Chapter Sixty-Five: Let Me Tell You a Secret

The Night Elf King, Bard, was already two hundred years old. Though his hair was entirely silver and his beard was streaked with white, his eyes were sharp in a way rarely seen even among the young.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know what you’re thinking. Do you really believe I’d entrust the Queen’s fate to a mere warrior?”

Bard burst out laughing. “No, of course not... I’m simply using him. My true purpose is this very moment: once the barrier of the Hall of Order is broken, I can enter—”

“To defile your Queen.”

Another voice spoke up, and Bard began to stammer. “No! That wasn’t me! Who—who’s trying to frame me?”

The night elves glanced around, then fixed their eyes on Lin Lei. Hadn’t the boss just said that?

“So it was you!” Bard noticed the direction of their gazes.

“I only spoke out your true intentions. Can you honestly say that isn’t what you want?” Lin Lei replied, righteous and unflinching.

Suddenly the night elves recalled the rumors—wasn’t this exactly what the new king was thinking? That shameless king, exposed by the news! Locking the Queen in a dark room, wielding a whip and candle...

Now this beast could no longer restrain his lust.

“Shameless!”

“You’re already so old, yet you still want to defile our Queen!”

The night elves hurled curses at him. Bard’s face flushed red, his whole body trembling with rage as he pointed at Lin Lei. “You rascal, don’t slander me! Do you have any proof?”

Lin Lei said, “You stole the Twin Moon Wheel from the Queen’s bath!”

“I want evidence!”

“You stole the Twin Moon Wheel from the Queen’s bath!”

“I said evidence!”

“You stole the Twin Moon Wheel from the Queen’s bath!”

Lin Lei repeated himself three times.

Bard’s head nearly burst with anger. “Damn it, stop spouting nonsense! I never even entered her bath!”

“You stole the Twin Moon Wheel while the Queen was bathing, and you say you never entered the bath!”

“I didn’t go into the bath, I was just in her changing room...”

Bard’s words trailed off abruptly. On the shore, the night elves had already caught the implication, looking at him with utter disdain.

“The bath... it really was in the bath!”

“He’s even more shameless than we imagined.”

“Not content with playing with wax and whips, he’s now peeping on the Queen while she bathes!”

“Utterly depraved! We can’t let someone like this be our king!”

The night elves were deeply agitated—how could they let such a lecherous old man become their ruler? The shame of it! Other races would never let them hear the end of it. Clearly, the Twin Moon Wheel must be reclaimed, and a true gentleman chosen as king!

Bard’s complexion alternated between pale and livid, his fury uncontrollable.

“You little wretch, you’re courting death!” Suddenly, a blinding light burst forth behind Bard, spilling across the land and bathing Lin Lei in a fleeting warmth.

He watched Bard warily, but the radiance faded quickly.

Bard fixed Lin Lei with a glare. “You’ve angered me, boy—now you’ll taste the agony of betrayal. Night elves, kill this man for me!”

In the face of absolute power, clever tricks are meaningless.

Ignoring Lin Lei, Bard soared toward the Hall of Order. He knew that as long as he dealt with the Queen’s true form, these pests would pose no threat. Time was of the essence; if the Queen moved the battlefield to the royal palace, she might yet seize the Twin Moon Wheel from him.

Just as Lin Lei prepared to give chase, the Queen’s phantom unleashed a spell.

“Teleport!”

In an instant, they appeared ten meters away—just as countless arrows struck the spot where Lin Lei had just stood.

“What’s going on?” Lin Lei looked toward the source of the arrows. His black-clad corps—now, all the night elves had raised their weapons against him.

“That’s the power of the Twin Moon Wheel,” Eve ran to Lin Lei’s side, gritting her teeth. “I never thought it would be this strong.”

Both she and Lin Lei had underestimated the artifact. Even a fraction of its radiance was enough to seize control of the night elves, compelling them to attack Lin Lei.

They advanced on him in perfect formation, though their minds remained lucid.

“Boss, run!”

“Boss, we can’t control our bodies! Please, run!”

They shouted, but were powerless to stop their bodies from attacking Lin Lei. Lin Lei could only turn his back on them, helpless.

“My brothers, no matter what, I will never harm you.”

His words stirred the night elves deeply.

But the next moment, Lin Lei raised his fist, and with a gentle punch—

With a whoosh, a biting cold wind swept through the crowd—in an instant, over a thousand ice sculptures appeared behind Lin Lei.

He turned around, stroking his chin. “Now I can confirm—all the ice statues before were my handiwork!”

“…”

Eve’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

“Hurry, leave this place,” came Angie’s phantom voice, suddenly.

“What?” Lin Lei was just about to admire his work!

“He’s coming.” Angie spoke again, but she was too late.

A white cage appeared out of thin air, trapping Lin Lei and Eve inside.

They turned and saw the new king emerge, his face dark with fury.

“What the—? It’s only been seconds and you’re already here!” Lin Lei hurled a punch at the cage, but it was as if he struck the void; his strength vanished the moment it met the bars.

“Surprised?” Bard looked at Lin Lei, but could find no satisfaction in having him trapped—when he entered the Hall of Order, he’d found the Queen gone.

She had escaped, leaving only a phantom. There was only one place she could have gone—plainly, while the new king awaited the shattering of the barrier, the Queen had turned the tables and fled to the royal palace.

If the battle shifted to the palace, she’d have a chance to reclaim the Twin Moon Wheel.

“That cunning woman!” Bard clenched his teeth, but he still had a chance.

Lin Lei pounded the cage, but Bard seized it and flew toward the palace. “Don’t bother struggling—this is the Twin Moon Wheel’s prison. Any attack you make inside will be absorbed by the artifact, making it even stronger.”

“Why target me? If you want a fight, just fight!” Lin Lei glared at him. “What good is catching me?”

“Oh, it’s useful enough, little prince of the forest elves!” Bard laughed. He hadn’t believed the intelligence from Gran City about the forest elf prince’s appearance, but seeing Lin Lei’s interaction with the Queen just now, he was sure of his identity.

“I can use you to threaten your precious queenly sister.”

“No way—she’s not even my real sister.”

“Then let me tell you a secret. Forty years ago, our great archmage killed a forest elf princess. That princess—later became the Night Elf Queen.”

Bard stared at Lin Lei. “So, tell me, would your sister really ignore her brother’s fate?”