Chapter 116: Rumors? I’m the One Who Spread Them!

Dead people?

Which world doesn’t have people dying all the time?

What’s so strange about dead people?

Even Hill Yu herself had killed quite a few during the previous rebellion.

Hearing the panicked report from the soldier, Annie Donald immediately scolded.

“Dead is dead. Is there a world where people don’t die?”

“Don’t you see Her Highness is about to rest? Coming to disturb at this hour, are you looking to be punished?”

Struck silent by Annie’s words, the soldier didn’t know whether to kneel or stand.

For a moment, he stood frozen, unsure what to do.

“Enough, Annie. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

Hill Yu sighed, setting down the hot soup in her hand.

She asked, “Who died to make you so flustered?”

At the question, the soldier finally spoke cautiously.

“At the city gate, Your Highness.”

“A group of soldiers on patrol found over a dozen people lying outside the gate. When they went to check, they discovered those people were already dead.”

“Oh?”

Hill Yu sensed something unusual.

“What kind of people died?”

“It’s…”

The soldier paused.

“It’s City Defense Army soldiers…”

“What?”

Hill Yu and Annie exchanged glances.

“Let’s go take a look!”

When the two arrived outside the city gate, a squad of soldiers had already cordoned off the area.

“Move aside, move aside, Her Highness is here!”

Someone shouted from the crowd.

Immediately, the soldiers dropped to their knees in salute.

“Greetings to the Princess!”

“Rise.”

Hill Yu called from her horse, then dismounted.

Annie also jumped down behind her.

“What happened here?”

At her question, a squad leader was pushed forward.

His face was filled with fear, and when he looked at Hill Yu, he gasped.

“You! Come here!”

Hill Yu pointed at him.

“Explain what happened here.”

The squad leader hesitated for a long time before finally speaking under Hill Yu’s displeased gaze.

“Your Highness… it’s like this.”

“Earlier, I… I was patrolling the walls with my men…”

“We saw figures lying here.”

“I shouted at them, but they didn’t respond or leave, so I brought my men down to check.”

“Who would have thought they were corpses? Around him, we found 14 more similar bodies.”

As he spoke, the squad leader stepped aside.

Hill Yu could now see the open space behind him, littered with corpses.

Over a dozen bodies lay scattered.

Each wore the City Defense Army uniform, and the bloodstains on their bodies had not yet dried.

Upon closer inspection, each person had died in much the same way.

Their eyes were wide open, faces frozen in terror, and a fatal wound was slashed across their necks.

The wound looked familiar.

There were obvious traces of ice magic—sword wounds.

Hill Yu suddenly realized, and looked down at the Ice Orchid Sword at her waist.

When she glanced at the surrounding soldiers, all of them lowered their heads in fear, unable to meet her gaze.

Some were so frightened their legs went weak, terror written on their faces.

“Your Highness, what does this mean?”

Annie asked in confusion.

But Hill Yu didn’t answer.

Instead, she looked at the squad leader again.

At this moment, the man was sweating profusely, his body trembling as if ill.

Annie found it odd, but heard Hill Yu ask again:

“Did all these people die here?”

“No… no, not all…”

He stammered.

“Most of them were scattered…”

“I just… just gathered them together with my men…”

“Where did the others die? Take me to see.”

Hill Yu ordered.

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The squad leader led the way, trembling, with Hill Yu and the others following.

Soon, they visited several death sites, but nothing stood out.

Until the place where the seventh person died.

There, words were written in the dirt with bloodied hands.

[Princess… spare me…]

Further along, more similar writing appeared.

They read—

[Help, help… Wil…]

[Die a horrible… death, Hill Yu…]

With every site they saw, Hill Yu and Annie’s expressions grew darker.

By the last one, even the soldiers behind them were too frightened to approach.

Only Hill Yu and Annie saw the whole scene.

“Were these words here when you found the bodies, or did they appear later?”

Hearing this, the squad leader fell to his knees with a thud.

“Your Highness, even if you gave me a hundred thousand lives, I wouldn’t dare do such a thing. Please, have mercy!”

“I didn’t say you did it!”

Hill Yu said coldly.

“I’m asking you a question!”

“Yes, yes…”

He wept.

“When I brought my men, the writing was already there…”

The squad leader was utterly terrified, tears and snot streaming down his face.

“Because of the fear, I ordered the bodies gathered together… Your Highness, have mercy!”

“Mercy?”

Hill Yu laughed.

“I never said I’d kill you, so why beg for mercy?”

“Or do you all believe everything written in these words is true?”

A cold and murderous aura erupted.

All the City Defense Army soldiers fell to the ground, not daring to breathe.

Looking at these terrified, trembling soldiers, the fear in their eyes made Annie uneasy.

“Your Highness, this is an outright frame-up!”

Annie clenched her fists.

Since arriving in Ushi City, they had barely slept a night in peace!

They’d thought it was over with Maike’s death, but it seemed the enemy lurking in the darkness was still watching!

Her Highness Willis was right!

This Ushi City…

Annie looked back at the towering city walls, and at the quiet city within.

Within the darkness, the Flood Beast Willis spoke of was hiding.

If they let their guard down even for a moment, it would swallow them whole!

“Annie, we must stay calm…”

Taking a deep breath, Hill Yu asked the squad leader again.

“How did these people come to be killed here at night? Were they patrol soldiers?”

“No, they weren’t.”

The squad leader shook his head.

“I don’t know why they were killed here either…”

“It’s just… all their belongings are gone.”

At this, Hill Yu asked,

“Does anyone among you recognize these people?”

After a long silence, as Hill Yu was preparing to question each person at the City Defense Army Garrison, a soldier finally raised his hand in fear.

“Your Highness, I know one of them…”

“Oh? Step forward!”

Hill Yu commanded.

The soldier stepped out, trembling, and bowed.

“Your Highness, I know Aimiren. After the shift change at dusk, he returned to the barracks…”

“Then he started packing his things… Took his money and clothes, as if he planned to run away.”

“I grabbed him and asked why. He said… he wanted to go home, and left.”

“Who could have thought he’d end up dead here!”

As he spoke, the soldier broke down in tears.

Hill Yu’s face turned grim, and Annie also seemed to understand.

She leaned to Hill Yu’s ear and whispered,

“Your Highness, I’m afraid they were soldiers who fled for fear of being found guilty, only to be killed here…”

The night grew deep.