Chapter 386

One o'clock in the afternoon.

Luosen wore a makeshift suit of battered iron armor forged with transmutation alchemy, rode a skinny horse bought with money, and disguised himself as a destitute wandering knight from the Colon Kingdom.

Jiliesi disguised himself as his knight attendant, wearing even more ragged clothes and riding an even weaker warhorse.

As for Tiralin.

Luosen had already informed her of his plan through a spiritual artifact he had prepared in advance.

She would stay at Baron Elliot's manor, disguised as the baroness's maid.

Nor did he worry about Tiralin's safety, for Luosen had crafted many powerful magical devices for her self-defense.

Clack~ clack~~ clack~~

Two skinny horses walked one after the other on the muddy road outside Blue Stone City.

"Remember, I am a knight from the Colon Kingdom, named Luoge. You are the knight attendant I picked up along the way; just call you by your real name, Jiliesi, from Lyon Town in the south of the Proud Frost Kingdom."

"Remembered."

Jiliesi rode the horse skillfully and quickly adapted to his new identity.

Because he could ride a horse, and in his world, the profession of knight also existed.

From a certain perspective, the mortal realms of the two worlds are quite similar; I don't know whether it's a coincidence or due to other reasons.

"You don't know much about the Proud Frost Kingdom, so when there's nothing happening, speak less to avoid inviting unexpected trouble."

"All right."

"Now tell me your taboos, or rather, your weaknesses."

Jiliesi immediately said: "I don't know why, but I fear metal objects. Touching metal causes severe burns that take a long time to heal."

"My nose is extremely sensitive; strong smells like onions, garlic, chili peppers, etc., cause me intense pain, as if someone were stabbing my nose with a knife."

"By the way, I'm also afraid of light."

"To me, sunlight is really too bright; it glares and hurts my eyes, but on an overcast day like today, I can barely tolerate it, though it still glares my eyes."

"There are quite a few weaknesses; any more?"

"None."

Luosen thought for a moment, then first tried to apply transformation technique to his body.

The transformation technique had no effect.

Luosen wasn't surprised, because when he initially used spiritual techniques against the beastmen, they were completely immune.

After thinking, Luosen changed tactics, using spacetime technique to add a thin, invisible spatial membrane on the surface of his skin, eyes, and nasal mucosa, whose function is to isolate or weaken perception of the outside world.

"How about now?"

"Mmm~ a bit dull, vision very dim, can't see anything clearly, nose feels stuffed, a bit short of breath."

That is to say, the spacetime technique works.

This also matches the beastmen's performance.

Luosen then fine-tuned the membrane's thickness, adjusting it over a dozen times, after which Jiliesi finally became satisfied.

He looked expectant and asked: "Almost exactly as before; have you dispelled the curse on me?"

"No, just using a few minor spells to help you overcome your current weaknesses as much as possible."

Jiliesi was a little disappointed: "All right, but it's still much better than before; thank you again, Sir Luoge."

Luosen continued asking: "Tell me, what are your personal preferences? And what are your bad habits?"

"I come from a wealthy family, I enjoy reading, and I also love creating various scripts. As for bad habits, if writing erotic scripts counts as a bad habit, then that is my only bad habit."

Luosen stared for a moment: "Erotic scripts. Do you like women?"

Jilisi shook his head repeatedly, his face showing disgust: "No, I don't."

"I believe the vast majority of women are vulgar, stupid creatures, overly emotional, making normal logical communication difficult, even unreasonable."

"So my scripts contain no women at all."

Luosen was puzzled: "If there are no women, how can it be erotic?"

Just as he finished speaking, a hint of embarrassment appeared on Jilisi's handsome face.

"In fact, I like men, although the gods all consider it taboo, but liking is liking."

"Of course, precisely because it is taboo, I have never acted on it; I only write my preference into the scripts."

Luosen understood and couldn't help laughing: "Jilisi, perhaps it's exactly this bad habit of yours that angered a god, who then threw you into this damned place."

Jilisi's face turned pale: "Maybe so; I will try to restrain myself in the future. But a bad habit is a bad habit precisely because it is hard to quit."

Luosen shrugged: "Indeed."

As they spoke, the two returned once more to the outskirts of Blue Stone City.

Jilisi was still somewhat afraid, visibly silent, following behind Luosen without a word.

Luosen then entrusted the task of posing as a Colon knight and standing guard entirely to Laifu.

He rode on horseback, his posture languid, his eyes alert, one hand always lightly resting on the sword hilt, the very image of a wandering, down-and-out knight.

The outskirts of the city had no official garrison, only some semi-professional militia.

After walking a few steps, they were stopped by a squad of militia.

The militia captain in the lead asked: "Hey~ warrior, where do you come from?"

Luosen replied somewhat wearily: "First, let me correct one thing: I am a knight, not a warrior. Then, I come from the Colon Kingdom."

"What is your name?"

"Luoge Gangde."

"How could a knight from the Colon Kingdom come to our Proud Frost?" "My liege baron was killed by a wild boar; I lost my lord to serve, so I can only come to Blue Stone City to join the martial arts tournament and try my luck."

Having said that, Luosen's five fingers unconsciously gripped the sword hilt, and he drawled lazily: "All right, militia, I've said what I needed to say; it's time to let us through."

As he spoke, a dangerous aura began to emanate from him, as if he would draw his sword at the slightest further provocation.

Ordinary people in any world are always prone to bully the weak and fear the strong.

The Blue Stone City knight tournament is imminent, and wandering knights like Luosen are everywhere—each a ruthless fighter who licks blood from the blade.

The militia captain was indeed cowed, dared not ask further, but feeling embarrassed, he grudgingly added a remark.

"Buddy, I hope you still have this kind of grit inside Blue Stone City!"

Luosen said nothing, just raised his hand and made a farewell gesture unique to the Prosperous Science Kingdom, then continued walking leisurely forward.

Soon they arrived at a low-end inn on the outskirts, brought Jiliesi into the tavern hall, sat in a corner, then lowered his voice and asked: "Can you drink alcohol?"

"He can eat and drink just like a normal person."

"Not bad."

Possibly because of the tournament, or because of the recent disturbance, demon hunters from the church often appear in the outskirts of Blue Stone City; there are two in this tavern hall.

These guys scout newcomers everywhere like hounds.

Thus, both kept a low profile.

Soon, the servant brought beer and coarse bread.

Luosen ate and drank while secretly casting a telepathy spell.

About three minutes later, he successfully contacted Adela, who lived somewhere in Blue Stone City: "Dear, I've arrived."

"Good, tell me your identity, your appearance after disguise, and your current location—I'll arrange a chance encounter with a big shot."

Luosen complied.

"After saying that, Adela replied: 'Tomorrow afternoon from 1 to 3 PM, go to the tournament grounds in the eastern outskirts of Blue Stone City; a frenzied giant bear will appear. The bear will lunge at a carriage; seize the opportunity to shoot it dead with an arrow and protect the carriage's occupant. Can you do that?'"

"It's a small matter."

"This is what we previously agreed with Adela."

Besides this, Luosen also has a personal matter of his own.

But this personal matter is not easy to handle right now, because with his current identity it's inconvenient to go into Blue Stone City to take care of it.

We can talk about it after saving the big shot tomorrow; it's not too late.

After eating and drinking his fill, Luosen walked toward the rear courtyard rooms of the inn.

To fit the identity of a down-and-out knight, he only opened one room, sleeping on the bed himself while Jiliesi slept on a makeshift floor mat.

"After entering the room and closing the door, Luosen said: 'Alright, sit still and don't move; let me carefully examine your body to see if we can lift the curse.'"

Jiliesi already trusted Luosen greatly as his powerful lifesaver; upon hearing this, he immediately sat properly in the chair.

Luosen tested Jiliesi just as he had previously tested the beastmen.

Of course, the means were much gentler.

After a thorough examination, he reached a conclusion.

Its soul structure is quite different from that of humans in this world, but similar to that of beastmen, indicating they come from the same world.

Deep in the soul also exists a special spacetime structure; although its fine details cannot be seen, one can sense that it is similar to, but not the same as, the spacetime structure in beastmen souls.

Finally, he returned to the body.

The body likewise possesses extraordinarily strong regenerative ability, even somewhat stronger than that of beastmen, somewhat like the vampires of Earth legend.

But there also exist some inexplicable defects.

As he continued the examination, Luosen suddenly had a thought.

"Could the special structure deep in the soul be a kind of subatomic-level 'life blueprint'?"

The blueprint of ordinary life is recorded in elemental particles—that is, atoms and molecules—that is, on DNA.

Destroy the flesh, break the DNA, and the person is utterly dead.

But if it is recorded in a special spacetime structure at the subatomic level, then the chemical-physical means that kill ordinary life would have no possibility of destroying it.

Thus, no matter how severe the injury, as long as sufficient power and matter are supplied, it can be reborn.

Of course, this is just speculation.

But whether it's actually like that?

Moreover, how to achieve precise interaction between the subatomic and atomic levels? Luosen didn't know, but felt intense curiosity, so his research became ever more focused and meticulous.

But ultimately, his abilities are insufficient; no matter what he tries, it's hard to probe the essence of the spacetime structure.

Time passed minute by minute; at nine o'clock at night, the ever-quiet Jiliesi suddenly raised a hand to cover his head.

"It feels like someone is speaking in my head, calling me over."

"Before his words even finished, Jiliesi rose and walked toward the door: 'Lord Luo Ge, I—I can't control myself!'"

His expression was panicked.

Luosen's heart stirred; he immediately followed, soothing at the same time.

"Then just follow the summons; I'll stay behind you to protect you."

"The curse on you is extremely troublesome, but if we find the summoner, we might be able to lift it completely."

"Because the summoner is very likely the one who released the curse."

Jiliesi trusted Luosen greatly, regarding him as a lifeline; hearing this, he immediately calmed down considerably.

He obeyed the mysterious summons and walked all the way out of the inn.

(End of chapter)