Dark clouds rolled, thunder rumbled, and bean-sized raindrops fell from the sky like the Milky Way. The area around Beinz welcomed a storm, and it was a storm that had been brewing overnight.
Perhaps it was because it was next to Dragonspine Ridge, one of the "ancient relics", or the mysterious influence of the Beinz Blood Lake, this area often experienced similar extreme weather. Sometimes it was a torrential downpour, sometimes it was a summer snow, and sometimes there was even a thunderstorm out of nowhere. It was quite similar to the strange weather on the prairie, so the people in the town were not surprised. The townspeople closed their doors to withstand the wind and rain, and the magic towers around the town activated a magic circle to reduce the impact of the thunderstorm, to prevent lightning from hitting the town buildings. In this storm, the leader of the Royal Knights, Marshal Ophra, came to visit.
"I hope my sudden visit didn't cause you any trouble." Ophra was still in her armor, as if she would not change out of it no matter where she went. "I have something to confirm with you about tomorrow's itinerary."
Gusts of cold wind blew into the living room from the open door of the guesthouse, but not a single drop of rain came in. Ophra just stood at the door, and the storm seemed to have bypassed her. Hao Ren found that the two-meter radius around her had become a vacuum zone of rain. Behind Ophra was an ordinary-looking old man, but his strong body did not seem to match his age. He seemed to be the marshal's attendant.
"Oh, it's okay. Come in." Hao Ren said as he hurriedly ushered Ophra into the living room. He was just about to look for her, and now she was here. Was this a coincidence or something?
Lily, who was dozing off on the couch next to the door, was woken up by the cold wind. When she saw the guest, she quickly jumped up and slammed the door with her tail. "Ouch — it's so cold, so cold …"
Vivian, knitting a scarf, squinted at the husky and said, "Are you worthy of your bloodline? What happened to the glorious achievements of our ancestors who dominated the Arctic Circle? "
The strong old man beside Ophra could not help but glance at Lily's ears and tail, but he did not say anything.
Hao Ren invited Ophra to sit on the sofa, and the old man who looked like an attendant also sat down next to her. This surprised Hao Ren a little. It seemed that he had misjudged the identity of this old man. He might be an important figure in the Royal Knights, and he was dressed casually today. However, the identity of the other party did not matter to him. He just casually poured hot tea for the two guests and asked, "What are you here for?"
Ophra could not help but tremble. She had been the Marshal of the Kingdom for hundreds of years, and this was the first time someone greeted her like this. She could not help but think of the last young man who spoke to her in a similar tone. At that time, there was also a hot-blooded young man, dressed in a formal aristocratic outfit, squatting on the bench of the bar like a gangster and striking up a conversation with her. "Looking for you..."
Ophra shook her head and threw these inexplicable memories aside. "About tomorrow's itinerary, we have to escort the four ascetics to the Royal City. Considering the special nature of this trip, in order to prevent the heretics from sabotaging it, we need your cooperation..."
Hao Ren waved his hand and said, "Wait a minute, we also have some information to tell you. I guess after you hear it, you will have to change your plan — about the heretics."
Ophra's eyes suddenly became subtle. Her close-fitting light armor made a sound of metal rubbing against each other, and her whole upper body leaned forward slightly. "Heretics?"
"The heretics, and they have infiltrated quite deeply. They hold cult rituals in the mountains, summon monsters from the Otherworld, and sacrifice living people. There are even members of the Royal Knights and the Church among their members." Hao Ren poured out the information without any psychological pressure. Anyway, he was not worried about any consequences. "In addition, the surroundings of the Blood Lake..."
Hao Ren spent more than ten minutes telling Ophra everything that happened last night. He did not try to hide anything, as if it was a matter of course. The more Ophra listened, the more surprised she became. Even her epic hero could not hold it in for a while before such a huge amount of information. Finally, when Hao Ren finished, she could not help but put her hand on the short table. Her eyes were unusually serious. "Are you telling the truth? Do you have any evidence? "
Hao Ren took a cloth bag from the side and opened it in front of Ophra. "In this bottle are the strange remains of the heretics. This is the emblem of the Royal Knights. This is the clothes of the Church's clergy, the ceremonial dagger, their corporate culture brochure, the blood sample in the altar, and this is the specimen collected from the underground tentacles. It has been proved that it is the same biological tissue as the bark in the Gnarled Grove. This is Vivian's recipe — why is this thing in there? "
Vivian quickly came over and took the recipe away. "I misplaced it last night when I was tidying things up. I was wondering why I couldn't find it."
Ophra stared at these things dumbfoundedly. "It's true..." Then she looked at Hao Ren with a strange expression. "So, you guys went around looking for this information yesterday? This doesn't seem like something an ordinary mercenary group would do. Even the secret agents of the Kingdom might not be able to do this. "
Hao Ren spread out his hands. "Yes, we went to investigate last night, and we were very interested in the things around the Beinz Blood Lake from the beginning. As for the reason... Would you believe it if I said it was the enthusiasm of a scholar? "
"What if I don't believe it?"
"Then I'll make up another one."
Ophra was speechless.
"I'm not joking," Hao Ren said with a straight face. "I can tell you for sure that we have no malicious intentions towards the Kingdom of Holletta. We sincerely want to solve the trouble here, and this information is 100% true. It's hard to explain our motives to you. We can only say that it's out of goodwill. Of course, it's normal for you to have doubts. After all, you're the marshal of the Kingdom. So, we welcome you to investigate our mercenary group. "
This was the explanation that Hao Ren came up with after thinking for a long time last night. There was no explanation. As the saying goes, a barefooted man is not afraid of wearing shoes, and a bachelor is not afraid of his wife. He had thought it through. He was an invincible mudfish in this world. As a special agent of the Empire who came and went without a trace, there was nothing to be afraid of in this world.
Anyway, even his household registration here was fake...
However, Becky had been dragged into this. Hao Ren looked at the mercenary maiden who was dozing off beside Lily by the window. She was a legal citizen of The Plane of Dreams. But considering that the girl would probably follow him around in the future, and Becky herself was very open about this problem, he decided to let it be.
Ophra now felt that these mercenaries who suddenly appeared out of nowhere were getting more and more inscrutable. One of the reasons she came here today to discuss tomorrow's itinerary was actually only one of the reasons. The other reason was that someone reported that this group of mercenaries suddenly disappeared from the town last night. So, she came to see the situation now. She firmly believed that her special skills could see through the real movements of these people last night. But she did not expect that before she said anything, the person in front of her had already revealed everything like a fool.
No... not a fool, but the person in front of her simply did not care about this little bit of trouble.
"If this is true, then the Orb should be sent to the Royal City as soon as possible," Ophra pondered. "The heretics have infiltrated to such an extent that it's not safe to leave the Orb here. But I have to make sure that your information is true. "
Hao Ren took out a piece of paper and said, "Of course, no problem. The cave where the heretics held the ritual is still there. I've drawn the route. You can send someone to check it out. Of course, it must be done as soon as possible. There should be other heretics around, and they may destroy the scene. "
Ophra took the map solemnly. After looking at it carefully, she looked at Hao Ren with a more serious expression and asked, "Who went to the cave to check last night? I hope someone can lead the way. "
Hao Ren raised his eyebrows and asked, "You don't trust me? Do you suspect it's a trap? "
"No," Ophra raised the map and said, "your drawing is too ugly."
Hao Ren was speechless.
"Well, I'll take you there." Nangong Wuyue stood up and said, "I know the way."
Ophra nodded and was about to say something when suddenly a loud thunder came from outside and interrupted her.
Then, she seemed to feel something and looked up in a certain direction. Hao Ren did not know what was going on and waited for a while. Then, he heard a low rumble coming from a very far distance.
It sounded a little like thunder, but the sound was lower and continuous. It obviously lasted longer than thunder.
The hair on Lily's tail stood up. She suddenly looked out of the window in alarm. She saw a white beam of light suddenly rising in the direction of the Beinz Blood Lake, and then a series of urgent bell sounds came from the direction of the bell tower in Leyton!
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
