Chapter 136: 136 Worth One Thousand Gold

The heart-stopping assassination attempt had, after all, passed without any real danger.

Luoning put the Liuyan Sword back into his Space Ring; through this battle, he also understood his own combat level.

Provided he was not ambushed and did not lose the initiative, with the assistance of Magic, he could defeat an ordinary Bronze-level fighter.

"My Lord, are you alright?"

Chahaer and the others gathered around, "We are very sorry, we could not help you kill the enemy."

Luoning waved his hand, "Everyone has their own duties; everyone should just do their own job."

He looked down at himself; having tumbled and scrambled several times, he was already covered in dust and dirt, and the hem of his clothes had been torn by the shockwaves, making him look rather disheveled.

"Go prepare hot water; I need to wash up and change my clothes first."

Luoning said, "Chahaer, take some people to tidy up my study; don't mess up those blueprints."

"Very well, my Lord!"

Chahaer clapped his hands, "Everyone, don't just stand there like fools. Those who need to cook, go cook; those who need to boil water, go boil water. Quickly, everyone, get busy!"

With the Lord safe and sound, the tightly strung nerves of the crowd relaxed, and one by one, they threw themselves into their busy work.

However, this assassination incident would surely become a topic of discussion for them for Along time to come.

"Brother Luoning, are you okay?"

By the time Ailin came over, everyone had mostly dispersed.

Hearing this cautious voice, Luoning couldn't help but smile, "Of course I'm fine; that assassin couldn't kill me."

As he spoke, he looked over and saw Ailin covered in mud, with a large smudge on her fair, delicate face, and asked in surprise, "What happened to you?"

Ailin sniffled, her eyes brimming with tears, yet a smile hung on her face, "I was looking for Knight Maiken just now and fell on the way."

Luoning felt a slight touch of emotion in his heart; he beckoned her to come over and dotingly ruffled her golden hair, "You are too careless."

"I was scared to death," Ailin said with lingering fear.

Luoning wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, "You must believe that Brother Luoning is the strongest and invincible! Go, let Beila boil some water for you to wash up; you don't look good at all right now."

In fact, the reactions of the servants, guards, and knights just now had all moved Luoning.

Although this group's strength was a bit lacking, at least they dared to rush up to protect his safety, so they were competent.

The tense atmosphere in the castle gradually dissipated, but the tension outside the castle was slowly rising; this assassination had alarmed quite a few people.

Upon hearing about the incident, Administrator Wilson's face changed drastically, and he ran over almost by tumbling and scrambling.

Everything he had now was bestowed by the Lord; if the Lord were assassinated, then everything he had now would also be over.

Besides Wilson, there were also those village chiefs, group leaders, and many townspeople who all ran outside the castle to inquire about the news.

Shanlin Town had finally welcomed a decent Lord, and they did not want him to be killed by some assassin.

Helpless, Luoning could only climb the tower, hold a torch high to signal his safety to everyone, and only then did he disperse the crowd.

After dinner, the fireplace in the living room was burning with flames, keeping the room warm.

Luoning changed into clean pajamas and sat on the sofa, quickly reading a note that Maiken had searched from the assassin.

There was not much valuable content on the note, only a few simple sentences:

Assassinate the Baron of Shanlin Town, Luoning; bounty of one thousand gold coins. Note that he has an Advanced Peak Knight with strength rivaling a Bronze-level fighter by his side; try to find an opportunity when he is alone to strike.

Luoning couldn't help but laugh, "I'm only worth one thousand gold coins?"

"They do not know your level, my Lord," Maiken said.

Luoning put the note into his Space Ring, "Was any other information interrogated?"

Regarding this, Maiken shook his head helplessly.

"My Lord, this assassin must have been trained; his mouth is very tight. No matter how Dawei and the others whipped him, other than some information regarding his identity, he did not confess anything else."

Luoning frowned, "It seems this assassin is more professional than Pedro; then let's talk about his identity first."

"This person said his codename is 'Shadow' and he is a formal member of the Skull Society."

Maiken replied, "And this Skull Society, according to his confession, is an assassin organization established by the Black Gold Brotherhood, targeting all the nobles of Wushan Territory. By assassinating them and creating chaos, they create a situation favorable for the expansion of the Black Gold Brotherhood."

By making Wushan Territory chaotic, with the nobles all busy dealing with their own affairs, naturally, not many people would pay attention to how much territory the Black Gold Brotherhood had occupied at the border.

"Did he reveal the number of members of the Skull Society? Or information like the location of their base?"

Maiken shook his head, "He did not confess any of this information."

"His mouth is quite tight."

Luoning stood up, "Let's go, take me to see him."

There was a dark room on the north side of the Outer Castle, which was generally used to imprison servants in the early days. After Luoning moved into the castle, this room was rarely used and had been left vacant.

Maiken had used this place as a temporary prison.

At this time, the assassin codenamed Shadow was tied to a pillar, his body covered in quite a few bloody gashes; although the places where Luoning had stabbed him were bandaged, the blood had already stained the linen bandages red.

It was truly miserable, but not enough to die; after all, as a Bronze-level knight, his vitality was much stronger than an ordinary person's.

Luoning couldn't help but touch his nose, feeling a bit emotional.

If this scene were in a typical TV show, he and Maiken's group would probably be the villains.

But when dealing with assassins, sometimes it is necessary to use some means to pressure them.

"This dark room is too damp. Wodun, go tell the kitchen to bring some firewood to raise the temperature and warm up our 'Shadow' Lord."

Luoning instructed, "But remember to ventilate when burning the fire; don't suffocate him in the room."

The miserable assassin raised his eyes and sneered, "There is no need to use such petty tricks in front of me. I have already told you everything I could say; don't even think about getting anything else out of my mouth."

He thought that Luoning's sudden concern for his warmth was an attempt to pry his mouth open with small favors.

"His mouth is still quite hard."

Luoning kept his distance and asked with a smile, "Is there a possibility that I just purely don't want you to freeze to death?"

Dawei had already picked up the whip, ready to give him a couple more lashes, but was stopped.

"When dealing with a character as stubborn as this, the harder the methods you use, the more difficult it will be to pry his mouth open."

"I ask for your guidance, my lord!" Dawei hurriedly asked for advice.

Luoning crossed his arms over his chest with a thoughtful expression.

He knew quite a few torture methods, after all, they often appeared in period dramas, such as the tiger bench, branding, and so on; would it be too inhumane to bring those out?

While pondering, he frowned and scanned the assassin's wounds up and down, thinking of a method.

"The interrogation ends here for today. Leave him hanging like this for the night. If it's too cold, drape a few more clothes on him and let him have a good rest."

Luoning said: "Tomorrow, have the kitchen boil a pot of sugar water, let it cool, and pour it over him. Then, have the Guards find a few anthills and catch a few nests of ants."

Although it is winter and ants are not very active, there are warm places in the castle, so there will always be anthills to be found; just dig them out.

"Ants are very fond of sweets. Just imagine, when the sugar water seeps into his wounds, sticking to his blood and flesh, these ants will love it immensely."

Luoning grinned, and under the candlelight, this smile was incredibly sinister, making even Dawei shiver.

The assassin, who had originally intended to ignore them, couldn't help but open his eyes and reveal a look of terror at the thought of the scene Luoning described.

Luoning slowly reminded him: "Just imagine, when thousands upon thousands of ants crawl all over your wounds, biting as they crawl and crawling as they bite, how would that feel?"

"Pain? Or itchiness?"

Luoning's voice seemed to come from hell, carrying a natural chill.

"I have heard that although an ant's mouth is small, its bite force is astonishing. I just don't know how many bites a Bronze Knight's body defense can withstand?"

The people in the dark room felt their scalps tingle, unable to bear imagining that scene.

Maiken and the others felt that compared to the Lord's interrogation methods, their own whipping was truly idiotic.

"Luoning, you!"

The assassin panicked; his mind was now filled with images of ants eating his flesh and drinking his blood, his scalp tingling!

Luoning interrupted him first, "You have one night to think it over slowly, and then wait to experience it properly tomorrow."

As he spoke, he walked out, instructing as he went: "After you catch the ants tomorrow, remember to light a fire in the room. Only when it warms up will the little fellows have more vitality and drive."

"Right, right..." Dawei responded blankly.

(End of this chapter)