I Bound Myself to a Destructive Witch

Ten minutes ago, Sparrow God Palace.

It was a space as dark as an abyss, where twelve radiant golden gates towered all around.

In front of each gate stood a flickering humanoid silhouette, ranging from Venerate Four to Holy Realm, and even the imposing aura of a Sage lingered heavily.

However, judging by their state, most of them were projections, not their true selves arriving.

Suspended at the center of the space was a sacred statue, with both hands holding two figures.

The woman holding an umbrella on the left was Ke Yanqing.

On the right was an elderly woman draped in a crimson Divine Robe, her long brows drooping, and her voice resonating with authority: "According to Mother's instructions, every effort must be made to cooperate with the Abyss Saint. Therefore, unless there are any objections from the Twelve Seated, the specifics of the transaction with the Abyss Saint shall be set as such."

The silhouettes before the twelve golden gates nodded in agreement.

"Respectfully follow Mother's divine decree."

The spiritual material needed by the Abyss Saint was indeed colossal, so even with Mother's instructions, the Twelve Seated had to deliberate.

After all, the spiritual material would have to come from the clans behind the Twelve Seated, and there would inevitably be debates over who would contribute more or less.

Yet the faith of the Golden Sparrowflower Clan in "Mother" was undoubtedly pure; the Twelve Seated did not engage in much wrangling over this matter, and many seats were willing to concede, allowing their clan to contribute more spiritual material.

Moreover, with war imminent now, they couldn't afford the usual overt and covert struggles.

"Ko Maid, I'll trouble you to make a trip to the Sumeru Gate after sunrise." The elderly woman turned her head slightly, speaking indifferently.

Ke Yanqing lowered her umbrella slightly in acquiescence.

The elderly woman was named Jin Xiangfeng, from the Jin Family clan.

Ke Yanqing's duties were similar to those of the Holy Daughter of the Black Moon Church, responsible for building the public persona of the Golden Sparrowflower, while Jin Xiangfeng was responsible for expanding the Golden Sparrowflower Clan.

However, for nearly a thousand years, the Golden Sparrowflower had ceased to absorb foreign clans into it.

Instead, it developed 'Lower Clans' through marriage.

For example, there was the Mu Family from Zone 51; the Mu Family woman dominated the Spirit Song Realm single-handedly, her public image surpassing even the Black Moon Saintess, earning favor from the Golden Sparrowflower, where Jin Xiangfeng consented to her marriage with Ko Family's second son Kovis.

But later, with the Elemental Church's strong intervention, this marriage also fell through.

Although Jin Xiangfeng managed these trivial matters daily, she was the most senior among the three maids, even older than the Twelve Seated.

Thus, even as maids, Ke Yanqing had to give the elder a certain amount of respect.

During the conversation, the silhouettes before the twelve radiant golden gates successively faded, returning to the front lines.

Only An Xingjia, Mrs. An, and a long-haired man in a black robe remained.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please proceed to the examination hall for causality testing."

Seeing the woman with the umbrella about to leave, the long-haired man smiled warmly, "Both maids, please stay. Under the potential threat of the Calamity Rules, even both maids might be affected."

Ke Yanqing frowned involuntarily, feeling inexplicably annoyed. Her younger brother was startled yesterday and urgently needed her comfort; how could she waste time on causality testing?

After all, her interpersonal relationships were not complicated; aside from Ko Nan and Kovis, there weren't many people worthy of her attention.

Yet seeing Jin Xiangfeng did not refuse, she followed the long-haired man to the examination hall.

She had nothing to say, trailing behind.

The long-haired man was named Ko Zelrek, also from the Ko Clan, once an exceptionally brilliant super genius, adept at studying causality, curses, and related matters.

Standing at the center of the array, Ke Yanqing closed her eyes and waited for two minutes; indeed, there was no abnormal reaction.

Nothing but a waste of time, she viewed Ko Zelrek with displeasure and spoke indifferently, "May this maid leave?"

In clan relations, Ko Zelrek was essentially Ko Yanqing's uncle, but before the maid, he maintained reverence, tilted his head, "Of course, Maid."

Ke Yanqing descended the stairs, but upon stepping halfway out of the array range, her pace paused, and her gentle eyes shielded by the umbrella suddenly contracted.

Click—

Upon stepping off the array platform, she stood on the blue brick ground, her umbrella hanging over her nose, revealing only a delicate half-face, her slender body beneath the blue banner gown taut, quivering imperceptibly.

Yet she did not show more abnormalities, only slowly turning around, once again looking toward the array before her.

Ko Zelrek noticed she hadn't left, turned back in confusion, "Maid, is there anything else you need to instruct?"

"How accurate is your causality test?"

"Accuracy?" Ko Zelrek shook his head, "This item is merely an Epic divine relic, paired with some low-level spiritual clothes I've developed, barely able to trace causality. But if the enemy is of the Calamity level, the efficiency is naturally low, and the accuracy is not high."

Not high accuracy? Ke Yanqing was about to relax, but then heard,

"So I made certain improvements, channeling the group's causality tracing capability onto one person, allowing accuracy to approach 99%, though it can complete a maximum of four Venerable level existences' tests a day."

"So far, only the Twelve Seated and the three maids' screenings have been completed. In the next few days, the heads of various clans and their direct relatives will be screened one by one. Maid, why do you ask?"

"No problem, just curious." Ke Yanqing responded indifferently, turning to leave slowly.

Holding a oiled paper umbrella, she walked leisurely through the starry corridor, her expression beneath the umbrella indifferent.

She suddenly recalled incidents, having lived in guilt and self-reproach for the accidental death of her third brother Ke Beiwang all these years, never finding relief.

Yet why, in these two days, has that heavy feeling slightly lessened compared to the past?

The deeper she thought, the more details emerged in her memory, and the memories about Ko Nan also became more elusive, as if on the verge of severing and dissipating.

This filled her with terror.

She could not allow these memories to fade....

Ke Yanqing lowered her eyes at the Golden Sparrow below, speaking indifferently:

"Let's go, little bird, let's not look for my little brother now. Let's head to the Sumeru Gate first and complete the Abyss Saint's transaction."

Escaping is shameful, but it's also useful; she temporarily wished to avoid confronting that fear.

Shriek— the Golden Sparrow cried loudly, changing direction and flying east.

Yet at this moment, a dim blue light appeared on the back of her hand, her covert agent stationed by Kovis, monitoring every move of her restless second brother.

As the dim blue light unfolded, a message appeared: "Maid, Kovis has dispatched three assassins to murder Ko Nan."

"!" Ke Yanqing's face froze, she took a deep breath, controlling the Golden Sparrow to change direction again, swiftly flying.

In her increasingly fading memory, Kovis indeed harbored malicious intent toward his little brother, sending assassins ten years ago when he was only ten.

Unexpectedly still unrepentant to this day! An inexplicable anger surged within her, her expression icy cold, but in the next moment froze again — if the suspicion in her heart was true...

Then she really had no reason to be angry.

But if it's false!