Chapter 138: Killing Night (15)

Dark clouds hung over the heads of the Frost Crystal Kingdom's nobles.

Who would strike first?

The returned Bai Ge?

Or the Frost Crystal royal house, which had been holding back all along?

Every noble was waiting to see what would happen next, not even daring to leave the kingdom and return to their own fiefs.

Within the kingdom, they might still be able to band together with other nobles, but once back in their fiefs, each would be left to fight alone.

Moreover, if such behavior were seen as provocation, the only thing waiting for them would be death.

But amid this torment, what happened next was rather different from what they had imagined—by a wide margin.

After that day, nothing changed.

Herbert had vanished.

For ten whole days, he did not return.

He did not appear again in Wang Cheng, did not return to the Silver Wing Duke's residence.

No one saw his shadow again!

At the same time, the Frost Crystal royal house also maintained an eerie silence at this moment.

The king, who had been unwell recently, still did not appear; Crown Prince Talens, who was temporarily running the kingdom in his place, made no comment on the matter.

He neither pursued Herbert's responsibility for "the slaughter of innocents," nor even called the Silver Wing Duke himself to account.

As for the nobles who had lost family members, they too keenly sensed something at this point and mostly kept quiet.

Only a handful of Bai Chi voiced their protests, and then disappeared the very next day—they were not even dealt with by the kingdom, but were settled by their own clansmen.

Their disappearance caused no ripple at all; no one cared about the fate of such fools.

But this eerie calm made countless people feel the pressure redouble.

Just because nothing has happened now does not mean it never will.

Everyone knew this could not go on forever.

Sure enough, on the eleventh night, a major incident occurred in the noble district, shattering the calm completely.

Hou Jue Chuck—his entire house had been wiped out.

This new noble of the Frost Crystal Kingdom, who had won the crown prince's favor, met his death less than two months after taking over the coal-mining business.

Throughout the entire marquis's residence, apart from a few elderly maids and cooks, everyone else—including the guards—fifty-five people in total, not a single one survived.

All of them had their heads chopped off and piled in the middle of the courtyard, forming a small tower of heads five layers high.

And because of the cold weather, the blood did not draw anyone's reaction, but instead helped their heads freeze firmly together.

When the small tower of heads was discovered, a thin layer of frost and snow had already gathered on top, making it look like a wonder that had appeared out of thin air!

And the strangest part was the expressions on those heads.

Their expressions at the moment of death were all very serene, even somewhat joyful, as if they had gladly welcomed death and allowed others to chop off their heads.

Only the head of Hou Jue Chuck, placed at the very top of the small tower, was different from the others—his expression was one of utter terror, even madness.

As if, after witnessing this eerie scene with his own eyes, he had finally been beheaded at the moment of despair and collapse.

Who was the killer?

Why commit such a cruel act?

Why wipe out Hou Jue Chuck's entire house?

No one knew the answers to these questions, but they all thought of the same person—

The Bai Ge!

Could it have been his doing!!?

Is his strength really that great?

Although Hou Jue Chuck himself was very weak—a disgrace among nobles, with only beginner-level strength.

But after amassing great wealth, he spared no expense in protecting himself, spending a fortune to hire four high-rank warriors!

Those long-famous adventurers all came from the same squad; years of unspoken understanding had made their teamwork nearly perfect, the very top tier below Legendary.

Yet such a powerful squad silently became the second layer of the small tower of heads together…

What exactly happened that night?

Just how strong was the one who struck?

Legendary?

But even a Legendary powerhouse couldn't have done it to this extent, could they!?

These were all living people!

Even killing a chicken—it can't be that it put up no resistance at all before dying; surely it would let out a squawk.

It shouldn't be that not a single sound was made for others to notice.

But the fact was exactly that—during the night, no one knew.

Setting aside others, take the noble living next to Hou Jue Chuck's residence: he didn't notice anything in the middle of the night, and was actually among the last to find out.

Out of caution, his household chose to keep their doors shut and receive no visitors, and only learned of what had happened the next afternoon through kingdom guards who came to check—scared out of their wits.

And the reason this utterly silent massacre became known to others was that after finishing the deed, the killer deliberately leaked the news to the outside world.

He brazenly opened the doors of the marquis's residence himself, so that the patrolling soldiers in the morning could clearly see the wonder he had left in the courtyard.

The killer plainly told the world—almost provocatively—dragging their gaze over: Open your eyes wide, come see my masterpiece!

This eerie massacre made everyone even more uneasy, making the already oppressive atmosphere in the city even heavier, adding a touch of madness to the fear.

And what weighed most heavily on the nobles' hearts was the royal house's attitude.

Regarding this case, which would normally shock the entire kingdom…the Frost Crystal royal house still maintained silence!

Right!

Still silence!!!

What's more, because the Hou Jue Chuck estate's valuables had been swept clean by the killer, the royal family simply classified the whole affair as bandits killing for money.

A bandit with strength above Legendary, who wiped out an entire noble house just for such a pittance of wealth rather than leveraging it for greater profit — such a farcical conclusion naturally convinced no one.

But the Frost Crystal royal family simply dug in its heels, refusing to make any judgment and declining to pursue any further responsibility.

Oh, of course they didn't say it outright. Nominally, the royal family said it would send people to investigate the matter and would surely give the Hou Jue Chuck family justice.

But everyone knew there would be no follow-up — Hou Jue Chuck had died for nothing.

No, his death was not entirely without value.

Because of his wretched end, the dark side of some nobles' hearts began to stir.

And so, just before they could act… the second massacre occurred.

Hou Jue Tim was also wiped out, the whole family.

Same rank — marquis. Same manner of death. Same status — both were favorites in the eyes of the First Prince…

At that moment, the remaining nobles finally saw reality for what it was — the Frost Crystal royal city of Wang Cheng was now one enormous cage.

No one could escape!

Thanks to Flyshism, Yin Duo, and Madman's Little Clown for their tips

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(End of this chapter)