LWDC Chapter 159

Chapter 159 – The Night the Tide Rises

The death of the Pope finally terrified the royal family and the great nobles.

They believed that Duke Decca died unprepared, Duke Bartley and his son died from foolishly joining the crowd in the square, and Viscount Grey’s daughter died because they thought sending her to the countryside would reduce the need for protection. But the Pope resided in the center of the church estate, surrounded by layers of guards, with even guards on the balcony keeping watch all night. Moreover, he was surrounded by familiar and absolutely trusted people. Since Ning Fei issued the “death prophecy,” he had not received the public, and even nobles were carefully screened before being met. Not only were the meetings short, but many other clergy members were present. Under such airtight protection, the Pope died silently in the night, without even having time to ring the service bell by his bedside.

It must be said that this murder was silent, yet extremely shocking.

Powerful figures not predicted to die could die.

Powerful figures who had not offended Ning Fei could also die.

Even the Pope, the most capable of exorcising demons, the most steadfast in resisting devils, and possessing the talent of light magic, could be devoured by devils in silence.

This was almost as if Ning Fei was declaring: I can kill anyone.

“…He was actually such a powerful person!”

At night, in a dilapidated hut, a flickering candlelight illuminated a young boy’s dark face: “Salai, why didn’t you tell us this before!”

“I didn’t even know, how could I tell you?” Salai, still maintaining her short-haired tomboy appearance, sat beside him, breaking off a piece of dry bread, and replied, “I really thought he could only kill those two hooligans, otherwise why would we have had to disfigure their faces and bury them when we disposed of the bodies? No wonder he dared to let me dump them conspicuously, so he was actually so powerful!”

“But if he has this ability, why is he just an ordinary doctor in the slums?” The boy wondered, “He could clearly live a very good life with these powers.”

Another boy beside him responded: “He probably hates nobles, that’s why he kills them.”

“Then he could rob the rich,” the boy retorted matter-of-factly, “And with his strength, if he just rallied people, surely many would be willing to follow him. Why only live in that small house?”

“I think you’re the one who wants to follow him, right?” Salai took a bite of dry bread, “But it’s normal for you to think that way, I also want to follow him more. It’s just that he probably looks down on us. It’s said that he can fly in the air, taking us kids would only be a burden.”

“Yeah, he can kill the Pope alone, he doesn’t need other subordinates.”

“No, didn’t they say that two people went to kill the Duke? Then Doctor Ning Fei must have an accomplice!” The boy asserted, “Salai, do you know who that is?”

“I don’t know, Doctor Ning Fei has always been a loner. Even when nobles later sent him gifts, he didn’t even glance at them…” Salai replied, but her mind couldn’t help but recall the last night she saw Ning Fei, and the man who came to find Ning Fei later.

–Who was that noble…?

As she was pondering this, her companions had already shifted the topic. One of them said in a deep voice, “You guys, is it true that as long as a name is written in the square, that noble will be killed by Doctor Ning Fei?”

“Of course it’s true, why are you still doubting this? It’s said that the only noble who’s been named but hasn’t died yet is bait thrown out by the royal family and the church, specifically to ambush Doctor Ning Fei. But Ning Fei must have seen through their plot, so he didn’t act, and instead went to kill other nobles,” another boy replied, “Kai, you wouldn’t be thinking of going to write a name, would you? To get revenge on Prince Fane?”

“He seized my family’s land, tore down my house, and crushed my grandparents to death in order to build his gambling den. Is it strange that I want to avenge them?” The boy also gnawed on black bread, staring at the oil lamp, his brow furrowed. “Those were the only two relatives I had left… If I had the chance to give him a knife myself, I would have gone long ago!”

“But Prince Fane holds heavy troops. It’s said that his power is even stronger than the king’s, let alone the church,” someone muttered, “Doctor Ning Fei… can he kill him? Won’t he just randomly transfer the target if he can’t kill him?”

“Even if he transfers the target, isn’t he still killing nobles? He definitely won’t kill a commoner as a substitute. I should have told Doctor Ning Fei Kai’s story more often, and about those nobles bullying us. If he knew, we might not even need to go write names,” Salai said, “Moreover, writing a name now isn’t any easier than giving the Prince a knife directly. Perhaps you’ll be killed by those lackey guards before you even get close to the square.”

“Those bastards…!” The boy beside her cursed along, “They kill people casually for a few scraps of food thrown by the nobles, really thinking they can control life and death, that they’re superior! Their brains are as stupid as pigs, haven’t they thought that if everyone wrote down the names of all the nobles, who would be able to command them? At that time, if they want money, if they want treasures, wouldn’t they just be able to take them from the nobles’ homes?”

As soon as these words came out, someone scoffed: “You’re too whimsical, kill all the nobles? It’s not that easy! Even if Ning Fei really kills one a week, that’s only 52 a year. There are far more than that number of nobles in the country!… Salai, what kind of expression is that?”

“…An expression that someone actually thinks the same way I do.” Salai’s eyes lit up, she stuffed the remaining bread all into her mouth, quickly finished eating it, and then drank a few mouthfuls of water. After swallowing it down in large gulps, she wiped her mouth and said, “If 52 isn’t enough to kill them all, then start by killing those at the very top! Not only can we make those damned nobles die, but we can also make them suspect each other!”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it, just now we said that Prince Fane’s power is greater than the king’s, wouldn’t the king be wary of Prince Fane?” Salai explained, “If the king’s name is written up, and the person who wrote the name shouts that Prince Fane ordered it, that the Prince said he would protect him, do you think the king will believe it? If Kai goes to write Prince Fane’s name, and then says it was the king’s order, do you think the Prince will resent the king?”

“That’s for sure!” The boys looked at each other, in a daze, “Could it be… that we can really turn those damned nobles upside down?”

“It’s already been turned upside down, it’s Ning Fei who turned it upside down!” Salai looked at the lamplight, her eyes gradually firm, “Since he has a partner, he should also be waiting for others to join! It’s been a week since a name was written, we shouldn’t continue to miss out!”

“That’s right, I’m going to write a name!” Kai suddenly raised his voice, “No matter what you guys think, I’m going to write Prince Fane’s name up!”

“Don’t rush, we all have grudges against those nobles, we all want to write.” Salai concluded, “But we should plan it out carefully. Even if we’re going to die, we should try to write as many names as possible, right?”

The other boys nodded in agreement.

In the royal city, undercurrents surged.

*

On the other side, Ning Fei had no idea that he was being remembered by his former little servant. He was discussing the recent changes in the capital with Duan Yunhong.

“Did the king really not leave, or did he secretly leave long ago?” Ning Fei slowly sharpened a small metal dart, occasionally picking it up and looking at it with one eye, “Although I don’t have a deep impression of him, I remember that he wasn’t a heroic figure. Does he really think I wouldn’t dare kill him?”

“Most likely he didn’t leave. Prince Fane has deployed more soldiers in the name of protecting the royal family, both inside and outside the city. If the king leaves at this time, isn’t he afraid that the Prince will take the throne in one fell swoop?” Duan Yunhong paused, turning his head to look at the dart he was sharpening, “It’s just a dart for randomly selecting people, do you need to sharpen it so much?”

Ning Fei pinched the dart tip and pointed it at him, lightly gesturing a couple of times: “I want to, can you stop me?”

“I just don’t know why you keep saying it’s random when you can hit whatever you aim at, with perfect accuracy.” Duan Yunhong didn’t dodge, didn’t avoid, “Who do you want to kill? Just say it, will I argue with you?”

“Anyone can become perfectly accurate after throwing darts countless times.” Ning Fei installed the dart tip, reached out and snatched the silk scarf from Duan Yunhong’s chest pocket. He originally wanted to use it to blindfold himself, but after unfolding it, he found that the scarf wasn’t long enough, so he simply covered his head with it: “If I can’t see, isn’t it random?”

Duan Yunhong looked at him.

The silk scarf was dark red, covering Ning Fei’s eyes, but revealing his mouth and chin. For some reason, the thought that Ning Fei was now in front of him but couldn’t see him, and that he was wearing a red veil… Duan Yunhong couldn’t help but quietly grind his fingers.

Ning Fei had no idea what the man opposite him was doing, he simply raised the dart. On the wall directly in front of him, a large sheet of paper had already been hung, filled with the names of nobles. Since the “Noble Ascension Seven-Day Extravaganza” event began, this was the first time Ning Fei had prepared to use this “random selection” mechanism.

However, just two seconds after he raised his hand forward, the dart tip turned, pointing towards Duan Yunhong.

No feint, no jokes, Ning Fei’s wrist directly began to exert force. Just before the dart was about to be thrown, Duan Yunhong grabbed his hand: “You really want to shoot me?”

“You’re a dignified rogue with the Mandate of Heaven, you can’t even dodge a small dart from a blindfolded man? I don’t believe it.” Ning Fei didn’t struggle, didn’t deny it, his tone was very open, “It would be a great laugh if I could actually hit you.”

Duan Yunhong grasped his hand, leaning closer to him. This feeling was very contradictory, very strange. He wanted to see Ning Fei’s expression, but he was inexplicably reluctant to take off the scarf. So the man couldn’t help but lower his eyes, staring at Ning Fei’s lip line and chin: “I think I hear you telling a dirty joke. Are you still going to throw the dart? How about we shoot somewhere else?”

“That’s not a dirty joke anymore, that’s a sexual harassment joke.” Ning Fei laughed, “Speaking of which, how many condoms did you bring? Be a little restrained, Earl, we don’t know how long we’ll be staying in this world… um.”

Duan Yunhong kissed him.

The dart fell from his fingers, the tip poking Duan Yunhong’s thigh, slightly stinging, but Duan Yunhong didn’t care. Or rather, this prick seemed to have hit some kind of switch in him. He held Ning Fei in place, controlling the other’s hands, not letting him take off the scarf, and not taking it off himself. The scorching breath was transmitted through the scarf, bringing a different kind of stuffiness and feeling of suffocation, accelerating the blood flow and quickening the heartbeat.

Finally, the scarf slipped off due to the actions and gravity of the two men.

Ning Fei saw Duan Yunhong’s eyes again, and murmured: “Your eyes are really scary, Duan Yunhong.”

That’s what he said, but there wasn’t a trace of fear or disgust in his tone. Duan Yunhong, upon hearing this, not only didn’t restrain himself, but his expression became even more unrestrained. The man couldn’t express in words what thoughts were churning in his heart, he only responded to Ning Fei with actions, getting closer to him –

Boom!!!

Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the direction of the castle gate!