LWDC Chapter 154

Chapter 154: CT From Ancient Times

Chapter 154: CT From Ancient Times

Chapter 154: CT from Ancient Times Doesn’t Look Up

Duan Yunhong returned home in the afternoon, but Ning Fei wasn’t there yet. He had apparently left after lunch. Ning Fei didn’t return until dinnertime.

Duan Yunhong asked with righteous indignation, “Where did you go?”

Ning Fei surprisingly didn’t say “None of your business,” but instead tossed him a box.

Duan Yunhong caught it off guard. Only then did he realize it was a small wooden box. Though it looked old, it was very heavy and substantial. He asked suspiciously, “What’s this?”

Ning Fei unceremoniously sat down at the dining table and downed half a glass of champagne. “Open it and see.”

“If you’re thirsty, ask them to get you some drinking water.” Duan Yunhong wasn’t in a rush to open the wooden box, and said this first, “I’ll ask them to boil it first—if they didn’t just pay lip service.”

“No need. You went to the trouble of kicking them all out. Why would I call them back? Besides, this wine is so weak, it’s practically water.” Ning Fei raised his chin. “Hurry up and open it. Satisfy you first, then satisfy me.”

“…You probably just mean ‘satisfy your curiosity’, right? You’ve just been strengthened with holy magic, so don’t deliberately use such ambiguous wording.” Duan Yunhong said in a light tone, then finally opened the clasp of the wooden box and lifted the lid.

A dazzling array of gold greeted his eyes—a box full of gold coins and jewels.

“…” Duan Yunhong didn’t expect Ning Fei to casually toss him something so important. He was stunned for a moment, then, feigning composure, he rummaged through the gold coins. “Is this all your current assets??”

“Yeah. The other fancy stuff is hard to liquidate, and it’s all in various jewelry boxes,” Ning Fei replied casually. “So I didn’t take anything, whether I bought it myself or got it from somewhere else.”

Duan Yunhong vaguely sensed a hint of explanation in those words.

–Is he saying that’s why he didn’t take the jewelry I gave him…?

That thought flashed through Duan Yunhong’s mind, and even he didn’t know if he was overthinking it. He tried not to be presumptuous, rummaged through the gold coins, and pulled out a palm-sized cloth bag. “What’s this?”

“Open it and see.”

Seeing how unconcerned Ning Fei was, Duan Yunhong simply pulled open the drawstring and dumped the contents of the bag onto his palm. Two things fell out.

–A small golden key and the brooch Duan Yunhong had given him.

“…” Duan Yunhong’s movements froze.

“Weren’t you always whining and questioning whether I took your brooch? Now you see it.” Ning Fei had already started eating. “That key is for a bank safety deposit box.”

Duan Yunhong’s gaze was fixed on the brooch, but he asked, “Safety deposit box?”

“You didn’t think that’s all the money I have, did you? I came here for a vacation.” Ning Fei replied. “The bank also has my savings certificates and jewelry, so of course I need a little gold key.”

“A key is all you need to open a safety deposit box, and a randomly chosen alias is all you need to open an account…” Duan Yunhong chuckled, naturally putting the brooch and key back in, and pulling the bag’s drawstring shut. “So you went to your previous temporary residence to retrieve this wooden box? You should’ve said so last night. We could’ve gone there along the way and saved you from leaving your box of treasure outside.”

“I dug a hole in the floor under the bed in that room. The innkeeper couldn’t have known.” Ning Fei shrugged. “Your noble carriage is too conspicuous. It’s faster if I go myself.”

Duan Yunhong closed the box and pushed it back to him. “This box of yours is so precious, and it doesn’t even have a lock?”

“It used to have one, but I don’t know where the key went, so I just smashed it open.”

“I’ll have someone get you one later.”

“Alright.” Ning Fei was in a good mood today and was easy to talk to. “Any other questions? If not, it’s your turn to report.”

“…” Duan Yunhong now had no time to be moved at all, so he shifted his mood and began to recount what he had seen and heard at the royal palace.

…

“So, the Church is going to perform an exorcism on Mial, and then hang him?”

Ning Fei held the tall wine glass he had just refilled, and commented sharply, “That’s unnecessary. Since they’re going to kill him anyway, why bother with an exorcism? Isn’t that just putting on a show and trying to gild themselves? The Church is always like this. Even after they’ve lost face, they insist on picking it up and sticking it back on.”

“This time, they put on a very convincing act in front of the King, unlike when you were there last time and they lost their composure.” Duan Yunhong agreed with Ning Fei’s view. “But I think that Pope seems to know holy magic? He even cast it on Mial in front of the King, but Mial still seems to be loyal to you. Is the Pope truly skilled, or is he just putting on a show for appearances?”

“He’s truly skilled, but not very. His holy magic can, at best, make people feel a little warm. Purifying wounds would be difficult, let alone brainwashing.” Ning Fei replied. “He wants to use his magic to erase the effects of my magic on Mial. Even if he casts it a hundred times, it won’t be as effective as my magic fading over time.”

“That’s what you call ‘truly skilled’? That’s called ‘there’s no difference between knowing it and not knowing it’.” Duan Yunhong unceremoniously retorted. “You could achieve his level with hypnosis.”

Ning Fei: “Sounds like you know how.”

Duan Yunhong: “…I don’t believe you don’t.”

“Hahaha, indeed, we shouldn’t play any ‘Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio’ games between us.” Ning Fei smiled, tossed his used dishes aside, “Alright, it sounds like even after several decades, these people have only aged in years, and their IQ hasn’t increased. I’m relieved they’re still so stupid. Enjoy your meal, Earl. I’ll go first…”

“Wait a moment.” Duan Yunhong saw he was about to get up and immediately stopped him. “Actually, I don’t care what happens to Mial. But how are you planning to deal with the trap they’re setting for you?”

“‘Trap’? Ah, you mean they’re going to write the name of a minor noble in the central square, and then heavily ambush that minor noble, trying to lure me into a trap?” Ning Fei rested his chin on his hand and smiled slightly. “You call that a ‘trap,’ Earl? I don’t believe that such a childish idea could catch your eye.”

“I’m not looking up to them. I just want to know if you have a method to respond,” Duan Yunhong said flatly. “After all, I’m still being hypnotized by your ‘oracle’. I can’t break this, and I can’t resist the idea of protecting you in my heart.”

“…” Ning Fei nearly “tsk”ed out loud.

“In that case, why don’t you come up with a plan?” Ning Fei stood up, leaned on the table, and slightly bent toward the man across from him. “Protect your ‘target’, Earl Andrew. Don’t let him down.”

*

Three days after Deca’s death, Mial had disappeared without a trace. At the same time, a name was written in the central square.

The name of an obscure minor noble, someone Ning Fei, who once knew the names of the powerful and influential by heart, had to scratch his head to remember. Moreover, the name was written small, and couldn’t be seen from the high floors of the surrounding buildings. You had to go to the center of the square to see it. The patrolling guards around the square were naturally increased, and the ambushing archers were constantly rotating shifts, waiting for “Devil Ning Fei” to approach and see it, so they could launch a volley of arrows and achieve fame and success.

The square was only the first layer of insurance. The second layer was around the minor noble himself. Whether the minor noble himself agreed to have his name written was unknown, but his own opinion was obviously unimportant. In any case, the King and others wouldn’t allow him to hide. They would only set up an inescapable net around him, waiting for Ning Fei to come to his door.

If Ning Fei saw through the trap and was afraid, and didn’t go, then the King and the Church could directly announce that they had thwarted Ning Fei’s prediction. At least psychologically, they could break the myth of Ning Fei’s “omnipotence.” This was the part the Church cared about most. The rest was not so important.

However, just when the powerful and influential above and below were all “ready, waiting only for Ning Fei,” early in the morning of the fifth day, a scream cut through the dawn.

“Th-there’s a name…!!!”

Another name had been discovered in the square.

–Duke Bartley.

Bigger, more eye-catching, and directly written over…the King’s statue.

This statue was originally set up very high for the people to admire. The base was taller than the average person, and with the statue, it was far beyond eye level. The guards who patrolled all night only paid attention to the ground. No one looked up. It wasn’t until the daytime that people noticed the writing on the statue.

The King was furious, and the Duke was furious, but the writing, done with some unknown paint, was completely impossible to clean. Helpless, after fussing until sunset, the statue was finally knocked down artificially, crashing down with a loud boom.

Boom!!!

Even a sturdy stone statue carved from stone shattered its fingers and crown the moment it fell.

“Wow—!” The square was crowded with people watching the commotion. They didn’t yet know why the statue was being pulled down, or why the Duke’s name was on it. Some even thought the Duke was preparing to openly revolt against the King. For a time, rumors flew, and all sorts of things were being spread on the streets.

The King couldn’t temporarily control these rumors. His statue falling was not a good omen for him personally. He demanded that all the statues in the square be removed, including those of the gods erected by the Church. The Pope was quite dissatisfied, but he couldn’t do anything. In his heart, he was actually uneasy. Today, Ning Fei could write the name of Duke Bartley. Tomorrow, he would dare to write the King’s, or his own. Although he had set up more safeguards around himself, he was actually not confident in his heart.

The removal work was carried out overnight, and the central square was brightly lit. There were too many workers working, and the guards had to patrol, supervise the workers, and also supervise their own people. Everyone was on edge. They didn’t know how the writing on the King’s statue was done, but they knew that Ning Fei “could fly.” It shouldn’t be difficult to fly over everyone’s heads to write the words.

Finally, late at night, the statues and other tall decorations in the square were completely removed.

The workers who would rewrite the name finally entered the scene at this time, carrying several buckets of conspicuous paint. In this era, this kind of paint was not cheap, but in order to point the “arrow of death” at the intended target again, the nobles were willing to spend even more to make the name more conspicuous and larger.

Duke Bartley even came to the scene to supervise the work in person, of course, under the protection of heavy guards and archers. He didn’t believe that Ning Fei could really kill him, but since he learned that his name had actually appeared in the square, the security around him had indeed been strengthened many times over, even more so than the royal family’s solid walls of bronze and iron.

Cerys also came along. He said he was concerned about his dear father, but he actually secretly wanted to come and see if he could meet Ning Fei.

The father and son were just watching the workers paint the name of the minor noble, stroke by stroke, under heavy guard. Ironically, the central square was such a core area, and the largest name ever written there actually belonged to an unknown minor noble.

However, just as the name was being painted halfway, a commotion suddenly came from not far away.

The patrolling guards were shouting and cursing. Some of the voices were particularly fierce and loud, clearly indicating that something had gone wrong. Duke Bartley had someone ask what happened, and soon, the person who went to inquire returned, reporting somewhat hesitantly, “They caught a person. He was…he was…writing your name!”

“What?!” The Duke frowned. “Is it that devil Ning Fei? Did they catch him?”

“No, it looks like a guard. He was crouching in the fountain pool where the statue was moved. The people passing by didn’t notice what he was doing. He was just discovered writing, uh, spelling out your name with stones on the bottom of the pool!”

“Another person bewitched by the devil? Immediately seize him and interrogate him for Ning Fei’s whereabouts!” The Duke lifted his foot and walked toward the commotion, so quickly that some of the guards and servants who had been surrounding him didn’t have time to keep up. Soon, the Duke saw the captured guard—already pinned to the ground face down by other guards.

Duke Bartley looked down at him and asked sternly, “Where is Ning Fei?!”

“I will not…expose my master!” The guard’s face was bruised, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He still shouted with difficulty, “Ning Fei is the true God…Ah!”

The Duke stomped on his head, as casually as crushing a small bug on the roadside.

“Another one bewitched by the devil, take him to the Church!” The Duke said coldly, “All those who have been bewitched must be exorcised by the Church, and then subjected to fire torture, to eliminate future troubles—”

Swoosh—!!!

The Duke suddenly felt a buzzing sound beside his ear. He subconsciously raised his hand to touch it, and one of the servants beside him had already fallen to the ground!

An arrow had pierced through this person’s abdomen!

“Ahhhh, murder!!!”