Under the dim light of the fire, the cellar was almost like a slaughterhouse. The four walls and the ground were splashed with dark brown mottled blood. There was a large wooden table in the center of the cellar. The table was very thick, similar to a butcher’s case in a vegetable market. On it lay a skinned man.

The man should have been dead for a while. The flesh and blood that had been peeled had long since flowed out. Perhaps because the temperature in the cellar was not high, the corpse was well preserved, and its pink muscles were mixed with yellowish fat.

“Vomit!” Idrea covered her mouth and rushed to the corner of the wall to retch. It was not like the knight had never killed anyone, but this cruel scene was still unbearable for her.

“If there’s no danger, I’ll go up first.” However, Lauvita’s followers quickly recovered, wiped the corners of their mouths, and walked out with an ugly expression.

Compared to Idrea, Qin Lun and Hill’s expressions were the same as usual, and their heartbeats hadn’t even changed when they looked at the corpse. One of them was a dissecter, and the other was a person who often handled food ingredients with his own hands. Each of them had done a lot of things that exceeded the bottom line of human psychology, so this scene in front of him was not enough to move him.

“Less than three days after his death, the corpse had a violent spasm before his death. Judging from his muscular reaction, he should have died in extreme pain.” After examining the corpse, Hill said in surprise, “He was skinned to death alive. The person who did such a thing is really hard-hearted.”

“The attacker used a very narrow and thin short knife. He was very skilled and almost didn’t damage the subcutaneous muscles.” Qin Lun raised his eyebrows slightly as he looked at the corpse. “If it weren’t for the fact that he was in the magical world and didn’t have any surgery, I would have said that this person was a surgeon with excellent medical skills.”

Hill and Qin Lun analyzed the corpses from their respective perspectives. Although the two of them weren’t coroners, they were more authoritative than professional forensic doctors in such matters.

“Why would Santalin do such a thing?” Qin Lun held his chin and sank into thought, “Or should I ask them why they would take the risk of being exposed and do such a thing near Silvermoon City?”

“Unless they have a reason to act here!” Hill’s eyes flashed, “This person might have something to do with their next assassination attempt. Could it be that he wants to torture some information?”

“No, there are many methods of torture. There is no need to be so bloody. Experienced interrogators usually use gradual methods to continuously put psychological pressure on the victims. Most importantly, it is easier to pry open the mouths of the prisoners by making them feel that they still have hope of surviving.”

Qin Lun shook his head indifferently. “You see, other than being skinned, there are basically no other external injuries to the muscles in this corpse. It means that the attacker started skinning directly at the initial stage. He has no intention of asking for any information at all.”

“In that case, skinning is their ultimate goal, not to torture this person. Then why while he is still alive?” Hill’s eyes flashed, and a trace of spiritual light seemed to flash through his heart.

“Disguise!” Qin Lun and Hill said in unison. The skin of a dead person was obviously different from that of a living person. Only when this man was peeled alive could his skin remain active, and the success rate of disguising himself was even higher.

“The reason why Santalin would skin this person is to disguise himself as his identity.” Qin Lun smiled. “Looks like we’ve found a way for Santalin to sneak into Supreme palace.”

“En, and this person’s identity shouldn’t be too simple. Since he has taken such a big risk, he must not only sneak into Supreme palace, he must also be able to get close to Elaszo and the other Alliance City Lords.” Hill nodded and added.

“It’s a pity that we don’t know the man beside Lady Hope. I heard that Elastor Silver Hands has many lovers. In addition, he will hire a lot of male waiters during the celebration. Even if we know the methods of the Santalin Society, we won’t be able to find a camouflager.” Qin Lun said regretfully.

“There’s another possibility. Could this man be a city lord who came to participate in the celebration earlier?” Hill asked, “Isn’t it easier for the Silvermoon Alliance’s own Lords to cause division or civil war if they attack Elaszo?”

Qin Lun pondered for a moment before refuting, “This possibility is not high. The Lord’s goal is too big, and there will be many guards around him. Even if the camouflager doesn’t alert the others to kidnap him, he will still be suspicious if he comes back for too long. There are too many variables that aren’t suitable for their plan.”

Hill didn’t mind either. It was obviously unrealistic to directly judge the plan of the Santalin Society from some clues.

“Then the guards beside the Lord … No, according to what you said, this possibility is relatively low. The other guards will detect it.” Hill said to himself.

Qin Lun walked around the slaughter case. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he picked up a pile of tattered clothes at the corner of the cellar.

“Is this the victim’s clothes?” ‘”The Santalin Society actually didn’t get rid of these things. That corpse was also…” Hill asked curiously.

“Yes, something must have happened, causing them to hastily evacuate this place.” Qin Lun tidied up the pile of tattered clothes and said without raising his head.

It could be seen that this pile of rags was cut by the skinners with their knives, and when they were skinned, they were thrown into the corner of the wall.

Qin Lun slowly patched the rags together for a while, and his face slowly turned ashen. This was a red robe. Many mages usually only wore robes, because most of their robes were equipped with instant hair formations, which had cleaning and protective effects.

Common robes usually come in three colors: white, red, and black. Red-robed mages could often be seen in Silvermoon City. Although there were slight differences in clothing styles, it was difficult to identify them directly.

Perhaps this was 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 robe and knew who it belonged to.

“Hill, you should still have a flesh and blood puppet on you, right?” Qin Lun took a deep breath and said calmly.

“Of course there is. What’s wrong?” Hill looked at Qin Lun’s expression in surprise.

“This corpse may be an acquaintance of mine. I need the flesh and blood puppet to cover his body in order to slightly restore his appearance.” Qin Lun said expressionlessly.

“Your acquaintance?” Hill’s eyes lit up and he nodded silently. He took out a ball of meat from his storage space and handed it to Qin Lun.

When the flesh and blood puppet covered the surface of the corpse like a layer of skin, the original appearance of the victim had almost recovered by sixty to seventy percent.

Of course, this level of recovery wasn’t enough to allow strangers to identify themselves. This was also the reason why Qin Lun hadn’t thought of this method before. However, for acquaintances, sixty to seventy percent similarity was enough to confirm their identities.

“It really is him!” Qin Lun smiled bitterly and sighed, “Mage Angelo, I didn’t expect that we would meet again in such a situation!”

Red-robed mage Angelo, his Apprentice Magician, Emily Silverhand, was also the daughter of Silvermoon City Lord Elaszo.

The last time Qin Lun entered Toril World, the Japanese Elves Diplomatic Corps had joined Siver’s caravan in the Ames region to avoid the Santalin Society’s interception. This was the first time they had met Idrea and Angelo’s apprentices.

Later, when he was in danger in the Undead Valley, Mage Angelo took the initiative to stay behind in order for Qin Lun to take Emily away. Fortunately, the red-robed mage managed to escape and returned to Bird’s Gate with a few members of the Lost Party, including Kelly and Robin.

Qin Lun didn’t have any friendship with Mage Angelo, but he admired this wise and decisive young mage. Now that things had changed, his old friend had actually appeared in front of him in such a tragic manner.

The reason Qin Lun could tell that the robe belonged to Angelo from the pile of rags was because the red robe worn by the mage was quite unique.

Angelo wasn’t very old, and his strength was around mid-tier. To be able to reach mid-tier at this age, he could be considered a genius mage. It was because he was younger that he wasn’t as old fashioned as some Old Mage, and his clothes were more fashionable.

His red robe was not the traditional hooded robe, but was trimmed into a tight-fitting noble gown. Her chest was decorated with two rows of bronze buttons, and her cuffs were embroidered with folded embroidery flanges, making her look fashionable and trendy.

Without a staff in hand, anyone who saw Angelo at first sight would probably treat him as a noble gentleman who pursued pleasure. Back then, Nicole, the Divine Artist of the fortress guild, had mocked Philip for being rustic.

Of course, Angelo wasn’t the only mage who had turned his mage’s robe into a noble gown. However, when he contacted Santalin, who wanted to sneak into Supreme palace using the corpse’s identity, Qin Lun immediately remembered Angelo’s old friend.

Angelo’s identity was somewhat special. He was Emily Silverhand’s teacher, so he would naturally be invited to the Silvermoon Celebration without being strictly monitored.

However, Angelo wasn’t actually a member of the Silvermoon Alliance, so other than Emily Silverhand, the others weren’t familiar with his character and background, reducing the chances of being exposed. It could be said that he was a very suitable camouflage target.

After explaining Angelo’s identity to Hill, the shepherd’s expression became serious.

Since Emily Silver Hands had already been sent to her mother, Erastro, Angelo’s camouflager could simply excuse himself and leave Emily for a few days until the celebration day, so that Emily would not suspect him.

“We originally thought that Santalin would want to assassinate Elaszo, but we didn’t expect that the breakthrough they chose would be even more clever.” Qin Lun said with a bitter smile.

With Qin Lun and Hill’s intelligence, they had already roughly guessed the plan of the Santalin Society from Angelo’s identity.

Elaszo’s strength was too strong. No matter what method he used to assassinate her, his chances of success were low. However, the other Lords of Silvermoon were different.

Perhaps the other Lords of the Silvermoon Alliance did not know Mage Angelo, but if a Santalin member disguised as Angelo poisoned several of the Lords who had opposed the founding of the country four months ago, his identity would definitely be dug out afterwards.

Qin Lun could even imagine what the world would think with his butt, “Silvermoon City Lord Elaszo pretended to be his daughter’s magic teacher to assassinate the opponent!” If there were newspapers in Toril World, it would probably be the front page of the day.

If something like this really happened and Angelo couldn’t be confronted afterwards, even if the Silvermoon Alliance didn’t have a civil war, the other Lords would probably have their doubts, and the nation-building process would be put on hold for an indefinite period of time.

Santalin would interfere a few more times, and the Silvermoon Alliance’s original alliance system might collapse.