Chapter 329 - 186: Rose of Shedding Skin
Chapter 329: Chapter 186: Rose of Shedding Skin
Kumironi first enveloped the entire body in light.
Faint black vapor emanated from it.
This cleansed the body of its defilement, the aura of death, and a few lingering Curses.
Their preparations to target the Life Church had been quite thorough, employing various forms of corruption and Curses.
Next, Kumironi began to pray to Sophia.
A faint, emerald-green radiance began to glow around Chum’s body.
Life’s Great Achievements was the Church’s metric for measuring one’s contributions.
Possessing enough Life’s Great Achievements could even earn one the opportunity to resurrect another person.
Chum had died while on a mission for the Church. Plus, she had already accumulated more than enough Life’s Great Achievements. And to top it all off... Kumironi herself was an expert in resurrection.
Her severed arm was drawn back to her body, gradually fusing back into place.
Then, the wounds on her body quickly vanished.
Color returned to the once stiff and cold corpse, its complexion growing rosy.
Finally, they heard Chum’s heart begin to beat, and her eyes fluttered open.
Chum was resurrected.
...
Chum explained what had happened from start to finish.
In truth, she had just gotten word of a Cult gathering. Before she even reached the location, she was suddenly caught in a trap.
She was ambushed en route by a well-prepared enemy.
It’s easy to die when you’re at an information disadvantage...
After all, her opponents had been so well-prepared.
Even the strong can fall victim to schemes, and Chum wasn’t yet powerful enough to ignore such machinations.
Lu Cang said, "The Rose of Shedding Skin."
Chum nodded. "Yes. An evil organization made up of Skin Takers."
"I hear they only recruit Skin Takers. They take on the skins of different people and live among us."
"I captured the Skin Taker who ambushed you," Lu Cang said. "It seems they were planning to harm me, too. Can I join the interrogation?"
Chum smiled. "Of course. You’re the one who caught her, so you have the right to question her, too."
"Haha, but I never thought I’d see the day I’d be saved by Little Lu Cang!"
Chum slung an arm around Lu Cang’s shoulders.
At this moment, she wasn’t wearing her combat Armor, and a soft touch pressed against Lu Cang.
’Chum really has a nice figure.’
There wasn’t a trace of the fear one would expect from someone who had just been killed on Chum’s face.
Instead, her expression was one of amazement: ’Wow! I was actually dead just a moment ago!’
After the three of them had familiarized themselves with the situation, they decided to conduct the interrogation that very day.
They went straight to the Judgement Hall.
Lu Cang brought out the heavily bound Skin Taker.
The skin she wore was that of a seductive woman.
In the Judgement Hall, Chum personally put golden shackles on the culprit. The chains extended all the way to the hall’s ceiling.
Chum’s eyes grew cold. "Tell us everything you know..."
Lu Cang didn’t interject, simply watching her conduct a professional interrogation.
Torture.
Intimidation.
And, the promise of pardoning her sins.
Between the carrot and the stick, she ended up confessing quite a bit.
Skin Takers themselves don’t hold any particularly lofty beliefs.
So naturally, they don’t have the conviction to keep secrets for their organization.
However, as if her organization already knew this, the information she possessed was actually quite limited. She only knew of a single one of her cult’s strongholds.
Communication among Skin Takers is both one-way and covert.
Only at special gatherings would they meet face to face.
At their most recent gathering, they had shared a new list containing individuals with either great potential or immense power.
The Skin Takers’ activities revolved around taking the skins of the powerful for their own use.
Lu Cang’s name was also on that list.
It was even ranked very high.
He was a priority target.
Although people like Izparut were also on the list, they were considered too powerful and difficult to move against.
In addition, Lu Luwei and Leng Qingying were, surprisingly, also on the list.
Essentially, any noteworthy powerhouse was on that list.
However...
They also took growth potential into account.
After all, once a skin is taken, it can no longer develop, and its strength is permanently fixed to what it was at the moment of death.
So, if a target was still too weak, they would opt to "farm" them for a while, waiting until they were just strong enough before making their move.
"So there was no other intelligence."
The intelligence she provided was far too limited.
As Lu Cang and the others were leaving the Judgement Hall, Lu Cang gazed off into the distance.
’Actually, it’s not that there’s no intelligence.’
’I already obtained the intelligence while I was bringing her here.’
’I just have to disguise the source of this information.’
’This Talent’s true Effect isn’t easily exposed, so it’s easy to conceal. I’ll just have to make the source of the intelligence a little roundabout, add in a touch of coincidence, and I can pass it off just fine.’
However, Lu Cang was a little worried.
’If the enemy is too powerful, there’s a chance they might get away.’
’These people are a thorn in my side, and they’re after my skin.’
’I can’t give them any chance of a lucky escape. A spear in the open is easy to block, but an arrow from the shadows is hard to defend against.’
’I should get Kumironi to help me advance to a Level 4 Warrior and Level 4 Death Priest first. Then I’ll gather some reliable backup and handle this personally.’