Pillar of Yita

The Papalarian thought to himself that his opponent was just a blind cat hitting a dead rat, but he wisely didn’t rebut. Although Parker wasn’t very reliable, he could distinguish between priorities. He lowered his voice and said to Tianlan, ”You wait here for me, I’ll go eavesdrop on what they’re saying.”

”What?”

Tianlan was taken aback.

But before she could speak, Parker guessed what the little girl wanted to do and ruthlessly extinguished her delusions: ”I’m the Nightingale, not you.”

”But aren’t you a crossbowman?”

”Don’t worry about that, all in all, my stealth level is higher than yours.”

”Alright then.”

Tianlan sighed. Although she often had some whimsical ideas, she wasn’t stubborn and understood that Parker was telling the truth, so she nodded. ”Then you’d better be careful, Parker.” She reminded him.

Parker was feeling a bit touched, but then Tianlan asked curiously, ”If that’s the case, why didn’t you go eavesdrop earlier? Are you looking down on me, Parker!?”

The Papalarian crossbowman was so startled that he fled in a panic.

But watching his short, plump figure merge into the darkness, Tianlan couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. She had never been this scared when she was alone and couldn’t help but wonder if she should rescue him if that little dwarf got caught.

She immediately concocted a detailed plan in her mind —

When the Papalarian unfortunately got caught, how should she make her dazzling entrance, and how to rescue him from the hands of those two annoying guys — of course, there was originally only one ’annoying guy’, but with the ’Big Sister’ from the Dragonfire Guild, the number naturally increased by one.

She also imagined how Parker would be grateful and indebted after being rescued by her, and from then on, she would have a devoted little sidekick.

Amused by her thoughts, Tianlan couldn’t help but chuckle, but suddenly someone patted her from behind: ”What are you giggling about?” The voice almost made her jump three feet high with a scream.

Fortunately, before that happened, Tianlan realized it was the Papalarian appearing from behind her and suppressed the urge to scream loudly.

She patted her chest, her face pale: ”You scared me to death, how did you get back so quickly?”

”Heard what I needed to hear, so naturally I came back.” Parker rolled his eyes.

It was only then that Tianlan noticed the people at the end of the alley had gone far away. She turned back, surprised, and looked at the Papalarian, asking, ”You heard everything? How did I not see you go over?”

Tianlan suddenly showed a suspicious look in her eyes: ”You’re not lying to me, are you?”

Parker looked aggrieved: ”You can smear my character, but you can’t question my professional skills.”

He reached back for his short sword, only to remember that it had long been melted down by some nasty alchemist, leaving him empty-handed. So he helplessly waved his short fist: ”I am the Champion of the Nightingale Contest.”

”Tsk, a champion acquired through cheating...”

Fortunately, before the Papalarian could fly into a rage, Tianlan finally calmed him down: ”Alright, alright, I believe you. She asked with some curiosity, ”So what did you hear?”

Perhaps it was this curious look that satisfied Parker’s sense of pride, and he lifted his chin slightly, boasting, ”Well, it’s a long story—”

”Cut the suspense.”

Tianlan delivered a Sicape Flow Hand Knife she’d learned from Fang Hong, precisely chopping down on the Papalarian’s head.

...

When Fang Hong and Elisa’s party returned to the campsite, it was nearly dawn.

The snow that had been falling all night had not stopped and even seemed to be getting heavier. The world was blanketed in white snow, and the only dark color was the silhouette of the distant forest. They said goodbye to Lady Kuisu’s group outside the Masongke Creek camp, agreeing to depart for the southern Great Canyon in two days.

The one on night watch at Mr. Greyrock’s platform was Bakins. Seeing the group return from the heavy snow, he greeted them and inquired if their mission had gone smoothly before lowering the soft ladder.

Fang Hong was the first to climb onto the platform and saw two little ones, one tall and one short, standing in the middle of the open terrain.

The tall one was naturally the dejected Tianlan, looking at him with pitiable eyes, and next to her was a Papalarian patting his belly and burping.

Fang Hong was slightly taken aback at their appearance. However, he also knew well that these two probably got on Miss Atira’s bad side again; in the group, only the Elf Miss could handle this little girl.

Elisa climbed up from behind and saw the scene as well, unable to suppress her laughter as she asked Bakins what had happened.

The experienced sailor then recounted the events of last night—

Fang Hong was slightly stunned after hearing it, not expecting these two to be so bold as to follow the Dragonfire Guild people without telling anyone.

However, Atira was likely not upset about their unauthorized actions, but because they kept everyone else in the dark.

Elisa brushed the snow off her body and asked with a smile, ”Didn’t Miss Hilveld plead for you guys?”

Tianlan looked at her with a pitiable expression, wishing she wasn’t one of Rota’s Wilderness People so she could wag her tail at her Sister Elisa. ”Miss Atira was so angry, Miss Hilveld didn’t dare plead for us... Sister Elisa, please calm Sister Atira down, I’ve already realized my mistake...”