That's why you came to me. After everything has been settled, you and I are the only two remaining members of the Balance Blade. Oh, maybe your teacher is here too. But considering his age, I suspect that he might not even be able to reach the place I sent him to. " Lucilla smiled self-deprecatingly. "We are now all the members of the Balance Blade. Admit it. We have lost. If I were you, I would not waste my precious time on a dying man. You should leave Rome overnight before they catch you."
"Maybe," Zhang Heng said noncommittally. He then asked, "What about you? Why don't you leave? "
"Because I am the daughter of Aurelius, the wife of Lucius, and Augusta of the Roman Empire. I will not run away. Besides, with my identity, no matter where I go, someone will recognize me," Lucilla said. "They won't do anything to me for the time being because I am Commodus's only blood relative. They must take this into consideration."
"So, are you going to explain yourself?" Zhang Heng pointed to the emerald bottle on the ground.
"As I said, we have lost this time. I accept this result, but I will not put my life in the hands of others. I will live in fear every day, waiting for that day to come. Instead of that, I might as well die with dignity now." Lucilla puffed out her chest. "Don't underestimate a woman's determination. Cleopatra VII has her vipers, and I have mine."
"That's admirable, but I have to correct one thing. You lost, not us," Zhang Heng said. "I haven't lost yet."
"Have you lost your mind because of what happened tonight?" Lucilla frowned. "You are not even qualified to participate in this war. How are you going to win or lose?"
"Some things may only be seen clearly by bystanders," Zhang Heng said. "Oh, I'm not talking about the naked you. But before that, I have to confirm one thing with you first."
"What is it?" Lucilla asked.
"Is our previous agreement still valid?"
"Our agreement?" Lucilla was puzzled.
"I will help you get rid of Altrus, and you will take me to the Balance Blade's secret library," Zhang Heng said. "As you said, we are the only three left in the Balance Blade. Since my teacher has gone somewhere to have fun, it seems that I can only rely on you to bring me to the Balance Blade's library. I believe you can see why I didn't escape the city tonight. Instead, I came to find you first."
Zhang Heng looked at Lucilla, "I need you to stay alive, at least until I enter the library. This means I'm afraid I'm going to make a bad deal this time. Not only do I have to kill Altrus for you as promised, but I also have to help you solve the problem of the Hound."
"You are alone now, without any companions and support. You want to fight two powerful enemies at the same time. What do you plan to do?" Lucilla was skeptical when she heard what Zhang Heng said. "By tomorrow morning, even if the Hounds don't find you, your wanted posters will be posted all over the streets and alleys of this city."
"Since we are an assassin organization, let's use the assassin's way to solve this problem," Zhang Heng said. "After all, the person who taught me these skills has always emphasized to me that tradition is very important."
"Let's not talk about the fact that you haven't passed the assessment to become a real assassin. You don't even know who your target is and where they are. How are you going to kill them?" Lucilla continued to ask.
Zhang Heng smiled, took out three copper coins from his pocket, and arranged them in the palm of his hand. "Balance Blade, Altrus, and Hounds. If I can't see what's on the back of any of these coins, I will follow your advice and escape from Rome tonight. I won't come to see you at all. I wonder if you're satisfied with this answer?"
"You know where Altrus is hiding? And you know who the leader of the Hounds is? "Lucilla's eyes widened." How is this possible? The Balance Blade has been investigating for so long, and they haven't been able to find this information. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been defeated so badly. "
"As I said, some things may only be seen clearly by bystanders. And I have to admit that it took me a lot of time and a little luck to sort out all the problems before tonight. Fortunately, my luck has always been good, "Zhang Heng said as he stood up from his seat.
Zhang Heng stood up from his seat. "If you don't mind, I'm going to start working."
After speaking, Zhang Heng walked to the balcony. However, when he walked to a pot of Persian chrysanthemum, he stopped again. "By the way, I do have a question that I haven't figured out. Who is the traitor in the Balance Blade?"
Lucilla shook her head when she heard Zhang Heng's question. "There are no traitors in the Balance Blade. After what happened two hundred years ago, we have very strict requirements for loyalty and faith when selecting our members. People like you are an anomaly. This is also the reason why it has been difficult for us to accept you."
"Oh, I understand. The so-called traitor is your people who deliberately sought refuge with Altrus. So, your previous agreement with me was just to confuse the enemy. You don't need to ask anything from Altrus at all. No, even asking me to get close to Commodus was just to distract the enemy. You didn't expect me to find Altrus at all, did you?" Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, that's right." Lucilla sighed. "Because Altrus's whereabouts are too mysterious, we wanted to use this method to nail Altrus down. However, it turns out that Altrus doesn't trust anyone at all. In the end, he used our people to convey the wrong information to us. In the end, the Balance Blade lost the war."
"If you know Altrus's upbringing, maybe you won't have such illusions," Zhang Heng said.
"What upbringing?"
"Altrus is Commodus's twin brother. He was infected with a strange disease when he was five years old. The initial guess is that it should be in our … uh, country, it is called polio. It will cause paralysis and something like that. It looks a little abnormal, but the palace priest said that this child was cursed and would bring bad luck. For the sake of this country and its people, he had to be killed. I believe you know more about this matter than I do. After all, you should be a teenager at that time. It took me a long time to find out about this secret."
"Yes, that's right. My father eventually asked someone to kill the child, claiming that he died of a disease," Lucilla said. Lucilla said, "I still remember this. I can't forget the way he looked at me when we said goodbye."
"In fact, your father did not kill the child. Instead, he secretly sent him away and entrusted him to a confidant who guarded the border. Then, the child survived. Of course, he didn't do it intentionally."
"He is my brother?" Lucilla asked in disbelief.
"Yes. So, it's not too late if you change your mind now. You know, let him live or something like that. After all, he is also your blood relative."
"No, kill him," Lucilla said firmly. "Between him and me, only one of us can survive. If he doesn't die, I will be the one who dies. As for his story, you can tell me slowly after you kill him." Lucilla said resolutely, "Between him and me, only one person can survive.
"Oh, I kind of like working for the emperor's family now. At least, you guys are quite straightforward." Zhang Heng shrugged.
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