Read Novel Full Chapter 803: The Origin of the Curse
Chapter 803: The Origin of the Curse
“Inquisitor, is it really appropriate to just let them roam freely within the city like this? It doesn’t seem quite proper.”
After Lin Yu and Phoenix left, a clerk standing beside the Inquisitor inside the Tribunal of Heresy finally couldn’t help but ask.
“Proper?”
The elderly Inquisitor of the Tribunal sat down in the chair Lin Yu had just occupied, stroking its armrests.
“The Golden Cross Medal supersedes all rules.”
“What I mean is, since he’s a holder of the Golden Cross Medal, we should have treated him properly—kept him inside the Tribunal, assigned some men to stay close,” the clerk said in a low voice. “This is a critical moment right now…”
“If they really were Golden Cross Medal holders sent from headquarters, your idea would be fine, of course,” the Inquisitor said flatly. “But… that black-haired man carrying the Golden Cross Medal is no simple character.”
“Inquisitor, I don’t understand what you mean.”
The clerk frowned, thoroughly confused.
“When I used ‘Purification’ just now, his soul was tangled with a demon’s curse. What kind of demon’s curse do you think could make me—the Inquisitor of this Tribunal, a high-tier divine caster—unable to eradicate it on the grounds of the Tribunal itself?”
The clerk shuddered, suddenly realizing something was wrong. “I thought you did it on purpose…”
“No, it’s that I genuinely couldn’t remove the cursed mark left in his soul by the death of a ‘Lord-Class Demon.’ And if I’m not mistaken, it came from a demon of the Nightmare tribe,” the Inquisitor said gravely. “Do you think his Golden Cross Medal might have been inherited from his family?”
“In my view, he’s most likely a ‘Demon Hunter’ who’s been walking the Abyss for years—those guys look young on the outside, but they might be ancient monsters who’ve lived for who knows how long.”
“That kind of curse isn’t planted by just ‘banishing’ a demon or killing its projection. It’s the mark you get from actually entering the Abyss and completely annihilating a demon’s true body!”
“Do you think his qi sense is weaker than that woman’s beside him? For a guy like him, masking his true strength is as basic as breathing!”
“That Golden Cross Medal might not even have been issued by this generation’s Chief Inquisitor!”
The Inquisitor let out a breath as he spoke.
“You young folks never experienced the tail end and aftermath of the Dark Age. The adventurers active back then had methods far beyond what you can imagine.”
“They were more ruthless, cunning, and vicious than the dark races themselves. So… no matter what they want to do, it’s best we don’t disturb him.”
The Inquisitor paused, then continued, “And besides, precisely because he’s a Demon Hunter from the Abyss and not an ordinary adventurer, he might not interfere with what we’re doing. He might even agree with us.”
“Letting him move freely as quickly as possible serves that purpose too—we keep to ourselves, he keeps to himself, and we each do our own thing.”
The Inquisitor finished speaking, and the clerk nodded.
“Understood… Should we still have him under surveillance?”
“Of course, but send only the most perceptive operatives, and don’t show any hostility. Treat it like a protection mission, not a surveillance task. Ideally, get a few priests from the Holy Flame Church involved.”
The Inquisitor said cautiously.
“Remember—don’t alarm him under any circumstances! This guy is at least as dangerous as whatever’s buried underground, if not more!”
“Otherwise, he wouldn’t just ignore that ‘Lord-Class Demon’ curse mark in his soul.”
…
“Schreiber, speaking of which, what’s the deal with that demon’s curse in your soul?”
On the streets of Lilee, Phoenix suddenly asked, as if remembering something.
Lin Yu naturally knew where that thing came from.
It was the death curse of Twenty, after he died at his own home for the second time, in his capacity as a “demon.”
When someone kills a demon, their soul gets branded with a cursed mark from the demon’s soul fragments.
Since Twenty died too fast to cast any final spell before death, the curse itself was essentially harmless.
Old Zheng’s advice was to just leave it alone. Though it would earn him the grudging resentment of the Nightmare tribe, the cost of removing it was too high.
Nightmares, while tricky among demons, were extremely rare in numbers.
And before this trip to Night Valley, Shen Bingmiao hadn’t mentioned dealing with or guarding against it, so Lin Yu had let it be.
But none of that could be truthfully told to Phoenix, so he could only fudge it.
“This—it happened after a conflict with another player in the past. I have no idea what kind of technique it was.”
Phoenix nodded, accepting Lin Yu’s explanation. “I see. But didn’t the person who gave you the ‘Golden Cross Medal’ help you remove it?”
“He doesn’t pry too much into my affairs, and he doesn’t have the spare energy to worry about me that much.”
Lin Yu said, then changed the subject.
“Are we almost there?”
The two of them were now aiming to find other players.
And according to Phoenix’s experience, if the other party was also a player familiar with Night Valley, the fastest way to meet up with other players after entering a city was to find the local Adventurers’ Guild.
That was also where many mercenaries who could serve as Enforcers gathered—for a price, you could get some temporary, not-very-reliable backup.
Phoenix looked up at the road after hearing Lin Yu’s words and said, “Oh, we’re almost there.”
With that, she led Lin Yu to turn left up ahead, took a few steps, then turned left again.
Watching their route, Lin Yu couldn’t help but fall silent.
They’d clearly passed the spot!
But he didn’t call Phoenix out on it.
The two of them still made it smoothly to the entrance of the Adventurers’ Guild—just like in many fantasy works, it was a wide, two-story building with many people who looked like combatants coming and going through the door.
However, though the building was large, it wasn’t imposing or luxurious. The rough stone walls showed signs of age with crude workmanship, and the wooden door was full of cracks.
Inside, there was no beautiful receptionist or fancy counter—just a mud wall covered with wooden request boards and a few plain-looking workers moving ladders to hang or take down boards back and forth.
The tables in the rest area were crooked and uneven, with no stools in sight. Adventurers holding iron swords and copper hammers crouched against the walls, looking like they were hanging around the entrance of a labor market.
But… it was essentially the same as a labor market anyway.
Phoenix entered, looked around, and quickly locked onto a target.
“Sure enough, someone’s already found this place.”
Following her gaze, Lin Yu saw a stranger.
But he was sure—that guy was a player.
Because obviously, no one in the Night Valley Realm would wear a turtleneck sweater, straight-leg pants, and snow boots.