Chapter 20

As they came closer. They finally got a clear view of a man and his skeleton. Wu Heng was not too bad, just a little disheveled, while the skeleton beside him, wearing a round helmet, had five or six crossbow arrows pierced through his chest armor and body. Plus, he was carrying a gruesome corpse over his shoulder. This puzzled the crowd. They had seen the frenzied crowd use thunder tubes but not crossbows. If even crossbows were used, none of them would have been able to escape alive. “Wu Heng, where did you run off to?” Cavina asked immediately. “I hid in the village for a while, once I saw that the outside was clear, I came out.” Wu Heng replied. “As long as you’re safe.” Autruck nodded, his gaze fell on the corpse that the skeleton warrior was carrying on his shoulder, “Who’s that you’re carrying?” “Put it down.” The skeleton threw the corpse onto the ground and Wu Heng immediately pulled away the cover from its face. The rest of them looked at the corpse, their eyebrows furrowing. “It’s Achido’s butler.” Wu Heng directly revealed the corpse’s identity. As soon as this reminder was given, everyone’s eyes widened, filled with astonishment and disbelief. They had just mentioned that they suspected Achido, but had no direct evidence. Now, Wu Heng returned, carrying the guy’s butler. “What happened, tell us in detail!” Autruck continued to inquire. “After we got separated, I fled towards the west. By chance, I spotted a group of people coming out of the mine from behind…” Then, he told them what he had witnessed the previous night. From seeing the sneaky group, the object they were carrying in their hands, them wanting to kill him, but getting killed by him instead. However, the way he killed them was by using the Poison Smoke Thunder and Skeleton Bassen. He omitted the issue about the skeletons. “You mean, they retrieved something from the back of the mountain in the mine?” Pulamon approached. “Yes, departed after we had drawn away all the people. They took something away.” Instantly, everyone’s faces turned grim. Killing intent flashed in Pulamon’s eyes. Treating an investigation team like fools, this ‘Achido’ was the first! “Behead the corpse.” Pulamon ordered. A guard stepped forward, with a slash the corpse’s head was chopped down and wrapped in a leather bag. “Let’s leave.” “They must have left their horses nearby, we’ll reach our destination faster if we find the horses.” All the horses from the investigation team were lost in last night’s chaos. Returning on foot would waste more time, by then Achido might have arranged people to intercept them. “Fine, spread out and look around.” Pulamon continue to command. The team disbanded and began searching nearby and as expected, they found horses tied to the trees. These horses were kept a certain distance from the village and were undisturbed. Everyone rode their horses and headed straight for the station. But upon arriving at the station, they didn’t leave immediately. Pulamon directly mobilized the stationed army and went back to ‘Achido’s’ estate to arrest people. … The squad arrived at the mansion in full force. The mansion’s defense could not be compared to that of a city, its iron gates were thin and hollow, completely incapable of defending against the army’s attack. “Sir, this probably goes against the rule. If you want to arrest someone, you need a writ from the city hall.” a guard standing behind the gate objected. After the last night’s battle, Pulamon apparently didn’t have much patience to argue with him. With a bang, he kicked open the iron gate and shouted, “All armed personnel, will be executed on the spot for treason.” Swish swish swish!! The moment the order was given, numerous crossbows were strung and aimed forward. The mansion’s guards who wanted to say something froze in their tracks, not daring to make any movements. Then, they carefully threw away their weapons to avoid being riddled with arrows. The crime of treason was mentioned, it’s clear that something major was happening. As the mansion’s guards threw away their weapons, the guards quickly moved forward to apprehend them. Pulamon gestured again and continued to march towards the central building. When he arrived at the doorstep, the mansion’s door was already open. The mine owner ‘Achido’ came out, carrying something wrapped in a yellowed piece of cloth. Through the gaps in the cloth, a jar full of patterns could be seen. Pulamon glanced at Wu Heng, who nodded slightly, confirming that what he saw last night was indeed this. At the same time, from Wu Heng’s view, the object emanated a faint aura of death. “Achido, you know why we’re here, don’t you?” Pulamon’s voice was icy cold, with a hint of murderous intent. “I do, I’m willing to go with you. Please don’t harm anyone else here.” Achido said. Humph! Pulamon sneered, “Now you talk about this, what about the villagers you caused to die?” A guard stepped forward to apprehend Achido and the several people beside him. As for Pulamon, he casually passed the death-radiating jar to Wu Heng, “Guard it carefully, don’t let anything happen to it.” Damn it!! Wu Heng cursed inwardly, putting the object into Skeleton Bassen’s embrace and followed the team as they escorted ‘Achido’ and the others away. … On the returning train. The guards and careers squads again kept their distance. Skeleton Bassen stood at the end of the carriage, holding the jar in his arms. Meanwhile, Wu Heng and the others sat on the other side, keeping a certain distance. “Captain, tell me about the Careers Association!” Wu Heng asked. He had just joined and didn’t know much about this organization. His initial reason for joining was to have a legitimate status. “Mhm, let me first tell you about the internal structure of the association,” Captain Autruck continued, “The Careers Association is the general term for the organization. It’s not just composed of small teams like us who carry out assignments. There is a more detailed division inside.” “Teams like ours, stationed in various branches, are called ‘External Envoys’. We mainly carry out assignments and assist in rescuing members of the association. Aside from us, there are also ‘Hongwen Alliance’, ‘Hunters’, ‘Secret Speakers’, and other different branches.” “The main members of the ‘Hongwen Alliance’ are scholars and those careers with a strong curiosity.” “‘Hunters’ represent exploration and adventure, most of them being rangers and thieves.” “Then there are the ‘Secret Speakers’. They’re good at gathering information from all over, old affairs of the kingdom, noble families’ history, or some hidden secrets that are circulated among the people. These are their targets.” Listening to this, Wu Heng also understood the idea of these organizations. The Careers Association is like a school, everyone is a student of this school, but there are different clubs inside. If you like to study knowledge, you join the Hongwen Alliance; if you enjoy adventure, go to the Hunters. If you like collecting gossip, then join the Secret Speakers. Regardless of the internal divisions, you’re still a member of the Careers Association. This mechanism is pretty solid. At this point, Cavina also chimed in, “Keep your distance from the Secret Speakers, arousing their curiosity can be quite troublesome. You also don’t want your secrets to end up in their database, right?” What the heck! Hearing this instantly gave him a feeling of his information being exposed and a global death by social embarrassment. “Uh, are there any members of the Secret Speakers in Black Stone Town?” Wu Heng asked. “Yes, Madam Slyther of the Money Cat.”