Mad Judy

"...Don't worry about the details." Chen Xuan turned around and made a shushing gesture, lowering his voice. "An attitude is just a facade. It doesn't reflect the standing of any of our guests in this shop."

Liu Shuyue gave a meaningful little "Oh."

Fortunately, she kept her voice low enough that only the two of them could hear.

"Long time no see." Ignoring Liu Shuyue's teasing, he nodded to Joan of Arc. "I heard about you from General Gilles de Rais. He prayed to the Lord God, willing to pay any price to save you. That's why I came here. What about your abilities? Shackles shouldn't be able to seal your Spirit Sword Technique, should they?"

Joan hurriedly explained, "I don't know what that evil witch did to me. She pricked me with a needle, and after that, I couldn't use my Spirit Sword Technique anymore. If you run into her, you have to be extremely careful... Everything about her is strange. She's a difficult opponent!"

"Her energy channels have been disrupted. You can tell, right?" Liu Shuyue whispered, her voice audible only to him.

Chen Xuan had noticed. Joan shone like a golden flame, but its path was twisted and broken. According to what he knew of the Mind Method, no matter how one's energy flowed, it should follow a complete, unbroken cycle.

"Can you treat it?"

"Give her this."

Chen Xuan suddenly felt a delicate hand take his, then place a round pill in his palm.

It looked far more refined than anything he'd made himself.

He held it out to Joan. "Try taking this."

Joan didn't question him. Dragging the iron ball behind her, she shuffled up to the bars. Since her hands were bound, she simply took the pill in her mouth.

Less than ten seconds later, white smoke began rising from the top of her head.

"What kind of medicine is this?" he asked curiously. "Why isn't it in the Herbalism records?"

"A Meridian-Clearing Pill. It's not listed because I can't make it, either." Liu Shuyue was frank. "I brought it from my sect. Every one I use is one less."

Chen Xuan immediately decided not to ask any more questions.

Rare things were usually expensive.

"Lord God above, I can feel... my strength coming back!" Joan said softly. She clenched her fists and pulled hard. The wooden restraints on her wrists shattered at once.

So the disrupted energy flow affected not only her abilities, but also her basic strength and reflexes... Chen Xuan mused. That witch clearly had some tricks up her sleeve.

Once her hands were free, Joan turned her palm into a sword, enveloped it in the white light of her Spirit Sword Technique, and chopped through her ankle shackles and the lock on the cell door in two swift blows.

"Thank you for saving me, Your Excellency. I can never repay this great kindness." Joan dropped to one knee before Chen Xuan. "If there is a next life, I wish to become your knight and serve by your side forever."

"Is that also... just a facade?" Liu Shuyue's voice drifted over, even softer this time, almost as if it had sounded in his mind.

Chen Xuan could only laugh helplessly. He quickly helped Joan to her feet. "What are you talking about? The Lord God didn't grant you your abilities so you could protect His messenger. Let's get out of here first. We can talk about the rest later."

Joan shook her head. "Please forgive me, but I can't agree. I must go to the palace at once and destroy Mad Judy. She has already taken control of His Majesty's mind. Every day we leave her unchecked puts our homeland at greater risk of ruin."

"In everyone else's eyes, you're the witch now!" Chen Xuan felt his heart sink, gripped by a sudden foreboding. "Even if you find her, can you beat her?"

"I was framed, not defeated in a fair fight. Of course, I might die at His Majesty's hands, but if I can save France, I'll gladly give my life!"

Seeing the sincerity in her expression, Chen Xuan knew he couldn't talk Joan out of it.

That was why she'd said, "If there is a next life."

She was probably prepared to die.

Her resolve was admirable, but from a business standpoint, wouldn't it be a loss? If Joan died here, he wouldn't just lose a customer; all his earlier investment would become a sunk cost. Worst of all, Liu Shuyue would witness his failure. That would damage the shop's reputation and undermine customers' confidence in its shopkeeper. He'd be losing on every front.

The question was, how could he stop Joan?

Her loyalty to her country was beyond doubt. She wasn't joking about being willing to die for it.

While Chen Xuan was still at a loss, a cold voice came from the far end of the corridor. "You don't need to come to the palace looking for me. We can settle this right here."

"Mad—Judy!"

Joan's expression changed instantly. She stared toward the voice, every word she uttered thick with fury.

"You really didn't listen to a word I said, did you?" A figure in a black robe emerged slowly from the shadows. "If you truly want to save your beloved France, you should've died sooner and cleared the way for His Majesty King Charles. Instead, you keep clinging to life, making all those important people nervous."

Chen Xuan finally saw the witch. Most of her face was hidden beneath her hood, leaving only a few strands of hair on her forehead and a pair of dark eyes visible. In the torchlight, her hair glinted a vivid red, as if soaked in blood.

That wasn't all. She wore a lip ring, with a thin silver chain running from her lower lip to her earlobe. Her ears were covered in glittering ornaments. In the age of witch hunts, that look would have been considered shocking.

And yet, no one had branded her a witch, bound her, and burned her alive. Compared with Joan, she was being treated very differently.

"That's just a lie you made up!"

Joan faltered halfway through her reply.

Chen Xuan looked at her, sharply catching that flicker of uncertainty.

"You can tell whether what I say is true, can't you? After all, you're the savior blessed by the Lord God." Judy said dismissively, "The great nobles have been suspicious of you and resentful of you for a long time... Who would want to see a France ruled by a woman? The British army is no longer as unstoppable as it once was. If you keep going as you are, won't you take all the credit for reclaiming the country for yourself? His Majesty is no different... He may not say it aloud, but he worries about one thing: if the invaders are driven all the way back to Britain, a great Saint Maiden will forever stand between him and the army."

"I won't deny that some nobles dislike me... but His Majesty could never be as narrow-minded as you say!" Joan shot back. "You used evil magic to bewitch him! You're the one who brought disaster upon the court!"

Judy shrugged. "What if I told you I don't know the first thing about the wicked sorcery you're talking about?"

"Wh—" Joan froze.

"Right, you've felt it, haven't you..." The witch chuckled. "My arrival gave them exactly what they needed: a way to get rid of the Saint Maiden without getting their own hands dirty. I'll bear all the blame. Once it's over, they can claim they were bewitched by a witch, then hang me and be done with it."

"You mean... you called yourself Mad Judy, dressed like a witch, and meddled in military and political affairs... all so you could be killed as the culprit after getting rid of me?" Joan could hardly believe her ears. "I don't understand... Why go that far?"

"For the same reason as you, of course—I love France with all my heart!" Judy tilted her head and bared her teeth in a crooked grin, like a madwoman. "My sacrifice is nothing if it puts this country on the right track. You know, when I told His Majesty about my plan, he approved it immediately. Without his help, how could your trial have moved forward so smoothly?"

Joan's face turned deathly pale.

"What are they saying? Could you translate for me?" Liu Shuyue complained in a whisper.

"Um... it's complicated..." Chen Xuan stopped midsentence when he saw the witch's gaze turn toward him.

"As for you... you're the villain bringing chaos and evil into the world, trying to steal other people's abilities and disrupting the natural flow of time." Judy's voice turned icy. "You have two choices: surrender and face punishment, or be buried here forever!"

At last, Chen Xuan understood the source of the unease he'd felt.

Everything the witch had said about Joan was based on the history that followed Joan's death... as if she'd witnessed what happened afterward. That could perhaps be explained by a witch's divination magic, but the second half of what she'd said went far beyond her era!

The words "steal other people's abilities" made Chen Xuan's heart jump. At the very least, it meant she knew abilities existed—and that they could be taken! But the Ability Store was all about fair trades. Her accusation couldn't have been further from the truth.

Now that he thought about it, he'd overlooked one thing.

The name Mad Judy.

In French, "Judy" also meant Thursday...

If it wasn't a coincidence, could she have come up with the name without giving it any thought, simply picking something that sounded catchy?

"What's she saying now?" Liu Shuyue asked.

"She says... she wants to kill me, at any cost," Chen Xuan murmured, barely moving his lips. "Looks like this fight can't be avoided. You'll help me, right?"

"Mm-hmm..." She gave a soft hum. "But talisman spells aren't suited to a head-on fight. She probably hasn't noticed me yet. To catch her off guard, I'll need a few minutes to prepare, so you'll have to handle the start by yourself."

Chen Xuan blinked. Huh? Why hadn't she said that sooner?

"Looks like you're not going to surrender. In that case..." Mad Judy—Mad Thursday—raised the staff in her hand and pointed it straight at Chen Xuan.

The staff was hollow. There was nothing inside except a dark opening, and it looked just like a gun...

Just like a gun?

Chen Xuan felt the hairs all over his body stand on end!

It was a gun!

"Bang!"