Chapter 84

Threat?

After hearing the ambiguous last words of the other party, Ye Qi’s eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the other’s back—his familiarity with the Church’s style of operation was too deep. First, they would try to recruit, and if that failed, they would destroy; this had not changed for hundreds of years from the Bloody Era to the present day.

Is it to send someone to secretly eliminate me? Or to strike me in some other way?

Ye Qi’s index finger began to tap rhythmically on the small table—destroying a person is not just about physical elimination; there are many other methods that can achieve the same or even better results—slandering one’s reputation, killing one’s family and friends, stealing one’s due achievements...

The Church!

Ye Qi silently repeated the two words in his mind, his hand on Yama tightening slightly...

...

The weather in Tarn, with its distinct seasons, had already turned cold as autumn set in. Even with the diligent cleaning by the staff, withered branches and fallen leaves continued to fall. Walking down the long-absent Fischer Street, Ye Qi, with a backpack on his back, smiled as he felt the crunch of dry leaves and twigs under his feet, heading towards Dad’s Bar.

Glancing at the old, slightly dilapidated sign of Dad’s Bar, which had remained unchanged for years, Ye Qi felt a warm current in his heart—the Apostle test, the attack on the Ranger camp, the Church’s recruitment... all these seemed insignificant at this moment.

"Ye?!" The security guard, with a good memory, was slightly taken aback at the sight of Ye Qi standing at the door, but quickly greeted him warmly, "The boss and Mr. John are both upstairs!"

Nodding kindly to the security guard, Ye Qi quickly walked upstairs. As usual, two muscular black men stood guard like door gods, not even glancing at Ye Qi’s reappearance.

The noisy chatter behind the door continued. For Ye Qi, who had been away for nearly eight months, the demon hunters of Tarn had gradually forgotten him; even though Ye Qi had once revealed his Apostle abilities and burned the notorious Tad to a crisp in the death match, time was the best forgetful medicine, and in some ways, it was not wrong. The demon hunters merely glanced at Ye Qi before resuming their lively conversations. Only the unscrupulous merchant behind the bar and John, who was lying on the counter, trembled slightly.

"Ye, welcome home!" John’s embrace made Ye Qi, with his 20 constitution, feel suffocated; after patting John’s back several times, Ye Qi looked at his cowboy hat and smiled, "How do you like my gift?"

"Very nice!" John smiled and pulled the brim of his hat—this cowboy hat had become one of his most precious possessions, and he wore it even though it was out of season. Speaking of gifts, the unscrupulous merchant clearly showed his dissatisfaction, "Why did this guy get a custom-made Shaker cowboy hat, while I got two pairs of socks, especially ones on sale for the season? You know, I also gave you a Midwinter Festival gift..."

While the unscrupulous merchant grumbled, Ye Qi followed John into his room, which was even simpler than the prison cells of the Thorn Tower. Sitting on the bed, Ye Qi sipped the hot coffee John brought, enjoying its aroma, and slowly recounted the events since his departure...

In the motel, after a long journey, Ye Qi took a hot bath and immediately fell into a deep sleep. John, who had lain down, quietly left the room and returned to the second floor of Dad’s Bar.

"Today’s extra!" The unscrupulous merchant, who had been waiting for a long time, handed over a beer and a bag of chips to the bar. After pouring himself a beer, the merchant took a sip and said, "The Church has released the news that Ye and the witch collaborated to hunt the black-robed enforcer; but the guy at headquarters is not bad, also releasing a lot of mixed true and false information to confuse the public; the Church will not be able to completely tarnish Ye’s reputation this time; of course, some rumors are inevitable!"

"The Church, those bastards!" John cursed bluntly; grabbing a handful of chips and stuffing them into his mouth, he mumbled, "Why don’t they and their god just die? A bunch of hypocritical bastards! Back then..."

"Back then? That was a long time ago! It’s time to forget!" The unscrupulous merchant snatched the chips, "We are now a mediocre demon hunter, and the other is the head of a regional demon hunter branch..."

"Right, right! And an increasingly stingy unscrupulous merchant head!"

"Better than some shameless, debt-dodging demon hunter... damn it, leave me some chips!"

...

Ye Qi put the letter he had written into an envelope—the female cavalry captain, who refused to use electronic communication, would send letters on time, recounting all the trivial matters around her; and Ye Qi could only follow the rules, sending a reply letter after receiving each one, roughly once every half month. This was already the seventh letter between them.

The female cavalry captain’s letters were always simple; the latest one mentioned that she had won the annual competition at the demon hunter headquarters. Although Ye Qi knew that the competition was limited to Apostle-level participants, he still congratulated her in his reply and expressed regret for not being able to spend the Moon Festival with her.

Getting up and going downstairs, Ye Qi put the envelope into the locked mailbox next to the hotel counter—mailmen would come to collect and deliver letters at fixed times. Ye Qi smiled at the boss behind the counter and headed towards Dad’s Bar.

In the past three months, Ye Qi had maintained a standard of about two missions a week. Even though most of them were C- or D+ level missions, they were perfect for Ye Qi, who was financially strained and aiming to reach level 11—both providing enough living expenses and a certain amount of experience, even if the experience was not much, it spared Ye Qi from the dangers of high-level missions, making him quite content.

As Ye Qi entered Dad’s Bar, the surrounding demon hunters paused in their noisy chatter before resuming their lively discussions. Ye Qi’s return to Tarn had once again made his name well-known—the lover of the witch, the arbitrator of the Church, and the title of Apostle candidate were enough to make the demon hunters remember Ye Qi’s past "glory" and even more vividly.

Even without deliberately eavesdropping, Ye Qi could guess what the surrounding demon hunters were saying—nothing more than some baseless romantic tales about him and the witch, and the distorted stories of his cold-blooded slaughter of the Church’s black-robed priests and enforcers.

If there was anything that annoyed Ye Qi during these three months of relatively leisurely and satisfying times, it was the Church’s smear campaign against him—of course, he had also been puzzled as to why the Church only used such "mild" means, but with no results, he could only remain vigilant.

The demon hunters’ strange, envious, or admiring gazes swept over Ye Qi as he entered the second floor of the bar. Even if Ye Qi did not want to pay attention, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"Great lover, here for another mission?" The unscrupulous merchant teased Ye Qi—since the distorted stories about Ye Qi had spread, this had become an indispensable form of entertainment for the merchant every time he saw Ye Qi; seeing Ye Qi’s helpless expression always made the merchant feel exceptionally comfortable, "There are quite a few missions suitable for a big shot like you here?"

"Wait!" Just as Ye Qi was about to take a mission, he took out his vibrating phone and, seeing the name, answered, "Daton, what’s up?"