Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Mo Fan added when he saw Lily hesitating, "Lily, things aren't as simple as you think. You might think the village is only planting some illegal plants, but you should know those plants are the ingredients for something called the Frenzy Liquid. The Black Vatican uses it to drive hordes and kingdoms of demon creatures into a frenzy, resulting in great calamities. The Black Vatican once caused a bloodbath in my homeland with the Frenzy Liquid. More than a million lives were lost in the tragedy. Do you have any idea how many lives that is?"

"A million lives?" Lily was so shocked that she was struggling to stand properly.

Their village's population was only around seven to eight hundred people. The whole Aorus Sacred Institute only had around ten thousand people!

Norzak City might not have a population of a million people, but the people on the streets, and the number of buildings and vehicles was already a lot for her!

A million lives would include all these people she could see, and a lot more she could not see!

Weren't the dead bodies enough to pile up into mountains and fill the ocean?

"I've seen people being slowly brainwashed by the Black Vatican, including adults with strong willpower, officials, and the leaders of countries. Anyone who doesn't stick to their principles will end up as a victim... You were wrong when you said I'm taking pity on you. The truth is, I'm impressed by you. You didn't collude with the villagers when they are benefiting greatly from planting the Frenzy Poppies."

"Most people would have compromised, but you chose to stick to your principles. You have saved many lives because of your actions."

Lily had never heard these things before...

Mo Fan had decided to tell Lily the truth when he asked about the Frenzy Poppies.

Apas was monitoring Lily's thoughts. Even if Lily did not answer Mo Fan's questions, she was pretty sure the village was planting the Frenzy Poppies the Black Vatican needed.

If the villagers were planting the Frenzy Poppies, the Black Vatican would be giving the villagers a lot of benefits in return. Lily had grown up in the village. It was not a surprise for her to collude with the villagers, but she chose to separate herself from the village and work in the Aorus Sacred Institute, despite being bullied. She did not fall into the pit like everyone else in the village.

Mo Fan recalled the student called Zhao Pinlin who had joined the Black Vatican on Chongming Island for his own desires. He had even used violence on his classmates.

Lily had ticked all the boxes to be recruited by the Black Vatican. She had a lowly background and was bullied by the people around her. She had a great desire to change her circumstances.

Mo Fan was quite surprised when Apas told him Lily was not involved in planting the Frenzy Poppies. He found her determination to stick to her principles very impressive.

Knowing the Black Vatican, they would normally easily convince a naïve girl to join their ranks!

"What do you want to know?" Lily eventually calmed down, realizing that she was caught up in something she could never have imagined.

There was indeed something fishy about the village.

Lily had learned it long ago. The villagers kept mentioning something about some religion, but Lily knew there was no such thing as free lunch in this world. Lily did not accept her aunt's offer, even though her aunt had even promised she could make that senior pay after Lily was fired by the Aorus Sacred Institute.

She was afraid of the things the villagers were doing. She was also afraid of being punished for what they did.

"So, do you know if they are planting poppies?" Mo Fan asked.

"I'm not familiar with plants, but they treat the plants as precious as their lives. I believe it's the plant you described," Lily said.

"How much did they plant?" Mo Fan asked.

"They planted it on the mountain enclosed by fences. My aunt never let me get close to it. They said I would die if I learned what was inside without joining them. The Aorus Sacred Institute happened to be recruiting workers around that time, so I applied for the job. I was away from the village for a long time. They should have harvested four seasons' worth of the plants by now," Lily answered.

"Is your aunt involved too?" Mo Fan asked for clarity.

"I'm not too sure, but I think she's helping with the cover-up," Lily ventured.

"You mentioned there are foreign merchants who visit your village. Have you seen this man before?" Mo Fan showed a photo of Mr. Lin to Lily on his phone.

Lily stared at the screen for a long time. She had a weird expression on her face.

Apas told Mo Fan Lily's emotions were fluctuating again. She clearly knew who Mr. Lin was.

"What about him?" Lily asked Mo Fan in return instead of answering his question.

"He was planting the Frenzy Poppies back in Greece. We believe he's the one who invented the Frenzy Poppies. The Black Vatican is killing people with the poison he provided," Mo Fan stated firmly.

"He's my foster father. I was searching for food in a junkyard when I was six. I found him at the brink of death and fed him water and bread. He decided to adopt me when he woke up. I followed him back to the village and he taught me a lot of strange stuff, but I struggled to learn it. He disdained me because of it and stopped contacting me. He did not even bother to see me whenever he came to the village," Lily said.

Mo Fan stared at Lily in astonishment. It was something he had never expected!

Lily was actually the evil herbalist's adopted daughter!

Mr. Lin had to be important to the Black Vatican if Blue Bat came in person to save him. The Rain of Doom was Salan's trump card, so without the herbalist, she would have trouble using it. Mo Fan did not expect the ugly and tanned girl to be so close to a core member of the Black Vatican!

Mo Fan was having lingering fears!

Thinking about it, he realized why Lily was allowed to leave the village, even though she was reluctant to join the Black Vatican. She was only alive now because she was the man's adopted daughter. Knowing how cautious the Black Vatican was, they would never have let an outsider hang around close to their secret plantation!

"Lily, do you know where your foster father is now? He's an important member of the Black Vatican. If we can take him down, the Black Vatican will have trouble causing the same tragedy as they did in the Ancient Capital again," Mo Fan sighed.

"He has long treated me like a pebble on the road. He won't tell me his whereabouts," Lily admitted sadly.

"By the way, did you tell anyone in the village that you have come here for the Awakening?" Mo Fan asked.

"I only told my aunt, but I don't think she's suspicious, since I have told her many times that I wanted to become a Mage. You did the right thing by going to the village with the students. Otherwise, the people in the village would be alert," Lily said.

"That's exactly what we thought," Mo Fan agreed.