The Villain Saint is my secondary account

"Your tone is quite accurate; I can already picture the scene."

Ye Xiao's lips twitched.

"Then, the priest naturally refused. This seemed to be a rather private matter. She immediately berated the girl in purple robes and then glared angrily at me and the prince."

"At that moment, I really felt that the other party wanted to kill us. The girl in purple robes was also looking at me with a wicked smile, which made me feel that she was doing it on purpose... But fortunately, the Dark Priest let us go in the end."

Ye Xiao nodded with interest.

"Tsk tsk, this Holy Ring... could it be the Holy Ring that is one of the Three Sacred Artifacts?"

"It's not surprising that those stupid humans in the Holy City could even have their Holy Regalia stolen, let alone their Holy Ring."

Greta muttered to herself.

"No way, if that's true, the security measures are terrible. Most importantly, I've never heard of the Holy Ring being stolen."

Ye Xiao crossed his arms. He had spoken with Orfindo and Decali, the Templar Knights from the Holy City. If the Holy Ring had been stolen, it should have been big news. There was no reason why these two wouldn't know anything about it.

unless……

Ye Xiaoxin felt a chill and suddenly thought of a certain possibility.

That can't be that dramatic, can it?

Ye Xiao rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers, but once the thought appeared, it was hard to get it out of his mind.

But the more he thought about the character of most of the Holy City's high-ranking officials he had encountered, the more he felt that this idea might actually be the truth.

The Holy Ring Family, one of the three major families in the Holy City, colluded with the Dark Cult and embezzled from their own territory.

Ye Xiao couldn't think of any other possibility besides this.

Chapter 114 The Dark Shepherd's Backup Plan

"Tsk tsk, has this holy city really become the secret garden of the Dark Cult?"

Even Greta couldn't help but comment.

Like the Holy Ring and the Holy Box, Ye Xiao had only heard of them by name and did not know their abilities, let alone have seen them in person.

Ye Xiao found it strange that the Three Sacred Artifacts, which even the world-destroying witch Ella couldn't control in the previous life, sounded like anyone could use them in this life.

Regardless, in his heart he had already placed the Rossia family, who controlled the Holy Ring, and the Dark Shepherds on the same table.

According to Wu He, besides the Holy Ring, he had also heard other high-ranking Dark Shepherd cultists discuss the Holy Casket. It seems that the Holy Casket was the very thing that had brainwashed them.

"Wait a minute?"

Ye Xiao frowned, "Are you sure their brainwashing power comes from the Holy Box?"

When asked this question, Wu He looked embarrassed. "I can only speculate, but I can confirm that they do have the item known as the 'Holy Box'."

“I saw with my own eyes that my captain was forcibly stuffed into a black stone coffin-like thing that they called a ‘holy casket,’ and he was a completely different person after he came out. I was also forced to go in with my head down, but I don’t think anything happened to me.”

When did that happen?

Ye Xiao said in a deep voice.

"Let me think... let's go back about half a month from now..."

Wu He also experienced a time reversal, which caused his sense of time to become somewhat confused.

Is that stone coffin still here?

"No more."

Wu He shook his head.

"So sure?"

Wu He pointed to the pitted and uneven stone wall opposite the underground lake, "Look at that wall that's full of caves. Back then, it was densely packed with those stone coffins. Now, it's all empty at a glance, so I naturally know that the thing is gone."

Ye Xiao looked in the direction the other person was pointing and indeed there was a tall, broad rock wall full of pits that looked like a honeycomb briquette.

"So... a group of Dark Shepherds left behind and took those stone coffins with them?"

He rubbed his chin.

"I don't quite understand their methods; I don't know if they destroyed the items or transferred them through some other means."

Wu He recalled, "Before entering the underground lake, they held a very strange ceremony. First, they made large numbers of believers bleed until the entire lake surface was covered. Then, they sent people to pour all the stone coffins into it."

Release enough blood to cover the entire underground lake... Ye Xiao glanced at the now clear and vast lake surface, wondering why he had seen so many corpses when he traversed the bottom of the lake.

What puzzled Ye Xiao was why the Dark Shepherds called those stone coffins "holy caskets," and why there were so many of them. If those were holy caskets, what was the situation with Iphi, who had been attracting the pursuit of the Boromeo family?

"derivative."

Greta seemed to sense Ye Xiao's confusion and added from the side, "A small portion of the power of a sacred artifact can be projected onto similar items with the necessary aptitude. A famous example is the Fog City Scepter in the Fog City Church of the Kingdom of Valo, which projects a portion of the power of the Holy Lance."

"Equivalent to a greatly weakened copy?"

Ye Xiao nodded, explaining why the Dark Shepherd had so many stone coffins called "Holy Boxes".

But since there are replicas, does that mean the original is also in their possession?

While Ye Xiao was still pondering, Wu He continued, "After being poured into the stone coffin, large patches of red flesh flowers grew in the blood lake... I can still clearly remember that scene; it was so eerie it was disgusting."

"Indeed, there's no need to go into too much detail; I haven't eaten yet."

Ye Xiao took out a piece of dry bread from his spatial ring and broke it in half, giving half to Wu He.

"Thank you... I'll try to keep it simple,"

Wu He took the bread and scratched his head. "Those red fleshy flowers... there are three of the largest ones, and in the middle they have three fetuses that look like fruits."

"Fetus? Human?"

“From a distance, they looked like humanoids… but they shouldn’t be human. Their skin was covered with thin, fleshy, tumor-like layers of small scales.”

Wu He continued, “The believers worshipped the three fetuses, calling them the offspring of the Lord.”

"The first fetus was taken by the head priest, who carried it with him until we entered the underground lake; the second, they extracted tubes of black liquid from its body and gave them to the captain and the girl in the purple robe I mentioned earlier; the third was given to Prince Aslan, who, along with a small group of followers, took it to the shipwreck for other rituals..."

"...Prince Aslan?"

Ye Xiao was taken aback.

"He was captured by us in the Margala Sea,"

Wu He thought Ye Xiao was unaware of this, so he repeated, "After arriving here, we were all captured by the Dark Shepherds... Naturally, we were also locked in that stone coffin and brainwashed."

Ye Xiao slapped his forehead.

Indeed, no matter how you look at it now, it's impossible for that Dark Shepherd to let Prince Aslan go.

Upon closer examination, the entire incident, from Edward's public announcement of the execution of Prince Aslan, to the arrival of Aslan's fleet in the Seven Seas Capital, and then to their rescue of Prince Aslan... seems to be a whole series of events orchestrated by the Dark Shepherds.

Those three fetuses, in the hands of the priestess, could be used to usurp Encia's divine position; in Edward's hands, they could be used to extract the Fountain of Youth and create a batch of immortal beings...

Ye Xiaoguang felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about what might happen to the Aslan royal family if Prince Aslan were to bring that thing back to the country.

There was even a scheme hidden here targeting the Aslan royal family.

Ye Xiao felt increasingly frightened as he thought about it. If Wu He hadn't mentioned this, he would have been so focused on the events that he hadn't even realized it.

But now things are a bit complicated. I should never have let Reinaldo take that prince back.

The enemy is currently under heavy protection in the city by the Aslan fleet and the Gaboromeo family, and they are leaving port the next day. What should we do?

Ye Xiao was exhausted from the fierce battle in Thunder City. He had just returned and hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath when another hot potato was thrown into his hands.

The thought of having to rush off to deal with the Holy Temple and Aslan's large group made Ye Xiao feel a little tired, so he took out a mental potion and gulped it down.

[Skill "Drug Addict" Proficiency Level Improved to Expert]

[Potion effect +25%]

I'm impressed. That's probably how you learn a skill.

Ye Xiao looked bitter.

After Wu He finished explaining everything he knew, Ye Xiao stopped paying attention to him and let him come and go as he pleased. However, unexpectedly, Wu He took the initiative to ask Ye Xiao about his future plans.

"Next, I'll hurry up and find Prince Aslan. What, do you have ideas?"

Ye Xiao said.

"Ah."

Wu He said in a deep voice, "I want... I want to avenge the captain... I know I can't deal with those cultists on my own, but at least, let me do my part in thwarting their plans."

"I'm not a tool to help you get revenge."

Ye Xiao raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, I understand, that's not what I meant, I just meant..."

Wu He quickly waved his hand.

"But it's alright,"

Ye Xiao smiled slightly, "It's not impossible for you to join, but you'll have to take your responsibilities seriously."

"Position...?"

Wu He was stunned for a moment, then made up his mind, "No problem, I'm willing to do anything as long as I can deal with those Dark Shepherds."

"Okay, you said it."

Ye Xiao magically pulled a piece of scrap paper from his pocket.

"Now I'll need to take up a little of your time to introduce you to our savior and deities..."

Chapter 115 The Plot to Kill the King

Day two.

Freeport District, City Lord's Mansion.

The young female commander of the Aslan Legion, clad in a purple cloak, and her guards stood at the entrance to the corridor, waiting until the door to a room slowly opened.

"Commander, His Highness Verian has awakened."

Inside the room, Fisher, the maid Ye Xiao had met in the succubus Chesia's team, and another man in a sharp suit walked out one after the other and quietly reported to the girl in the corridor.

As soon as they finished speaking, the thin Prince Aslan leaned against the door frame, staggering as he poked his head out from inside. "Ha... I'm sorry to have worried you all."

Prince Verrian's face was still sickly pale, but after several days of treatment, some rosy color had appeared.

"Your Highness!?"

The man who looked like a steward was clearly not expecting that His Highness the Prince would just walk out with them like that, and quickly turned around to help him up.

"It's okay, I... I can walk by myself."

Prince Verrian smiled weakly and replied, then turned his gaze to the girl in the corridor, "General Linas, thank you."

"Humph."

The girl, called Lenas, crossed her arms and pouted, "If you want to thank someone, thank the Boromeo family. They're the ones who brought you out of those cultists hiding in the deep mountains and forests."

As she spoke, Lenas seemed to have thought of something, and frowned again, "Those rotten pirates are still hiding in the cave. I want to see how long they can hide."

"what……"

Prince Verrian smiled. "Actually, there's no need for such a complicated process... More than revenge, what I crave now is to return to the Empire."

"Hmm? Has Your Highness suddenly changed your mind?"

Lenas raised an eyebrow. "But those down-on-their-luck pirates dared to challenge the authority of the Empire. Letting them go so easily would be too lenient."

“I heard from Alfred that you have destroyed their secret meeting place.”

Prince Verrian waved his hand, "Pirates can't be eradicated by killing them. The ones that escape are probably not worth mentioning."

Lenas tilted her head slightly, and an image of a person wearing a black trench coat appeared in her mind.

"Mammon, the Demon God, grant me flames that tear the netherworld apart, to burn this land to ashes!!!"

The enemy's angry shouts were still fresh in his mind; a single divine spell had almost wiped out his entire army that had stormed the stronghold.

"...The remaining pirates are not all insignificant."