Under the dim light of the fire, the cellar almost looked like a slaughterhouse, with dark brown mottled blood splattered on the walls and ground. In the center of the cellar was a large wooden table with a thick top, similar to a butcher's table in a vegetable market, on which lay a skinned man lying on his back.
The man should have been dead for a while, and the flesh and blood after the skinning had already flowed out. Perhaps because the temperature in the cellar was not high, the corpse was well preserved, with pink muscles mixed with yellowish fat, and it was very shocking at first glance.
"Uh!" Idriya covered her mouth and rushed to the corner to retch. It's not that the female knight has killed people before, but this cruel scene still made her a little unbearable.
"If there is no danger, I will go up first." However, the follower of Lovita quickly recovered, wiped the corners of his mouth, and walked outside with an ugly expression.
Compared to Idriya, Qin Lun and Hill looked the same as usual, looking at the dead body, even the heart rate didn't change. One of them is a dissecter, and the other often handles ingredients with their own hands. Each of them has done a lot of things that exceed the bottom line of human psychology. The scene in front of them will not move them.
"It's been less than three days since he died. The corpse had a strong convulsion before dying. Judging from the muscle reaction, he should have died in extreme pain." After checking the corpse, Hill said in surprise, "He was killed alive. People skinned and killed, people who do this kind of thing are really hard-hearted."
"The person who did the attack used a very narrow and thin short knife. The movement was very skillful, and the subcutaneous muscle tissue was hardly damaged." Qin Lun looked at the corpse and raised his eyebrows slightly. "If it is not in the magical world, there is no so-called surgery. Surgery, I must say this man is a skilled surgeon."
Hill and Qin Lun analyzed the corpse from their own perspectives. Although they were not coroners, they were more authoritative than professional forensic doctors in this matter.
"Why would the Zhentarim do such a thing?" Qin Lun held his chin, lost in thought, "Or should I ask why they risked exposure by doing such a thing near Silvermoon City?"
"Unless they have a reason to do it here!" Hill's eyes flashed brightly. "This person may be related to their next assassination. Could it be that they want to torture some information?"
"Unlike, there are many methods of torture, and there is no need to make it so bloody. Experienced torturers generally use step-by-step methods to continuously put psychological pressure on the victim. The most important thing is to make the captive feel alive Hope down, it's easier to pry the mouth open."
Qin Lun shook his head lightly, "Look, apart from being skinned, this corpse basically has no other injuries to the musculature in the body, which means that the assailant started skinning directly at the initial stage, and he didn't intend to ask for any information at all."
"Then skinning is their ultimate goal, not to torture this person, so why do it when he is still alive?" Hill's eyes flashed, as if a flash of inspiration flashed in his heart.
"Pretend!" Qin Lun and Hill said in unison. The skin of a dead person is obviously different from that of a living person. Only by allowing this man to be skinned alive can the skin remain alive, and the success rate of camouflage will be higher.
"The Zhentarim will skin this person to disguise his identity." Qin Lun smiled, "It seems that we have found a way for the Zhentarim to infiltrate the Supreme Palace."
"Well, and the identity of this person should not be too simple. Since he has taken such a big risk, he must not only sneak into the Supreme Palace, but also be able to get close to Alastriol and other alliance city lords." Hill nodded added.
"It's a pity that we don't know the man next to the 'Lady of Hope'. I heard that Alustriel Silverhand has many lovers. In addition, a large number of male servants will be hired during the celebration. Even if we know the methods of the Zhentarim Society, we will Can't find the pretender." Qin Lun said regretfully.
"There is another possibility, could this man be a certain city lord who came to participate in the celebration in advance?" Hill asked after discussing, "Wouldn't it be easier if the lord of the Silver Moon Alliance attacked Alastriol? lead to division or civil war?"
"This possibility is not high. The lord's target is too big, and there will be many guards around him. Even if the pretender doesn't disturb other people to take him away, if he comes back to get along with him for too long, it will cause suspicion. Too many variables are not suitable for them. plan." Qin Lun pondered for a moment, then refuted this point of view.
Hill doesn't mind either. It is obviously not realistic to directly judge the Zhentarim Society's plan from some clues.
"Then the guards around the lord... No, according to what you said, the possibility of this is relatively low, and other guards will notice it." Hill said to himself.
Qin Lun walked around the massacre case, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he picked up a pile of tattered clothes in the corner of the cellar.
"Is this the victim's clothes?" Hill leaned over to inspect it with great interest, "The Zhentarim Society didn't dispose of these things, and that corpse..."
"Well, something must have happened that caused them to evacuate this place in a hurry." Qin Lun said without raising his head while arranging the pile of tattered clothes.
It can be seen that this pile of rags was cut by the skinner with a knife, and when the skin was peeled, it was thrown into the corner.
Qin Lun slowly pieced together the rags for a while, his face gradually turning livid. This is a red magic robe. Many mages usually only wear magic robes, because most of their magic robes have some instant magic circles attached to them, which have the functions of cleaning and protection.
Common robes generally have three colors, namely white, red and black. Red-robed mages can often be seen in Silvermoon City. Although the styles of clothing may be slightly different, it is difficult to directly identify them.
Perhaps this is also the main reason why the skinners were negligent and did not dispose of the pile of rags in the end.
However, it was different for Qin Lun, because he recognized the magic robe and knew who the owner of the magic robe was.
"Hill, you should have a flesh and blood puppet on you, right?" Qin Lun took a deep breath and said calmly.
"Of course, what's the matter?" Hill looked at Qin Lun's face, a little surprised.
"This corpse may be an acquaintance of mine. I need a flesh puppet to cover his body surface so as to restore his appearance a little bit." Qin Lun said expressionlessly.
"Your acquaintance?" Hill blinked, nodded silently, took out a slowly throbbing meat ball from the storage space and handed it to Qin Lun.
By the time the flesh and blood puppet covered the surface of the corpse like a layer of skin, the victim's original appearance had almost recovered by 60 to 70%.
Of course, this level of recovery is not enough for strangers to identify themselves, which is why Qin Lun didn't think of this method before. But for acquaintances, the similarity of 60 to 70% can already confirm the identity.
"It really is him!" Qin Lun sighed with a wry smile, "Master Angelo, I didn't expect that we would meet again under such circumstances!"
The red-robed mage Angelo, his magic apprentice Emily Silverhand, is also the daughter of the Lord of Silvermoon, Alustri.
When Qin Lun entered the world of Toril last time, the Sun Elf envoys joined Sif's caravan in the Amn area in order to avoid the interception of the Zhentarim, and they met Ide for the first time there. Rhea and Angelo master and apprentice.
Later, when he was in danger in the Valley of the Undead, Master Angelo took the initiative to stay behind in order to let Qin Lun take Emily away. Fortunately, the red-robed mage escaped successfully in the end, and returned to Baldur's Gate with Kelly, Robin and a few other members of the lost team.
Qin Lun has no friendship with Master Angelo, but he admires this pious and decisive young mage very much. Now that time has passed, the former old friend actually appeared in front of him in such a tragic way.
The reason why Qin Lun was able to recognize that this robe belonged to Angelo from the pile of tattered cloth strips was because the red robe on this mage had a unique style.
Angelo is not very old, and his strength is around the middle level. If he can reach the middle level at this age, he can be regarded as a genius magician. Because he is relatively young, he is not as rigid as some old mages, and his clothes are relatively trendy.
His red robe is not the traditional hooded toga, but trimmed into a tight-fitting aristocratic dress style. The chest is decorated with two rows of copper buttons, and the cuffs have folded embroidered cuffs, which look fashionable and trendy.
If he hadn't held a staff, anyone who saw Angelo for the first time would probably regard him as a noble gentleman who pursued enjoyment. At the beginning, Nicole, the magician of the fortress team, laughed at Philip, another mage companion, for being rustic.
Of course, Angelo might not be the only magician who made mage robes into noble dresses, but when he got in touch with the Zhentarim and wanted to use the identity of this corpse to infiltrate the Supreme Palace, Qin Lun immediately thought of Angelo. this old friend.
Angelo's identity is a bit special. He is Emily Silverhand's teacher, so he will naturally be invited to the Silver Moon Festival and will not be strictly monitored.
However, Angelo is not actually a member of the Silvermoon Alliance, so except for Emily Silverhand, other people are not familiar with his character and background, which reduces the chance of being exposed. Very suitable camouflage object.
After explaining Angelo's identity to Hill, the shepherd's face became serious.
Because Emily Silverhand had already been sent to her mother Elastro at this time, Angelo's pretender could use an excuse to leave Emily for a few days until the day of the celebration, so as not to cause any trouble. Emily doubts.
"We originally thought that the person Zhentarim would want to assassinate was Alustriel, but we didn't expect that the breakthrough they chose was more ingenious." Qin Lun said with a wry smile.
With the wisdom of Qin Lun and Hill, they have roughly guessed the plan of the Zhentarim Society from Angelo's identity.
Alustriol's strength is too strong, no matter what method is used to assassinate her, the chance of success is not high, but the other lords of Silver Moon are different.
Perhaps the other lords of the Silvermoon Alliance did not know Mage Angelo, but if the Zhentarim members disguised as Angelo poisoned several alliance lords who opposed the founding of the country four months ago, then his identity would definitely be revealed afterwards. Was dug out.
Qin Lun could imagine what the world would think with his ass, "Silver Moon City Lord Alastriol pretended to be his daughter's magic teacher to assassinate opponents!" If there were newspapers in the world of Toril, this would probably be the headline of the day .
If this kind of thing really happened, and Angelo couldn't be found to confront him afterwards, even if there was no civil war in the Silver Moon Alliance, other lords would probably have doubts, and the nation-building process would be put on hold indefinitely.
The Zhentarim will get in the way a few more times, and the original alliance system of the Silver Moon Alliance may be disintegrated.