Shandru pushed the female corpse away, pulled out a large cloth from underneath that had been used to carry the body, shook off the dust on it and handed it over to Asa, saying: "This piece of clothing is worth you working for another half year."

  He took it and looked at it. It was a very old cloak. "Half a year? You not becoming a bandit is really a loss for the entire continent's bandit community." Asa shook his head, looking at this thick, smelly, heavy piece of cloth that was all dusty. On top were solidified bloodstains and other liquid stains that had been there for who knows how long, already merged with the fabric itself.

  "This is a treasure I collected when I was young, it's very meaningful."

  The door of the big house was suddenly knocked on.

  A rhythmic three knocks on the door, showing the refinement and demeanor of the knocker. The tone was neither too light nor too heavy, just right for the people inside to hear, without any hint of disturbance. Even if the host is extremely sensitive and in a bad mood, they will absolutely not find such a visit abrupt.

  Anyone who can walk in here must know what this place is. And facing a house full of corpses, an old man arranging the corpses and a disabled person helping to arrange the corpses, who would knock on the door with such elegance and courtesy as if visiting a refined hermit?

  Shandru also wanted to see who this polite person was and went to open the door himself. Asa hastily put on his mask.

  The door opened and a middle-aged gentleman with a dignified demeanor stood outside.

  A middle-aged man with a slightly plump figure, wearing a very elegant and handsome sword at his waist that seems more like an ornament, a well-fitting suit, a top hat, neatly trimmed beard, narrowed eyes, and a warm and polite smile. This is indeed a gentleman who would knock on the door politely in front of any gate.

  The gentleman bowed slightly and made a very dignified bow to Sandru, asking: "May I ask if you are Mr. Sandru?"

  "Yes, I am." Shandru hastily replied as if he feared someone would suddenly appear and dispute the title.

  "I am Duke Mlarak." The stout, affable gentleman introduced himself. "May I come in? I'm looking for someone."

  "Come in, come in." Shandru, like a gracious host, made a sweeping gesture to usher the duke into the great hall, then pointed at the numerous corpses and body parts. "There are many people here; I'm not sure which one Your Grace is looking for?"

  "I'll get him." The duke's smiling eyes had been fixed on Asa from the moment he entered, just as he was covering himself with a sheet. He walked slowly towards Asa with his hands behind his back.

  A Sa took a step back.

  He didn't know why he took a step back. This very polite and elegant gentleman had a charming charm, and when he heard that he was the Duke, he even felt an urge to go up and explain and ask him. But for some reason, as soon as he saw the Duke walking towards him, he unconsciously took a step back.

  But he only retreated one step and stopped. The duke slowly walked up to him, looking at the duke who was half a head shorter than himself, and found that he didn't have a hunchback or a limp.

  He should have been used to it, having developed the habit of automatically bowing and curving his legs whenever he was in front of people over the past two months. However, when his eyes met those of the duke, all his attention was drawn to him, completely forgetting to maintain his posture.

  No. Asama suddenly felt that he hadn't forgotten to maintain his posture, but rather his body had unconsciously transformed into a state of high alertness. He was like a wild beast that had caught wind of danger, with all his muscles entering a state of heightened sensitivity, ready to spring into action at any moment.

  His spirit also entered the empty state of practicing meditation during these two months. Every subtle movement of his body muscles was under his control, and every thread of air flowing around his skin could be felt. He could even feel that magic power and spirit were constantly condensing, circulating, and erupting within him at any time.

  Just now he only retreated one step, not because he thought it was unnecessary to retreat, but because he couldn't retreat anymore.

  Retreat again is the limit. The limit of a fierce beast chasing its prey.

  If he made one more move, the seemingly affable duke would immediately strike him down with the swiftness of a leopard and the ferocity of a lion.

  The duke's gaze was like a stab that pierced Asa's eyes and reached every detail of his body, leaving nothing unseen.

  The duke's mouth curled up into a smile. There was a hint of praise, a hint of regret, and a hint of mockery. He said calmly: "This young man saved my younger daughter from the hands of several bad people last night. I know he also saved my older daughter two months ago, and I really want to thank him. But..." The duke's right hand came out from behind his back. It seemed like just a casual movement, but his hand rested on the hilt of that gaudy sword at his waist.

  Asa couldn't hear what the duke was saying at all. All his attention was on the duke's right hand and the sword beside him.

  There was no basis for it, but he knew that even if the magnificent scabbard contained only a piece of charcoal, the hand beside it could draw it out in an instant and cut himself into two segments like a brittle radish.

  Asa's physical and magical powers have all converged, concentrated, mixed with spirit and willpower to become a point that is about to erupt at any moment. Even if there was only one in ten thousand chance, he would burst out all his strength before his head flew off.

  He felt as if he was still being hunted in the lizard swamp, and this hunt had reached its end, with no way out. That beast-like fighting spirit and madness were fully revived in his heart.

  Asa didn't move, his mood was even very calm, completely immersed in the empty realm of meditation, but he could feel that the wolf at the deepest part of his soul was revealing its sharp canine teeth and howling wildly.

  Are you here to kill me? Come on, come on, try and see if I'm easy to kill.

  The duke's smile deepened at the corners, with a hint of mockery in his approval. The white, neatly trimmed hand had already slid onto the hilt of his sword.

  "Oh? Hero rescues beauty, how brave and romantic." Sandro suddenly said in a strange tone beside him. He didn't know when he had moved to stand behind the duke, still fiddling with a few dead men's teeth in his hand. This was his old habit, whenever he had nothing to do, he would always hold a few dead things in his hand and play with them.

  Asa saw the duke's hand suddenly tense up, with a few green veins on his face also becoming distorted, but he felt that it wasn't murderous intent, but rather tension. The duke's breathing rhythm suddenly became disordered, and his tightly closed eyes also lost focus, and the sense of urgency also disappeared along with it. Asa could even see a hint of fear in the duke's eyes. It was as if a hunter who had been fully prepared to stab a fierce beast, just as he was about to make his move, suddenly had a large block of ice slipped into his pants.

  A few teeth in Sandru's hand made a clattering sound. Sandru's hands were very old, with many wrinkles and white, so white that not a single blood vessel or hair follicle was visible, a whiteness even more ghastly than the color of death. Even the sound of these teeth colliding with each other in his hand had this ominous whiteness.

  The expression on the Duke's face didn't change in the slightest. But that was no longer a smile, nor even an expression, just his facial muscles frozen from the previous moment. His facial muscles were still the same, but they had lost all emotion, as if mechanically demonstrating what a 'smiling face' looked like.

  The duke's eyes remained focused on Asa's face, but Asa felt that he wasn't looking at him, rather he was staring intently at Sandru who was standing behind him, someone he couldn't actually see.

  Now it's not just that he can take a step back, even if he jumps up and dances, the duke won't have any reaction. Asa feels like he has suddenly become an onlooker.

  Asa didn't move, the Duke didn't move, and Shandru was as still as a stone statue except for his hands which continued to fiddle with his teeth. The whole hall seemed to have frozen solid, time itself unable to flow, only a few teeth clicking against each other in a sound that was unmistakably dead.

  It seemed as if a century had passed when the duke finally let out a long sigh, regained his vitality, and a warm smile reappeared on his face.

  The sound of Karakar also disappeared, Shandru stopped the hand that was playing with his teeth and walked unsteadily to the front of the duke.

  The duke's gaze returned to Asa's face, where there was no longer any uncomfortable feeling, and asked: "What is this young man to the old gentleman?"

  "It's my assistant." Shandru tossed the teeth in his hand onto the stone table.

  "Just an assistant?" The duke's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but the smile on his face didn't change. "However... I suspect that your assistant is closely related to something very important, and I'd like to take him back..."

  "No way." Shandru refused sternly. "He's gone and who will help me? Those corpses are heavy, you know."

  The duke sighed, revealing a slightly regretful smile, and said: "I'm sorry, I've disturbed you." He bowed his head to Sandru, turned around and walked out of the mansion, not forgetting to close the door behind him.

  Asa's gaze swept across the table, discovering that the few teeth Sandru had just put down had undergone a strange change. That was not the kind of change that teeth should have. Teeth were not ice, nor iron, nor mud, and they would not soften or dissolve. But these few small things that had been clattering just now were slowly softening like maltose in the mouth, deforming under their own weight, gradually melting into a small pool of strange liquid. Then this liquid quickly disappeared, leaving behind several holes the size of fists on the granite table surface.

  A Sa looked at the old man in front of him from head to toe, as if he had just eaten a chicken egg that had swallowed a person, and nodded his head saying: "Thank you for saving me."

  "Of course I'll save you." Shandru seemed puzzled that he'd even asked such an obvious question. "You still owe me four years of work."

  The Duke of Mrauk stepped out of the mansion and removed his top hat, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the sweat on his forehead. He rushed back to the ducal palace on horseback.

  Klauss was waiting for him in the study room. He had already learned from Chris where the Duke went and roughly guessed what happened.

  He was just about to ask when the Duke said to him: "Return to the Holy Knights, bring all of your small squad, and make sure they are fully equipped."

  "Huh?" Klauvis heard clearly, but didn't understand. The Knights of the Holy were the elite among the empire's military elite. His small team of over 40 people had once annihilated a nearly thousand-strong pagan organization that was planning to occupy a city.

  "The duke didn't explain any further but instead commanded: 'Remember, don't be loud. And move quickly.'"

  In the big house, Asa put on the cloak that Sandru had just handed him and transformed back into the hunchbacked cripple. He wanted to slip out of the city as soon as possible and leave the capital behind.

  The duke has already said that he knows it was him who saved his daughter, so the reason for the duke to kill him will absolutely not be because of some misunderstanding.

  He didn't know what the reason was, he only knew that since a duke would go to great lengths to get himself killed, the only way out was to escape desperately. And he also didn't want to implicate anyone else. He could see that Sandro was actually very formidable, but he also knew that even the most formidable person had a limit. The duke could mobilize hundreds of royal guards to come here and catch him, if hundreds were not enough then thousands, or even deploy the Holy Knights.

  He bowed to Sandru: "Thank you for letting me hide here for two months."

  "Are you thinking of running away? You still owe me four years of work."

  A Sa shrugged and said helplessly: "Wait until I make a fortune in the future, I will thank you properly. Now if I stay here, it will only trouble you."

  Shan Drew shook his head and said, "You run away, trouble will always be trouble. And it will leave some for me. People shouldn't be afraid of trouble, solve the trouble, then there won't be any trouble."

  A Sa smiled wryly and walked towards the door. If he didn't run, then he wouldn't be able to have any more trouble in the future. Just as he was about to open the door, he suddenly heard a horseshoe sound coming from afar.

  Asa's face changed and he rushed towards the window, but Shandu raised his hand and said: "Don't panic, the trouble solver has arrived."