Versatile Mage: Starting with the White Tiger Pendant-Chapter 227: The Setup

Huacun Village.

As soon as Lu Jun looked over, Hong Jun dropped to his knees on the spot, his voice trembling as he said, "Master Mage, I spoke out of turn, I deserve to die!"

With that, he started slapping himself madly.

"Hong Jun, is it? You seem to have misunderstood something. You came from a good family—why fall to corruption?"

Watching him, Lu Jun said with regret. In the distance, the Night Thunder Dream Beast had finished with Fang Gu and leapt over with the middle-aged man in its jaws, landing in front of Hong Jun. Its handsome beastly face stared at him coldly.

The aura of a Commander-level beast surged forth. Hong Jun's eyes filled with terror, his legs trembled. He instinctively thought he had been exposed.

Beside him, his father, Village Chief Xie Sang, quickly begged for mercy. "Please forgive him, Master Mage. Jun was pampered from a young age and lacks manners. I'm willing to make amends for this."

Lu Jun said nothing and gestured to the Night Thunder Dream Beast.

The next moment, both he and his Summoned Beast's eyes gleamed with transparent light—Intermediate-level Psychic Ripple activated, followed by the Nightmare Domain stimulation.

"Aah!" Hong Jun screamed in agony, his mind struck by a strong shock, his brain pierced by pain. A strange force invaded, erasing the previous imprint, and ultimately took full control of his consciousness.

Hong Jun stood blankly in place. Xie Sang, seeing his son injured, went mad. Despite the overwhelming difference in strength, he charged at Lu Jun, roaring, "Get out of the way!"

No need for Lu Jun to act. The Night Thunder Dream Beast merely glared. The shadows near its hooves writhed.

A cluster of black mist morphed into a Dark Nail and shot forward, pinning the ordinary man Xie Sang to the ground in the blink of an eye.

Very soon, under the puzzled gazes of Mo Fan, Asha'ria, and the Judgement Council members, Hong Jun began stammering out his identity as a member of the Black Vatican and details of secret operations.

Hearing this, Xie Sang's stiff body trembled. His gaze was both horrified and filled with sorrow as he looked at his son, muttering, "That's impossible... impossible... Jun has always been obedient... how could this be?"

Xie Sang looked at the unconscious Fang Gu on the ground and recalled the past. Grief surged in his heart. "Is this... retribution?"

The Judgement Council member's face turned grim. He knew the Dream Beast's psychic ability had pried open Hong Jun's secrets and whispered, "As expected... the disturbance at the Dark Abyss is related to the Black Vatican."

Mo Fan, recalling what happened in Bo City, looked somber. "Those motherf***ers... was Monkey's amnesia their doing? They were still watching him?"

Lu Jun, seeing this, said calmly, "When I first arrived, the Dream Beast sensed this guy harbored ill intentions toward my friend. A little test proved it."

"Take him back. Interrogate him thoroughly."

Then he turned his gaze toward Zhang Xiaohou and said, "The mole has been uncovered. You can stop pretending to have amnesia now. Having a Forget Worm implanted erased your memories of the Black Vatican. Allow me to restore them."

The Judgement Council member and Mo Fan were both slightly shocked and quickly looked at Zhang Xiaohou.

The normally naive and silly young man finally revealed a bitter smile. "So nothing can escape your eyes, Brother Jun."

Su Xiaoluo gasped and covered her mouth. Mo Fan was delighted, patting Zhang Xiaohou's shoulder and cursing with a smile, "Damn it, even after seeing your brothers you still kept it from us."

Monkey was deeply moved. He said to Mo Fan and Lu Jun, "Honestly, the moment I saw you and Brother Fan, I almost couldn't hold it together."

"But I couldn't... I couldn't even acknowledge you. The Black Vatican was secretly watching me. Fortunately, that danger has now been lifted."

As he spoke, tears nearly fell from his eyes. No one knew better than him how terrifying the Undead Forbidden Zone of the Ancient Capital was—it was once a land where the Dark Abyss appeared.

During the time he was missing, Lu Jun and Mo Fan had traveled across the land, risking their lives just to find a sliver of hope. That was truly an act of righteousness.

Lu Jun accepted Monkey's gratitude calmly. Though rescuing him wasn't his main purpose, he had indeed helped, and there was nothing to feel awkward about.

The Judgement Council member sighed and said earnestly, "Comrade Zhang Xiaohou, the Nine Provinces thank you for your sacrifice. But the situation is critical. We need to confirm what you've encountered."

Zhang Xiaohou shook off his emotions, took a deep breath, and quickly returned to a composed state.

He recalled and recounted, "I encountered the Dark Abyss. Near it, I saw the Black Vatican. Then I was hunted down and nearly died."

As soon as he said this, the high-ranking Judgement Council member's face turned grave. His statement matched Hong Jun's, indirectly confirming the intel.

This wasn't good. He sensed a storm was coming dark clouds blanketed the sky above the Ancient Capital. Conspiracy, slaughter, and destruction loomed ahead.

[Dark Abyss], a black forbidden zone, a place even Forbidden Curse Mages might fall.

If it were to fall under the control of the Black Vatican, and they gradually manipulated the Ancient Capital step by step, it would lead to utter devastation.

At this moment, Lu Jun deliberately reminded him, "A few months ago, the Dark Abyss appeared in Dunhuang. Before that, it suddenly showed up near Weiju Village. So where will it appear next?"

"I suggest you inform Han Ji of the Magic Association when you return. Perhaps evacuating the residents from the outer city to the inner city would be best." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"Temporarily sheltering them in the inner city will allow the defensive barrier to be activated at any time if something happens."

"Just call it a drill. It's the lowest-cost option and won't cause mass panic."

In the original work, the Ancient Capital suffered far worse than Bo City mainly because of its dense population. If defenses could be set up in advance now, the Magic Association would have fewer concerns and could concentrate their strength to strike back hard.

Upon hearing this, the Judicator grew more uneasy and immediately questioned Monkey's memories.

"I... I remember a Black Vatican member with a very familiar voice... hss-ah, I can't recall clearly."

Zhang Xiaohou tried to recall, clutching his head, veins bulging across his forehead as his face twisted in agony.

The Forget-Worm was flaring up!

At that moment, Lu Jun made his move. The Forget-Worm was a sinister insect created through a fusion of Psychic and Curse magic. Fortunately, this was exactly his area of expertise.

Let alone that Ding Yumian's main soul fragment herself a Psychic disaster victim was asleep within his spiritual world.

Lu Jun, Ding Yumian, and the Nightmare Beast acted together. Layer upon layer of translucent radiance intertwined over Zhang Xiaohou's body.

Zzzzz~

A strong corrosive sound erupted. It was as if a transparent net filtered over Monkey's body, extracting wisps of dark aura. Atop his head, an ugly, pitch-black worm coiled.

Splurt! Lu Jun reached out and crushed the Forget-Worm in one grip! It dispersed into black mist.

He fell into thought this was exactly how the Black Vatican managed to plant moles even inside the Judgement Court. They relied on the Forget-Worm, sealing and erasing one's memories, waiting for the perfect time to activate them.

Even the Tree of Vows couldn't detect them because until those memories were triggered, the hosts were genuinely sincere and righteous individuals.

This technique far surpassed Lu Jun's own abilities. He could erase or edit memories but had no way to temporarily suppress them and allow them to reawaken later. That was a more advanced form of psychic cursecraft.

However, after witnessing the Forget-Worm this time, Ding Yumian's main soul fragment quickly grasped the technique and passed it on to him.

And so, Zhang Xiaohou's memories returned. His expression grew increasingly shocked as he murmured, "I remember now... Jun-ge, you were right back in Bo City when you said there was a Black Vatican mole in the higher-ups."

"That person is Mu He. Those cult priests and zealots call him High Deacon Hujin Salan's right-hand man."

Mo Fan was shocked too.

The Judicator's eyes lit up. He decided immediately and said, "Zhang Xiaohou, come with me back to the Ancient Capital to meet President Han Ji. We'll cast a net across heaven and earth we've hooked a big one!"

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