The Wizard: Grinding Experience Starting with Knight Breathing Techniques 55

Chapter 0055 [Pale Shadow] and [Iron Mountain] (Seeking Further Reading)

Adhering to the principle of better to kill mistakenly than to let go, Li Wei subjected the soldier who had been sneaking around and escaping in the middle of the night to severe interrogation.

Ultimately, it was discovered that this soldier was indeed an inside man, a mole bought off by the Death’s Whisper organization for the convenience of assassination.

He had infiltrated for quite some time. Fred Knight’s departure from the castle was due to this soldier informing Death’s Whisper’s broker.

Then, the assassin snuck into Li Wei’s castle at night, while Fred Knight was away, to assassinate Li Wei.

Of course, what this mole didn’t tell Death’s Whisper’s broker was that Li Wei had already advanced to Knight, because Li Wei had only recently become a full-fledged Knight, a fact known only to him and Fred, which led to the assassin’s failure.

However, this mole did not know the identity of the person who ordered the assassination.

Death’s Whisper, after all, was a professional team, and they were indeed very good at keeping client secrets.

But the ability to repeatedly hire assassins, even a mid-level Knight, suggests that the mastermind behind it is most likely who Li Wei and Fred Knight suspected.

“Duke Black Mountain!”

Li Wei narrowed his eyes, killing intent evident, pondering countermeasures.

Duke Black Mountain could hire assassins twice, indicating that this person would never give up until he achieved his goal.

Given Duke Black Mountain’s strength and status, Li Wei could foresee the difficulties that lay ahead.

Currently, Duke Black Mountain hadn’t acted against him openly due to legal constraints, but after two failed assassination attempts…

Li Wei didn’t know what outrageous actions Duke Black Mountain might take.

Li Wei could only do two things.

One was to abandon his territory and lordship, wandering the world to avoid Duke Black Mountain’s pursuit.

Two was to continue being the lord of Black Water Valley, but with plenty of headaches to come.

Ultimately, Li Wei decided to take things one step at a time; both options had advantages and disadvantages, making a decision difficult for now.

He could soon advance to a mid-level Knight, and now he possessed a considerable amount of gold coins, allowing him to expand his territory’s military strength.

With his current strength, unless Duke Black Mountain personally came to kill him, escape was still feasible.

In the end, Li Wei sent the mole to meet his Maker.

“We still weren’t careful enough, Fred. We need stricter screening of soldiers from now on,” Li Wei said to Fred.

“Forgive me, young master, this is my dereliction of duty. Such a thing will never happen again,” Fred said, filled with guilt and remorse. As Li Wei’s knight, he hadn’t fulfilled his duty to protect the young master. He felt he had failed his master!

“It’s fine. I just need some time, not too long. I’ll make those who want me dead regret it!”

“By the way, Fred, don’t forget to help me inquire about the Giant Breathing Technique and the Melone family. Keep this matter discreet.”

Li Wei returned to his sanctuary and continued his breathing technique practice.

Even if someone was after him, or even if the world ended, it wouldn’t interfere with his cultivation. He would simply persevere.

…

In a certain location in the Emerald Kingdom, within a gloomy and dark black castle, rows of black crows perched on the castle roof, while more flocks of black crows circled in the dusky sky above the castle.

The entire castle exuded a deathly, oppressive atmosphere.

In the castle’s underground cellar, a nobleman with a gloomy expression, pale complexion, and a slender, well-proportioned figure was savoring his years-old wine collection.

He raised a glass of Blood Roland wine, went to the second-floor balcony, and a red-eyed crow descended from the sky, landing on his shoulder. A letter was tied to the crow’s leg.

Red-eyed crows are messenger pets faster and more accurate than carrier pigeons. The organization only has a few, primarily used to contact major clients or key members.

He opened the letter. It was unsigned and read:

“Respected Pale Shadow, I didn’t want to disturb you, a Shadow-level assassin, but the task I commissioned from your organization some time ago has yet to receive a response. From the information I have, the person I want to eliminate seems to still be alive.

If your organization is incapable of completing such a simple task, I deeply doubt your professionalism.

I’ll give your organization one last chance. If you fail to complete my task, our cooperation may come to an end.

Alas, the legacy of the Thousand-Faced Knight should not have failed so miserably…”

Upon reading this, the pale-faced nobleman’s expression darkened. He rested his right hand on the stone railing, and surging black energy emanated from his fingertips, extending outward. From a distance, it looked as if his fingernails had suddenly lengthened, becoming sharp like a vampire’s.

Deep scratches marred the stone railing.

After a moment, the pale nobleman wrote with a quill on a blank piece of parchment:

“Deploy the top assassin, Iron Mountain, to continue the assassination of Baron Li Wei. Regardless of the means, this mission must not fail!”

“——————Pale Shadow”

Then, the red-eyed crow flew off with the letter.

The pale nobleman looked grim. Even now, he couldn’t understand.

How did Baron Li Wei survive two assassination attempts?

The illusionary knight, a bronze-ranked assassin, failing was one thing.

But Bernard Knight, a silver-ranked assassin, was another matter entirely. Death’s Whisper only had thirty silver-ranked assassins, each invaluable.

Not only did Bernard Knight fail to assassinate Li Wei, but he died?

Pale Shadow didn’t know whether external forces intervened or if Baron Li Wei killed Bernard Knight himself.

If it were the former, he could understand; if it were the latter, it was almost unbelievable.

“Six years ago, he was just a coward who discarded his armor and offered his land to save his life. Six years… is that enough time for such a drastic change?” Pale Shadow muttered to himself.

As a Shadow-level assassin of Death’s Whisper, one of the Five Shadows, he was unconcerned about Baron Li Wei. In his eyes, the only noteworthy thing about Li Wei was that he was the son of the famous Black Snake Knight.

But he had to care about the organization’s reputation and maintain its high professional standards and good reputation, especially since their client this time was a truly important figure, someone who possessed almost the highest level of power and strength.

And Death’s Whisper couldn’t afford to lose this client.

Iron Mountain was a recently prominent top assassin in the organization, a high-level Knight of only thirty years old, the illegitimate son of a great nobleman. He practiced the family’s superior breathing technique and had the potential to become a Great Knight in the future. His overall strength ranked among the top five among the organization’s twelve top assassins.

If Iron Mountain couldn’t complete the mission, the only ones in the organization who might succeed would be the “Death’s Five Shadows.”

However, as the leader of the organization, he usually only personally assassinated people at the Earl level at minimum.

If it came to the point where he personally had to assassinate a young upstart…

Pale Shadow might have to consider disbanding Death’s Whisper, everyone going their separate ways.

They couldn’t continue to disgrace their old master, the Thousand-Faced Knight.

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