The surrounding soldiers only realized what had happened when they saw the blue light disappear into the woman's body. Amang, the squad leader, immediately drew his longsword and warily surveyed his surroundings. Then he saw Yun Zhe raise his crossbow and aim it at him.
Amang was both confused and frightened. He wanted to explain, but Yun Zhe had already pulled the trigger. The crossbow bolt whistled past his ear and struck a soldier behind him, killing him instantly.
Seeing this, Amang was even more frightened. "Could one of my men be plotting to assassinate the Baron?" With this thought in mind, Amang felt even more confused. Clearly, although the Baron didn't suspect him yet, if something went wrong with his men, he would be blamed sooner or later.
Yun Zhe readjusted his sword, cautiously scanning his surroundings. He knew that although it was a simple setup, there must be at least one inside man; otherwise, he couldn't control the situation on both sides. If the other side dragged on for too long, it would obviously arouse suspicion. The soldier Yun Zhe had just shot was one of the guards who let the two female assassins in. He killed him because the guards had murderous intent and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to finish off Yun Zhe. But there were two guards there at the time; where was the other one?
At this moment, even the soldiers furthest away realized what was happening, and they began to gather towards the well. Chaos erupted, and more and more people surged towards Yun Zhe. Yun Zhe searched his surroundings, and seeing the increasingly dense crowd, his brows furrowed sharply.
"Everyone, stay at your posts! Don't move!" Yun Zhe shouted. This command was effective; the soldiers immediately froze in place, refusing to move.
"Pay close attention to the surroundings. No one is allowed near the well, understand?!" Yun Zhe continued issuing orders, calming the chaotic situation. Although the soldiers remained curious, they all returned to their posts, though they couldn't help but glance back curiously at what had happened.
"You, come here, see if you recognize that dead soldier." Yun Zhe pointed at Amang. Yun Zhe himself did not start checking the two female assassins in front of him, but continued to count the number of people.
Sure enough, there were forty-nine men now. Of the two soldiers who had let the two women in, one lay in a pool of blood, and the other had vanished. Yun Zhe snorted angrily. If he wasn't mistaken, the changing of the guard would arrive soon.
But this action against him is clearly not going to end.
Amang returned to Yun Zhe's side in great fear. "My lord, I know that soldier."
Yun Zhe hummed in agreement, his words "I know them" revealing the complexity of the situation. This force was recruited from among the refugees, indicating that the other side had clearly infiltrated their ranks. Yun Zhe looked at Amang, "Go check your soldiers and see who's missing. Tell me."
Amang didn't react for a moment, but simply followed Yun Zhe's instructions to check one by one. However, halfway through the check, Amang realized that Yun Zhe suspected that someone had infiltrated his troops. If he could find out who had infiltrated, wouldn't he be able to clear himself of any possible suspicion?
Amang instantly perked up, but to his disappointment, after some identification, he recognized everyone present, and the missing person had been lying in the barracks all day due to illness.
Then he saw Yun Zhe casting a questioning glance at him from afar. Amang panicked a little, then checked again, but the result was still the same. Left with no other choice, Amang gritted his teeth and told Yun Zhe what had happened.
After listening to Amang's words, Yun Zhe pondered for a moment, then asked, "Did any of you see Josh just now?"
The soldiers murmured among themselves, and then one soldier raised his hand tremblingly. “Sir, I…I saw him. He caught up with us not long after we set off. I knew because I was the last one.”
Soon, several more soldiers recalled that they had indeed seen Josh that evening. Josh's ten-man commander also confirmed that he had assigned Josh and Sawyer to be in charge of the outer perimeter security.
Yun Zhe didn't ask any further questions; it was clear that Josh could no longer return to the camp. But how much of their sand remained in the entire camp? Were there similar situations among the troops that came to relieve them? And among the soldiers who had already gone home, were there similar situations?
Yun Zhe dared not think any further. If he did, he would clearly be trapped in a chain of suspicion and completely lose his way in this case.
The sound of orderly footsteps echoed in the distance. The soldiers coming to change shifts finally appeared before Yun Zhe. But Yun Zhe didn't feel any relief. Looking at the approaching soldiers, he couldn't think of a better solution for the moment.
Gidding stood in a corner of the square, watching the raging fire gradually die down in the wind. In the distance, Ellie forced a smile, playing and laughing with three girls. But Gidding knew that the situation was clearly worse than he had imagined.
Given the magnitude of the incident, Yun Zhe still chose to lead the team on duty. Therefore, the situation in Dorgnitzburg is clearly much worse than he perceives.
But he didn't have a better solution. Although he was calm and experienced, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. Left with no other choice, he mobilized all the Aruru soldiers, working in three shifts to protect Ellie and the three girls.
However, Ellie's worries weren't about the things Gidding imagined. The woman's last words had become Ellie's Achilles' heel. And worse, the three girls in front of her had all heard those words. The good news was that the clever Usa had already sensed it and didn't seem to care. The bad news was that the other two girls weren't so easygoing. Although they didn't show any resistance towards Ellie, it was clear they were planning to tell Yun Zhe the terrible news.
Thinking about this, Ellie couldn't help but sigh. However, she couldn't think of a good excuse. She could only wait for Yun Zhe to come and discuss it with him.
Thinking of Yun Zhe, Ellie couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. What kind of time was this to still be on patrol? Was it to maintain her image as someone who always keeps her word? Or was she addicted to setting an example? In any case, shouldn't she be rushing back to investigate the situation right now?
An Aruru approached Gidin and whispered, "My lord, we've examined the dead assassins. Apart from their uniform tattoos, we haven't found any other useful information."
What tattoo?
"It's a black iron cage, all over the right arms of those men," the soldier said, handing over a piece of paper with a drawing on it.
Jiding gasped in shock; it was actually the Cage, a notorious assassin organization in the capital.
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