Chapter 9 Chapter Eight Unnecessary Evil

The little priest found something wrong!The ghost cursed himself as he considered what this unexpected development represented.He didn't really think that killing Cadderly would be easy—all the information he had got showed the young priest to be a formidable opponent—but when he saw Cadderly coming down the road, he was alone. , and no one else was around, the ghost thought for a moment that maybe he could easily complete the task and get paid, and his killing art only needed to be developed to this point. The beggar was trusted by Cadderly, the ghost knew that from overheard conversations.Now that the assassin had switched to that man, he should be able to sneak in and strike when Cadderly let his guard down.But this kid actually noticed something was wrong!

The ghost re-examines the encounter just now, trying to figure out what he did wrong.But he couldn't think of anything obviously suspicious, at least not so obvious that Cadderly fled vigilantly like he had just done.A worry crept over the killer: if Cadderly was as difficult to deal with as the files suggested--and he was beginning to think that it might be--then Cadderly might be able to resist the spell of restraint.This kind of thing has only happened twice before, and both times they dealt with magicians. At that time, the intrusion of ghosts was blocked by their spiritual power. "There are other ways!" cried the ghost, reminding himself that there were many companions, and that the two recalcitrant magicians were easily dealt with in the end.In one instance, the ghost possessed the least suspicious person of the magician—his wife.That was a sweet kill!In the case of another magician, the ghost acted as an infiltrator for the "Mask of the Night" group, providing so much and so much information that he killed the powerful magician It turned out to be the easiest time for an assassination group to attack.

"Anyway, little Cadderly," the ruthless assassin whispered in the wind, "I will cast a net, and you will die before the first snow falls." The killer, who had taken over the beggar's body, grinned evilly and walked to the undergrowth to retrieve his body.The magic ring worn on the slender finger of the body had almost done its healing work: the stench had dissipated, and the flies had flown away. "Are you wearing the same ring as I am?" the wicked man taunted the spirits still lingering nearby.The ghost conjured up the glove, the white glove and the mirror reappeared, and he took the corpse's black gloved hand.He returned to his mind, connecting with the magic of the magic item.

The assassin's usual body opened its eyes just in time to see the beggar's body slump stiffly.The ghost took a moment to readjust itself to the body it used more often, and propped itself up on its elbows. "No magic ring?" he sneered at the beggar's body. "Then you must die, pathetic fool, though whoever finds your body will never know how you died." The thought made the ghost laugh even more.When he used the weapon before—that was about a hundred years ago—he always mutilated the corpses with no apparent cause of death.But his self-confidence grew rapidly, and he quickly changed his ways.Inflated pride made him feel that the mysterious death of an apparently healthy body was like his own best publicity.

The ghost made Qi Lufu disappear and slapped the dust off his body.He immediately set off to the gate of Caladon in the distance, heading for the "Dragon's Fig Leaf" inn where he stayed. ※※※ The Volbol giants watch in disgust at a ranch on the outer edge of Karadon, where all seems normal.A few hens clucked coquettishly, pecking at the scattered seeds; the three horses in the stable next to the barn showed no sign of noticing that they were being watched; and the house itself seemed perfectly safe, Not a single window was broken, and the door didn't even have a noticeable scratch.

Vander knew that was no longer the case. This is the behavior style of "Mask of the Night", always maintaining the highest level of secrecy.But everything looked cowardly in the eyes of this giant warrior. "We can stay in the forest." Vander spat out the words, flipping the white fur cloak over his burly shoulders. Standing on both sides of the Fubao giant, the killers in black and silver costumes looked at each other in blank dismay. "You ordered us to..." one of them began, but Vander held up a hand, shutting him up. The Fubao giant thought to himself, "It's not my order!" At the same time, he remembered that the ghost took over his body and ordered the whole team to move, but he himself could only sit there, from the ghost's weak body. looking at everything.

"We must sneak into the house," the assassin said again after an uneasy silence. "This clearing is visible from the road." "The bright light of day makes you uncomfortable," said the Volbol giant sarcastically. "It will reveal our whereabouts." The "Night Mask" assassin replied stubbornly. Vander glared at him angrily, but followed the two men to the door.The doorway was big enough so Vander didn't have to change his size, which he was quite happy with, since he didn't like playing human, especially in front of these insidious assassins.He liked the oppressiveness of his large size, and his long, powerful limbs allowed him to grab an enemy across the room and strangle him with ease.

Vander hesitated on the threshold. "The house is safe." An assassin who had already entered the room assured the Fubo giant, mistaking the giant's actions. "Only the eldest daughter is alive, and she is well imprisoned—" Vander was disgusted by the obscene way the assassin uttered the word, "—in the bedroom." Vander came into the house. "Where is it?" he demanded, deliberately turning his eyes away from the bloodied bodies of men and women lying on the ground.The human assassin was obviously not affected by this terrifying scene at all, he sat down on the table and was eating breakfast comfortably.He pointed to a door at the back of the room.

Driven by Vander's growing anger, he walked across the room and through the door.Once in the second room, he nearly tripped over a smaller, bloodstained corpse, which made him move faster and more firmly. This room was connected to a side room, and the door was ajar.There was a sobbing sound from within, and the Fubo giant guessed what was going on before he even entered the room.He slammed the door open. The girl was lying on the bed, disheveled, her wrists and ankles firmly bound with ropes, tied to a bedpost, her mouth tightly gagged with a cloth.On either side of her lay two assassins, and they teased her, enjoying her terrified movements.

Vander had to bend low in this room so as not to knock over the beams, but that didn't slow him down one bit.With a wave of his hand, he swept aside the three assassins who were blocking his way, and came to the end of the bed. One of the assassins lay looking up, smiling evilly, mistaking the eagerness displayed by the giant Fubao.The fool even beckoned Vander to join him in the fun. Vander's huge hands grabbed the collars of the two assassins and lifted them up and flung them across the room, slamming them hard against the walls on either side of the door.The volbol giant quickly threw a blanket over the girl's naked body before turning to face his hated accomplice.

The three Assassins standing on one side of the room looked at each other nervously; one of the Assassins who had hit the wall lay on the side of the wall, but the other stood up angrily, holding a short knife in his hand. When Vander looked at the situation, he couldn't help smiling.Is this a belated showdown?A nagging thought kept him from being happy again.He could have killed them, all five, and even a dozen others in the house, but how was he going to deal with the ghosts? The Fubao giant always had to remember the ghosts. "You three," he ordered to those standing on one side of the room, "how dare your fellows show their weapons at your master." The three assassins immediately understood the meaning of the words, and so did the one holding the knife. The sudden look of fear on his face seemed to show his thoughts. "Night Mask" is an insidious and evil group, but there are also very strict codes of conduct and terrible discipline within the organization, which will scare even the most vicious killer.The three men standing by the wall faced the traitor with their weapons drawn. The man who took out the dagger frantically put it away.He twitched once, and then again, a puzzled look crossed his face. His collapsing accomplice wasn't as dazed as he seemed, and he was desperate to regain the trust of the mission leader.He held the last of the three short swords in his hand, and shot this one into the traitor's side as well. The other three assassins were also eager to show their respect and devotion to the powerful leader, and immediately rushed towards the dying man.A wooden stick knocked the dagger in his trembling hand away, and then four "loyal" men rushed towards the man who deserved to be killed, hacking and cutting until he fell to the ground in a pool of blood. "Put him with the other bodies," Vander told them.He looked back at the bed. "Find a proper prison for this girl." "She is a witness and must die," replied one of the assassins. "This is our way of doing things." "I'm in charge!" Vander snarled back, his voice now carrying enormous force, for those who opposed him just now were in the end. "Take her away now!" The same man who questioned him just now went to the bed immediately, the weapon sheathed, but the steely eyes did not relax at all. Vander grabbed his throat with one hand and lifted him off the ground with ease. "You don't touch her!" the Fubo giant snarled in his face.He noticed the man's hands sneaking up to the belt. "Take it," said Vander, laughing, "take your little knife!" The remaining three men seemed bewildered. "She must die," one of them said bravely, supporting his threatened companion. The man in Vander's hands wriggled loose enough to snarl boldly at Vander. Vander picked him up and slammed him into the nearest wall, leading into the kitchen.Several Assassins gathered in that room glared in disbelief at the enraged Volbol through the hole. "You decide." The remaining three men at the door said obediently. "I'm going to stay in the barn," Vander said to everyone. "It's big enough for me, and I don't have to deal with you bastards. I'll just warn you one more time," he growled ominously, " Who dares to touch a single hair of this girl..." Vander paused at that point, directing the others' eyes to the man still squirming and groaning in the broken protruding slats between the bedroom and the kitchen, as the best possible end to the threat. ※※※ Fedegar Harriman, the owner of the "Dragon's Fig Leaf" inn, shook his thick-jawed head in disbelief that yet another guest had come asking for a private room.There are only eight individual rooms in this small hotel, and there is another shop with a much cheaper price that is almost empty at the moment, while the individual rooms are almost full of people.This alone is surprising, but what makes Federga even more incredible is the origin of these guests.It is not uncommon for five of the private rooms to be occupied by visiting merchants.Cadderly lived in the sixth room, and the rent had been paid for until the end of this year, and the seventh room was reserved by the Mengzhi Library for a visiting headmaster.What was even more unexpected was that the last room was rented by a stranger who looked similar to the current brown-haired young man on the same day. "Don't you want to try Tongdian?" the flustered hotel owner asked, "Is it okay to stay at least a few nights? It's at the back of the hotel. There's no view, but it's very quiet." The young man shook his head, his brown hair tied in a rope thrown to one side, revealing half of his shaved head. "I can pay more," Pogue said, quickly shaking his purse to prove his point. Federja continued to wipe the bar, trying to find a solution to the problem in front of him.He didn't want to drive the young man away, the innkeeper's reputation and personal integrity were more at stake than money, but he couldn't think of a way.The fireside hall was full tonight, too—it had been full every night since rumors of an imminent war had spread through Cala Raton—mostly locals.Federja stared at the crowd, trying to make out whether any occupants of private rooms were present. "I only have one private room available right now," he explained, "but it will be occupied soon—maybe tonight." "I'm here to live right now," Pogue argued. "Is my money not as good as everyone else's?" "Your money is fine," Federja assured him, hoping to ease the tension. "The currently vacant room was reserved by the priest of the Mengzhi Library a week ago. I have assured them that there will be a room. And if you are from this area, you will know that an honest businessman like me , it would be very unwise not to maintain a good relationship with the Moezhi Library.” Pogue's ears pricked up when he heard the news of the place, and the news that other priests were coming. "Master Alfred and Kierkan Rufo will be here soon," the chatty innkeeper continued, "I haven't seen the nice fat Master for almost a year, I think He and Rufo came to this city to meet young Cadderly, another guest of mine, who is also a priest. Together they should prepare for this war everyone is talking about." Pogue listened to every word carefully, but at the same time tried to pretend not to care.The new news that Rufo is coming is too good to be true.The presence of this twice-documented traitor must have helped in his plans to kill Cadderly. Federica, as usual, was rambling on some less important gossip, mainly about some outrageous rumors that were circulating.Pogue threw in a smile now and then, or a snort to make him appear to be paying attention, but his mind was already on the many possibilities that the new news presented. "I figured it out!" Fei Dejia announced suddenly, the voice was so loud that the guests at the nearby tables in the hall stopped talking and turned to look at the innkeeper. "Malkan," Fedegar called across the room.An elderly gentry—he was a businessman in expensive and flamboyant attire—looked up from his desk. "If you share a room with my Brennan, I'll pay you half the price," Federja said. The elderly gentleman smiled, then turned his head to talk to the person at the same table, then stood up and walked towards the bar. "I just need to stay here for one more night," he replied when he arrived, "I'm leaving for Rhea Tavan tomorrow morning." He conspired with Fedega and the strangely dressed young man standing at the bar. blinked. "Even with all the bad news, you can still do good business, right?" "How about a night with my Brennan?" Federja asked hopefully. The businessman stared across the room at a younger woman who was not only slim but looked back at him with obvious interest. "I was hoping for a nice company on my last night on the town," he explained.He blinked again, this time with a more lustful look. "After all, when I return to Raja Tavan tomorrow night, I will be forced to spend some time with my wife." Federica blushed and laughed with him. "I can spend the night in a bunkhouse," interrupted Pogue, not at all interested in the gags. "If you can promise to give me this person's room at noon tomorrow." Pogue twisted his thin lips into a smile, thinking that it would be best to play these good games with the brothers. "Free tonight?" he asked mockingly. Federja, always quite straightforward (especially when the hotel was so full), agreed immediately. "One more glass of ale as a thank you, young stranger," said the innkeeper, filling a mug. "And one for the lady you like?" Federja asked Malkan. "Take it to my desk," replied the lustful businessman, returning to his seat. Pogue accepted the drink with a smile, then turned and leaned on the bar with his elbows on.The crowd was humming and merry; it was a cheerful and warm inn, unaffected (perhaps even enhanced by it) by the still-seeming news of war.This is the perfect disguise, thought Pogue, looking out at the rowdy crowd.He almost laughed out loud as he thought about how the events of the next few days would dampen some of the joy. "It's good to have you back!" he heard Federja say a moment later.Pogue's eyes were wide, but he deliberately let his gaze wander farther down the bar as a young man - about his height and weight - came up to join the innkeeper. He wore a blue wide-brimmed hat with a red sash, and in the center of the hat was a china pin of the holy symbol of the Order of Deniers.The man's identity was obvious—Dorigen's description of Cadderly didn't include the beard, but Pogue could tell it was new, and his tousled sand-blonde hair matched the gray eyes. fits the description. "Master Alfred and Zirkan Rufo will be here," Fedegar explained, "maybe tonight." Pogue noticed the young man wince at the words, though the priest tried to hide his reaction. "They know I live here?" he asked. Federica seemed baffled by the apparent discomfort of his guest. "What's the matter, Cadderly?" he replied teasingly, "Did you do something wrong?" The young priest smiled noncommittally, and then walked towards the stairs next to the bar.Cadderly, who was preoccupied, didn't even notice that he passed a young man in a strange costume. But Pogue noticed Cadderly.He watched the priest go, thinking how easily the whole thing would be done.