Chapter 1320: Not Human

"I did hear the guards mention that this row wasn't there during their patrol the night before last. They're not sure when it was put up. They also reported hearing faint thudding sounds during the night, which they initially dismissed as night birds flapping their wings. But reflecting on it, they now suspect it was the struggling of these men hanging from the ropes."

Gray Hat simply acknowledged this, refraining from asking further about the patrol. He considered the guards' accounts to be unreliable nonsense.

"And what about the design on the grey wall?"

The fellow smacked his lips, rubbed his hands together, but remained silent.

Gray Hat had no choice but to hand him a few more large coins. Only then, after securing the payment, did the fellow continue, "It just appeared overnight. The evening before, I'd cleaned the horse trough, and the wall was completely bare. But yesterday morning, when the bandits were strung up, this relief also appeared."

"They appeared simultaneously?"

"I can't say which came first," the fellow replied. He added, "The relief was quite magnificent yesterday morning, but now it's blurred."

"Blurred?" Gray Hat asked, intrigued. "What do you mean by that?"

"When it first appeared, it looked incredibly lifelike. I was carrying a bucket and walked by, and it gave me such a fright, I thought a real monster was sticking its head out of the wall." The fellow pointed at the flood dragon head totem. "What you see now is much cruder; it's not as... well, not as detailed."

"So, this design is slowly deteriorating?"

The fellow didn't understand the word "deteriorating," so he simply repeated, "It's just blurry, that's all."

Gray Hat then pointed towards the blood-stained banner prominently displayed on the city gate:

"Have you ever seen or heard of the flood dragon head emblem on that banner?"

It was clearly some kind of insignia.

The fellow shook his head.

Gray Hat then found lodging in the city before heading out to gather more information.

After extensive questioning, the residents' accounts largely mirrored what the fellow had said.

However, in a tavern, he encountered a constable who had been to Mount Dai the previous day. Gray Hat offered him two drinks, and the constable began recounting what he had witnessed on the mountain.

This was firsthand information:

Only the bandit leader and his six brothers were publicly displayed, hanged at Feng County's city gate. Their nearly two hundred followers, however, had died at their stronghold on Mount Dai. Most of the bandits had wounds on their backs, clearly indicating they had been struck down while attempting to flee.

Gray Hat inquired, "Could you tell how many people were in the attacking force?"

"Something strange happened on that mountain!" the constable exclaimed, taking another gulp of wine. "Have you ever been to Mount Dai? The bandits' stronghold is halfway up the mountain, with extremely steep paths, numerous cliffs, and dense forests, making it impossible to ascend on horseback. In the past, whenever the authorities organized campaigns to encircle them, we always had to leave our mounts halfway up and continue on foot. Ah, if not for such terrain, we would have wiped them out a decade ago."

"So what was this strange occurrence?"

"That's precisely what's strange!" the constable replied, a mysterious look on his face. "We found numerous scattered horse hoof prints at the mountain's summit, right inside the bandits' stronghold! They were very fresh, still stained with blood!"

So how did the attackers' horses reach such a height? Did they fly?

"We also captured three prisoners," the constable continued. "They were found trembling in the bushes. One was so terrified he was incoherent, while another confessed that..."

He paused to clear his throat, noticing that several patrons had gathered around, listening intently to his words. This heightened his excitement, and his expression grew even more mysterious. "This young scoundrel claimed that on the night before last, a thick fog settled over the mountain stronghold, making everything dark and hazy. He was roused by a peculiar sound, like the wailing of a hundred ghosts at night—a truly chilling and terrifying noise. Then he heard horses' hooves outside. Thinking he must have misheard, he rushed out to look—"

"—dozens of black-armored horsemen suddenly charged out of the dense fog, killing indiscriminately with extreme brutality. The bandits were frozen in disbelief, utterly bewildered as to their origin, and couldn't even close the stronghold gates in time. The bandit leader, along with a few of his brothers, stepped forward to confront them, yelling to know their identity. The leader of the black-armored cavalry pointed at them and declared, 'Your cup of iniquity is full, your hour of death has arrived! I have come to send you down to the Nine Underworlds!'"

"This leader was engulfed in black flames, with shadowy figures flitting about him, front and back—a truly terrifying sight. The bandit chief, not one to be intimidated, grabbed his long saber and charged. Yet, in fewer than two exchanges, several of his brothers had fallen, and he himself didn't last more than a few rounds."

"The black-armored cavalry slaughtered men like chopping gourds, felling them with one or two blows. That young scoundrel, lacking the courage to fight, dove into the bushes to hide. One black-armored rider was initially coming for him, but then several other mountain bandits happened to flee past, so the knight shifted his target to them." The constable licked his lips. "In his dying struggle, one bandit managed to yank off the black knight's helmet. Do you know what that young scoundrel, hidden in the bushes, witnessed?"

The onlookers, completely engrossed, eagerly pressed him, "What did he see? Tell us, quickly!"

"The black knight wasn't human at all!" the constable whispered, his face alight with mystery. "He only had half a face!"

The audience expressed their disbelief, "What do you mean, 'half a face'?"

The constable raised his index finger, tracing a line from his left temple to his right jaw. "This side had skin, but the other side didn't—even the skull was exposed! He had no eyelids either; his right eye was just a single eyeball rolling around, staring at people!"

The crowd was incredulous. "How could anything live like that?"

"That's precisely why I say he wasn't human!" the constable continued. "The black knight seized that bandit, held him face to face, and simply sucked his soul right out in one gulp! The man... the man instantly collapsed."

"It then swept its gaze across the bushes, and the young scoundrel hiding there wet himself on the spot. But the black knight apparently didn't spot him; it merely retrieved its helmet, put it back on, and turned to kill again! Tell me, what living person looks like that?"

The listeners all found it incredible. "Could that young scoundrel have simply made this up?"

"That young scoundrel swore to me on his life that it was precisely what he witnessed with his own eyes, not a single lie mixed in."

"What happened next?"

"He lay trembling in the bushes, hearing his comrades' agonizing screams one after another. After about half an hour, all went silent," the constable continued. "He also saw the black-armored cavalry bind the bandit leaders and drag them toward the back of the mountain."

"We also followed the chaotic horse tracks to the back of the mountain, only to find that the prints stopped abruptly before a thicket. This indicates that the captive was indeed telling the truth." He took another swig of wine. "But! Beyond that thicket is a sheer cliff! Tell me, how did these black-armored horsemen, along with their prisoners and horses, simply vanish from that cliff?"

Everyone who heard this gasped in astonishment.

Finally, someone muttered:

"Heaven's wrath. This is truly divine retribution!"

After all, the blood-stained banner on the city gate proclaimed, "Retribution is swift and undeniable."

"These black knights, they might very well be malevolent spirits that have climbed out of the Nine Underworlds to claim souls." After all, no ordinary living person could possibly extract a living soul like that.

As the general discussion continued, Gray Hat quietly slipped out of the tavern.

The following morning, the city gate officer's voice rang out with full vigor:

"Take them down, take them down! They've been on display for three days now!"

(End of Chapter)