Chereads / Cataclysm Card King / Chapter 57 - Chapter 65: The Second Fragment [Mystic Medium]

Chapter 57 - Chapter 65: The Second Fragment [Mystic Medium]

Ji Xun was surprised to run into the very person he had been searching for while looking for clues. It seemed that luck was not on this old cultist's side.

Since the old cultist was using the guise of a doctor, he wouldn't hide in a shady place. Perhaps he hadn't expected to be recognized despite not showing his face during his previous visit to the corpse collector's dormitory, even using mental hypnosis.

The doctor had a heightened sense of alertness. When someone walked by, he seemed to immediately sense something. Ji Xun noticed that the doctor's gaze met his briefly as he passed, but the doctor didn't scrutinize him closely, likely due to Ji Xun's mechanic worker disguise.

"Such strong intuition..." Ji Xun thought, although he was shocked, he maintained a calm expression. He was relieved that his preparation kept him from being exposed by that brief glance.

Ji Xun walked past without any unnecessary actions, and a faint smile tugged at his lips. He thought, "Now, this means the plan can move forward."

The clues he had so far were mostly speculative, and he hadn't expected to find the right location immediately. He was prepared to spend several days in the Redwood District. To his surprise, he found it on the very first day.

Seeing the doctor, Ji Xun was nearly certain that this was one of the precise locations of the "Four Pillars."

Even though he didn't know the exact address of the sacrificial ritual, it was no longer his concern.

He was realistic enough to know that this level of conflict was beyond his current capabilities.

With the location and the person identified, it was time to follow the correct procedures.

The doctor was a mystic type sorcerer, likely at least a second-tier, and Ji Xun didn't think he could handle him. Moreover, this person probably had accomplices.

Just because he couldn't deal with the old cultists didn't mean others couldn't. In the world of spell card masters, cultists are universally hunted.

Previously, the Tailor Street incident was handled by an operative from the Golden Oak Security Company, so it was certain that Golden Oak's personnel could deal with such matters.

...

After confirming the location of the "Four Pillars," Ji Xun rode his motorcycle to North City.

Instead of returning to East Fifth District, he went to the North City branch of the corpse collectors and applied for a new identity.

The reason was that Ji Xun wanted to ensure that after the "Four Pillars" base was destroyed, he could be present at the scene to collect the bodies.

This method was the most secure and least noticeable.

He was aware of the division of the corpse collector's territories; the Redwood District was a civilian area with fewer bodies, and there was only one small team of corpse collectors—Team 18.

The application process went smoothly, and Ji Xun was hired on the same day.

He didn't wander around but observed the environment around the dormitory and devised a series of subsequent plans based on his observations.

To his surprise, beneath Team 18's dormitory was a large underground structure with some creatures living in the darkness. This made his plan even more secure.

....

At midnight that night, the moon appeared again.

It lasted a bit longer than the previous night.

This indicated that the old cultist hadn't realized they were exposed.

This was good news.

The next day, Ji Xun went on a mission with the team to collect bodies.

As usual, the senior members of Team 18 had a tradition of bullying newcomers.

Ji Xun's role as a weak, taciturn newcomer made him once again the one dealing with the dirty and tough work, which suited him perfectly.

After familiarizing himself with Team 18's work environment for a day, Ji Xun started writing a tip-off letter that night.

The letter's content was straightforward: a concerned citizen had discovered a secret cultist base at Yanbian Clinic, 354 Redwood Street. The clinic's doctor was an old cultist, and the base was directly related to the "glowing orb" seen in the sky.

He wrote it clearly.

As for how he knew this, it was up to Golden Oak's people to figure out.

After all, the people and location were real, and someone could verify it immediately.

To ensure that the recipient took the letter seriously, Ji Xun also added a line: "Saw a suspected fugitive, 'Lone Wolf' Baron, at the clinic."

Baron was currently a wanted criminal with a bounty exceeding one million in the Hunter's Guild's reward hall.

And Ji Xun wasn't making this up. After all, he suspected that the mangled bodies in the Tailor Street cellar were Baron's handiwork.

This fugitive was likely connected to the old cult and the moon.

Better to report one more than to be caught unprepared.

After finishing the "tip-off letter," Ji Xun checked the wording to ensure no unnecessary information was revealed. Yet, he felt something was missing.

After a moment of thought, he decided to leave a name on the letter—"Sunshine Community."

Leaving a name wasn't redundant for Ji Xun; he had his own reasons.

...

Previously, Ji Xun had suffered a setback with the **Fortuneteller** on Dark Rain Street.

Later, he specifically sought to understand the extraordinary knowledge related to divination.

He also discovered that while divination and prophecy abilities are incredibly powerful, the costs are very high.

For any high-difficulty divination, almost all diviners use their own lifespan and fortune to conduct the divination.

Factors such as the specificity of the clues, the distance, and the target's rank all affect the cost of divination.

Ji Xun also guessed that if his plan succeeded, someone might come looking for him through this letter.

Ji Xun was confident that the logic of the letter left no flaws.

Therefore, only mysterious means could be used.

He thought that since he was going to be divined anyway, he might as well make it harder.

If he didn't leave a name, the diviner would try to divine the entire source of the letter.

But if he left a name, that would be a specific clue.

"Chaoyang Resident" sounds like a place name. Diviners would likely start with such clues.

After all, a specific clue reduces the cost of divination.

The principle of divination relies heavily on mysterious logic, such as destiny or universal laws.

If it were a completely fictitious place name, divination wouldn't work, and there would be no cost.

But "Chaoyang" isn't made up.

It's a place name with a complete logical direction.

Ji Xun didn't know if using a name from a different world would cause a backlash that might kill the diviner on the spot.

This wasn't meant to harm anyone.

Reporting an evil organization out of goodwill shouldn't lead to trouble for the whistleblower.

And if someone is willing to pay any price to find him, they must be an enemy.

So, apologies in advance.

...

Only major forces have communicators.

In Innocence City, ordinary people rely mainly on foot for communication.

The city has postmen and newsboys who handle letters, and for a few copper coins, young lads would run across the city delivering messages.

To avoid complications,

Ji Xun wrote the letter and found a reliable postman to deliver the simply encrypted letter.

The postman would take the letter to the headquarters of the Golden Oak Security Company.

The moon would rise at midnight, and he chose to send the letter at dusk.

By the time the fight ended, the moon wouldn't have risen, and the energy wouldn't have started depleting, making it the best timing.

...

Before he knew it, it was already ten o'clock at night.

In the morgue of Squad 18, Ji Xun was handling corpses while occasionally checking his pocket watch and muttering to himself, "Normally, it takes an hour to deliver the letter, an hour to assemble and travel... then a bit of fighting and cleaning up. They should be done by now, right?"

With the information from the report letter, the Golden Oak people would send someone to raid the old cult's hideout. This kind of battle shouldn't last long.

The shantytown area was densely populated, and bodies couldn't be left for long, or the resulting pollution would be severe.

This meant they had to notify the corpse collectors immediately.

Ji Xun estimated that around ten o'clock, news should come.

But he waited until ten fifteen.

He thought that if no news came soon, he might have to check it out himself.

Just then, a message came through the communication tube: "Everyone, mission on Hongshan Street! Bring more body bags!"

Ji Xun immediately perked up.

It finally came.

...

"The company reported that a basement on Hongshan Street was found with dozens of bodies. We'll be busy tonight."

"Captain, what's going on? That place rarely has deaths, how did so many people die at once?"

"Who knows?"

...

In the truck, Ji Xun listened to the conversation, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.

Back then, he was also clueless when he went to Tailor Street.

Now, he knew what he was going to do.

The address and conditions matched; it had to be the evil cult's hideout.

Those cultists chose the residential area on purpose, with its complex structure, easy concealment, and suitability for spreading their beliefs and recruiting followers.

Squad 18's corpse collection truck sped down the road and soon arrived at 354 Hongshan Street.

The truck stopped by the roadside.

As Ji Xun got out, he saw a building in the distance engulfed in flames.

As expected, the fight wasn't intense.

The old cultists were like sewer rats, without the strength to confront the Golden Oak Company head-on.

Approaching the scene, he saw four burly men in black suits standing outside the clinic, external agents of the company.

Last time there were two, now there were four.

Probably due to the "moon" incident, they were more cautious this time.

When the corpse collectors arrived, the black-suited agents gave them a scrutinizing look but didn't say much.

The corpse collectors went straight to the scene.

This time, the sacrifice ritual was in a basement not far from the clinic.

Like before, a few bodies had been silenced, and the basement was dark and foul-smelling.

Ji Xun noticed that the bodies this time weren't with smashed chests.

The wounds were very small, all in vital areas like the chest and throat.

Ji Xun had a vague suspicion: "These are... surgical knife wounds?"

It must have been the doctor's work.

...

The veteran team members were slacking off in the back, just as Ji Xun had hoped, he was the first to be assigned to the basement.

Ji Xun and two other newcomers carried lamps as they went down, and they saw the flayed bodies hanging from the ceiling swaying slightly in the darkness.

On the walls, the sacrificial symbols were still everywhere.

There were more bloodied bodies here than on Tailor Street, over thirty at a glance.

The flaying was done with the same artistic precision.

The corpses emitted a spiritual stench, making them nauseous even through their gas masks.

Ji Xun, having seen this before, wasn't surprised at all.

The clown mask protected him from the spiritual pollution of the sacrificial ritual.

The other two corpse collectors felt extremely uncomfortable due to the severe supernatural pollution. But work had to be done, so the three began to collect the bodies.

Ji Xun didn't show any unusual behavior initially, carefully observing the situation in the basement.

After coming out of the labyrinth, he was familiar with these sacrificial symbols.

The mysterious symbols on the "Four Pillars" in the labyrinth were even more numerous and complete than here.

After collecting a few bodies, he quietly moved to the deeper part of the ritual and saw the "☾" symbol.

At that moment, the anticipated revelation appeared.

"You have listened to the devil's whispers from the abyss, mental chaos immunity, you have touched 'Old God's Relic'"

Upon touching the relic, he saw that the dark energy on the corpses converged like fine threads onto an inconspicuous wall brick.

It was a familiar scene.

Ji Xun was delighted: "It's still here!"

He did all this for the [Secret Silver Medium].

And this medium's quality was visibly much better than the one on Tailor Street.

Ji Xun sensed the dense dark threads and his eyes gleamed with caution: "This medium contains at least 50% more supernatural properties..."

It might be because one of the Four Pillars was missing, or perhaps they had more time, allowing the Outer God followers to create this enhanced medium.

This was good news for Ji Xun.

Absorbing it would significantly boost his attributes again.

But taking the second medium carried much higher risks than the first.

This thought flashed through his mind, and Ji Xun had already devised numerous risk mitigation plans.

He came for this thing and had already made predictions.

Ji Xun tried to store the medium in his storage ring but found it wouldn't go in, nor would it fit in the containment card.

"Huh... can't contain it."

He quickly realized it might be related to the "divinity" mentioned in the revelation.

But it didn't matter much.

While no one was looking, Ji Xun used the same trick, quietly stashing the medium inside one of the corpses.

The inability to contain it was anticipated, and the risks were similar.

Choosing to take a second time was bound to be trickier than before.

What he needed to do was quickly consume it, as hiding it anywhere wouldn't be safe.

...

Half an hour later, all the bodies in the basement were collected.

The corpse collectors were heavily polluted, as if they had suffered heatstroke, dazed and disoriented.

The company's external agents used the antique camera to ask a few questions and then performed a "memory cleanse" as usual.

Ji Xun, familiar with the procedure, didn't expose any flaws.

Dozens of bodies were stuffed into the truck, packed full.

The corpse collection truck drove away from the Hongshan district.

In the corner of the truck, Ji Xun murmured, "By now, the other two sites should be under attack too..."

Besides the first report letter, there were two others scheduled to be delivered to the Golden Oak Company headquarters around eleven o'clock by the postmen.

This was Ji Xun's insurance to divide the attention for the second [Secret Silver Medium].

Consuming this treasure required time, and that time held great risk.

Those Old God followers weren't stupid.

Having been stolen from once, they would be on guard.

If they discovered the second medium was missing, they'd realize something was wrong.

Only external agents and corpse collectors had been to the site, so there would be an investigation.

This time, the visit wouldn't be as easy as last time.

Ji Xun needed to buy himself some extra time.

The other two report letters pointed to general locations but were sufficient.

The Golden Oak Security Company had experts who would investigate.

Even if it meant alerting the enemy, the purpose would still be achieved.

If the other two sites were discovered, the Outer God followers would be too busy.

The pressure on Ji Xun would be greatly reduced.

He even thought the Golden Oak Security Company might dig deeper through the three sites and perhaps completely destroy the Moon Cult.

That would eliminate any future troubles.

Of course, even if the Hongshan site didn't yield the medium, it would just be bad luck. Reporting it would still contribute to the city as a concerned citizen.

But the reality was, he had obtained the item.

What Ji Xun needed to do now was quickly assimilate the evidence.

Even with all the preparations, he sensed it wouldn't go smoothly.