35: Interception

“Phili…Phili…”

The young knight Karl’s expression was blank, his pupils unfocused, as if he had lost the ability to think.

He stared blankly at the tall figure emerging from the shadows before him.

The bronze armor reflected a dull gleam under the dim firelight.

The tall figure slowly turned around, and its massive shadow gradually covered him completely.

Karl remained motionless, even forgetting to breathe.

A large, cold, greenish-blue hand, covered in bronze scales, slowly lifted and covered his face…

From beginning to end,

this young knight, on whom the Varnes Family had placed such high hopes,

was transformed into a pile of twisted and deformed corpses scattered on the ground, without even being able to launch a decent attack.

“Ah ah…”

The slaughter in the manor continued,

but the screams gradually thinned out, eventually dissolving into a suffocating silence.

The Spirit boy and girl climbed to the highest spire of the castle Li Ke two white spiders, in a strange posture.

They sat side by side, shaking their small heads,

and began to sing “Yi Yi Ya Ya” towards the silent manor below, their voices incredibly eerie.

The tall Bronze Armor Corpse leaped out from a patch of shadow, patrolled the manor once,

and after confirming there were no survivors, it once again vanished into a deep shadow, disappearing without a trace.

…

In the wilderness,

a simple carriage stood quietly by the edge of a withered forest, blending into the darkness.

Hatties sat upright, his back straight,

in the driver’s seat, Li Ke a silent sculpture.

Li Ke sat relaxed on the carriage shaft,

leaning against the carriage, looking up at the vast starry sky above.

This was a completely unfamiliar starry sky,

utterly different from Earth in his first life,

and bearing no resemblance to the cultivation world of his second life.

In the sky, stars were distributed in a spiral pattern,

most of them dim, with only a few being very bright.

According to the legends of this world, every star in this world is a divine kingdom held aloft by a god.

Li Ke didn’t know if this legend was true or false.

If it were true, then the cosmic rank of this world would be truly terrifying.

Even the cultivation world of his second life, known as the Golden Age of Immortals, with myriad immortals paying homage, could not possibly have so many True Immortals…

However, Li Ke was inclined to believe it was false.

If this world truly had so many True Immortals,

he feared that the moment he Transmigrated, all secrets would have been laid bare…

“My lord, what are we waiting for?”

Hatties asked dully, his voice breaking the silence.

“Waiting for someone.”

Li Ke smiled, his gaze still fixed on the starry sky.

Time passed bit by bit, and the night grew deeper.

At this moment, a few inconspicuous yellow butterflies flapped their wings and flew gracefully from the distant night sky.

They landed lightly on the carriage’s canopy, their wings fluttering slightly a few times before they quieted down.

“They’re here.”

Li Ke slowly opened his eyes, a smile playing on his lips.

No sooner had he spoken.

From the distant withered forest, urgent footsteps and heavy breathing could be heard.

Soon, a group of figures rushed frantically towards the carriage,

led by Baron Varnes,

whose face was now filled with terror and discomfiture, his luxurious robes stained with mud and blood.

Behind him closely followed three equally terrified guards,

each carrying a heavy package on their back.

The smile in Li Ke’s eyes grew even more pronounced.

He knew that these old, long-standing Families were all as cunning as a fox with three burrows.

Not only were their Treasures hidden deep within the manor, but there would certainly be no shortage of secret escape routes.

To completely annihilate them in one go was indeed not so easy.

Because Li Ke’s carriage was parked in the darkness, it was inconspicuous.

Baron Varnes and his party only suddenly discovered the figures ahead when they were within a dozen meters of the carriage.

Upon seeing Li Ke, who was sitting on the carriage shaft, looking at them with a half-smile, and the silent guard beside him,

Baron Varnes’s body immediately stiffened, and a hint of fear and despair flashed in his eyes.

“Lord Charles!”

He fell to his knees in the snow with a thud, his voice choked with sobs.

“What happened today was just a misunderstanding! A damnable misunderstanding!”

“I am willing to apologize! I am willing to compensate!”

“The Varnes Family is willing to serve as a vassal of the Charles Family for generations! We can sign a contract immediately!”

Baron Varnes wept bitterly, while fiercely slapping his own face, the sounds of “slap, slap” echoing.

However, when he saw that Li Ke’s expression remained unchanged,

the last shred of hope in Baron Varnes’s heart was shattered,

and his eyes finally became resolute.

Baron Varnes quickly assessed the situation.

On Li Ke’s side, there was only one powerful Clairvoyance guard.

But to kill his own three well-trained guards would still take some time,

and although he himself had not officially entered the Clairvoyance rank,

he did inherit a Clairvoyance Bloodline and had undergone extremely rigorous knight training in his youth.

He believed that his skills were definitely much stronger than Li Ke, that frail young man!

As long as he could seize the moment when that guard was restrained,

and take the opportunity to hold Li Ke hostage…

Perhaps, there was still a glimmer of hope!

Even, a chance to turn the tables!

Thinking of this, a crazy ferocity flashed in Baron Varnes’s eyes,

he suddenly sprang up from the ground and let out a roar at the guards behind him!

“There’s no other way out, kill!”

Taking advantage of the instant the three guards instinctively rushed forward,

he flung the package on his back violently forward, throwing it at Hatties!

Then, he suddenly rolled to the side, avoiding the obstruction of the three guards,

and fiercely lunged at Li Ke, who was sitting on the carriage shaft!

At this moment,

there was nothing else in his eyes.

Only the young man sitting on the carriage shaft, smiling, in front of him!

“Kill…”

Baron Varnes’s vision blurred,

on the distant field, the starry sky seemed to become incredibly distant…

The wind whistled in his ears…

Vaguely, he seemed to hear a familiar call.

“My youngest…”

It was his great-grandmother’s voice…

Baron Varnes’s heart was at peace.

When he was little, his great-grandmother was the one who doted on him the most,

every time she returned from Oak Tree City, she would secretly bring him the best candies…

Once, he secretly put those colorful candies into his great-grandmother’s medicinal soup, wanting to make it sweeter…

Later…

“No!”

“What am I doing?!”

Varnes suddenly woke up from his memories!

He stumbled forward two steps,

but only felt his whole body weak and sore, as if all his strength had been drained.

Thud!

His legs gave way,

and he knelt in the snow in front of the carriage, right before Li Ke.

Li Ke sat on the carriage shaft, one hand lightly propping his chin,

looking calmly at Baron Varnes kneeling before him.

At some unknown point, a fist-sized blood hole had appeared on Baron Varnes’s neck, its edges showing strange spiral-shaped tearing marks.

Gurgling blood continuously flowed from it, staining the front of his clothes pitch black.

In the snow not far away,

the bodies of the other three guards were also scattered.

Their deaths were identical to Baron Varnes’s, each with a gruesome spiral-shaped blood hole in their necks.

Hatties’s hands hung naturally,

standing silently behind Li Ke Li Ke a shadow, as if he had never moved.

Li Ke smiled, extended a slender finger,

and lightly touched Baron Varnes’s glabella.

“Soul Search!”