Npc 94

"Someone dismembered my husband... killed him!"

Jiang Yan sat in the pool of blood, holding his husband's severed arm, his voice breaking with despair as he repeated his words in a heart-wrenching sob.

"..."

The once noisy and crowded bridal chamber fell silent in an instant, leaving only Jiang Yan's muffled sobs to echo in the air.

[Wow! Jiang Yan's crying scene is so natural!]

[Ahhh... he's crying so heartbreakingly, I feel so bad for him! Such a poor young widower!]

[Who said Jiang Yan lacks skill? Just look at this performance! It blows most real NPCs out of the water!]

[It's just crying; maybe he's just scared? After all, there's such a huge severed limb right next to him!]

[Scared? Do you think that look in Jiang Yan's eyes comes from fear alone? There's so much love for his husband in those eyes, and the anguish of losing him—it's painfully real!]

[Don't even mention it! I always thought Jiang Yan's gaze seemed so empty before, but now there’s so much depth! I’m so impressed!]

[It might be because Jiang Yan himself has that naturally "vacant" look. As someone with professional acting training in real life, portraying this kind of character must come easily to him!]

[Ahhhhh... I’m completely smitten! I need to join Jiang Yan's fan club!]

[Stop right there, you—!]

[Quick!! Someone, stop them!!]

[Oh no... another one down.]

[...]

However, while holding his husband’s severed arm and crying his heart out with tear-filled eyes brimming with sorrow, Jiang Yan was internally cursing his husband with every vulgar word he could think of.

The reason? Hidden beneath his robe, away from the sight of others, a slick black tentacle coiled around his smooth thigh, leaving one red mark after another with its tiny suckers.

Jiang Yan’s body trembled uncontrollably, his golden, translucent wings quivering along with him. To everyone else, it appeared as though his grief and despair were simply too overwhelming to bear.

Little did they know, a different story was unfolding out of sight.

Golden powder scattered from his quaking wings, and Jiang Yan, with reddened eyes and gritted teeth, was furiously cursing in his heart:

Scum! Pervert! Beast!!

As if the entire night’s exhausting "story-driven" antics weren’t enough, now was absolutely not the time for this!

Apparently picking up on Jiang Yan’s thoughts, the tentacle beneath the robe only became more insistent.

You filthy animal! Unstoppable beast!

The black tentacle brushed lightly against the sensitive inner part of his thigh, causing Jiang Yan to jerk violently.

“Mm...!”

Everyone around him merely assumed he was sobbing so hard that his body was convulsing. None of them noticed anything amiss. Instead, their hearts ached even more for the poor, grieving "widower."

It was only the second day after the wedding, and his husband had died in their bed. Such a tragedy was undoubtedly one of the most horrifying things imaginable in this world!

After a long silence, the old giant butler rasped in a choked voice, “Your Highness... Did you see who it was?”

Jiang Yan took a shaky breath, clutching the severed arm tightly. He shook his head, sobbing softly, and replied, “I... I heard sounds. I heard his agonized screams, but for some reason... my mind was in a haze, my body had no strength, and I couldn’t open my eyes no matter how hard I tried.”

Upon hearing this, the guests let out gasps and murmurs of shock and pity:

“Oh my god?! How could something like this happen?!”

“Was it an assassin? Could an assassin have slipped into the castle last night?!”

“Thankfully… the little prince is unharmed...”

“Poor little prince, he must have been so desperate at that moment!”

“Sigh... Losing your husband on the very first day of marriage…”

“...”

At that moment, a dissenting voice suddenly broke through the crowd:

“Don’t be fooled by him!! He must have been the one who killed the king!!”

The guests and players were stunned, turning to look at the person who had spoken. Even Jiang Yan, who had been kneeling on the bed sobbing, couldn’t help but lift his head, searching for the source of the voice. Finally, he spotted the speaker amidst the crowd.

It was someone who was relatively short by giant standards but still quite tall compared to ordinary humans or elves.

The figure had snow-white skin, golden hair that shone like sunlight, and golden eyes. Even their eyelashes and eyebrows were a pale gold. Behind them was a pair of large, semi-transparent wings.

From their appearance, it was evident: this was a hybrid of an elf and a giant.

Seeing all eyes focused on him, the man flicked his golden hair and pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

At this, the guests began whispering among themselves:

“Who did he just say killed who?” 

“He said the little prince... killed his own husband…” 

“He said the king was killed by the little prince himself?!” 

“My god… How could that be possible? The little prince is crying so sadly; how could he possibly have killed his own husband?”

“Exactly! Besides, how could a giant be killed by an elf?” 

“That idea is just too absurd!”

“...”

The young man glanced coldly at the murmuring crowd and sneered. Then, he spoke: “This is the castle of the giant royal family! There are so many guards stationed outside! And His Majesty possessed god-given power—how could he be so easily killed?”

He continued, “If it really were an assassin, there’s no reason the assassin would have spared his newlywed spouse after assassinating and dismembering His Majesty. Why would they kill and mutilate His Majesty but leave the person lying beside him completely unharmed?”

As he spoke, the young man raised his hand and pointed directly at Jiang Yan. “The only person who could have truly killed His Majesty is you—Jiang Yan.”

Jiang Yan froze, still clutching the severed arm. Beneath his robes, the tentacle sensibly paused its actions.

Upon hearing this, the guests once again began murmuring among themselves.

“Yeah! The castle of the giants is practically impregnable, how could an assassin sneak in?”

“Right! Why would the assassin spare him?”

“Now that you mention it... it really could be him?”

“Ugh... what a vile person.”

“...”

Seeing this, Jian Hou angrily stepped forward and tried to push the young man’s shoulder. However, due to the massive difference in their sizes, Jian Hou couldn’t budge him, which only made him even angrier!

Jian Hou looked up at the young man, furious, and shouted, “Who are you?! Just because you can’t find the real killer, you’re pushing the blame onto the victim’s family?! He just lost his husband! And you’re trying to frame him as the killer? I think you’re the murderer!”

Hearing this, Jiang Yan instantly squeezed out two more tears, looking pitiful and heartbroken, making everyone soften.

The guests began whispering among themselves again.

The young man looked down at Jian Hou with a mocking smile and said, “Then explain why the assassin would spare him? Why was he unharmed when facing the assassin?”

Jian Hou paused for a moment before quickly responding, “How would I know what the killer was thinking? Maybe the killer deliberately did it that way to frame Jiang Yan!”

Cao Yufeng chimed in, “And based on what Jiang Yan just said, he was in a semi-conscious state at the time. It’s possible that the assassin poisoned him, thinking he was already dead, and that’s why he wasn’t physically harmed.”

The young man immediately retorted, “Just because he says he was unconscious doesn’t mean he was. He could be lying! And your reasoning is nothing but subjective speculation with no evidence that Jiang Yan was poisoned by the assassin.”

“Your reasoning is also nothing but your own subjective speculation, isn’t it?” Cao Yufeng crossed his arms and looked at the young man, “There’s no evidence proving Jiang Yan is definitely the murderer!”

I understand your concern, and I apologize for the earlier mistake. I'll now ensure the translation is faithful to the raw text, with the correct references for characters like Yu Jia and Cao Yufeng.

After speaking, Tao Shi, Cao Yufeng, and the giant butler walked to the bedside and stood in front of Jiang Yan.

Seeing this, the new players cautiously moved to the side of Jiang Yan’s bed as well.

They didn’t fully understand the rules of this world and didn’t know what terrifying things might happen next. So the only thing they could do now was to follow this young man closely.

They wanted to avoid being alone and avoid doing anything that might violate the rules.

Yu Jia looked at the tall golden-haired young man standing in front of the guests, somewhat curiously. He hesitated for a moment but eventually walked to Jiang Yan’s bed as well.

At this point, the players and the guests were instantly divided into two factions.

Seeing this, the golden-haired young man said, “Evidence? Of course, I have evidence.”

“Oh? Really? What is this evidence?” Tao Shi raised an eyebrow.

The smell of blood lingered in the air and wouldn’t dissipate, and the atmosphere in the room became tense. The guests continued to whisper softly.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” The golden-haired young man smiled and spoke loudly, interrupting the guests’ discussions. All eyes turned back to him.

He raised his hand and said, “The whole continent should know that pure-blooded light elves have light-colored hair and eyes! It’s a symbol of the divine power granted to us elves by the gods!”

The guests nodded in agreement.

“Yes, the gods favor elves.”

“Indeed, the light-colored hair and eyes make elves naturally enchanting.”

“But what does this have to do with whether the little prince is the murderer?”

The golden-haired young man replied, “Of course, it matters!”

He pointed at Jiang Yan and said, “This guy, as the prince of our light elves, has dark hair like a crow’s feathers. Doesn’t that strike anyone as strange?”

A giant maid beside him said, “Isn’t it because His Highness has dark elf blood? This is known all over the continent.”

The guests nodded in agreement.

The golden-haired young man sneered and said, “The last dark elf died 600 years ago in the Elven Forest. Jiang Yan was born 180 years ago from the Elven Mother Tree. How could he possibly be a descendant of dark elves?”

Someone among the guests raised a question: “But... didn’t the Elven Queen say that there was still a dark elf who lived in hiding in the Elven Forest and was never found?”

Another person chimed in: “Yes! I remember that before the dark elf died, he went to the Mother Tree and begged it to preserve the last spark of dark elf power, so the Mother Tree gave birth to this light-dark mixed prince of the elves.”

“That’s a foolish lie!” The golden-haired young man dismissed it with disdain.

Upon hearing this, the guests began to whisper among themselves.

“A lie?”

“If it’s a lie, then why does this little prince have black hair? That’s the symbol of dark power!”

“Yeah! If it’s a lie, what about the dark power in this little prince?”

“Exactly! Where did the dark power in him come from?”

“...”

After speaking, Tao Shi and the others turned their heads toward Jiang Yan in unison.

Jiang Yan’s eyes still held a hint of confusion. After meeting their gaze, he showed an expression of indifference.

Was he a dark elf? He didn’t know!

His character backstory was very vague about this part, and according to the settings, he had lost his previous memories while attending the God Clan Academy.

He currently knew about his past memories only through what his lover and companions had told him.

According to his companions, he was a mixed-blood dark elf, which was correct.

But after observing the abnormal behavior of the elves at the Elven Manor yesterday, Jiang Yan felt that perhaps he really wasn’t a dark elf.

If he wasn’t a dark elf, what could he be?

As the guests’ discussion grew more heated, Tao Shi loudly spoke: “What does it matter if Jiang Yan is a dark elf or not? If the elves say he is, then he is!”

As he spoke, Tao Shi gave a somewhat mocking glance at the young man in front of him: “So, you’re saying that because Jiang Yan isn’t pure light, that means he killed his husband? Is that your so-called evidence? Don’t make me laugh!”

Hearing this, the golden-haired young man smiled: “Not being pure light certainly doesn’t prove he’s the one who killed his husband...”

The giant butler raised an eyebrow somewhat smugly.

Unexpectedly, the golden-haired young man shifted his tone: “But! What if I say that the dark power within Jiang Yan comes from that god?”

“What?!! That god??!”

The guests instantly erupted in an uproar:

“Oh my god?! How could this be possible?!”

“This is unbelievable!! Why would the elves hide the bloodline of an evil god?!”

“This is absurd! This is truly absurd! This could never be true!”

“But... if the dark power in him really came from that evil god, then... it really would mean he killed...”

“...”

The crowd spoke out, saying it was impossible, but when they looked at Jiang Yan, their gazes were filled with a growing sense of wariness and disgust.

Seeing this, Tao Shi quickly retorted: “What evil god? Just because someone isn’t pure light, it means they have the power of an evil god? Do you have any evidence? Just because you say it, does that make it true? Are all of those present here who possess dark powers now descendants of some evil god?!”

“Evidence? The evidence is that the entire elven race knows this secret.” The golden-haired young man replied.

Upon hearing this, the guests' gazes shifted toward the elves who had been lively earlier.

The elves hovered in mid-air, glancing at each other before they all turned to look at their queen, Cang Rou.

At this moment, all eyes were on Cang Rou.

Meeting their gazes, Cang Rou’s wings fluttered twice, and after a brief moment of silence, she finally spoke: “Indeed, the dark power in Jiang Yan comes from the evil god.”

Ding! [Real NPC Cang Rou Key Clue: The Prince’s Dark Power Comes from the Evil God.]

A strange silence filled the room for a few seconds, before it erupted in chaos!

“An evil god?! He really has the power of an evil god?!”

“Oh my god!! But that god was already suppressed, wasn’t it?! Why?!”

“No wonder there’s been a rise in dark faith across the continent lately... It must be... It must be him!!”

“...”

People looked at Jiang Yan with fearful and disgusted eyes, gasping in disbelief.

“What?!! Evil god?!”

“Why hasn’t he been captured?! Why hasn’t he been punished?!”

“It must have been him who killed the king!!”

“Grab him!! Catch him and avenge the king!!”

“Grab him! Kill him!!”

“Kill him! Kill him!!”

“...”

The guests attending the wedding were from many different races—giants, dwarves, elves, orcs, humans... At this moment, the words “evil god” had caused them to unknowingly align on the same side.

They shouted, roared, and cried out, demanding Jiang Yan’s death.

“Kill him! Kill him!!”

“Kill him! Kill him!!”

“Kill him! Kill him!!”

“...”

The crowd became almost frantic, and those who had been standing by the door began to move closer into the room, advancing toward Jiang Yan.

“Wait, wait!!” Tao Shi hurriedly shouted, trying to stop them. “Everyone, calm down! Even if Jiang Yan has the blood of an evil god, that still doesn’t prove that he killed the king, does it?! This can’t count as evidence!”

“He possesses the power of the evil god! He must be the one who did it!!”

“Kill him! Avenge the king! And avenge that poor child!!”

“Kill him! Kill him!!”

“...”

Jiang Yan curled up on the bed, his water-blue eyes filled with tears.

He tightly hugged his husband's long and muscular severed arm, as if trying to draw the last bit of warmth from the corpse's dismembered limb.

“Everyone, calm down!!” Jian Hou’s voice was drowned out by the furious and fearful shouts of the crowd.

The guests pressed forward, and the players stepped back, until they reached the edge of Jiang Yan’s bed, with no more room to retreat.

Cao Yufeng looked at the blood-soaked bed behind him and said, “Shit! This is bad!”

At this moment, the round-cropped man in the player group pointed at Jiang Yan, who was sitting on the bloodstained sheets, and said, “How about we just hand him over to them?”

“Bullshit! What are you talking about?!” Jian Hou immediately retorted.

“These monsters only want him! They’re not after us! If we hand him over to these monsters, we can escape! The main quest is to find the killer, not to protect him! What if he is the killer? Doesn’t that mean we’ll complete the task?!” The round-cropped man spoke defiantly.

Upon hearing this, the other new players hesitated.

That’s true! They had no personal ties to this person, Jiang Yan, and if these monsters wanted him, why not just hand him over?

Thinking this, the new players' gazes toward Jiang Yan grew colder.

At this moment, Jiang Yan was completely like a lamb surrounded by hunters.

And the black tendrils beneath his skirt, while coiling around his thighs, took on a threatening posture.

It would not allow anyone to lay a hand on its “prey.”

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