Chapter 1373: Smell of Blood

“What’s your name? Where are you from?”

“Nolan and this is my elder brother, Buenos. We come from Icebound Town.”

Negan Murray answered the guard’s questions smoothly.

Before arriving at Sedimentation Bay, the two had asked around and learned that it was best to tell the truth to the guards of Graycastle to avoid encountering problems upon arriving south. But they never planned to visit Graycastle.

Once through Cage Mountain, they would arrive in Kingdom of Dawn’s territory with a vast hamlet to take refuge in. Relying on their combat experience, the two had no worries for their future.

Thus compared to nobles, disguising as common folk made them less conspicuous.

They had planned this ahead of time, to join as an imperial guard or patrol member for a feudal lord to provide them with a creditable identity in the day, and freedom to do whatever they wanted in the night. So long as they kept watch at the remote path, they were bound to find more refugees.

—Just like what they did in the Kingdom of Everwinter.

“Ah? That’s rather far from Sedimentation Bay.” The inspector made casual conversation while recording the details. “The news of the demons retreating traveled so quickly? There are only a few northern people like you amongst the refugees.”

Negan was slightly startled; the other party was clearly an ordinary person from his appearance and attire. But all the other ordinary citizens Negan encountered were only aware of their own situation and they were never knowledgeable about other events. But not only did the man from Graycastle know about Icebound Town, he was even able to mention the distance to this unknown place!

“Is… that so? I heard it from a merchant friend as well, maybe soon enough, the people coming to Kingdom of Everwinter will increase?”

But his answer also made Negan glad that he had chosen a town not far from the Kingdom of Wolfheart. If he had chosen Snow Reflection Castle situated at the north of Everwinter, it would have garnered suspicion.

“I hope so too.” The inspector turned to Talos Murray. “Right, can your brother lift his scarf that’s covering his face?”

“He was mauled by a beast before, I don’t think it’s convenient to reveal his face…”

“Apologies, but it is the rules. If there are any distinctive features, I have to write it down.”

Negan frowned.

Damn it, you’re just a watchdog.

My brother was once an officially conferred knight!

If they were in the wilderness, Negan would have sliced the inspector’s tongue out!

“Alright, it’s nothing much,” Talos replied coldly. “But just for a look.” He lifted the scarf, revealing the distorted half of his face. It might had been too horrific as the inspector could not help but take a step back, while everyone around all gasped in shock. But even so, the man from Graycastle continued to complete the record.

“Then… here are your nameplates.” He handed over two metal plates. “They are your only proof of your new identities, please do not lose them. You guys can go ahead to the detainment area and wait.”

He’s scared.

Negan took the nameplate and sneered in his heart.

The elder brother’s expression remained indifferent, but in fact, his killing intent had been stirred. The aura honed from his clashes was not something any common folk could endure. In addition to his hideous face, it increased the intimidation severalfold. For the other party to not fall to the ground on his buttocks was considered commendable.

It was a pity they were not somewhere they could cause trouble. There were armed Graycastle guards around. No matter how strong the two of them were, it was impossible for them to avoid the invisible crossbow arrows.

“Let’s go.” Talos covered his face and nodded.

“Yes.” Negan pushed through the crowd and took the lead to enter the port. Soon after, he stopped in his tracks. “Brother, they plan to load everyone up…”

Talos had also noticed the Graycastle guards’ arrangements.

Their original seemingly sound plans involved getting past the checkpoint and finding an opportunity to act freely, but it seemed that the Graycastle guards never had the intention of allowing the refugees of dispersing. The path from the sentry post to the detainment area had brightly-colored strips to guide the way, so long as the refugees followed the strips, they would be led to the dock where they would ascend the docked ships.

Although the strips were not restrictive in any way, there were patrolling guards all around. The guards paced back and forth around their stipulated areas. If the two of them were to leave the colored strips and move away from the crowd, the guards would not ignore their actions.

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And the greatest difference from their plans was undoubtedly the city itself.

Sedimentation Bay’s core region was in complete ruins. There were hardly any intact buildings, much less inhabitants around. This not only prevented them from mixing with the locals, but also made it difficult for them to cover their tracks.

It was completely different from Everwinter!

Both places were clearly occupied by demons before, but regardless of Snow Reflection Castle or any other cities, all their foundations were preserved well. Who would had anticipated that the south had turned into such a state?

“What do we do now?” Negan could not help but reveal a look of worry. Once they boarded the ship, their fates would be up in the air. If they ended up heading for Graycastle, where could they run to?

Staying in their original spot was obviously not a choice. Any refugee would only hope to leave the land of demons. If they did not move forward, they would still look suspicious and gain the attention of the guards.

“You’re just too impetuous, that’s why you never received the conferment from His Majesty.” Talos sighed. “Walk slowly and don’t stop. The dock is big, it is impossible for Graycastle personnel to cover the area flawlessly. Look at their numbers and you’ll know, there are less than a hundred of them. As long as we watch them carefully, we will definitely find an opportunity to leave.”

After hearing his elder brother’s words, Negan gradually calmed down.

Talos Murray was usually an extremely cold and cool-headed person no matter how crazy he was when killing someone or basking in pleasure after a victory. Negan believed that so long as he listened to his brother, there were no impossible obstacles.

Half a minute later, Negan discovered an opportunity.

“Brother, look there!” he exclaimed softly.

“… Inconceivable.” Talos nodded his head after observing for a moment. “I have to admit that Graycastle is truly a notch above the rest when it comes to unorthodox practices, they can even do that to horse carriages.”

At a corner of the dock were 10 four-wheeled vehicles with enormous dimensions that not even ordinary carriages meant to carry goods could compare with. All the food and supplies appeared to be supplied by these carriages, with many porters shuttling between the vehicles and the dock, transporting bags and bags of supplies up the ships.

The number of people there made it relatively chaotic and it was relatively close to the detainment area. It was not difficult for them to move towards the vehicles.

The only thing was, moving to the vehicles did not imply that they had escaped the restricted area controlled by Graycastle—Unless they could dodge the firearms, they would definitely be overtaken and captured by the patrolling guards.

The only way was to steal a carriage and escape.

Although the four-wheeled carriages were large, they were still manually operated and were different from horse carts. The coachman’s position seemed to be inside the carriage. In other words, as long as they found an opportunity to hijack the driver, they could guarantee that they would not be discovered.

Negan and Talos looked at each other and confirmed their unanimous idea.

The plan was to make use of the size of the vehicles to cover their tracks, find a carriage which was preparing for departure, and slit the throat of the driver. Everything after that would fall into place naturally.

The two of them immediately took action.

The entire process was more of a daunting experience than having the fear of danger.

Although many porters noticed their movements, the only response from the porters was to remind the brothers the direction of the ship and not question them. The two acted as though they were attracted to the appearance of the large carriages and easily fooled the crowd. After all, everyone was busy transporting supplies and no one was willing to make a fuss.

Once they entered a blindspot, Negan and Talos quickly bent down and ran to the closest vehicle which looked loaded from the outside.

It looked as though their plan to escape was just a step away.

Right at that moment, a question suddenly came out from behind them.

“Who are you guys?”

The hairs on Negan’s body immediately stood up.

He immediately turned his head to come face to face with a cloaked girl that had appeared behind them without them realizing it.

The girl cocked her head, the shroud of the cloak covering half of her face.

He reached his hand out to his waist but was secretly stopped by Talos. “Apologies… we are refugees from Icebound Town. We initially thought to look at these shocking creations and didn’t think that we would end up here.”

“Is that so, refugees…” The girl laughed, showing no intention to leave. “But, why is there such a rich smell of blood on the both of you?”