Chapter 182: s.n.a.t.c.hing the Corpse: The Crown Prince Causes a Scene
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Alright!” Hearing that it was for the Eldest Miss’s sake, Ye Yu said no more.
Not long after he left, the captain returned hurriedly with a group of people.
They were headed by a person wearing a purple gold crown. He wore a purple brocade robe embroidered with the image of a golden dragon with claws. It was Dongfang Jianming, and he had an arrogant demeanor.
“Why is it this guy?” Bai Songling groaned inwardly.
When he’d left the city the night before, he’d had a discussion with Wan Ziyang. If they caught the disguised Sorcerer, he was to put on a show at the city gates, and Wan Ziyang would provide support.
However, he had not expected the Crown Prince to arrive instead of Wan Ziyang.
Furthermore, Su Junqing was following behind him.
Although they had disguised themselves, it would be troublesome if Su Junqing were to see through their disguises.
Thinking of this, Bai Songling hid behind Ouyang Sen.
“Are you the ones who caught the Sorcerer?” The Crown Prince sized up Ouyang Sen and the others.
Before Ouyang Sen could say anything, Hu Lin had stepped forward and said loudly, “That’s right. It was us.”
At the city gates, he’d wanted to hold out the black sack containing Jiang Shengjie’s corpse to display his heroic qualities.
However, n.o.body had agreed to this. Neither Ouyang Sen nor Xia Chenfeng were on his side, and he’d had to drop the subject.
Finally, he’d found his opportunity to be in the limelight.
“Who are you?” The Crown Prince glanced at him. Hu Lin was short and did not even reach his chest. The Crown Prince did not believe that such a weak person could capture the Sorcerer.
“I am Hu Lin, Alchemist Ouyang’s guard!” Hu Lin replied loudly.
“Alchemist Ouyang, didn’t we ask you to stay in the Medicine Refinery Complex and wait for our news? Why did you secretly leave the city?” the Crown Prince asked aggressively.
“I am not a prisoner, and I have the right to leave the city whenever I wish. I don’t think that it’s any of your business!” Ouyang Sen replied with a hostile expression.
He was a revered n.o.ble in his kingdom, and he was not concerned about the Crown Prince at all.
Just as the Crown Prince was about to flip out, Su Junqing held him back.
Intentionally or otherwise, Su Junqing’s eyes swept past the black sack that Bai Songling and the others were carrying.
Although he put on a calm expression, he was flabbergasted.
The previous night, Brother Jiang had told him that he would get rid of Ouyang Sen and the rest outside the city. He had also requested that Liu Yunfei coordinate with him.
However, shortly after Brother Jiang had left, Liu Yunfei had insisted on going somewhere else to deal with a personal matter first.
Then, Su Junqing had experienced a bad feeling. Indeed, something bad had happened.
Brother Jiang was dead, and Liu Yunfei had yet to return. This turn of events was not encouraging.
He had to think of a way to get rid of this group of people.
Standing at the back of the group, Ye Jiuge secretly observed Su Junqing’s expression. Seeing the bewilderment and frenzy in his eyes, she immediately worried that he would make trouble out of nothing.
Just as she expected, Su Junqing suddenly said to Ouyang Sen, “Was Ye Jiuge the Sorcerer whom you killed?”
Ye Jiuge wanted badly to give Su Junqing two slaps for p.r.o.nouncing her dead in such a manner.
Upon hearing this, Luo Tian, Ye Yu, Bai Songling, and Jun Yichen were furious as well. Their murderous intent permeated everything, and they were about to turn hostile.
Ye Jiuge hurriedly reached out to restrain Luo Tian and Ye Yu. Then, she spoke up in reply to Su Junqing, “It was a male Sorcerer, not Ye Jiuge. He was an expert in disguise.”
Having said so, she held onto Bai Songling and signaled with her eyes for him to think of the big picture.
Su Junqing glanced at Ye Jiuge and the rest with doubt in his eyes. Disguised as an ordinary teenager, Ye Jiuge pretended to be timid and avoided Su Junqing’s gaze.
With a cold expression, Ye Yu poked Ouyang Sen in the back.
Ouyang Sen understood his meaning immediately. He took a step forward and said, “Your Highness, I am sorry, but I am rus.h.i.+ng to find Great Master Dongfang and show him the Sorcerer’s corpse. Please, excuse me.”
“Wait.” Su Junqing spoke up and stopped Ouyang Sen. Then, he said righteously to the Crown Prince, “Your Highness, the Medicine Refinery City has offered a bounty of a thousand gold taels for capturing a Sorcerer. In the past few days, many have preyed on ordinary people and masqueraded them as Sorcerers to earn the reward. Hence, it is my opinion that you should check the corpse first.”
“You are right.” The Crown Prince nodded. Then, he said to Ouyang Sen, “Give me the Sorcerer’s corpse. I wish to examine it personally.”
“Your Highness, we are the ones who risked our lives to kill this Sorcerer. I don’t think that it’s appropriate for you to take this corpse away from us based merely on your words.” With no other choice, Bai Songling could only lower his voice and pretend to speak angrily.
“That’s right.” Hu Lin hurriedly stood beside Ouyang Sen. He straightened his back and said, “Alchemist Ouyang is of the Second Rank. Would he really covet the reward? He simply could not bear to allow the Sorcerer to continue harming people, so he led us to capture this villain. It would be excessive for Your Highness to do this.”
“Brother Hu is right.” Bai Songling wanted to give Hu Lin a thumbs-up.
Previously, he had looked down on Hu Lin for his toady, pestering nature. However, he was an effective weapon for dealing with the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince’s expression darkened. Usually, he would not offend a Rank Two Alchemist in such a manner in the middle of the street.
However, ever since Su Junqing had used the Sorcerers to help him get rid of Ye Jiuge, he was tied to Su Junqing.
For his great cause, he must protect these Sorcerers.
Thinking of this, the Crown Prince raised his voice and said to Ouyang Sen, “Alchemist Ouyang, you are mistaken. I did not mean to target you. However, the matter regarding Sorcerers is of paramount importance, and we have no choice but to be cautious. If this is really a Sorcerer’s corpse, there shouldn’t be any issue for you to take it out to show us, right?”
“That’s right! These d*mned Sorcerers have made a mess out of our Medicine Refinery City! I would like to see if they have three heads or six arms!”
“Yes, these Sorcerers have been causing trouble for so long, and it’s the first time that anyone has been able to kill them. Please, let us take a good look!”
“That’s right. Open it up and let us see!”
The surrounding commoners were extremely curious. One by one, they raised their voices to demand that Ouyang Sen untie the sack.
Ye Jiuge frowned. If Jiang Shengjie’s corpse displayed traces of Black Magic, it would be fine for them to open the sack to show the Crown Prince.
However, she worried that she would by removing the magical weapon that hid Jiang Shengjie’s Black Magic from his body would damage it, so she had yet to dig it out.
At the moment, Jiang Shengjie’s corpse was like that of an ordinary Spiritual Pract.i.tioner. They could not prove that he was a Sorcerer. Hence, they absolutely could not take it out for everyone to see.
Seeing their hesitation, the Crown Prince immediately demanded imperiously, “What’s the matter? Why don’t you dare to bring the corpse out? Is this a trick?”
“Your Highness must be joking. Why would I use a Sorcerer as a trick?” Ouyang Sen replied furiously.
“Who knows what evil you are plotting?” the Crown Prince sneered.
As Ouyang Sen wrangled with the Crown Prince to stall for time, Bai Songling stared anxiously at the street in the distance.
He thought, It’s strange – why isn’t Wan Ziyang coming? Did something happen?
Ye Jiuge also found this strange. She thought to herself, Can it be that, last night, when he’d set a trap for Liu Yunfei, the girl had injured him instead?
Just as they seemed deadlocked, another group of people arrived from the direction of the Medicine Refinery Complex.
Ye Jiuge thought that it was Wan Ziyang. However, when she took a closer look, her heart sank.
She thought, Why does it have to be him?