"What did you make of this?" In the royal palace, the ruler, several Southern Cloud Kingdom officials, and the princes had gathered together. Intelligence had arrived only yesterday: before Huo Hai had even begun his investigation, he had come under attack.
The letter vaguely suggested that the ones who attacked Huo Hai had been a mercenary group rather than one of the other great Lineages. Yet it also pointed out that Huo Hai's mission route had been completely exposed. Very few people knew that route. Apart from a handful of Imperial Family members and several officials, only the Four Great Families remained.
Naturally, quite a few officials themselves belonged to the Four Great Families. The crowd studied the information in their hands, their expressions shifting uncertainly.
"This matter has no direct connection to the various great Lineages. I think as long as we give that little fellow an explanation, it should be enough." After a long while, a middle-aged official spoke softly.
An elderly man beside him snorted in displeasure. "Hmph, an explanation? How are you going to explain it to him? Last time, someone besieged him. He was not even seriously injured, yet he turned the Imperial Capital into a complete mess. Even the Underground Mercenary Guild was wiped out because of it. You say we should explain ourselves—how exactly do you intend to do that? This time, he was injured, and not lightly at that."
The report sent to the ruler was extremely detailed. Huo Hai had not said how severe his injuries were, but judging from the soldiers' guesses at the time, they knew he had been hurt badly. Even his aura had become utterly chaotic.
The ruler said blandly, "An explanation must be given. But how we give it, and what sort of explanation we give