EVEN AS A SLAVE, THE HEAVENLY DEMON'S MIGHT SHALL TAME THE BEAUTIES-Chapter 44: MERCHANTS AND MYSTERIES

The forest clearing had taken on an almost peaceful quality now that the dark energies had dissipated, leaving only the gentle rustle of evening wind through the canopy above. The rescued families huddled together near the overturned wagon, their relief palpable as they slowly began to process their survival.

Marcus Goldwright had proven himself to be exactly what he claimed, a successful merchant with the practical wisdom that came from years of navigating both trade negotiations and the dangers of the road.

His wife Elena, a woman in her early forties with kind eyes and greying hair, worked quietly to comfort the other rescued families while their son Thomas helped gather scattered belongings.

The boy couldn’t have been more than sixteen, with the soft features and well-fed appearance of someone who had never known true hardship. Yet there was intelligence in his eyes as he watched Yomi work, clearly fascinated by the casual display of power he had witnessed.

"I’ve never seen anything like that," Thomas said quietly as he approached Yomi, his voice filled with genuine awe rather than fear. "The way you fought... it was like the stories of the old heroes."

Yomi glanced at the boy, noting the mixture of privilege and innocence that marked him as someone who had been protected from the world’s darker realities. "Stories rarely capture the true nature of violence," he replied simply.

The smoking crater where the cultist had died still emanated faint wisps of corruption, a reminder of the fail-safe that had consumed the man before he could reveal more. Yomi had learned enough, though, the Dark Hold, their ritual, references to the Progenitor and bits of hidden secrets. Pieces of a larger puzzle that was beginning to take shape.

Marcus surveyed the smoking crater where the cultist had died, his merchant’s mind already calculating losses and gains. "You’ve done more than simply save our lives," he said thoughtfully. "You’ve eliminated a threat that could have plagued these roads for months." He gestured toward the spilled cargo. "Most of our goods survived intact, thanks to your swift action."

Elena moved to stand beside her husband, her hand finding his arm in a gesture of support. "We’re alive because of you," she said to Yomi, her gratitude evident. "All of us. I don’t know how we can ever properly repay such a debt."

While the Goldwrights tended to the other rescued families, Yomi turned his attention to the matter that truly interested him. The surviving cultist lay where Yomi’s Ki had left him, his legs severed but his mind still sharp with fanatic devotion. Dark blood pooled beneath him, but his eyes burned with unnatural light.

"The others need not see this," Yomi said quietly to Lirien, who nodded and moved to keep the group distracted while he conducted his interrogation.

Crouching beside the dying cultist, Yomi’s expression remained perfectly calm as he placed two fingers against the man’s throat. The cultist’s eyes widened as he felt something cold and merciless pierce his consciousness, not Ki, but something far more invasive. It was the touch of a predator that had perfected the art of extracting information from unwilling prey.

"Tell me about your organization," Yomi said, his voice carrying the quiet authority of someone accustomed to being obeyed. "About this Progenitor you serve."

The cultist’s lips curled into a bloody smile, even as agony lanced through his mind. "You... you think you’ve won something? You know nothing of what approaches." His voice carried the manic devotion of someone who welcomed death for his cause. "The Dark Hold has already... already begun the great work."

Yomi’s fingers pressed deeper, and the cultist screamed, a sound that made even Lirien shudder from across the clearing. "What work?"

"The ritual... the awakening..." Dark energy began to crackle around the cultist’s wounds like living corruption. "The academy... it holds old secrets... things that should have remained buried. The Progenitor... needs them... to complete the—"

The man’s words cut off as his body began to convulse violently. Dark veins spread across his skin like ink through water, and his eyes rolled back to show nothing but black. The corruption consumed him from within, flesh bubbling and dissolving as eldritch energies tore his body apart at the cellular level.

Yomi watched the process with clinical interest, noting how the fail-safe worked and filing the information away for future reference. When nothing remained but a smoking crater in the forest floor, he stood and brushed ash from his fingers with the same casual air one might show after handling dirty coins.

Yomi studied the residue with interest rather than surprise. A fail-safe, designed to prevent exactly this kind of information gathering. It confirmed that the Dark Hold was well-organized and operating with resources that suggested backing from sources with genuine power.

The reference to the academy was particularly intriguing. Whatever secrets lay within that institution, they were significant enough for these cultists to risk everything to obtain them. The timing couldn’t be coincidental; his mission to eliminate an apostle in the capital, and now cultists specifically targeting the academy.

As he rejoined the group, Yomi found the Goldwrights organizing their remaining supplies with practised efficiency. The reinforced wagon had survived the attack largely intact, its metal-reinforced frame and concealed compartments speaking to the kind of valuable cargo that required serious protection.

"We were traveling to Lexicanum Wiseguard for trade negotiations," Marcus explained as they prepared to continue their journey. "The spice markets have been... volatile lately. Too many disruptions along the major trade routes. Bandits, they say, but..." He gestured toward the scorch mark where the cultist had died. "That wasn’t ordinary banditry."

Elena nodded grimly. "Three other merchant families we know have simply vanished in the past month. No ransom demands, no bodies found. Just... gone."

The systematic nature of the attacks confirmed Yomi’s suspicions. This wasn’t random violence, it was economic warfare designed to destabilize the region’s commerce and create the kind of chaos that would make larger moves possible.

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