Chapter 168: Tearing Off the Veil

Han Shuo and Emily walked with Belinda towards the territory of the Dark Veil. Several fly-sized insects, hovering within the inn like common flies, hung far behind the two of them.

The Demonic-slaying Blade flashed, its sharp tip piercing one of the flying bugs and bringing it right into Han Shuo's palm. Leaning in to inspect it closely, Han Shuo realized that this fly-sized insect had the same appearance as the puppet beast released by Belinda—both were forged using armor plates, with only a difference in scale.

Channeling magical essence into his palm, Han Shuo pinched his thumb and index finger together. With a crisp "pop," the flying insect was crushed instantly. Narrowing his eyes, Han Shuo discovered a microscopic magic array hidden within the abdomen of the crushed bug, emanating a faint presence of magic elements.

"This Calamity Church is truly extraordinary. They managed to set up a magic array to supply magic elements inside such a tiny flying puppet beast!" Han Shuo muttered with a sense of lingering awe as he casually stored the insect-shaped puppet away.

Nodding in strong agreement with Han Shuo's words, Emily said with a trace of lingering fear, "The Calamity Church is the most evil of all churches, possessing all sorts of dark magic and secret arts. Look at today's evil-god puppet; the dominance and power it displayed... If they could mass-produce those, our empire's cavalry would have zero room for resistance against a charge of such armored puppet beasts."

True to her immersion in the Dark Veil, Emily's first thought was the security of the nation rather than what personal benefits such puppet beasts might bring her.

"I'll dispose of these fly-like puppet beasts first, lest they follow us all the way to the Dark Veil's stronghold and expose our tracks." Driving the Demonic-slaying Blade with his mind, Han Shuo directed it straight into the middle of the swarm of flying puppet beasts, eliminating all the trackers in a matter of moments.

With those small puppet beasts destroyed, Han Shuo and Emily did not linger, taking advantage of the dead of night to return to the stronghold of the Dark Veil.

Inside the same secret chamber where Han Shuo had stayed a couple of days prior, he casually placed the restrained Belinda onto a chair. Emily then took out a rope and bound Belinda tightly to the chair.

The unconscious Belinda, with her hands and feet tied to the chair, was completely unresponsive and at Emily's mercy. Once she finished tying her up, Emily couldn't help but look at the veil that had always covered Belinda's face, asking in puzzlement, "Why does this woman always keep her face covered? Is there something about her that's too unsightly to be seen?"

Shrugging, Han Shuo smiled and said, "A woman wearing a veil in public generally falls into three possibilities. Either she is too breathtakingly beautiful and fears her appearance will bring her danger; or it is due to some special racial custom; or she has a flaw on her face and doesn't want others to see it.

Which category this woman belongs to, I'm quite curious myself. But since she's our prisoner now, I suppose you can just remove her veil and take a look."

Hearing Han Shuo put it that way, Emily shot him a glare. Raising her voice in a mocking tone, she retorted, "Oh! I never realized you were such an expert on why women wear veils!"

Han Shuo laughed awkwardly and quickly explained, "This has nothing to do with me; I only know this because I acquired Clayton's memories."

With a soft huff, Emily dropped the subject. She reached out and grabbed the veil that had been concealing Belinda's face, slowly pulling it downward.

The unconscious Belinda remained entirely unaware that her hidden features were being gradually exposed. Below a smooth forehead lay slender, crescent-shaped eyebrows, and just beneath them were eyes with long eyelashes tightly closed. As Emily continued her motion, Belinda's high, delicate nose gradually revealed itself. With fair and flawless skin, it was unmistakably the outline of a supreme beauty.

Unfortunately, once the veil was completely torn away, Han Shuo and Emily suddenly noticed a dark cyan birthmark on Belinda's left cheek. The presence of this birthmark instantly made her otherwise exquisite face appear somewhat fierce and terrifying.

"Your guess was right; she really does have a natural flaw. If it weren't for this dark cyan birthmark, this woman would undoubtedly be an absolute, unadulterated beauty. What a pity!" Emily said, gazing at her with undeniable regret after pulling off the veil.

An oval face, a high nose bridge, rosy lips, slender crescent-shaped eyebrows paired with a pair of star-like sapphire eyes, fair and flawless skin, and an enchanting, graceful figure—these were all the traits a beauty ought to possess. It was merely a pity that because the dark cyan birthmark on her left cheek was so glaring, anyone who looked at her would immediately have their attention drawn entirely to that spot, creating a sharp contrast that ruined her overall beauty.

"Alright, I'll wake her up." With a calm expression, seemingly indifferent to the woman's beauty or ugliness, Han Shuo stepped behind the chair and placed his hand on the back of her neck. Applying a slight force, he pinched the meridians at the nape of her neck, then gently patted her right cheek and called out, "Wake up."

Belinda's skin was exceptionally smooth. As Han Shuo attempted to rouse her, his fingers pressed against her tender, flawless skin, offering a sensation as exquisite as touching expensive, fine silk.

Under Han Shuo's action, Belinda's long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and her clear, star-like eyes opened. Looking around with a dazed expression, she then stared in astonishment at Emily and Han Shuo for a few moments.

The dazed look vanished in a flash as Belinda quickly grasped her current situation. A cold gleam flashed in her clear eyes, though her voice remained soft as she issued a threatening warning, "Who are you people, daring to capture me? The Calamity Church will not let you off! You will regret what you've done today!"

"You needn't trouble yourself over that. What exactly is the Calamity Church planning by appearing in Valen City this time? Aside from attempting to assassinate Clark, what other conspiracy are you hiding?" Emily stared coldly at Belinda, pressing her for answers.

"Do you really think I would tell you? You're just wasting your breath," Belinda replied with a disdainful glance at Emily, mocking her with those words.

Suddenly, noticing the veil held in Emily's hand, Belinda seemed to recall something. Her previously gentle voice turned sharp for the first time, and with a panicked and furious expression, she glared at Emily and shouted, "You removed my veil—you will pay the price for this!"

Watching for a moment with growing impatience, Han Shuo stepped in front of Belinda and said in a chilling voice, "State the purpose of your mission this time, or I'll leave a giant mark across your tender right cheek as well."

Hearing this, Belinda's expression shifted. Then, throwing back her head, she let out a clear, high-pitched giggle and said, "You will pay the price!"

Her recently rosy complexion suddenly paled. In the span of a breath, Belinda's body went rigid, and even her breathing slowed to a barely perceptible whisper. The moment her eyes closed, she lapsed into unconsciousness once more, every function of her body seemingly entering a state of hibernation.

With things turning out this way, Han Shuo—who had been fully prepared for a harsh interrogation—stood dumbfounded. He smiled bitterly at Emily and said, "It looks like she took some kind of potion and suddenly passed out again. This method of drugging oneself into unconsciousness is quite troublesome. What do you think we should do?"

Emily stepped forward and channeled a spell of the dark attribute, letting it sink into Belinda's body. After closing her eyes in thought for a moment, she could only shake her head with a soft sigh and say, "The Calamity Church is indeed difficult to deal with. Since she's suddenly fallen into this unconscious state, no amount of harsh interrogation will work unless we wake her up first."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Han Shuo spread his hands, stepped back, and asked helplessly.

Pondering for a moment, Emily replied, "I'll report this matter to my superiors first and see what decision they make. In addition, you should notify the forest trolls; the siege equipment they were supposed to sell to the merchants seems to have been secretly transported into Valen City. I need to go out and scout around to see if I can secure conclusive evidence."

"Then what shall I do?" Han Shuo inquired.

"Hehe, there's nothing for you to do for the time being. Do whatever you please. If there are any developments, I'll come back and notify you right away," Emily said with a smile as she looked at Han Shuo.

Nodding, Han Shuo said, "That works too. I'll stay right here in this secret chamber and begin studying advanced necromantic magic. At the same time, I'll see if I can find a way to wake Belinda up and extract some information from her."

"Do as you like then. But behave yourself—don't take advantage of my absence to 'devour' Belinda while she's like this!" Emily suddenly remembered something as she was about to leave, turning back to glare at Han Shuo fiercely.

"Uh, I'm not the kind of person to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state. You can rest assured!" Han Shuo said with a bitter smile.

"Hmph, and you claim you're not? If you aren't that kind of person, how did you manage to hook up with me in the first place?" Emily glared at him harshly, then chuckled as a thought struck her. "Still, that dark cyan birthmark on Belinda's face will probably ruin your mood anyway. I suppose I don't have much to worry about."

With those words, looking rather pleased with herself, Emily chuckled lightly and safely departed the room.