From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword-Chapter 293 - 237: Investigating the Traitor

While in Black Stone City, Lu Heng had seen a person cloaked in black, wearing a hood, speaking with the Bloodline Demoness Salein.

At first, he only heard their voices, low and gruff, much like the voices of Black Iron Dwarves.

At that moment, Lu Heng suspected there was a traitor among the Black Iron Tribe, but this theory was overturned when the person emerged from the Blood Sacrifice Tower.

Because this cloaked figure was nearly as tall as a human, much taller than the Black Iron Dwarves.

Then, it was possible that this cloaked person might be a human Superpower User, like that Xie Shi'en.

Yes, Lu Heng had suspected that Spirit Mind Master he encountered in Black Stone City, called Xie Shi'en.

His sudden appearance in the heavily guarded Black Stone City was in itself suspicious.

Lu Heng had relied on the Illusion Pearl to disguise himself as a Bloodline Demon to infiltrate Black Stone City.

How then did Xie Shi'en enter?

Judging by height, Xie Shi'en resembled the cloaked figure who came out of the Blood Sacrifice Tower.

Any person of unknown identity warranted vigilance.

Therefore, during the process of escaping together from Black Stone City, Lu Heng observed him the entire time.

However, up until they escaped Black Stone City, he didn't find anything suspicious about him.

He even invited him to form an alliance and travel together, but the other party declined.

If he had agreed to the alliance, Lu Heng would have been more inclined to suspect him.

Lu Heng had pondered over Xie Shi'en's motives for helping him escape from Black Stone City.

If Xie Shi'en was a traitor, taking him out of Black Stone City must have served some purpose.

Such as proposing an alliance, which was a perfectly reasonable motive.

But he had shown no intention of travelling together and had parted ways as soon as they left the mine tunnel.

Meaning, Xie Shi'en's assistance in escaping from the Molten Lava Abyss didn't bring him any tangible benefits.

He had even exposed himself.

Considering his ability to suddenly appear in Black Stone City, if he was not a traitor, it meant he possessed the capability to come and go from the city as he pleased.

He could have just stayed hidden, watching the situation unfold, without ever revealing himself.

Looking at the entire situation, there was no benefit gained by Xie Shi'en from appearing to escaping together from Black Stone City, nor had he achieved any particular goal.

Unless he was playing a long game, the only other possibility was that he merely wished to help a compatriot, a Da Xia Superpower User.

This motive aligned most closely with Xie Shi'en's behavioral logic.

In fact, when Lu Heng shielded the seven Da Xia Superpower Users from Charles Water's troubles, he did so for the same reason.

Because of this, Lu Heng largely discounted the possibility that Xie Shi'en was the traitor.

Now, Dakville III had found traces of Black Witchcraft residue in his father's ashes.

The matter of the traitor was brought up once again.

Dakville II had died due to Black Witchcraft, and in this world, it was the Black Iron Dwarves who mainly practiced Black Witchcraft.

Therefore, it was almost certain that there was a traitor among the Black Iron Dwarves, and this traitor had killed Dakville II.

Combining this with the conversation overheard at the Blood Sacrifice Tower, even if that cloaked figure wasn't a Black Iron Dwarf himself, his information must have come from a Black Iron Dwarf traitor.

Now the most urgent matter was to find the traitor.

After putting all the information together, Lu Heng said,

"Dakville Leader, I have a lead that can narrow down the range of our investigation for the traitor."

Since Lu Heng had retrieved the ashes of the previous leader, Dakville now had a lot of trust in Lu Heng.

He wanted to catch the damned traitor as quickly as possible and promptly asked, "What lead, tell me quickly."

Lu Heng paused for a moment to gather his thoughts then said, "I can be certain of one thing, the traitor from our tribe had left Dili Castle to pass messages to the Bloodline Demons before I met with you.

"Now they likely have not returned, or they've only just come back recently.

"So, Leader, if we can retrieve the list of tribespeople who have left Dili Castle during this time, the traitor must be on this list."

This clue came from eavesdropping on the conversation at the Blood Sacrifice Tower.

At the time, that cloaked figure was discussing with the Bloodline Demoness about Black Iron Dwarves pursuing humans.

That information was already outdated.

Because once Lu Heng and Dakville III had come to an agreement, the Black Iron Dwarves had stopped their pursuit of humans.

From this, another fact could be affirmed: the cloaked figure was not a Summoner.

If he were a Summoner, he would have seen the change in the first Main Quest and known the Black Iron Dwarves had suspended their pursuit of humans.

If he was neither a Summoner nor a Black Iron Dwarf, who then could this cloaked figure be?

Even if the cloaked person wasn't a Black Iron Dwarf, there must still be a Black Iron Dwarf traitor.

Dakville III, following Lu Heng's suggestion, summoned his trusted aides to investigate and clarify a list of names of tribespeople who had left Dili Castle in the prior days.

Due to the ongoing conflicts between the Darkville Black Iron Tribe and Bloodline Demons, the Black Iron Dwarves seldom left their settlement in Dili Castle.

Whenever a Black Iron Dwarf left Dili Castle, it was always fully armed under the leadership of a captain.

Therefore, after a brief inquiry, the list was handed over.

Within three days, a total of 152 Black Iron Dwarves had left Dili Castle.

They set out in 10 squads, two of which numbered 16, while the others all numbered 15.

Lu Heng looked at the list and asked, "Among these squads that went out, did anyone act alone?"

Darkville called over the leaders of these 10 squads and questioned each one.

The captains replied concisely:

"Only the Scouts in the teams have acted alone; other warriors, even if they go to relieve themselves, won't be gone long."

"Scouts going out to reconnoiter is a given. It's not possible for them to always stay with the squad."

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Among these Scouts, are there any who have been away for more than half a day and either have not returned yet or have only just come back recently?"

A few captains shook their heads, "That's not possible. When Scouts act alone, they never do so for more than three hours before they need to return and report back."

Three hours, though definitely enough for passing messages, absolutely ruled out a trip to Black Stone City.

If the traitor were among these Scouts, they couldn't be determined based on the timeline.

Lu Heng continued his questioning, "Among these Scouts, which ones have mastered Black Witchcraft?"

Since the previous tribe leader had died due to Black Witchcraft, the traitor must surely possess such knowledge.

Darkville added, "High Rank Black Witchcraft."

The captains shook their heads one after another, "Low Rank Black Witchcraft might be mastered by some Scouts, but High Rank Black Witchcraft, no. Those in the tribe who master High Rank Black Witchcraft are powerful Wizards and wouldn't be assigned to be Scouts."

Indeed, within the Black Iron Tribe, those who could master High Rank Black Witchcraft held high status within the tribe. Even if they started off low in rank, they would be promoted immediately upon mastering higher-level spells.

Scouts were indeed unlikely to possess High Rank Black Witchcraft.

This brought the investigation to a dead end.

Darkville, pondering deeply, said, "Perhaps the traitor has already left the tribe."

This was indeed a very likely possibility, especially since the fall of Black Stone City had happened three years ago.

For a traitor from the Black Iron Tribe, daring to stay in the tribe after killing the last tribal leader three years ago would be astonishingly audacious.

After considering for a moment, Lu Heng asked, "Apart from these, has no one else left Dili Castle in the past few days?"

"No, everyone's been here. It's too dangerous outside; only when we lead missions out do we leave Dili Castle," replied several captains.

...

The investigation into the traitor stalled there, unable to proceed further.

Darkville, unwilling to let the trail go cold so easily, thought carefully and sent for the tribe's Witchcraft elder.

It wasn't long before.

The chief's trusted aide respectfully escorted an elder from the Black Iron Tribe to Dili Castle.

"Elder Gru, you finally arrived," the Darkville Leader personally went out to greet him and invited him to the Ancestor Hall.

Elder Gru was quite aged, and from his aura, one could tell his rank was not low.

He walked into the Ancestor Hall with a Molten Turtle, leaving it just outside the hall doors.

This type of Molten Turtle, a unique creature from the Molten Lava Plain, had a shell that was completely black, resembling cooled molten lava, with hints of dark red.

After bringing Elder Gru into the Ancestor Hall, Darkville asked him to examine his father's bone ashes, "Elder, please take a look. My father was killed by Black Witchcraft, and there must be a traitor in our tribe."

Elder Gru kneeled on one knee in front of the urn, paid his respects, and then stepped forward to examine the ashes.

After the examination, he nodded affirmatively, "There are indeed traces of residual Black Witchcraft."

Darkville, agitated, said, "Our tribe has a traitor; my father must have been murdered by one!"

Elder Gru considered for a moment and asked, "Who retrieved the ashes?"

"This Human ally, his name is Lu Heng." Darkville gestured towards Lu Heng by the door.

Lu Heng had been squatting at the door, teasing the Molten Turtle with his finger.

Hearing his name mentioned by the two, Lu Heng stood up, nodded slightly towards Elder Gru, and said, "I brought them back."

Elder Gru pressed on, "Did anyone else touch the ashes when you brought them back?"

Lu Heng shook his head and answered, "No, right after I got the ashes, I came straight back."

Elder Gru whispered in Darkville's ear, "Leader, I understand your feelings, but there's something I must remind you. The traces from Black Witchcraft could also have been added later.

"And since the ashes were brought back by an outsider, are you sure you want to trust him? freewebnøvel.coɱ

"If this is a conspiracy by the Bloodline Demon, meant to incite internal strife within our tribe, your current emotional state makes it easy to fall into such a trap."

Hearing this, Darkville's expression froze, and he began to think deeply.

The traces of Black Witchcraft indeed could be added after the ashes were made.

This was relatively easy to do; a quick spell and burning of the ashes would suffice.

Thus, after Elder Gru's reminder, Darkville realized that his father's death from Black Witchcraft was not one hundred percent certain.

As for trusting the Human in front of him, that too was a grave matter.

Darkville had indeed trusted Lu Heng a moment ago, because Lu Heng had brought back his father's ashes.

However, if there was something amiss with the ashes and the whole affair was a ruse designed to gain his trust, the process of retrieving the ashes demanded a re-evaluation.