Chapter 450: 67. Lord Bai
Fisher had managed to return to their rented room just in time, and when he came back, Neceria confirmed multiple times that no one had followed him, which meant Mikhail had completed the first step of uncovering the elf traitor’s plan. The next plan was for Gouwen to impersonate him and then bring Fisher and Mikhail into Jianmu Palace.
Due to a previous conversation with Ch, Fisher suddenly recalled that the identity of the Trans would be discovered by the elves. He thought he could turn the situation to his advantage and let Gouwen use himself and the other two as offerings to the Elf King.
Since the Elf King must have had a purpose in keeping the Trans who had later stolen the World Tree’s Tears by his side, the likelihood of him retaining the three Trans would be significantly higher. At that time, the Fisher team would also have the opportunity to meet the Trans left by the Elf King and uncover the truth behind the theft of the World Tree’s Tears.
The general idea was like this, and since this was within Duke of Peach’s barrier and not the real world, their plan didn’t even need to account for contingencies. As long as they clarified the truth and the traitor’s identity, the Duke’s barrier would most likely dissolve on its own.
So, all that was left to do was wait for three days.
Fisher and Gouwen were discussing when the slacker Hela followed Fisher back into the room, looking rather forlorn.
“Hela, you’re back. What’s wrong?”
Tang Zeming Asuka greeted her, but upon seeing her expression, couldn’t help but ask. To her surprise, Hela directly reached out and rubbed her face, complaining,
“I initially wanted to have fun here, but I forgot that this place is just an illusion of fate; nothing tastes good.”
“Then why did you come back so late?”
Fisher remarked mercilessly, causing Hela to hide behind Tang Zeming Asuka, like using her as a shield, retorting,
“Aren’t you back just now too?”
“…”
Fisher looked at her peering from behind Tang Zeming Asuka, and he increasingly felt that her mannerisms and actions were quite feminine. He didn’t bother responding, instead turning his attention to Mikhail.
Mikhail was systematically confirming the identities of the elves visiting the Royal Capital this time. Fisher hesitated for a moment but decided to mention the encounter he had had earlier today with Ch, who had been secretly wandering down from the tree, but he emphasized that he didn’t disclose any further details about their subsequent plans.
Of course, Fisher deliberately omitted the fact that he had tracked her down by the faint familiarity emanating from her and only stated that he found her very suspicious.
Gouwen stroked his chin and exclaimed,
“Is there really an elf with such audacity? The Marquis of the Eighteenth Rank shouldn’t be many, but it’s a pity I only know a few among the over a hundred elves in the Tree Continent. Hela, have you heard of an elf named ‘Ch’?”
Hela decisively shook her head, saying nothing.
Even Neceria, a local from the Tree Continent, was somewhat clueless; as she said, she didn’t have much knowledge about the elf kingdoms to the east of the Tree Continent. Perhaps her grandfather, the Prime, would know.
Since there was no information about Ch, Mikhail simply indicated he would pay more attention to the lists of elves being offered up with his robots.
Time quickly passed, and on the third day, everyone in the room went outside the city, except for Mikhail, who was responsible for monitoring the elves. The others had hidden themselves in advance according to the schedule Gouwen provided.
Mikhail took two days to pinpoint almost twenty elves who had arrived. First, the elves kept a very low profile in the Royal Capital and wouldn’t hang signs indicating their identities like they would outside, so Mikhail relied on tidbits from their attendants and officials to ascertain their true identities.
Second, Mikhail couldn’t continue using those nano robots indefinitely; after a while, his mental state would become unstable. To avoid causing trouble, Gouwen strictly limited the time Mikhail could use the nano robots, so identifying identities hadn’t been very efficient.
However, Mikhail was confident that they would complete the identification of all the elves after they replaced Gouwen within the barrier today.
Thus, it was early morning when the group arrived outside the city, monitoring Gouwen, who was entering the Royal Capital alone.
At this moment, the World Tree’s Tears had not yet been stolen, so the defenses of the capital were not as strict as they would be in reality; Fisher and his party faced little questioning when leaving the city.
They masked their faces to prevent two identical individuals from meeting and pretended to be some casual members of outdoor robbers, making it easier to act.
“Did you come to the royal city this way? Did you walk?”
The Royal Capital was situated on the northern coast of the Tree Continent, and at this moment, they were lying in wait a distance to the east.
Hearing Fisher’s question, the masked and all-in-black Gouwen looked at Fisher and explained,
“I came back from home, just along the coast next to the Royal Capital. It was just a short distance; I changed my clothes and walked over directly. Don’t hesitate when the time comes, just hit me quickly, accurately, and fiercely. I can never react when my wife strikes; otherwise, I might manipulate your organs and make you suffer later.”
“…”
Fisher was speechless as he listened to Gouwen instructing others on how to hit him. He kept quiet and just took out his Fluid Sword and the magic engraved by Tang Zeming Asuka, preparing to act on sight.
Only with one direct disciple did Fisher find it incredibly convenient; he could always have Tang Zeming Asuka help inscribe backup spells under the guise of “practicing magic,” making it unnecessary for him to act himself, and Tang Zeming Asuka seemed invigorated by the magic engraving process, as if she wouldn’t tire no matter how she engraved.
Hmm, was it possible that when Master Heilson had him practice magic back then, he thought of it this way too?
In the team, Fisher, Gouwen, and Neceria were responsible for the main attack, while Hela and Tang Zeming Asuka, who was wielding several wind magic spells, were tasked with the rear guard, ensuring Gouwen wouldn’t run away.
“Here they come!”
They waited not long before, not far beyond the Royal Capital, in a grove near the ocean, Fisher and the others saw a figure slowly approaching the Royal Capital. That figure was also dressed in garments made from some kind of seaweed, but it was somewhat different from what Fisher had seen when they first met; he was carrying a small box assembled from shells in his left hand, the whale folk healer Gouwen, invited by Lord Bai to treat the Elf King.
However, at this moment, Gouwen, who usually had a gentle smile, wore an unusually cold expression; his long blue hair was still slightly damp, as if he had just come ashore from the sea.
Tang Zeming Asuka and Hela were on the other side. Fisher glanced at the approaching Gouwen and asked the main figure beside him,
“Why did you look so bad back then? Did you argue with your wife?”
Gouwen gave a bitter smile, briefly explaining,
“Not really, just had a little family incident. Now let’s get ready to act. I’ll create some distraction, and you two—Neceria, just go right in.”
“Okay.”
Neceria silently flapped her wings, mercilessly raising her long spear.
Nearby, Gouwen, with a cold expression, who was walking along the road with a medical box in hand, suddenly felt the temperature around him drop by several degrees. Then he suddenly felt his legs begin to weaken.
Just as Gouwen’s pupils dilated in realization that something was wrong, he reacted swiftly, extending his right hand; a small knife made of flowing golden liquid immediately appeared in his hand. However, the attacker was clearly faster than him, or rather, very familiar with him.
Before he could see who it was, Gouwen found that the meridians in his right hand seemed to have been invisibly struck by something. In the next moment, three dark figures suddenly sprang out of the surrounding trees, one of whom had enormous wings, another wielded a remarkably agile blade, while the last was empty-handed, but Gouwen quickly realized that his meridians had been hit by this last person.
As that person was about to act, the surrounded Gouwen quickly reacted. He took a glance at their ranks: one person was merely at the Thirteenth Rank, but the “God” part of the trio was quite strange; another was at the Fourteenth Rank, clearly a phoenix, and a battle-hardened one at that; the last seemed to be the worst at combat, much like himself.
Gouwen swallowed hard, soon making a decision. In the astonished gaze of Fisher and Neceria, he decisively sheathed the golden blade back into his cloak, threw the medical box on the ground, and then bent his knee to kneel down, his handsome face immediately contorted with anguish,
“Oh, fine heroes! Spare my life! Take whatever you want! I’m just an unfortunate doctor, with an elder to care for and a younger to raise, and a gluttonous wife at home. It’s hard to make a living with so many hungry mouths; please spare my little life!”
The weapons raised by Fisher and Neceria halted in front of the whale folk, who was begging for mercy, as Gouwen’s immense whale tail thudded against the ground like a salted fish, and then he hastily raised both hands in complete surrender.
“…”
The anticipated fierce battle did not occur; if anything, it seemed to end too easily. Watching the past Gouwen crying so sincerely and genuinely, Fisher and Neceria couldn’t help but look back at the main figure behind them.
There they saw him covering his face, seemingly quite embarrassed. After several seconds, seeing that Gouwen genuinely had nothing more to say, Fisher took the opportunity to speak up,
“Don’t play tricks.”
“Why would I play tricks?” The Gouwen in front wore an aggrieved expression, as if Fisher’s words were wrongly accusing him, and then he continued, “After all, I can’t earn much from this trip anyway; what’s the point of risking my life?”
No, aren’t you here at the invitation of Lord Bai to treat the Elf King?
Logically, shouldn’t you be given lots of treasures or something?
Fisher glanced back at the main figure but saw him still covering his face and lowering his head, without denying what his past self had said, suggesting that Lord Bai indeed hadn’t given him any valuable rewards.
“…Tie him up.”
Seeing things going so smoothly, Fisher intended to follow the original plan to bind Gouwen within the barrier and then toss him into the sea.
Gouwen had previously mentioned that if he were thrown into the sea, he would definitely leave.
Neceria expressionlessly bound Gouwen round with iron chains, while pretentiously stripping him of everything that seemed valuable on him, but Fisher didn’t notice that golden dagger, so he simply threw him down.
Watching Gouwen bouyed in the ocean while tightly bound, even though everything here was just an illusion, Neceria still couldn’t help but ask,
“Throwing you down like this should be fine, right?”
“…I’m a whale folk; being in the water is even more comfortable than on land. What could go wrong?”
In the back, Gouwen took off the black mask covering his face, took a couple of breaths, and then stared at the ocean, saying,
“Staying on land with you for so long is probably shortening my lifespan, and my wife hasn’t seen me for a long time; once we finish what needs to be done, I will return to the ocean.”
Fisher didn’t comment, as after he expelled death, he would immediately return to his own time to reunite with Renee and the other ladies.
Not far away, Tang Zeming Asuka and Hela, who had ended their ambush, could no longer hold in their laughter and covered their mouths as they looked at Gouwen, clearly amused by the way the past Gouwen had easily surrendered.
Their laughing at Gouwen made his face darken as he muttered phrases like “I’m just a doctor,” “not good at fighting,” and “there’s a wife waiting for me at home, I need to cherish my life to go back and reunite.”
However, the mocking did not last long. Once Tang Zeming Asuka and the others had enough laughter, Gouwen finally took off the black garb he had used as a disguise and put on the outfit made of seaweed, picking up the scavenged medical box.
He glanced at the Royal Capital, seemingly reminded of yet another troublesome matter, and sighed,
“Just to be clear, this matter is quite troublesome; I did not want to revisit it. But since it’s to help, I have no choice. Just remember to listen to my commands; Lord Bai is a bit unpredictable, and we should hurry; we might already be late.”
“Unpredictable?”
Tang Zeming Asuka was a little confused, and Fisher also grew curious about the elf who had invited Gouwen to the Tree Continent. But just as everyone wanted to ask Gouwen for more information, they suddenly felt the ground begin to tremble slightly.
An earthquake?
No, that doesn’t seem right; it wasn’t as violent as an earthquake.
“Little Gouwen!! Where are you?! You’re late! Nothing happened, right?! I came to find you!!”
At that moment, accompanied by the intense tremor of the ground, a high-pitched female voice seemingly echoed from the horizon, resonating throughout the wilderness outside the city, yet the Royal Capital remained eerily quiet, as though no sound had penetrated.
Hearing this, Gouwen’s face turned pale, and his whole body stiffened. Then he hurriedly shouted to Neceria and Hela, who couldn’t come along,
“You two, jump into the sea and hide! Lord Bai is coming for me!”
Neceria had yet to respond as Hela gave a thumbs up, then grabbed hold of the dazed Neceria and jumped into the sea, quickly disappearing from view.
Fisher and Tang Zeming Asuka, who remained standing, soon felt increasingly uneasy with the trembling ground.
They turned to look, only to see the direction of the Royal Capital faintly rising in clouds of dust. Tang Zeming Asuka couldn’t see clearly, but with Fisher’s keen eyesight, he could faintly make out that in the center of that dust cloud, there seemed to be a figure sprinting.
“Boom!”
As that figure moved farther from the Royal Capital, the sound of running grew louder, echoing like thunder and causing Tang Zeming Asuka’s eardrums to ache.
Meanwhile, Gouwen’s face went paler, and he tightly clenched his clothes.
Soon, the figure within the dust cloud became clearer.
It turned out to be a beautiful woman with black hair dressed in a high-waisted red skirt, with an elegant hairstyle tied in a loose bun on the side, her long ears adorned with crystal-studded earrings, appearing truly magnificent and graceful, if one ignored her wild running posture.
Her aura was unmistakably that of the Eighteenth Rank, openly sweeping over the ground, and she quickly spotted the standing Gouwen, Fisher, Tang Zeming Asuka, and Mikhail.
“Little Gouwen, why aren’t you entering the city? What are you doing there?!”
Upon seeing Gouwen, Lord Bai’s expression instantly brightened. Her pace gradually slowed from a frantic rush to an elegant stride, accompanied by her adjusting her disheveled black hair, causing the tremors of the ground to ease gradually until they vanished completely.
Fisher and Tang Zeming Asuka were momentarily stunned, looking back at Gouwen, only to see his smile had completely vanished, replaced by a look bordering on despair.
Then, Gouwen forced a smile and explained to Fisher and the others,
“Lord Bai is quite troublesome; she has issues.”
“…”
Fisher and the others didn’t respond, only obediently concealing any face-covering items, looking silently at the graceful elf Lord Bai as she elegantly walked into the woods.
Gouwen cleared his throat and took on a serious expression, setting down the medical box he was carrying, and was about to perform a standard bow.
“Lord Bai, I apologize for the intrusion; I truly appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to come greet me. I—”
But before he could finish speaking, Lord Bai effortlessly grasped Gouwen’s hand, without even glancing at the others, her gaze intensely fixed on him as she firmly pressed his hands into hers.
Gouwen shivered slightly, his expression turning unnatural, instinctively pulling back his hand, but regardless of how he tried, it was futile.
“Ah, Little Gouwen, you’re still so shy, it brings me great joy! Aren’t I just worried about you? The wilderness outside the city is so dangerous; what if you encounter some ruffians and they injure your precious hands, endangering the King’s health? What would we do?”
As she spoke, Lord Bai tightened her grip on Gouwen’s hand, rubbing every part of it, refusing to let go.
Simultaneously, Lord Bai seemed to sense something; her face flushed slightly as she looked down at Gouwen’s hand, commenting,
“Why is Little Gouwen’s hand so dry? Could it be—”
She completely forgot that Gouwen hadn’t been in the water for a long time.
Just as Tang Zeming Asuka started to feel anxious, Gouwen forced a smile and explained,
“Lord Bai, I’ve been feeling unwell lately, which is why—”
“Just call me Bai,” Lord Bai interrupted before Gouwen could finish. Then she narrowed her eyes, scanning Gouwen from head to toe, and sighed,
“Oh dear, your wife doesn’t seem to cherish you; she must be bullying you too much. Unlike me, you could relax here. Come, let’s go into the city; I’ve prepared a feast for you. Oh, who are these?”
Lord Bai spoiled Gouwen by gently rubbing his forlorn face. Just as she prepared to pull him back, she suddenly noticed the group of Fisher and the others beside him.
Instantly, Lord Bai’s rosy complexion faded, and her eyes showed a hint of surprise. Before Gouwen could explain, she spoke up,
“Oh, Trans! Three of them! How interesting!”
She smiled, but it was entirely different from the feminine shyness she displayed earlier toward Gouwen, appearing unapologetically bold.
