As Tangled as a Palace Drama

In truth, Heji Stone had not even needed to shout; the monstrous, towering wave had caught Anbaixiu's attention long before. By the time Aeolus surged toward the shore riding the crest of the wave, Anbaixiu had already risen into midair. Magic erupted from the lich's fingertips, summoning a sweeping wave of bitter cold. Countless hailstones plummeted from the sky, freezing the massive surge solid in midair. Even the naked man atop the wave was encased in ice. Only then did Anbaixiu descend, turning to Heji Stone. "What's going on?" Heji Stone glanced at his newly acquired lackey, then said to Anbaixiu, "How should I know? I was just on the shore looking at the stars when this guy suddenly came crashing in on a wave. Is he an enemy of yours?" Anbaixiu looked at the orc standing nearby with confusion and asked, "Who is this?" Kargor Kluman did not know Anbaixiu. Now that he was working for someone else, he obediently looked toward his boss. Heji Stone explained, "The orc I told you about. I took him in as a subordinate—he's a vampire now too." Anbaixiu scrutinized the orc once more and quickly noticed something off. The orc's appearance was rather peculiar; his nose was excessively thick, and his face appeared bulky and swollen, not quite in proportion with the rest of his body. The proportions of his torso and legs were odd as well; his thighs were disproportionately thick, far beyond what was normal for an orc. "Which tribe do you belong to? Why do you look like a half-ogre?" Kargor Kluman asked in surprise, "How could you tell?" "So I guessed right," Anbaixiu said. "Many years ago, I met some half-ogre, half-orc crossbreeds. They belonged to a family named Kluman. Left quite an impression on me." "The Kluman family? You've seen them?" Kargor Kluman narrowed his eyes, glaring at the lich before him. Sensing the murderous intent, Anbaixiu exclaimed in surprise, "No way—a descendant of the Kluman family? You guys haven't died out yet?!" With a roar, Kargor Kluman raised his twin blades and lunged straight at Anbaixiu. Yet he had barely moved when his body stiffened and collapsed. It wasn't Anbaixiu who struck; Heji Stone had exerted control over Kargor Kluman's body. The dwarven vampire snarled in fury, "Idiot, who told you to attack? Did I give an order?!" After scolding him, Heji Stone turned to Anbaixiu with an apologetic tone. "Sorry about that, just a minor misunderstanding. This orc really did come seeking revenge—heard you two had some past bad blood." As annoyed as Heji Stone was with Anbaixiu constantly scheming against him, Kargor Kluman was merely his slave, while Anbaixiu was a comrade from the Elegy Poetry Society. He could still tell who was closer. Finding an excuse to fleece Anbaixiu was something Heji Stone would happily do, but actually coming to blows was an entirely different matter. Besides, there was a ninety percent chance he couldn't beat the lich anyway, which would only leave him suffering the consequences. Naturally, Anbaixiu didn't care about a trivial incident like this. He simply stared at Kargor Kluman and remarked with great astonishment, "Your family really hasn't died out yet? Back then, I remember sparing no one except children who weren't yet taller than a cart wheel. To think you survived even that—that ogre bloodline of yours is certainly resilient." Kargor Kluman snarled in rage, "You slaughtered my ancestors, and you're proud of it?!" Anbaixiu gave a soft chuckle. "Of course I'm proud. I haven't done many good deeds in my life, but wiping out your Kluman family definitely qualifies as one worth remembering. Don't you know what line of work your family was in?" Kargor Kluman froze. He genuinely didn't know. For as long as he could remember, he had been a lowly slave. It was his father who had told him by word of mouth how glorious their family had once been and how abominable their enemy was. He barely knew a handful of words, but he had firmly engraved that hatred into his heart. He had originally only intended to gather some information. Who could have imagined he would run straight into his sworn enemy? Hearing Anbaixiu's question now, Kargor was left utterly bewildered. Anbaixiu stepped over to Kargor Kluman, seized the orc by the throat, and said in a deeply chilling voice, "Your Kluman family was in the slave trade. You loved to brutally torture people to death and devour them down to the bone. I personally saw your Kluman orcs skin a child alive and eat him raw. You little beast, do you eat people too?!" That had been the most unforgettable defeat Anbaixiu had ever suffered in his life. At the time, he was still an adventurer and a veteran wizard, and his adventuring party had enjoyed a fair bit of renown. The Kluman family had falsely invited them to help complete a quest. At the time, Anbaixiu happened to be away on other business, and by the time he returned, the party had already accepted the commission. Unfortunately, Anbaixiu had already begun to reject the power of a divination wizard back then, so he had received no premonitions regarding the venture. In the end, every member of the adventuring party walked right into the trap—Anbaixiu included. Anbaixiu's arm had been ripped off by those perverted monsters, and he had been forced to watch as they devoured his limb before his very eyes. His companions had suffered similar fates—some lost arms, others legs—each subjected to horrific torment. Fortunately, Anbaixiu was clever enough. He pretended to know the location of a buried treasure, successfully tricking the orcs. In truth, that place was an ancient castle infested with undead. After leading his orc escorts to their deaths, Anbaixiu quietly snuck back to the Kluman family's slave camp and liberated his companions alongside all the slaves. Yet that wasn't enough. Once his arm was healed, Anbaixiu changed his identity and infiltrated the orc royal court as a lowly cook. After spending considerable time deciphering the political landscape of the orcs, he laid a trap, tricking the Kluman count into barging into the harem of the Orc King. As a result, the entire Kluman family was hanged. Only children no taller than a cart wheel were spared, but even they were demoted to slaves. Anbaixiu had assumed that everyone of that bloodline had long since died out, or at least become genuine, broken slaves. He truly hadn't expected someone like Kargor Kluman to come seeking him out. Half-ogres were truly something else—at least durable enough to avoid dying out even after years of torment. Kargor Kluman had genuinely never imagined his family was like that... In the slave trade? Which meant countless people had been enslaved by his ancestors, just as he had been? In that instant, Kargor Kluman's mind was in total chaos, as if he had lost all ability to think. Heji Stone said with a pained expression, "Don't kill him! I still have use for him!" Anbaixiu tossed the orc onto the sand with disdain. After all, Heji Stone was a comrade from the Elegy Poetry Society; he had to give him some face. Anbaixiu looked back at Heji Stone and said, "For your sake, I won't hold it against him. By the way, leave the co-author credit to me. Consider it repaying the favor." "Wait, what? But I..." Heji Stone was stunned. He had clearly intended to use this orc's blood feud to fleece some gold out of the lich, so how had it suddenly turned into him owing the guy a favor? Heji Stone genuinely couldn't fathom how this lich managed to seize the moral high ground every single time. He was a lich, for crying out loud, not a paladin! Anbaixiu said in a conversational tone, "You don't think it's worth it? Fine, I'll just turn him into a zombie. A half-ogre sounds pretty interesting." "You bastard! Fine, take it! You can have the co-author credit, happy?!" He had taken a bleeding loss this time. If he dared say no, this lich truly would turn the orc into a zombie, and then Heji would suffer a massive loss. A vampire's true blood was precious, and once spent, it couldn't be wasted. The more Heji Stone thought about it, the angrier he became. He lashed out and kicked Kargor Kluman hard, making blood stream from the orc's nose. Yet the orc seemed so lost in the realization of his family's sinful history that he showed no reaction to the pain. Having obtained what he wanted, Anbaixiu consoled Heji Stone: "Don't take it out on him. I'm the one with a grudge against him and I don't even mind—you're his boss, after all. By the way, what's the deal with this naked surfer?" Anbaixiu pointed toward the ugly man frozen inside the ice, only to discover in surprise that the figure atop the wave had vanished. Amid his confusion, a Ray of Frost shot from the sea's surface, startling Anbaixiu into dodging out of the way. The ray left a swath of white frost across the sand. It was remarkably powerful, far exceeding the normal potency of the spell. Anbaixiu looked over and saw the ugly, naked man treading upon the sea, frost gathering in both of his hands. "He survived that?" Taking an Ice Storm spell head-on while completely naked would leave an ordinary person frozen solid, yet why was he bursting with vitality without a scratch? Aeolus couldn't care less whether Anbaixiu was surprised or not. Pointing at Kargor Kluman, who lay on the ground, he demanded, "What is your relationship with this despicable scoundrel?" Aeolus had pursued Kargor Kluman to kill him, but the orc's ability to meld into shadows was formidable indeed. Having searched the ocean for ages to no avail, Aeolus had come to this nearest island to try his luck. Seeing Heji Stone chatting and laughing with the orc, he had assumed they were accomplices, and immediately charged over riding a giant wave. Yet after being frozen, he had witnessed this skeleton giving the orc a beating, followed by the vampire kicking the orc until his face was covered in blood. Though newly born, he still understood the concept that the enemy of an enemy is a friend. Before figuring out how they were all connected, Aeolus didn't want to attack recklessly. After all, he had come to marry Ariel. What if these people had ties to her? Even if he had not yet met his fiancée, Aeolus believed she had to be a renowned beauty of this ocean; otherwise, his father Talos would never have personally ordered him to marry the maiden. In any case, marriage took precedence over everything right now, and everything else could wait. Anbaixiu asked in confusion, "You have a grudge against this orc?" Aeolus replied furiously, "I was only asking for directions, and he chopped off my head!" Listening to Aeolus's words, Anbaixiu thought to himself, What in the world is going on here? The relationships between these people are as tangled as a palace drama. "You can still live after losing your head?" Anbaixiu asked, mystified. This naked man was indeed peculiar. The freezing effect earlier had been so potent that even if he hadn't died, he should have literally lost a layer of skin. How was he completely unharmed? On top of that, he claimed his head had been chopped off—how had he survived? Aeolus said smugly, "That is power beyond the comprehension of mortals like you. As long as the waves of this sea continue to surge, I will never die." Anbaixiu: "..." Did this guy just blurt out some kind of monumental secret?