The Alchemist's Guide to Flesh and Blood Ascension

"Let's go find Lin. This problem needs to be dealt with now," Yunev winked at Nehta and shoved it away from the apothecary, leaving Old Six and the rat "alone" there.

The two figures gradually disappeared into the darkness of the pipe.

"Sigh...it's my fault," Nehta said, tapping himself in frustration after leaving the crowd. "I really didn't expect that there would be such 'information' inside!"

Yune shrugged, even though Seth's performance and negotiations in Zelharan had already exposed his identity as a mole.

But only he and Iseria witnessed this scene, and in this underground place where trust had only just begun to be established... one could not persuade those creatures to believe them completely with just words.

Nehta kicked aside the broken pipes under her feet, bent over, and groped her way forward in the dark. Her destination was clear—Lin's residence, the "castle" Lin had mentioned.

It was actually just a simple structure made up of three abandoned pipes laid horizontally, forming a "品" shape, which came into Yonivo's view.

The relatively small pipe with a "window" in the lower left corner, with weeds blocking the wind at both ends, is, unsurprisingly, "Lin's" bedroom.

Younevo then shifted his gaze to the pipe in the lower right corner, where the windproof material used was even better, and he could vaguely see a corner of yellowish cotton that hadn't been properly stuffed.

"Lin...lives with other people?" the black-robed alchemist asked, somewhat puzzled. "Or does Lin have a family?"

"A single rat, incredibly innocent," Nehta shook his head, walked towards the topmost pipe, and tapped the metal cover.

"Who?!" came the wary voice from inside, followed by a rustling sound.

Tap, tap... like a scepter striking the ground.

Lin pulled back the iron plates, adjusted his tattered cloak and iron crown, and, head held high, pretended to be a complete stranger to Nehta. "Who is disturbing the great Lin's rest?"

Then, it glanced down slightly and asked slowly, "Oh... it's Nehta. Why do you wish to meet the great Lin at this time?"

Nehta went up and slapped Lin.

"You, you're attacking the Emperor! I'm going to call the Imperial Guards..." Lin's voice trailed off, as if he didn't want to wake anyone.

"What do you need Great Lin for?" It sighed, shifting all its weight onto the cane.

"Haven't you stopped doing 'intelligence' for a long time? What's going on?" Nehta took out the note with Seth's signature and waved it repeatedly in front of Lin.

Lin glanced at the intelligence report, then his gaze bypassed Nehta and landed on Junev, scrutinizing him closely.

"Great Lin Leyi, how could you possibly fathom Lin's feelings?"

When the lame, crutch-wielding rat-man saw Nehta's sullen face, as if he were about to pull out a crossbow and shoot him, he immediately flinched, repeatedly saying, "Hey, hey, hey! Great Lin said it was right, Lin was wrong!"

Nehta snorted coldly, and as he reached for his crossbow, he casually pulled out a nut. "If it's a long story, then let's get to the point, otherwise..."

Lin shrank back, then pushed the metal plate behind him, gesturing for him to come in. "Wei... Lin thinks it's better if we come inside to talk."

Yonivore and Nehta exchanged a glance, then went inside one after the other.

Lin's "living room" was relatively low, and if the three of them were to stand and talk there, they would all have to bend over, which was simply too tiring.

So the lame ratman brought three small cushions so they could sit in a row.

Nehta's sharp, beady eyes stared at Lin for a long time, making the latter somewhat uneasy. Finally, he slowly spoke, "You... saw the holy light aura above?"

The two nodded, and Lin also sighed.

The lame rat-man subconsciously touched the transparent storage jar beside him, then remembered that the glass ball was not with him at the moment. He put his hands on his lap and said softly, "Lin's intelligence gathering... predates the white-robed man's first extermination by a great deal."

"Back then, Lin was thinking that once he became rich, he would become emperor and have all his subordinates deliver intelligence like he did. He could make a fortune while lying down and also have time to entertain..."

It didn't continue, but instead skipped a long paragraph: "Later, a group of people in white robes approached Lin. Lin thought the gray-eyed man in the white robes who was leading them didn't seem like a bad person, and even had a strange sense of friendliness about him."

"Lin tentatively started cooperating with them. The daily tasks were very simple... just to deliver messages to the alchemists. The white-robed men paid him very generously, allowing Lin to support his family while saving a large sum of money."

"Take down the alchemists of that time, that's one thing, but Lin never expected..." The lame ratman sniffed, his voice beginning to tremble, "...that the white-robed man doesn't even spare his own people."

"Those white-robed men who gave Lin good things...and Lin's compatriots..." It picked up its cane and tapped the ground. "Lin doesn't want to be an isolated and helpless emperor."

"Lin was scared, so he took everything and hid inside 'Root' first." There seemed to be nothing more to say. The lame ratman stood up and tried to send Yunevo and Nehta out of the "living room".

"So after all this time, you still haven't explained why you're still doing this 'information broker' business," Nehta said, extending a claw to stop Lin's movement, looking somewhat speechless.

"That's because of Lin's..." The latter's gaze fell on the tightly protected pipe.

"Alright, alright, getting you to say something is harder than retrieving rotten fish from the 'Great Swamp.' We're leaving..." Nehta popped a nut into his mouth and left Lin's residence with Yunev.

"Have you figured out how to explain this to the others, Lin's motive?" It turned its head and looked at the silent black-robed alchemist beside it.

"This is a bit troublesome," Yunevo said, feeling a headache coming on. "This might depend on your and Lao Liu's connections..."

Nehta grabbed another handful of nuts, popped half of them out, and poured them into the black-robed alchemist's hand. "The two of us? Tell me about it."

"If there really was a period in the church when the 'conservatives' were in charge...then there were definitely more than just Lin who were willing to engage with them. We need to find them and construct a fact that belongs to the 'conservatives'."

"A fact that only needs to barely shake other living beings," Yonevo said, holding up a finger.

The ratman ranger's beard twitched, and it tilted its head in confusion. "But how can we prove that the person who wrote that note was on the 'conservative' side?"

"With this..." Yunevo took something out of his storage bag.

It was right when he left Zehrharan that Seth secretly slipped it to him...

Soul Contract.