Wu Qingsong's words left the wolfmen utterly befuddled, but they had no time to puzzle it out. A shout resounded, signaling the arrival of the true enemy.
"Kleine!" Wu Qingsong bellowed.
The man at the forefront, wielding a rapier, could only be Kleine. Despite the silver mask obscuring his face, Wu Qingsong recognized him instantly. Close behind him were two hulking mastiffmen, each armed with an enormous military sword. One of them gripped something else in his hand, which he threw their way with a malicious laugh.
"Pikes..." Harold's voice came from behind. He had finally managed to struggle himself from the carriage.
A severed boarman's head rolled on the ground, coming to an abrupt halt by one of its oversized tusks.
"I've done you a favor, it seems. You'll be saving the money you'd spend on these hires," Kleine's voice was husky and dark, oozing malevolence. The mastiffmen broke into derisive laughter, their swords still oozing fresh blood.
While Kleine's face was concealed by his mask, the venomous loathing and fury laced in his words were palpable, sending a shiver down the spine.
"So, how do you plan to repay me?" Kleine advanced further, prompting Wu Qingsong to raise his crossbow and fire. But Kleine deftly sidestepped the bolt.
"You've surprised me by getting this far," Kleine said, continuing his advance. "Had I not bumped into you at that store, I would never have thought that the clueless half-elf I once knew could morph into a successful businessman in a matter of months."
As he reloaded his crossbow, Wu Qingsong shot back, "You're not doing too badly yourself. That mask is a good fit for you. It does a great job of hiding your face, which is so repugnant it would make anyone nauseous."
"Go ahead, keep talking," Kleine taunted. "This time, I'll show you what it truly means to wish you were dead.”
"There’s no need for demonstrations, one look at you and I already know what a fate worse than death feels like," Wu Qingsong shot back.
Those words struck a nerve in Kleine. Although he had always prided himself on building his own success through hard work and skill, his elf-like features were something he took particular pride in. Now, he was seething with rage.
"I will slaughter everyone you care about and carve them up for my evening drinks," Kleine snarled.
"Then come and try," Wu Qingsong shouted, raising his crossbow to fire once more.
But Kleine moved with blinding speed, closing the gap and delivering a powerful kick that sent Wu Qingsong flying.
Despite having trained intensively for months, Wu Qingsong was no match for Kleine, who had undergone grueling training from a young age.
"Nice weapon you have there. Too bad it’s in the hands of a waste," Kleine said, a tinge of satisfaction in his voice as he watched Wu Qingsong tumble. Still, he craved more vengeance. Picking up the crossbow, he was unafraid of any poison it might bear, thanks to his leather gloves.
Just as a wolfman was about to howl to alert others, a soft ‘whoosh’ sounded, and a bolt pierced through his neck. He collapsed, dead within seconds.
"Excellent choice of poison," Kleine mused. "That must be at least five gold sols a vial, right? You've made quite a killing, haven't you?"
He nonchalantly tossed the crossbow aside and began to walk slowly toward Wu Qingsong.
Abruptly, Wu Qingsong sprang up from the ground and lunged at Kleine with a roar. Kleine dodged the thrust of the dagger effortlessly and landed a heavy punch on Wu Qingsong's back, sending him sprawling to the ground again.
Wu Qingsong attempted to latch onto Kleine's legs, but Kleine agilely retreated a few steps to dodge his grasp.
"I'll hold him off. The rest of you, run," Wu Qingsong shouted.
Yet more mastiffmen appeared, encircling them from every direction.
"Have you really brought Elyar's troops into Nisair? Aren't you afraid about starting a war?" Harold's face turned a shade of lifeless gray.
Such an event was virtually unthinkable. Elves were obsessively territorial and would never tolerate the invasion of another elf's forces into their domain. Without this customary understanding, the idea to ambush Kleine near the Umber forest wouldn't have occurred to them.
"Troops?" Kleine laughed coldly. "I regret to inform you that I am no longer a member of Elyar's garrison. Thanks to you, I've finally freed myself from that hellhole. This is my newly assembled hunter group. How do you find them? Up to standard?"
Another blood-curdling scream echoed through the air. This time it was from another wolfman trying to sound an alarm. He was struck by multiple crossbow bolts coming from various angles, dying instantly.
In a last-ditch act of desperation, the remaining wolfman let out a howl and charged at their foes. One of the towering mastiffmen pushed aside a companion who was about to shoot an arrow, and greeted the charging wolfman with a malicious grin. He swung his enormous sword down with mountainous force. The wolfman sidestepped the blow and lunged with his own blade, but the mastiffman discarded his colossal sword, caught the wolfman's weapon with his iron-gloved hand, and sent him flying with a powerful punch.
"Halo!" Kleine yelled, but it was already too late. The mastiffman closed the distance, his foot crashing down to obliterate the wolfman's skull.
"My apologies, my apologies," he said, almost flippantly. "Lord Kleine, I got a bit carried away."
"At the very least, you could have left the head intact, it’s worth something," Kleine said, clearly displeased. In days past, any mastiffman who dared to challenge his authority would have felt the unforgiving sting of his whip. But now…
He shot Wu Qingsong a look of dark resentment. This was all his fault.
"Need an outlet for your frustrations?" Kleine sauntered over to Wu Qingsong, grabbed him by the leg, and flung him toward a mastiffman named Halo. "Have your way with this one, but be warned, he might be carrying some sort of poison."
Halo erupted in laughter. He stomped heavily on Wu Qingsong's abdomen before lifting up the wolfman's lifeless body.
"Poison, you say? Allow me to cleanse that for you."
A grotesque rain of blood, brain matter, and body fragments splattered over Wu Qingsong, drenching him from head to toe. Meanwhile, Kleine turned his attention to Harold.
"I recognize you," he began. "You used to be the captain of the White Night Mercenary Group, didn't you?"
Harold remained tight-lipped.
"Why risk your life for them just for the sake of some coin?" Kleine pressed.
"I was only hired to handle security issues. That's the extent of my knowledge. If you expect to extract any secrets from me, you'll be sorely disappointed," Harold replied.
"Has he never mentioned anything about Karazhan? What is his source of income? Does it stem from some secret within Karazhan?" Kleine asked.
"If you were in his shoes, would you divulge such information to a hired wolfman?" Harold said.
"So you're saying you've outlived your usefulness?"
Harold offered no reply. But it was abundantly clear to him that the moment they underestimated Kleine's strength, their defeat was inevitable. In a situation like this, Kleine would spare no one. Begging for mercy or attempting to appeal to his better nature would simply be self-degrading.
"Where are those two little vixens?" Kleine asked, his sword not penetrating Harold's chest as anticipated.
"They got off halfway," Harold replied.
"Really?" Kleine smirked. "Then this carriage is of no more use. Burn it down."
***
Wu Qingsong had lost track of time, beaten until he was nearly senseless. Compared to this psychopathic mastiffman, Kleine suddenly appeared to be the very picture of gentlemanly grace. The irony was that the blood and filth coating his face inhibited him from cursing this maniac, who was exponentially more deranged than Kleine ever was.
Flailing his arms desperately, he aimed to inflict some sort of damage on the mastiffman. Suddenly, the brutal assault ceased.
The mastiffman grasped Wu Qingsong's head with one hand, yanking him off the ground.
Ling? Liuli? How is this possible?
"Let them go, you twisted freak!" Wu Qingsong burst out.
"Where is Karazhan?" Kleine retorted, clutching Liuli's throat with one hand and lifting her into the air. She weakly struggled, her face turning an alarming shade of red, yet she was entirely incapable of inflicting any harm on him.
"Let her go, she's dying!" Wu Qingsong finally lost the will to hurl further insults.
"You remember how to get back, don't you?" Kleine's grip only tightened, showing no signs of releasing her. "You’ve amassed quite a fortune using knowledge from Karazhan, haven't you? What else do you remember?"
"Let her go!" Wu Qingsong shouted. "Let them go, and I will lead you to Karazhan!"
"As you wish," Kleine sneered.
With a faint, sickening sound, Liuli's body went limp. Her limbs and tail drooped lifelessly, making her resemble a discarded puppet.
Kleine then nonchalantly tossed her at Wu Qingsong's feet.
"Do you remember what I told you?" Kleine's voice echoed as if coming from a great distance. "Traitors must pay the price."
