Chapter 585: Chapter-585
Hovering near the ceiling, the System let out a dramatic, digital sigh. "Oh, you know, just some light housekeeping. Maybe sweep the floors, fold some towels, hide three bodies in a bathtub..."
Heena ignored the glowing blue lion. She reached down, grabbing the cuffs of her soaked, blood-spattered champagne robes, and calmly began to roll her heavy sleeves up past her elbows.
"Nothing," Heena replied, her tone as casual as if she were preparing to wash the dishes. "Just going to clear them all up."
The Third Wife swallowed hard, her bruised throat bobbing. She didn’t dare question the Vanguard Madam again. Clinging to the walls for support, she stumbled out of the ruined bathroom and made her way toward the splintered front doors of the pavilion, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Left alone with the dead, Heena cracked her neck. The sharp, agonizing pain at the base of her skull was a steady reminder of how close she had come to death, but her mind was terrifyingly clear.
She crouched down next to the leader with the crushed windpipe.
"Host, what are you doing?" the System asked, floating down and cautiously poking the dead man’s boot with its intangible paw. "Are you going to chop them up and flush them down the ancient latrine? Because I really don’t think they’ll fit."
’Shut up and scan his pockets,’ Heena replied internally, her hands efficiently patting down the assassin’s black armor. ’These are elite killers sent by the Prime Minister to the inner palace. They wouldn’t come on a covert assassination mission without a contingency plan for their own corpses.’
The digital lion’s eyes flashed with a scanning blue light. "Oh! Left breast pocket! Hidden behind the armor plating!"
Heena slipped her fingers into the hidden pouch and pulled out a small, tightly sealed ceramic vial. She popped the cork with her thumb. A faint, acrid smell of concentrated sulfur and lye drifted into the damp air.
Corpse-dissolving powder. A classic, indispensable tool for any respectable ancient assassin.
Heena smirked. ’Always let the enemy bring their own body bags.’
She didn’t waste a single second. She dragged the three heavy bodies to the center of the bathroom, stacking them haphazardly over the wooden floor slats meant for draining bathwater.
Before using the powder, her hands swiftly moved over their belts. She unhooked three heavy pouches of silver taels, a beautifully carved jade token from the leader’s waist, and two backup daggers.
"Host..." the System deadpanned, watching her casually stuff the stolen loot into her wet robes. "You literally just survived a paralyzing aphrodisiac and a near-death experience, and your first instinct is to rob the corpses?"
’Rule number one of the battlefield,’ Heena replied flatly, uncorking the ceramic vial. ’Never leave good loot behind. I have a household to feed.’
Heena stepped back and sprinkled the grayish powder generously over the three bodies.
The reaction was instantaneous.
Hsssss.
A thick, foul-smelling white smoke immediately billowed into the air. The chemical compound was incredibly potent. It ate through the black armor, the flesh, and the bone with terrifying speed. The bodies began to violently melt, turning into a bubbling, grotesque puddle of dark sludge that slowly seeped through the wooden floor slats and into the drainage earth below.
"Oh my god, the smell!" the System gagged, dramatically clutching its digital throat and floating as high up to the ceiling as it could. "It smells like burning hair and rotten eggs! I’m going to throw up my digital data!"
Heena held her breath, entirely unfazed. She grabbed the heavy wooden bathing stool and forcefully tipped the massive wooden tub over.
WHOOSH!
Gallons of freezing, stagnant water flooded the bathroom floor. The tidal wave washed over the bubbling sludge, diluting the chemicals, washing away the blood, and forcefully flushing the remaining evidence down through the slats.
Within five minutes, the bathroom was entirely clear.
There were no bodies. There were no weapons. There was only a very wet floor, which was perfectly normal for a bathing room.
Heena tossed the empty ceramic vial down the slats, kicked the wooden stool back upright, and walked out into the main room.
Her champagne robes were completely ruined—soaked in freezing water, stained with blood, and torn at the collar—but the terrifying, suffocating aura of the Vanguard General had settled completely back into her bones.
She looked toward the front entrance.
The Third Wife was standing guard by the splintered door, exactly as she had been told. She was clutching a broken piece of wood like a makeshift weapon, her small body trembling violently as she peered out into the dark, silent courtyard.
"Drop the wood," Heena said, her voice calm and authoritative.
The Third Wife jumped, spinning around. Her eyes darted from Heena to the open bathroom door, expecting to see a horrifying pile of mutilated bodies.
When she saw the bathroom was completely empty, her jaw literally dropped.
"Wh... where..." The Third Wife pointed a trembling finger toward the wet room. "Where did they go?"
"They decided to retire early," Heena replied smoothly, wringing the freezing water out of her heavy sleeves. She looked at the shivering woman. "We don’t have much time. The Prime Minister ordered a search of the entire palace grounds. When those three don’t report back, he is going to send the rest of his dogs straight here."
The Third Wife’s brief moment of relief violently shattered. The sheer, overwhelming terror of her husband crashed back over her. She dropped the piece of wood, her hands flying to her face as a choked sob escaped her lips.
"He is going to kill me," she wept, her knees buckling as she slid down the wall. "He is going to know I helped you. He is going to drag me back to the manor and break my legs. I... I can’t go back there, My Lady. I can’t."
Heena stopped wringing her sleeves.
Heena slowly stood up, her dripping, blood-stained robes clinging to her figure. She turned to look down at the frail woman trembling on the floor. The dangerous, protective aura from a moment ago vanished, replaced by the freezing, calculated gaze of a military interrogator.
"Why did you save me?" Heena asked, her voice completely flat.
Hearing that, the woman’s crying abruptly stopped. She looked up at Heena, her tear-streaked face twisting into a mask of slight bewilderment. Her eyes darted around the ruined room, as if trying to process the situation. Isn’t this the exact moment you are supposed to say ’thank you’?
Heena crossed her arms over her chest, looking entirely aghast at the woman’s silence. "I don’t think we know each other well enough for you to throw yourself into a death trap just to pull me out."
The Third Wife paused, nervously gripping the wet fabric of her skirt. "You... you gave me the medicine at the banquet."
Heena raised a single, skeptical eyebrow. The corner of her mouth twitched into a sharp, mocking smirk.
"Really?" Heena scoffed, her tone dripping with disbelief. "So, just because I tossed you a small bottle of medicine, you decided to endanger your own life, drag a paralyzed general across a ruined courtyard, and stab me in the spine with a silver needle? Do you really think I am such a fool, My Lady?"
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