Originally hoping to hear some begging and soft words, Mo Duo was stunned for a moment. He followed Asa's gaze and looked over, an old man standing not far away with his hands clasped together, a look of indifference on his face, watching the scene with the same eyes as people watching a commotion in the market.

  Moto was slightly startled, he had no idea when or how the old man had arrived here. However, several swordsmen of the Holy Knights and the magician who had been as still as statues since the start of the battle now all looked shocked. Even with their honed senses from being on the brink of life and death, they hadn't noticed the old man's arrival. Now that they were paying attention to him, they couldn't sense any movement or signs of life, as if he was just an illusion.

  However, the illusion would never speak. The old man seemed to have not seen anyone else, and with a sarcastic smile as if chatting, he looked at Asa on the ground and said: "I thought you'd be blown away immediately, but now it seems like a pig on a chopping board, still waiting to be urinated on."

  "Bastard, save me quickly, I'm going to die." Asa's voice was completely gone, and in his heart, he had already cursed Sandru to death. The blood on his shoulders and thighs kept flowing, the wound hurt so much that it felt like dying.

  Shan Drew's eyes widened, and he slowly retorted, "You're the idiot. How could I save you? Everyone here can see that I'm just an old man with no ability to tie a chicken, how can I deal with these big men who are still holding knives?"

  The prime minister's son was still stunned and had no idea what was going on. The magician immediately changed his expression, waved his hand, and shouted at the swordsman: "Kill him."

  The blades of the two swordsmen were already against Asa's carotid artery, and with a nod, they pressed down on their wrists and exerted force.

  But the two swords merely slid across Asa's neck, cutting open two bloody mouths before falling to the ground. The swordsmen's strength only reached their elbows and went no further.

  Two arms fell silently to the ground, still tightly gripping two swords.

  The two swordsmen let out a loud cry, but more than half of it was not pain, but terror and dread.

  They had all been focusing on the strange old man in front. But this old man didn't move, his hands were very leisurely copying. The person who made the move was someone else.

  This person was originally lying straight and still not far away, but now suddenly flew up, with a swift and agile movement like a leopard, and pounced over with a slippery posture like a snake. With an extremely strange action similar to that of an arthropod, he swung the long sword in his hand and cut off the hands of the two swordsmen with a swish.

  The man who had rushed over still hadn't dissipated his momentum and charged straight past the swordsman's side, landing on the other side with an extremely strange posture. His legs were bent at an odd angle, like a grasshopper, and his buttocks and waist almost touched together as he stomped onto the ground. As soon as he landed, he turned around again, and those twisted legs sprang up, straightening out, before flashing back like lightning.

  His posture in the air was very strange, completely lacking balance and coordination, as if he had simply been thrown out by his own twisted legs. But in this strange yet extremely rapid posture, his right hand holding the sword suddenly stretched out like a whip, softened, and passed from behind his back to extend far out from under his left armpit, and with one sword stroke beheaded the two swordsmen who were pressing down on Asa.

  Whether it was a broken hand or a dropped head, the four swordsmen were all top-notch masters, but under this "person's" attack, they almost didn't have time to react. This person's moves were too fast, too strange, rising and falling suddenly, and fundamentally couldn't see any clues. It looked like a monster made from combining several different types of insects with snakes and lizards.

  What's more crucial is that the extreme shock left the swordsmen at a loss for how to react, because the person who made the move was actually their comrade.

  This man had just left a very deep wound on Asa's body with his long sword, and was also pierced into the brain by the broken sword thrown out by Asa. Now he got up again to save Asa with more swift, vigorous and powerful movements than before.

  His face was a mess of metal fragments, one eye just a gaping hole of blood, with a streak of blood below it that seemed to be mourning his own death. The other eye stared blankly at the terrified people around him. He now resembled a reptile, crawling on all fours, one hand and two feet, while the other hand stretched out like a whip, its bones already shattered by his own movements.

  Completely opposite to his dull eyes, his body swayed weakly like a soft-bodied animal, as if gathering strength, and suddenly shot towards the magician like a giant frog pouncing on food.

  The swordsmen finally came to their senses from the shock, and their years of rigorous training immediately restored their clear combat consciousness and iron-like fighting spirit. The two swordsmen who had lost their arms charged at the monster that was jumping towards them, using their remaining hands and feet to tightly wrap around its limbs. Even if they had already lost their combat effectiveness, they still wanted to create an opportunity for their companions to counterattack.

  However, the leading magician completely ignored this heroic self-sacrifice and instead shouted at the remaining swordsmen: "Quickly escape, disperse and flee, go back to report to the captain, report to the commander." The swordsmen who were about to pounce only hesitated for a moment before scattering and fleeing in all directions.

  The magician is usually the most clear-headed and calm person, with the most accurate judgment. What he says in the absence of a captain is an order.

  In the brief moment it took to say that, the two swordsmen who had pounced on it were already dead. Almost as soon as they had hugged the monster, the man who was originally dead suddenly opened his mouth. His mouth opened so wide that it tore his cheeks apart, and his lips split all the way down to his ears. With this grotesquely distorted snake-like maw, he bit off half of one swordsman's head in one bite. Then he tilted his head and crashed into the other swordsman's head with a dull thud, causing both heads to deform. The two swordsmen who had lost their shape fell down softly, but the corpse-like monster stood firm, its head still intact, looking at the fleeing swordsmen with an eyeball that was half-out of its socket, before pouncing on them again.

  However, he only pounced halfway before being struck down. The magician's icy blast hit his lower body, and his waist and two feet immediately froze into a large ice block.

  Falling to the ground, this completely deformed and frozen person seemed to still be struggling to chase after the swordsman. However, when he realized that he was indeed unable to move, he suddenly tore off his only remaining intact and movable hand, and then threw it out with great force, as if throwing a long spear.

  A swordsman who was running away suddenly fell down, with that hand inserted into the back of his head like a tombstone.

  The corpse then grasped its own neck and tore off the half-rotten head, throwing it away. The rotten head sprayed blood and various fragments as it let out a strange whistle, finally shattering completely along with the head of a swordsman. Then the headless corpse, with its lower body frozen into a solid block of ice and its upper body only having one arm that was twisted like a snake, finally stopped moving, as if the evil spirit possessing it had exhausted its strength.

  The magician did not see the scene behind him, nor did he care about Asa who had fallen to the ground. He put all his mind into facing Sandru. He had already seen that the strange variations of these corpses were all the work of this old man, and this was the real enemy.

  But Shandru didn't seem to notice him, and instead muttered a few unintelligible syllables under his breath, pointing at the corpses on the ground. The four new corpses immediately sprang up and began chasing after the fleeing swordsman with an unnatural but extremely fast speed, using their hands and feet just like the previous corpse had done.

  In an instant, two swordsmen were caught up. The corpse spread its limbs like a wolf spider pouncing on prey, and with one swift motion, it wrapped itself tightly around the swordsman, then pulled, causing the swordsman to let out a moan that was half from his throat and half from his body, as his body was ripped open alive like a roasted chicken.

  The magician's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Facing the fully guarded old man, he could still use magic with ease, and his light movements and magical operations made him completely unaware of how to make a move or how to make a move. Using such an eerie and unimaginable magic so lightly, his control over magic and his cultivation may have already surpassed that of Archbishop Ronis.

  The magician stretched out his hand, took a deep breath, and concentrated his magical powers. He didn't chant any incantations, but instead simply gathered all his magical energy, every last bit of strength in his body, even his life force, into one point, just like a warrior gathering their fighting spirit. Facing an opponent whose mastery of magic was far superior to his own, spending mental effort on controlling his magic would almost be giving the opponent an opportunity. He didn't hope to cast any particular spell or cause any specific harm to this person; he only hoped that his decades of magical training could make it difficult for him to dispel, could hinder his control over those few corpses, and give his companions a chance to escape.

  The center of the magician's palm had already emitted a burst of white light, and the magical force inside was impatient to break through the physical shackles and surge out wildly. This was the essence of magic that a high-level magician had cultivated for decades, released in one breath without any reservation, its power not inferior to that of any great spell.

  Shandru still had his hands in his sleeves, looking completely relaxed like a bystander. The two headless corpses caught up with the two swordsmen and tore them to shreds.

  The magician exhaled, and the light on his palm surged violently.

  Shandoru finally made a move, but it was just a casual one. He lazily pulled out one hand and used his pale hand to make a grasping motion in the air, twisting it as if he had turned an invisible switch.

  The magical force inside was about to surge out in a mighty torrent, shooting out from his palm, when the magician suddenly felt two muscles on his arm twitch inexplicably. It was as if they had cramped up, but the force of this cramp was just enough to bend his straight hand back towards him, and his palm pressed against his own face. He had wanted to struggle against this suddenly rebellious arm, but unfortunately all the remaining strength in his body had already been converted into magical energy, so he could only watch helplessly as his life's work poured onto his own face.

  A strange whooshing sound, and the half-grove of trees behind the magician sprinted from early summer to polar winter in the blink of an eye.

  In a fan-shaped area, all the trees, flowers and grass, insects turned into ice sculptures. The last two or three swordsmen were left, and the two corpses chasing the swordsmen also stiffened in an instant. Some still maintained their original running shape and stood there, while others fell straight to the frozen ground with a hard thud.

  Shandoru gazed at the magician's face, now frozen in a large block of ice, with one hand still pressed against his own face. His expression was full of regret and astonishment. He shook his head and muttered to himself: "To have such profound magical abilities and yet think of such a suicidal tactic... you must be from the Holy Knights' Order. But at least you should have used some magic to defend yourself, or left some energy for yourself."

  In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen Holy Knights warriors, the elite among the empire's elite troops, had all died in strange and bizarre ways.

  "Why didn't you act sooner? I almost really died." Asa used a healing technique on himself, finally catching his breath, and pointed at the fleeing Mordo, shouting. "Where's another one running away?"

  Just now when the magician shouted to run, Mordo's reaction was almost faster than those seasoned swordsmen. However, as he turned around, he just saw that corpse open its mouth and bite the swordsman who was still alive and kicking, causing his brain to burst out. His legs immediately softened, and he could only crawl on the ground like a paralyzed dog, using his hands and feet to desperately move forward, leaving behind a large amount of foul odor. The direction he ran was opposite to that of the swordsmen, and the wave of cold air did not reach him, while Sandru seemed to have completely ignored him. He crawled further away, probably feeling that the danger was no longer great, and finally stood up straight and started running.

  Shandru bent down and picked up the head of a swordsman from the ground, pried open his mouth, and gently plucked out a tooth with two fingers, as if pinching off a small piece of dough from bread. He placed the tooth between his thumb and index finger, flicked it, and the tooth flew away.

  The tooth flew slowly in the air, spinning around like a feather, and also very inaccurately, floated for a moment, and actually only hit Modo's butt, drilling into his body.

  Mòduō was still shouting and running, but his feet stumbled, as if he had tripped over something, and he fell to the ground. Instinctively, he used his hands to support himself, but they were unable to bear the weight of his body, shattering like a crisp cookie, scattering everywhere.

  Under the inertia, he continued to roll forward, and when he had just rolled over once, only half of his body was left. From the abdomen down, his lower limbs were like bread that had been soaked in water, and with a crash, they scattered everywhere. After rolling another circle, the upper half of his body was gone too, leaving only his head to roll forward until it hit a tree root, making a small, pitiful sound like a poorly made clay pot, turning into a puddle-like thing without even any bones left.

  Shandoru looked at the big living thing that had become a mass of bloody flesh in the time it took to spit, and shook his head with some regret, saying: "It's been years since I last used it, and it's already deteriorated."

  Asa sat on the ground, using healing techniques to treat his wounds and stop the bleeding. Looking at Sandro, who seemed to have killed over ten swordsmen with minimal effort, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Although he also knew that this old man should be able to handle these people, he didn't expect it to be so easy.

  Xander looked around and saw the prostitute Xuan sitting on the ground over there. The bizarre scene that had just occurred had already frightened her out of her wits.

  "Oh, how could I have forgotten about you, miss?" Sandru pulled out another tooth from that head and flicked his finger, sending the tooth spinning through the air once again.

  A Sa was shocked and jumped forward, pushing Xuan away with one hand. The teeth brushed against her shoulder and flew over, hitting the trunk of a tree behind her.

  That tree didn't even sway, but immediately withered at a speed thousands of times faster than natural processes, then silently collapsed and fell into a pile of wood chips.

  A Sa explained to Shan Drew: "Actually, she didn't mean it either. She was deceived by someone and then came to deceive me."

  "Oh, I see, and then?" Shandru nodded woodenly. "You're not going to let her go, are you."

  He's got it right, of course he means this.

  "Are you saying that we should let him go and tell everyone that the great God's Officer is secretly colluding with a corpse-controlling old man, killing a small squad of Holy Knights? And then we'll just wait for the entire Holy Knights' Order to come and besiege us, and your Archbishop will be put in an awkward position? Is this what you mean?"

  She had just walked back from the Ghost Gate, and Xuan was already crying so hard that she couldn't speak properly. Her tears, snot, and original makeup on her face were all mixed together, and her hair was messy, making her look disheveled and ugly. She stuttered: "I promise I won't tell anyone, I swear... Please let me go... I beg of you... please..."

  Shandru shook his head regretfully and said in a gentle tone, "Sorry, we can't take the risk. The Holy Knights have been killed, and this is a big deal that will definitely cause an uproar. If they investigate, they'll find out you've been in contact with that idiot, and then they'll arrest you, interrogate you severely, pour hot pepper water on you, roll you on a nail board, cut off your fingers, peel your skin... Ah, it's terrible! Is there any oath that can withstand those cruel things? Can you still keep quiet at that time? It's better to die quickly and painlessly now and keep our secret for us." He tore off one of his ears from his head, still muttering to himself. "Dying is not a big deal, it's just a matter of time anyway. Rather than growing old and ugly in bed, waiting to rot, it's better to die beautifully and cleanly now. Don't worry, it won't hurt..." He flicked his two fingers, and the ear flew over.

  Asala got up and dodged. The ear fell to the ground, and that piece of land immediately sank in, turning into a small puddle of stinky mud.

  Shandru didn't say anything this time, but instead looked at him sideways.

  "Please, let her go?" After a pause, Asa finally said a sentence. "I'll make her keep it a secret, won't that do?"

  "Ask me?" Shandru suddenly burst out laughing. "It's none of my business, this was originally your problem, you think about it yourself and deal with it yourself." He turned around and walked towards the outside of the forest, not even looking at Asa, only saying: "You just need to know that you have to bear the consequences of your own choices. Anyway, I'm not afraid of others causing me trouble, nor am I afraid of causing trouble for others."

  Watching Shandru leave, Asa let out a sigh. To be honest, he knew that what Shandru said was probably right. But to watch her being killed was absolutely impossible for him.

  If he still had a few friends in the imperial city, she must be one of them, and perhaps the most important one. When he was with her, it was absolutely the time when he felt most relaxed and happy. Perhaps for the vast majority of people, she was a cheap person, but Asa didn't know these things, only knew that she was herself. A vulgar and shallow, but very pure, and also very lovely person. He even liked her a bit.

  But now everything that has happened is clearly beyond her ability to accept and cope, just like a little hen suddenly being dragged into the midst of a wolf pack's fierce battle. Even if she can survive, it's impossible for her to face it calmly and find a way to navigate among these ferocious wolves again. These are too far away from her original life, she cannot accept them. Indeed, as Sandru said, it is absolutely impossible for her to keep the secret.

  Xuan was still shaking and crying in his arms, not even daring to lift her head. Asa gently patted her shoulder and softly said: "It's okay, it's okay..."

  When her emotions had calmed down a bit, Asa took out all the money on his body and picked up the gold coins that had fallen to the ground earlier, stuffed them into Xuan's hands, and said: "Listen carefully. Now you go back and pack your things, buy a horse immediately and leave the capital as far as possible, never come back again. You must remember, if you let others know about our affair, you will also be in danger. Do you understand?"

  Xuan nodded with a face full of snot and tears. Confirming that she had fully understood his meaning, Asa finally let out a sigh of relief, sent her out of the forest, and then quietly made his way to the water ditch outside the city of Wangdu to wash away the bloodstains on his body and clothes before returning to Sandru's mansion.

  Shandoru was standing at the entrance of the big house, as if he had just returned, but did not enter.

  Asa walked closer, but saw a chill on Sandru's face. He looked inside the big house, and the chill in his black-and-white eyes made Asa shiver too.

  In the very center of the large house, a large area was cleared out. A stone pedestal weighing hundreds of catties had been moved away by someone using some method, revealing a small space below, with several charred corpses scattered around it.

  "What kind of man is that who ambushed you?" Shandru asked in a low, drum-like voice that was not loud but made every word make the listener's heart skip a beat. It was the first time Asa had heard him speak like this.

  "A guy who's been bothering me a lot, I didn't think he'd actually mobilize the Holy Knights this time." Asa looked at the scene inside the mansion and asked, "What's going on here?"

  "There are guild members who have stolen my things, humph, including that notebook and that cloak. Well done...". Sandro's voice began to diffuse a faint murderous aura. He slowly walked into the main house, closing the door behind him, his eyes scanning the area where the stone pedestal had been moved. "Not long after you were taken away by that woman, a beggar was called in to deliver a message saying you were ambushed outside the city and almost killed. Humph, so they wanted to lure me away."

  "Guild..." Asa was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses. "You're saying you're from the Spirit Guild? How did you know?"

  "He pointed to the stone pedestal and said, 'There was a magical mechanism for "Death Cloud" there. But the mechanism did indeed trigger, and the thing was stolen.' Only high-ranking priests of the church or necromancers can dispel undead magic." He then pointed to several charred corpses on the ground. "And high-ranking priests would never use flames to deal with my corpse. So it must be those guild people."

  Asa said: "But the guy who assassinated me should have nothing to do with the Death Spirit Association, probably his plan was known and used by someone. A guy like Mordo would probably be scared to death just hearing the name of the Death Spirit Association." Bishop Ronis also said that there may be a necromancer in the capital, but we still don't know who it is.

  "Hmph, to think that you've been able to endure until now and wait for an opportunity like this. You're certain I won't be back for a while before making your move, truly cautious and patient.

  Shandoru sat down on the stone pedestal at the side, closing his eyes. After a long silence, he let out a deep sigh, his voice and expression returning to their usual listlessness, even more so than before. His originally clear black and white eyes had also become dull, as if he had aged over ten years in an instant.

  "Whatever, just steal it then. What's meant to come will come anyway. I won't be interfering with those big matters anymore either, let whoever wants to do it go ahead."