294

Chapter 294: Untitled

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

The entire team of fifty were annihilated, each dying in a strange manner.

A little farther outside the town, what was originally a backup team that had meant to aid their brothers in the robbery was now a pile of dead bodies. They were attacked and robbed instead by a dozen grey-clothed men, and not one was left alive.

Eldest Imperial Princess was furious and sent the order to investigate this shocking case thoroughly, but it was raining so heavily that night that all traces of evidence had been washed away, and the only evidence left was the smashed courtyard fence in the Li family’s home, as well as a huge hole in the courtyard, clearly indicating that the perpetrator was an extremely skilled martial artist.

After the Amethyst Cape Knights investigated the scene, they accurately reported back that the perpetrator was not a regular martial artist; they suspected him or her to be on equal standing among the top ten martial artists.

This piece of news did not appease Eldest Imperial Princess’s wrath—she was a royal princess of Xuanji, and Feng Xuan’s first daughter no less, she had been doted on and spoiled since birth and hence was both prideful and a sore loser.

“Find the perpetrator!” She flipped through the case scrolls angrily. She had never experienced such a situation and was absolutely furious. Then, she flung the case scroll at the general of the Amethyst Cape Knights.

“I don’t care who it is! Bring his head here to me!”

The Amethyst Cape Knights began a search mission throughout Xuanji.

Using the unique power granted to them by the royal court, they were able to search through every town and city under the name of “nabbing a wanted criminal.” Eldest Imperial Princess personally requested Eleventh Prince Feng Jingrui in the North, and Third Prince Feng Chengtian in the South, to assist in the search. Due to himself having his own followers killed, Feng Jingrui was frustrated and immediately agreed. Third Prince of the South also agreed very quickly, and the two of them proceeded to use the Iron Guard to assist in the search.

The deaths of a hundred Amethyst Cape Knights seemed to shock the entire Xuanji royal court, and hundreds of officials were outraged as they cried for justice to be served to the murderer. As such, the Amethyst Cape Knights and the Iron Guard came together for the first time to resolve this great incident.

Yet nobody mentioned the 116 members of the Li family that were massacred, as if the Amethyst Cape Knights’ actions were justified, and the Li family’s deaths were merely their tragic fate.

Their deaths were washed away by the court of Xuanji, yet it had been recorded by the ones who had witnessed that night, burying the hatred deep within their hearts, waiting for a day for the truth to be revealed.

On the thirteenth day of the second month, at night, at the mountain behind Donglan Town.

The entire town was lit with torches as the Amethyst Cape Knights searched through the night. The entire town was filled with the frantic squawking of chickens and barking dogs, yet the search yielded no result. One of the Captains in charge of the search raised his torch at the back mountains and peered at it. “Has this area been searched?” he asked.

“Responding, the area has been searched on the night of the incident,” One of the Amethyst Cape Knights replied.

“Search again!” The captain thought for a moment and suddenly waved a hand. “The enemy might think that once you’ve searched through the mountains, you wouldn’t search again.”

“Captain is so brilliant!”

The troop of 500 men entered the smallish mountain again, snaking around its paths like a snake, their torches glowing brightly among the dense greenery.

The one in charge of searching the north of the mountain was a little captain, carrying fifty men as they spread out and searched. However, due to the enemy possibly having the strength of the top ten, each knight carried a signal flare, and once the enemy was discovered, they were to signal the flare and not to engage.

The thunderstorm the day before had dampened the entire mountain road, and the mountain’s red soil made it difficult to move without slipping.

The little captain led five men to the farthest corner of the mountain and

The person was walking extremely carefreely, looking very strange as he jumped about, but upon closer look, he was merely jumping over a pile of wood. On his back were several firewoods.

Seeing such a person in the middle of the night naturally arouse suspicion, and the little captain immediately drew his sword and shouted, “Who are you!”

“Officer, I’m a woodcutter from Donglan Town,” The person put down the firewood and responded respectfully, “Due to the thunderstorm, all of the firewood at home had become useless, so I could only head out to cut some firewood.”

“Cutting firewood in the middle of the night?” The little captain raised an eyebrow and sized the person carefully. Feeling that the person’s energy was weak and didn’t look like someone who knew martial arts, the hand on the signal flare relaxed and let go.

“We ran out of firewood,” The person smiled helplessly. Putting down the firewood, he said, “Officer, are you tired? Why not take a break on these logs, there’s nowhere else to sit since everything is wet. I found this firewood from the cave over that side, there’s a lot of dry grass as well.”

“Really?” The little captain’s eyes lit up, and he asked urgently, “Where is the cave?”

The person pointed towards a certain direction, and the little captain hurriedly ordered five men to follow him as they headed over to take a look. The woodcutter picked up his logs and asked again, “Officer, are you not resting?”

“Move aside…” The little captain said in annoyance, but before he could say another word, he suddenly peered into the smiling eyes of the person.

The person’s eyes held a peaceful gaze, yet there was a sudden flash that appeared from deep within.

After that, the little captain felt his mind move, and his consciousness slip as he suddenly felt as if he really was exhausted. “… Ah, I’m so tired…” He mumbled.

“That’s right,” That person smiled, “Why not sit down and rest?”

“Mn… sit down,” the little captain suddenly felt that the firewood looked extremely comfortable and was one of the best places to sit down and rest. He immediately sat down.

Following that, he suddenly felt his entire body go numb as if it had disappeared. As he sat there, he heard the person say in a soothing voice, “When the rest come, why not let them sit down as well, since they’ve been busy all night, they must be tired.”

“Mn… Let them all sit down.”

“The person you’re looking for is on the mountain top,” the person pointed at the peak of the mountain.

He continued to stare into the person’s eyes, thinking that those eyes were mysteriously beautiful and extremely comforting.

He said, “Mn, on the mountain, not leaving.”

“You’re very powerful, the person you’re seeing, is waiting for you to find him, for you to kill him.”

“The person I’m seeing, waiting for us to kill him…”

The few people who had finished creating the footprints trodden over. One of them held onto the “woodcutter” and asked, “Is everything alright?”

The person smiled and patted the other person’s hand, his eyes not leaving the little captain’s. “Close your eyes,” He ordered.

The little captain immediately felt drowsy and closed his heavy eyelids.

As the few people snaked around him, somebody mumbled, “Want to kill, want to kill, I want to kill—”

“There is still use in sparing their lives,” The gentle, low voice of the man said.

“I resist, I resist, I resist, resist, resist,” the mumbling faded into the distance.

This sentence seemed to wake the little captain as he opened his eyes. He continued to sit there as he watched the five men return from the cave after a fruitless search. “Aren’t you tired, come, sit,” he called out immediately.

It was rare for the five subordinates to see their superior acting so friendly; hence, they sat down happily and fell into a silence.

The little captain raised his finger and pointed at the mountain top. “Up there, I saw, very powerful, he said he’s waiting for us to kill him,” he said.

The five subordinates squinted at the mountain top and responded, “Mn, at the top.

…

On the night of the thirteenth day of the second month, a five-man team of the Amethyst Cape Knights claimed to discover “traces of the enemy” on the top of Donglan Mountain. When they were brought back to report to the General of the Amethyst Cape Knights, they claimed that the enemy was not going anywhere, he was waiting for them atop the mountain, waiting for them to kill him. All five were unanimous in their report, and after investigating the mountain, they indeed found several footprints in the mud heading towards the top of the mountain, just as the five had described.

As such, the General of the Amethyst Cape Knights rushed to Donglan Mountain that very night, bringing with him half of the Amethyst Cape Knights and surrounding the mountain tightly. “Not even a housefly should be able to leave this place!”

On the fourteenth day of the second month, at the main city of Guanyuan County fifty miles from Donglan Town.

A long, snaking crowd had gathered in front of the city gates early in the morning. People inside wanted to go out, people outside wanted to go in. However, all of the merchants and city folk were stuck at the city gates. The gate guards were even more meticulous than usual in their checks, even feeling their clothes. Whatever money they felt was conveniently taken away, and the women suffered, forced to take off their shoes as the guards laughed and felt around their dainty shoes, causing the ladies to cry helplessly.

Everyone had an uneasy look on their faces, yet none of them dared to say anything, merely standing in line and engaging in hushed conversation with the people around them.

“… What’s going on recently?”

“I heard they’re catching a huge criminal!”

“… This place is still good, the checks at Donglan Mountain, as well as the wilderness, are even more stringent!”

“… See those purple-robed men? Amethyst Cape Knights!”

“Ah… I heard that just a few days ago they were searching Donglan Town for someone, and after they couldn’t find the person, they released their anger on the townsfolk, robbing and looting them! The poor Li family even…”

“Silence! Do you still value your life, mentioning this!”

There was a sharp silence as the cowardly commoners shut their mouths and followed the crowd, moving forward obediently.

In the crowd, a haggard-looking Daoist priest suddenly rolled his eyes and stroked the three hairs growing from a mole on his face.

Beside him, a peal of tinking laughter sounded from a child as he bent down and patted the dust on his robes. “Master, be careful of getting your robes stepped on,” he said.

Behind him, an old man smiled and glanced at the child’s hand. “Go and support the master,” He said to a young servant beside him.