Chapter 165: Anomalies at the Inn

Traveling through the teleportation array straight into the wardrobe, before he even pushed open the cabinet doors, Han Shuo already sensed that something was amiss.

First, a faint, subtle fragrance drifted into his nose and mouth, instantly followed by a powerful wave of dizziness that nearly caused him to black out on the spot.

Fortunately, having forged his physique through demonic arts, Han Shuo’s physical resilience far surpassed that of ordinary people, and his demonic elemental energy possessed miraculous properties. The moment that faint scent was inhaled into his chest and abdomen, his body automatically began circulating his demonic essence to counter the oncoming vertigo.

Under the influence of the demonic energy, the foreign odor inhaled into his body was purged and expelled from his system by the infant demon residing in his lower abdomen in the blink of an eye. The sudden wave of dizziness vanished just as quickly.

Holding his breath, Han Shuo first circulated his demonic energy throughout his body and then deliberately inhaled another breath of that fragrance. The moment the scent entered, his intensely tempered nerves were already fully prepared. A brief flash of vertigo appeared, but under the combined effects of his demonic energy and his iron will, the feeling of lethargy quickly faded from intense to faint, until it finally had no effect on him at all.

Having reached the True Demon realm in his cultivation, Han Shuo's willpower had been honed far beyond human imagination; even a potent sleeping potion of this magnitude could no longer affect his actions.

*Oh no, I wonder how Emily is doing!*

Once his freakish body had adapted to the effects of the soporific smoke, Han Shuo suddenly remembered Emily, who was left alone in the room. Shocked, he hurriedly pushed open the wardrobe.

Emily, who should have been inside the room, had vanished without a trace, her whereabouts completely unknown. The room showed clear signs of being ransacked, and judging by the level of disorder, someone had definitely been here.

The teleportation array Han Shuo had set up was hidden inside the wardrobe, and the magic wand had been covered with clothing beforehand, so even if someone had opened the closet, they wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary without a very careful inspection.

Seeing the ransacked room and Emily's disappearance, Han Shuo immediately grew tense. Just as he was about to step out of the room to track down the inn's fellow lodger, Elena, he suddenly realized that the entire inn felt deeply abnormal.

Prying open a corner of the window, Han Shuo saw that it was already nighttime. However, gazing far into the distance, the houses in the far-off city were still brilliantly lit with lights, indicating that it was not yet the dead of night. Yet inside this very inn, every room was shrouded in pitch darkness, save for Belinda's room, which still emitted a faint glimmer of light, accompanied by the muffled, indistinct sound of low conversation.

When Han Shuo focused his senses, he discovered that swarming the inn's courtyard were dozens of flying insects roughly the size of houseflies. They were scattered about, continuously flitting in and out of the various rooms in the inn. From their tails drifted a grayish-brown gas—the exact same odor that had nearly knocked Han Shuo unconscious just moments ago.

Frowning deeply, Han Shuo could say with near certainty that the strange anomaly gripping the inn was connected to Belinda. Silently opening his door, Han Shuo pulled out the black cloak used by the members of the Dark Veil organization to wrap himself completely from head to toe, slipped out into the darkness, and scaled the roof, slowly creeping toward the room where Belinda was staying.

Throughout the process, Han Shuo expertly used his demonic arts to completely suppress his aura, adjusting his heartbeat and breathing down to an almost imperceptible frequency.

"Lady Belinda, all the guests in this inn have already been gathered in the living room of this suite."

As soon as Han Shuo reached Belinda's roof and pressed his ear against the wooden planks below, he heard a deep voice echoing from within.

"Mm." Belinda let out a soft acknowledgment from inside, sounding as though she were walking from the inner chamber toward the main hall.

Carefully and minutely shifting his posture until he was positioned directly above the hall, Han Shuo gingerly extended a single finger. Circulating the "Mystic Ice Demonic Flame Art," a tiny flame sprouted at the tip of his finger. He burned a small hole through the wooden structural panel above and peered down.

Inside a hall closely resembling the one where he stayed, a dozen people lay unconscious on the floor. Among them was Emily, whom Han Shuo was deeply worried about, as well as Chester, who had just returned after escorting Lisa to Lawrence. Even Elena, the owner of the inn, along with Candice—who had consistently protected Belinda—and several members of the Flames Mercenary Corps, were all knocked out cold without a single exception.

Aside from these familiar faces, the room also held the Archdruid Keasbin and the female elf Angelica. Han Shuo had encountered these two previously in the Gloomy Forest. Back then, however, they had been encountered separately; seeing them placed together now, Han Shuo finally realized that the two of them were traveling companions.

The remaining guests of the inn were unremarkable figures, presumably merchants who had come to the city of Valen to do business, and failed to capture Han Shuo's attention.

The three individuals who had been trailing Belinda stood respectfully nearby, waiting for her orders like devoted subordinates. This actually came as quite a surprise to Han Shuo, who had never expected that these three stalkers were actually Belinda's men.

Upon entering the hall, Belinda knitted her slender eyebrows into a deep frown. Sweeping her gaze over the unconscious figures below, she said softly, "When I first arrived at the inn, I sensed the fluctuations of the seventeenth bone wand. That bone wand was personally forged by me and later awarded to Clayton for his use.

"However, by the time I followed the resonance to that corridor, the aura of the bone wand suddenly vanished. It appears that someone must have abruptly stowed it away inside a spatial ring. None of the guests should have left the building since my arrival, which means we can be certain that the bone wand is currently inside the spatial ring of one of these individuals."

"My lord, how should we proceed then?" asked the eldest-looking among the three respectful brothers, addressing Belinda.

Belinda's sapphire-like eyes scanned sharply over the people lying on the ground. Pausing her gaze on Emily, she stated, "The bone wand should be on her person. Among those on the floor, only Emily, Candice, Keasbin, and Angelica possess spatial rings. Candice has been in their company all along, so naturally, she wouldn't be the one. Before Han Shuo entered the Death Cemetery, the Archdruid and Angelica didn't appear to be at the inn. Therefore, judging by the timeline, only Emily could be the one holding the bone wand."

Hearing Belinda's conclusion, the man who had asked the question walked over to Emily's side, slipped the spatial ring from her finger, and respectfully handed it over to Belinda.

Belinda took Emily's spatial ring, closed her eyes as she stroked it, and said, "She has set up a magical barrier inside. Tie her up first, and then wake her up for me."

"My lord, what about the others?" the eldest of the three brothers inquired.

Waving her hand dismissively, Belinda replied casually, "Standard procedure. Dispose of anyone who lacks value immediately."

At those words, Han Shuo grew instantly tense. Down in the hall, besides Emily, there were three other acquaintances: Candice, Angelica, and Keasbin. Keasbin had no ties to Han Shuo, but Candice and the little elf Angelica had some degree of connection with him. He could simply not stand by and watch the two girls get murdered in cold blood.

"Isn't your approach a bit too excessive?"

Before Han Shuo could make a move, the Archdruid Keasbin—who should have been completely incapacitated—suddenly spoke up.

As he uttered those words, Keasbin pushed himself up from his reclining position, stepping forward to shield the young elf Angelica behind him.

Han Shuo, who had been on the verge of taking action, immediately halted when he saw this unexpected twist. He remained prone upon the roof, observing the developments below.

"Oh? You are still able to maintain your clarity of mind despite my potent concoction. It seems the Archdruid truly possesses some miraculous powers," Belinda murmured with mild surprise, her voice remaining calm.

"I don't care who you people are, but your methods are thoroughly repulsive. As long as you let everyone here go, I won't hold you accountable for the harm you've inflicted upon us, and I will allow you to leave in peace." The Archdruid Keasbin stared at Belinda with displeasure and let out a cold snort.

"Fulica, the three of you can see for yourselves what kind of miraculous powers the Archdruid of the Church of Nature truly possesses. Kill him!"

Hearing Keasbin's ultimatum, Belinda didn't bother wasting any breath. She immediately waved her hand, signaling the three brothers to eliminate Keasbin.

At Belinda's command, the three Fulica brothers exchanged dark, murderous glances. Drawing their longswords simultaneously, they surrounded the Archdruid Keasbin.

"Since you refuse to listen to reason, don't blame me." Keasbin glared at the trio with fury, drew a bizarre staff that resembled a weathered tree root from his spatial ring, and prepared to engage them.

At that exact moment, all the fly-sized insects that had been swarming throughout the small inn suddenly converged on Belinda's room, as if driven by some unseen force.

Simultaneously, the lush branches of the large tree standing right outside this room were also pulled by an identical unseen power; their intertwined boughs twisted and softened like serpents, slithering directly into the chamber.