LWDC Chapter 167

Chapter 167 – Pain Without End

Chapter 167 – Pain Without End

Chapter 167 – Pain Without End

Seven days after the King and Prince’s names were written on the central square, news of their deaths had not arrived.

Not only were there no death announcements, but the Prince’s army continued to heavily surround the royal capital, enforcing martial law in sensitive areas. This situation made it clear that at the very least, the Prince was still alive and in power.

And all the names of the nobles on the square had been blacked out.

This was an order given by the King previously. If the names couldn’t be erased, they should be covered with other colors as soon as possible. In case Ning Fei or his informants hadn’t had time to see the names, covering them up early was the most direct way to save their lives.

Therefore, the once dazzling and lively central square was now covered everywhere with patches of black, large and small, like a tattered cloth with countless repairs, extremely unsightly. Coupled with the military supplies piled up everywhere, the bloodstains that hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned, the garbage thrown around, and various other dirty and messy traces, the central square was a true breeding ground for filth.

In short, those whose names were written could only hope that Ning Fei had seen those names filled with blood and tears before they were crossed out.

Currently, it seemed that everything was not going as people wished.

Some people observing in secret were very disappointed, but at the same time, there were still some embers of hope. After all, during the days of riots and conflicts in the central square, it wasn’t just the King and Prince whose names were written, but also other nobles. And even earlier, other nobles’ names had been written, but they had also been painted over. People thought that perhaps Ning Fei had gone to kill other nobles, and hadn’t gotten around to these two top dignitaries yet.

They would rather believe that Ning Fei was still killing dignitaries according to the prophecy, than be willing, or dare, to think of the worst-case scenario—that Ning Fei had silently abandoned the game.

Another seven days passed in this way.

Still no state funeral, still martial law in the royal capital.

Not only that, but Ning Fei’s activities no longer appeared in the royal capital, as if he had disappeared without a trace.

People who had sacrificed many relatives and friends fell into confusion.

They wanted that kind of successful, victorious cheer, that kind of joyful weeping when the clouds cleared and the moon shone, but they were still waiting for good news. The only “source of information” among the people—the casino—also gradually had gamblers spreading news: In the betting pool for Ning Fei’s killings, there hadn’t been a new deceased person for more than half a month.

The death match between Ning Fei and Baron Andrew was still hanging on the board, without any movement, only the odds constantly decreasing.

Even the casino was reacting like this, and the little hope that people had left was finally gradually extinguished in the waiting day by day.

*

“They burned a scarecrow in front of the central square! It was made in your likeness!”

Prince Fane slammed a box onto the table, frowning as he said, “A group of ignorant lowlifes, recklessly writing the names of nobles is one thing, but to be so disrespectful to you, they should have been rounded up long ago…!”

“Is that so?”

Ning Fei’s reaction was far less intense than Prince Fane’s. He raised an eyebrow slightly, and even looked at something circled by a blanket in the center of the study floor. Then he walked over and kicked it with his foot: “Is this it? This can’t be the lower half of your brother, right?”

“Yes. I just got back today, and the butler told me about this, and even sent this thing to show me.” Prince Fane replied, “I didn’t expect you to come so quickly. I didn’t have time to get someone to remove it, so I could only lift the carpet to barely cover it, so as not to offend your eyes…”

“Even if you put it so considerately, it can’t hide the fact that you only came back after fifteen days,” Ning Fei interrupted leisurely, while decisively bending down and lifting the carpet.

Duan Yunhong was originally worried that Ning Fei would be unhappy after seeing it, but when he leaned over to take a look: “…Huh?”

Just this? Made according to Ning Fei?

Although this scarecrow had been mostly burned, and its face was unrecognizable, Duan Yunhong could tell from the trend of the remnants that it didn’t look like Ning Fei at all. If he had to say where it was made according to Ning Fei, it was probably the black cloth wrapped around its body.

Wrapping a black cloak and saying it’s Ning Fei? That’s too abstract.

Ning Fei was also quite speechless, and got up to clap his hands: “…What a scarecrow that requires a lot of imagination.”

“It is said that those lowlifes were shouting ‘burn to death,’ uh…” He couldn’t bring himself to say Ning Fei’s name, so he skipped over it, “shouting those slogans, and burned it near the central square. As soon as the soldiers went over, they immediately ran away, still cursing as they ran, so this scarecrow should represent… you.”

“Did you see who they were?”

“It is said that they were just a group of children, the oldest probably no more than ten years old.” Prince Fane said, “But they must be lowlifes. Nobles wouldn’t do this kind of thing, they are all afraid that you will notice them.”

– As expected.

Duan Yunhong could almost imagine the scene. He had guessed before that Ning Fei’s choice to deal with the King’s death like this might cause people whose names were written but didn’t get results to hate him. Now, these people had indeed started burning Ning Fei’s scarecrow, using fire, perhaps to match the fact that their relatives and friends died in the fire.

Or maybe they were just using the classic “fire punishment” to eliminate demons.

Fortunately, Ning Fei didn’t see this scene with his own eyes. If he was at the scene again, it was very likely that he would deepen the darkness in his heart. This abyss was already extremely difficult to illuminate, and Duan Yunhong was already annoyed enough, so don’t let Ning Fei continue to fall.

“Do you want to investigate this matter? I suspect they are the same group of people who went to set fire to the square before.” Prince Fane continued, “These little lowlifes, they only know how to set fires everywhere! If the soldiers hadn’t put it out in time, it might have caused the nearby buildings and residences to be burned together. How many innocent deaths and injuries would that have caused, have they never thought about it?!”

“Alright.” Ning Fei was most annoyed by the nobles’ hypocritical remarks, and pointed to the box on the table, “I’m here to hear your report, not to listen to your nonsense. You have already broken your promise once, let me see if you still have a bottom line.”

“I am of course loyal.” Prince Fane stepped forward to hold his hand, lowered his head, seemingly wanting to kiss the back of his hand, “I have written to you about the reasons for my delay…”

Duan Yunhong grabbed Ning Fei’s wrist and pulled his hand away.

Ning Fei: “…”

Prince Fane: “…”

“It’s not your turn to touch him.” Duan Yunhong was also good at pretending to be a saint, his tone was cold and stern, and his eyes were compelling, “You just touched dirty things with your hands, how dare you touch him?”

This was saying that Prince Fane’s hand had touched the box, and there were dirty things in the box. But the hand that Duan Yunhong was holding, Ning Fei’s hand, had also just touched the carpet and ash, so it was actually not much different.

But Duan Yunhong just blamed him like that, and although Prince Fane was upset with him, he couldn’t refute it, and lowered his head and said, “I’m very sorry.”

Ning Fei glanced at Duan Yunhong. Duan Yunhong raised an eyebrow and smiled silently, and let go of his hand. Only then did Ning Fei respond to Prince Fane: “It doesn’t matter. Open the box.”

Prince Fane returned to the box, but was still a little hesitant: “Are you sure you want to see? Although I have ordered people to clean it, his death is really unsightly…”

Ning Fei interrupted his nonsense: “I said, open it.”

Prince Fane finally opened the lock of the box.

First open the lid, and then slowly lower the side facing Ning Fei. Accompanied by a sudden intense stench, a human head was finally revealed.

Wrapped in thick lime, one could still see its bloatedness, hideousness, and blood stains. The eyelids of both eyes could not be completely closed, and the hair was also sparse. If Ning Fei wasn’t quite familiar with the King’s appearance, it would probably be quite difficult to recognize this extremely deformed face. Without the crown and beautiful clothes, the King was no different from the laziest old man in the commoner street.

“…Alright, close it.” Ning Fei wasn’t sincerely looking for abuse, and waved his hand in the increasingly strange smell, “Handle it yourself.”

“Yes.” Prince Fane closed the box, and his expression also showed disgust, “Then also the already deceased Queen and two children…”

“Also dispose of them.” Ning Fei replied indifferently. After all, when he came according to the ten-day agreement before, he had learned from the letter presented by the butler that the King’s entire family had been wiped out by Prince Fane. How should he say it, not at all surprising. Prince Fane was essentially ruthless, selfish, and unscrupulous. Even if he was still under the deep influence of light magic, as long as his belief was “to achieve the goals proposed by Ning Fei no matter what”, and he recognized that “the King’s family was not Ning Fei’s believer”, then killing them would not make Prince Fane feel pain.

And the reason he explained in the letter was that when he was about to kill the King, the family had detected the crisis in advance. They organized guards to resist desperately, and even wanted to strike first, which caused the Prince to have to deal with everyone together, and also delayed the time. It was said logically and reasonably, but how much ambition was contained in it, only he himself knew.

However, this gave Ning Fei an inspiration.

He originally wanted to clean up Prince Fane while looking at the King’s head. Looking at it now, summary execution on the spot was the most merciful punishment for these rotten roots of the royal family.

Ning Fei had a more tormenting way.

He looked at the Prince wiping his fingers constantly with a handkerchief after closing the box, with a look of disgust on his face, and suddenly said: “The dirt on the surface can be wiped clean, but the dirt in the heart is difficult to easily remove. Since you have stained your hands with dirty blood, then let me help you completely clean it.”

Hearing this, Prince Fane’s expression suddenly became excited, and he walked up close with his hands raised: “Please baptize me, bless me…!”

Duan Yunhong immediately felt bad, and decisively retreated quickly, heading straight for the door!

“Why are you running.” Ning Fei was watching Duan Yunhong “fleeing in panic.” It wasn’t until the man grabbed the doorknob that Ning Fei spoke leisurely: “I won’t bless you.”

Duan Yunhong paused, and looked back at him: “Really?”

“Is there any falseness in this.” Ning Fei could originally precisely control the range of spellcasting. The first few times, he just thought it was funny how unwilling this guy looked, so he deliberately concealed it and teased him. Now, Ning Fei finally mercifully hinted that he didn’t need to run.

Duan Yunhong didn’t know whether he really believed it or was still suspicious. In short, although he didn’t continue to go out, he just stopped at the door and didn’t come back. Ning Fei looked at his half-believing appearance, and was too lazy to say anything more, and raised his hand towards Prince Fane.

Accompanied by a faint tinnitus, a warm wind that no one else could feel rose from the soles of Prince Fane’s feet.

It surrounded Prince Fane, getting bigger and bigger; the tinnitus also became louder and louder, gradually turning into a roar. Prince Fane could no longer hear anything else, could not feel anything else. Only warmth flowed through his limbs, and distant bells roared in his mind.

His eyes also quickly turned into a vast expanse of white. The strong light stung his eyes and made them tear up, but he was reluctant to close them. His heart, his soul was trembling, as if his feet were about to leave the ground.

Just in this ethereal state of about to ascend, a voice descended from the sky and entered his mind.

“I want you to become truly good, kind, and beautiful from now on. You cannot bear to see people’s lives being trampled on, you cannot bear to see lives being ruined, you cannot bear to see the suffering in the world.

“I want you to clearly recall everyone you have killed, every piece of land you have seized, every thing you have done that harms others. Every memory is a whip on your heart, every sin burns your soul, making you suffer.

“When others are angry, sad, and pained because of you, you will feel it a hundred times more. You must repent and atone every day, but your sea of karma is endless and can never be repaid.

“You are born with sin, but above that, you must fear death. Living in agony is not a reason for you to seek death.

“You must search for the meaning of death, and only when you truly understand it can you truly go towards death and peace.”