Pillar of Yita

However, the young adventurers had already retreated from the dungeon ahead of time. They were there to complete a task, but perhaps they were not aware of the task itself and were just following orders. The Invokers and the natives in this world sometimes maintain such relationships with each other—

They have their own purposes, but often they don’t care about each other. The former are more like passersby in this world, and perhaps they themselves identify with such a status.

And in the eyes of the latter, it’s also like that.

Outside the dungeon gates, Ye Hua, dressed in battle gear and carrying a longbow, asked them, ”How did it go?”

”We found the people.”

”What about the others?”

”They’re not inside. Chairman, is the information reliable?”

”The ones captured should be people from the Shield of Lufu. Before this, they were investigating smuggling cases in that area, which is a task from the Tansnier Port Authority.”

”So it’s people from the Shield of Lufu.”

The young people suddenly understood. It was said that the Shield of Lufu was once a member of the Southern Alliance, a moderately-sized Adventure Group, but they had more or less heard of that name.

Someone else then asked, ”That... Combat Artisan, are they also from the Shield of Lufu? Perhaps we could recruit them?”

Everyone couldn’t help but look at Ye Hua.

That was the guy who dismantled four of Mr. Gu’s Clockwork Fairies, almost making them think they were exposed at that time.

Ye Hua thought for a moment, a feeling of turbulent times rising in his heart. The China Competition Region was seeing a series of genius Alchemists emerging, with new talents appearing within every major Guild, vastly different from the stagnant, lifeless scene of a few years ago. Mentioning genius Alchemists, he couldn’t help but think of someone, as he still owed that person an apology for some wrong decisions.

He nodded in response to everyone’s questions.

And then someone suddenly asked:

”Now that you mention it, the fortress’s defenses seem a lot weaker today than usual.”

”There aren’t even many guards in the outer area. Is it because of the sandstorm?”

...

The castle blocked out the sound of the wind outside.

Through the thick stone walls, only a low howling could be faintly heard.

In the darkness not far away, a large mural hung on the wall, depicting a robed man who was likely an ancestor of the Aimoyiben Family, but the darkness drained all color from it. There were also some decorative paintings on the wall, alongside a round shield, two crossing curved blades, and a set of armor standing quietly at the corridor’s entrance, holding a long halberd.

Two hanging flower pots dangled from the beams, with curled fern leaves hanging motionless from the ceiling. The floor beneath was covered with thick carpet, which felt like sinking into soft cotton when walked on; the carpet seemed to have some pattern, yet the colors were also dull in the darkness.

A group of light came from afar, reviving the carpet’s colors in the firelight — brown, red, and bright yellow, forming interlocking diamond patterns. Following closely was a series of low, orderly footsteps, the sound of armor clashing fading away as the knights walked off with their lanterns.

Wu Xiaopang watched the knights leave before turning back, lowering his voice to ask Fang Hong, ”Boss, did you find it?”

”Quiet.”

Luo Yu and Luo Hao simultaneously reminded him.

But then Fang Hong lifted his wind goggles, stood up, and looked up as a silver light flew through the window and into his hand.

Then more streams of silver light gathered, hovering before everyone as Fang Hong ”plucked” them one by one and stored them in the Information Crystal. Only then did he look at the others and respond, ”I’ve found the place.”

He indeed spent some time to locate the young lady’s living quarters, as this castle was quite large inside, and under the current weather, there were hardly any servants walking around, leaving almost no shortcuts, so he had to adopt an elimination method.

Firstly, the left and right of the first floor’s hall seemed to be the servants’ quarters, and it was unlikely for the host’s kin to reside on this floor; on the second floor, he saw many Arcanists, and even outside a study-like room, he spotted His Excellency the Governor, though he didn’t recognize the person, he could roughly deduce it from the people around.

He also saw a middle-aged Arcanist, who seemed to be the leader of the group that attacked Wu Xiaopang and his associates earlier, but he only skimmed across the second floor and dared not get close. Even so, it still attracted the Hall Guard Knight’s attention, scaring him into quickly flying to the third floor.

The third floor had many empty rooms that seemed to be guest rooms, but evidently, under the current adverse weather, apart from Arcanists, no one would come to Bain. Further on were some women’s quarters, where Fang Hong really stumbled upon some awkward situations unintentionally, but he could only ”see no evil” and act as if he hadn’t noticed anything.

He wasn’t quite clear on the status of those women here, but among the nobles of Istania, having multiple wives and concubines was of course a given. However, none matched the age description given by Wu Xiaopang, and what troubled Fang Hong was that this guy, as a ”fan” of the Earl’s young lady— had never actually seen her true appearance.

This discovery almost stunned Fang Hong.

This guy had only gathered some unreliable information such as her age, impractical hobbies, and some hearsay.