Chapter 238

"Captain, everything has been checked out!"

In an inconspicuous room in Ronglin Town.

Yuliusi sat on a sofa against the wall, wearing only a thin shirt.

The fine standard-issue heavy armor, gifted by Duke Morton himself and slightly modified for the mission to hide its family characteristics, was neatly placed on a rack in front of him for his maintenance.

At the same time, a knight whose attire was also disguised was reporting the situation to him.

"According to our informant at the casino, after 'Lan Jiaozhi' met with Laosen that day, they brought back three corpses from the alley, which have now been chopped into mince and fed to the dogs."

Although Yuliusi had led his subordinates to follow Laosen's group out of the tavern due to the emergency situation—

As the path they took became increasingly remote and pedestrians gradually decreased—

Considering the possibility of exposure, they didn't continue to follow with so many people.

In the end, they only saw Laosen and his group walk into a cramped and dark alley.

Honestly, Yuliusi didn't particularly care about his identity being exposed.

As long as he could confirm that Laosen didn't possess more information about the Morton family's heirloom treasure than he did, he wouldn't mind grabbing the other party directly.

Being so cautious now was just out of fear that the other party would fight to the death and cause unnecessary damage to the treasure.

"What about the identities of those three corpses? Have they been checked out?"

Focusing on maintaining the armor in his hands, he replied in a steady tone.

"Two were ordinary people who often hung around the casino, and the other was a gnome dressed as an adventurer."

"A gnome?"

The movement of his hands paused suddenly, and Yuliusi fell into thought.

Regarding the Gnoll Squad Laosen belonged to, according to the Duke's channels, he could be said to be very familiar with them.

Naturally, he was clearly aware of the gnome Rogue named "Bogu" in their squad.

So when Laosen returned, his squad wasn't completely wiped out, but had survivors?

Although there was a possibility that the squad was scattered by the Hong Long and the two hadn't been able to regroup in time—

The current situation seemed to lean more toward what he had guessed earlier: that the Gnoll Squad had internal strife due to the distribution of the treasure.

If that was the case...

Should that item be in Laosen's hands now?

No, considering that Lan Jiaozhi's subordinates had been frantically searching for something in town these past two days, perhaps the Duke's heirloom treasure was still missing.

Hmm, maybe it was a move specifically faked by Laosen to confuse the outside world; he still needed to be cautious.

Thinking of this, Yuliusi looked at the subordinate in front of him and asked:

"Has Laosen had any other special actions recently?"

"No, Captain."

"He has basically stayed at the Resting Longchao inn for the past two days, and we have brothers following him whenever he goes out; other than Lan Jiaozhi, he hasn't had contact with anyone else."

"Are the town exits all watched? Don't let anyone slip through."

"Don't worry, Captain, we have brothers watching twenty-four hours a day."

Ronglin Town was located in a mountain col with rugged terrain, built against the mountains, which made the town's buildings quite distinctive while also making entry and exit possible only through the two ends.

The front led to the forests and wilderness of the Pan Yun Xing Sheng Sheng, while the rear faced the Ronglin Shanmai, crossing which led to the Nianshu Ling of the Yuansha Province.

Controlling the town's entrances and exits could be said to be very simple.

"Besides that, pay more attention to other adventurers in town if they act suspiciously."

If Laosen and Lan Jiaozhi's actions weren't a ruse, it meant there was a third-party force in town that had stolen the Duke's family treasure.

If they wanted to seize the item, take the credit for themselves, and save Duke Morton some gold coins, they had to be even more careful.

"Yes, Captain!"

Nearly three days of rest time was short but worth savoring for the escort squad.

From Hegu Town all the way to the border of the Pan Yun Xing Sheng Sheng, they had been sleeping in the open for so many days.

Perhaps the environment of Ronglin Town couldn't be called very good.

But the hot food and soft, comfortable beds in the inn were enough to soothe the fatigue in the adventurers' hearts.

After staying for two nights, even the Dragonborn Sawa, who had been affected by the appearance of the Hong Long earlier, had recovered the good state a professional should have during an adventure.

Xia Nan, needless to say.

The chef at the Resting Longchao tavern had good skills; these days, three meals a day, he had almost ordered all the local special dishes on the menu.

Although there were some failures or dishes that didn't suit his taste, most were delicious, especially the "Red-Scaled Mushroom Soup"—the spicy and fresh taste made Xia Nan linger and forget to return.

He even thought about buying the recipe from the boss and going back to make it himself.

Unfortunately, after communicating, he found out it was not for sale.

But the good news was, according to the chef who had accepted his gold coin at the time, this dish with a hint of spiciness originally came from the southeast region of the continent and only became a specialty of the Resting Longchao after local modifications.

If he left the Servia Kingdom in the future, he should have the chance to taste the delicious food the other party described—incredibly hot, making the throat smoke, yet still making one unable to stop shoveling it into their mouth.

"How much for this?"

Xia Nan leaned down, pointed to a water bag with a red dragon scale pattern on the small stall in front, and asked the stall owner.

The supplies that needed to be replenished had been prepared two days ago; after this mission ended, there would probably be no chance to come to this remote town near the Ronglin Shanmai again.

The mission was going smoothly, and his mood was quite good, so Xia Nan thought about buying some local souvenirs.

If he passed by on the way back, he could also prepare a few small gifts for his acquaintances in Hegu Town to maintain the few interpersonal relationships he had in this world.

However, he didn't know if it was his adventurer attire that made the other party worried, or if his temperament was too cold.

The stall owner, shrouded in his shadow, first stammered and quoted a price of one silver coin.

Xia Nan casually cut it in half, originally thinking about letting the other party bargain, but didn't expect the stall owner to agree immediately.

Without waiting for Xia Nan to take the copper coins out of his pouch, he handed over the water bag, which was of quite good craftsmanship, with both hands.

He didn't care about the price difference of five copper coins anyway, but the stall owner's reaction made him feel bored.

Placing the coins in the other party's hand, throwing the water bag into his backpack, he didn't linger and turned to leave.

The charred aroma wafted into his nostrils with his breath; in the corner of his eye was a roadside stall that looked like a barbecue stand.

His gaze swept over the meat skewers on the charcoal, Xia Nan's eyes lit up, and he walked straight over.

Looking at the tall figure carrying two swords in front, Weirouer lingered behind, sighing in her heart.

This was the last day their squad was resting in Ronglin Town; all preparations had been completed earlier, and it was the team members' free time.

Sawa and Luka hadn't been familiar with each other before, but after spending time together during this period, they unexpectedly discovered they had a common hobby.