Kae Olen

"The lord's residence? Walk to the end there and go up the stairs... See? The largest building is the manor where the lord lives."

"Huh? Rumors about the lord recently? Sorry, I don’t know anything. The lord has always been very good to us."

After gathering information from a passing elderly woman, Ye Chuan raised his head, his gaze settling on the distant building. Compared to the relatively low-rise structures around it, the manor stood out as particularly luxurious.

"Miss, I couldn’t gather any useful information either. Everyone seems to speak highly of Count Kangong," Torres said, jogging over to Irena, who stood beside Ye Chuan.

"Good work, Torres," Irena nodded.

The skin-walking monsters usually disguised themselves well, and Irena couldn’t determine whether Count Kangong had turned into one. But from the current situation, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual.

If only everything could go smoothly.

Moreover, this place was at the very edge of the empire. If even here those monsters appeared, then the empire truly had no hope left.

"Let’s go straight there," Irena took a deep breath, her emerald-green eyes flashing with resolve.

No matter what, they had to check.

The three of them headed directly toward the lord’s residence and soon arrived at their destination.

"Halt! This is the lord’s residence. Outsiders are not permitted to approach," a guard blocked them as soon as they drew near.

"Is Count Kangong inside?" Torres asked directly.

"The lord is in his estate," the guard frowned but answered nonetheless.

"I am Torres of the Rhinehart family from the royal capital. Please inform the lord that we have urgent matters to discuss," Torres immediately revealed his identity.

"Rhinehart?"

The Rhinehart family’s reputation in the empire was nothing short of illustrious. As a lineage of swordsmen, they had not only trained and supplied the empire with numerous powerful warriors but their patriarch, Soren, was even hailed as the strongest swordsman on the continent.

However, Soren was currently stationed in the empire’s northern territories. During their escape, Torres had written to him about the monsters but received no response.

[Could the patriarch have become a monster too?]

Torres dared not dwell on the possibility. But if even the king had turned into a monster, the continent’s strongest swordsman might not have been spared either.

"Wait a moment," the guard’s tone grew noticeably more respectful upon hearing the name, and he quickly called for another guard to relay the message.

After a brief wait, a man who appeared to be the steward emerged. His eyes swept over the three of them before settling on Torres.

"Please come in. The lord is waiting inside."

"Let’s go, Your Highness," Torres immediately said to Irena.

"Mm," Irena bit her lip lightly but mustered her courage and stepped forward.

Ye Chuan followed alongside them, unfazed. As a mercenary bodyguard, he didn’t feel much pressure.

After all, death was just death—the revival timer on the Tianxuan Continent had already reset.

He was still thinking about stabbing the Qingyun Sect’s patriarch in the back.

But Ye Chuan didn’t want this ninth princess to die. She was his new cash cow in this other world. If he could help her revive the empire, wouldn’t she become the queen?

And he? A king standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her.

"Pretty satisfying, even if it’s a tough challenge," Ye Chuan mused.

Upon entering the estate, the first thing that caught their eyes was a grand garden, meticulously maintained with blooming flowers and a small fountain spraying water.

Ye Chuan’s senses lingered on the fountain.

As they walked further, maids dressed in black-and-white uniforms bowed respectfully as they passed.

The gray-haired steward led the way with impeccable posture, remaining silent as he guided them.

If there really were skin-walking monsters, could they be detected through sensing?

Ye Chuan attempted to scan the steward with his spiritual sense, but the man seemed to notice immediately, turning his gaze toward Ye Chuan.

"Sir, using detection magic so casually is hardly polite behavior."

He actually noticed?

Ye Chuan wasn’t sure of the man’s strength, but if he could detect spiritual sense so easily, he must be a high-level expert.

He was still too weak.

No power—

Ye Chuan sighed. If only he could afford that 999 Heavenly Emperor Card.

Right now, all he could do was use his intangibility to stab people in the back—not nearly as satisfying.

The three were led to a spacious meeting room, empty for now. The steward paused and turned.

"Please wait here. The lord will arrive shortly."

Soon, a side door slowly opened, and a robust man in his fifties strode in.

Dressed in lavish robes, his hair half-gray, he had a square face with a vicious scar running down to his chin and sharp, piercing eyes.

"Rhinehart family…" The man’s gaze lingered on Torres briefly before shifting away, finally settling on Irena beside him.

Irena removed her hood, letting her silver-white hair cascade down. Her jade-green eyes locked onto him.

"It’s me, Lord Kaiaolen."

"Princess?" At the sight of Irena’s signature silver hair, Count Kangong Kaiaolen fell silent for a moment before suddenly raising his hand.

"Seize the ninth princess—she’s been possessed by evil!"

At his command, hurried footsteps echoed as armed guards poured in from both sides, their weapons trained on Ye Chuan and the others.

"Well, well," Ye Chuan remarked at the sight. "Straight to violence, huh?"

Among the guards were mages, who immediately cast binding spells, restraining Irena and Torres effortlessly.

As for Ye Chuan, due to his unique constitution, the magic had no effect on him.

"Damn it!" Torres struggled but couldn’t move an inch.

"I’m not possessed, Lord Kaiaolen!" Irena still couldn’t tell whether he was a skin-walking monster, but she protested vehemently.

Kaiaolen ignored her, turning away.

"Take them to the dungeon. I’ll interrogate them personally."

At that moment, the guards noticed Ye Chuan remained unbound.

"Subdue him," Kaiaolen frowned.

The steward beside him vanished in an instant, reappearing with a grappling hand aimed at Ye Chuan’s arm.

But Ye Chuan was faster. In a flash, he appeared beside Kaiaolen, a sword pressed against his neck.

"…" Feeling the cold steel against his throat, Kaiaolen spoke icily.

"Teleportation magic?"