That person's expression was rigid and immobile. From top to bottom, there was an air of lifelessness.

Elijah didn't back off. Instead, he approached and touched the person's face.

It was a wax figure.

That thing had a hard texture and a faint smell of wax.

It was extremely finely crafted. The facial features were vivid and handsome. The clothes on the body were luxurious. The joints all over the body could be twisted freely.

Elijah knew that the leader of Warlock's guillotine was a black-haired and black-eyed man. And this top-floor room probably belonged to him.

It was just not clear what the connection was between the wax figure and the leader of Warlock's guillotine.

But then again, the crystal compass had no abnormal movement, which meant that the thing he was looking for wasn't here.

Elijah planned to return by the same route and find another way to reach the north bank.

He didn't know who had killed the mercenaries inside and outside the tower, nor did he know what the soaring black shadow represented.

There was only one thing that was undoubted - the doors and windows of the tower were tightly closed, the cellar couldn't be opened, and the way to the drawbridge was also blocked, forming a locked room.

Now midnight was approaching. The rangers must be looking for a nearby outpost to stay. If they were seen by them, Elijah wouldn't be able to clear his suspicion even if he jumped into the Tassel River.

But just when he had descended halfway down the stairs, a murmur of voices faintly came.

One minute ago, the door of the cellar suddenly popped open.

A man with a red nose poked his head out and looked around furtively like a thief. Then, in a voice characteristic of a person with rhinitis, he said, "You heard it wrong, Aaron. There's nothing at all upstairs."

A thin hand pushed him hard from below. "Go out and look carefully, Koch. Maybe the dead have come back to life."

"Bullshit!"

Red-nosed Koch climbed onto the ground and cursed. "The boundary between the Black Land and the Given Land here hasn't changed for a hundred years. There will never be any resurrection of the dead. If you want to see, go by yourself!"

Skinny Aaron emerged from the hole, holding a kerosene lamp and looking around. After confirming that there was no one in the hall and the door was properly bolted, he breathed a sigh of relief to some extent.

At this time, a third person also climbed onto the ground. It was a burly man with a neck as thick as a bull.

On the foreheads of the three people, there were wounds of the same shape, red and smelly, like fresh brands.

"What now?" Aaron said. "Do we really have to listen to 'that guy' and send the regiment's treasure to the north?"

"Otherwise?" Koch retorted. "Do you want to die in pain, with blood flowing from your eyes and mouth,just like the others?"

"No, but if the commander comes back and finds out that we have surrendered to the wizard, wouldn't the consequences be even more terrible?" Aaron continued.

"Don't be stupid," Koch replied. "The Commander is already dead. The people who went to Snow Island to find him are the same. This regiment must be cursed to suffer one misfortune after another. We don't need to think too much. As long as we stay lucky and continue to live."

Aaron still wanted to ask more, but was interrupted by the burly man. "Okay, stop nagging. Since you said there is someone upstairs, go and check it out."

"Alone? I won't do it."

"Koch, accompany him to check."

"Why should I listen to you?" Red-nosed Koch was unconvinced.

The burly man became angry and ashamed. "Then let's play rock-paper-scissors. The loser goes to check the second floor. The rest find some black oil."

In the end, Aaron lost.

He gritted his teeth, grabbed the oil lamp, and stepped onto the second floor.

All the corpses were in their original places, without any movement at all. They were still bleeding from their eyes and mouths like just now, with tragic deaths.

Aaron touched the wound on his forehead and trembled all over.

After all, everything was Hein Vondio's fault.

The reason why Aaron joined Warlock's guillotine was entirely because of its reputation as "the number one on the west coast".

In its prosperous period, Warlock's guillotine had organized light cavalry, heavy cavalry, armored infantry, and archers, as well as engineers, medical soldiers, and baggage troops as auxiliaries.

The soldiers wore reflective armor and held silk flags high, marching neatly on the plain, which was daunting at a glance.

When the fleet of the people on the east bank raised black sails and appeared on the sea level with the invincible wizard regiment bathed in sunlight, only this army did not throw away their helmets and armor and flee.

If it weren't for Warlock's guillotine holding the pressure, who knows what the Dual-moon War would turn out to be? Maybe half of the people on the west coast would be branded and become slaves of the Kameni Empire.

But after Aaron joined, the glorious era passed. All he encountered were nothing but unlucky things.

Hein Vondio had a conflict with the empire and lost his title of count. The regiment under his command was dismantled and annexed. Elite generals were sent to different war zones. The team was in disarray. In the end, there were less than thirty people left and could only apply for the lowest-level garrison.

As for Hein Vondio...

Yes, this person was indeed brave and outstanding and had all the qualities a leader should have. But when he thought of his eccentricity, Aaron felt creepy all over.

While lost in wild thoughts, a burst of footsteps sounded above Aaron.

This sound was real and not an illusion at all.

His throat tightened and he said hoarsely, "Commander, is it you?"

Only silence answered him.

Maybe it was some other sound. Aaron tried to convince himself, such as a dilapidated waterwheel or the noise caused by the wind blowing on the drawbridge.

After psychologically preparing himself, he drew his rapier with a "swish" and summoned up his courage. Step by step, he walked upstairs.

When passing the fork, Aaron caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, and his gaze involuntarily shifted to the left.

On the winding stairs, there was a man on all fours, lying on the steps at the corner. His shoulders and above were blocked by the wall. At first glance, it seemed like he had no head.

Aaron held his sword across his body and walked up the steps tremblingly. He was about to stab with his weapon.

But at a glance, he found that the person's face was very familiar. In the dim light, it looked like the regiment leader no matter how he looked.

What was even more terrifying was that the other person's head was twisted 180 degrees and was propped up above his back. Those pitch-black, lifeless eyes stared at him fixedly.

Aaron let out a scream, missed his step, and rolled down the stairs.

For about half a minute, Aaron was unconscious and didn't know what had happened. When he woke up again, he only felt a sharp pain in his head and a continuous buzzing in his ears.

He forgot the oil lamp. His hand unconsciously grabbed the rapier and fled downstairs like escaping for his life.

After returning to the hall on the first floor, Aaron ignored his accomplices and directly rushed towards the door of the tower.

"Thump, thump, thump—"

Aaron froze in place and heard the urgent knocking sound coming head-on. His scalp tingled.

There was someone outside blocking his way.

Could it be that the rangers had come to stay?

While hesitating, an extremely familiar voice urged outside the door, "Open the door. I heard you coming."

Aaron's face instantly turned pale.

He gasped for breath, his throat making a "huh huh" tremor as he kept backing away.

The Commander was clearly on the third floor. Aaron thought in horror. How could he teleport outside the tower in an instant?

Weird, so weird.

Just then, a whooshing sound came from behind his head.

Aaron dodged by instinct. The ax of the attacker missed. He turned around and looked at the burly man angrily.

The burly man didn't say much either. He raised his ax again and was about to chop it down on his head.

"Are you crazy? Torus, you traitor!"

"Still dare to bite back," Torus said. "You struck first!"

Then there was a loud "boom". The door of the tower was kicked open. The broken wooden boards flew several meters away and fell on the two of them.

"Sorry," a black-haired man walked in, looking innocent. "I've been knocking for a long time. I really don't want to wait anymore."

His shirt was dirty and torn. It had changed from white to gray. There was an inexplicable big hole in the front, revealing the steel thin chain hanging on his chest.

The pendant on the steel chain was a jet-black ring.

orus stared wide-eyed and his tongue stiffened.

The reaction of Skinny Aaron was even more exaggerated. He knelt on the ground with a bend of his knees and said tremulously, "Commander, I didn't do anything. It's none of my business."

Torus cursed inwardly. A look of gratitude was feigned on his face. "Commander, you are finally back. The camp was attacked by wizards. Everyone else was killed!"

Smelling the strong sulfur smell on the two of them, Hein couldn't help wrinkling his nose. "Wizard? You mean, the sentry outside was killed by witchcraft?"

"Yes," Torus gestured in the air. "That was a powerful guy. He had a human shape but was wrapped in thick smoke. He claimed to be from the east bank and came specifically to take revenge on you."

"Not only kill people but also take away the regiment's property. So he used despicable witchcraft to brand us as slaves. If we don't send the treasure to him, we will die in pain, with blood flowing from our eyes and mouth."

Hein nodded. "Where is that wizard now?"

"...We don't know," Torus's eyes rolled. "He said he would tell us with telepathy."

"So that's it," Hein looked down at the floor. "What's wrong with Koch?"

"He was killed by Aaron," Torus said immediately. "I was looking for something in the kitchen just now. When I came out, I saw Koch dead in the hall. And Aaron was running towards the door like crazy. He must have killed Koch and wanted to escape. As for the reason, I don't know."

"Is that so?" Hein asked Aaron.

"He's slandering me," the thin man was still kneeling on the ground. "You know, Commander. I was just checking on the third floor. I met you. I had no time to kill Koch at all. May your soul rest in peace. Don't hurt me!"

Hein walked through the hall and came to the double arched door. He touched Koch's neck.

Koch still had a pulse and was not dead.

By the light of the kerosene lamp, Hein noticed a bruise on Koch's neck side. It looked like it was left by finger pressure and was shaped like a butterfly.

This fingerprint was right on the carotid sinus. With the right trick, a few seconds of pressure could make a person faint.

Neither Aaron nor Torus had such skills.

Moreover, both of these two people had weapons. If they wanted to kill Koch, they wouldn't need such a covert method.

Why did Torus say Koch was dead? Hein thought in his heart. Maybe it was a momentary panic and a wrong judgment.

He walked around the kitchen and the hall and returned to the entrance of the tower. He picked up the bolt that he had kicked off.

In the moonlight, several fresh white scratches appeared on the tenon.

"Okay," Hein clapped his hands. "There are three things that happened here. Let's solve them one by one."

First was the case of Koch being attacked.

"Torus," Hein said. "Go back to the kitchen first and do what you did before you found Koch again."

Torus scratched his head, took his own oil lamp, and turned to leave.

Between the kitchen and the hall, there were a pair of side-by-side arched doors and a short corridor. After returning to the kitchen, Torus couldn't see what was happening in the hall.

Similarly, Hein and Aaron who stayed in the hall couldn't see the person in the kitchen either.

Torus imitated the situation just now. He walked into the hall from the arched door on the west side and came to the unconscious Koch. He said, "This is it."

But when he looked around, only Aaron was standing in the hall looking at him with a strange expression.

"Where's the leader?" Torus asked warily.

Aaron showed a smile. "He's right here. Can't you see him?"