Richard was unaware of the barkeeper’s sigh, leaving before it happened. Using the last light of the sunset, he looked northward from the town and quickly thought.
According to the barkeeper, the group of people who took the Blue Seal ca from the north. After obtaining the Blue Seal, it’s likely they’ll return the sa way.
They left this morning with quite a number of people, on horses and carrying luggage, so their pace wouldn’t be fast. Although they have a lead, he might still catch up if he speeds up.
Then let’s try it... Having made up his mind, Richard stepped forward and vanished into invisibility. The next mont, he appeared dozens of ters above the ground, flying swiftly out of the town.
At this ti, the last part of the western Sun dipped below the horizon, and the surrounding night crept in like a fog.
...
Ti passed quickly, and it was soon midnight.
North of Gray Wood Town, in a clearing beside the forest path, a group of people rested.
There were both n and won in this group, gathered around a campfire, looking quite ordinary.
But upon closer inspection, the group was quite peculiar: so were hunched, so la, so one-eyed, and so shivering as if they were sick with a cold.
The group of eight resembled a band of the old, weak, sick, and disabled.
The only sowhat normal one was a woman in her thirties, graceful, with long, thick hair nearly reaching her waist.
The long-haired woman sat calmly about four or five ters from the campfire, squinting at a Blue Seal in her hands.
The Blue Seal continuously flipped in her hands, reflecting light, looking quite dazzling. Suddenly, the woman seed to sense sothing, paused her actions, put away the seal, and turned her head to look aside.
Beside her, near the campfire, a gray-robed, la woman with thick lips poked at the burning wood blocks with a stick, seeming sowhat bored. Suddenly, she too seed to sense sothing, exchanged glances with the long-haired woman, and swiftly reached out to grab the air beside her.
After the grab, the thick-lipped woman’s face changed, and she quickly opened her mouth.
No sound ca, but it was clear all had received a specific signal. Within a second, they all stood up in unison, took a defensive stance, and looked toward a direction in the forest.
Among them, a burly man of about 1.8 ters stepped forward, his muscles rippling with his breath. His eyes wide, he shouted, "Hey, who’s there? Co out! Or don’t bla for being rude."
"Rustle!"
A tree branch swayed slightly in the forest, making a noise.
The burly man reacted quickly, raising his hand to send out a red light, hitting the branch.
"Boom!"
The red light exploded, shattering the entire tree, but harming nothing else.
The burly man’s brow furrowed, showing so confusion, then his pupils contracted as he saw soone appear seemingly from thin air just a few ters in front of him—Richard.
"You!"
The burly man instinctively stepped back, joining his companions and watching Richard warily, readying to attack at any mont, and quickly asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"
As the burly man spoke, Richard carefully examined the group of eight, including the burly man.
He could sense an undeniable energy response within all of them, evidently Wizards. However, he couldn’t accurately determine the strength of this energy response or the Wizard Level of the group, as if so special interference spell was used.
Not simple at all... Richard concluded silently... Those who can take shortcuts into Tangka’s tomb are not simple at all.
Seeing Richard not answering for a while, the burly man’s face hardened slightly. Holding back, he asked again, "Hey! Who exactly are you? If you’re just passing by, leave imdiately because neither my companions nor I welco you. You’d better cooperate, or don’t bla us for being impolite."
"No need to be excited. I’m not a passerby with ill intentions, I’m here specifically to find you," Richard said.
"Hmm? To find us?" The burly man looked more dangerous, "We don’t know you, right? Why are you looking for us, and what is your purpose?"
"Before answering your question, I want to confirm sothing," Richard said to the burly man, "That is, may I ask, you recently went to Tangka Wizard’s tomb in White Valley and took a Blue Seal from there, correct?"
"You!" Hearing this, the burly man widened his eyes, his Mana fluctuation rising sharply, unable to restrain himself from attacking.
But just as the Mana fluctuation approached its peak, it suddenly dropped as the long-haired woman lightly placed a hand on his back.
The burly man was startled, slowly turned to look at the long-haired woman, opening and closing his mouth, asking in confusion, "Captain, you?"
"Step back first, calm down, don’t always think about fighting, let ask him first," the long-haired woman said to the burly man, her deep brown eyes seeming to have a strange magic, forcing the burly man to nod in agreent.
"Yes, Captain." The burly man stepped aside.
The woman stepped forward to where the burly man had been, her deep black hair flowing gently in the night wind, her deep brown eyes like obsidian watching Richard.
Richard too looked at the long-haired woman, a bit surprised by her appearance. To his knowledge, in this world, having nearly black eyes and deep black hair lineage is quite rare. However, he maintained his composure, nodding slightly, and calmly greeting, "Hello."
"Hello." The long-haired woman responded, her tone sowhat cold but courteous, asking in a low voice, "May I ask why you are looking for us and why you are asking about the Tangka Wizard’s tomb? Also, how did you determine we took a Blue Seal from there?"
"I don’t want to go into details, but I can tell you that I have a similar seal," Richard said, raising his hand to reveal a blood-red seal in his palm.
The long-haired woman glanced, raising a delicate eyebrow, slightly turning her head to look behind her.
Behind her, an old man with white hair wearing a Black Iron Mask slightly shook his head, the aning unclear.
The long-haired woman retracted her gaze, pondered for a few seconds, took out the Blue Seal from her bosom, and compared it to the blood-red seal in Richard’s hand, chuckling lightly, "They do look quite similar, but this does not explain why you are looking for us. What is your purpose, stranger?"
"My purpose is actually quite simple, that is—cooperation," Richard said, "You have the Blue Seal, and I have the Red Seal. Blue is water, and red is fire; water and fire combine, neither can be missing. This is a win-win situation, and I believe you have no reason to refuse."
"Hmm?" The long-haired woman uttered a questioning sound, her black eyes rolling, turning her head again to look behind her.
Behind her, the white-haired old man with a Black Iron Mask, as always, shook his head, aning unclear.
The long-haired woman turned back, her frosty pink lips pressed tight, after a few seconds, asked Richard, "Can you explain what you an?"
This question left Richard a bit stunned. After a few seconds, he guessed a possibility, blinking, and asked, "Don’t tell you haven’t looked beneath your seal, at the inscribed words?"
The long-haired woman’s eyes suddenly widened, sowhat surprised, speaking, "Below the seal... are there words?"
"There are words."
"..."
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