Keep attacking girls and try not to be killed by them

If the Frost Knight Stan is actually the star captain of the Holy Crown Oath Knights, Tynpu, then it can explain why he behaves so strangely and why he dares not show his true face.

10.32 - Countering strategy with strategy

"Master Trickster, may I give you a detailed introduction to Captain Tynpu?"

"No need. I need to think of something now. You guys stay where you are."

Old man Guiyu flatly rejected his subordinate's suggestion, and then began to concentrate on organizing his thoughts.

He vaguely noticed that the puzzle pieces leading to the truth seemed to have gathered in his hands.

After some thought, Mr. Guiyu could probably "see" the outline of the whole thing. If his guess was correct, then the truth of this incident should be like this:

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Two months ago, a captain of the Holy Crown Oath Knights, Tyenpu, was defeated in battle by the demons and captured.

The demons used some means to make Tyenpu betray the human alliance and then join the demon's intelligence organization, the Snake Shadow Society.

In order to facilitate his actions, Tyenpu changed his appearance and became the Frost Armor Knight Stan. Under the cover of his new identity, he successfully sneaked into the town of Mel, and then gained the trust of Zhaoye Liuque, the master of Liutang, Jiying.

Taking advantage of Jiying's trust, Frost Knight Stan was able to launch attacks on multiple organizations of Ye Liuque, while the Snake Shadow Society hiding in the dark took advantage of the chaos to achieve their ulterior motives.

When all conditions were ripe, Frost Knight Stan planned and executed the final operation in the lake base, completing the assassination of Grand Master Tetodaf.

Now, Frost Knight Stan has returned to the volcanic ruins with the goal of destroying the relevant evidence and completely withdrawing from the rear of the Human Alliance...

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—(After some minor adjustments...it seems to be true...)

Old man Guiyu stroked his beard and frowned, not excited about his "breakthrough" thinking progress.

The reason why he remained so calm was mainly because he knew that there were still many problems with his "inference".

After sighing lightly, Old Man Guiyu patted his cheeks, trying to free himself from the layers of "assumptions".

In the absence of conclusive evidence, this kind of inference based on assumptions can easily lead people into the "subjective consciousness trap."

Old man Guiyu asked himself, if the attack on Zhaoye Liuque was really done by the Snake Shadow Society, then what was their purpose?

Why did the Snake Shadow Society only attack Lord Tetodaf and not harm anyone else?

Old Man Guiyu couldn't answer. In his reasoning, there was indeed no motive for Snake Shadow to take these actions.

Apart from that, Old Man Guiyu also felt that the matter regarding Xiao Liuli was still debatable.

In his previous inference, Xiao Liuli was already in a dangerous position where she could betray at any time, but in fact, it was Xiao Liuli who told him the location of the Wakeno volcanic ruins.

If Xiao Liuli had already betrayed her, why would she reveal the whereabouts of Frost Knight Stan?

Could it be that they were planning to lure Old Man Guiyu and the others to the volcanic ruins, and then set a trap so that they would never return?

No, Mr. Guile has proved through his own experience that there are no traps in the Wakeno volcanic ruins.

And let alone a trap, there wasn't even a living person.

Therefore, Xiao Liuli's suspicion of betrayal can basically be cleared, unless...

——(Unless...the clues we found are...a trap?)

Old Master Guiyu froze. The moment he thought of this possibility, he was like a character in a book realizing that he was just a fictional existence. He found that all his ideas from the beginning to now might have been part of the enemy's calculations.

But if he continues to think like this, the endless cycle will drain the old man Guiyu's frail brain power.

——(No, no, no… Let’s stop here for now.)

As a man who has one foot in the coffin, Old Man Guiyu dare not let his brain continue to work in overload.

If he continues to think like this, he will probably have to go to another world to find his partner early.

·

"Everyone, listen up! Divide into groups of two as before and begin searching the ruins again. Once you're done, return here and regroup. Any questions?"

"No problem." x2

"Okay, let's get started."

"As you command, Master Whisper." x2

After finishing his thoughts, Mr. Guiyu decided to conduct a final search inside the ruins with his subordinates.

If no new clues are found, the search will end here.

The reason why Mr. Guiyu made this decision was because he felt that it was meaningless to continue wasting time and energy here.

Unless there is substantial evidence, reasoning based on assumptions is just empty talk.

However, Mr. Guiyu's visit to the volcanic ruins was not without gain. He could now confirm three things:

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First, Zhaoye Liuque is currently in a very dangerous situation, a crisis that concerns the survival of the entire organization;

Secondly, the possibility that Grand Master Tetodaf is still alive has further decreased, and the selection of the next Grand Master may need to be brought forward;

Third, Frost Knight Stan is listed as the number one suspect, and Xiao Liuli is the second most likely suspect. Neither of these two can be let off.

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With these three conclusions as guidance, the direction of Mr. Guiyu's next actions has been determined.

·

After more than two hours, the second search of Mr. Guiyu and his team was coming to an end.

Old Man Guiyu had no hope for the second search, but he did not expect that his trusted subordinates would find new clues.

This time, the subordinates found a piece of parchment that was also burnt black. Only the palm-sized part in the middle could vaguely show that it was once a map.

Relying on their excellent memory and geographical knowledge, everyone was able to restore the entire map based on just this little bit of information.

"This place with the mark on it... should be near Sunny Town, right?"

"Sunny Town? You mean the Sunny Town in the Green Lizard Family's territory?"

"Yeah, the only town I can think of with this kind of terrain around here is Sunnytown."

"..."

Listening to his subordinates' discussion, Old Man Guiyu began to think silently in his heart.

This place marked on the map is actually a "location clue" just like the "volcanic ruins" provided by Xiao Liuli this time.

In order to turn this clue into valuable intelligence, you must explore it yourself, but conversely, you will also have to bear the risk of falling into the tiger's mouth.

Do you want to go and search it? Or not?

Old Man Guiyu didn't worry too much because he knew that once he started doing something, there was no way to stop.

Two days later, Mr. Guiyu and his group found the location marked on the parchment map and discovered that it was actually a secret base.

What is even more bizarre is that judging from the various documents scattered in the secret base, the owner of this secret base is actually the missing Lord Tetodaf, the head master of the Zhaoye Liuque sect.

[Note: For details on the location of the secret base and what happened there, please refer to Chapter 9.231 - Dark Shadows in the Night. Jiang Ran commanded the Causing Horned Viper King Gnaku to fight against Tetodaf and the Little Black Water Dragon here.]

The unexpected discovery greatly promoted Mr. Guiyu's thinking process and allowed him to formulate an extremely bold strategy.

Three days later, the three branch hall masters of Zhaoye Liuque, except for Old Man Guiyu, received the same bad news on the same day.

The content of this sad news is: The temporary chief hall master, Guiyu, has died due to the recurrence of his old illness.

10.33 - Death of Whisper

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October 187, 10

7:34 AM

[Death Future Remaining: 28 Days]

[Confession death countdown remaining: 15 days]

"Curse of the Ancestral Wolf: 61 Days Remaining"

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Five days have passed since the incident at the Wakno volcano ruins.

Before she knew it, Shiiki Ruri had already adapted to living with the Frost Armor Knight. For example, she was awakened by the smell of breakfast in the early morning, and then had breakfast with the Frost Armor Knight who always wore heavy armor.

The breakfast on the table today was toasted black bread, accompanied by butter and cheese.

Black bread made from grains such as barley and rye is a boring food that Shiiki Ruri has long been accustomed to. It has a rough and heavy taste. Butter and cheese are relatively luxurious, but for Shiiki Ruri, the head of a branch hall, they are not rare.

However, these foods, which she had eaten countless times, gave Shiiki Ruri a different feeling during these days.

Just having one more person to share breakfast with made her feel that these boring foods became delicious again.

The last time Shiiki Ruri experienced this feeling of eating with someone she trusted was when Aunt Magee hadn't passed away.

In the heart of this cat-man girl, Lord Frostmail Knight is gradually becoming "Uncle Stan" of the same status as Aunt Magee.

"Can we continue with the 'Second Stage' training today, Boss Liuli?"

"No problem, meow. I seem to be getting the hang of it."

The "second stage training" that once made Shiiki Ruri lose all confidence no longer frightens her today.

Time is truly the best teacher. After countless times of having her legs so weak and numb that she couldn't stand, Shiiki Ruri finally saw hope of adapting to the "power" of the Frost Armor Knight.

Full of confidence, Shiiki Ruri munched on the black bread in big mouthfuls, and couldn't wait to start today's training. At this moment, she heard the sound of flapping wings outside the window. She looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was a steel-feathered owl perched on the windowsill outside the house.

The only one who would use a steel-winged owl to send a letter to Shiiki Ruri was the "Organization." She immediately stood up, walked over, opened the window, and carried the steel-winged owl into the house. Then she took off the letter tied to its legs and unfolded it to confirm the contents.

Three seconds later, Shiiki Ruri couldn't hold back her surprise and screamed out.

"Ah? Grandpa Gui, Guiyu is dead?"

Unbelievable, she read the letter over and over again, but even though she could barely recognize the words on the letter, she still couldn't find anything she had read wrong...

·

━━━━━━━━━━

The leader of Quetang, Guiyu, had indeed died due to a relapse of his old illness.

━━━━━━━━━━

·

"He was fine in the volcanic ruins just a few days ago. How could he suddenly become like this, meow..."

Shiiki Ruri fell into the chair in a daze. The death of old man Guiyu was still a blow to her.

Although the relationship between Shiiki Ruri and Mr. Guiyu has become somewhat tense due to recent events, Shiiki Ruri still retains respect for Mr. Guiyu in her heart.

Aunt Magee once said something about Mr. Weird Words, and Shiiki Ruri still remembers it to this day. The specific content of this comment is:

"Even if everyone betrays the organization, only Mr. Guiyu will not betray. He will be loyal to the organization until his death."

"Could you please show me the contents of the letter, Boss Liuli?"

The voice of the Frost Armor Knight seemed to float over from far away. Shiiki Ruri nodded and handed over the letter.

According to the rules of the organization, Shiiki Ruri was not actually allowed to do this. Not to mention showing the letter to Lord Frost Armor Knight, even her screaming out and revealing the contents of the letter were extremely serious violations.

However, the situation has changed. Shiiki Ruri and Lord Frost Armor Knight are now in the same boat. The rules of the organization have long been surpassed by Shiiki Ruri's trust in Lord Frost Armor Knight.

"So that's how it is. This news was leaked by one of Old Master Guiyu's trusted subordinates. It seems there's no way it could be fake."

After reading the letter, Lord Frost Armor Knight returned it to Shiiki Ruri.

After confirming the "summoning information" on it again, Shiiki Ruri burned the letter.

"Yes, meow. Whether it's the handwriting on the letter, the paper, or the steel-feathered owl that delivered it, it's all the same as usual. Meow... How could Grandpa Whisper die just like that?"

Shiiki Ruri lowered her head, still unable to muster up any energy.

Although she was so determined when she assassinated Tetodaf, in fact, this cat-girl is very sentimental.

Frost Knight Stan gently placed his hand on Shiiki Ruri's soft shoulder. He said nothing, simply staying with her quietly until she raised her head again. Then, Frost Knight Stan said, "Follow the 'summoning message' and reunite with everyone. The dead cannot be resurrected, so we can only face this with strength."