Infiltrating the Dungeon

"You don't trust him?" Chen Xuan asked as they walked.

Traveling with an invisibility spell was a novel but not particularly pleasant experience, especially on the bumpy, muddy country roads. Though Chinon was also known as a royal stronghold, and Charles VII had used it as a royal residence before moving to Paris, it was still essentially a rural town. Aside from the castle, which was built quite solidly, the rest of the place was decidedly "picturesque."

Unable to see where his feet were, he couldn't adjust his steps, so one foot landing higher than the other—and then stepping straight into a muddy puddle—had become the norm. Before they'd even reached the castle, his toes already felt as if they were stuck together.

"I don't trust anyone here," Liu Shuyue replied without reservation. "They don't even look like they belong to the same race as me. If people like them appeared in Great Qi, they might not even be considered human."

"That makes some sense."

"Of course, even if he were from Great Qi, I still wouldn't want to bring him into danger. If we ran into trouble, a companion we couldn't trust would only become a huge liability. As the saying goes, a gentleman doesn't stand beneath a crumbling wall. Better to eliminate the risk from the start."

Chen Xuan was quite pleased to hear that.

What she meant was that she already trusted him.

"What kind of enemies might we face? Do you have any idea how strong they could be?" Liu Shuyue asked.

How was he supposed to know?

If Joan of Arc was their benchmark for combat strength, then cultivators should have been able to crush her. But he'd never actually seen Liu Shuyue show off her strength, and Joan's power had increased dramatically after she acquired the Spirit Sword Technique. He really couldn't judge where the average person in this world stood.

Then there was the witch called Mad Judy. She sounded arrogant and domineering, but she'd never directly clashed with Joan. Instead, she'd used public opinion and the King's authority to back her into a corner. So, in terms of raw strength, she was probably still weaker than Joan.

"Good question. This is my first time in this region, too, so I haven't gathered any intelligence yet," he said honestly. "How would you handle a situation like this?"

"If I had to eliminate a Monster I'd never encountered before, I'd first ask the nearby residents about its habits. Second, I'd circulate the Heavenly Cloud Skill and spread my qi out in a circle, sweeping the area. That would let me sense how strong the nearby creatures were. At my former level, I could scan a radius of twenty li. Now that I'm starting over, my range has fallen to about a hundred paces."

"Oh? The Heavenly Cloud Skill can do that?"

"You've never tried it?" Liu Shuyue asked, somewhat surprised. "Any Mind Method can detect auras. They just differ in range and precision. Of course... a more powerful cultivator can also use an opponent's detection to disguise themselves or deceive them. Then it comes down to which side is better at the game."

Chen Xuan really hadn't tried it.

It was like buying a new car: he could drive it without any trouble, but that didn't mean he knew how to use every feature on the dashboard. The dealership would even give him a thick manual, but he'd only think to look at it when something went wrong.

His abilities were the same.

When he'd obtained the Mind Method, he'd been more interested in how it strengthened his body and amplified his techniques—in other words, how much of a buff it gave him. He hadn't paid much attention to little tricks like actively using it to sense his surroundings.

After all, what threats could there be in a residential neighborhood?

"I'll try it now."

Chen Xuan activated the Heavenly Cloud Skill and evenly spread the qi he'd gathered. Even though he'd never done it before, it came as naturally and easily as eating or drinking. But he could only manage a level-two Mind Method right now, so his detection range was nowhere near as impressive as Liu Shuyue had described.

The first strong reaction appeared.

It was Liu Shuyue, walking ahead of him.

At that instant, a chill instinctively rose in Chen Xuan's heart, and he couldn't help shivering. He didn't need to check the "manual" to understand. It wasn't that he was afraid of her; his Mind Method was telling him that she was someone not to be trifled with.

As his detection circle expanded, he sensed more and more auras, though most were weak. When the nearby castle came within range, he quickly detected four or five more obvious reactions. One of them appeared as a warm, golden glow in his subconscious, motionless beneath the castle.

He had to admit, this Mind Method was incredibly convenient. It was practically like having X-ray vision and an infrared scanner.

Chen Xuan praised it in his mind.

Even if someone was hundreds of meters away, he could pinpoint their location in advance. No wonder Liu Shuyue had managed to find the bandits' camp in the pitch-black night.

"I checked. No one here is stronger than you or me."

There were people stronger than me, but the two of us together were the ceiling.

"Good." Liu Shuyue didn't quibble over his wording. "But don't let your guard down. Sometimes, when everything seems too safe, it's actually a trap."

Chen Xuan nodded in agreement.

He also noticed that Liu Shuyue had mentioned starting over with the Heavenly Cloud Skill. That confirmed one of his earlier suspicions: Ability Transaction wasn't a one-time deal where one person gained something and the other lost it. If someone learned an ability through their own efforts, they could relearn it through talent and hard work, even after losing it.

The castle stood beside a lake.

The water flowing in from the surrounding area formed a natural barrier, and anyone coming or going had to cross a drawbridge that could be raised or lowered.

Many soldiers stood watch atop the tall stone walls. If they tried to storm the place, they would need ten times the defenders' numbers and heavy siege weapons. Otherwise, they'd have little chance of taking the stronghold.

But the guards never would have dreamed that two people could simply walk through the gates, bold as brass, and enter the stronghold.

"I heard... the Saintess is going to be executed tomorrow?"

"What Saintess? The Court of Justice has already declared her a blasphemous witch."

"But would a witch lead an army and defeat the Englishman? She was still the hero who liberated Orléans and Reims..."

"Who knows? Maybe it was all the devil's doing."

Murmured conversations like these could be heard everywhere.

Even the royal guards serving the King had heard of Joan's great achievements. Some felt she'd been wronged, while others were thrilled at the prospect of destroying a witch. Whatever they thought, Joan clearly didn't command the same respect here that she had on the front lines.

"Looks like this part of Gilles de Rais's intelligence was accurate," Chen Xuan whispered. "My guest has been slandered unjustly."

Even though the English hadn't put her on trial, she still seemed unable to escape her original fate.

"Isn't it common throughout history for good people to be falsely accused while villains get away with everything? It was fortunate for her that she met you before this happened." Liu Shuyue sighed softly. "Can you sense where she is?"

"She should be in the castle's basement. We can go down through the tower on the east side."

With a detailed map of the royal residence and the Heavenly Cloud Skill's long-range detection, finding someone wasn't difficult. Using their invisibility spells, they took less than half an hour to sneak from the castle entrance down to the underground level, encountering no obstacles along the way. The prison stood next to the storeroom, and its key hung on the stone wall.

Chen Xuan didn't know what spell Liu Shuyue had used, but the jailers at the entrance quickly grew drowsy. In less than thirty seconds, every one of them had closed their eyes.

"The Sleep Talisman only lasts about fifteen minutes. We need to hurry," she warned.

Chen Xuan took down the key, unlocked the prison door, and stepped inside. The layout reminded him of an inn: a narrow passage ran down the middle, with cells enclosed by wooden bars on either side.

Finding Joan's cell was even easier than he'd expected.

It was the only one with four armored guards standing outside.

That's a pretty tight security detail, he thought. Looking past them, he confirmed Joan's presence. They'd stripped her of all her armor, leaving her with only a black hemp prison shift. Iron balls were chained to both her feet, and she wore a wooden pillory around her neck. But aside from the restrictions on her movement, he couldn't see many signs of injury.

"Can you make these people fall asleep, too?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards began to sway.

"I'm suddenly so sleepy..."

"Hey, don't doze off on duty."

"Wait... is that sleeping incense? G-guards..."

The last man managed to stagger two steps forward before crashing to the floor.

The clatter of armor caught Joan's attention.

"What happened to you?" She raised her head and even showed concern for the men. "Jailer, come over—"

She stopped mid-sentence, her face full of shock.

Chen Xuan had emerged slowly from the shadows and was walking toward the cell.

"Divine Envoy... sir?"

"Hmm? Is she the guest you were talking about? Why does she seem so respectful toward you?" Liu Shuyue's whisper drifted softly from behind him. "I thought we were your most honored guests."