Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Beiyue looked at Cui Ming and said to the witch, "You tricked me once. I should repay you in kind, but that would seem petty. Fine, I will change the rules: you will reveal everything you know. If I suspect you are hiding anything, you will endure at least four hours of torment. Lastly, I will modify one more rule: we won't kill you, but we will imprison you in the Alliance's jail. The charges are clear—violating the agreement, attacking Alliance members, and attempting to murder an Alliance Hunter. Your fate will be decided by the Alliance."
"I accept," the witch replied wisely.
Master Bei had been entangled with the witch, who intended to eliminate several of Master Bei's friends. His friends set a trap for her, and Wandering injured the witch, leading to an agreement. Afterward, the witch returned to Witch Island, but two years later, she secretly returned to the Three Continents with the aim of finding Master Bei.
Master Bei was already married, and they met in secret. He felt a lack of affection for his current wife, and in an instant, they were together. However, Master Bei was aware of his exiled status, so their relationship had to remain hidden. At that moment, Master Bei's wife discovered their affair. Master Bei pleaded for mercy while his wife demanded that the witch stay away from him.
On the surface, this was how things appeared. Yet Master Bei arranged for the witch to stay in a small town in Dawn City. Due to his responsibility of finding potential practitioners, he often traveled. He spent five days a week with the witch and returned home for two days. Although Master Bei's wife knew about this arrangement, she endured it.
Then Beiyue was born, and Master Bei began spending less time with the witch. The witch was dissatisfied with this change, but Master Bei tried his best to balance everything. However, when Beiyue turned three years old, a family argument revealed many truths to Little Beiyue. Master Bei's love for his daughter outweighed his feelings for the witch, and he decided to end their affair. But he did not anticipate that the witch would steal Little Beiyue away. The witch still held onto hope and dared not harm Little Beiyue; instead, she handed her over to a passing child trafficking gang.
Upon discovering this, Master Bei chased after them all the way to the Eastern Continent. The witch was in turmoil but still helped Master Bei catch up with the gang in Double Bridge City and brought Beiyue back. After this incident, Master Bei confronted the witch and made it clear that he could never forgive her. Heartbroken, the witch returned to Antarctic Witch Island and never set foot in the Three Continents again. For twenty years she stayed away from the Three Continents; this was true—everything she needed was procured by Mundo. Mundo would visit once or twice a year; they became friends as he established a small laboratory beneath a glacier, using special hot springs and temperature differences for his experiments while bringing her plenty of supplies each time.
Where were the clues?
The clue lay in Beiyue's Greatsword. Master Bei had lied—to Little Beiyue as well—claiming it was a weapon custom-made for her when in fact Beiyue's Greatsword was a standard weapon. It was crafted from a blueprint that was not ordinary but rather Hex Equipment forged from Force Stones imbued with four different personalities.
As known by many, the Ding Family possessed twelve blueprints for Hex Equipment; however, Master Bei knew better—none of them included such an unusual weapon.
The one who brought the blueprints was a tall and thin Masked Man who candidly told Master Bei that all twelve blueprints of Hex Equipment owned by the Ding Family were fake. Three hundred years ago, the Ding Family created their first Hex weapon with astonishing power; it was wielded by the family head. At that time, significant internal conflicts arose within the Ding Family, leading to an angry branch member stealing twelve blueprints. The family head pursued him, but the thief destroyed them all. Thus, all that remained were blueprints written solely by the family head based on his own weapon's characteristics—only one blueprint existed.
This matter was known to very few, except for the thief and the master of the house. The thief knew even more; the forging blueprint had not been completely destroyed. The Masked Man only knew this much and told Master Bei that he possessed two blueprints left by a predecessor. Over the past few centuries, many renowned craftsmen had been sought, but none had succeeded. He hoped Master Bei would give it a try.
Master Bei was captivated after just one glance at a forging blueprint. He found it profoundly intricate, with low material requirements but numerous other complex stipulations. The Masked Man took the blueprints away, giving Master Bei three days to consider. In front of the witch, Master Bei expressed great excitement; he realized that the blueprint was perfectly suited for his daughter, who was only half a year old. Although he was unsure if Little Beiyue was a potential practitioner, he had already decided to create a life gift for her.
Three days later, the Masked Man visited again. Master Bei played a trick and requested to keep one of the blueprints. He began to experiment, stating that he would need at least five years for this endeavor. Master Bei explained with genuine blueprints why such a long time was necessary, perhaps even longer. He asserted that once he could forge one Hex Equipment, he would be able to create others.
Next came the negotiations. Master Bei certainly would not assist the Masked Man out of mere interest. Ultimately, they reached an agreement: the first Hex Equipment crafted from the blueprint would belong to Master Bei, and in return, he must help the Masked Man forge two Hex Equipment items. This indicated that the Masked Man's claim of having only two blueprints was clearly a lie. One piece of equipment was a Hand Crossbow, and the other was an Undead Amulet. The characteristic of Hex Equipment is that it has only one master; if the master dies, the equipment turns to dust.
The Masked Man granted Master Bei ten years to study the Hex Equipment while insisting that this information must remain confidential.
When the witch heard from Cui Ming that during those ten years, his wife died in a fire and Master Bei went missing, she immediately suspected it was related to the Masked Man.
Beiyue pressed on, "So who is the Masked Man?"
The witch replied, "The Crow." Two years after Master Bei accepted the terms, he witnessed the Alliance Assessment where the Masked Man appeared and claimed to be the Crow. Naturally, this information also reached the witch who was close to Master Bei.
The name Crow startled Cui Ming and Beiyue; Beiyue was less affected as she had never considered that her parents had such stories and remained astonished by what she heard.
When Crow introduced himself to Master Bei, he claimed to be a messenger from the desert. In the Eastern Continent, three major Fire Religion Nations bordered each other in a desert area—the second largest desert in the world, second only to Dawn Desert: Starfire Desert. The ancestors of Fire Cultists lived in that desert.
Crow did not specify where he resided, but Master Bei deduced from Crow's belongings containing sand unique to Starfire Desert that Crow had at least passed through there. The forging blueprint was made of parchment that had undergone temperature changes and dust exposure, confirming it had been in Starfire Desert conditions for an extended period. Master Bei was an expert; no one could match his knowledge in this regard.
Fire Cult? The Crow? Cui Ming was astonished; it turned out Crow was associated with Fire Cultists. However, this could not be confirmed definitively. But if we assume that the witch did not lie, it meant that Crow had abducted Master Bei and speculating further, it could be inferred that Crow was also responsible for his wife's death as a warning. Leaving Little Beiyue behind served as a threat—to compel Master Bei to cooperate fully and work for him. Because Crow knew that if Little Beiyue were killed while leaving his wife alive, Master Bei would certainly refuse to help him forge Hex Equipment.
Cui Ming recalled the Hand Crossbow, the one belonging to the mouse, known for its incredibly high rate of fire, long range, and unmatched precision. After the mouse was captured, Wei Wei did not find the Hand Crossbow and assumed it was part of the Transformational System. If the mouse's Hand Crossbow was indeed Hex Equipment, then it must have been hidden away before its capture, with plans to retrieve it later. However, upon being killed, the Hand Crossbow naturally turned to dust.
Connecting all these dots, it seemed that the Fire Cult had somehow acquired Hex Equipment. For hundreds of years, they had been unable to find a master craftsman capable of forging such items. The crow approached Master Bei with an offer: one piece of equipment would belong to Master Bei in exchange for crafting a Hand Crossbow and an Undead Amulet for the Fire Cult. After ten years passed, Master Bei was reluctant to fulfill this agreement; after all, from what had been gathered, he was not exactly a gentleman. At that moment, the crow took action, abducting Master Bei and killing his wife, using Little Beiyue as leverage to force Master Bei into compliance.
Seventeen years had gone by. Although Master Bei could drag his feet, he had to produce at least one piece of equipment—the mouse's Hand Crossbow. The mouse was so confident in its ability to infiltrate the Alliance and assassinate Wandering because it possessed this Hex Equipment. If Master Bei wanted to stay alive, he would need to delay with the Undead Amulet.
It appeared that Master Bei had fallen into the hands of the Fire Cultists.
The witch introduced herself and mentioned her intention to visit the Starfire Desert in search of clues about Master Bei.
"I speak only the truth; there is not a single lie," she said earnestly. "And there is no concealment—his woman is already dead. I truly hope for his safety; as long as you don’t interfere, we will have a bright future together."
Cui Ming nodded slowly. The driver who had been frozen by the witch had already arrived at the mining site. At that moment, he pulled out a pistol and approached her from behind, aiming at her head. Cui Ming watched as he slowly nodded; then the driver pulled the trigger. Without any Force protection, a large hole was blown into the witch's head as the bullet entered her brain, ricocheting around and turning her mind into mush. The witch fell silent and collapsed lifelessly on the ground. Cui Ming still felt uneasy: "Burn her."
"Understood."
Little Lu, Beiyue, and Cui Ming got into a car driven towards the city. Little Lu sat silently in the back seat for a long time before saying, "You’re not trustworthy."
Cui Ming replied, "I originally intended to let her go, but she shouldn’t have said that as long as Beiyue doesn’t interfere... That made me very worried. What kind of hatred is that? Even when she has become a prisoner with no way out, she still threatens Beiyue. I cannot underestimate her destructive potential." (To be continued.)
Comment 0 Comment Count