Tower of Yin Spirits

It was half an hour before Green returned to Wilson Castle.

The battle had caused quite a commotion and alerted the Landon City Police Station. With Baron Lonanks's murder still fresh in everyone's minds, the entire force remained on high alert. The moment they heard someone had tried to kidnap Viscount Paul's daughter, every officer was mobilized to identify the kidnappers and track down whoever was behind them.

Green had to admit that when the machinery of the state ran at full speed, it could be remarkably efficient.

Vincent arrived early the next morning, full of nervous energy. He had probably been up all night again, and anger still burned in his eyes. Someone had dared to kidnap his sister on his own doorstep. It was the ultimate provocation and insult to the Wilson Family.

"How did it go, Vincent? Did you find out who they were?" Green asked as he washed up.

Vincent nodded grimly. In his hand was a roll of documents, likely the result of the Police Station working through the night.

Viscount Paul's daughter had nearly been kidnapped. That had kicked a hornet's nest in Landon City. Everyone at the Police Station, including the Director, had surely worked late the night before.

Vincent tossed the documents onto the coffee table and said through gritted teeth, "We identified the two poor devils infested by Demonic Insects. They belonged to an underworld organization in the Lower District. That organization has been in frequent contact with the Tower of Yin Spirits lately. The Demonic Insect mage Doctor Wilkins blasted to pieces was very likely one of theirs, but there's nothing left of his body, so we can't confirm it."

"The Tower of Yin Spirits?" Green murmured. He seemed to have heard the name before.

Vincent nodded and went on. "The Tower of Yin Spirits is a cult that's been active around the Kingdom's Northwest Province lately, especially near Landon City. Their methods are evil, and they're vicious beyond belief. They once sacrificed an entire village in Nant County to a Wraith Evil God. The scene was so bloody it made your hair stand on end. They didn't even spare children of two or three."

Green frowned as the memory came rushing back. Before he crossed into this world, the original Green Wilson had tried to join a cult. Hadn't it been the Tower of Yin Spirits? Unfortunately, they had never meant to accept him. They had made him a sacrifice instead. He had died with his eyes open, leaving Green to benefit by crossing into this world.

Vincent then passed along Viscount Paul's thanks and presented a check for five hundred Gold Pounds.

Green accepted it gladly. After they chatted for a while, he saw Vincent off.

Alone, Green sank into thought.

Cults were brutal by nature and stopped at nothing. The Tower of Yin Spirits, in particular, was notorious even among cults for its cruelty and ruthlessness. Crossing such an organization was serious trouble. Green had no idea how they had set their sights on Viscount Paul's daughter.

But Green had made an even more important discovery the night before: killing the two Demonic Insect Parasites had earned him some Psychic Energy. Did that mean killing creatures with extraordinary powers would earn him Psychic Energy? If so, wasn't it just like killing monsters to level up?

Whether his guess was right still needed to be tested.

Green also knew the Tower of Yin Spirits would cling like a plaster made of dogskin. The failed kidnapping would not make them give up. Instead, they would grow more vicious and take revenge on anyone who stood in their way, including Green and Doctor Wilkins. Green reckoned that even the Tower of Yin Spirits would not dare provoke Doctor Wilkins. Those cultists were mad, not stupid. So when they struck back, their targets would include not only Viscount Paul's family but also a Junior Magic Apprentice who "didn't know how high the sky was or how deep the earth went."

Green was not afraid. Instead, he saw the people of the Tower of Yin Spirits as a way to test his theory. But the Tower was a cult, after all. Its members moved in secret and came and went unpredictably. Finding their Secret Hideout would not be easy.

Over the next two days, the Police Station arrested a few people, but they were merely men and women duped by the cult. The investigation made no further progress.

That afternoon, Green sat across from Lola at Peony Cafe, in the same spot as last time.

Lola looked excited. Leaning in, she asked in a conspiratorial whisper, "Hey! Did you really kill a mage from the Tower of Yin Spirits? That's fantastic. I've hated those god-playing bastards for ages."

Green shook his head. "I didn't kill that mage. Doctor Wilkins did. I just dealt with two poor devils infested by Demonic Insects while I was there."

"Demonic Insect Parasites!" Lola cried. "You're saying you took down two Demonic Insect Parasites? Those monsters are harder to deal with than most Transcendents."

Green smiled. "They weren't too bad. My Skeleton Soldiers were stronger, anyway."

"Skeleton Soldiers?" Lola stared at him in disbelief. "You killed Demonic Insect Parasites with Skeleton Soldiers? That can't be right!"

Her reaction was understandable. Ordinary Skeleton Soldiers and Demonic Insect Parasites were in entirely different leagues. A single Demonic Insect Parasite taking on five or six Skeleton Soldiers would have been nothing unusual, yet Green had casually claimed that his Skeleton Soldiers were stronger.

After chatting a little longer, Green told Lola why he had asked to meet her.

Lola's eyes widened when she heard him out. "What? You want me to find the Tower of Yin Spirits' Secret Hideout in Landon City? You're joking, right?"

Green looked at her seriously. "Do I look like I'm joking? Those religious fanatics are bound to hate me after the kidnapping failed. They might not dare go after Doctor Wilkins, but they'll definitely come after me. I can't sit around and wait. I have to strike first."

Green did not hide his thinking. In truth, he had no need to rush. Viscount Paul had been thoroughly enraged by the attempt to kidnap Lillisa and would surely throw everything he had into striking back at the Tower of Yin Spirits. But Green already thought of the Tower as his own dungeon. How could he wait around while someone else cleared it and he watched from behind?

He could not rely on Viscount Paul to find the Tower of Yin Spirits' lair. After turning the matter over in his mind, he had come to Lola. It was worth a try, though he did not expect much.

To his surprise, Lola considered his words with a solemn expression, then nodded. "All right, I'll take the job. But I never work for free. Twenty Gold Pounds, nonnegotiable. What do you say?"

Green agreed at once and handed her twenty Gold Pounds in banknotes.

Lola took them like a little miser, then her eyes gleamed with a sly smile. "Ha! That money was easy to make."

Green raised an eyebrow. "What? Do you already know where the Tower of Yin Spirits' lair is?"

Lola neither confirmed nor denied it. She stood up. "That's all for today, then. Wait for my news tomorrow."

Green finished the coffee on the table before leaving. When he returned to Wilson Castle, he happened to run into Vincent, who had just come back by carriage.

Vincent held a folder and looked troubled. The moment he saw Green, he hurried over. "We found out who that Demonic Insect mage was."

Green was mildly surprised. He had not expected Viscount Paul to use his connections to identify a man whose body had been obliterated. Judging by Vincent's expression, though, there was something unusual about the man's identity.

Sure enough, once Vincent finished speaking, Green understood.

The Demonic Insect mage whom Doctor Wilkins's Arcane Missiles had blasted into scraps was not merely a member of the Tower of Yin Spirits. He had another identity, the one that had made Vincent's face turn grim. His name was Xivir Rute, and he was the son of the Tower of Yin Spirits' current Pontiff. He had also been chosen as an important successor.

Now they had a problem. They had killed the cult Pontiff's son and heir, creating a blood feud that could end only in death. If the Tower of Yin Spirits devoted itself to revenge, even Viscount Paul's power and wealth might not be enough to withstand it. One misstep could even bring about the destruction of the Wilson Family in Landon City.

Bearing the bad news, Vincent hurried into Viscount Paul's study inside the castle.

Green did not follow him. He went straight back to his own quarters.

According to the information Vincent had obtained, the Pontiff of the Tower of Yin Spirits was named David True. He was not particularly powerful himself, only an Intermediate Apprentice, and his profession was unknown. But he possessed a special ability to communicate with the Wraith Evil God Beyond the Void. It was this ability that had won him the Pontiff's seat.

David was vicious and poisonous, a man who would stop at nothing. Neither Vincent nor Viscount Paul would say a word about why Lillisa had been targeted for kidnapping. Green suspected that Viscount Paul and Pontiff David True had made some unspeakable deal in private. Later, for some reason, they had fallen out, prompting David True to send men to kidnap Lillisa as both a threat and a warning to Viscount Paul.

Green was certain his guess was close to the truth.

He got along well with Vincent, and Viscount Paul was usually amiable, even taking part in charity events from time to time. But Green had never mistaken father and son for innocent saints full of kindness and justice. They were true nobles. Beneath their gracious, elegant exteriors lurked a greed that could swallow everything. There was nothing surprising about them secretly dealing and cooperating with the cultists of the Tower of Yin Spirits.

But none of that concerned Green. He did not see himself as a friend of justice. The only thing he needed to think about now was how to clear the Tower of Yin Spirits dungeon.