Chapter 785: Chapter 28: Royal Family Scandal (End)

8 PM at Orianna’s house.

This afternoon, Mo Yuankai and Orianna continued their armor repair work, while Gongsun Ce and Alandia spent quite some time rummaging through old books in the library. It was only when they returned home at night that they finally had the time to exchange their findings. After sharing what they’d discovered, the four of them sank into deep thought.

Gongsun Ce pondered over the appearance of the Bone King, feeling a chill run down his spine. He wasn’t unfamiliar with bizarre things, but something so abstract was truly a first. It looked awfully like an evil god from a creepy story.

He voiced his first reaction: “Do you think it’s possible for this to be a resurrected spirit… ”

Orianna’s gaze was as if she was about to swallow him whole, prompting Gongsun Ce to shut his mouth quickly. Alandia, beside them, said, “The King of Skeletons being an illusionry wraith of King Morton is a highly plausible supposition.”

“Knight Alandia!” Orianna exclaimed in distress, “How can you slander the Holy King like that!!”

“Knight Orianna, we must indulge in speculation to uncover the truth, and speculations themselves shouldn’t be dismissed based on whether they are sacred or not.”

With Dawn Knight’s backing, Gongsun Ce grew more daring: “I really think he resembles one, okay! An illusionry wraith is just a twisted form of negative emotions and memory fragments, right? Think about that flesh chair, it perfectly corresponds to those scandalous tales about Morton, doesn’t it?”

“Even if King Morton was flamboyant and indulgent, he couldn’t possibly have committed such atrocious acts! Orianna insisted, “Such brutal behavior would undoubtedly have left behind records!”

“I’m not saying he was cruel enough to make chairs out of people, I’m saying this might be a projection of ingrained concepts. Think about how severe the social discord is in your kingdom; for a thousand eight hundred years, the commoners couldn’t have refrained from cursing the nobility. This malice gathered in Shadow Mist City—if we assume that so-called collective unconsciousness could indeed reflect the past—it gradually accumulates into this creature, doesn’t it sound reasonable?”

Gongsun Ce wagged his finger and glanced at Dawn Knight, receiving a nod of agreement, feeling increasingly proud. But at this moment, Mo Yuankai, who had been silent the whole time, shook his head.

“Ah Ce, I think he’s not just a simple wraith.”

“What makes you say that?”

Mo Yuankai rubbed his fingers, his expression complicated: “Wraiths typically don’t have corporeal forms, right? But I feel like it has a physical form, just like a massive corpse… adorned with crystals of desire.”

“What, a millennium zombie king.” Gongsun Ce shivered, “Is he both a desire beast and a wraith? Sounds terrifying, doesn’t Shadow Mist City have to give it two year-end bonuses every year?”

Alandia chuckled, while the trio stared at her with astonished expressions.

“Sorry, just an amusing association.”

“Don’t do that, Alandia. I just thought you’d been possessed by the Bone King.” Gongsun Ce said, “So, Knight of Dawn, any thoughts?”

Alandia shook her head: “We need more evidence and information, like eye-witness records from the King of Skeletons’ past. Right now, I want to verify a theory about the Holy Sword… Mr. Mo Yuankai?”

Mo Yuankai was adding milk and sugar to his tea: “Please go ahead.”

“When Knight Orianna was using the Holy Sword, did you have any particular feelings?”

Mo Yuankai stirred the tea until it turned cloudy, took a sip, and said under Seventh Knight’s curious gaze: “Yes.”

“What did you feel?” Orianna asked in amazement.

Mo Yuankai gradually fell into reminiscing, pondering: “That sword’s glow was very warm, with a certain sense of intimacy. Then, for less than a second, I thought the sword was great, I could give it a try myself… Orianna was also great… I could try to get both the sword and the person… together…”

Orianna hugged the Holy Sword and dashed to the corner of the living room, her eyes filled with stars and her face flushed red. Gongsun Ce teased: “Hey bro, you just said your dirty thoughts out loud in the latter half.”

Mo Yuankai realized: “It’s truly the sword’s influence, Miss Orianna, please believe me!!”

“Please, please, please, please, maintain a fifty-meter social distance from me!” Orianna said in horror.

“Fifty meters means no socializing at all!”

Orianna raised the Holy Sword like a shield: “Please, please, please, please rest outside the hall at night!”

“Outside the hall means out of the house, am I supposed to sleep on the street?!”

Gongsun Ce laughed heartily twice and turned to ask: “What can this prove? The Holy Sword stimulates people’s desires? Then I seem to be quite ascetic indeed.”

“I believe you’re still quite far from being detached from desire,” Alandia said, “This only proves Mr. Mo Yuankai’s connection with the Holy Sword is stronger, aligning with our millennia-old understanding of the Holy Sword.”

“Then that’s that, proving the old fool really is a fool. Do you honestly believe the angel of the supreme good god would toss down a sword from the celestial wheel?” Gongsun Ce sneered, “It’s ridiculous, okay. If the sword wasn’t crafted by Morton, then many details in the myths wouldn’t make sense.”

“For example?” Alandia inquired.

Gongsun Ce opened the “Morton’s Founding Mythology” book they specially borrowed from the library, flipped to the front page, and read aloud: “Morton learned wisdom from an old man by the sea, practiced martial arts with warriors in the wilderness. He ventured alone to the mountains of his hometown, obtaining materials from the depths of Crystal Mountain, crafting the Holy Sword that protects the nation—you see, it specially emphasizes he first acquired knowledge and then had the strength to go on an adventure and gather materials to forge the Holy Sword. If the sword was merely found, then why add this detail? Was Morton back then faking it, stamping the found sword, and claiming it was his creation for everyone to respect.”