Chapter 438: Betrayal and Ambush

Wen Na's transformation artifact was quite high-grade; even Rod had to acquire the domain skill 【Insight Demon Eye】 before he could see through it.

This old man wore the uniform of a militia squad captain, his hair and beard all grey-white, his seventh-tier mid-stage spiritual accumulation somewhat diminished due to age and bodily decline, looking utterly unremarkable—yet he could see through it at a single glance?

Wen Na really is a dummy.

She didn't even dare put on an act, her face deathly pale, looking as guilty as an old woman caught sneaking off with a lover.

Fortunately her legs were still nimble enough; she didn't freeze on the spot waiting to die, but turned and started running.

But running, she definitely couldn't outrun a seventh-tier, even if the man was aged and frail.

That old captain refused his men's support and charged over alone.

At this moment there were no commoners on the street, only militia.

Wen Na had just turned into an empty alley.

From behind came a gust of violent wind, roughly pinning her arms behind her back and slamming her to the ground in one wrench.

The impact with the ground left this pampered young lady in agony, squeezing tears right out of her.

"Who are you? Why are you impersonating the militia!"

Old Captain Ed barked sharply.

As for Tally's side, her speed was extremely fast; in the blink of an eye she arrived in the alley.

Hearing this, Rod nodded: "He didn't see through the disguise; it seems it's simply instinctive perception."

"Aren't we saving her? Master."

"Save her we definitely must, but let her suffer a bit first—best to be near death. Only then will my intervention look like timely help."

"Little Rod is so naughty, Auntie likes it~~"

". Tally, are you imitating Lady Lilian's way of speaking again?"

Tally stiffened for a moment.

She argued: "What do you mean 'imitating'? Is calling herself 'Auntie' in that flirtatious, coquettish way her exclusive patent? Or is it that only she gets to call you Little Rod? I'm speaking the common tongue of the continent—if that counts as imitation, then everyone on the continent is a parrot copying others!"

"Triggered."

"I! I just wanted Master to dote on me the way he dotes on her, that's all."

Two days in a row, the whole night through, and with such vigor—like a wild ox that never tires.

Tally had only ever received such treatment back when she was first enslaved.

Now back to the situation in the alley.

Wen Na said nothing, struggling desperately.

But she was a weakling who couldn't even lift a hand; clearly she couldn't break free of a seventh-tier warrior's grip.

No ripple appeared on old Captain Ed's cold, stern face; with one motion he pushed aside her helmet, revealing a young, fair, pretty face bound with a white headscarf.

"Hm?"

He keenly noticed the abnormality of the headscarf—at the very least, a man wouldn't wear such a feminine-style headscarf.

Immediately, he reached out to pull it off.

Wen Na panicked: "Don't—don't!"

"A woman? Wait—that voice—Wen Na Miss Puwei'er?" Ed said in astonishment.

"It's me, it's me! Old Captain Ed!"

Axehead Beach wasn't that big, and the militia's size wasn't so large that Wen Na couldn't recognize this militia captain who had served for over thirty years.

Besides, the upright, stern old captain was fairly well-known.

In his youth his strength had been formidable; he had once single-handedly repelled a lizardman raiding party.

Wen Na hurriedly continued: "Old Ed, Father wasn't killed by me! The conspiracy colluding with the lizardmen wasn't my doing either! Bugo Torres—no, he's just a puppet. The true mastermind behind it all is an evil organization called Santalin; they've colluded with demons and specifically schemed to seize Axehead Beach's government!"

Old Ed's expression didn't change, cold and stern as ten-thousand-year-old ancient ice.

"Save it for the interrogation."

"Don't! Old Ed, I'm begging you! I can't be caught by the private army—that is, Santalin's people—they'll only try every way to kill me and consolidate their regime! I have to avenge Father; I can't die here!"

Wen Na was already on the verge of tears, and the genuine emotion in her tone truly infected the surrounding air.

Old Ed's hand pressing down on her head paused.

For quite a while there was no next move.

Wen Na sensed his wavering and kept persuading: "Old Ed, I don't need you to do anything for me—just pretend you never saw me. Once I've gathered people to expose Santalin's plot and take back Axehead Beach's lordship, I'll definitely give you everything you want!"

A moment of silence.

"Miss Wen Na..."

Old Ed's tone was no longer hard; at last it softened.

"Actually, I believe you, my lord. Earl Miss Puwei'er is a lord very skilled at raising his children. From your childhood, this subordinate could see the kindness and gentleness in your eyes—you absolutely would not commit patricide."

Wen Na was overjoyed: "Then rest easy! Wait for me to come back, and I'll make you captain of the militia; your daughter and your son can both become high officials."

"But ah, Miss Wen Na, precisely because of your kindness and gentleness, please forgive this subordinate for being unable to imagine the scene of you successfully taking back Axehead Beach."

"Huh?"

"Please rest easy as well. Out of respect for Earl Miss Puwei'er's face, this subordinate will not let you be humiliated; you will absolutely be able to leave this world with sufficient dignity."

Terror appeared on Wen Na's face.

"No! Old Ed! You can't do this! My father helped you! Your son's gambling debts, and your daughter getting entangled with and swindled by a bard—all of that was settled by my father for you!"

At these words, old Ed's whole being slumped.

He said nothing more, unmoved by Wen Na's struggling and cursing.

He took rope from his person and bound her up tightly all over.

"Shameless wretch! Hypocrite! My father must have been blind to help an ungrateful bastard like you!" Wen Na's eyes were blood-red as she cursed.

"Yes, yes. Old Ed here owes your Miss Miss Puwei family a great deal. In my next life I'll surely serve you like an ox or a horse to repay the debt, but in this life... please, Miss Wen Na, help me one last time."

Having said that.

Old Ed slung the bound-and-gagged Wen Na over his shoulder, about to rush to the lord's Gubao to turn her in and claim credit.

Suddenly, a chill shot straight up from the soles of his feet, raced past his spine, and slammed into his brain in an instant.

Instinctively.

The muscles in his legs exploded with force, contracting hard, making him toss Wen Na aside while his whole body dropped half a stance into a crouch.

Fwoosh!!!

A howling gale swept over the top of his head.

In his peripheral vision, a massive scythe-blade, like a mantis's foreleg, dragged back trailing a thick afterimage!

What it had swept through was exactly where his neck had been a moment ago!

Old Ed's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

"Oh? Dodged it?"

It was a woman's voice, full of seductive charm and coquettish playfulness.

He couldn't bother with Wen Na anymore; his rich combat experience let him quickly adjust his stance, and with a tumble plus a series of backward hops he pulled away.

He took a closer look.

In the narrow alley, a mature, beautiful woman shouldered a massive 【Reverse Scythe-Claw】, her face utterly unimpressed.

Black shadow spread out from beneath her feet, dragging the bound-and-gagged Wen Na Miss Puwei to her side.

Seventh-tier, initial stage.

Shadow magic.

A gaze that doesn't match her mature exterior — shapeshifting magic.

Shadow magic + shapeshifting magic — a succubus, then.

Old Ed's eye was razor-sharp and confident; in an instant he deduced Tally's true race.

"Sloppy work, Tally — you didn't even land the ambush."

A slightly roguish, teasing young man's voice blocked the entrance of the alley.

"Mr. Rod!"

Wen Na, snatched from the jaws of death, spotted Rod at a glance; her eyes instantly blazed with light, and she couldn't help crying out in delighted surprise.

"Don't you know the rules? Don't say my name."

"Ah? My apologies."

Old Ed raised his grizzled brows, fixing his gaze on the dust-covered, raggedly dressed man.

At once, fireworks exploded inside his skull with a sudden roar!

The instinct screaming at him to flee went off like mad!

(End of chapter)