“Baron! Baron! I’m back!”
Just as everyone was lost in anxious thought, a sudden, boisterous shout erupted from the edge of the crowd.
People exchanged bewildered glances, wondering who it could be. Then, Adair pushed his way through the throng, emerging from the periphery.
Only then did they realize it was merely the Baron’s recently favored servant.
Before making his entrance, Adair had discreetly dabbed chili powder into his eyes. His tear ducts had promptly given way, and he wept with such heart-wrenching misery that an unknowing observer might have mistaken the Baron for his long-lost father.
Adair lunged toward the Baron, gripping his shoulders and shaking him relentlessly. Given the Baron’s immense size, he remained unmoved, yet Adair’s face was contorted with fervent emotion.
The spectacle momentarily stunned the two young bodyguards standing nearby. They exchanged a look, their expressions tinged with unexpected admiration.
‘Look at him,’ they thought, ‘He deserves all his success. In just two days, he’s achieved more than we have in years. Such utter shamelessness is truly a path to great wealth and fortune.’
At this moment, the Baron’s mind remained clouded, his consciousness still muddled. He continued to bellow incoherently, “Kill him, kill him!”
Adair, still weeping profusely, cried out, “Oh, Baron, what has happened to you? I was counting on you to deliver justice for us! The Old Butler, that beast, is a traitor! He conspired with that Ghost Head to raid your treasury, and Sixth Master has already been dealt with by that old scoundrel.”
“Among all the loyal brothers in the stronghold, I am the only one who returned alive to inform you! You cannot remain like this, Baron. You must pull yourself together! You are still alive; you cannot stand idly by while they rebel and loot your treasury! Weren’t you planning to move the Golden Bright Stronghold’s treasures anyway?”
Adair’s words struck a raw nerve within the Baron.
The phrases ‘Old Butler,’ ‘treasures,’ ‘treasury,’ and ‘alive’ echoed incessantly through Quentin’s mind. For a moment, he managed to suppress the frantic thoughts raging within him.
Adair, meanwhile, continued to sob uncontrollably, now unable to stop even if he tried.
Suddenly, a pair of heavy hands clamped down firmly on Adair’s arm. Adair, startled, looked up to find Quentin’s bloodshot eyes fixed intently on him.
“That old geezer… is he at Golden Bright Stronghold?!”
Adair stammered, flustered, “Yes, yes! I saw that old villain point out Sixth Master with my own eyes. I barely managed to escape! Sixth Master, Sixth Master, he… Waaah!”
“Good, very good.” The Baron abruptly shoved the two bodyguards aside. The sheer force he displayed astonished them; after all, they had been suppressing Quentin with their qi just moments before.
Quentin hadn’t even released his qi when he pushed them. The two bodyguards were bewildered. Had his rage transformed into power, or had the Baron been secretly formidable all along?
Quentin rose to his feet and roared, “Bring me the finest armor in the estate and the great axe I commissioned at a high price! Also, gather all the soldiers in the city! We set out now to subjugate Golden Bright Stronghold! I will personally lead the troops into battle!”
!!!
Everyone was stunned. Was this truly the same coward they knew? This posture suggested he was serious.
Adair’s mind raced with a thousand ‘grass mud horses.’ This was not at all what he had envisioned. While he did intend to trick Quentin into personally leading the expedition, this level of stimulation was excessive. The Baron was now impatiently rushing to his death.
Adair couldn’t allow him to proceed like this; it would be nothing short of sending fresh heads to Golden Bright Stronghold.
“Wait, Baron, this matter requires careful deliberation.”
Adair had barely begun to offer his counsel when Quentin seized him by the throat, lifting him clear off the ground. Gasping for air, the Baron growled in a low, menacing voice, “Did you not hear what I said? If you don’t want to die, lead the way for me! Otherwise, I’ll tear you limb from limb right now!”
It was then that Adair realized he had underestimated the extent of Quentin’s madness. This was clearly not merely the result of psychological stimulation.
Adair was wearing a weighted suit, yet Quentin had effortlessly lifted him without a tremor in his hand. Such arm strength was utterly beyond what a gluttonous, indolent man like Quentin should possess.
His arms were laden with fat, not well-trained muscle.
Moreover, Adair glimpsed a tyrannical, all-consuming fury in Quentin’s eyes, a sight that sent a shiver of fear through him.
Adair’s face turned crimson as he struggled to speak, “No, that’s not it! Those fellows aren’t at Golden Bright Stronghold at all right now!”
*Thump!*
Quentin violently slammed Adair to the ground, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of Adair’s mouth.
“Speak! Where are they?”
The terrifying aura emanating from the Baron at that moment suggested he might devour someone at any second. Everyone trembled, watching the scene unfold, daring not to move an inch.
Adair struggled to his feet, coughing as he spoke, “Cough, cough, I don’t know where they are now. But I overheard them planning to raid your third treasury at 4 AM tomorrow. I don’t know where that is, so I rushed here to inform you, my Lord.”
“Heh, hahahaha!” The Baron threw his head back and laughed maniacally, roaring, “Good, good, good! What a cunning old fox, to even tell others about that!”
Quentin’s cross-eyes gleamed with a vicious light. “Since that’s the case, don’t blame me for being ruthless! Everyone, follow me to set an ambush there in advance! Heheheh, by then, I’ll make sure to devour that old scoundrel alive!”
As he spoke, Quentin licked his lips, as if anticipating a gourmet meal. Coupled with his chilling, deranged laughter, it made for an exceptionally terrifying sight.
Cold sweat beaded on Adair’s forehead. What had that cult done to this man?
“What are you waiting for? Go assemble the soldiers!”
“Yes!”
The stewards scrambled, fleeing in disarray from the now half-mad Baron.
Adair cautiously spoke from the side, “Baron, I shall also go recuperate from my injuries for now. I will then serve as your vanguard.”
Quentin cast a cold glance at Adair. “Are you trying to run? Do you intend to betray me and escape like that bumpkin and old tortoise?!”
“Heaven’s great injustice!” Adair exclaimed, feigning distress. “My strength is meager, and your divine power has wounded my internal organs. If I don’t seek treatment, wouldn’t it be shameful to die on the road to suppress the rebels?”
The Baron snarled, “Fine! I will get you the best doctor in the manor, but you are not to leave my sight. If I discover you dare to deceive me, I will eat you first!”
Adair’s heart sank. The current Quentin was utterly unreasonable, his moods unpredictable, devoid of any logic. His suspicion of Adair wasn’t based on any flaw or misstep, but purely on his rising paranoia, making him unwilling to trust Adair.
Adair had not anticipated such an unexpected turn of events at the final critical juncture. This threw his meticulously planned scheme into an unknown direction.
He sensed that the cult’s manipulation of Quentin went far beyond what he currently displayed. He wanted to warn Rod and Ye Xi, but he was now confined.
Left with no alternative, Adair resigned himself and sat obediently on a nearby sofa, awaiting the physician’s arrival.
Speaking of treatment, it was merely to prescribe some herbal medicine, as Adair had only been heavily thrown and sustained no other serious injuries.
Quentin monitored the entire process, a massive axe resting beside him. The gleaming shimmer of its blade suggested it was no ordinary weapon.
Adair no longer dared to provoke Quentin in the slightest, fearing that any misstep might lead the madman to cleave him in two.
This situation persisted until nightfall. Quentin’s forces had assembled, and it was time to depart.
Under Quentin’s direct surveillance, Adair found no way to relay information to Ye Xi and Rod. He could only hope they would make their own judgments.
As for Golden Bright Stronghold, he and Hutou had already agreed upon a departure time, planning to ambush Quentin there in advance.
Adair had initially considered betraying Hutou to prevent a one-sided battle, but seeing Quentin’s current state, he hesitated. Adair had witnessed the cult’s methods firsthand—詭異多端,邪惡強大. They were insidious, varied, evil, and powerful.
He wasn’t certain if the balance of power remained as he expected. Adair decided to temporarily observe the situation.
Just as he was preparing to board the chariot with Quentin, a ‘dog’ suddenly rushed over, barking furiously at him.
Adair paused, then looked to see that it was Yuzu.
A flicker of joy crossed Adair’s heart, but outwardly, he feigned extreme impatience. He barked back at Yuzu, “Get lost, you dead dog! I’m in a hurry right now; I don’t even have time for my wife. My own life is uncertain, and a dog is still bothering me!”
Adair made a motion as if to kick Yuzu, who promptly vanished from sight.
From the chariot, Quentin called out impatiently, “What are you doing? Hurry up and get on; don’t waste time!”
Adair immediately bowed and scraped, “Yes, yes.”
In a shadowy corner, Yuzu silently watched Adair and the others depart, then turned and ran towards the city gates.
****
“Is that so? It seems he’s run into trouble.”
Ye Xi translated the information Yuzu had brought back and prepared to follow Adair and his group.
Ye Xi had dispatched Yuzu to investigate because of the significant commotion emanating from the Lord’s City. Even without actively probing, the city’s conspicuous mobilization of forces had drawn considerable attention.
Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, tea drinkers on the first floor of the inn had been discussing these events.
She had initially assumed that after such a major incident, Adair would inform her somehow. However, by 10 PM, she had received no message from him.
Thus, Ye Xi sent the trained Yuzu to check on Adair’s situation.
Ye Xi had trained Yuzu using methods from her previous life, teaching it to convey a special code through the frequency of its barks and body movements. Ye Xi could then translate this code into understandable information.
Normally, such an advanced technique would take even the smartest canine breeds two to three years to master in her previous life. However, Yuzu’s intelligence was comparable to a human’s, allowing it to convey simple messages within just one day.
Meanwhile, Hutou of Golden Bright Stronghold had already arrived at the abandoned mine. Based on Adair’s descriptions and an extensive search, they finally located the entrance to the cave leading to the Great Rift Valley.
Hutou had considered entering first, but after losing soldiers to the traps and mechanisms inside, he decided to set an ambush outside.
Hutou gripped his wolf-tooth club, his entire being exhilarated. Little did he know that the glorious future he anticipated was nothing more than an illusion from the very beginning.