Ye Yuzhi didn’t immediately give an answer. He tilted his head slightly, instead directing his gaze toward the place they were heading. “Let’s settle what’s in front of us first.”
He checked the gun in his hand once more, his voice low and muffled. “We might run into those people next. Be careful.”
Xia Jienan lifted his shoulders in a small shrug and followed his example, giving his own gun a quick inspection. Then he asked, “Aren’t you planning to summon the god? Why are you still ‘hunting’ them?”
“It’s different.” Ye Yuzhi shook his head. “They’re people who have already been contaminated.”
“Originally, they should have been saved but… their aggression is too strong. It’s still… better this way.”
Xia Jienan’s movements paused for a brief moment. He pretended to be casual as he asked, “If I didn’t misunderstand you just now… what you’re trying to summon and what they are trying to summon, they’re not the same thing, are they?”
Ye Yuzhi nodded and replied, “They’re different, although…” he himself seemed to have considered giving up halfway.
Xia Jienan sighed inwardly, thinking that this situation was only growing more and more complicated. One god was already troublesome enough and now it turned out there were two. He asked Ye Yuzhi, “Have you never thought about not summoning it?”
“Hm?”
“You want to summon it because you believe the situation here can only be saved through that deity but if the two of us can handle everything on our own… wouldn’t that mean we don’t need to summon anything at all?” Xia Jienan gave him a quick, playful wink.
Ye Yuzhi felt his mind grow a little muddled. “Just the two of us?”
“Two people are enough,” Xia Jienan replied. “We can figure out a way to knock them out and tie them up. After the snow melts, we’ll go find the police outside.”
“What they’ve done should be judged by the police. Matters concerning humans should be solved by humans. No need for you to trouble that being over something this small.”
Ye Yuzhi felt himself being swayed, not because of anything else but because his desire to meet It wasn’t as strong as before. Instead, it was a strange, inexplicable sense of responsibility pushing him toward that choice. Now that Xia Jienan had offered another path, it actually sounded convincing.
He thought for a moment, then asked, “Then… what should we do?”
Xia Jienan let out a soft laugh. “Do you still remember what Anthony Manor is famous for producing?”
Ye Yuzhi immediately understood what he meant. “Wine?”
“Exactly,” Xia Jienan said. “We can use the wine to get them drunk.”
It wasn’t ordinary wine. Once mixed with the golden honey mead, that drink could easily rob those people of their senses in a very short time. With the two of them working together, the plan shouldn’t be difficult, though…
“Which is easier?” Xia Jienan asked him. “Disguising ourselves and getting close enough to pour alcohol down their throats or knocking them out directly?”
Ye Yuzhi’s thoughts instantly aligned with his. “I’m not very good at talking to people…”
“Understood.” Xia Jienan tucked his gun back into his waistband. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the black robe he had brought with him, then draped it over Ye Yuzhi’s shoulders.
“…?” Ye Yuzhi didn’t quite understand why he was the one being dressed. Based on the question earlier, shouldn’t Xia Jienan, the one preparing to infiltrate, be the one wearing the robe?
Seeing his confused expression, Xia Jienan smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair before pulling the hood into place. “Since I was able to get this outfit in the first place, it means I’ve already got my own ways of slipping in. Compared to me, you’re the one who needs to focus on blending in.”
Ye Yuzhi nodded slowly. “I understand… but, over there…”
“Is dangerous,” Xia Jienan finished for him. “I’ll be careful.”
Before his voice had even fully faded, the two of them turned a corner and the silent, seemingly abandoned Anthony Manor spread out before them.
Unlike the deserted path they had taken here, Anthony Manor was now clearly filled with many of the townspeople who had supposedly “gone missing.” Some guarded the entrance but many more seemed to be busy with something, carrying bags of unknown goods toward the vineyard.
Xia Jienan glanced sideways at Ye Yuzhi, who was clutching the edge of the robe with the hand sticking out of the sleeve, visibly tense.
Xia Jienan reached out and gave a gentle pat on his back. “It’s fine. I’ll get you inside.”
Composing his expression, he pressed a hand to his forehead as if still shaken and led Ye Yuzhi toward the entrance.
Just as expected, someone stopped them. “Who are you?”
Xia Jienan snapped back irritably, “What do you mean ‘who’? I should be asking who you two are! Where are Virginia and Les?”
The two guards froze, their expressions relaxing at once. “They’re off shift. We’re on duty today.”
Xia Jienan ran a hand through his hair with an annoyed gesture. “I need to go back and rest too. I’ll deal with the task the High Priest gave me yesterday a bit later. Oh, right, where’s the High Priest now?”
“Lord High Priest is also resting,” one of them answered. “But Lord Bart said the High Priest isn’t doing well. He might have to lead tonight’s ritual in his place.”
“Is that so?” Xia Jienan let out a schadenfreude filled little laugh. “Seems the High Priest doesn’t have the fortune he thought he had.”
The two guards chuckled along with him. “Exactly. Who would’ve thought the High Priest wouldn’t even get to witness it himself!”
“I’m going ahead, then.” Xia Jienan waved his hand impatiently, then barked at the figure behind him, “Hurry up already! It’s your dawdling that made me fall behind on my work!”
The person shrouded in the black robe flinched, lowered his head and immediately followed after him.
Just as Xia Jienan predicted, none of those people noticed anything wrong.
Only after they slipped past the crowd and hid themselves away did Ye Yuzhi murmur quietly, “You seem to know them very well.”
A single day of working with them and memorizing the names of people who might become useful later, that was all. Xia Jienan thought that to himself but didn’t say it aloud. He only answered, “That’s why I’m reliable. You don’t have to worry.”
They concealed their presence and sneaked back to the villa where Xia Jienan had stayed the previous day.
This time, when they entered, the atmosphere inside was completely different.
If Anthony Manor had once given off an impression of wealth and luxury, then now, with bloodstains left everywhere, the place resembled nothing less than a murder scene.
It seemed that all the invited guests from last night had already been killed.
Xia Jienan narrowed his eyes slightly. In a quiet voice, he told Ye Yuzhi, “Follow me first.”
Based on the layout the butler had described the day before, the two of them quickly found the kitchen. After searching around, Xia Jienan relied on experience to discover a small adjacent wine cellar.
It was clearly set up for convenience, not for long term storage. There weren’t many bottles but there were certainly enough to give every person here a full cup.
“They said Anthony is resting here,” Ye Yuzhi suddenly asked behind him. “Do we need to go upstairs and kill him again?”
Xia Jienan’s movements faltered for a moment. “Do you know that Anthony resurrects?” His question wasn’t baseless. Ever since he got his hands on that notebook, he had realized that the “Anthony” from the Anthony Hospital and the “Anthony” of the Anthony Manor were the same person.
But he hadn’t been sure if Ye Yuzhi knew.
Ye Yuzhi clearly did. He nodded and said, “I think I can kill him but I didn’t clean up properly last time. At that time, I…”
At that time, he had thrown up. He had been terrified, though he didn’t know why he was so afraid. He didn’t know why, after having already done something like that, he couldn’t even bring himself to look again.
He also didn’t know why, now that he remembered the entire scene clearly, his heart didn’t stir in the slightest.
As if the terrified person back then hadn’t been him at all.
“Let’s wait for now. More than Anthony, I’m curious about this ‘Bart’, someone we hadn’t heard of before.” Xia Jienan sorted through the bottles, carried all of them out to the kitchen, then picked up one bottle and three glasses.
“Let’s do what we came here to do first.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Nycreth
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator deserves a little treat too, don’t you think? (´꒳`)♡
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Guerrero’s Lair (1)Chapter 2 · Guerrero’s Lair (2)Chapter 3 · Guerrero’s Lair (3)Chapter 4 · Guerrero’s Lair (4)Chapter 5 · Guerrero’s Lair (5)Chapter 6 · Guerrero’s Lair (6)Chapter 7 · Guerrero’s Lair (7)Chapter 8 · Guerrero’s Lair (8)Chapter 9 · Guerrero’s Lair (9)Chapter 10 · Guerrero’s Lair (10)Chapter 11 · Guerrero’s Lair (11)Chapter 12 · Guerrero’s Lair (12)Chapter 13 · Guerrero’s Lair (13)Chapter 14 · Guerrero’s Lair (14)Chapter 15 · Guerrero’s Lair (15)Chapter 16 · Guerrero’s Lair (16)Chapter 17 · Guerrero’s Lair (17)Chapter 18 · Guerrero’s Lair (18)Chapter 19 · Guerrero’s Lair (19)Chapter 20 · Guerrero’s Lair (20)Chapter 21 · Guerrero’s Lair (21)Chapter 22 · Guerrero’s Lair (22)Chapter 23 · Interlude (1)Chapter 24 · The interlude (2)Chapter 25 · The interlude (3)Chapter 26 Part 1 · Calling in the Wind (1)Chapter 26 Part 2 · Calling in the Wind (1)Chapter 27 · Calling in the Wind (2)Chapter 28 · Calling in the Wind (3)Chapter 29 · Calling in the Wind (4)Chapter 30 · Calling in the Wind (5)Chapter 31 · Calling in the Wind (6)Chapter 32 · Calling in the Wind (7)Chapter 33 · Calling in the Wind (8)Chapter 34 · Calling in the Wind (9)Chapter 35 · Calling in the Wind (10)Chapter 36 · Interlude (4)Chapter 37 · Interlude (5)Chapter 38 · Interlude (6)Chapter 39 · Interlude (7)Chapter 40 · Interlude (8)Chapter 41 · Interlude (9)Chapter 42 · Welcome to Doville (1)Chapter 43 · Welcome to Doville (2)Chapter 44 · Welcome to Doville (3)Chapter 45 · Welcome to Doville (4)Chapter 46 · Welcome to Doville (5)Chapter 47 · Welcome to Doville (6)Chapter 48 · Welcome to Doville (7)Chapter 49 · Welcome to Doville (8)Chapter 50 · Welcome to Doville (9)Chapter 51 · Welcome to Doville (10)Chapter 52 · Welcome to Doville (11)Chapter 53 · Welcome to Doville (12)Chapter 54 · Interlude (10)Chapter 55 · Interlude (11)Chapter 56 · Interlude (12)Chapter 57 · Interlude (13)Chapter 58 · Interlude (14)Chapter 59 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (1)Chapter 60 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (2)Chapter 61 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (3)Chapter 62 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (4)Chapter 63 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (5)Chapter 64 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (6)Chapter 65 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (7)Chapter 66 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (8)Chapter 67 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (9)Chapter 68 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (10)Chapter 69 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (11)Chapter 70 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (12)Chapter 71 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (13)Chapter 72 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (14)Chapter 73 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (15)Chapter 74 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (16)Chapter 75 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (17)Chapter 76 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (18)Chapter 77 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (19)Chapter 78 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (20)Chapter 79 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (21)Chapter 80 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (22)Chapter 81 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (23)Chapter 82 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (24)Chapter 83 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (25)Chapter 84 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (26)Chapter 85 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (27)Chapter 86 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (28)Chapter 87 · The Tunnel in the Dark Night (29)Chapter 88 · Tunnel in the Dark Night (30)Chapter 89 · Interlude (15)Chapter 90 · Interlude (16)Chapter 91 · Interlude (17)Chapter 92 · The Promise of Hamelin (1)Chapter 93 · The Promise of Hamelin (2)Chapter 94 · The Promise of Hamelin (3)Chapter 95 · The Promise of Hamelin (4)Chapter 96 · The Promise of Hamelin (5)Chapter 97 · The Promise of Hamelin (6)Chapter 98 · The Promise of Hamelin (7)Chapter 99 · The Promise of Hamelin (8)Chapter 100 · The Promise of Hamelin (9)Chapter 101 · The Promise of Hamelin (10)Chapter 102 · The Promise of Hamelin (11)Chapter 103 · The Promise of Hamelin (12)Chapter 104 · The Promise of Hamelin (13)Chapter 105 · The Promise of Hamelin (14)Chapter 106 · The Promise of Hamelin (15)Chapter 107 · The Promise of Hamelin (16)Chapter 109 · The Promise of Hamelin (18)Chapter 110 · The Promise of Hamelin (19)