510 The Fallen Knigh (2/2)

Fortunately, they now had plenty of gold and could buy strong alcohol and women to numb themselves. They would live each day as it came. Unfortunately, this numbing also sped up their fall from grace. They grew more violent when they stole and began to rape and kill.

Zi Mo knew that problems would arise should they continue on like this and tried to end it. However, the Divine Hall commanders who had fallen into despair were like tigers released from cages. They had fallen from the lofty Peach Mountain and into the muddy dirt. This aggravated their madness and Zi Mo could not stop them.

One day in summer, when they were plundering in the middle of the night, either one of the commanders or someone from their retinue went mad. The head of a noble who had already surrendered was cut off. This atmosphere of madness spread and a massacre occurred. Everyone in that noble family died amidst the desperate cries of the night.

Death would naturally come with plundering. Rape wasn't rare either. However, they had gotten into deep trouble by massacring an entire family of nobles of the South Jin Kingdom, especially since their estate was not far from the capital.

This tragedy that had robbed the lives of an entire family did not alarm the powerhouses in the Sword Garret, but was enough to alarm the imperial court of the South Jin Kingdom. During the investigation, the imperial court found that the attackers wore the armor of the Divine Hall's cavalrymen commanders. They were meticulous, and sent a letter to the West-Hill Divine Palace to ascertain that the men were criminals who had been exiled from the Divine Hall and were no longer protected by them. Then, the imperial court's prudence evolved into anger.

The South Jin Kingdom began to send out arrest warrants, providing hefty rewards to those who provided information. And on these warrants, these criminals were given a new name— The Fallen Knights.

South Jin Kingdom was powerful and was second only to the Tang Empire. Even though the Fallen Knights were sharp-witted and good commanders, the South Jin Kingdom's serious treatment of this incident meant that they had been plunged into turmoil and had to flee in all directions.

While on the run, many died or were separated from the group. One of the commanders had died and many were seriously injured. They had over a hundred men when they left the West-Hill, but now there were only dozens of them. They had almost been completely eliminated today, after being surrounded and attacked outside the forests.

Groans continued to reverberate beside the bonfire. Everyone looked like they had lost all hope and were in despair.

”Are we waiting for death here?”

A robust follower stood up and walked to the bonfire. He looked at his companions. Most of them were injured because they did not have any armor. He said loudly, ”Why don't we leave?”

These followers were like servants of the knights. They honored loyalty and no one would take them in if they betrayed their masters. So the man's intention to leave proved that the situation was extremely dangerous.

A cavalry commander looked at the man gravely. He bellowed, ”Guo Nu, I treated you well. If not for me, would you have become who you are today? How dare you betray me? Don't forget, all of you retinues are listed on the arrest warrant. Where would you go?”

The follower called Guo Nu looked at his master and smiled coldly, ”I have slaved for you for so many years. And yet, at this moment, in our dire state, you say that you have treated me well. As for the arrest warrant... Other than the pictures of you generals, who would recognize unexceptional people like us? We have gotten many taels of silver these days. If we all go our own ways and hide, who would find us?”

The commander said angrily, ”Don't forget that the silver is with me.”

Guo Nu looked at him and said indifferently. ”I know that you won't give us the silver. Masters like you would prefer us to die than to live well. But remember, your cultivation state has been destroyed by the Great Divine Priest. You are all invalids now. Do you think you are as strong as before?”

He looked to the other retinue members around the bonfire and yelled, ”Why are you all hesitating? We were the ones who worked hard to steal those taels of silver. These people are already useless. They can't even pick up their knives. Would any of them be a match for us?”

The bonfire did not burn brightly. The forests around them were completely dark, and the expressions on the retinue members' faces could not be made out clearly. However, one could see that they had lifted their heads.

The commanders were once high and mighty. They were free to be kind to their retinues or treat them like beasts. Now that the retinues had incited a rebellion, they could not accept this shame. However, they had to admit that the situation they were in right now was especially precarious. They might die here if they were not careful.

Then, Guo Nu's voice suddenly stopped.

An extremely thin metal thread appeared around his neck and swiftly contracted!

The metal thread dug into his skin and blood spurted out.

Guo Nu's eyes widened in fear and his hands clawed at his neck desperately, trying to dig the metal thread out. However, his efforts were in vain. The more he struggled, the deeper the metal thread dug in. It sliced through, layer by layer. It cut through his windpipe, his gullet and all his blood vessels.

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