The Apple Circus was located in the suburbs of Starstone City. It was not performance time for the circus in the morning, so what happened here had not been seen by anyone else.
The fat steward and the Red Clothed Guards he had brought were still lying on the ground. Three of them were dead, while the remaining five had only fainted.
In addition, there were two coachmen who, upon seeing Ye Chui and the others make their move, panicked and tried to flee but were brought back by Gilga and knocked unconscious.
This kind of business of hijacking others seemed like they were already quite familiar with it…
At the simple dining table, Ye Chui and his group enjoyed a delicious breakfast while recounting to Xi Lesi the events of their encounter with Jiali. Xi Lesi maintained an expression of wide-eyed astonishment throughout, her gaze towards Ye Chui becoming even more admiring than before.
When she heard that Jiali was dead, she initially thought that Ye Chui and the others must have gone through a fierce battle with him. That guy was no ordinary person; his combat strength might not be particularly high, but he was an assassin with masterful stealth sword techniques and was extremely skilled at using poisons. Battling such an assassin, determining victory or defeat was not simply about the strength of power.
But this outcome…
Xi Lesi could not help but sigh to Ye Chui: “You truly are different from the rumours, an all-round magic tutor with countless varieties of spells, I have never heard of a spell that turns people into idiots before.”
“However, I am sorry for killing your partner. If I had known he was your friend, I would definitely have spared his life.” Ye Chui said to Xi Lesi with full sincerity after taking a bite of the grilled sausage.
Xi Lesi simply shook her head calmly: “No need to feel sorry, he was not my friend. There is no friendship between assassins; if the mission requires it, they kill each other without hesitation. Jiali and I originally had only a few encounters; we became partners only because of the organisation’s arrangement. I have no fondness for him.”
“So what do you plan to do next?” Debbie asked. She was inquiring whether Xi Lesi intended to continue with the mission to assassinate the Flower Prince.
A trace of helplessness flashed across Xi Lesi’s face: “I must complete this mission. Since I joined the Cicada Castle Assassins’ Guild, I have no choice left.” She changed the subject, “So what about you all? What do you plan to do next?”
“Find a way to sneak into the imperial capital.” Ye Chui replied.
Xi Lesi frowned: “At least half the people in the imperial capital want to kill you now, and yet you deliberately throw yourselves into the net. The matter of killing the Ninth Prince is not so easily resolved. What exactly are you going into the imperial capital for? Do you really want to become emperor?” Ye Chui had not told her that he was not the illegitimate son, so she now believed Ye Chui was the old emperor’s illegitimate child.
Ye Chui shook his head: “I have no interest in becoming emperor. I want to go to the Imperial Trial.”
The Imperial Trial could be said to be the highest level of judicial adjudication in the empire. All members of the Imperial Council must attend, and the emperor must preside. It was only activated for matters concerning national stability or the life and death of important members of the royal family. Killing the Ninth Prince was sufficient to bring Ye Chui into the Imperial Trial.
Ye Chui now bore the crime of killing the Ninth Prince; he had to find a way to clear his name. The Imperial Trial was the only option he could choose.
This was also the purpose of Ye Chui wanting to sneak into the imperial capital over the past month. To initiate the Imperial Trial, he at least needed to be in the imperial capital; otherwise, once he exposed himself outside, he would surely attract endless pursuit.
“Imperial Trial? You are an illegitimate son now; there is no one in the entire Imperial Council who will support you. Where is the fairness in such a trial?” Xi Lesi said in some shock.
“Don’t worry, we also have backing. At that time, we can ask Little Seven to preside over the Imperial Trial; he will give us justice.” Debbie interjected with a smile.
“Little Seven?” Xi Lesi was stunned.
“Oh, that’s Prince Geller, he used to be Debbie’s little follower.” Ye Chui explained. They had already received information that Prince Geller had returned to the imperial capital from the borderlands not long ago.
Xi Lesi: “…”
Danni then sighed: “It was precisely because I admired Grandma Debbie’s style back then that I always took the Ninth Prince running around everywhere; he was also my little follower. But I never expected him to be so useless, dying just like that in Joker Town…” At this point, Danni’s nose seemed to twitch. Although her words showed no courtesy at all, she actually cared quite a bit for the Ninth Prince. When she saw the Ninth Prince’s body, she had nearly fainted from crying.
Xi Lesi had long noticed Danni and recognised who she was. Rumours said that Ye Chui and the others had kidnapped Danni, but the truth was clearly not so. Seeing Danni, Xi Lesi suddenly thought of something, about the major event that had recently occurred in the Anduin family… The head of the Anduin family, Danni’s father, had been severely injured by someone not long ago and was still hovering between life and death!
However, looking at Danni’s state, Xi Lesi swallowed the words that had reached her mouth, planning to tell her later when there was an opportunity.
“Since Jiali died at your hands, you must already know that the Second Prince plans to invite you to his naming day banquet, right?” Xi Lesi looked towards the fat steward and the others who were lying unconscious nearby, “You originally planned to use the Second Prince’s invitation to sneak into the imperial capital?”
“That’s right.” Ye Chui nodded, also glancing at the fat steward, “But now it seems this plan is unfeasible. We can only find another way. I heard there are quite a few smuggling channels in the imperial capital; perhaps we can find a method from there.”
“Those channels are actually all controlled by those great families. They have almost all chosen to support a certain prince, and as for you, this illegitimate son, they would love to kill you outright. Those channels are unusable.” Xi Lesi was very familiar with the situation in the imperial capital and immediately determined this. Then her tone shifted, “However, I can help you sneak into the imperial capital.”
“How do you plan to do it?” Green asked curiously.
Xi Lesi did not answer but extended a slender finger. A cluster of black flames ignited at the tip of her finger; those flames slowly condensed, forming a small black insect that crawled back and forth on her finger…
Five hours later.
Two luxurious carriages arrived outside the east gate of the imperial capital under the protection of five Red Clothed Guards. A group of merchants wanting to enter the city had already gathered at the city gate, along with nearby villagers. They were undergoing strict inspections and had to pay hefty taxes; the queue stretched endlessly. However, those two luxurious carriages faced no obstruction at all and directly came to the front of the line.
With the Second Prince’s emblem on the carriages, no one with any sense would rashly intercept them.
When the carriages reached the city gate, the guarding soldiers cautiously blocked the way in front, wanting to check the people in the compartments. The door of the leading carriage opened, and the fat steward’s figure jumped down from the carriage. He shouted arrogantly at the soldier blocking the way: “You actually want to inspect His Highness the Second Prince’s carriage? The people inside are the Second Prince’s honoured guests; His Highness is waiting to receive them. If you waste time, believe me when I say that once His Highness the Second Prince gets angry, he will directly send you to be a tomb guardian?”
“This lord, we are just doing routine procedures…” The leader among the guards said with a face full of flattering smiles.
The fat steward directly slapped him across the face: “Routine procedures? Are the Second Prince’s affairs something you can routinely check? Let us pass! Otherwise, be careful I won’t be polite to you!”
The guard, slapped across the face, did not dare show the slightest anger and hurriedly bowed with a smile, not daring to insist further: “Yes, yes, I understand. Let them pass, quickly let them pass!”
Thus, the two carriages passed through the city gate under the escort of the Red Clothed Guards.
The fat steward had already returned to the front carriage. Inside the compartment were Ye Chui, Debbie, and Raisa. After the fat steward returned to the compartment, the expression on his face suddenly vanished; he sat on the side seat like a wooden puppet and made no further sound.
Debbie waved her hand in front of his eyes, and he showed no reaction at all.
“Oh my, Xi Lesi, your magic is truly powerful; it can completely control his behaviour.” She exclaimed.
“This is the black fire magic: [Insect Spirit].” Xi Lesi explained.
Earlier, she had condensed the small black insect on her finger and placed it on the heads of the fat steward and the other survivors. The black insect then drilled into their bodies through their noses, mouths, and other orifices; they subsequently became like puppets, their actions completely controlled by Xi Lesi. This led to the current scene. The original injuries on their bodies had been healed by Debbie summoning Afuer.
Xi Lesi continued, “This is the first time I have used this magic. It has many limitations. The person controlled must be unconscious, and the insect can control them for three days. Once the time passes, even if these people recover normally, they will become madmen. It is somewhat an evil spell. I originally did not plan to use it, but now we still need to rely on them to enter the imperial capital, so I had no choice but to use this magic.”
“Magic that controls others?” Ye Chui became greatly interested in this magic. He hurriedly logged into Xi Lesi’s skill site and opened her skill categories.
Xi Lesi was proficient in three types of magic: fire magic, shadow magic, and black fire magic.
She knew more than ten black fire magic spells, including [Dance of Black Fire], [Black Fire Dragon], [Insect Spirit], and several others.
There were also a bunch of daily life skills, such as fitting in everywhere (intermediate), seduction (intermediate), housework (advanced), cooking (advanced), sewing (advanced)… Ye Chui was quite relieved not to see something like bedroom secret techniques, the kind exclusive to seductive vixens. But for a woman like her, what was the deal with maxing out housework, cooking, and sewing to advanced level?
After scanning a few times, he lightly clicked on the [Insect Spirit] spell.
Ye Chui had already known earlier that once he detected someone else’s spells, he could directly download them. However, the download was only fragments, not the complete spell. But Ye Chui had great interest in the [Insect Spirit] spell and wanted to try downloading it to see.
Discovered downloadable resource: Would you like to spend 200 points to download the intermediate black fire spell [Insect Spirit]?
Yes!
Xi Lesi soon realised something and rubbed her head before looking at Ye Chui: “What are you doing?”
“Nothing, don’t worry. I just want to see if I can learn this spell of yours.” Ye Chui said casually. On the magic guide book screen, a slow download progress box had already appeared, just like downloading directly through the browser’s built-in module without using a download tool: progress was sluggish.
“Learn my spell?” Xi Lesi looked shocked. Everyone’s spells were learned and comprehended through arduous training; how could one just learn them on a whim? Even for magic tutors using inheritance magic guide books, to use the spells recorded in the magic guide book required prolonged practice.
“Little brother’s title of all-round magic tutor, do you think it’s just said in jest?” Raisa said with a face full of pride. Regarding Ye Chui’s speed in learning and comprehending new spells, she believed no one on the entire continent could match it.
Xi Lesi nodded with a face full of admiration.
At this moment, Ye Chui suddenly could not help but lean closer to Xi Lesi.
“Mr. Ye Chui, what are you doing?” Xi Lesi was slightly startled.
“Oh, I was just checking if the WiFi signal is better next to you…” Ye Chui’s eyes were fixed on the screen as he replied subconsciously. That progress bar was advancing far too slowly; it must be because of a poor signal…
The others: “…”
Ignoring whatever bizarre thing Ye Chui was up to, Debbie asked Xi Lesi: “By the way, we have always been very curious: who exactly hired you to assassinate the Flower Prince?”
Xi Lesi was looking at Ye Chui oddly when she heard Debbie’s words and was stunned for a moment before shaking her head: “I do not know that. I have not met the person who posted the assassination mission. The assassins’ guild is different from the mercenary guild. Although the mercenary guild also has ways to post tasks anonymously, the confidentiality is not that great. But the assassins’ guild is different; it hides the poster’s information even more strictly, and the assassins do not even know who hired them.”
“Xi Lesi, the assassins’ guild has many restrictions and is fraught with dangers. Why not quit the guild and join our Whatever Name Magic Guild instead.” Ye Chui suddenly said. He had seen Xi Lesi’s memories and knew some of the restrictions and rules of the assassins’ guild. Although there were some conveniences, such as the assassins’ guild having a powerful intelligence network where assassins could purchase information by spending gold coins or assassin points, at the same time they constantly faced dangers.
In the assassin trade, the mortality rate was extremely high.
Upon hearing Ye Chui’s words, Xi Lesi, Debbie, and Raisa were all immediately startled.
Debbie pouted unhappily. She actually had the same idea; Xi Lesi had good skills and was an acquaintance, so having her join the guild would benefit it. But hearing Ye Chui propose it made her feel displeased. She glanced at Raisa and thought to herself: Hmph, another fairy has joined the guild…
Xi Lesi was very surprised, but a grateful smile soon appeared on her face: “Thank you for the invitation, but for now I cannot extricate myself. The Cicada Castle Guild is not so easy to leave. They saved me, and I owe them a debt of gratitude. If I can repay that debt…” Xi Lesi paused, “Then, if your invitation is still valid at that time, I will definitely join you all.”
