Chapter : 48

Yan Yunqing wanted to climb in through the window of Uncle Lane's room, but considering that the old man guarding the door of the black inn was a level sixty-two expert, Yan Yunqing was afraid that climbing the wall would attract his attention.

So, he simply changed back to his appearance from this morning and walked in discreetly through the main entrance.

As expected, the old man guarding the door heard the noise.

He just raised his eyes and glanced at him lazily.

Seeing that it was him, he closed his eyes again and played dead.

Yan Yunqing went upstairs following the same route as yesterday.

When he passed through the corridor, he looked around nervously.

Fortunately, he didn't run into the scary woman with the charm skill from this morning.

He inserted the key into the lock, turned it gently, pressed down the door handle, and slipped in sideways.

Uncle Lane was still lying on the bed, straight as a board, looking even more like a corpse than the old man guarding the door.

It seemed that he had not woken up at all, but there were traces of the food and water Yan Yunqing had placed on the table having been consumed.

Yan Yunqing looked at Uncle Lane lying on the bed without saying a word, just staring silently.

Uncle Lane, who had been breathing relatively long and steady, gradually had his breathing frequency disrupted under Yan Yunqing's gaze.

It became short and rapid. Yan Yunqing could even hear his heart beating loudly.

It seemed a little fast. If he scared him a little more, would he faint?

Yan Yunqing thought maliciously.

After admiring the extremely nervous Uncle Lane for a while, Yan Yunqing finally let him off the hook, "You're awake, stop pretending.

Your breathing is so chaotic, even a fool would know you're awake."

Yan Yunqing deliberately spoke in a hoarse and low voice:

"If I had any malicious intent towards you, I wouldn't have taken on this job. Don't worry."

Only then did Lane open his eyes tremblingly and look at this person dressed as a mercenary, with most of his face covered, "You, what do you mean by this?"

"Someone accepted a commission to rescue you from the dungeon. You should know who rescued you, right?" Yan Yunqing deliberately spoke vaguely to test Lane's reaction.

Lane was dazed for a few seconds, as if he had finally remembered something. His eyes widened, "Yes! It was that person..."

"Dressed in black... oh! And wearing a mask, I remember he had long hair... his name was... Joker?"

Lane said uncertainly, "Was it him who saved me?"

He thought Lane was dazed at that time, looking like he was breathing out more than he was breathing in, and couldn't see clearly who had saved him.

But this was also a good opportunity for him to make up a lie.

"Yes, it was Joker. He's a bounty hunter."

Yan Yunqing nodded, "He accepted a commission to rescue you, but the city was under martial law shortly after he rescued you, so he couldn't send you out of the city for the time being. He also had something to do, so he entrusted you to me."

Lane was stunned for a moment, "Bounty hunter..."

People in this world were no strangers to bounty hunters. Bounty hunting was a profession, or rather, an advanced version of a mercenary.

Some mercenaries with strong strength or special abilities, who needed money or wanted to make a name for themselves, could go to the Bounty Hunter's Association to register as a hunter.

By passing the strength assessment or accumulating points through missions to level up, they could accept high-paying missions on the bounty board.

Of course, mercenaries with average strength could also become bounty hunters.

The Bounty Hunter's Association also issued some relatively simple missions.

The rewards were not necessarily more than private jobs, but they were not afraid of the employer breaking the contract after the mission was completed.

Everyone who posted a mission at the Bounty Hunter's Association had to submit the reward to the association in advance.

In other words, the Bounty Hunter's Association was more like an intermediary, providing convenience and guarantees for both parties by charging a certain handling fee.

Therefore, bounty hunters in this world were very common.

In the village next to Sunset Village, many young people had gone out to become bounty hunters.

But due to the curse, Sunset Village had not produced any bounty hunters.

But Lane didn't know a bounty hunter named Joker at all, nor did he know a rich person who could afford a high bounty to save him.

At this moment, he was completely confused.

Even if Lane was inexperienced, he knew that being imprisoned in such a place, the commission required for a bounty hunter who dared to break into the royal dungeon to save someone would definitely not be low, perhaps to a degree he couldn't even imagine.

Who could it be...?

"But I'm also very busy. I've found this place to settle you for the time being.

You stay here for a few days. It's very safe here, so don't run around.

I'll bring you food and water for three days first.

After three days, when the martial law is over, I'll come to send you out of the city.

If it's not over, I'll bring you some more food and water."

Yan Yunqing saw that Lane was still in a daze, "Did you understand?"

Lane nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, "I understand, I understand, but..."

Lane was a little hesitant, "But I don't have the money to pay you..."

Yan Yunqing waved his hand, "Someone has already paid the reward for you. I take people's money to do their business.

I don't need to say more about this, right? Anyway, if you listen to me, I can guarantee that I will send you out in one piece."

Lane repeatedly agreed.

When he mentioned that someone had paid, he struggled again. He said cautiously: "Can I ask who paid the reward?"

"You'll know when you get home safely." Yan Yunqing had no intention of revealing his identity now. What if someone found Lane here and pulled out the radish with the mud!

As for after Lane left safely, Yan Yunqing could say that he had issued the commission himself, and Joker had accepted it.

The information at the old village chief's side would match up, so he wasn't afraid of being exposed.

In order to make it more convenient for him to get around in the future, Yan Yunqing had put on layer after layer of alternate identities. He could go and cos-play an onion spirit.

He took out all the food he had bought on the street today from his backpack and left it all with Lane to ensure that Lane would not starve to death.

He left amidst Lane's profuse thanks. The sky was already completely dark again.

He always felt that he had become a nocturnal Batman, whose parents had died, who acted righteously at night, and was a rich and powerful playboy... well, except for the playboy part, that didn't fit.

As for being powerful? If he revealed his Demon King identity, it would scare a group of people to death.

Yan Yunqing switched to his gloomy mage alternate identity and walked openly into some alchemy shops to replenish his material inventory.

The Fire Emblems he had made last time were all used up, and he had to make another batch for next time.

However, he was still cautious.

He didn't buy all the materials from the same shop.

He bought them in several batches, and in between, he went to a shop specializing in magic wands for a while.

If anyone paid attention to him, they wouldn't find anything wrong.

Yan Yunqing returned to the inn with a pile of alchemy materials and also ordered three carts of food. This time, he ordered the kinds that tasted better yesterday.

After instructing the attendant not to disturb him, Yan Yunqing slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

The attendant, whose nose was almost hit, naturally pushed the food cart away.

As an attendant in such a large inn, he had seen many strange guests. The lord mage in this room was already considered friendly.

After all, this lord mage only ate a lot and didn't like to go out or talk to people.

It would be a nightmare to encounter those powerful and unreasonable guests.

The attendant touched the gold coins in his pocket, which had not yet warmed up, and felt content: the most important thing was that this lord mage was too generous.

May the Goddess of Light bless this lord mage.

***

Yan Yunqing was now more and more proficient at switching his alternate identities.

He could even switch identities in a second without anyone noticing any flaws.

He was practically a modern-day Kaito Kid! When he had time, he could practice some magician's sleight of hand.

That kind of technique was very suitable for accomplishing some things without attracting attention.

Yan Yunqing thought to himself and found Feu's prince's mansion on the minimap.

He quickly chose a tall tree, climbed up, and found the thickest branch. He squatted on it and observed the arrangement of the patrolling guards.

Even though he had roughly deduced the guards' duty roster, Yan Yunqing never arrogantly thought that his reasoning was definitely correct.

For everything he did, he needed a cautious attitude and a mind that could always think calmly. This was what his father had taught him.

Yan Yunqing stared at the minimap for a long time and finally confirmed it.

He directly activated his role-play and turned into the little black cat again.

He leaped high onto the wall and landed lightly, making only a slight sound, without attracting the attention of any guards.

Originally, Yan Yunqing had thought about whether he could try to role-play as a more inconspicuous animal, such as a mosquito, fly, spider, ant, etc. But it was a pity that it seemed that cats were the smallest unit he could choose.

For mosquitoes and flies, his skill couldn't select them at all.

He could turn into a Squeaking Mouse... hmm, but even Yan Yunqing himself couldn't stand that thing.

If he didn't want to be chased and beaten by maids and guards after breaking into a noble's courtyard, it was better not to consider the Squeaking Mouse.

Cats, especially a little black cat like the one Yan Yunqing had chosen, were the most common breed in this world.

No one would care if they walked brazenly on the street. Maybe he would even be fed by a kind-hearted girl.

Yan Yunqing took advantage of the fact that the guards were not too focused during the shift change and quickly darted out from the corner, avoiding the guards' sight and slipping into the prince's mansion.

The guards in the prince's mansion were much stricter than those in the castellan's manor of Seta City, and their levels were also very high.

They were all level forty-five and above.

Yan Yunqing couldn't even find a level forty-four one. They were all elites. The further in he went, the higher the level of the guards.

Yan Yunqing even saw a level fifty-eight swordsman pass by.

He just glanced at the other person, and the swordsman keenly noticed Yan Yunqing's gaze. A sharp gaze immediately swept over.

Yan Yunqing quickly moved his gaze away, pretended to be an ordinary cat squatting on the tree, licked his paws, groomed the fur on his face, and his tail drooped, inadvertently letting it show and swaying a little.

The swordsman's gaze fell on the cat's tail peeking out from the gap between the leaves and lingered for a while.

His companion saw that he had stopped and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something unusual?"

The swordsman pondered for a moment and shook his head, "No, it's nothing, just my imagination."

The two looked at each other, did not stay where they were, and started walking forward again.

Yan Yunqing cautiously squatted on the spot and did not move.

He continued to groom his fur. Sure enough, about three minutes later, the two swordsmen came back again and found that the little black cat was still on the tree, lying down as if it were taking a nap.

After confirming that there was nothing unusual, the two swordsmen left completely.

After waiting for a few more minutes, Yan Yunqing saw that no one had come back.

Only then did he stand up and shake his fur. After staying for so long, even an ordinary cat might have left.

Yan Yunqing was not worried that the two swordsmen would think something was wrong with him if they came back and didn't see him.

Opening the minimap, Yan Yunqing confirmed his position.

The guards here were too sharp and strong. Even the guards on the periphery were already level fifty-eight. He didn't know what level the guards inside were.

Yan Yunqing felt that he couldn't go any deeper. It was more reliable to find Cornelia.

Cornelia had temporarily teamed up with Yan Yunqing before and was classified as a temporary teammate by the game system.

Therefore, her little dot was also blue. Among a group of red and yellow names, Yan Yunqing searched the minimap for a long time before he found Cornelia's little blue dot in a corner.

Yan Yunqing followed the small path and walked all the way in.

Because the guards here were of a high level, basically all of them were higher than Lilian, Yan Yunqing did not let Lilian break in with him, but left her outside to wait for support.

There was no choice.

This world had a special game mechanism.

When a high-level unit came into contact with a low-level unit, it could actively detect the other party's level.

Unless there were special items or abilities to hide it, if the level difference exceeded twenty levels, the concealment spell was very likely to fail.

Therefore, if Lilian came in, if there was a presence of over level sixty-five, then even if Lilian used a concealment spell, there was a high probability that she would be discovered.

Yan Yunqing, who had turned into a cat, had no way to cover for Lilian. Coming in would only restrict Yan Yunqing's movements.

(Yan Yunqing's role-playing skill is a special ability. He can only choose units with a lower level than him to use the role-playing skill. After role-playing, he will infinitely approach the role-playing target, including the mana fluctuations and level on his body. After role-playing as a cat, everyone who sees him will only think he is a cat.)

Following the directions on the minimap, Yan Yunqing walked to a small house next to the main building.

It was three stories high and hidden in the layers of tree shadows.

It looked like the maids' residence. The guards here were obviously much fewer than those at the main building.

Yan Yunqing compared and confirmed that Cornelia should be on the third floor.

He climbed up the small platform protruding from the wall little by little.

Thanks to the unique paw pads and claws of a cat, he saved a lot of effort when climbing.

With a final small sprint and jump, he landed on the small terrace on the third floor.

Some washed clothes and bedding were drying on the terrace.

Yan Yunqing fiddled with the door connecting to the room.

The door was not locked. He easily squeezed in through a crack.

There were not many rooms on the third floor.

Yan Yunqing saw that Cornelia's little blue dot was currently in one of the rooms, but there were several other people in her room at the moment.

He walked over and secretly pressed his ear against the wooden door, trying to listen to the conversation inside.

It was unknown if it was because the soundproofing was too good, but Yan Yunqing didn't hear anything. Instead, his neck was a little tired from maintaining the same posture.

Yan Yunqing turned his neck and heard the sound of the lock turning at the door.

He quickly dodged and hid in a dark corner.

Several people walked out of Cornelia's room.

The woman in the lead had a very ugly expression.

Her hair was disheveled, as if she had just argued with someone.

She lifted her skirt and stomped forward, her heels making the wooden floor creak.

The maids following behind her also had ugly expressions.

They cursed in low voices and quickly left the place.

Yan Yunqing glanced at the door that was not closed after these maids left.

He looked at the minimap and confirmed that there was no one else in the room except Cornelia.

He poked his head through a crack in the door and looked inside.

It was not a large room.

The furnishings were very simple, with a bed, a wardrobe, and a dressing table and chair, all in the simplest style of the time.

What was out of place was the various shiny and expensive jewelry placed casually on the dressing table, piled up messily like worthless junk.

A person in a blue and white dress was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a wooden comb, combing her seaweed-like sea-blue curly hair little by little, humming a little tune that Yan Yunqing couldn't understand.

With the blessing of a mermaid's singing voice, even a simple little tune was like the sound of nature.

Seeming to hear the movement at the door, Cornelia calmly looked back.

She had thought it was those boring colleagues coming to trouble her again, but she didn't expect to see a little black cat walking in with light steps.

"A cat?" Cornelia stopped humming her little tune, put down the comb, jumped off the bed, walked to the door, opened it and looked outside.

After confirming that there was no one, she closed the door and looked back at the little black cat strangely, "Where did this cat come from?"

She didn't remember anyone in this prince's mansion keeping a cat.

And Yan Yunqing had already jumped onto Cornelia's dressing table as if he owned the place, looked around, and said, "Long time no see, Cornelia."

Cornelia's face changed when she suddenly heard her name.

She looked at this little cat that could speak human language warily.

She frowned, but when she saw the little black cat's dark red eyes, she hesitated for a moment and asked uncertainly, "Yan... A-Yan?"

Yan Yunqing blinked: Cornelia had definitely forgotten his name, right?

Yan Yunqing nodded, "It's me."

Fearing that someone would suddenly break into Cornelia's room and he wouldn't be able to explain his presence, Yan Yunqing simply maintained the form of a cat and spoke to Cornelia.

"After we parted ways in the city last time, I thought you would be more cautious in finding news of your sister."

Yan Yunqing fiddled with the gemstone necklace on the dressing table with his paw, "But why did you run into the prince's mansion as a maid?

Did you forget that you've met Feu before? Maybe the people around Feu can recognize you."

To sneak in just by changing her name, wasn't Cornelia being a bit too reckless?

"I went to great lengths to save you last time, but you sent yourself back again."

Yan Yunqing was very helpless, "And didn't you say you've already contacted the elders of your clan? Didn't they come?"

Cornelia was initially wary when she saw that Yan Yunqing had no intention of transforming into a human.

However, when she heard Yan Yunqing detail their escape from the auction house and even mention the clan elders, a piece of information she had indeed shared with Yan Yunqing and Lilian, she was certain that this wasn't someone with ulterior motives trying to test her.

Cornelia let out a sigh of relief.

She didn't rush to answer Yan Yunqing's string of questions. Instead, she turned around, locked the door, drew the curtains, and then sat down on the small chair in front of the dressing table.

"I didn't expect you to come here to find me."

Cornelia's expression was filled with surprise.

"Where's Lilian? Did she come with you?"

Yan Yunqing shook his head, "She didn't come. The guards here are all higher level than her. It would be easy for her to be exposed if she came in. I came in alone... hmm, as a cat."

"I see." Cornelia understood, "Indeed, Lilian is an elf. It wouldn't be good if she was caught sneaking in."

"You haven't answered my question yet." Yan Yunqing then noticed that Cornelia's character status bar had a debuff [Forbidden] with a very long duration, a full two days.

[Forbidden]: After being sealed by a special forbidden spell, one's level and skills are sealed.

The sealed target will suffer the pain of ten thousand insects gnawing at their heart for the duration of the status.

Yan Yunqing took a tactical step back. Just from the description, he could already feel his scalp tingle.

There was such a debuff?

Cornelia lowered her eyes, seemingly in thought.

A moment later, she asked in return:

"Do you feel that it was not worth it to save me, only for me to walk into the abyss on my own accord, so you came to question me?"

Yan Yunqing was full of question marks: "Huh?"

Cornelia: "If that's the case, I can apologize to you, or compensate you with something.

But I have things that I must do. I'm sorry."

It sounded like she was refusing to communicate.

Yan Yunqing was truly a bit helpless.

He flicked his tail, "How could you think that..."

"We should be considered friends, right?" Yan Yunqing said, "Although we only fled together for a short time, I think we got along quite well?

What do you think?"

Without waiting for Cornelia to answer, Yan Yunqing continued, "As a friend, I heard that you haven't been doing well recently, so I came to see you.

That should be okay, right?"

"As for those questions, I was just a little curious personally."

The little black cat's dark red eyes were like brilliant rubies, sparkling, "I feel that even if you have a reason why you must get close to Feu, you don't have to make yourself so miserable, do you?"

His tail hooked Cornelia's wrist, which was resting on the edge of the dressing table.

Even with the long-sleeved dress, it couldn't completely cover the several scars on her wrist.

He said pointedly: "Just to find out about your sister, you shouldn't have to go this far, right?"

Cornelia unnaturally pulled her sleeve down a little and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

She still exuded a gentle aura. Sitting there quietly, she was a quiet and beautiful young girl, extremely attractive.

Yan Yunqing keenly noticed that every move of the other party maintained a very perfect posture, as if she had practiced it thousands of times, ensuring that no matter who looked at her from what direction, she would present the sweetest image at this moment.

Perhaps this subconscious behavior was not obvious to others, but in the eyes of Yan Yunqing, who had been studying the behavior of others as a game since he was a child, this behavior was very rigid and stiff.

"If you're willing, you can tell me." Yan Yunqing said sincerely, "I won't tell anyone. Even if Lilian asks, I will keep it a secret for you."

Cornelia paused for a moment, looked at the little black cat with a complex expression, and the corners of her mouth rose slightly.

She smiled gently, but pointed out very sharply: "You should have something you want to ask me, right?

Tell me. If I can help you, I will consider it."

Yan Yunqing was stunned for a moment.

Usually, it was he who saw through people's hearts and straightforwardly pointed out their intentions. He didn't expect that this time, his thoughts would be called out first.

He was still in the form of a black cat. Could Cornelia read expressions from a cat's face?

Cornelia noticed Yan Yunqing's astonishment, and like a little girl who had snatched a candy, she smiled slyly: "You underestimate mermaids. Mermaids' perception of emotions is the strongest among all races."

"Although your tone of voice carried concern when you spoke, it was more about wanting to find out my secret to judge whether this secret is useful for your purpose, right?"

Yan Yunqing paused for a moment, then couldn't help but smile.

He said seriously:

"Alright, I admit it. Because I know your strength, I judged that even if you want to find out about your sister's whereabouts, you don't need to do it this way."

"You know my strength...?" Cornelia narrowed her eyes, "When did you know?"

Yan Yunqing blinked: "When we escaped together, I already knew."

Cornelia was surprised: "Then you still..."

"Then I still saved you?" Yan Yunqing tilted his head, "Saving you back then was just a coincidence. It just so happened that you helped me once in the warehouse, so I saved you on the way out. That way, we don't owe each other anything."

Cornelia: "...Hmph, that time in the warehouse was just part of my plan."

"I figured it out later." Yan Yunqing was helpless, "That was just your facade of weakness, just to get closer to Feu more easily, right?"

"On the contrary, my actions caused you some trouble. I should indeed apologize to you for that."

"But you went to great lengths to get close to Feu. Maybe our goals are the same."

Cornelia could clearly tell that Yan Yunqing's words at this moment were very sincere, "So what if our goals are the same?"

"—Then we can cooperate."

-----------------

Rate and review this novel at novelupdates.

( 3 chapters free per review and 1 chapter per rate )

CLICK HERE