The truth behind the assassination

Unable to snatch the invitation back, Qiluo's eyes reddened slightly, and she immediately took off her coat, preparing to reveal her true form.

"Wait!" Yise quickly stopped him, seeing this. "I didn't mean to offend you! I just wanted to ask you about Su Ming."

"Oh?" Qiluo stopped her horse. "Su Ming, don't ask anymore, she's already taken."

Yise choked, this was the first time she had ever been told something like this by someone she had always been the center of attention. "... I have no interest in him!"

Qiluo snatched the invitation from her hand. "Hmph, if you're not interested, why are you asking? I've seen plenty of young girls like you; you're all hypocrites."

Yise wanted to recount the events, but realized that doing so would only make things worse.

Does this mean Su Ming lied to her with his confession, leaving her resentful?

Yise hesitated.

Qiluo glanced up at the clock tower in Bubing City and exclaimed, "Ah, the prayer meeting's meal portion is about to begin, now's the perfect time to go!"

She walked out of the alley, joined the bustling crowd, and headed towards the Frostflame Festival venue at the Temple of Light.

Yise followed, too lazy to ask any more questions. However, she acknowledged that her actions earlier were indeed rude. "Miss Unicorn, I'm very sorry for what happened earlier. I should thank you for your help in Lisi City last time."

"Yes, that's more like it!" Qiluo said, "You also helped me in Shafeng'er Town." She handed over an invitation, "Then I'll treat you to a buffet!"

Yise looked at the invitation to his family's church prayer meeting, his face full of helplessness.

A person suddenly appeared in front of her, and Qiluo and Yise quickly stopped to avoid a collision.

Blocking their path was an old woman draped in a grey cloak, her eyes slightly white. She looked at Yise and smiled with satisfaction. "What a beautiful young lady!"

As she spoke, the old woman extended her hand to Yise.

Yise frowned and was about to step back when a middle-aged man suddenly appeared to the side. He stood in front of the old woman and repeatedly apologized to Yise and Qiluo.

The old woman behind him immediately withdrew her hand in disgust.

"It's alright," Yise, not taking it to heart. He sensed the old woman seemed confused, which was a bit of a hardship for her son.

"May the frost and flames protect you!" the middle-aged man said to Yise as a holiday greeting.

"May the frost and flame endure forever, and may blessings accompany you always!" Yise responded politely, but before he could finish speaking, the middle-aged man had already pulled the old woman away.

She exchanged a glance with Qiluo, then continued walking forward.

Yise suddenly thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea to take the invitation from someone else and attend the family's charity dinner.

"Miss Unicorn, may I ask your name?" She took a piece of paper back from the unicorn's hand.

"Qiluomilan!" the unicorn replied, "You're really going?"

"Didn't you invite them?" Yise retorted. "I know how to get to the kitchen."

"Okay! Let's go right away!" Qiluo immediately grabbed her hand and started running.

****

Behind him, the middle-aged man bowed respectfully and stepped back a few paces.

"Ruogejin, why are you stopping me?" The old woman's eyes were quite unfriendly. "That girl is very outstanding, with a good figure and excellent physical strength!"

The target women must be beautiful enough to attract the "clients" of the Sacred Mountain Sea of Divine Grace to buy them and bring them inside for their amusement. They also need to be physically strong to withstand the power-enhancing burst spells used to carry out destructive actions and kidnappings.

In every respect, Yise was the best she had ever met.

"Reporting to Lord Abigai," the middle-aged man called Ruogejin replied, bowing deeply, "That young lady is a very famous guardian of the temple's younger generation. If she is trained into a puppet and sent into the Sea of Divine Grace, she will be recognized, causing unnecessary complications to the plan."

That was a valid reason. The old woman, Abigai, nodded and stopped blaming Abigai, gesturing for him to straighten up.

"How did this batch of goods go? Dispose of the poor-quality ones on the spot, don't waste my time. With the defensive array of the Sea of Divine Grace in between, I can only control a maximum of twenty puppets."

Since a month ago, the Plundering Clock has been investigated and hunted down by various forces, forcing the organization to drastically scale back its operations and move all its activities from the shadows to an even more clandestine state.

While the failure of the Yexiya Monster Project and the fall of Snail Island had given the higher-ups some indication of this situation, they hadn't expected it to be so intense and targeted, catching them somewhat off guard.

Therefore, Ruogejin, who paid human traffickers in the Northern Lands to do it. Their group also had to go to great lengths to conceal their identities and avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

However, Abigai had extremely high standards for the girls; even among ten carefully selected girls, she might not choose one or two. Ruogejin had no choice but to raise prices and continue buying from merchants and mercenaries engaged in the gray market further north. Along the way, they acquired two hundred girls, but only fifteen met the required standards.

"We'll be passing through Wazhuang Town next," Ruogejin replied. "I've arranged for five or six groups of human traffickers to make a transaction there; that should gather the missing people. Then we'll head to Xueqila Town to meet up with Aiwanbei'er."

"Not bad, I should be able to make it on time." Abigai closed his eyes, which were turning white. "I'll rest here tonight and set off again tomorrow morning!"

"Yes, sir!" Ruogejin replied.

For this prison break plan, the Plundering Clock deployed her, a clock-level fighter, along with several Quarter Hand- level fighters to ensure absolute success!

****

After leaving the village, Su Ming and Zijin flew for a while. The snow eagle's reaction became more intense, and it even stopped pretending. It turned around and cried out directly in the right direction.

"At this distance, that Feather Race should be able to sense it too!" Zijin judged.

"Then let's just go for the hard way!" Su Ming said.

The two simultaneously lifted their forbidden cloaks. Zijin discarded her broom and summoned the Bone Staff of the End and the Divine Favor Scepter, soaring forward through the air.

Su Ming activated the flight crystal on his body, lowered his altitude to separate from Zijin, and kept watch over Zijin's vicinity. He threw the birdcage on the ground, drew the shotgun from his back, released the safety, and loaded an extra bullet into the chamber.

The two simultaneously activated their senses to the maximum extent and indeed discovered a group of people gathered ahead. Several of them had already scattered and seemed to be trying to escape.

There weren't any particularly strong enemies among them!

This is outrageous! Zijin raised her hand and unleashed a "Negative Energy Torrent," sweeping the nearest enemy off the ground. After the White Bone Mark was upgraded, the scholar's dark abilities underwent a transformation, and she began to change her tactical combinations.

"You to the left, I'll to the right!" Zijin said.

Su Ming immediately turned sideways and chased after the nearest target on his left. He cast a spell, but the magic orb vanished without a trace.

Su Ming had never practiced casting spells while flying or moving! The trajectory of the spell orb also had wind deviation, and he had no idea how to calculate it!

The enemy in front of them, who was trying to dodge, also had a question mark appear on their forehead.

Su Ming immediately drew his shotgun and opened fire. He had the feel for shooting while moving!

The situation changed instantly; the opponent was completely unable to dodge, and their shield exploded into shreds. They frantically tried to dodge, but to no avail.

Su Ming couldn't determine the opponent's specific profession, but after six bullets, the opponent fell from the sky, spitting out a mist of blood—there was no need to determine it anymore.

Su Ming quickly moved on to his next target.

****

On the other side, Zijin unleashed a "Finger of Death," shattering the opponent's most powerful spellcaster into pieces mid-air. The others hurriedly hid in the woods. Zijin raised her bone staff and drew a large circle downwards, chanting, "Sea of Withering!"

The entire forest was instantly enveloped by dark energy, the pine trees withered one by one, and those hidden within let out painful howls. Unable to withstand the corrosive dark energy, they all emerged from the forest, only to be called out one by one by Zijin above using "Solar Flame".

Time was still short, and she hadn't learned any low-to-medium power dark magic spells yet. This minor character wouldn't warrant using "Finger of Death."

Su Ming's side was relatively open, with nowhere to hide, so only three people chose to flee towards him. He easily dealt with the first two, but the last one was a very powerful mage. The two fought evenly, and Su Ming couldn't defeat him for a while, even falling into a disadvantageous position.

After clearing out her side, Zijin flew over and chuckled when she saw Su Ming's disheveled appearance.

Su Ming glanced at the girl in the air with displeasure and decided to finish the fight quickly. He used Shadow Spider Silk to rush to her side and wrapped her arm with Thorn Long Whip.

"Elemental Fade Deathly Word Elements!"

"Deathly Word - Arcane Collapse!"

With the double casting, all the buffs and protective barriers on the enemy collapsed.

"This series only works when you're in a bad mood," Zijin laughed even harder, "So you can't use it when you're in a good mood!"

Su Ming helplessly; he had gained yet another indicator of his mood.

"Deathly Word, Wondrous Item Disjunction!"

Su Ming followed up with the third spell, and the enemy's robe and the prop he had just pulled out disintegrated, bursting into colorful light in the night, scattering like a fountain.

Zijin clapped her hands in the air, "That firework was beautiful!"

Su Ming was somewhat dazed after completing the spell, and then focused his mind.

This was the first time he had used the super-magical ability taught by Zijin in actual combat. He double-casted, then followed up with Rapid Casting, so that the three Deathly Word Art could be applied to the enemy at almost the same time. This could produce an additional effect of elemental disorder, which would prevent the enemy from casting spells for a short period of time.

However, even if Su Ming unleashes two super magic techniques and three difficult spells in a row, he will also be unable to cast spells for a short period of time.

But he already had a contingency plan.

Su Ming drew his dagger and thrust it towards the enemy's chest. However, the blade only penetrated about an inch before getting stuck. The enemy was wearing a layer of soft armor under his clothes!

Zijin smiled even more broadly, "This is very popular in the mercenary world. It can prevent stray bullets on the battlefield, and also protect against short-range weapon thrusts that aren't powerful enough."

Su Ming immediately switched to Plan B. He used one hand to block the opponent's waving staff, and with the other hand, he swung his elbow at the enemy's face. Then he grabbed the enemy's hair, raised his knee, and delivered a blow to the head.

The enemy immediately fainted.

Zijin clapped again, "Great job!"

Since Su Ming discovered that the burst of the Deathly Word combo skill would also put him into a short-term skill cooldown, he had to practice some purely physical moves.

When both spellcasters lose their magic at the same time, Su Ming's extra power determines the final outcome.

Su Ming was a little out of breath; those few moves were more tiring than he had imagined.

Zijin flew to his side, reached out and pulled him onto her staff, and flew towards where the rest of the people had gathered.

She didn't let go of Su Ming's hand, and immediately cast a water-based healing spell. He had just used his hand to block the staff and suffered a minor injury.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Su Ming said.

"Of course!" Zijin without hesitation, her tone carrying a hint of lingering enjoyment, "It's been so long since I've had this much fun!"

Su Ming suddenly remembered something, "Oh no!"

Zijin tensed up upon hearing this, "What?"

"That potato I left in the fire is definitely roasted to a crisp!"

Zijin jabbed Su Ming in the elbow.

****

Su Ming and Zijin flew closer to the group of people and found that there were several carriages, with a group of people huddled under the carriages, shivering. Some of them were dressed as laborers, while others were unarmed women and children.

Su Ming looked up and saw a familiar person in the center of the crowd.

"Chairman Jimite, we meet again!" Su Ming jumped off his staff and turned to Zijin. "Interrogate the dead or the living?"

Zijin said, "The inscription on his neck is for salvation; killing him will scatter his soul."

Su Ming was somewhat disappointed. "Then how about the traditional method of torture to extract a confession?"

"Alright!"

Jimite stood up. "Please ask me whatever questions you have," he said. "Please spare my family."

[These people aren't exactly good people either.] Su Ming saw that these men dressed as servants actually had delicate skin beneath their tattered robes. Not far away, under a snowdrift, lay several naked corpses.

These people were delusional to think they could deceive the necromancer. Su Ming stretched out his hand, and a few small magic orbs killed these people disguised as servants.

"First of all, why are you here?" he asked Jimite.

Jimite didn't even glance at the dead. "Price and Emilio will never expect me to slip behind them and leave. Besides, this is the shortest route to Red Fruit Slope, where we can summon the hidden Black Graupel False Shadows."

"Is it the darkest place under the lamp?" Su Ming nodded. "Next question, why assassinate Katharine?"

"We didn't assassinate Queen Katharine," Jimite said with a wry smile. "We've always only wanted to kill Princess Dafulin!"

This answer greatly surprised Su Ming. "It wasn't because something happened during the assassination of Katharine that forced you to silence Dafulin —it was that Dafulin was the target from the beginning!?"

"That's it," Jimite said. "The Empress of the Stars's sudden visit, accompanied by Princess Dafulin, was truly unexpected!" He sighed deeply. "We dared not offend the Star Empire, but the assassination attempt on Dafulin was already imminent, and we had no choice but to act!"

Jimite explained the emergency adjustment plan in detail:

First, they raided the princess and queen's guards and kidnapped Princess Dafulin and Queen Katharine.

The mission led by Deacon Bulenleifu proceeded as usual for Dafulin: framing the princess to the human trafficker Asitake and the buyers of the girls, luring Yise's priest squad to the rescue, and having the girls, acting as spies, poison Dafulin in the chaos.