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Chapter 891: 737: Pursuit

Chapter 891: Chapter 737: Pursuit

After Zuo Fang and the others left,

when only Catalina was left in the bedroom,

Xu Shuo flipped his hand and took out a notebook with a jet-black cover. He casually grabbed a pen and wrote a line of text on it.

[To evade the investigations of the Holy Court’s army, Wald XVIII did not remain within Duke Russo’s Fahl City but instead traveled to the distant Franks city-states.]

After finishing this line of words,

Xu Shuo clearly felt a wave of dizziness in his brain. The spiritual power in his Spirit Sea drained away almost as if a dam had burst, leaving his entire body significantly weakened in an instant. His head throbbed with pain, as if a buzzing murmur was noisily arising somewhere.

This was not Xu Shuo’s first time using this artifact—he had tested it out while in the Script Space earlier.

So he knew what consequences it would bring.

But it was fine. Spiritual power would recover on its own.

Because the violin in his Spirit Sea had already started playing passively.

He didn’t even know whose spiritual power it was siphoning off again.

…

[Special Artifact “Investigator’s Diary”: An excellent investigator always keeps a journal, but perhaps due to some interference, the experiences recorded in this diary are half-truths and half-lies.]

During his earlier tests in the Script Space, Xu Shuo had written things in the diary, none of which manifested into reality.

Because he hadn’t been able to finish writing them.

The reason? Most likely what he wrote was too preposterous to even permit that 50/50 chance of realization—or perhaps his current abilities simply couldn’t support their manifestation.

Thus, Xu Shuo couldn’t persist in finishing his entries, and his spiritual power would exhaust rapidly.

Still, he stubbornly forced himself to write a few more words.

But after that, the violin began protesting furiously.

The Bride even couldn’t help but reach out to him through Prague Castle’s medium, tactfully commenting that her resentment energy was depleting so severely she could no longer maintain her black cat form in the real world. She had no idea why…

Xu Shuo: “…”

Reluctantly, Xu Shuo stopped writing.

The incomplete entry on the notebook faded away, yet his spiritual power did not return—it could only recover slowly over time.

Beyond the ridiculous entries,

Xu Shuo naturally also experimented with writing more reasonable things. This led to Hong Rao noticing something suspicious after repeatedly visiting him a few times.

Hong Rao: “Shuo’er, am I coming to see you way too often today?”

Xu Shuo: “Maybe a little.”

Hong Rao: “Don’t you think it’s weird?”

Xu Shuo: “What’s weird?”

Hong Rao: “I feel like we’ve already discussed everything there is to talk about, so why do I feel this constant urge to come see you?”

Xu Shuo: “…”

Hong Rao: “Tea? I came over this time to have tea with you. But think about it—have I *ever* come to ask you for tea before? No, right? Yet now I just have this inexplicable urge to drink tea with you. Here, drink up!”

Xu Shuo: “…”

Only an experienced player like her would realize something was off after just three back-and-forth visits.

Nevertheless, the experiments yielded results.

The notebook seemed capable of influencing subconscious thoughts.

After some deliberation,

Xu Shuo figured out the correct way to use the notebook.

If only half of what I write will be real,

then I’ll make the other half of the lies exactly the kind of “lies” that I desire!

…

…

On the Eastern Continent, within the Royal Capital.

At dusk,

the winter sunset was exceptionally fiery, its dazzling colors blanketing the entire Royal Capital in gold and crimson splendor.

Under the radiant sun in the distance,

the descendants of the Saint Vlaro royal family were forced to kneel at the Gate of Palas—where today’s Royal Capital turmoil had begun—and swear their allegiance to the Holy See of Light before the citizens of the Royal Capital.

Not a single royal figure refused to pledge their allegiance to the Holy Court, choosing instead to heroically sacrifice themselves.

Wald XVIII was inept and foolish.

Even his offspring were no different.

In the face of life and death,

no one could resist walking toward the hope of survival.

After being taken away by the Imperial Guard and just before his execution, Prince Golan initially wanted to resist. But his sister, Princess Fiona, knocked him on the head to warn him, and he ultimately lowered his dignity to kneel and swear his oath, wearing an expression of humiliation and reluctant acceptance.

The remaining nobles and aristocrats were no exception, trembling as they declared their support.

The Saint Vlaro royal family’s choice to surrender led to the public execution of the Saint Vlaro Senate members and captured Imperial soldiers, an act that caused an uproar among the citizens of the Royal Capital.

The Priesthood of the Holy Court even went so far as to commission painters to immortalize this scene and spread it far and wide.

The foreseeable outcome:

Even if the Holy See of Light failed to seize power this time,

the Saint Vlaro royal family would forever be nailed to the pillar of shame in history. The foundation of this vast empire had already begun to crumble.

…

Xu Shuo, disguised as a commoner, watched the surrender ceremony to its conclusion.

Then, accompanied by Catalina, he silently disappeared from the Royal Capital without attracting any attention. Not even the Priesthood suspected that their Holy Papal was once again off adventuring in the wild.

Catalina yawned, faintly sensing that she hadn’t slept in two days—or perhaps hadn’t slept well at all.

But when she looked at the person next to her,

she thought he probably hadn’t slept for three consecutive days and nights.

“Aren’t you tired?” Catalina asked in frustration.

“Tiredness is when a lazy brain refuses to think any further; exhaustion is when the body’s functions have reached their limits. For me, neither of these states are sufficient just yet,” Xu Shuo replied flatly.

“…”

Hearing this, Catalina started to think carefully.

Was this guy mocking her?

If they were talking about exhaustion, her body wasn’t exactly fatigued either—after all, the physical prowess of Ice and Snow Elves far exceeded that of humans, not to mention their longer lifespans.

But when it came to tiredness, she did feel tired…

In other words—did that mean she was lazy?

Catalina’s face darkened.

Although Xu Shuo had said he was heading to the Franks city-states, the two instead aimed for Fahl City and stopped at a castle along the way.

By the time the sun set and night had fully fallen,

with the Royal Capital’s affairs concluded, Holy Court forces under the command of a Church military general arrived at the castle.

Only then did Xu Shuo prepare to continue on his way—now truly heading for the Franks city-states.

Catalina, thoroughly puzzled, asked, “Why did we do that?”

Making a detour to this castle only to hide—

wasn’t that the same as not coming here at all?

Additionally, as the two resumed their journey, the young man attached a blank sheet of white paper to her, shaped into a ten-centimeter figure of a Paper Man that climbed onto her head and lay flat.

While the thing appeared cute,

its presence felt unsettlingly eerie.

The methods of the Holy Court were indeed extraordinary.

Three similar Paper Men clung to Xu Shuo’s own body, faint light flickering across their forms as they seemed faintly connected to one another.

With a smile, Xu Shuo said, “You haven’t already forgotten the ambush we encountered near the edge of the Eastern Continent, have you? I have no desire for a repeat of that, so these precautions are necessary.”

The Paper Man Formation could shield against detection. Even without knowing the investigative methods the opposition employed, taking such preventative measures was always prudent.

It wasn’t that he feared another ambush.

What concerned Xu Shuo more

was that the opposition might flee upon sensing his movements.

Their arrogance had gone on long enough. If Wald XVIII’s whereabouts remained elusive after this, Xu Shuo wouldn’t hesitate to deploy even more extreme measures to drag him out!

Tonight, Wald XVIII had to be caught.

The City of Light was not a place to be trifled with.

…