Chapter 2785 The Inquisitor Fortress
2785 The Inquisitor Fortress
Lin Mu continued to wait for the letter to be finished while conversing with Daoist Chu.
"Yes. Be ready to escape at any moment," Lin Mu instructed. "Tell me as soon as you sense anything. I'll send Little Shrubby over to extract you all."
"Alright, I'll prepare here in the meantime," Daoist Chu replied, his expression darkening. "Fuck them! I'll blow this place to smithereens. To hell with diplomacy!"
His fury was palpable. Even if this act triggered trouble with the Immortal Court and the Divine Order, he no longer cared. A line had been crossed, and retaliation was inevitable.
Once the news reached the Immortal Court, their response would be swift and ruthless. No such transgression against a member of the court had ever gone unpunished.
"Can you contact someone at the Immortal Court?" Lin Mu asked, considering every contingency.
"I can send a one-time emergency message, but not from here," Daoist Chu admitted. "The entire city is covered by a long-range communication jamming array. Forget sending a message beyond this world—I doubt I could even contact you if you left the city."
"That'll be problematic," Lin Mu muttered. "Alright. If things go south, escape with Little Shrubby and send the message. We'll hide until reinforcements arrive."
Lin Mu had confidence in escaping, even if he had Seventh Tribulation Stage Immortals pursuing him. He also knew how to create diversions that would allow the others to flee safely.
After all, he was a walking weapon of mass destruction. The worst part? No one would detect him before he struck. Half the city could be in ruins before anyone realized who was responsible.
"Oh, also—see if you can make contact with the other travelers at the lodge. It'd be best to have more allies," Lin Mu added after a moment's thought.
"I'll see what I can do," Daoist Chu agreed, recognizing the value of strength in numbers.
Just as their conversation ended, Lin Mu watched the bishop fold the letter and place it inside an envelope. The man then stamped it with his ring, sealing it with a glowing sigil.
SHUA!
The seal flashed briefly before solidifying, ensuring the envelope remained untouched until it reached its intended recipient.
'That's definitely a formation seal,' Lin Mu noted.
He had encountered such seals before and understood their function well. If anyone other than the intended recipient tampered with the letter, the writer—and likely others—would be instantly alerted.
'Definitely can't destroy or steal it,' Lin Mu decided.
His only option was to deal with the problem once the letter reached the inquisitor's hands.
"Deacon Tuck!" the bishop called.
A moment later, a deacon from the farther desks stood up.
"Yes, Bishop?" the deacon responded.
"Deliver this letter to the Inquisitor Fortress," the bishop commanded.
"As you command, Bishop," the deacon said, carefully tucking the letter into his robes before heading out.
Lin Mu exhaled in relief.
'Luckily, they still prefer traditional communication instead of jade slips. If they'd used those, the inquisitor would already have the message.'
He wasn't sure why they chose such inefficient methods, but he wasn't going to complain when it worked in his favor.
Silently, he followed after the deacon, briefly considering eliminating the man before he could complete his task.
'Hmm… too risky.'
Though unaware of his brush with death, the deacon suddenly shivered.
"Strange… why do I feel cold? And in this heat?" he muttered, shaking off the sensation before continuing toward the fortress.
The journey took over an hour due to the distance.
When the deacon finally arrived at the fortress gate, he approached one of the armored sentries.
"I have a letter," Deacon Tuck announced.
Even he did not have the authority to enter the fortress without explicit permission.
"We'll take it," the guard replied coldly, causing Tuck to fidget slightly before sheepishly handing over the letter and hurrying away.
Lin Mu, on the other hand, continued tailing the guard who carried the letter inside. The letter was then passed to a clerk—unarmored, unlike the guards, and dressed more like a scholar.
Following after him, Lin Mu finally laid eyes on the Inquisitor Fortress in all its terrifying grandeur.
It was an imposing colossus, encased in towering hundred-meter-high walls, their surfaces etched with runes of deterrence and suppression. Spikes protruded along the top, their jagged edges promising death to any foolish enough to scale them.
The interior was just as oppressive as the exterior, if not more so. The air was thick with tension, a constant reminder that this was not a place of mercy. Guards patrolled every corridor with unwavering vigilance, their armor adorned with the insignia of the Divine Order.
Lin Mu could sense the omnipresent gaze of multiple monitoring arrays, watching everything with an almost sentient awareness.
'Shit. I can't release even a trace of Qi, or they'll detect me instantly,' he realized grimly.
To counter this, Lin Mu pressed several Qi-isolating talismans onto himself, reinforcing his concealment as an extra precaution.
The fortress itself was a sprawling stronghold, resembling a city in its own right. Streets ran between large stone buildings, each constructed to withstand sieges. Training grounds dominated significant portions of the area, where inquisitors conducted relentless combat drills.
'There's a lot of them.'
Even from his limited vantage point, Lin Mu estimated at least three thousand inquisitors training in the main courtyard.
And based on the sheer density of auras he could sense—despite his constraints—there were likely tens of thousands more inside.
The inquisitors were a breed apart from the clergy. Lin Mu who had battle honed instincts could tell from one glance, these people were no joke.
While the priests and bishops preached doctrine, the inquisitors were enforcers of divine law. They were judge, jury, and executioner, trained to hunt heretics and mete out justice without hesitation. Their presence alone sent chills down the spines of even devout believers.