Chapter 167: Familiar Strangers

"We will likely depart at three in the afternoon. If there are no issues, we will gather at the entrance of the underground dwarf inn at the West Third City Gate." The dark elf merchant who had come to visit was extremely polite and proactively asked about Li En's arrangements.

Before leaving, Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei had already arranged almost everything.

She estimated that Li En would return to Radiance City very soon, so she had made a commission contract in advance with a reputable merchant guild in the dungeon city.

This guild regularly sent caravans to Radiance City. Considering the recent situation where trade routes had been cut off and just restored, there was a trip roughly every two days.

The other party had come to the door proactively, following the agreement with Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei, to ask if Li En intended to return to the surface with their caravan. Thanks to the newly signed contract between the two cities, commercial exchanges had resumed, allowing these merchants to breathe a sigh of relief.

They might not have known who Li En was, but their attitude toward surface dwellers was much better.

After all, anyone personally escorted off by the Goddess City Lord was, without a doubt, a big shot in the region!

Just as the caravan was about to leave, Li En met Lady Verna, who had come specifically to see him off, and her arrival naturally attracted everyone's attention.

Li En even noticed the appearance of those dark elf merchants, who dared not breathe loudly; it seemed that a single glance from the Matriarchs could make them kneel at any moment. This situation made Li En feel somewhat uncomfortable and increased his lack of interest in dark elf society.

"I will take care of your sister, even if I feel she may not need it."

The City Lord personally seeing him off also served as a declaration and statement of the relationship between the two sides, showing the various families and the public the new relationship between the two cities.

Her willingness to chat face-to-face with a surface dweller was, in itself, a political statement, implying that the people of both sides should reconcile.

As for the Goddess publicly entrusting Li En to help take care of her sister, Li En just took those words with a grain of salt.

The other party had already gone ahead to Radiance City. With Miss Shaliman accompanying her and Dai Niya giving full support, it would be difficult for anything to go wrong.

The small interlude passed in a flash; the Goddess was as busy as ever and left very quickly.

The caravan departed smoothly. Li En was arranged into the most luxurious and best carriage compartment. He still shared it with other passengers; after all, it was unlikely for such a caravan not to be overloaded. Having a comfortable seat to sit in was already VIP treatment.

Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei's arrangements were quite proper, and she was generous with money; Li En was a "guarded" honored guest.

That meant he could lie down for the entire journey and did not need to get off to help bear the burden of security when encountering enemies, as per the rules. Many ordinary adventurers' travel methods involved acting as security for the caravan while mooching their supplies.

It was said there was also a type of semi-security commission where, if no enemies were encountered, the merchants gave no security reward; both sides were companions of the same caravan, but after encountering enemies, a bounty reward was given "per item."

Li En didn't mind; if he could slack off, he would slack off.

Actually, Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei not directly sending Li En back to Radiance City was also giving him the possibility of choice.

For Li En, perhaps it was not necessary to develop in Radiance City; even in the end, he still politely declined City Lord Verna's recruitment.

"Tsk tsk tsk, dark elves, after so many years, no progress. No, they have even become weaker. The new generation of gods really cannot compare to Lolth."

And not long after he got on the carriage, that little black snake, which had been wandering somewhere, came out.

It seemed that Kuk's range restriction had absolutely no constraint on him. Li En also couldn't think of anything that could constrain it.

The only thing that could be confirmed was that it was indeed a "dead person," an "non-existent one." As for why it could act with impunity, one could only say that a big shot does whatever he wants.

"Don't say that. Regarding the 'present,' I am truly powerless to interfere." The little snake was a bit helpless; it had been speaking nothing but the truth all along.

Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. You speak truly, and I listen truly.

If you hadn't reversed my beast transformation with a single word, I would have truly believed it.

"That's different. You and I are one individual, so internal interference is natural. You can view the current me as your own evil thought; once your thought moves, it naturally changes your behavior. By the way, I have a big score here; I don't know if you are interested."

The little black snake flicked its tongue and said happily.

"This city is the surface divine domain of that new generation little mirror girl. She poured a lot of divine power into it; it's all a bit of wasteful overflow. I'll teach you something interesting; go steal it from her, and I guarantee you'll rise to the top in one step."

Li En fell silent. Yesterday you were still saying you didn't intend to interfere with anything and couldn't teach anything; were those all lies after all?

Even if the theft was truly successful, directly stealing a god's power—wouldn't the god fly into a rage? Could I bear it?

"It's different. I cannot directly teach you, but this city has the existence of a 'Blasphemous Priest' (a priest class that steals divine power). I'll teach you to conflict with him, then find a reason to kill him. Once you get his holy symbol, you can use the power stored within to steal divine power."

The little black snake's pupils shone with brilliance. It had no interest in divine power itself, but it was somewhat interested in the chain reaction after divine power was stolen.

Dark elf gods were notoriously stingy and vindictive.

The snake actually already had a plan destined for success.

"That divine bloodline girl has no defense against you. You can completely coax her into bed; at that moment, you can easily backstab her, and you will rise to the top in one step."

Li En covered his face and focused his attention on the spellbook.

Perhaps it was the "snake" in the story; tempting people to sin was just an instinct for it. Li En could feel that, for it, all of this was a joke.

If it succeeded, that would be good; if it didn't succeed, that would also be good. Even if Li En completely refused, it was still a possibility for the future.

Once words leave the mouth, there are naturally traces; once this knowledge and this thought were acquired by Li En, it could affect the future.

And this "cognition" was also what the snake said to Li En!

It completely concealed none of its nature as a troublemaker and seemed to enjoy the sight of Li En struggling and resisting temptation while knowing everything.

"Tsk tsk tsk, such a firm heart, just like mine back then. Don't you want to turn the tables and become the master? Being suppressed by that little girl with my bloodline is too shameful. I can help you point out a path."

Li En focused on the book; he had long decided to ignore the snake's temptation, although at this moment, he was indeed somewhat tempted. At this time, although there were still three people in the carriage, no one noticed this little black snake, as if it did not exist at all. Fortunately, Li En had recently mastered Mind Speech; otherwise, he would have been treated as a madman.

"No, no, no. You keep looking at me; they have already seen you. They think you probably have some visual hallucinations. Didn't you see them moving as far away from you as possible?"

Since a big show couldn't be seen, a small one would do. The snake was silently counting down; it should be about time.

"To them, a Paladin is far more dangerous than an Assassin, especially one with hysteria."

The snake had none of the aloofness of a big shot and did not stop talking all the way.

Li En could neither get rid of it nor ignore it. It could always reveal some subtle secret histories and intelligence, making Li En subconsciously listen seriously.

But once he really listened seriously, he found it was all useless complaining and muttering.

Li En was a bit numb; say whatever you want, I hear nothing.

"By the way, do you want to know the weakness of that stupid deer?" Instantly, Li En's attention was drawn away again.

Intelligence and weaknesses of the evil god about to destroy the city? Li En was tempted, but...

"No, I don't want to bear the cost of beast transformation."

"Tsk tsk tsk, getting smarter."

If Li En agreed—yes, the snake would probably throw another segment of memory about the Deer Beast Lord at him; then, Li En's beast transformation would surely skyrocket again.

And this time, it might not save him.

Li En had a strong feeling that it was a bit boring and had grown tired of playing.

It desperately needed new amusement; even if Li En died, it could accept that.

After all, Li En had actively requested that intelligence; if he got tricked, he deserved it.

Fearfully, with its perspective, for the normal reincarnation of the Thousand-Faced Dragon, Li En's life meant nothing. If this one died, the next would simply continue.

Li En looked at the book, striving to recall the knowledge Kukus had stuffed into his head, attempting to master the new spell model as quickly as possible.

This time, although learning a second-circle spell was obviously a bit of a stretch, the newly added "second thought line" was truly too useful; it had already proven capable of analyzing second-circle spells with relative ease.

And if he truly became a second-circle mage, returning to the Mage Street area would surely make his name soar.

Becoming a second-rank mage through the training of a "short-term class" should be considered quite an achievement, worthy of the attention of those great mages.

He tried hard to ignore the increasingly noisy snake and focused his attention into the book.

He realized that it seemed the snake really couldn't harm others, or rather, it didn't want to harm them.

"Boom!"

The sudden explosion shook the entire carriage, making it fly up briefly.

A chain of explosives directly severed the path ahead; two groups of goblins riding wargs surrounded them from left and right.

They had been eyeing this caravan all along the way.

"Ugh, that hurts." Li En touched his head; he had directly collided with the top of the carriage.

With his reaction speed, if he hadn't been overly focused on the book, he shouldn't have fallen for this so easily.

"Hahaha, sure enough, you fell for it! Why wouldn't you pay attention to me!"

Li En fell silent. This fellow's deliberate nagging was just to make him focus on the book, causing a delayed reaction? Although it was boring enough, it felt like that was exactly what happened.

Li En sighed and slowly picked up his sword.

He should solve the problem quickly; he had already heard the goblins' war cries.

"I suggest you take it a bit more seriously; there's an old acquaintance. She will be very happy to see you."

Li En paused. The snake's advice might not be a good thing, but if he didn't listen to its "kindness," the next moment would surely be when he made a fool of himself.

Then, it would wait to laugh at him.

Li En carefully extended the sword blade out of the carriage window, observing using the reflection on the blade's surface.

"Ugh, how did these two things end up together!"

Behind the goblins charging while blowing horns, several towering ogres were stationed.

And on the head of the largest and ugliest one, there was a bone "glowing crown." No, that was a familiar skull, its twin eyes spewing fire as it happily screamed.

"Kill it! Eat it! Wuhu! The taste of a traitor!"

"Damn it... that lich isn't dead yet?!"

(End of this chapter)