Astral Apostle

Chapter 128: Bleak (2)

“About a month or two later, an imperial envoy seemed to have come to investigate this matter. In the end, he announced to the entire city that this matter was due to a revenge done by the lord’s guards. The lord himself did not know about it, and that was a misunderstanding. Then, he turned around to appease the hunters in White Plains Town…”

Hearing this, Zhou Jing sneered in his heart, but his expression did not change.

“And?”

“The hunters seemed to be very angry and didn’t accept this explanation. Many hunters left directly. White Plains Town didn’t have enough hunters to deal with the threat of the mutant beasts. The vicinity is becoming more and more unsafe. In the past few months, there have been fewer and fewer foreigners coming to visit, and the merchants don’t even take this route anymore… Instead, more and more villagers have entered the town to seek refuge.”

“So after the hunters left, many nearby villages encountered mutated beasts?” Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows.

“There are two villages which are currently affected. If there were enough hunters, we could have repelled these mutant beasts in time. However, most of the hunters in the area are guarding White Plains Town now, and they rarely go to support the villages.” The shop owner sighed.

“Which two villages were the victims?”

“Many people in Snow Rock Village and Blue Fruit Village have been bitten to death by mutated beasts. The survivors fled to the city… Because of such encounters and the fact that the hunters nowadays only guard the town and don’t go out, the other villages also feel that it’s not safe to live in the wilderness. Many people have taken the initiative to move into the town.”

Zhou Jing nodded in response.

“This situation has continued until now? Has it improved?”

The shopkeeper shook his head and said helplessly, “There’s no improvement. Although it attracted many wandering mercenaries, a new hunter hasn’t been here for a long time. I heard from others that the news of Jason attacking the lord has spread to many towns. Lutt’s reputation has already been ruined. Many people are unwilling to work under a lord who has tried to kill a hunter. As long as he’s here, the hunters won’t come… If this continues, White Plains Town will probably be finished.”

Zhou Jing clicked his tongue. “Why didn’t they change a lord?”

The shop owner couldn’t help but feel a little angry. He complained loudly, “Who knows what the empire is thinking? They don’t care at all! They allowed Lutt to continue to be the lord. As the threat of mutant beasts becomes more and more frequent, the victim will be the entire town! It’s no longer safe here. Everyone is panicking now. I heard that many residents of White Plains City are planning to move to the nearby towns.”

“I see…”

Zhou Jing roughly understood the current situation.

Back then, when he had killed the lord, the hunters had taken his side and defended him. Hence, they expanded the situation and wanted an outcome.

In the end, because the empire protected Lutt, most of the hunters in White Plains Town were furious and dissatisfied. They chose to leave, and at the same time, this matter spread to more cities and towns. As a result, a huge security threat appeared in the entire White Plains Town area, causing it to become unstable and in dire straits…

His actions caused a huge ripple of impact.

However, under such circumstances, Lutt did not care about the negative effects he brought to White Plains Town and still clung to his position as a lord…

Although Lutt’s reputation was ruined and White Plains Town was in a slump, as long as Zhou Jing was gone, he was safe… Perhaps in his opinion, he had already suffered a huge loss, and this matter was over.

In the future, if he kept a low profile as a lord, he could still continue to live his life… His interests were guaranteed, and the loss of the town and the safety of the villagers could only be left to fate.

As long as Lutt was in power, White Plains Town would continue to deteriorate.

“He’s just hogging the toilet but refusing to sh*t….”

Zhou Jing pursed his lips under his mask.

The Terra Empire was indeed too much. They did not even remove Lutt’s position as lord.

It seemed that he had to do it himself.

He started this whole thing, and now he would end it.

Since Lutt refused to let go of his position, he would just kill him. If someone else came up, their reputation would not be worse than his. This way, the decline of White Plains Town could slowly stop. Some of the hunters from the past might return, and new hunters would gradually appear…

Zhou Jing estimated that among the other hunters, there might also be someone who wanted to assassinate Lutt, but they were persuaded against it by the rest… After all, not everyone did not have to worry too much like him.

It just so happened that he had a plan to kidnap Lutt, to begin with. When the time came, he would just kill the hostage… This would save White Plains Town!

After obtaining the information he wanted, Zhou Jing bid farewell to the shopkeeper and left the clothing store. He looked in the direction of the lord’s residence, his eyes flickering.

“I guess I’ll have to do some reconnaissance next.”

...

In the guest room of the Lord’s House.

Two people sat opposite each other, chatting in low voices.

One of them was Lutt. Compared to six months ago, he was much more haggard, with dark circles under his eyes and a gaunt appearance.

Opposite him was a man in leather armor with a dagger at his waist. He looked like a mercenary… but he was actually a trusted messenger sent by Lutt’s backer.

At this moment, the messenger frowned at Lutt and said in a deep voice,

“The impact of what you did is too negative. The palace has a lot of opinions about you. They think that your the first case of a Mutant Beast Hunter attacking the lord, causing great damage to the relationship between the hunters and the lord! Last time, the empire’s envoy endorsed you, and the investigation said that this was a misunderstanding. His Excellency also took a lot of pressure to protect your position…”

“I’m aware.”

Lutt’s voice was weak. He even coughed twice.

For such a thing to happen in White Plains Town, the empire would definitely send people to investigate the cause of the matter. Fortunately, he had already cleared the clues, and with the help of his backer, the truth was finally covered up.

Although this result resulted in the loss of the strength of the hunters in White Plains City, it saved his position as the lord.

“What my lord means is that you can consider replacing your position with another blood relative of your tribe. Even if you’re still a lord now, the pressure in the palace will not disappear. You might not be able to withstand it forever. Moreover, if you don’t change the lord’s position, White Plains Town will only spiral into a vicious cycle…”

“I still have to think about it.”

Lutt brushed him off.

He had also seen the situation in White Plains Town. If he wanted to revive this “business,” he knew that replacing himself was the best choice.

However, he still could not give up his position as a lord in the end. He planned to just hold on like this… If he did not remain as a lord, his status in the tribe would not be like now. He could not bear to let himself fall.

Moreover, as time passed, the impact of this matter would slowly fade. Lutt felt that as long as he could weather through the harshest period of the storm, he would have a chance to redeem himself as a lord in the future.

As long as his position was still there, he had plenty of time!

Then Lutt remembered something and asked,

“By the way, when will His Excellency arrange a new secret guard for me?”

Over the past six months, he had recruited some more Mutant Blood Warriors, some of whom were transferred from the tribe.

But Lutt still lacked a sense of security. He only hoped to have a secret guard like Buzz Cut again.

He thought that after Buzz Cut died, the faction behind this person would send a newcomer to be in charge of his handover. However, more than half a year had passed, and no one had contacted him at all.

Hearing this, the messenger helplessly replied,

“His Excellency cannot do anything about this either. That mysterious cooperative force has disappeared without a trace. Even the secret guards around His Excellency have left. We can’t contact that group of people at all. We don’t know what’s going on.”

“Well… alright.”

Lutt looked disappointed.

In the past six months, he often had nightmares. He dreamed that a blood Jason, who had no chin, was approaching him with a bloody blade. Every time he woke up, he would break out in a cold sweat. It was one of the reasons why he was so haggard now.

However, Jason was dead. The matter was over. No other hunter would attack him. He should be safe now. Gathering so many guards was just for psychological comfort…

“Even if there are no secret guards, it should be fine, right?”

Lutt reassured himself.