Chapter 283 - Being Followed!
Damien transferred back his consciousness to his own body, and Veiled Mamba's body collapsed on the ground.
He then used Veiled Mamba's knife to stab her ethereal core and let it appear as if she died due to bleeding and puncturing of her ethereal core.
Otherwise, it would be strange if someone found her body perfectly alright but no life force present and no soul as well.
He had no idea if anyone even knew Veiled Mamba's true identity, but it didn't matter as long as people think that what happened to Dennisa and Roy had something to do with the dead old woman on the ground.
Valentina was keenly observing everything Damien was doing and learning from it how to do a perfect crime like a diligent apprentice.
She understood that even if things seemed obvious, she should calculate her moves by keeping the future in mind and not only the present.
He could have used his Fallen Flames or lightning to kill them both. But he didn't want to leave any chances for anyone to trace it back towards him, and Valentina understood the reason Damien stopped her from using ethereal attacks on them.
Now that Veiled Mamba would probably be the major suspect behind their deaths, Damien hoped that their families would focus on finding out who Veiled Mamba is instead of searching for the real culprit.
If he left no suspect, then he was sure their families would conduct a more vigorous investigation compared to the former case. And even he might come under their lenses at that time, and it would be just vexing for him.
But he could imagine the uproar that would happen, especially within the Clive and Rivers Family, not that he cares about it. He wanted to let these two's deaths be a silent warning to everyone who thinks they are on top of the world; that even two of the most prodigious heirs of the strongest empire can die a dog's death in some abandoned area.
Still, he had to thank Dennisa and Roy for giving him an easy opportunity to get rid of them both and have less garbage to deal with in his backyard.
Damien didn't linger around any longer, and along with Valentina, he left the place on Misty's back, soon disappearing in the clouds.
From Veiled Mamba's spatial ring, he found out that there was a token to pass the barrier, and as long as he had it, he could extend its energy within a range of five meters to bring anyone with him to pass through the barrier.
But as soon as he got out of the barrier, Luna shouted in his mind, "Quick, leave! There are around four Heaven Ethereal Realm cultivators heading towards your direction!"
"Fuck!" Damien wondered who these people were and wondered if they were here because of Dennisa and Roy.
But he couldn't see how they knew to come here unless...Damien didn't bother to think further as he knew now was not the time.
He quickly made Misty fly higher, reaching the clouds, and ordered it to fly in the opposite direction.
"They are following you!" Luna shouted in Damien's mind, which made Damien knit his brows even further. He knew that even though Misty was fast, it wouldn't be as fast as Heaven Ethereal Realm cultivators.
Even though they couldn't see Misty in the clouds from afar, he was sure they might have sensed them.
Valentina was surprised seeing Damien's frown and was about to ask when Damien told her that powerful practitioners were on their tail.
Valentina got worried, thinking how they were going to come out of this troublesome situation. If she was alone, she could try going invisible for a short time, just enough to escape their vision but might be found out if they spread their spiritual perception keenly.
However, she wasn't considering escaping alone but how to help Damien using her abilities. Unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough to extend her invisibility towards other people.
She could only barely even make herself invisible for a while, and that itself was an achievement in Damien's eyes.
Damien quickly surveyed his surroundings and found out that he indeed was very far from the imperial city and was near the Ancient Boneyard Forest, a forest with a mysterious aura and considered to be the one place that everyone should keep away from, including practitioners.
And that's the reason the Forsaken even hid near this region since people seldom had enough guts to visit an unknown and old forest that existed since millenniums ago.
Because those who went inside never came back!
Even the Xeton Emperor had given a public order never to approach that forest if they cared about their life.
However, Damien knew he would be in a shitload of trouble if he turned around, and he didn't see any other choice other than going into the forest in hopes of the ones tailing him being scared to follow him any further.
Any other options he already calculated in his mind were even riskier and would even put Valentina in danger other than himself.
Meanwhile, the four Heaven Ethereal Realm practitioners were slowly gaining on Misty but were shocked to realize the direction it was heading towards.
All four of them had come here after their masters, the patriarchs of the Clive and Rivers Family told them that their heirs were missing for too long!
The patriarchs had used an ethereal technique on their souls to track them in case their enemies decided to do something to them. However, Dennisa and Roy weren't privy to this fact.
And strangely enough, the patriarchs got worried when they felt that they couldn't track them any longer, and the last location they had was just outside the barrier near the Ancient Boneyard Forest.
So, both families put together a group of four Heaven Ethereal Realm practitioners in the shortest time they could and sent them in search of Dennisa and Roy.
"Brant and Archer, you two check what happened to young miss Dennisa and young master Roy inside the barrier. We will go pursue those suspicious people," The oldest looking Heaven Ethereal Realm practitioner instructed his group.
Brant and Archer didn't dawdle around and left towards the barrier immediately since they felt as if something was wrong though they wondered if the other two were really ready to go into the Ancient Boneyard Forest.
Looking at the leader of their group, one of them asked, "Bevis, should we really pursue them? Whoever they were, they should be dead by now. That forest is too dangerous even for us; otherwise, why would the emperor even warn the whole empire about it. No one has ever come back to tell the story as well."
Bevis nodded as he twirled his beard, "Let's wait for Brant and Archer's reports before thinking about our next move. Anyway, those two have nowhere to run, now that they have entered the forest. If young miss Dennisa and young master Roy have been found good and well, then we don't have to pursue those people."
Within just a few moments, a frantic shout came from behind them, "We are finished!"
Bevis and Rene turned around to see Brant and Archer appearing before them with grave expressions as if they had just witnessed hell.
"What happened?" Bevis frowned and asked them.
Archer's features trembled and finally coughed out, "They are dead...both of them...in a cruel way at that."
"Speak clearly. Who exactly is dead?" Bevis stressed, though, inwardly he began to sweat as he was no fool to not guess who exactly died here.
"Young master Roy and young miss Dennisa! Both burned to death!" Brant cried out worriedly.
"What???" Rene had a shocked expression wondering how things turned out in such a way.
Bevis, however, recovered his state of mind quickly and said, "Don't worry about anything else now. We still have to do our duties and make up for our negligence. Brant and Archer, you two investigate what happened there and take away their bodies back to our masters. There is no escaping from this."
Brant and Archer nodded, their expressions still grave, and flew back inside the barrier.
Bevis then turned towards Rene and said, "Come, let's pursue those two suspects. I am sure they had something to do with what happened here."
Rene frowned, "But they must be dead already, and we would be risking our lives there. It's not safe even for us."
Bevis sighed, "I know. But we have to find their identities at least and report back to the patriarchs. If we went back empty-handed, the patriarchs would definitely take out their anger on us, saying we didn't do our job as protectors well. Don't worry, the moment we think our lives are in danger, we will immediately fly back home."
After a few moments of hesitation, Rene nodded with a sigh.. Both of their features tightened as they flew towards the barrier where the Ancient Boneyard Forest was located.