Chapter 714 Arriving in Lanhai (3k)
“Someone’s coming in.”
With a sound, Su Jiu and the others focused their gazes on the doorknob. They silently summoned their weapons. Whether the person opening the door was the Young Lady or a “poacher,” it posed a slight danger.
A hand in a white glove appeared. The back of the glove bore the imprint of Spade A. With a push, the door quickly opened, revealing a very ordinary female face. She was wearing an attendant’s uniform.
She scanned the situation inside, her gaze sweeping over Su Jiu and the others, finally settling on the Silver-haired Girl. She raised her right hand and spoke as if reciting an epic:
“Angel fallen to the mortal realm, fireworks will become wings to carry her back to heaven. Wait, wait for the midnight chimes to announce. When the trees are alight and the silver flowers bloom, I will break her shackles.”
“Who exactly are you?”
Glancing at Zi Yi, who was taking notes, Su Jiu looked up, her fiery gold pupils staring directly at the ordinary-looking woman. She sensed something on the woman that was blocking her mental power from probing.
“Me? A messenger of the White Dove.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and the woman suddenly smiled and snapped her fingers. Several Gugu Birds shot out from her hand, scattering feathers everywhere.
“White Dove, hehe, I don’t think a poacher can be called a White Dove.”
After meeting the woman’s gaze, Su Jiu instinctively drew her Loquat Branch, sensing a probing feeling on herself. It wasn’t probing strength, but a deeper probing…
Yet, the other party harbored no ill intentions. It was a very strange feeling.
“You have a familiar aura, like a crow…”
The woman suddenly spoke again, even walking closer to Su Jiu as if to examine her. Suddenly, a whistling sound filled the air, and a green light blade came from behind her.
“All of you, come and surround this poacher. Don’t let her escape.”
“Clang, clang, clang!” The sound of metal footsteps echoed. The Mayor’s Daughter followed the light blade, holding a special type of saber that dragged along the train floor, emitting sparks.
Su Jiu didn’t rush to attack. Instead, she watched with interest what the poacher would do. The opponent’s strength was likely greater than the Mayor’s Daughter.
The opponent seemed only to want to steal the “Silver-haired Elf,” which didn’t conflict with her bottom line. Her overt identity was just a Priest, so there was no need to get involved in this mess.
“Fools cannot keep the White Dove.”
She replied softly. The ordinary-looking woman flicked a playing card from her sleeve backward. The card exploded with a “bang” upon contact with the green slash, instantly emitting a powerful blinding white light.
As the white light flashed, a “thump!” was heard, followed by the “plop” of someone falling to the ground.
“Damn, an alchemy flashbang!”
As the white light erupted, Su Jiu’s pupils constricted, but it was too late to dodge. Her fiery gold eyes were directly blinded, making her tear up. She had been careless, she hadn’t dodged!
“Mama, E Huo can’t see!!”
“Squeak!”
“Ah! It’s so white!”
E Huo darted around like a headless fly, even crashing into the wall with a “thump,” making Su Jiu both annoyed and amused.
After about ten seconds, they managed to endure the stinging in their eyes and look, only to find that the woman calling herself the Dove had disappeared, and the Mayor’s Daughter was lying on the ground.
“Is she injured?”
The Silver-haired Girl looked at Liu Qian lying on the floor with a grim expression, her body trembling slightly, as if in fear of something…
At this moment, the investigation team members from outside rushed over. Li Xiao, seeing the mess and Liu Qian lying on the ground, quickly asked Su Jiu about the situation.
After understanding what had happened, Li Xiao glanced at the Silver-haired Girl, his brow furrowed slightly. He didn’t say much, merely instructing someone to help Liu Qian onto the sofa to rest.
Li Xiao finally sat on a nearby chair and stated with a somber face:
“This incident is likely a poaching attempt targeting the Mayor’s Daughter. We need to capture one of them immediately, otherwise, the Mayor will be furious when he learns his daughter has been attacked again…”
“Um, I just went to the front carriage to buy two bottles of emergency healing potion from the attendant. What’s happening now?”
The Caucasian gentleman who had been accompanying the Mayor’s Daughter – Nors – looked at the mess with a hint of confusion on his handsome face.
“Your young lady was attacked by a poacher.”
Li Xiao glanced at him, waved his hand, pointed at Liu Qian leaning on the sofa, and then continued to investigate the surroundings, seemingly not paying much attention to this male servant.
“Ah? The young lady was attacked?”
Nors’s face showed astonishment. He glanced at the lying Liu Qian, quickly took out his phone, and dialed. After the call connected, he responded in a low voice, as if reporting the situation to the Mayor.
Su Jiu and the others left the room first, giving the professional investigation team space to conduct their work. As she stepped out of the room, Nors’s voice came from inside:
“Um… Officer, I’d like to help the young lady to another room we’ve booked separately to rest, as this place is too messy.”
Li Xiao said, “You can, but your young lady’s beast pet needs to stay here.”
“Yes, I’ll tell the young lady.”
“Click!” The room door was pushed open. Nors emerged with the Mayor’s Daughter on his back. Upon seeing Su Jiu looking at him, he was slightly stunned, then revealed a gentle smile, nodded, and walked towards the farthest end of the door.
“Never mind. We’ll arrive in Lanhai City soon. I’m here for vacation, not to investigate a case.”
Watching his retreating figure, Su Jiu felt something was wrong but couldn’t quite articulate it. Shaking her head, she returned to her own room…
…
Lanhai City.
As night approached, the beam of light from the tall tower pierced the dim night sky like a sword, like a stage about to begin its performance.
Skyscrapers stood tall. The only spotlight on this stage was the long lamp of the tower. A flapping sound arose, as if several white figures were passing by. Following the white figures, a figure carrying a lantern was seen on the tower. The figure walked along the iron ladder, seemingly a worker checking if the lighthouse was operating normally.
“For the sake of the past covenant, is it really worth it for us to go to such lengths to plan and save an abandoned Crown Prince?”
A Gugu Bird landed on a rusty railing next to the lantern-carrying figure. Its red, pointed beak opened and closed, emitting a voice like an old woman’s.
“In those dark years, Watchers, Night, and dozens of high-level races watched over each other. Humans can forget their vows, but the Lucas family cannot betray them. This is the honor belonging to watchers.”
The lantern-bearer’s voice was somewhat hoarse, as if his throat had been cut by glass. The lamplight flickered, but his face remained unseen.
The Gugu Bird spoke again, with a hint of doubt:
“So you planned all this, letting the Young Lady lead that woman alone to the ritual to sever the covenant that we arranged?”
“It was not I who planned it. Everything was according to the Young Lady’s arrangements.”
The lantern-carrying figure shook his head, placing the lantern on a nearby table. His hands, clad in black leather gloves, rested on the rusty railing. He gazed at the scattered lights below and said softly,
“We offered opinions to the Dragon Country’s Law Enforcement General Hall, but they all fell on deaf ears. In desperation, we had to resort to illegal means.”
The Gugu Bird’s voice was sharp, as if mocking the other’s naive methods: “Couldn’t you just forcibly abduct that woman to Lanhai City?”
“Heh heh.”
Upon hearing this, the lantern-bearer let out a self-deprecating laugh: “The Lucas family is no longer what it used to be. We are not white doves that can soar freely. If the news of kidnapping the Magic City Mayor’s daughter were to spread, the family would inevitably face a storm-like backlash…”
“To conceal one’s whiteness and walk in the world with gray and black, just like the ‘Night,’ is the safest.”
The Gugu Bird fell silent for a moment, then continued, “Are you sure you can trust the Young Lady to carry out this mission alone?”
“Originally, I wasn’t sure. But on the phone, she said she encountered members of [‘Night’].”
The lantern-carrying figure turned his head. At this moment, his true appearance could be seen – it was a ghost skeleton emitting ghostly fire, with a pumpkin head on top, giving one the impression of a child trick-or-treating on Halloween.
“Night? Dragon Country’s Night Watchers?”
The Gugu Bird was stunned for a moment, then nodded its head like it was pecking corn kernels, and finally added, “That is indeed the ‘fire of Night’ left behind.”
“Not Night Watchers loyal to the Dragon Country, but [‘Night’]. The Young Lady said she has the ‘scent of Night’ on her.”
The ghost skeleton chuckled with a creaking sound, as if encountering something interesting. “Aside from the old folks of the last century, this is the first time I’ve seen such a young [‘Night’]. It’s a shame it’s a girl, otherwise, we could have the Young Lady form a covenant of watch with her.”
…
“Hoo hoo…”
The train passed through the white mist and entered the platform where opera house advertisements were posted everywhere. On the platform, there were streetlights resembling monsters and pumpkin heads similar to those in Magic City, as if specifically designed to attract passengers.
“We are about to arrive at Lanhai Station. Passengers disembarking, please keep your luggage secure… There will be opera performances in the coming days, and you can also participate in a lucky draw with your respective tickets…”
The attendant’s voice suddenly sounded.
Looking at the more fantastical decorations outside than in Magic City, Su Jiu, although not interested, remembered that she was on vacation. She then turned to Zi Yi and E Huo, smiling and asking,
“Shall we go take a look? Those foreign opera performances should be very interesting, right?”
“Su classmate, I want to go back and record what happened today. You guys go have fun.”
Upon hearing this, Zi Yi stated that she only wanted to go to the hotel. E Huo, leaning on the chair, was munching on snacks. It was highly likely that as long as there was food, anywhere would be fine.
Su Jiu scratched her head helplessly. According to her plan, they should find a hotel first, then play games during mealtime…
Maybe they’d explore the local customs during the day when they were acting together?
“Miss Su, why don’t you accompany me for a stroll?”
As Su Jiu stood up, a gentle voice with a hint of sweetness sounded. A fair, small hand passed by her and hooked onto her equally slender arm.
Su Jiu’s body stiffened slightly. She turned her head to look and saw a beautiful face – it was the Mayor’s Daughter, her eyes curved, holding onto her in a pleading tone.
If it weren’t for the incident with the elf blood, she would have been secretly pleased. But now, she felt a sense of disgust, as if being hugged by a crazy old woman.
