Chapter 154: Why Go to So Much Trouble?

Within the span of a few months, Bobby Askew’s two sons had been killed right on the street. The shock this dealt him was simply too immense. Especially since Clark was the son he valued most and upon whom he had pinned his highest hopes, being murdered like this right here in Valen City, it drove him completely mad.

Valen City this night was destined to be a place of chaos. Every single soldier of the Griffin Legion was called out to go door-to-door, cross-examining suspicious individuals. Enraged by the legion commander's fury, the ordinary soldiers of the Griffin Legion were also in a foul temper. Any stranger, merchant, or adventurer who showed the slightest hesitation in cooperating might face a brutal beating.

The sounds of iron-shod hooves thundered across the streets. People fast asleep in the dead of night were startled awake one after another. Even the iconic force of the Griffin Legion—an entire griffin battalion—was patrolling the night skies over Valen City, making everyone feel as though an army was at the gates, mistakenly believing the Cassis Empire was launching a midnight invasion.

In the sky, the griffins appeared as clusters of black dots, their bizarre cries jarring to the eardrums as they flew from the western district to the southern district, and then from the southern district to the northern district. Whenever they spotted any unusual movement below, they would descend to coordinate with the soldiers on the ground.

"So these are griffins. They certainly look massive enough." Near a street close to Bobby Askew’s slave market, Han Shuo stood behind a large tree, watching a pair of griffins soar past as he muttered to himself.

"Indeed. Griffins are extremely ferocious flying units, and a single griffin has the capability to tear ordinary magical beasts apart. His Majesty values old Bobby so much, not daring to act rashly even knowing he harbors rebellious intentions—this battalion of griffins is a very significant reason why," Emily murmured softly, shivering slightly as she explained to Han Shuo.

On this freezing winter night, puddles on the streets had already frozen into thick sheets of ice. Icicles hanging from the eaves gleamed chillingly under the moonlight, and as the biting winter wind swept past, it was only natural that Emily, being a mage, felt a bone-chilling cold.

Drawing in a cold breath, Han Shuo wrapped his right hand around Emily’s delicate, smooth hand and circulated his demonic yuan. Han Shuo’s right hand felt like a small portable stove, bringing warmth to Emily.

"You are a necromancer, and at the same time, you practice a peculiar martial art. But why can you also use fire-type magic, and wield it with such fluency? It's as if you can adjust the temperature at will—how on earth do you manage that?" Emily’s enchanting eyes flickered brilliantly as she stared at Han Shuo, questioning him in a playfully reproachful tone.

"Actually, this is just one of the techniques within the martial arts I cultivate. You don't need to be so surprised," Han Shuo shrugged, explaining honestly to Emily.

Unfortunately, Emily clearly didn't believe a word of Han Shuo’s explanation, though she didn't continue pressing the matter. Smiling, she said, "Fine, fine. One day, I'm bound to discover all your secrets. Whew. Your mystery is like a poison to me; the more I want to know everything about you, the more mysterious you seem to become."

"Alright, stop daydreaming. Let's go, let's go," Han Shuo said with a smile as he reached out and patted Emily’s rounded backside, urging her to hurry along.

This time, the two of them did not bring Chester with them. Once they appeared near the slave market where Lisa had been auctioned off last time, Han Shuo cast a darkness shroud spell, plunging the area around the walls into an even deeper state of gloom.

"Heh, you're getting quite good at handling necromantic magic now, aren't you?" Emily chuckled softly. Operating at the grand magister level, she cast a levitation spell, her body slowly rising into the air. She landed atop the five-meter-high wall and spoke again, "I'll toss the rope inside, and you can climb up using it."

"What need is there for such trouble?" Han Shuo murmured with a smile. His body suddenly surged upward through the air, moving faster and steadier than Emily’s levitation spell, and in an instant, he landed firmly right beside her.

Her body instantly stiffened and froze. Emily stared at Han Shuo as if she had seen a ghost in broad daylight, brilliant flickers of light dancing within her lovely eyes. Then, casting aside all hesitation, she flung herself into Han Shuo’s embrace, hammering his chest with all her might while scolding him between gasps of breathless frustration and delight, "You hateful bastard! You've clearly reached the realm of a necromancy grand magister for ages, yet you kept fooling me. I'm going to fight you to the death, you jerk, jerk!"

Hearing an unusual noise echoing from a distance, Han Shuo dared not linger in the high vantage point for fear of drawing unwanted attention. He swept Emily into his arms and dropped down swiftly, sidestepping into a corner of a building within the slave market. Only then did he take hold of Emily’s small hand, offering a wry explanation, "I wasn't tricking you. This flight method, similar to a levitation spell, is actually just another technique from the martial arts I practice. It has nothing to do with magic whatsoever. Think about it carefully—did you sense any magical fluctuations emanating from me just now?"

Prompted like this, Emily blinked her long eyelashes in puzzlement, then looked at him in astonished disbelief, demanding, "What kind of martial arts on earth are you cultivating? From what I know, even the most powerful swordsmen or holy paladins can only use battle qi to fly into the air for a very short time, and that technique can hardly be called flying at all. Why are you able to do it?"

"Like I said, the martial arts I practice are rather miraculous, and it's not easy to explain it to you." Regarding the cultivation of his demonic arts, Han Shuo truly couldn't say much more, so he could only offer this explanation to Emily.

"Fine, fine. I should have known I wouldn't get an answer out of you. Let's go. While Valen City is in complete disarray, let's see if we can find anything useful in this slave market." Emily shot Han Shuo a reproachful glare, pulled him along, and walked familiarly into the depths of the slave market.

Emily must have thoroughly investigated this slave market beforehand; she was extremely familiar with the structures here. All the way along, her body remained floating in the void without making the slightest sound. A layer of black magical barrier, thin as a cicada’s wing, formed around her body, completely concealing her physical presence.

Han Shuo was already well-versed in this sort of covert operation. Not only did he move without a sound, but he also used his extraordinary senses to continually guide Emily, allowing the two of them to evade numerous patrolling guards along the way.

After a brief moment, the two of them passed through the two auction buildings they had visited last time and headed toward the three buildings located deeper inside.

"Normally, soldiers of the Griffin Legion are stationed at this slave market. Once our tracks are discovered, leaving would be very difficult. But today, because of Clark's murder, the soldiers inside are bound to have been reassigned to carry out search operations throughout all of Valen City. For us, this is the best possible timing," Emily explained to Han Shuo as they walked.

Once business began, Han Shuo turned serious. Listening to Emily's words, he silently remained alert to his surroundings. At that moment, a very peculiar smell wafted into Han Shuo's nostrils—a scent laced with blood that grew somewhat pungent the longer he focused on it.

Twitching his nose, Han Shuo reached out to grab Emily, whispering, "There's the smell of blood. Something seems off over here as well."

"Really? I don't smell anything." Emily took a heavy sniff, spoke in puzzlement, and then paused, seeming to recall Han Shuo's miraculous abilities as she added, "See if you can locate the direction the blood smell is coming from."

Nodding, Han Shuo said in a low voice, "Follow me."

Catching Emily’s small hand, Han Shuo relied on his nose to track down the source of the bloody scent. They bypassed two nearby buildings and arrived beside a pond. Next to the pond stood a rockery containing several pitch-black caves. Employing both his ears and nose, Han Shuo led Emily straight into one of the caves.

A "creak" suddenly rang out. A section of what had previously been a solid stone wall abruptly slid apart. A guard, his expression terrified and his entire body drenched in blood, bolted out from inside. Before he could take more than a few steps, a bone spear materialized out of thin air, piercing straight through the guard's back. Two zombie warriors then emerged, dragging the guard's corpse back inside.

This entire scene played out clearly before the eyes of Han Shuo and Emily, who had just entered and taken cover nearby. Han Shuo stood stunned for a moment before suddenly speaking up, "Perhaps the necromancer I saw earlier today is right inside."

"There's a very high probability of that. But the master of this slave market is Bobby Askew, and that necromancer is also one of the murderers who killed Clark. Why would he appear here?" Emily looked somewhat perplexed, speaking in a low whisper to Han Shuo.

"The most dangerous place is the safest place. Right now, the entire city is on edge. As a property belonging to Bobby Askew, this slave market would have had a large number of soldiers redeployed elsewhere, and no one would expect him to show up here. The guard who was just killed indicates that this necromancer probably isn't a guest here, so it's very likely he came here with the intention of hiding out," Han Shuo analyzed slowly after a moment of thought.

"Mm, what you said makes a lot of sense. So, should we go take a look and find out what's going on?" Emily said approvingly, turning to ask for Han Shuo's opinion.

"Of course. I'm also very curious about this necromancer. If I had to face him alone, I might only be able to turn tail and run, but with you here as well, we have nothing to fear from him," Han Shuo replied. Pausing for a moment to listen closely to the movements inside, he continued a moment later, "Alright, the sound of the zombie warriors' footsteps has faded into the distance. Let's go take a look."