Book 15: Chapter 93
A sticky trail of scarlet liquid spilled onto the ground.
“Finally… beheaded him?” remarked the assassin in black, staring at the head on the ground and strangely feeling emotional.
There was no reason to feel emotional about killing a weakling who couldn’t appreciate his father’s last act of mercy, and couldn’t appreciate his guards. However, he was the scion of a monarch even though he had been stripped of his identity. To kill the son of a monarch who was bound to go down in history for his treason was reminder of how volatile life was.
As he stared at Li Chengzhi’s head, he recalled his master’s warning. If the master of Night Fortress met his demise in the capital, then there was nobody to carry the blame, which would only bring upon them unwanted consequences. A deal without capital was the hardest to complete; there had to be an investment for there to be a return. To kill someone of Night Fortress’ master’s standing required the sacrifice of another life beforehand to avoid future complications. That said, Feng Jiutian didn’t need to think for long or search for a victim as the best candidate showed presented himself to him – Li Chengzhi – and offered the last thing he had to offer. Without Feng Jiutian even having to motivate Li Chengzhi, Li Chengzhi was ready to charge ahead of the pack if he could’ve irritated his father.
Li Chengzhi’s involvement in the riot not only threw a wrench in His Majesty’s plans, but he also found Feng Jiutian a scapegoat – which would’ve been an officer – and removed any reason for His Majesty to miss him. The three-for-the-price-of-one bargain kept Feng Jiutian up at night with joy when Li Chengzhi went onto the stage.
Despite having fallen from grace, Li Chengzhi still wanted to harm Ming Feizhen, but that was impossible with the manpower at his disposal, and it sure wasn’t going to go under the radar of Mount Daluo’s monster who was virtually a god. Who could’ve known for certain if harming Ming Feizhen would’ve triggered his legendary grandmaster into action. Thankfully, Li Chengzhi offered himself up to shoulder all of the hatred if Mount Daluo ever wanted to avenge Ming Feizhen.
The assassin wrapped up Li Chengzhi’s head in a black piece of cloth once he confirmed it was Li Chengzhi. With the head, there was evidence that Li Chengzhi tried to harm Ming Feizhen, only to have the tables turned on him. In the scenario that Ming Feizhen died in the capital, His Majesty would’ve pulled out all the stops to find the culprit. If Ming Feizhen killed Li Chengzhi first, on the other hand, then there’d be entertainment for everyone waiting to see His Majesty go at Mount Daluo. Amongst all the chaos, the cause of Ming Feizhen’s death would’ve been of the least importance. Everything was following the same course as the spark for the battle at Lawless Cliff six years ago.
The assassin didn’t need to personally burn Li Chengzhi’s body since Big Beard was there, and he would’ve done the best job of it. He gazed into the empty corridor, still unable to restore peace to his mind. The manor was cleared out long ago, so nobody would’ve known about Li Chengzhi’s final resistance. Even if Li Chengzhi was able to escape the courtyard, nothing would’ve changed. When Li Chengzhi started resisting and was sent through the window, though, the assassin had a feeling that the situation had slipped out from his grip, so he didn’t dally. He didn’t and couldn’t understand the source of the unease, but holding Li Chengzhi’s head in his hand at long last was relieving.
Big Beard finally caught up.