In addition, a large number of irrelevant memories are likely to cause confusion and interference with each other, reducing reliability.
At this time, the method Qi Ji used on Buck... She didn't know what the official name of the extraordinary circle in this world was, she called it "I ask and you answer".
Simply put, it is to sneak into the remaining consciousness of the other party's spirit, use the method of induction, and obtain information in the form of questions and answers.
Because after death, a person's self-consciousness has dissipated, and what remains in the soul is just a trace of the deceased's spiritual imprint during his lifetime. It has little defensive ability at all, and with just a little inducement, it will let down all its guard.
Although this method is not as comprehensive as direct absorption, it is efficient. You can get what you want in a few rounds of questions and answers without having to pick out a few grains of gold sand from the complex memory fragments like a sea of sand.
"The first question is, your 'Archbishop' is... No, this doesn't count."
However, she hastily withdrew her question halfway through, frowning slightly and thinking.
This question-and-answer game cannot go on indefinitely.
Each round of questions and answers will consume the spirit of the person being channeled. This is irreversible wear and tear that cannot be compensated or attenuated... at least that's the case with Qi Ji's current level of magic.
Given that the number of times she could ask questions was limited, she subconsciously thought that the most important and critical questions should be put first.
Among the questions that Qi Ji wanted to know the answers to, the most important one was about the "Archbishop", such as his purpose, his position, his public identity, whether there were other forces behind him, etc.
But just before she asked the question, she suddenly realized... Could it be that the "Archbishop" had never considered this situation?
Clairvoyance, whether it is the "give it to you" type of clairvoyance or the "I ask and you answer" type of clairvoyance, Qi Ji believes that the extraordinary people who can do it are definitely not so rare in the human society of this world that they only exist in legends and myths.
After all, this is a magical world where gods really exist, angels exist on earth, and mythical and powerful beings exist!
It was obvious that something had been done to Rice's soul before. All the memories related to the "Archbishop" were very vague and fragmented, as if they were mosaiced and buzzed.
It can be seen that these organizations of a certain size will provide some "insurance" for members who have access to key confidential information.
The same must be true for Deacon Buck, who is of the same status as Rice.
Even though Qi Ji has learned her lesson, I believe she will be able to come up with a countermeasure the second time, and the same shielding and confidentiality measures will basically not let her suffer any loss again.
But... this is the only clue at the moment. If something goes wrong, the chain will be broken.
Of course, even if something like this happened, with Qi Ji's abilities, he would not be helpless. But after all, the fun part of a puzzle game is the process of collecting clues step by step, reasoning and restoring the truth, right?
If you just use the modifier to go straight to the ending, the fun won’t be that great.
After pondering for a few seconds, she nodded slightly and asked Buck's spirit thoughtfully:
"Besides Loen City, in which other regions of the Glorious Plantagenet Empire does your Life Church have a strong presence?"
She decided to start with some angles that were not particularly sensitive, did not directly touch the core secrets of the organization, but could effectively solve the current difficulties faced by Gary's family.
For example, the issue of the distribution of power of the Church of Life cannot be said to be insensitive, but since it does not involve specific personnel arrangements and is only based on the general location of the city, it obviously does not touch the real core part.
This is information that, even if leaked, is unlikely to cause much damage to the organization.
For this kind of information, the Life Church would most likely not set up complicated and sophisticated confidentiality measures. Even if it did, Qi Ji would definitely be able to handle it easily.
The answer to this question could greatly help Gary's family in their subsequent "journey home", such as avoiding the main areas where the influence of the Church of Life was distributed, and returning to Sunset Harbor via a relatively safe route.
"Forehead……"
Sure enough, faced with this slightly sensitive question, the Spirit of Buck, who should have let down all his guard and answered any question truthfully, had a momentary distortion on his dull face.
As if he was recalling some unpleasant past events, he did not respond immediately.
Qi Ji stretched out her hand, and a spiritual light flashed across her fingertips. Buck, whose expression was slightly distorted, suddenly calmed down and said in a trance without any tone:
"Lombardy, Port Onda, Dartmouth Town, Bangshandu..."
He listed more than a dozen place names in a row. Qi Ji took the opportunity to recall the national map of the empire and found that most of these cities were located in border areas, with a few being port cities along the coast of the empire's inland sea.
After reporting the place name, Buck's spirit became visibly more transparent and more illusory. At first glance, it looked more like a lifelike three-dimensional projection than a real person.
This is the inevitable damage to the spirit caused by the "I ask, you answer" type of spiritual communication.
Qi Ji nodded, and went a step further, raising a more core question:
"Where is your headquarters?"
"Uh……"
This time, the abnormal look on Buck's face was more obvious. Compared to his previous deliberate avoidance, this time it was closer to some kind of pain that penetrated deep into his soul and bone marrow. His half-illusory and half-solid body also trembled slightly.
"Om-"
It was another ray of light, but this time it was brighter and lasted longer, and it didn't just flow between Qi Ji's fingers, but spread its movement to the entire palm and part of the wrist.
The pain and distortion on Buck's face subsided instantly, like clothes ironed with an iron. His body stopped shaking, but his voice was still a little stiff:
"In... Sunset Harbor..."
Sunset Harbor?
Qi Ji was slightly surprised.
Isn't this Daisy's hometown?
Chapter 175 The Icosahedron Shining in Colorful Light
Sunset Port, a port city located on the coast of the empire's inland sea, is one of the most economically developed and largest cities in the entire empire, and is a veritable metropolis.
It is also where Gary's family has lived for decades.
However, such a metropolis that is comparable to one of the cores of a country is actually the headquarters of a cult?
After all this time, the "safe house" that Gary and his wife tried so hard to return to turned out to be the enemy's base camp?!
Isn’t Sunset Harbor one of the core cities of the empire? How could it allow the lair of a large evil cult to exist there?
The more Qi Ji thought about it, the more confused he became. He just couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it for the time being and waited for new information.
Returning her attention to the present, she looked at Buck again: his spirit had become so illusory that it was translucent.
A simple estimate is that in this state... it can only withstand one or two more rounds of questions and answers.
"Well... it's okay to have minor problems, so let's do something big at the end," Qi Ji showed a mischievous smile on his face, like a child who had planned a prank, "Just squeeze out the last bit of your value..."
Speaking lines full of villain temperament, she narrowed her eyes, looked at Ling who was on the verge of collapse, and said leisurely:
"What's your 'archbishop''s name, where is he, what does he look like, and what does he want to do?"
She threw out all the questions that would almost certainly touch upon the core sensitive areas in one breath!
This is just considered “one” problem!
In other words, before his spirit completely dissipates, Buck will answer all these questions based on what he remembers!
"Well... uh..."
As Qi Ji uttered this string of rapid-fire questions, Buck's vague face was instantly infected with extreme fear, and his body began to tremble like a tramp in the winter snow.
A violent gale suddenly blew up over the "Sea of Spirits", which was still calm despite its ups and downs. The sparkling surface of the sea suddenly became agitated. Dark clouds that came from nowhere quickly covered the sky and almost obscured the distant stars.
The sudden storm blew and tore at Buck's spirit floating on the sea, causing his already fragile spirit to flicker like a candle in the wind, and it seemed that it would completely collapse in the next second.
Qi Ji, who had been prepared for a long time, nasally uttered a slight sound and pinched her right hand. An obvious spiritual light quickly expanded and spread from her palm like a rising flame.
In a blink of an eye, "snakes" made of pure light formed and wrapped around her body quickly and steadily.
The dazzling light of the light snake burst out suddenly, piercing through the stormy air and shining on the rough sea.
In an instant, as if suppressed by some invisible but powerful force, the huge waves calmed down at an abnormally fast speed.
The dark clouds that covered the sky suddenly dissipated, revealing the clear, crystal-clear dark night sky. The distant stars hanging low in a corner of the sky shone as usual.
"Your Excellency, he...he..."
Buck's illusory spirit body was so weak after the impact that its outline began to blur. If Qi Ji hadn't used special means to seal it, he would have collapsed on the spot:
"He personally arrived in Loen City last week and gave us instructions..."
Buck's spirit used a weak and ethereal voice to answer questions one by one based on what he knew.
Qi Ji listened carefully, nodding his chin from time to time as if he was thinking, and felt that many things were beginning to connect.
According to the information provided by Buck, the "Archbishop" came once last week and personally gave them the task of kidnapping Gary's family.
The reason why the tour group that Gary and his friends were following suddenly quit when passing near the city of Loen was also the result of secret interference by Buck and others - they bribed the leader of the tour group with a price that could not be refused.
...last week?
Qi Ji's handsome eyebrows wrinkled slightly.
Gary didn't even have a holiday last week, how did he know that this family would be near Loen City? Could this guy read minds or even predict the future?
She was a little confused, but she soon figured it out.
“You don’t need to know where they are going to travel, you just need to know that they are going to travel…”
Because the Church of Life has bases in many cities within the empire, even if the destination chosen by Gary and his family does not have the influence of the Church of Life, the areas they pass through will not be able to perfectly avoid every base, right?
All you need to do is pay attention and prepare at each location, and you will always run into a family traveling.
"In other words, this high-sounding 'archbishop' was running around the empire during that period, giving orders everywhere?"
Thinking of the slightly funny scene, she couldn't help laughing.
Buck, who had lost consciousness and intelligence, was not captured by the bright and beautiful smile, but continued to tell what he knew...
"Sure enough, this guy is doing so many things, it's related to his realm advancement... Tsk, this guy went to great lengths to kidnap that family, what exactly does he want to gain? Threaten Nancy..." Qi Ji seemed to understand something:
"Nancy is the leader of the Sunset Harbor Super Management Bureau's Execution Team... Is he trying to steal something from the Sunset Harbor Super Management Bureau, or is he trying to take advantage of the opportunity to do something in Sunset Harbor by obstructing the Super Management Bureau's actions?
"And this item, or this thing, is the key to his promotion? The headquarters of the Church of Life is in Sunset Harbor..."
She pieced together the information she currently knew and felt that this was the case.
Of course, this is not necessarily the truth, and may not even be remotely related to the truth. After all, all of this comes from the testimonies of Buck and Rice, and it is possible that they were also deceived by the "archbishop."
"After arranging the task, the bishop left. I don't know whether he returned to the headquarters or went somewhere else..."
Buck, with a blank expression and a hint of indelible fear, continued to explain in a vague tone:
"Maybe it's still in the vicinity of Loen..."
After making all the arrangements, they would definitely go to another base to continue making arrangements...but it's hard to say now.
Although Buck's spirit said that they had not had time to inform the "Archbishop" of what happened in Loen City, this "big shot" was also a high-level wizard who had reached the pinnacle of the mage...
It is hard to say that he does not have some means of remotely monitoring his subordinates. Maybe he already knows the situation here.
By now, Buck's presentation had come to an end.
Finally...it was time for him to show Qi Ji the appearance of the "Archbishop".
He closed his mouth and stopped talking, but the environment around him changed dramatically.
The gently undulating blue sea, the stars hanging low in the sky, and the clear, cloudless night sky all became distorted and hazy, and in the blink of an eye, they became a blur.
The blurry and chaotic colors and lines changed rapidly, and then quickly condensed into outlines, finally revealing a clear scene:
In the dimly lit room, Buck, wearing a black tuxedo and brown leather shoes, stood in the corner, looking respectfully in front of him with a pious and admiring look, staring at a figure in the center of the room.
It was a silhouette in the darkness, probably of a thin old man, old but not weak, with half of his hair white and a deep temperament.
He had his back to Buck, but soon, he turned slowly around -
His face... didn't exist.
In other words, where the "face" should be, a neat black geometric body is embedded in a very abrupt way.
A regular icosahedron shining with colorful light.
"boom!--"
The moment Qi Ji saw the strange geometric shape that replaced the man's face, her mind was like being bombed by a bomb, and her brain suddenly started buzzing.
And this illusion woven by the "Sea of Spirits" collapsed and shattered in an instant!
Chapter 176: Scarlet Moon's Gaze
"Well!"
In reality, Qi Ji frowned and subconsciously let out a heavy, short groan.
Like glass hit by a violent impact, Buck's "Sea of Spirits" illusion shattered in a very short time, allowing her consciousness to return to the material world and she opened her eyes immediately.
What came into view was the inhuman corpse at the bottom of the pit, but now it was covered with a layer of strange flames at some point in time.
