The elder was shaken; he had realized that this greedy, ugly, old woman’s reputation wasn’t undeserved. Just that abyssal darkness origin power alone was at the marquis level. Add to that her peculiar and treacherous secret arts, this old lady was the type of enemy people weren’t willing to encounter.
The b.l.o.o.d.y color in the basin quickly faded away, giving way to a clear liquid as smooth as a mirror. Following a loud shout from Heaven’s Eye, the water flowed out and became a true mirror’s surface.
On the reflective surface, Nighteye and Qianye were talking about something face to face.
“Is it them?” The elder’s tone was clearly skeptical. As he saw it, the two youngsters were simply too young—even if they were humans, known for their short lives and early maturation. It was hard to believe such young people could kill the Werewolf Genius Gary as well as the experienced Gillette and his guard force.
There was only one possibility in his heart. These two must be vampires or demonkin who had maintained their youthful appearance, when in reality, they were a couple hundred years old.
Heaven’s Eye was also startled. “Wait a minute, this result is a bit strange. I can sense that they are extremely young. Such surging vitality and aura cannot appear in those old fellows.”
It was at this time that Qianye and Nighteye seemed to have sensed something. Their figures began emitting ripples which quickly blurred the projection.
Heaven’s Eye immediately muttered a short incantation and pointed a finger at the basin. A drop of near-black blood fell into the receptacle, returning the image to clarity.
The elder was somewhat anxious, but he was also afraid of disturbing Heaven’s Eye. All he could do was wait with bated breath.
The old woman heaved a sigh of relief after seeing the image become clearer. “It’s alright, their bloodlines are extremely weak, only a bit stronger than ordinary people. If the Wolf King’s blood you gave me is genuine, I doubt they’re related to Gary’s death. They’re simply too weak, too weak.”
The elder said, “Perhaps they used some kind of hidden secret art. Do you have any way to see their race?”
Heaven’s Eye nodded and let out a b.e.s.t.i.a.l growl, one full of extreme agony. Her eyes were shut tight, but the skin on her forehead opened up and an eerie third eye appeared amidst the flesh and blood. The eyeball spun about continuously as it scanned the outside world.
Heaven’s Eye let out a mournful cry as she reached into the basin and threw several drops of black blood into it.
Seemingly attracted by the black blood, the strange eye’s line of sight landed on the mirror surface. It suddenly expanded in size, shooting out a faintly-discernible ripple of darkness that entered the mirror and vanished on the other side.
This was the Heaven’s Eye, the source of her name.
Seeing this pulsating eyeball, even the werewolf elder who had seen so much ma.s.sacre and peculiarities couldn’t help but feel a chill creep into his heart.
At this moment, Nighteye and Qianye were glancing about the courtyard. They had both sensed something staring at them—a cold, moist, and evil vision akin to a snake slithering over one’s skin. It was inexplicably disgusting and uncomfortable.
Both of them activated Bloodline Concealment the moment this sensation came into contact with their bodies, retracting their auras in a bid to disrupt the other party’s judgment. They managed to extricate themselves briefly from this sensation, but before long, the invisible sensation grew even stronger and continued to cast its gaze upon the duo.
This time, they knew for sure that something was up.
Nighteye’s pupils grew blood-red, while the depths of Qianye’s eyes surged with a deep blue shade. The two scanned their surroundings with their eye-abilities, hoping to find the source of this hidden line of sight.
The two looked up at the sky at almost the same time. A ma.s.s of darkness had gathered in the air at one point. It seemed formless and intangible, almost like a blotch of floating ink.
Despite possessing the same True Sight, Nighteye’s blood energy was somewhat weaker compared to Qianye’s. In her vision, she could make out a ball-shaped object hiding in the cloud of darkness and suspected that it might be an eye. In Qianye’s eyes, however, he could see the projection of a sinister-looking eyeball looking down at them from above.
The gaze was almost tangible as it scanned Qianye and Nighteye’s bodies repeatedly, trying to peer into the secrets within.
Being swept over by this kind of gaze was akin to being licked all over by a lizard. It was even more uncomfortable than before.
Nighteye wasn’t sure about what to do. She picked up the Carol of Shadows and opened fire, but the origin bullet pa.s.sed through the projection without affecting the eyeball in the slightest.
Qianye put down the origin gun in his hand after seeing Nighteye’s fruitless shot. He suddenly recalled—from the knowledge he had gained from the River of Blood—a method to deal with such peculiar lifeforms.
Without a second thought, he drew the Twin Flowers, unfurled his wings of light, and shot a beam of dark golden blood energy into the hovering eyeball! And there was a feather flickering inside the blinding light.
To deal with this mysterious, hidden enemy, Qianye used the Shot of Inception without the slightest bit of hesitation. Even as an unfinished product of the Black-Winged Monarch, the Shot of Inception was incredible in many ways, including the ability to traverse s.p.a.ce and chase down the source.
The feather pa.s.sed through the eyeball all the same, but it soon vanished into the air. That eyeball began to swell, reaching several times its original size and revealing an expression of utter horror!
A faint howl of misery rang out in the air as the eyeball burst open like a bubble and vanished. The sky above the small courtyard cleared up once more, almost as though nothing had happened here before.
In the depths of the swamp, Heaven’s Eye screamed loudly as a dark golden feather shot out of the mirror and pierced into the mysterious eyeball!
The eye contracted rapidly, struggling to the point where there was flesh and blood spraying out of it. Yet, it still couldn’t escape destruction in the end. It exploded with a loud bang, spraying blood and fluid all over the house.
Heaven’s Eye fell backward with a miserable cry. There was now a large, ghastly cavity on her forehead.
The werewolf elder was shocked out of his wits. He waited for a long while and only approached cautiously after seeing no movement. Heaven’s Eye lay collapsed on the ground, her aura fading rapidly from the marquis rank down to that of a count. She wasn’t just injured on the forehead, but her closed eyes were also bleeding and most likely unsalvageable.
Heaven’s Eye had fallen unconscious from the grave injuries. Although the great elder was a shaman in the tribe, there was little he could do against such damage. All he could do was hope Heaven’s Eye would have sufficient vitality to recover.
Now that the old woman had already found the necessary clues, her fate was of no importance in the great elder’s eyes.
The elder waved the cane in his hand, shooting out a stream of black sand. The particles turned into a black mist in the air which soon outlined the image of Qianye and Nighteye. Afterward, he pointed out that the two had special bloodlines and was likely supported by a powerful expert. In the end, they had heavily injured Heaven’s Eye via an unknown method and even destroyed her third eye.
When the black mist dispersed, a watery mirror formed in a pond within the ancient totemic castle, and the elder’s message appeared therein. The werewolf attendant nearby recorded the information immediately and delivered it to the Wolf King.
This was a secret art used by ancient werewolf tribes to transmit information. They could transmit messages immediately as long as the two sides were on a single landma.s.s. However, there were extensive limits to this secret art. In addition to the high cost of maintaining this channel, cultivating the art itself was extremely difficult. Fewer and fewer people were willing to pay this steep price when it provided no benefits to one’s combat strength. At this point, only the great elder had a grasp of this secret art in the entirety of their tribe.
At this moment, the Wolf King was seated on the throne, looking through the information delivered by his subordinate. His gaze rested quite a while on the words, “Their actual age is quite young, their ident.i.ty and race are unclear”, before pa.s.sing the report to his aides.
After the aides had seen the report, the Wolf King said, “What do you all think?”
A lanky, grey-furred general said, “Since it’s only two young b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, some other person must’ve attacked and injured Master Heaven’s Eye. That person is most probably the demonkin who killed Gary and Elder Gillette, and then s.n.a.t.c.hed away the Staff of Revival. As I see it, they probably haven’t escaped just yet and are probably hiding behind the Black Grove!”
Bloodbeard said, “From what I saw that day, the natives might have a hand in this. If the one behind these two is indeed a demonkin, how could they have formed a relations.h.i.+p with the natives? The demonkin and the natives have always been arch enemies.”
The werewolf general said in apparent displeasure, “Guessing this and that, won’t you find out the truth once you pa.s.s through the Black Grove? So spineless!”
After suffering such a mockery, Bloodbeard lowered his head and no longer spoke.
Another werewolf elder said, “It’s indeed quite difficult for us to pa.s.s through the Black Grove, but there are also other ways to force them to appear.”
The Wolf King’s eyes lit up. “What do you have in mind?”
The werewolf elder said, “Simple, rewards! You just need to offer a generous reward for all the people of the Eastern Sea to cause trouble for those two. At that time, the one behind them will have no choice but to make an appearance. As for the Black Grove, there are so many races in the neutral lands, there are quite a few that can traverse the forest without problems.”
“Very well, rewards it is then. Three hundred thousand gold coins each alive, or one hundred thousand each dead. Those who bring valid information will receive five thousand gold coins.” The Wolf King could be considered rich and overbearing.
However, the werewolf elder said, “That’s not enough.”
“Not enough!?” The Wolf King frowned. He wasn’t even willing to fork this much out if it wasn’t for the fact that this news had spread and he needed to recover his face. He also wanted to know what the enemy was planning behind the curtains. His idea remained the same—Gary was already dead. No matter how valuable he was in the past, his worth became zero the moment he lost his life. The only thing valuable to him at the moment was his prestige and power.
The werewolf elder seemed to have noticed the king’s displeasure. “Great Chief, you still lack a general under your wing. There are so many empty areas without supervision. Why don’t you pick one out and use it as a reward?”
All the werewolves in the totemic hall were moved, and even Bloodbeard looked up.
The Wolf King was quite surprised, but he fell into contemplation after seeing his subordinates’ reactions. Moments later, he shouted, “Fine! Let’s add a general’s position to the rewards!”
Within moments, the discussions in the hall died out and were replaced by deathly silence. Amidst this stillness, however, there were undercurrents flowing like surging lava.