Chapter 796, The Kingdom's Qilin Project
City Lord Wen Mansa came from a gang background, and is probably around level 10.
To think they'd send an 18th-level Professional—still a bit surprising.
But with the current situation, sending anyone under level 18 simply wouldn't cut it.
Now that Wen Mansa isn't leaving the city lord's mansion, she clearly has her own plans.
Maybe she's just buying time to call that Island Lord of Gold-Silver Island back.
If the Adventurer's Guild gets involved by then, things will only get messier.
"When will that level 18 show up?" the burly man asked again, now calmer.
"Within the next couple of days," the lanky man replied.
The burly man sighed. "If it weren't for those people, this wouldn't be so troublesome."
"Definitely more troublesome than expected."
The burly man thought for a moment, then said, "Let's head to the outskirts. If things go south, it's easier to react. Here in the outer district, if the city goes into lockdown, we won't even have a chance to escape."
The lanky man glanced up. "Wen Mansa hasn't acted because we're still inside the city. If we make a move to leave, she'll immediately strike. Don't provoke her yet—wait until our guy gets here."
The burly man nodded.
They chatted in the room for a while and drank quite a bit of tea.
When the time seemed about right, the burly man finally stood up and said, "I'll go take another look."
Just as he was about to leave, his legs froze in place.
A look of horror and disbelief surfaced in his eyes.
He suddenly looked up and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth, "Run... now..."
But the lanky man was also frozen in his seat, the veins in his neck bulging, his face red as if wrestling with some invisible force.
Using all his strength, he said, "It's not us... take us to see Wen..."
Crack~!
The lanky man's head twisted 180 degrees, then snapped back.
The burly man's eyes narrowed—and the next moment, his neck twisted backward as well.
Both bodies slumped to the ground.
Three Specters appeared in mid-air inside the room. Xiaoxiao huffed, "It was those two."
Glenda said, "I'll go inform Wu Heng. You two stay here and guard."
"Okay!" Benny and Xiaoxiao nodded.
Glenda turned invisible again and phased through the wall.
...…
Back at the city lord's mansion, in the rear courtyard.
A number of corpses were laid out in the open area.
Wen Mansa said, "These are the assassins who were killed in the past few days. Please, Master, question the dead and see if we can get any clues."
Honestly, the chance of getting real intel from these was slim.
But since the bodies were preserved, might as well ask.
[Speak with Dead] activated, and the first corpse sat up from the ground.
Its eyes were hollow as it looked at the group.
Wu Heng glanced at Wen Mansa. She nodded and asked, "Who ordered you to assassinate me?"
The corpse replied, "I received a letter from Ronnie. Was to kill you in the lounge of the Union Building."
Wen Mansa frowned. "Who's Ronnie?"
"A noble of the Azil family from the Ekow Kingdom."
Someone from the Ekow Kingdom's nobility.
Wen Mansa looked thoroughly confused.
Clearly, she had no recollection of this name or family.
"Is Ronnie loyal to the Second Prince?"
"Unknown."
Wen Mansa continued, "When did you receive the letter?"
"Mid-month."
Last question: "Do you know of any other informants?"
The corpse answered, "The Dragonwing General Store in the outer district. Letters get dropped off there. I check periodically."
Five questions done, the corpse collapsed.
Wen Mansa turned to Wu Heng. "Mid-month was when the Second Prince's envoy arrived. That checks out. But the letter seems to have come from the Ekow Kingdom rather than from his people."
Slater, arms crossed, asked, "Is the envoy's name Ronnie?"
"Not that name," Wen Mansa shook her head.
"Could be the letter wasn't sent directly by him—or maybe it was staged to avoid being traced," Slater analyzed.
"Makes sense." Wu Heng nodded.
"Master, next body," Wen Mansa prompted.
Wu Heng activated [Speak with Dead] again. A second corpse sat up.
"Who ordered you to assassinate me?" Wen Mansa asked.
"Kendall!" the corpse replied.
"When did you get the order?"
"Mid-month."
"Are you loyal to the Second Prince?"
"Yes!"
"...Is your mission related to the envoy in town?"
"Not sure!"
"..."
...…
Each corpse was questioned in turn.
The three of them had a pretty good grasp of the situation now.
All the assassins were tied to the Ekow Kingdom.
Honestly, it made sense. Who else but the Second Prince would want Wen Mansa dead?
The three returned to the main hall.
Wu Heng sat on the sofa, stroking the silky fur of the Golden Cat in his arms.
Wen Mansa sat beside him. Slater, across from them, still wore a cold expression, occasionally glaring at both Wu Heng and the Golden Cat.
Wen Mansa said, "Since they're tied to the Ekow Kingdom, it's reasonable to eliminate that envoy, no matter if he's involved or not."
On second thought, it wasn't hard to see the Second Prince's angle.
The Ekow Kingdom's army obviously couldn't beat the skeleton legions.
So during this ceasefire, they'd try to kill Wen Mansa and shift the tide.
But after multiple failed attempts, all they did was make her more cautious.
Wu Heng stroked the Golden Cat and said, "Whether the envoy lives or dies doesn't matter. What matters is whether we can trace this back to the Second Prince. Kill one envoy, and another will just come along."
Wen Mansa nodded in agreement.
She'd already faced assassination attempts back in Rentam City, and purged a bunch of people then.
Even Hartle's husband, the steward, was among them.
But it didn't take long before more popped up.
Unless the mastermind was dealt with, informants and envoys would just keep coming.
Slater added, "Even if we trace this back to the Second Prince, killing him would be troublesome. Any prince or princess who inherits the throne could use it as a pretext to attack Rentam again. The end result won't change."
Wen Mansa narrowed her eyes—so now this was on her?
Wu Heng chuckled, "Even if we don't kill the Second Prince, Ekow will still try to take back what we've occupied. It's not about killing him—it's just a matter of what excuse they'll use."
Slater nodded, agreeing.
Rentam had taken all the cities north of Serted Fortress. When Ekow recovered, they'd try to reclaim them.
"I think we should capture the Second Prince for now. Use him later as a bargaining chip in negotiations," Slater offered.
Capture him first.
Wu Heng figured it wasn't that simple with this Second Prince.
The most efficient way was just to kill him quickly—give him a chance and he might escape or retaliate dangerously.
But since this was still just discussion, he nodded. "That works too."
Switching topics, Wu Heng looked at Wen Mansa. "How's Serted Fortress doing?"
Wen Mansa replied, "Hartle says the city's been repaired. Citizens are returning to normal life. A lot of spies patrol the outskirts though."
"No army movements, right?"
"No army, but some mercenary groups under the pretense of clearing undead showed up. Got wiped out by skeletons." She smiled.
Wu Heng turned to Slater. "Blackstone Town holding up alright?"
"No major losses. It was mainly officials and guards who left. The regular folks are mostly calm. Plus, you've got some reputation there. People aren't too hostile toward the skeletons."
"What's the general sentiment?" Wu Heng asked.
"We put out notices and sent bards to sway opinion toward Rentam. At least they know it was Ekow who started the war. Still, some folks are pro-Ekow, but they won't say it out loud." Slater thought a bit before answering.
Wu Heng had lived in Blackstone before. The place was highly anti-necromancer.
Now with skeletons occupying the city, it wasn't realistic to expect everyone to take their side.
Give it time, and things would settle.
Wu Heng was about to speak again when a Specter flew back and entered his body.
The events at the tavern room were now shared.
Which meant—
The two men hadn't left. They were waiting for the Second Prince's level-18 Professional to come and kill Wen Mansa.
This was practically a death gamble.
"I'll go fetch that envoy's corpse and do a proper interrogation," Wu Heng stood up.
"I can send someone," Wen Mansa offered.
"No need. He's already dead. I'll get there faster myself."
Wen Mansa didn't argue. Wu Heng left with the skeleton guards.
...…
Wu Heng arrived at the tavern.
Inside, a crowd was gathered around the second-floor staircase.
"Damn! What a brutal way to go."
"How'd they kill him like that? Twisted the guy's neck several times over."
"Doesn't look like a robbery. Nothing's missing."
People were whispering, gossiping about the corpses upstairs.
Just then, Xiaoxiao's voice whispered in Wu Heng's ear, "Uncle, a bartender had gone to buy something for them. Found the bodies when he came back."
"All good." Wu Heng replied, squeezed through the crowd, pulled out his Adventurer's Guild badge and said, "Alright, disperse. Boss, stay."
Hearing the Guild was involved, the crowd broke up.
Wu Heng entered the room and saw the two corpses.
"Wrap them up."
The skeletons used straw mats to roll up the corpses. Wu Heng stored them in his spatial ring.
A middle-aged man stood respectfully nearby. "My lord, do you need anything?"
"You're the owner?"
"Yes, sir!"
Wu Heng scanned him and asked, "They were staying in this room?"
"Yes, stayed here for several days."
"Anyone come looking for them recently?"
The owner thought. "Not sure. I don't think so. They barely left the room."
"Think about it. If anything comes to mind, tell City Hall."
"Yes, my lord." He nodded.
"Keep the place running. It's fine. We found the killer thanks to them." Wu Heng walked downstairs.
"Thank you, my lord."
The man even slipped two silver coins into Wu Heng's hand.
Wu Heng gave him a glance and left the tavern.
...…
Back at the city lord's mansion.
The two bodies had been stripped.
Their belongings laid out on the table.
From the lanky man's spatial ring: coin pouch, property deeds, daily items, scrolls, Snake Emblem Consortium bills, a ghost train ticket, and a ring with an eye emblem.
From the burly man's ring: coins, daily items, spare weapons and armor, scrolls, potions.
Wu Heng's eyes narrowed at the items.
His gaze fell on the ghost train ticket and the golden ring.
Ghost Train.
The guy actually had a Ghost Train ticket. He came prepared.
If danger really broke out in the city, he could use the ticket to escape.
No wonder he was so confident.
The second item—the ring—belonged to the Secret Cult.
The Secret Cult... tied to the Second Prince?
Early on, Wu Heng had suspected the First Prince had the Cult's backing.
Later intel showed the First Prince was linked with the religious factions.
But this pointed the Secret Cult toward the Second Prince.
Wu Heng pondered.
So, the Secret Cult's Qilin Project was being applied to the Second Prince.
The Qilin Project—meant to help their own climb the throne and gain political power.
They really had moved against the Ekow Kingdom.
After examining these, Wu Heng turned to the burly man's armor. One set was a commander's set from the Ekow Kingdom.
This man was a Ekow Kingdom commander.
Wen Mansa had said the burly man was the envoy's bodyguard, but clearly, he was more than that.
"Secret Cult," Slater also recognized the ring.
Wu Heng nodded. "Looks like this goes deeper than we thought."
Wen Mansa picked up the ring and inspected it. "Maybe it's just his personal support for the Second Prince—not the whole Cult?"
Wu Heng shook his head. "There's always been signs of the Cult's involvement. This proves they're backing the Second Prince."
Wen Mansa nodded. Slater asked, "Can I report this to the Guild?"
"Not yet. Let's interrogate the corpses first, then we'll talk." Wu Heng replied.
Slater nodded.
...…
They approached the corpses.
Wu Heng used [Speak with Dead] on the lanky man.
The body sat up and looked their way.
Wu Heng asked, "Was the assassination of Wen Mansa your doing?"
The corpse was silent a moment, then said, "No. It was the First Prince's people."
Huh?
All three furrowed their brows.