Night Ranger

It was a quiet night, and most of White River Valley’s villagers were already asleep.

The man wearing a long gown was walking on the small village path, smiling.

He could hear peaceful breathing and heartbeats coming from the houses. These ignorant people probably never expected something untoward would happen tonight.

His sight focused on the castle in the distance. That guy called Marvin was truly reckless.

‘Our Twin Snakes Cult has always been the one to snatch from others. But shockingly, this guy stole from me.’

‘As a minor Baron, do you really think the Wizard Alliance will protect you?’

‘All I asked of him was to look for suitable people to turn into followers. But that waste King Cobra couldn’t even protect the Hidden Granary, making me still have to move personally.’

Killing intent flashed through the Crimson Patriarch’s eyes.

Finding those eleven golden bulls was of utmost importance.

Marvin didn’t know that those eleven golden bulls not only hid a great amount of food, but they also hid one of the most important secrets of the Twin Snakes Cult.

It was related to the method for the Twin Snakes to free themselves from the Ethereal Plane.

Thus, he had to get those eleven golden bulls back.

As for White River Valley...

Whether to kill everyone and turn them into a human skin kite, or turn them into followers... This would depend on his mood.

It would depend on how that Baron Marvin reacts.

The Crimson Patriarch suddenly stopped.

...

”Ding ding ding!”

The sound of the door’s bell of a farmhouse echoed.

Someone mumbling could be heard inside, followed by an impatient query.

Auzin calmly said, ”I’m really sorry to bother you while you are resting. I am a lost traveler, I need your help.”

Hearing this, the owner of the house hurriedly put on his good clothes and the door slowly creaked open after a while.

A pale and scary man walked out. He was wearing rough clothes and his eyes lacked liveliness. It looked like he was still asleep.

”You’re looking for a place to sleep? There is a windmill in front. The back door isn’t locked, that should be a safe place. If you want to ask for directions, sorry, I’ve never left White River Valley. Maybe you should sleep and go to the castle early in the morning to ask,” The man said.

Auzin smiled. ”No, I came regarding the matter of your Overlord bringing back eleven golden bulls.”

A faint red color suddenly emitted from his eyes.

Mind Control!

The Crimson Patriarch was confident, since he certainly wouldn’t need to use a Legend skill on an ordinary person.

But he couldn’t have expected that the man wasn’t affected at all, instead pointing at his eyes and saying, ”Your eyes are a little red, you must be very tired. You should go rest soon. Wait, you mentioned golden bulls? You know, our Lord is quite fierce, but the information you heard is a fake rumor, he brought back more than eleven golden bulls!”

”There are a total of twenty-one! For real, I personally counted them,” The man mysteriously insisted.

He looked a little foolish, but he didn’t seem to be lying.

The Crimson Patriarch froze there.

‘How could it be… My Mind Control actually failed…’

”Thud!”

Before he could react, that man directly closed the door on him and a yawning voice could spoke from behind it, ”Mister, you can go to the windmill to sleep. I’m really too sleepy.”

...

Auzin stood outside the farmhouse, frowning.

He instinctively felt something wrong.

‘There were definitely eleven golden bulls, how could it become twenty-one?’

‘And this man wasn’t controlled by my Mind Control, how could this be?’

‘Is there an issue with this village?’

The Crimson Patriarch was usually quite paranoid.

He immediately closed his eyes and instantly scanned the whole village in his mind!

[Divine Skill – Spirit World]!

Each faint yellow spot was a person sleeping.

Their breathing and vital signs were normal.

There was no problem with this village.

The Crimson Patriarch opened his eyes, still somewhat doubtful. But he soon thought of an explanation.

In a place like White River Valley, they were all country bumpkins, they lived very simple lives, they had no desires.

Work at sunrise, rest at sunset.

This kind of lifestyle made it so that they didn’t have many impure thoughts, making them relatively simple and honest.

And the key to Mind Control was in arousing the target’s desires before twisting them so that they could be used for his purposes.

That man looked unambitious. This could explain why he wasn’t mind controlled.

‘Just a countryside area, how could it threaten me?’

‘I’m really too paranoid…’

Auzin recovered and kept going.

...

This time he stopped in front of a house that looked a bit better.

”Thud thud thud!””Thud thud thud!”

”Hello, I am a lost traveler, I need your help.” Auzin repeated the same lines from before.

But what made him somewhat shocked was that a small girl came out this time.

Her skin was as pale as the previous man’s.

”Why do White River Valley inhabitants have such white skin? It looks like a ghost…” Auzin couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.

He had seen innumerable dead people. He had slowly risen from a simple Twin Snakes Cult Cleric to become the Crimson Patriarch. An endless river of blood was formed from his hands. He personally peeled the skin from more than a thousand people and had killed more than ten thousand. He was very sensitive toward the aura of death.

If the girl in front of him was a ghost, he would have definitely noticed.

But she wasn’t.

The girl curiously looked at Auzin. ”Are you lost? Uncle?”

Auzin displayed a smile he considered gentle. ”Yes, a thief stole my eleven golden bulls, can you help me find them?”

Mind Control!

It was used once again.

But the little girl unexpectedly displayed a hostile look, and angrily said, ”Our Great Overlord isn’t a thief!”

”You truly are a nasty person. He carried back golden bulls so that everyone could eat bread. He isn’t a thief.”

”Disgusting person, I don’t want to see you.”

”Thud!”

The door was closed.

Auzin froze once again.

‘Damn…’

His Mind Control failed twice!?

This must be an illusion!

This must be an illusion!

He raised his head and took a look at the small village.

At that time, he felt that this village was gloomy and terrifying.

His instincts were never wrong. He should run!

But he knew in his mind that it was also possible for Mind Control to fail on the girl. She hadn’t watched him properly in the eyes and was still young, lacking impure desires, so beating Mind Control was pretty normal.

Moreover, this was such a small village.

And such a small castle.

That Overlord was said to have some strength, but he was only a 2nd rank Ranger.

How could he turn tail as a great Legend?

‘I was pushed to such an awkward state by Constantine that I’m losing confidence.’

‘Damn, wait for me to find my golden bulls and I’ll make everyone in this village my slave!’

Auzin had a sinister expression on his face.

...

”Thud thud thud!””Thud thud thud!”

He knocked on the door of the third farmhouse.

This time, a thin and weak middle-aged man opened the door.

His complexion was also pale.

This time, Auzin didn’t bother talking and directly used Mind Control!

That person stopped moving; someone finally got hit at last!

His eyes had a faint red color.

”It finally worked…”

The Crimson Patriarch almost felt like crying. After his two previous Mind Controls had failed, he had been wondering whether the Twin Snakes had taken back his Divine Spells.

”Tell me all you know about White River Valley, about the castle, and about the Overlord Marvin and the eleven golden bulls he brought back!” Auzin said in a firm tone.

The man nodded. ”Eh, our White River Valley, hmm, in fact its history isn’t very long. I am an inhabitant of the second generation, I originally drifted aimlessly in River Shore City, but you know, life…”

”Stop!” Auzin couldn’t help having a headache.

He had actually mind controlled a chatterbox...

If he let him keep going, he might be there until dawn!

”Tell me, where are the golden bulls?” He asked the most important part.

The man immediately whispered, ”Others think that the golden bulls were hidden in the castle by the Overlord, but they aren’t.”

”Yesterday evening, I saw him with my own eyes. He stealthily dug a huge hole in the river bank and hid all the golden bulls inside!”

”I saw it with my own eyes, so no one else knows about this.”

The Crimson Patriarch frowned.

‘Buried in the river bank? Is that Overlord brainless?’

But he saw the red color in that man’s eyes. He clearly was under his control. He kind of wanted to read that man’s thoughts, but Mind Reading was a 4th-circle Divine Spell and he had only prepared one. It was destined for Baron Marvin.

His instincts told him that anyone who could steal the golden bulls definitely had some hidden secrets.

...

Two people arrived at the edge of the White River, and stood under a long tree with a weird shape.

The middle-aged man was holding a shovel. Auzin ordered, ”Dig.”

The man then began to crazily dig into the ground.

The sand in the river bank was very soft, so the shovel didn’t meet much resistance.

The man’s movements were very wild, not showing any self-control. He scattered a large amount of sandy soil, some directly flying at Auzin’s face and clothes!

”Damn! Idiot!”

Auzin angrily stamped the ground. He had never been as sullen as tonight!

But he also knew that people under the effect of Mind Control were mentally impaired.

He could only retreat while blaming his luck, watching that man dig down bit by bit.

...

Time passed. The hole dug into the river bank was extremely huge, but there was no sign of the golden bulls.

The middle-aged man was gasping for breath while mumbling, ”It must be there, it must be there, I saw it with my own eyes.”

Auzin was already impatient!

He felt something was seriously wrong tonight!

He took a deep breath and suddenly rushed up, grabbing that man’s collar!

”What kind of thing are you?”

The man suddenly laughed mischievously, ”You guessed I was something?”

His complexion grew increasingly more pale under the moonlight, as his body slowly changed.

His facial features dissolved, and he turned into a paper doll!

...

In the castle, Marvin watched through a crystal ball and couldn’t help but exclaim.

”This is the highest grade of Origami!”