Chapter 281

The servant said urgently, "Master, how would I dare deceive you? Oh right, the spy also said—also said the other side has already set out to attack our castle!"

"The other side is attacking?"

The old steward already believed it by now.

This servant was one of his capable assistants, also a veteran of the castle. Though the man was rather dim and his work only passable, he possessed the quality nobles needed most—loyalty—so naturally there was no reason for him to deceive them.

It was just that the old steward subconsciously dared not believe it.

Count Slo's expression also darkened.

"What else did the secret letter say?"

The old steward asked.

Only then did the servant recall and say, "The secret letter also said the other side has a Grand Magus, and they're all a flying force—they'll probably reach us very soon!"

A Grand Magus!

Those four words made Count Slo's eyes contract!

"Oliver has the holy artifact you, Master, gave him. An ordinary Grand Magus absolutely couldn't have killed him. This Grand Magus must be very powerful. Master, let me escort you away from here?"

The old steward said.

As the steward of Count Slo's castle, his status was higher than that of some mid-ranking nobles. Having witnessed many grand scenes, even at a moment like this, the old steward could still remain unruffled by sudden change.

But no matter how unruffled he remained, it could not change the fact that the enemy was far too powerful. The old count had to be gotten away—his life had to be preserved.

"Leave? There's no time. The other side can all fly—where would we flee to?"

The old count had already suppressed the shock and astonishment in his eyes. He was, after all, a formidable figure of the Xiling Kingdom.

"Abandon our castle, flee somewhere else—what difference would that make from the Slo family being destroyed? Give the order: raise the Bai Qi. I want to talk with the other side!"

The old count's gaze sharpened.

"Yes!"

The servant went down.

Only then did the old count take out a magic secret letter, write a few lines on it, and then burn it.

"Bishop Baomanzhu wanted to drag us into the water. Now it's time we dragged him into the water!"

The old count said in a heavy voice.

This magic secret letter of his was, shockingly, written to Bishop Baomanzhu!

The principle of a magic secret letter was very simple.

Once the old count burned the magic secret letter, the department on Bishop Baomanzhu's side specifically responsible for receiving letters received his message.

This was a means of rapid communication, generally only possessed by human kingdoms; it had never even been heard of in the orc nations.

Of course, this thing was very expensive.

It wasn't something one wrote for fun. Generally only in emergencies would nobles use it.

A single sheet of this specially made letter paper cost over a thousand gold coins—more expensive than a full set of equipment on a warrior. Who would write one for fun?

"Bishop, my lord—a secret letter from Count Slo!"

At the headquarters of the Church in the Eastern Diocese, Bishop Baomanzhu received Count Slo's magic secret letter.

Bishop Baomanzhu opened the secret letter. There were only a few lines inside; he finished reading them very quickly.

His expression darkened.

"My lord, what is it?"

His confidant, that powerful Temple Knight, asked.

Bishop Baomanzhu said, "The Yanguo Sect sent a wingfolk force over. They wiped out the Slo family's three thousand troops, and even Oliver, who possessed a holy artifact, was killed. The other side has a Grand Magus!"

"A Grand Magus! Even Oliver was killed!"

The Temple Knight cried in shock.

By comparison, the annihilation of those three thousand troops was hardly a major matter.

To these powerful beings, what always mattered was the strong!

Bishop Baomanzhu said, "Exactly. Now the Yanguo Sect's wingfolk force is rushing toward the Slo family's territory. They'll arrive in at most an hour. Count Slo intends to use negotiations to buy time and is calling on me for rescue!"

The Temple Knight asked, "My lord, what do we do?"

Bishop Baomanzhu also had a splitting headache. He now felt as though he had picked up a stone only to drop it on his own foot.

"The matter has blown up so big it can no longer be hidden!"

This was precisely the source of Bishop Baomanzhu's headache.

Now, the Yanguo Sect had struck forcefully on that side, even dispatching a Grand Magus!

The Eastern Diocese simply could not produce a Grand Magus!

In the Xiling Kingdom, there were only five Grand Magi in total.

Two of them were free agents and had not contributed faith to the gods.

Two belonged to the Church, and one to the royal family!

The troublesome part of the matter now was that Bishop Baomanzhu had used the Slo family as a pawn, and Count Slo had in fact also dragged Bishop Baomanzhu into the water.

The means of dragging him in was precisely that document signed and issued by Bishop Baomanzhu, granting the Slo family one month's law enforcement authority over the sale of grain crops!

If Bishop Baomanzhu had been entirely untainted by this matter, it would have been a little better.

Now that he was already tainted and had been dragged into the water, once the Slo family was truly destroyed and those above held him accountable, Bishop Baomanzhu could not extricate himself either!

"If only I'd reported the Yanguo Sect and the divine beans directly up the chain!"

Bishop Baomanzhu could not help feeling deep regret.

Only, there was no regret medicine sold in the world.

Just like the Slo family.

GLOSSARY:

- Bai Qi

- Master

- my lord

- Baomanzhu Sect

- Yanguo Sect

They used the scheming methods of the nobility.

Originally, they could have crushed Sir Hawke dead both legally and through force.

They simply hadn't expected the Yan Kingdom to play entirely by its own rules.

You go ahead and play your schemes.

I'll just kill my people!

Kill the schemers, and all conspiracies and tricks dissolve on their own!

This is the Yan Kingdom's way of doing things!

With force, break cleverness.

This requires tremendous power and an exceptionally sharp mind to pull off.

If the force isn't strong enough, not only will it fail to break cleverness, it will leave one even more passive.

If one isn't clever enough, killing people at the wrong moment will greatly reduce the Xiaoguoye Society.

For example, if the Orc Kingdom were still that same Orc Kingdom, the people the Orc Kingdom sent this time would likely have been wiped out to a man.

Of course, if the Orc Kingdom hadn't changed, none of this would have happened!

Baomanzhu Sect thought for a long while, and finally reached a decision.

Now, he had no choice but to steel himself and report everything exactly as it happened.

Merit was definitely out of the question.

Being spared punishment would already be good enough.

"Someone, bring me a magic secret letter."

Baomanzhu Sect decided to write the letter himself.

"Yes, my lord!"

Baomanzhu Sect quickly finished writing the letter and burned it.

He presented the Divine Bean, the Yan Kingdom, and everything about this incident exactly as they were, without the slightest embellishment.

As the bishop of the eastern region, Baomanzhu Sect knew all too well that playing tricks in front of certain terrifying figures at headquarters was useless — those people could see through your lies with ease!

This time, he actually hadn't been wrong about much.

The main thing was wanting to claim a great merit, so he concealed the matter of the Divine Bean and the Yan Kingdom.

This matter could be big, or it could be small.

It all depended on how the Church headquarters handled it!

Besides, after Baomanzhu Sect reported this matter, if headquarters didn't send people to rescue Earl Slor, and the royal family didn't send anyone either, then even if the Slor family was wiped out by the Yan Kingdom, the responsibility wouldn't fall on him.

This was precisely why Baomanzhu Sect chose to be honest — to push the responsibility away!

However, Baomanzhu Sect felt that headquarters or the royal family would Duoban Society not sit idly by while the Slor family was destroyed.