Chapter 821, The Second Prince Has Fled
Inside the prince's residence.
The magic circle appeared, and Wu Heng's figure followed closely, appearing in the room.
His gaze swept around—doors and windows were tightly shut, and the room was unusually stuffy.
He spread his perception outward.
The nearby rooms were completely silent. Even outside, there was no sign of anyone.
He stood still and waited for a moment before three wraiths came flying in.
Xiaoxiao said, "Uncle, I checked for you. The guards are all over by the wall, and their levels are around 5."
"Alright, let's search this place, see if there are any clues," Wu Heng said directly.
The three wraiths headed to different rooms to begin searching for any evidence related to the Second Prince.
Wu Heng walked into a nearby bedroom.
He opened the wardrobe and looked at the neatly folded clothes inside, his brow raising slightly.
It looked like someone had been living here before, and it was later used as a trap to lure enemies.
He casually picked two garments and took out the [Tracking Pendant] from his space ring.
He dripped blood onto the pendant. The originally lifeless skull came alive, grinding its teeth with a raspy sound.
He brought the clothes close. The skull bit onto the edge and began chewing.
After a couple chews, it went still again and returned to its lifeless state.
That proved the garment couldn't be used to track the target.
"Wu Heng, try these two." Beni floated over, controlling a handkerchief and a ruby-studded belt.
Wu Heng dripped blood and brought them near the skull.
Neither item triggered any reaction.
Xiaoxiao floated over, controlling two exquisitely carved ornaments, and said, "Uncle, store this one, I like it."
Then, Beni controlled several more items to float over.
Wu Heng helped her store them in his space ring and said, "Xiaoxiao, be serious. Beni, stop bringing everything over. Exotic Items come with a cost. I'm nearly anemic."
Beni shrugged, indicating this was the only way if they wanted to find anything.
They tested a variety of items again.
"Wu Heng, I found a secret room outside. There's a ghost trapped inside," Glenda flew back and said directly.
A secret room? A ghost?
"How is it trapped?"
"Necromantic magic circle. It's in the outer building," Glenda said.
Wu Heng kicked the pile of stuff in front of him aside and said, "Let me check the place."
Glenda entered his body and shared the memory of the secret room.
Wu Heng cast [Teleportation] and disappeared.
......
West of the city.
Inside a residential house.
Four figures stood by the window, peeking out through a crack.
The leader had a cold gaze and held a lantern with red firelight, its flame being drawn outward as if guided.
Outside was a wealthy district, several residences lined up in a row.
They had searched this area before, but seeing the dark sentries and frequent patrols now, the Second Prince must be hiding here.
"Scout the area," the leader said.
One of the others pulled out a feather-covered wooden staff and gently shook it.
A ghostly owl appeared out of nowhere, then vanished as it flew off.
Not long after, the owl returned, landed on the table, and formed a clearly detailed map showing guards and equipment placements.
The four of them glanced over it.
The leader said, "Kill the target before the army and high-level Professionals arrive. Then escape however you can."
"Understood!" the others nodded.
"Let's go. If we make it back alive, drinks are on me."
No one replied.
The door opened, and the group headed out.
The one in the middle held the lantern, following the direction indicated by the flame. The others spread out to cover the perimeter.
"Who goes there?!"
Just as they crossed the street, a guard spotted them and shouted.
The two in front raised their hands—flying daggers and darts whistled out, hitting several guards in the throat.
The guards fell before they could utter a second word.
Then, three massive smoke-formed wolves suddenly appeared, charging toward a nearby alley.
Screams and wails followed as the sentries were wiped out.
The lantern bearer paused, looked at the flame's direction, and said, "He's here. Kill them all."
The lantern was put away.
A longsword appeared in his hand. With a shout, he and the remaining three leapt over the wall into the building and began fighting.
Corpses fell one after another. Blood pooled on the ground, forming dark red streams.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~!
Several signal flares screamed into the sky and exploded.
The entire city was stirred. Troops stationed around began converging.
"Push in! Don't waste time!"
A greatsword Warrior roared. His longsword cleaved a guard in half, then he charged through the building's front door.
His foot had barely stepped inside—
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~!
A storm of crossbow bolts flew at them.
The Warrior raised his sword in front to block.
Boom boom boom~!
The bolts exploded, sending him flying back.
Smoke poured through the windows, turning into thick snakes that bit at the crossbowmen's throats.
In an instant, the battlefield shifted from the courtyard to inside the building.
......
In a gloomy basement, the air was thick with rot and dampness.
Wu Heng turned on a flashlight and descended the stone stairs.
Reaching the bottom, he saw a dimly glowing magic circle in the distance, with a fierce ghost struggling inside.
Its form was like a drifting mist, vaguely human-shaped but featureless.
This indicated it was an unintelligent ghost, driven only by resentment, repeatedly crashing into the magic circle trapping it.
Time and again it shattered and reformed.
"Level 5 ghost. No way to tell if it formed naturally or was raised here," Glenda explained from the side.
Ghosts can be cultivated.
Back on Gold-Silver Island, the ghost infant in the mining village had been raised via magic circles and dark environments.
Wu Heng looked around and said, "There's only a trapping circle here, no array to gather necromantic energy. If it was raised, it wasn't done here."
In this area, Wu Heng considered himself an expert.
Glenda asked, "So what now?"
Wu Heng thought for a moment and said, "Let it out. Glenda, devour it and see if any memories remain."
"Alright." Glenda nodded.
Wu Heng waved his hand. A surge of necromantic energy shattered the magic circle. The ghost let out a furious screech and lunged.
Glenda met it head-on. Her soul body enveloped it and devoured it in under a minute.
Resuming her form, she said, "There were fragments of memory. The Second Prince was involved. The ghost was here to seek revenge and was killed."
Related to the Second Prince?
Looks like even ghosts wanted him dead.
"Let me take a look," Wu Heng said.
Glenda nodded and reentered his body. The memory fragments appeared in his mind.
Dusk. The sunset painted the sky red.
Wu Heng saw a table full of dishes. A gentle-looking woman sat beside him. Across were a brown-haired young man, a blonde woman, and a child.
They chatted about recent city events and the unstable situation in the Kingdom.
Clearly, the ghost came from a notable background.
"Father, Bok has loved books since he was little. I want to send him to the royal capital to see if he has mage talent before it's too late."
The young man said this while patting the child's head.
From the ghost's perspective, he smiled and said, "Alright. I have some ties with court mages. Take my letter with you and ask them to check. If he has potential, our family might produce a mage lord."
"Thank you, Father." The young man smiled in gratitude.
The child hugged his arm in thanks.
Then, the vision shattered.
Suddenly, it was night.
Heavy knocking echoed. A light-armored guard urgently said, "My lord, the Second Prince has entered the city with his escort. He's on his way here."
The man was shocked. "Have the guards ready."
"Yes!" The guard left.
Inside the hall.
A disheveled Second Prince entered with his guards.
"Your Highness? We didn't know you were entering the city. Please forgive us."
"Lord Burns, no need for formalities," the Second Prince said casually as he sat. "Rentam City is attacking the border. Necromantic soldiers are slaughtering citizens. I need you to mobilize troops immediately."
A city lord!
Hearing the conversation, Wu Heng was shocked.
The ghost devoured earlier was the lord of this city.
This...
The city lord hesitated, then frowned, "Nirali City is willing to protect the Kingdom, but... why is Rentam City suddenly attacking?"
Someone beside the prince said, "Lord Burns, perhaps it would be better if His Highness assumed command of the city."
"That violates Kingdom law."
As soon as he spoke—
Suddenly, a few people beside the Second Prince attacked the guards.
Pfft! Pfft!
The personal guards were killed in the blink of an eye, collapsing in pools of blood.
"What are you doing?! You're staging a coup!" the city lord shouted in panic.
The Second Prince closed his eyes while his man ordered, "Kill them all. Don't let word get out."
More people rushed in, slaughtering everyone in the city lord's residence.
"Father, what's..." A young man came down from the second floor with the women.
Clomp clomp clomp~!
Armed troops charged upstairs. In a wave of violence, women and children were hacked to death. The young man was skewered and nailed to the wall.
Whoosh~!
The memory ended, the vision shattered.
Glenda exited Wu Heng's body and said, "The Second Prince, who supposedly loved the arts, turned out to be pretty ruthless."
The ghost was here to take revenge on him.
His whole family was slaughtered by the Second Prince.
"From the conversation, it seemed the prince had been forced back by Rentam's army. Maybe he acted in desperation," Wu Heng said.
Glenda nodded in agreement.
Beni and Xiaoxiao looked over in confusion. "What's wrong? What did you see in the memory?"
"That ghost was the city lord here. The Second Prince killed him," Glenda explained.
Xiaoxiao's eyes widened. "He even kills his own?"
Glenda explained, "The Kingdom is full of factions. It's not like the Gold-Silver Island your uncle runs."
"Oh!" Xiaoxiao looked solemnly at the place where the ghost had been trapped. "Don't worry, we'll get your revenge."
Wu Heng and Glenda both smiled at Xiaoxiao's determined look.
Xiaoxiao turned back to Wu Heng. "Right, Uncle?!"
"You promised. So we help him get revenge."
The ghost matter was resolved, but there was still no info on the Second Prince.
What a shame.
"Let's go. We'll search again later," Wu Heng said, heading up.
As they neared the entrance—
They heard chaotic, urgent noise from above.
It sounded like a massive army was gathering and passing outside.
Wu Heng stopped. "Check outside."
A wraith flew out, took a look, and came back. "The army is heading west. Even high-level Professionals are being mobilized."
Wu Heng's eyes narrowed. "They found the Second Prince."
"Looks like it," Glenda agreed.
......
Once it was clear outside, Wu Heng left the basement.
He followed the street in the direction the army had gathered.
The city was in chaos. People were panicking everywhere, and soldiers rushed to regroup.
Wu Heng moved quickly, Xiaoxiao constantly warning him to avoid patrols.
"Over in the west district, the army's all gathered. I can see high-level Professionals fighting there," Glenda flew back and reported.
"Several level-18s? See the Second Prince?" Wu Heng asked while moving.
"At least four. Can't confirm if more are inside. Didn't spot the prince, but they're going in hard. He's definitely in there," Glenda said with certainty.
From the devoured assassin's memory, the last time they acted, they knew it was just a decoy.
But to crush morale, they killed the double anyway.
The city was chaotic for days after. Many officials sent their families away.
This time, if they're attacking directly, they must be sure of the target.
Woo Woo!
Horns blared behind them.
Wu Heng ducked into a side alley and saw elite cavalry charging down the street.
The warhorses were armored, scimitars at their waists.
Ahead on the other side, shield-bearing infantry were also sprinting toward the battle zone.
Glenda said, "If they can't kill him before the army gathers, more people will die."
"It all depends on who's faster," Wu Heng said.
Glenda looked into the distance. "Isn't it too risky for you to go now? Once they finish fighting, if we find the Second Prince, Beni and I can go kill him."
Wu Heng narrowed his eyes. That might actually work.
Just then, Beni flew back from afar.
She said directly, "Wu Heng, the Second Prince used a transport ticket and escaped."