Serena Feng took the child's hand and used her Smart Med-Pack to run a basic examination. The results matched her initial assessment: mental exhaustion, necrosis in both arms, and a torn throat.
The child had gone hungry for a long time. Trauma-induced fever, dehydration, and blood loss had nearly destroyed his body. His vital signs were weak, his spirit shattered, and even in unconsciousness he was deeply restless, unable to get any real rest.
The child's condition was dire—both his mind and body had suffered severe damage. If he hadn't run into Serena Feng's group, he would have died from fear and starvation without anyone even needing to lift a hand.
You had to admit, this child was lucky to be alive. The Eighteen Riders soon found several others—all dead, some bodies still warm, obviously only recently killed. The only survivor at the scene was this half-grown child.
Of course, this also meant the child was unlucky. Judging by the scene, aside from him, all the others were adults.
"Nothing was left at the scene to identify anyone—the other side clearly came prepared. Everything was cleaned up thoroughly, not even a trace of their departure. There's no way to track them." The Eighteen Riders worked all night, only able to search the area at dawn, but aside from burying the dead, they found nothing.
"Pack up. We're leaving immediately." The operation was so meticulous, the other side was definitely an organized, disciplined group. It was best to get out of this trouble spot as soon as possible.
Of course, Serena Feng didn't regret saving the child.
"Yes." The Eighteen Riders agreed—this wasn't a place to linger. Even if they weren't afraid of trouble, it was wiser not to stir things up in Westlyn territory.
However, they couldn't travel as quickly as before. With an injured child in tow, Serena Feng had to switch to a carriage; otherwise, the boy they'd just rescued would be in danger again.
The child woke up that day, looking like a wounded little animal—his eyes constantly alert, refusing food or drink, silent, curled up tightly, his gaze filled with terrified tears.
Except for Serena Feng, anyone who came near triggered wild struggles. If he couldn't see Serena, he'd tense up completely, keeping his eyes open and refusing to sleep no matter how exhausted he was.
Both his arms were necrotic, so Serena Feng blocked the nerves, but the wounds still hurt. Yet the child seemed numb to pain—whether she injected him or changed his bandages, he showed no expression. Eyes that should have been bright were dull and lifeless, empty of any light...
For some reason, seeing the boy like this felt familiar to Serena Feng. She overheard the Eighteen Riders say that the child's silent, emotionless manner reminded them of Ninth Royal Uncle. Serena frowned, then firmly shook her head.
Serena Feng and the Eighteen Riders hadn't gone far with the boy when two grotesque figures appeared in the woods. One had half his skull missing and only one eye: "The kid was rescued. What do we do now?"
"It's just a kid, what's there to be afraid of? He won't ruin things." The other had unusually short arms, fingers like eagle claws, and a huge chunk missing from his upper lip and nose—a severe cleft-lip case.
"Looks like they're headed for the Imperial Capital. What if someone recognizes that kid?" The one-eyed man’s gaze was cold and calculating, clearly considering the risk of acting again.
The cleft-lip killer glared fiercely: "Don’t get any stupid ideas. That group is strong—if we provoke them, we won’t get anything but trouble."
"Call Seventh Brother to join us."
"Seventh Brother is busy with real work—he doesn’t have time for our petty stuff. Anyway, they’re headed for the capital; once there, someone else will handle them. If they don’t go, it’s even less of an issue. Who would recognize such a small child?" Seeing his partner disagree, the cleft-lip killer added, "Enough already... We still haven’t finished the job from above—there are three princes’ families we haven’t caught yet. Don’t mess up the boss’s plans."
The one-eyed man spat on the ground, clearly impatient: "Now that we've been discovered, we'll have to find another place to bury the bodies. What bad luck."
...
Both the two grotesque men and Serena Feng were headed for the Lyndaria Imperial Capital. Although Serena set out half a day earlier, traveling with a child slowed her down, so the two killers arrived at the capital first.
"Sir, as you ordered, all thirty-eight targets have been executed. Their personal ornaments and body parts have been sent to their families. However..." The two killers reported their results to the armored figure in a shabby house.
"However what?" The person in full armor stood with their back to them, face and figure obscured, voice lowered so much you couldn't tell if it was a man or woman.
"However... the young heir of Prince Duan's Manor was rescued." The two killers spoke quietly, lacking confidence.
"Useless." The armored figure shifted, asking sharply, "Who rescued him? Where did they go?"
"A woman and nine men, identities unknown. They're also heading for the capital—we've been tailing them in secret, and they'll arrive this afternoon." The cleft-lip killer answered, mouth leaking saliva as he spoke.
"Hmm." The armored figure grunted, tossing out a cloth bag. "Be more careful with the next operation. I don't want any more surprises."
Though the armored figure kept their voice low, the anger was obvious. The two killers glanced at the bag on the table, quickly agreed, and responded with respectful deference.
Once the armored figure left, the two killers opened the bag and saw the gleam of gold inside. Greed flashed in their eyes, but they quickly started cursing: "Bah, what is this crap? If the King hadn’t given the word, do you think we’d bother serving you? Just a handful of coins—big deal. If we could bring out the jewels from the island, this gold would be nothing."
"You don’t even dare show your face—who knows what you really are? Kill, kill, kill... all day long, just ordering me to kill, but never letting me enjoy it. What the hell are you anyway?"
After a round of cursing, the two killers kicked off their shoes and collapsed onto the rickety bed to rest.
After days of travel and secretly tailing Serena Feng’s group, the two killers were exhausted. This was their turf, so they let down their guard—unaware that as soon as they lay down, a shadow flickered past the window.
"Useless trash—what’s the point in keeping you?" The shadow slipped into the room. The two killers woke instantly, but before they could react, a thin blade flashed across their throats.
"Ugh..." The two killers looked down at the blood spurting from their necks, terror flickering in their eyes.
They loved watching blood spray everywhere—but they didn’t like seeing their own blood spill at all.
Thud... From start to finish, the two killers didn’t make a sound before they ‘slept forever.’ Even before their bodies hit the floor, the shadow had already vanished from the room...
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