he thought. Such luck will not come twice.

When he had reached the Broken Maze, the sea lit up, and thunderous explosions echoed through the night.

Although the clash ended almost as quickly as it began, and the distance prevented Lucian from sensing the Qi, the sheer pressure and range of the techniques had still given him a notion of what was going on.

Those attacks reached the level of an A-Tier mutant, he thought while calculating his next steps. I did not expect Grandmaster Miao to possess such strength.

Another miscalculation, in his opinion, and this one could threaten his survival.

I will probe him further after checking on Wang Chen and the others, he decided while guiding the rat deeper into the hidden chamber beneath the Tidal Church branch.

This time, no traps were activated. And while this rat explored the hidden area, other rats were spread throughout the city, a few observing either the Azure Royal Fleet or the Sailor School.

From what Lucian could gather, the school had completely shut down for the day due to the bloodshed of the previous night.

The Azure Royal Fleet, however, moved with unusual urgency.

Boxes, war prisoners, sailors, and finely dressed officials constantly entered and exited the ships. Only the flagship, the Mist Monarch, remained anchored throughout the day while the rest of the fleet gradually departed from the docks to make space for incoming vessels, repeating the process.

To Lucian, it looked as though the Azure Royal Fleet was preparing to abandon Three Feathers City altogether.

Because of the constant flow of cultivators, Lucian had not sent rats directly aboard the ships. Instead, he controlled mortal sailors to investigate Little Crab’s whereabouts. After finding anything, they should whisper their findings to the walls where hidden rats listened from the shadows.

Yet even after midday passed, there was still no trace of Little Crab.

The only information he gathered was murmurs about cyan-colored lights surrounding the flagship shortly before dawn, followed by Prince Xuan departing soon afterward.

While Lucian analyzed the information, reviewed the previous night’s battle, and adjusted his plans, the rat exploring beneath the Tidal Church branch reached a stone chamber connected to several other corridors.

Guided by the scent of a ghoul, the rat passed through an office, a room containing an indoor garden and a saltwater well, and then entered a chamber filled with torture instruments.

There, a plump man lay collapsed on the floor. Fortunately, despite Elder Black Scale’s claims during the battle, no visible body parts were missing from the poor young man.

The only issue was that Lucian could hear neither breathing nor a heartbeat from the man he was certain was Wang Chen.