Chapter 232, I Will Teach You

Chapter 232, I Will Teach You

In the inner city, inside a luxurious mansion.

Two men in different attire sat on either side of a long dining table, enjoying a lavish meal.

"So, even in such a remote place, there are people you can't handle?" The man on the left, while cutting his food with a knife and fork, spoke softly.

This man had long chestnut hair draped over his shoulders, grayish-white skin, deep-set eyes, and fingers gripping the utensils that were thin and bony like dry branches.

He was tall and thin, dressed in a dark blue magic robe.

"That's why we invited 'Giovanni' to help us deal with it," the man in the noble attire across from him said.

"Alright!" The mage 'Giovanni' picked up a napkin, lightly wiping his mouth, then continued, "Tell me more about this person. You mentioned he's from the Guild."

The nobleman nodded, "A squad captain from the Guild, a necromancer transferred from the Kingdom of Yeko. He took two of our rare items..."

After a brief explanation, the mage 'Giovanni' was somewhat surprised.

A necromancer emerging from the Kingdom of Yeko and even being appointed as a Guild captain—quite a rare sight.

"You want me to retrieve those two rare items?" Giovanni asked.

"Retrieve the rare items and kill him. For someone like you, making someone disappear shouldn't be hard, right?"

"Of course, it's not hard."

Tap, tap, tap~!

At that moment, the sound of footsteps came from outside the dining room.

A servant stood at the doorway, speaking softly, "Master, Paralok has returned."

"Let him in."

The footsteps came closer, and a middle-aged man entered, standing with his head lowered to the side.

"Master Benasev, there's been some progress."

The wealthy merchant 'Benasev' set down his utensils, "Speak. There are no outsiders here."

The man nodded and said, "We used the Guild's resources and confirmed that 'Burke' is indeed dead, and the Guild has already issued the compensation."

"Really dead? And what about Wu Heng?" Benasev asked.

"Only Burke is dead. The rest of the squad earned merit for killing the Warhammer Party," the man said grimly, continuing, "Wu Heng has over ten thousand undead under his control."

Benasev's expression darkened, and he took a deep breath. "Alright, you may leave."

The man bowed and was about to leave.

"Wait!" Giovanni, who had just taken a sip of red wine, suddenly spoke.

The man's footsteps halted.

His face suddenly twisted in terror, his eyes widened, and veins bulged from his neck.

Crack, crack~!

Amidst terrified, hoarse cries for help, his neck twisted 180 degrees backward.

Blood streamed from his orifices as he collapsed, dead.

...

Benasev's face changed, and he nearly stood up in shock.

Suppressing his fear, he asked, "Giovanni, what is this?"

Giovanni didn't respond. He simply raised a finger.

The corpse on the ground suddenly sat up.

The head that had been twisted backward made a series of cracking sounds as it turned back to face forward, staring at them.

Giovanni asked, "How did Burke die?"

The corpse answered, "The Guild issued compensation, saying he died at the hands of the Warhammer Party."

Giovanni continued, "And the rest of his squad?"

"The others are unharmed."

"Why is Benasev investigating Wu Heng?"

"It seems he lost something that's now in Wu Heng's possession."

"When did this Wu Heng arrive in Rentam City?"

"About a month ago..."

"..."

Giovanni asked five consecutive questions, confirming the details of 'Burke's death and Benasev's motives.

As if what others said couldn't be trusted, he needed to verify everything directly with the corpse.

After the five questions, the corpse fell backward with a thud.

...

Benasev's face looked grim as he motioned for the body to be taken away.

Giovanni smiled and said, "Don't mind it. Sometimes it's better to be cautious. It benefits both you and me."

"Understood, caution is indeed a good thing." Benasev regained his composure and continued, "What do you plan to do next?"

"A necromancer who rose to power in just a month—I must admit, I'm intrigued."

"You're not thinking of backing out, are you?"

Giovanni smiled, "Of course not. I'll retrieve the items for you, and the fee remains unchanged, but as for Wu Heng, I want him—whether he's alive or a corpse. He's valuable to me either way."

"No problem," Benasev agreed readily and added, "Tomorrow, I'll need you to come with me to discuss the matter further."

"Sure!"

...

In the living room.

The air conditioning hummed softly, cooling the room.

Wen Mansa continued explaining, "Benasev is a wealthy merchant in the inner city. He owns a sizable mansion, but it seems he doesn't have any industry within the city. I couldn't dig up any more details."

At this point, it was mostly certain.

This 'Benasev' was the one behind Burke's attempt to kill Wu Heng.

While Wu Heng had many enemies, the most likely connection to a wealthy merchant like Benasev would be a member of the 'Secret Cult.'

"Has he made any moves?" Wu Heng asked.

"Nothing noticeable. I've arranged for surveillance nearby. If there's any movement, I'll be notified immediately," Wen Mansa replied.

Wu Heng remained silent, lost in thought.

Monitoring him didn't seem necessary.

The other party had already arranged an assassination attempt. If they weren't taking any further action, it would only embolden them.

Wu Heng's only concern was that, while his achievements had been reported, it was uncertain if he would be promoted to deputy steward.

Causing a scandal involving the murder of a local merchant could jeopardize that promotion.

As Slater had said before leaving, not being assigned tasks was actually a good thing. It would be better to quietly wait for the appointment before making any moves.

Although he had said that it didn't matter whether he became the deputy steward or not.

Now that the opportunity was here, he wanted to seize it.

"Keep an eye on him. If he leaves the city or if his appearance is confirmed, notify me immediately," Wu Heng instructed.

"Understood!" Wen Mansa nodded, lying on the sofa in a thin nightgown, her legs raised and swaying back and forth. "Master, now that I think about it, it's so good to have you around."

Wu Heng paused, then sat beside her on the sofa, patting her lightly. "What's wrong?"

"Otherwise, when the Warhammer Party took over the city, so many people would have died—Minnie and I wouldn't have escaped," Wen Mansa said, turning her head to look at him.

Back then, the Iron Guard Knights had pushed the Spikes Gang to block the Warhammer Party.

It had left her with a deep psychological scar.

She still brought it up occasionally, full of lingering fear.

"Yes, and it's good to have you all around too," Wu Heng smiled.

"You're so kind." Wen Mansa glanced behind her, lifting the hem of her nightgown slightly to cover her thighs, and said softly, "Master, let me give you a baby."

Wu Heng heard the teasing tone and knew what she meant. "Here? We're about to have dinner."

"What's the big deal? It's not like we haven't done this before. Come on!" Wen Mansa's continuous teasing was starting to get to him.

Wen Mansa lay on the sofa, her skirt riding up to her waist, while Wu Heng leaned over her, hands on either side of her head.

Over the past few days, Wu Heng had been busy with the shelter's trades.

There was a sense of longing between them.

Wen Mansa tried hard to stifle her voice but slowly became lost in emotion, unable to control herself as she began to hum softly.

In the kitchen, Minnie peeked over and frowned slightly. "Really? Now of all times? Are we still having dinner or not?"

...

The next day, at the grain store.

The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together, following behind Wu Heng and explaining, "Sir, we've increased our stock. This time, we can sell you 3,000 bags of wheat flour."

It had been a few days since they last bought food.

When the new grain shipment arrived, the shopkeeper immediately notified Minnie, who then called Wu Heng.

"How's the quality?" Wu Heng asked as he entered the warehouse for a look.

"Rest assured, it's even better than last time. This is my reputation on the line. I wouldn't dare bring you cheap goods," the shopkeeper said confidently.

Wu Heng glanced at Minnie, "Pick two random bags and check them."

Minnie nodded, randomly selecting two bags and opening them, checking the flour by hand.

The flour in this world tended to be more yellowish.

The method for checking quality was mainly to see if there was any sand or foreign matter, or if it was moldy.

Although the flour was for the shelter residents.

Since Wu Heng was paying for it, and this wasn't the only grain store around, he still needed to ensure the quality.

Minnie inspected it and nodded, "No problem."

"Alright, I'll take the whole batch."

"Great! I'll have it delivered to your general store right away," the shopkeeper said happily.

"Sounds good." Wu Heng handed over the payment.

The grain store owner immediately arranged for workers to transport the bags to the general store.

Wu Heng and Minnie left the store, heading toward the general store.

The two chatted as they walked.

"Captain Wu Heng!"

Suddenly, a carriage stopped nearby, and the curtain was drawn aside, revealing the face of a thin, deep-eyed middle-aged man.

Wu Heng turned to look, his brows furrowing slightly.

The skill [Soul Knowledge] alerted him to the presence of undead guards around the carriage and inside the vehicle.

The guards were several undead servants.

Inside the carriage, besides two people, he also sensed a familiar soul presence—Wen Mansa.

A necromancer?

They had captured Wen Mansa.

"How should I address you?" Wu Heng asked.

"Giovanni, Level 16 Necromancer," the man answered plainly.

"Nice to meet you. Did my maid offend you in some way?" Wu Heng continued.

Giovanni was clearly taken aback, glancing back into the carriage and then smiling, "You're quite interesting."

The carriage door opened, and the tall, thin figure in a robe stepped out, dragging Wen Mansa with him.

He said directly, "I hear you took a rare item from the Secret Cult. Hand it over, and I'll spare her life."

"Oh? Are you with the Secret Cult?"

Giovanni didn't answer but snapped his fingers. Wen Mansa's eyes widened, and her neck began to twist painfully backward.

Her face turned red as the veins bulged in her neck.

Wu Heng quickly thought it over and abandoned the idea of shooting directly.

A Tier 4 necromancer couldn't be killed easily, and Wen Mansa would die for sure.

"I can give it to you," Wu Heng said.

Wen Mansa's neck stopped twisting but remained at a 90-degree angle, her face flushed.

"Hand it over!"

"I only have a wooden staff with me right now."

Giovanni snapped his fingers again, and Wen Mansa's neck twisted further.

"If you kill her today, I'll hand both items over to the Guild. If you want to make a trade, I'll give you the staff in exchange for her life," Wu Heng said, placing the rare item staff on the ground.

The Blood Cup had been given to Slater, so he couldn't produce that.

But they likely knew that.

Rare items were often more valuable than lives.

Tap, tap, tap~!

There was a soft knock from the carriage.

"Mr. Giovanni, let's get this one first. We can discuss the other one later."

It seemed they didn't want the rare item to fall into the Guild's hands.

"Hand it over," Giovanni stretched out his hand.

"Let her go first. You're a Level 16 mage. Surely, you're not afraid of me running away?"

"Interesting!" Giovanni turned and said to Wen Mansa, "Return!"

A ghostly blue spirit flew out of Wen Mansa's body and returned to Giovanni.

Wen Mansa regained her senses and quickly ran to Wu Heng's side.

Wu Heng kept his word and tossed the staff over.

Giovanni caught it and handed it into the carriage.

After the staff was taken inside.

Giovanni turned back to Wu Heng and said, "You're quite interesting. To have such proficiency in necromancy at your age."

"Not much. I'm just learning as I go," Wu Heng replied, readying himself for a fight.

"Why not come under my tutelage? I can teach you orthodox magic, and within a few years, you could become a Tier 3 mage," Giovanni said, hands behind his back.

It seemed he didn't believe Wu Heng had reached Level 10 at such a young age.

Or perhaps, he had made an incorrect judgment based on some other factor.

"Thanks, but I don't think our personalities would mesh. Looks like we're not destined to be master and disciple," Wu Heng declined outright.

Giovanni chuckled and nodded, "It seems ignorance has led you to make a poor choice. But no matter—the Guild won't be able to protect you, and I'm very interested in your corpse as well."

With that, he boarded the carriage and headed out of the city.

Soon after, a patrolling squad and a team of Professionals passed by.

"Captain Wu Heng, is everything alright?" one of the squad captains asked.

"It's fine, we just exchanged a few words," Wu Heng replied.

"Good to hear. We have a mission, so we'll be off."

"Alright."

Wu Heng turned his gaze to the patrol squad.

They were members of the Spikes Gang. "Follow that carriage from a distance and see where they're going."

"Got it, Captain."

...

Once everyone had left.

Wu Heng finally noticed Wen Mansa's pale face.

He helped her back to the general store and sat her down, asking, "What happened?"

"All the spies we had near 'Benasev' were killed. He traced their bodies back to me and took me away," Wen Mansa explained.

Since the other party was also a necromancer, it wasn't hard to use a corpse to find Wen Mansa.

And now that Wen Mansa was managing the city for Wu Heng, everyone knew who was responsible.

Still, they hadn't expected the Secret Cult to send a Level 16 necromancer after them.

And it was clear the necromancer intended to kill Wu Heng—just not in broad daylight.

"I'm sorry, Master," Wen Mansa lowered her head.

"It's alright, it's not your fault. I want to kill him too!" Wu Heng reassured her gently.

Knowing this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Now, everything was out in the open.

It was just a matter of who would take out the other first.