"Tsk tsk tsk! Once this matter spreads, the Iron Cavalry of Chrysanthemum Kingdom will definitely not let the Blood Robe Tower off! The Protector General of Chrysanthemum Kingdom holds command of the kingdom's largest cavalry force! Even though Blood Robe Tower is a second-tier force, once they face the Chrysanthemum Iron Cavalry, they'll have to shed a layer of skin!"
"My goodness! Turns out that the current young lord of the second-tier power, Hunyuan Palace, was also killed by assassins from Blood Robe Tower!"
"And the previous master of Xingluo Fortress also died tragically at the hands of Blood Robe Tower!"
These were all second-tier national powers on par with Blood Robe Tower! Blood Robe Tower secretly attacked all three of them! Now it's all been publicly revealed! Tsk tsk, ha ha! These three forces will definitely not take this lying down!
Being besieged by three second-tier forces at the same time, Blood Robe Tower may suffer massive losses this time!
"Hmph! Serves them right! They live by killing people and who knows how many filthy and bloody deeds they've done in secret! I always said Blood Robe Tower was no different from those demonic sects! Maybe they're even the claws and teeth of the Netherworld Hall! Hmph! Just their lackeys!"
"That's true, but I am curious, all these are old matters from the past. If it weren't for these three posters that suddenly appeared today, the big figures from those three major forces who suffered back then might still be grieving in confusion, not knowing who their real enemies were back then! Hey! Let's guess, who put up these three shocking announcements?"
"If I had to guess, it must be the two 'Faceless Heroes' who were suddenly given an extremely high bounty by Blood Robe Tower yesterday!"
"I also think it's the Faceless Heroes! That explains why Blood Robe Tower issued such a huge bounty on them yesterday, and today these three old vendettas were exposed! The Faceless Heroes must have gotten hold of Blood Robe Tower's top-secret assassination list! That's why Blood Robe Tower was so furious and immediately issued a high bounty to hunt them down!"
"Heh! That means the Faceless Heroes must be holding a lot more dirt on Blood Robe Tower! Ha ha! No wonder Blood Robe Tower reacted so strongly yesterday. They've done so many wicked and shameful things, and now someone knows about it. Of course they'd panic!"
"But doing this... aren't the Faceless Heroes afraid of endless retaliation from Blood Robe Tower? That list might even attract the interest of other major forces... it's like holding a burning hot potato!"
"Sigh! Brother, you don't have to worry about that. First, people like the Faceless Heroes, who dared to break into Blood Robe Tower and even took out such damaging evidence from their lair, how could they be ordinary people?"
"Let's not talk about anything else, just their strength alone. The top assassins within Blood Robe Tower can even rank in Netherworld Hall! But they still got infiltrated by the Faceless Heroes! Their biggest secret was taken away!"
"That proves the martial strength of the Faceless Heroes is at the peak! They might be old recluses who have cultivated in the wild mountains for centuries! With just this one move, the martial rankings and combat power rankings of the Martial Alliance might have to be reshuffled!"
"People like that, which one of them doesn't have a top-tier force backing them? Why would they be afraid of a mere second-tier Blood Robe Tower?"
"Sigh! What this brother said is truly enlightening! I was being too narrow-minded and worried too much."
In the imperial capital of Geranium Kingdom, on the busy streets, because of the sudden appearance of the three top-secret posters, the newly-given title "Faceless Heroes" for Xia Yan and Wei Yi was pushed to a new height once again!
Many people were now guessing and agreeing that they must be old monsters who had trained with secret techniques deep in the mountains for hundreds of years! With a powerful force behind them! Their reputation could not be offended at all! They wouldn't even bother to take Blood Robe Tower, a second-tier force, seriously!
Meanwhile, far away at the headquarters of Blood Robe Tower.
At the dark and cold high throne in the hall.
A young man with half of his face covered by a skull mask was staring with an extremely gloomy expression at the endless stream of secret intelligence reports in his hands.
The part of his cheek not covered by the mask showed deep and defined features, a high nose bridge, red and thin lips, and eyes dark as jade. His skin appeared somewhat translucent and pale from years of moving through the night.
Even stranger was that although he looked young and handsome, his long hair was completely silver.
To an ordinary person, he would seem like a rare and stunning beauty.
But now, in the cold and gloomy atmosphere around him, his already grim aura became even more terrifying.
Especially since his mood was clearly terrible at this moment. His pale, slender fingers clenched the thin silk in his hand so tightly that he nearly tore it apart.
It showed how furious he was from the messages returned on that silk.
In the silence, the high-ranking members of the Blood Cloak Tower standing below with lowered heads held their breath even more, afraid that one wrong move would make them the outlet for the fury of the figure on the high throne.
Yet urgent messages from all around kept coming in.
A messenger rushed into the hall and, seeing the tense atmosphere, bit his lip and stepped forward despite his fear.
"Y-Your Excellency, urgent messages just came in from Xuxiao Kingdom, Starfall Fortress, and Huntian Palace. They say… they say you must give them an explanation. Otherwise, they will wipe out all Blood Cloak Tower forces in their territories and join other powers across the continent to retaliate against you…"
Crack! The sound of the bronze throne's armrest being shattered by hand echoed in the hall.
The master of the Blood Cloak Tower, known to the outside world as the Blood Lord, had no known real name, no known age, and an unknown background. It was said that when he first appeared, he already had the look of white hair and jade-like eyes.
He had killed the previous master of the Blood Cloak Tower upon arrival, cleansed the tower of all former powers, caused a massive shakeup across all its branches on the continent, and sat on the throne through bloodshed.
Since then, he had maintained a cruel and ruthless approach.
On this continent, once someone was personally targeted by the Blood Lord, it was rare for them to survive.
That's why this time, when the Blood Cloak Tower, long seen as a predator, got ambushed by the mysterious Double Faceless Knights, the attention and gossip from the visitors of all nations spiked.
The three secret notices they posted quickly reached the hands of the victims and the forces listed within.
"Double. Faceless. Knights."
The Blood Lord spat out the four words from his red lips one by one, as if chewing them with rage.
No one below dared move or speak, fearful of becoming the next headless corpse.
Time dragged on stiffly, and it was unclear how long had passed. When the crowd was nearly suffocating under the unseen pressure, a cold snort finally came from the high seat.
"Go! Withdraw from Xuxiao, Starfall Fortress, and Huntian Palace. If they don't want to die, tell them to crawl back immediately! I'll give them seven days. If they don't return, they can die out there, and I won't be cleaning up their corpses!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Blood Cloak Tower had invested in those areas for a long time. These three regions were among the more important branches of their continental network.
To give them up now was no small loss.
But after what those three notices stirred up, no matter how angry or bitter the Blood Lord was, or how much he wanted to tear apart the unknown Double Faceless Knights, he could only endure it for now.
Only by enduring and temporarily giving up power and interests in those areas could the Blood Cloak Tower survive the coming storm.
However, as long as that old assassination list remained in the hands of the Double Faceless Knights, every day it stayed out there was a day of danger for the Blood Cloak Tower.
The Blood Lord on the high platform took a deep breath, forced down his anger, and then continued.
"Tell all the branches of the Blood Cloak Tower across the continent to behave themselves. Anyone who doesn't want to die had better not stir up any more trouble."
"Also, starting today, reduce our daily assassination intake by half."
As soon as those words were spoken, the silent people below all looked up in shock or disbelief at the Blood Lord.
Since they joined the Blood Cloak Tower, there had only been very rare occasions when this killing god reduced the daily number of assassination orders.
The list stolen by the Double Faceless Knights posed a serious threat.
The Blood Lord clearly noticed everyone's reaction. He sneered coldly and scolded, "Useless bunch! I had you assign the ninth and seventh of the Heaven group to escort a few scrolls and silk pieces, and they still got robbed halfway! Tch! They deserved to die!"
"Listen well! Immediately send people to Geranium Kingdom to search for those two Double Faceless Knights!"
"I'll give you one month. If you still can't bring back useful information, come back with your heads!"
Everyone below instantly knelt in reply.
The Blood Lord let out another cold snort. His pale and slender hand waved in great annoyance, and his tone grew even more impatient.
"If you understand, then get lost! Every time I see you worthless fools, I get angry! Out!"