Chapter 405: Interrogation 403 (Part 1)_1
The night was already deep.
Most of the blocks in Silver Moon City were quiet, only the hurried passers-by returning home at night.
Especially around the Half-Elf Palace, fully armed Blood Knight Army patrols could be seen everywhere. It has been almost a month since the rebellion, but the atmosphere here remained tense and heavy.
Suddenly, the southern gate of the palace slowly opened, and a slender half-elf walked out quickly.
He seemed to be in his sixties or seventies, with white hair and a solemn face, striding towards the South City area in the cold moonlight.
On his left and right, two guards in armor accompanied and escorted him.
As a palace physician, Cliff was generally not allowed to leave the Royal Palace. This time it was only because his own grandson, who lived outside the palace, suddenly fell seriously ill. Cliff had pleaded in many ways, even alarming Her Majesty Queen Isa, before he could be granted leave.
However, because of his peculiar profession, he couldn’t walk around freely even when leaving the palace, and he had to be escorted by dedicated guards. It was protection but also surveillance.
Worried about his grandson’s illness, Cliff hurried on his way without any stop.
But while passing by a tavern, the wooden door suddenly opened without warning. A drunken drunkard stumbled out, babbling nonsensical incoherent words. It seemed as if he was about to bump into Cliff passing by here.
“Get out of the way, move!”
The accompanying guards hurried forward, trying to stop the drunken man.
But the moment he touched the drunkard’s body, a sharp pain suddenly shot from his abdomen.
“It’s an assassin!”
The guard immediately realized danger, pulling his throat to scream.
The other guard, hearing the shouts, didn’t try to save his companion. Instead, he immediately grabbed Cliff’s arm and started to run, shouting out loud to attract the attention of the patrolling Blood Knight Army.
However, just at this moment, a black horse-drawn carriage without any badge passing by.
It seemed that the horses pulling the carriage got startled by the guard’s shouting and suddenly went crazy. Under the huge pulling force, the carriage began to sway as if it were drunk.
Bang!
A black wooden box fell from the carriage in the commotion and hit the ground heavily.
Crack!
The wooden box shattered like a smashed watermelon, splinters of wood and small objects shimmering in metal light splashed around.
Clang clang!
Only at this moment did the people present realize that those shiny metallic things were all copper coins!
Time seemed to press the pause button, even the guard escorting Cliff was dumbstruck for a moment.
After a brief silence, there was an explosive bustle of noise.
Somebody shouted, and in an instant, all the patrons in the tavern rushed out, pouncing on the scattered copper coins like hungry wolves.
And with the passing of time, the crowd scrambling for the money grew larger and larger, as if the whole block was alerted.
In the crowded crowd, Cliff was like a solitary boat in a raging storm, following the tide. When he finally managed to squeeze his way out, he took a breath of relief, then looked back and realized he wasn’t being pulled along by his escorting guard!
“Who are you?”
“Shush! Make a noise, and you’re dead!”
Cliff only felt this stranger in black clothes grab his hand like a vise, unable to break free, and on his back, he could feel the tip of a sharp blade.
At this point, the nearby Blood Knight Army patrol had arrived. Seeing the chaos ahead, they immediately drew their weapons and began to restore order.
Cliff’s heart grew anxious, contemplating how to get the Blood Knight Army’s attention. But just then, the man in black behind him reminded him in a chilling tone:
“Don’t do anything stupid, or not only you, but your entire family, will die!”
Cliff hesitated for a moment, but he still didn’t dare to ask for help from the Blood Knight Army close by.
The Blood Knight squad also didn’t notice Cliff in the shadows, as their attention was entirely drawn to the chaos in front of the tavern.
By the time they finally dispersed the crowd and found the corpses of the two guards, Cliff had already disappeared.
In an abandoned warehouse in the south of the city.
The man in black roughly pushed Cliff in.
The frail, elderly Cliff stumbled and rolled on the cold ground.
When he shakily stood up, he saw that he was surrounded by seven or eight strangers in black.
“Who are you? Why have you kidnapped me? I am the royal doctor of the palace, Her Majesty the Queen will definitely not let you off if she knows about this!” Cliff shouted with a pale face.
But this threat obviously fell on deaf ears.
They all stayed silent, looking coldly at Cliff as if they were looking at a corpse.
The leader of the men in black removed his hat, tossed it aside, casually dragged a broken chair over, and sat down in front of Cliff with a slight smile, saying,
“Mr. Cliff, we have invited you here to ask just one question.”
“What question?” Cliff was already sensing danger, their eyes were like those of a poisonous snake, drilling into his heart.
“After the Easterner Marquis Vincent was assassinated, were you the one who went to check the situation?”
As expected.
Cliff’s face immediately changed, pale as a dead fish.
“You tricked me out of the palace, didn’t you? My grandson is not sick, right?”
The leader of the men in black chuckled, took a small knife out of his pocket, casually played with it in his hand, and lazily said,
“Mr. Cliff, have you forgotten your situation? Here, it is not your turn to ask the questions. We ask, you answer.”
Cliff’s face went pale then dark, his eyes flickered with fear and excitement, and then finally turned a dead gray. He pleaded:
“Gentlemen, it’s not that I’m unwilling to answer your question, but that once I do, my death is certain!”
The man in black calmly said: “Don’t worry, as long as you cooperate, we can definitely guarantee your safe exit from Silver Moon City. We will also give you a large sum of money to comfortably spend the rest of your life in the East.”
“You are Easterners!” The look of fear on Cliff’s face intensified.
The man in black rolled his eyes, seemingly speechless at Cliff’s realization, and urged: “Alright, Mr. Cliff, hurry up and answer my question.”
Cliff suddenly fell to his knees, crying: “Sir, I really can’t answer that! By tricking me out of the palace with such elaborate ruses and tying me up, Queen Isa and Count Angler must know by now.
By now, the gates of Silver Moon City must be sealed. We won’t be able to escape!”
The man in black sighed: “It seems Mr. Cliff is still unwilling to cooperate! In that case, I apologize.”
Having said that, he stood up.
Following his move, two men in black immediately stepped forward and firmly restrained Cliff.
“What are you doing! You want to…uh…”
Cliff struggled in terror, but unfortunately, he couldn’t break free from the bindings of the men in black. His mouth had also been stuffed with a piece of cloth, now he could only make whimpering noises.
The leader walked slowly up to Cliff, gently pulled out Cliff’s ring finger, and caressed it tenderly.
But the next second.
With a flash of silver light, the ring finger was chopped off from Cliff’s hand.
