Excessive ferocity due to caution

into the night.

Noisy footsteps echoed again outside the trial participants' rooms.

There were also some whispers:

"Have you heard? His Majesty Charles III of the church intends to transform this place into a vast estate, and he's going to name it Norton!"

"Hiss... Is that damn witch worth that much?"

"Heh, what's so special about that? Lord Clapin has even been ennobled! He'll rise through the ranks in the future, and we might even become his subjects!"

"Holy crap, really? Doesn't that mean we'll get tons of pay and can go to Lan Kwai Fong every day to see prostitutes?"

"Of course! You can play with any kind of girl there! You can have a different one every day!"

"Okay...yes, hehe..."

As they spoke, their voices gradually grew softer, as if they were afraid that people nearby would hear them.

"Also, there's another very important piece of news that I don't usually tell just anyone."

"Brother, what's the news?"

"Cough cough..."

"Oh, I understand, I understand."

There was a rustling sound, and one person took something out and handed it to another.

At this moment, the man finally spoke:

"I heard that Lord Clapin is about to marry a noblewoman. She'll be arriving in a couple of days. If we can serve her well..."

Another person asked in confusion:

"But...didn't Lord Clapin already marry a witch?"

The man slapped him on the head and muttered a harsh curse in a low voice:

"Shut your beak, you idiot!"

"Lord Clapin is a hero of the empire! A brave knight who risked his own life and great danger to approach the witch leader!"

"He married that damned witch and got her pregnant just to weaken her power!"

Another person underestimated it:

"But I seem to recall hearing someone say that Lord Clapin did it for the title bestowed upon him by the church..."

Bang!

Bang!

The person who took the bribe gave that idiot a few good kicks!

"You idiot, you actually believe that kind of rumor?"

"Let me remind you, Dog Egg, Lord Clapin is now a knight whose title was personally conferred by the church!"

"If you say anything disrespectful to Lord Clapham again, don't blame me for cutting ties with you!"

Dog Egg clutched his body and cried out in pain:

"Understood."

The other person continued:

"I heard the witch will be executed here tonight. Silver Knights will be here to oversee it, and Baron Clapin will personally carry it out!"

"When the time comes, you absolutely mustn't say anything out of line. If you don't understand, just pretend you're mute, understand?"

Dog Egg nodded vigorously.

Then, their voices abruptly disappeared.

Zhao Yi, inside the room, could feel the moonlight streaming in through the window; this time, the female ghost hadn't sealed his room.

He pushed open the door, letting the moonlight fall on his face.

The world outside the house is completely different from the daytime.

Zhao Yi looked around carefully and saw that the place was desolate and dilapidated, like a farm in the suburbs.

Only the overgrown square remained the same as Norton Manor during the day.

There was a cross-shaped wooden stake stuck there.

The surrounding area was quite empty, and there were very few people around.

Zhao carefully walked through the manor, avoiding the self-defense forces that were spontaneously organized by civilians for armed patrols.

Ultimately, based on the distribution of people, he quickly located the location of the witch's cellar.

There are many people in the vicinity; to infiltrate, you must first assassinate them.

Zhao Yi had a sharp fruit knife hidden in his sleeve, which he had prepared during the day.

Combined with the techniques he learned from the Warring States period martial arts manuals, even if his strength was weakened to the level of a normal person, killing these ordinary people would be no difficult task for Zhao Yi.

He slipped into the bushes, his figure like a ghost in the twilight. Before long, he took care of several guards at key vantage points, obtained the key from them, and entered the cellar.

A strong, foul odor wafted over.

This place used to be a place for pickling and canning food, and a nauseating sour smell has always permeated it. In the dark end, in a cold corner, a woman lies paralyzed.

She clutched her stomach, occasionally letting out a soft groan.

Upon seeing Zhao Yi enter, she shrank back into the corner like a frightened bird.

"I have never harmed civilians."

"You can ask my husband, Clapham."

She weakly defended herself.

Because her tongue was cut off, her pronunciation was very strange, and if you didn't listen carefully, you couldn't understand what she was saying at all.

The constant cramping pain in her abdomen caused the priestess to unconsciously grip the cold ground with her fingers, until her fingernails were already bloody and mangled.

Zhao Yi approached her, squatted down in front of her, and looked at the witch.

Even in the darkness, her eyes remained beautiful, radiating a stunning rosy red hue.

Zhao Yi didn't speak, but reached out and stroked her haggard face. His gaze was calm, as if a god was looking down on his people under his holy light.

The gentle touch of his hand gradually calmed the shrine maiden's trembling body.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you."

"But you surely know I'm innocent... right?"

The priestess continued talking to herself.

"My crimes will soon be overturned, and my husband, Clapin, is outside negotiating with the church."

"He would tell the people at the church that I have only used witchcraft to heal people and have never used witchcraft to harm anyone else."

"Once they release me, I will have a lovely child, and then raise him with Clapin..."

The witch kept talking, recounting all the major and minor events of the past few years to Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi sat cross-legged beside her, quietly listening to her mutterings to herself.

This process did not last very long.

The Silver Knights of the church arrived at the farm, so the people there welcomed Clyde, who brought the Silver Knights back, while sending men to the cellar to capture the witch.

Only then did they see that the cellar door had been opened, and the bodies of some of their guards had been found in the grass.

The people rushed into the cellar in terror, and by the dim light of the torches, they saw a witch in the corner clutching her stomach and talking to herself... and a man who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you?!"

Some militiamen shouted loudly.

Zhao Yi remained silent.

"This man killed our men; he's likely an accomplice of the witch. Cuff him and burn him alive with us on the rack!!!"

One of the militiamen shouted, and everyone immediately turned on Zhao Yi with ferocious expressions!

A witch has such great value.

If we capture her accomplices, wouldn't that be...?

P.S.: I'll write another chapter tonight, then I'll livestream myself playing horror games.

Damn, I was scared to death yesterday. I had a nightmare last night about being chased by a ghost!