CHAPTER 168: Ripping Off The Veil

As Han Shuo and Emily brought Belinda to the Dark Mantle Fortress, they noticed that the flying bugs that had been circling the hotel were following them from a short distance away.

The Demonslayer's Edge suddenly flashed as its sharp point sank into one of the flying bugs, bringing it to Han Shuo's palm. He took a closer look and discovered that this bug was made of the same material as the golem Belinda had released. They were all made of metal armour, with only one being extremely large and the other very small.

Magical Yuan circulating in his palm, Han Shuo squeezed his thumb and index finger together tightly, and a sharp crack sounded as he pulverised the beetle. Han Shuo's eyes narrowed into slits as he noticed an extremely small magical formation in the stomach of the crushed bug, with traces of magical elements flickering inside.

"This Calamity Church is indeed formidable to form a formation inside such a small flying golem!" Han Shuo couldn't help but sigh in amazement as he put the flying golem down.

Emily nodded in full agreement with Han Shuo's words and spoke with a hint of fear in her voice, "The Church of Calamity is the most evil of all churches, with all kinds of evil magic and secret arts. Take the golem in the shape of the three-eyed demon god, for example. If the power and strength it displays could be mass-produced, the knights of our empire would have no way of resisting the attacks of these golems.

She was definitely part of the Dark Mantle; Emily's first thought was for the safety of the country, not how much personal gain these golems could bring her.

"I'm going to dispose of these flying bug golems to prevent them from following us back to Dark Mantle. We don't want anyone to discover our tracks." Han Shuo pulled out the Demonslayer Edge and willed it to charge into the crowd of flying bugs, destroying them all in short order.

Once all the Flying Bugs had been destroyed, Han Shuo and Emily didn't linger as they used the night to sneak back to the Dark Mantle's stronghold.

Han Shuo placed Belinda on a chair in the secret room he'd stayed in two days ago and had Emily take out ropes to tie Belinda to the chair.

Completely unconscious, Belinda had no idea she was being tied to the chair. After tying her up, Emily looked curiously at Belinda's veiled face and said, "Why is this girl veiled? Is there something she can't show the world?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Han Shuo smiled, "There are only three possibilities for a face veil. Either she is too beautiful and afraid that her features will put her in danger, she has to wear it for cultural reasons, or she doesn't want people to see the flaws in her face."

"I'm quite curious myself as to which of these possibilities she falls under. But since she's our prisoner now, I think you can remove her face veil straight away."

Emily glanced at him involuntarily as Han Shuo waxed eloquent, a strange tone colouring her voice, "Hmm. I didn't know you knew so much about face veils!"

Han Shuo smiled awkwardly and rushed to explain, "This has nothing to do with me. I only know about all this because I've been given Clarendon's memories."

Snorting softly, Emily said nothing further as she reached out a hand to slowly remove the light veil from her face.

The features of the senseless Belinda were slowly revealed. Thin, arched eyebrows appeared beneath a smooth, shining forehead. A pair of long, tightly closed eyelashes then came into view as Belinda's charming nose was slowly revealed. Her skin was white and translucent, she was a wondrous beauty, no wonder one looked at her.

However, when her veil was completely removed, Han Shuo and Emily suddenly saw a black birthmark on Belinda's left cheek. This birthmark made her originally beautiful face look a little frightening.

"You guessed right, she has a natural defect. If it wasn't for that black birthmark, she'd be a real beauty. What a shame!" Emily looked carefully at Belinda's exposed face and spoke with some regret.

An oval face, a cheeky nose, juicy red lips, sapphire blue eyes and translucent pale skin, all combined with a lovely figure to form the body a beauty should have. It was a pity that the birthmark on the left side of her face was simply too conspicuous. It drew the attention of everyone who looked at her, creating a stark contrast that completely overshadowed her appearance.

"Alright, I'll wake her up now." Han Shuo's expression was the same as always, as he didn't particularly care about this girl's appearance. He walked over to the back of the chair and placed a hand on the back of her neck, lightly pinching the meridians on the back of her neck and then gently patting her right cheek. "It's time to wake up."

Belinda's skin was smooth and soft. Han Shuo found the sensations very pleasant when he placed his hand on her skin to wake her up. It was like touching an expensive piece of satin.

Belinda's long eyelashes fluttered as her clear eyes opened. She scanned her surroundings in confusion, then looked at Emily and Han Shuo in surprise.

The confusion in her eyes immediately vanished as Belinda quickly realised where she was. Her clear eyes glittered with ice as her voice became soft but threatening, "Who are you to dare take me prisoner? My Church of Calamity won't let you get away with this. You'll regret what you've done today!"

"You need not worry about that. What business do you have in Valen City? Besides killing Clark, what other evil plans are you up to?" Emily looked at Belinda coldly and began her interrogation.

"You think I'm going to tell you? You're wasting your time." Belinda looked at Emily with disdain.

Belinda suddenly noticed the veil in Emily's hand and thought of something. Her previously soft voice became shrill for the first time. Panicked, she glared at Emily and said loudly, "You will pay the price for taking off my veil!"

After watching for a while, Han Shuo walked impatiently in front of Belinda, his voice chilling, "Tell us why you came here, or I'll give you another birthmark on your right cheek.

Belinda's expression changed as she heard these words and she let out a high pitched giggle, "You'll be sorry for this!"

Her previously flushed face suddenly lost all colour as her body instantly stiffened. Her breathing slowed to a shallow pace and her eyes closed once again, she seemed to have fallen into a coma as all her bodily functions went into hibernation.

Han Shuo was stunned by the sudden turn of events. He looked at Emily ruefully, "She seems to have taken some medicine and passed out again. This is a bit tricky, what do you think we should do?"

Emily came over and released a dark spell into Belinda's body. She then closed her eyes and thought for a moment, but could only lower her head and sigh, "The Calamity Church is certainly difficult to deal with. There's no point interrogating or torturing them if we can't wake them up."

"So what do you say?" Han Shuo held out his hands and stepped back in resignation.

After thinking for a moment, Emily replied, "I'll report what happened here and see what the higher-ups say. Also, inform the forest trolls that the siege weapons they sold to the merchants seem to have been secretly transported to Valen City. I need to gather some information to see if I can get some hard evidence."

"What should I do then?" Han Shuo asked.

"Hehehe, there's nothing for you to do at the moment. Do whatever you want. I'll let you know immediately if anything happens." Emily looked at Han Shuo with a smile.

Nodding, Han Shuo replied, "That sounds good. I'll stay in the secret chamber and start practicing high-level necromancy magic. I'll also see if I can find a way to wake Belinda and get something out of her."

"Whatever you want, but behave yourself! Don't take Belinda to bed while I'm not here!" Emily was about to leave when she suddenly remembered something and suddenly turned to glare at her.

"Eh, I'm not the type to take advantage of people. Don't worry!" Han Shuo smiled ruefully.

"Huh, and you say you're not. That's exactly how you got me!" Emily glared fiercely and then seemed to remember something. "However, Belinda's black birthmark has probably affected your feelings towards her. I don't think I have anything to worry about."

Emily was obviously proud of herself after saying these words and left happily.