Murphy then swiftly moved closer to Red Leaf.
He placed his left hand on the side of Red Leaf's neck. With his right, he used a special technique, his fingers rapidly pressing along the meridians of the horse's neck.
Combining his knowledge of Breathing and Guiding and Horse Trainer, he precisely stimulated several key acupressure points, disrupting the natural flow of Qi within Red Leaf's body.
Red Leaf's body quivered slightly. Its eyes glazed over as it fell into a deep sleep.
Seeing this, Murphy immediately blew out the oil lamp, plunging the stable back into darkness.
Just as he was preparing to leave, he suddenly heard footsteps outside.
A Groom, carrying an oil lamp, was passing by the main stable.
Murphy quickly ducked into the shadows behind the stable's large doors. He circulated his Breathing and Guiding technique, suppressing his aura to its absolute minimum.
Through a crack in the door, he could see the halo of light from the Groom's oil lamp.
The Groom seemed to be just passing by. He was humming a tuneless little song, his footsteps never faltering as he headed toward the warhorses he was in charge of.
Murphy only emerged from his hiding spot after the footsteps had faded completely.
He pushed open the stable door without a sound, and a bone-chilling wind immediately rushed in.
After slipping out, he gently closed the door and locked it securely.
The Guards of the Outer Fortress seemed especially lax on this cold, snowy night.
Murphy moved under the cover of the buildings, his steps so light they made no sound on the fresh snow.
He circulated his Breathing and Guiding technique, his five senses growing exceptionally sharp in the night.
The sound of footsteps a hundred meters away and the sound of breathing dozens of meters away reached his ears with perfect clarity.
This allowed him to always anticipate the patrol routes of the Guards, slipping behind a building before they could spot him.
Two Guards in Leather Armor ambled around the corner, their torches flickering in the snowy wind.
Murphy had sensed their approach before they even turned the corner, ducking behind a house ahead of time.
"Damn this weather. It's snowing so hard... I just want to go back and warm myself by the fire."
"Just hang in there. It'll be dawn soon."
Once the Guards were a safe distance away, Murphy started moving again.
His figure flickered in and out of sight in the darkness. At times he moved swiftly along the base of a wall; at others, he vanished behind piles of clutter.
Although his raw strength couldn't compare to the followers who could lift a hundred-kilogram stone lock with one hand, his two years of Cultivation had honed his senses far beyond theirs. He moved through the complex terrain of the Outer Fortress with ease.
As he neared the Outer Fortress wall, Murphy noticed the gate Guards were huddled together, dozing off, just as they had been when he first snuck in.
The moment they were sound asleep, he sprang out like a cheetah and vaulted cleanly over the wall.
He tucked into a roll as he landed, absorbing the impact, and immediately vanished into the woods outside the castle.
Only when he was certain he was safe did Murphy stop and look back at the castle's silhouette.
In the cold of the night, the Outer Fortress's defenses seemed remarkably crude.
Meanwhile, the truly powerful Knights and followers were sleeping soundly in the warm bedrooms of the Inner Castle, completely oblivious to the events unfolding in the Outer Fortress stables.
...
At dawn, an early-rising Groom discovered Norton's body.
His neck had been completely slashed through. Only a flap of skin and flesh at the nape still connected his head to his torso.
The horrifying wound made the man who found him collapse on the spot. His shrill screams drew the attention of the patrolling soldiers.
"By Oriane's grace!" The soldiers' captain gasped. 'The strength required for this...'
The bones at the wound were cleanly severed, the spinal column sliced through with brutal efficiency.
Such destructive power far surpassed the strength of any ordinary soldier.
News spread quickly.
When the Steward stumbled onto the scene, his face went white after a single glance. "Quick... quickly, go get the followers! No ordinary person could have done this!"
Hawkeye Kelvin was the first to arrive.
He knelt on one knee and carefully examined the wound. His expression turned grim. "The bones were severed clean through... This is the kind of power only someone who wields Life Energy can unleash. A normal person's physical strength could never do this."
The faces of the soldiers present paled at his words.
Life Energy. It was a power that only Knights and their followers could master through special training, a power that could vastly enhance their physical abilities.
Leo rushed over when he heard the news. His initial disbelief turned to shock the moment he saw the wound, which then morphed into rage. "Who?! Who killed my Groom!"
More followers arrived in succession.
They gathered around the corpse, the atmosphere thick with tension.
Old Jimmy confirmed in a heavy voice, "The neck bones were completely severed. It's impossible without the enhancement of Life Energy."
Another follower voiced his doubt. "But why use such a brutal method on a Groom? How could a commoner like Norton have provoked a Warrior who wields Life Energy?"
The group fell silent.
The gazes of several followers flickered over to Leo, then quickly darted away.
Everyone was well aware of the recent developments in the castle, but no one dared to speak of it openly.
Kelvin glanced at everyone present and said meaningfully, "Perhaps it was a personal grudge."
Leo's face instantly darkened. He scanned the followers present, his voice cold. "I will report this matter to the Lord Baron exactly as it is. No one acts with such impunity on the lands of the Duval Clan."
The investigation quickly hit a dead end.
The soldiers questioned all potential witnesses but came up empty-handed.
It was far too easy for a killer who wielded Life Energy to evade the notice of common folk.
The possibility of it being the work of another noble was also minuscule.
While disagreements between nobles were common, the rules established in the Kingdom over hundreds of years were still respected.
Don't kill captives, and don't harm warhorses.
After all, no one wished to start an endless cycle of retaliation.
In that case...
That afternoon, Norton's body was quietly carried away and buried.
There was no ceremony, no further investigation. It was as if he had never existed.
The castle returned to a state of superficial calm, but an undercurrent of unease permeated the air.
Servants whispered amongst themselves, but no one dared to discuss the matter openly.
The fact that a killer with such deadly skill was moving about within the castle sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
"I heard only the lords can kill so cleanly..."
a Groom whispered while feeding a horse.
"Shut up!" another hissed, cutting him off. "Do you have a death wish?"
Despite this, rumors still circulated quietly among the servants.
"I heard it was over a warhorse... A single warhorse is more valuable than ten farms these days."
"Lord Leo got Red Leaf, and someone wasn't happy about it."
"Shh! You can't just say things like that."
As the news spread, the servants all understood this was more than just a simple murder.
With the Baron still recovering from a serious injury and the domain's finances in dire straits, every warhorse was a symbol of power and status.
And somehow, this information, which should have been kept under tight lock, spread like wildfire through every corner of the Outer Fortress.
The older servants all understood that there had to be some lord's tacit approval, if not outright instruction, behind it all.
And just as these undercurrents were swirling, Murphy returned to the castle, silhouetted against the setting sun.