CHAPTER 380: CHAPTER 263: SUPPRESSION_1

"Feeling any better?" Lance climbed into Tamara’s carriage, food in hand.

Once a stranger, twice familiar—Tamara didn’t react much to Lance’s presence, lazing about in a half-reclined position. She glanced at the approaching Lance but showed no intention of holding her tongue.

"Make your wolf go away. You don’t care that the Wizard’s woman ran off, but you let *it* insist on loitering around me."

"The front yard used to be Wang Cai’s territory. Now that you’ve taken his spot, it’s normal for him to keep an eye on you," Lance remarked, examining Tamara. "Seems like you’ve recovered quite well."

That was true. He could sense she definitely still had some good tricks up her sleeve; otherwise, she couldn’t have recovered so quickly.

These Transcendents always had their methods well-hidden and never shared their secrets. Lance couldn’t be bothered to pry. Instead, he placed the food before her and began to ask his questions.

"Do you know about ghouls?"

Last night, her condition had been too poor, so Lance had only asked the crucial questions before leaving. Now, he finally had the chance to press her for answers to the multitude of questions that had accumulated.

"Ghouls are troubling you here?" Tamara frowned upon hearing this. She had a feeling this meal wasn’t going to be so simple.

"I killed the ghoul, but I found some very strange things near its body, like items for some kind of ritual."

Lance briefly described the situation, then took out the samples of the protoplasmic mass and the maggots for Tamara to inspect.

Tamara lost her appetite and scrutinized the items for a moment. She frowned as if she had confirmed something.

"This is a ritual of the Mother of Worms, but I’m not sure what exactly it is," she said.

"What is the Mother of Worms?"

"An Evil God worshipped by an evil cult. Its followers believe there’s a worm larger than the world itself, which they revere as the Mother of Worms.

"They also think that everything in the world will eventually be devoured by the Mother of Worms, so they have a bizarre custom of consuming corpses.

"They believe doing so grants them power, even if the corpse is that of a comrade. However, these powers are tainted. Those cultists transform into monsters, which is why they are also known as the Ghoul Sect.

"But this evil cult vanished many years ago, and for years, there have been no overt activities within the Empire. Their appearance here is indeed peculiar."

This... The ideology of this group was too outrageous! At least the Sons of Harvest Sect and the Ascension Sect’s views were somewhat aligned with public sentiment, but what about this Ghoul Sect? It was rather fantastical that they could manage to gather followers.

Then again, after thinking it over, it wasn’t that surprising—there were too many deranged people in the world.

But refocusing on the issue at hand—consuming corpses—didn’t that connect with the people of the Ascension Sect?

And recalling that the old man once spent a fortune to collect knowledge of Mysticism from all over the world, it was possible he had information related to this among his collection.

Could it be that the old forefather had absorbed the Ghoul Sect that worshipped the Mother of Worms, transforming it into the modern-day Ascension Sect?

Then, what exactly was the purpose of the ritual guarded by the ghoul?

Mysticism is a very rigorous discipline, because errors can cost lives. Rituals are especially crucial to an organization and would not be carelessly disclosed.

One might discern the general school of thought, but pinning down the specific function of a ritual is much harder, which was why Tamara couldn’t be certain about the particular purpose of the ritual Lance described.

However, she could offer some suggestions.

"You should ask that woman about these things. This group seems to have originated in the Levante Region, and since she’s with the Wizard, she has likely encountered much of this," Tamara suggested.

Lance knew she was trying to shift his focus, but he said nothing. Instead, he showed her the items he’d taken from the Witch, asking her to help identify them.

"These are Extraordinary items I got from a Witch I killed. Can you help me appraise them?"

"Crude craftsmanship! It’s a complete waste of these materials. Who would dare use such things?"

With that single sentence, she dismissed them, clearly disdainful of the Witch’s homemade junk. But then she changed her tune, "However, as shoddy as they are, out of regard for our relationship, I’m willing to recycle them. Consider it repayment for saving me..."

Tamara feigned disdain, yet her eyes kept darting towards the Banshee Hand Axe, her greed palpable as she grew eager to claim the treasure for herself.

But in the next second, Lance picked up the axe. "You want this?"

Tamara’s expression froze. She realized her subtle movements had betrayed her, and she looked somewhat embarrassed.

Her reaction, however, triggered a burst of laughter from Lance.

"HAHAHA! I really can’t believe a single word you say," he said.

The Witch’s cauldron and spoon set were with Grendel. Most of those items were indeed junk, but that hand axe was no simple object—anything from the system was bound to be top quality.

Tamara hadn’t learned her lesson from her previous loss and was still harboring ulterior motives towards him. She truly was incorrigible!

Seemingly aware that Lance needed a consultant in Mysticism, Tamara didn’t lose her composure even after being exposed. She just feigned ignorance, her skin remarkably thick.

"I can see why you’re being pursued," Lance couldn’t help but tease. Honestly, with her ways, it was a wonder she hadn’t been beaten to death already.