Chapter 1441: Witches’ Sabbath
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was nightfall.
In that era, there was no electrical lighting, and only undeveloped wilderness abounded, so there was little light in the world after dark. The aristocratic area and zone near the church were the only places well lit. Once out of the city, people would have to depend on moonlight and starlight for direction.
Hao Ren and Lily left the city with ease after dark. They did it so effortlessly that the patrolling soldiers did not even notice. They hustled along the avenue outside the city for a mont and saw an open space by the roadside. A dead eucalyptus tree was there with light from a nearly full moon shining on its dried branches. A crow was perched on top of the tree, looking at the two people with its black eyes.
Hao Ren and the crow looked at each other for a while before Hao Ren said, “Are you here to lead us?”
The crow was frightened, cawing and fluttering from one branch to another.
Lily scratched her head. “Mr. Landlord, I don’t think this is the one.”
Hao Ren frowned. “Madam Marie said that she would send a crow to lead us. Did she lie to us about that too? If so, she’s only cutting off her nose to spite her face...”
Before Hao Ren’s voice trailed off, he heard the sound of wings flapping behind him, followed by a hoarse voice. It sounded like the caw of a crow. “Caw! Caw! Idiot! Idiot! Where are you looking at? The great Kodo is right here!”
Hao Ren turned around and saw an ugly bird, which was at least twice as large as an ordinary crow, jumping up and down on a haystack not far away. There was a strikingly black feather on the bird’s head. It cried pompously, “Caw! That abominable old woman always makes the great Kodo a travel guide for stupid people like you. Caw, caw!”
“So, you are the crow that will lead us?” Hao Ren was a little dumbstruck.
“Of course, I am! Of course, I am! Have you ever seen a crow more beautiful than the great Kodo?” the huge crow cried and fluttered its wings. “Did you just talk to that thin and pathetic low life? That old woman is a joke! She knows there are crows everywhere in the wilderness yet she still insists on letting Kodo be a travel guide for strangers!”
“Okay, we know you are great,” Hao Ren quickly interrupted so that the ugly bird would shut up. “Now take us to your master. We have an appointnt.”
“Kodo knows, Kodo knows. Kodo is smarter than most of you so shut up. Kodo knows what to do.”
The big crow cawed and chattered nonsense continuously. But it still had to obey the witch’s command. It flapped its wings and flew into the air as Hao Ren and Lily ran after it under the night sky.
The crow with a loose screw in its head flew at a high speed. It seed like it was ignoring the command of its master and trying to shake off the two people behind it. But soon, it found that no matter how fast it flew, the two individuals on the ground just would not fall behind. Lily even had ti to collect her favorite exotic stones along the way and make a wreath out of the flowers she had plucked in the wilderness. Had it not been for the serious business at hand, she would have even gone hunting along the way.
The big crow finally gave up the idea of ??playing tricks on the two.
However, its annoying chatters never stopped for a mont. Perhaps the witch had given the bird sothing strange when she opened up its mind, so the bird could not control itself. It babbled as it flew, driveling about the harvest, the quirks of the seigneurs, the size of the cities and villages, the weather and the soil, as well as the na of the second egg it laid the previous year. Hao Ren wanted to borrow a stone from Lily to knock the damn bird out of the sky, but he managed to control himself in the end.
As Kodo gabbled and led the way, Hao Ren noticed that the moonlight had gradually dimd.
They had deviated from the main road, hustling farther into the wilderness. Fog began to gather around them and visibility started to get worse. The thick fog had blocked out the crow in the air. Hao Ren could only depend on its constant gibbering as a guide for direction.
Then, a cetery appeared amid the dense fog.
A few sections of its surrounding iron railings had fallen and blocked the way ahead. Across the iron railings, tombstones and stone statues were scattered sparsely, while fallen dead tree trunks had damaged the walls of the cetery, their branches landing on a few gravestones.
The sound of the huge crow flapping its wings rang in the air, and soon, Kodo descended out from the thick fog. It stood on the iron railing and cried in the direction of the cetery. As it cawed, the fallen fences and tree trunks imdiately grew hands and legs before scattering to both sides.
Hao Ren and Lily raised their guard and entered the cetery after the big crow.
At the center of the cetery was a long table filled with suspicious food and thick white candles in between cups and plates. The flas from the pale candles burned so quietly in the fog that it seed like they were still.
A few black high-back chairs were strewn around the long table. Several won in black robes got to their feet, turned around, and stared at Hao Ren as well as Lily. They were full of suspicion and vigilance.
The fog in the cetery slowly dispersed, and by then, Hao Ren could see the faces of every person before him. The witches were fascinating and charming, so were young and beautiful, while so seed to be ordinary peasant won. But their outer appearances did not matter to Hao Ren. He knew well that during the Mythological Era, a witch’s primary duty as a servant of her otherworldling god was to serve her master and please his or her guests. Their most fundantal ability was their ever-shifting face. Every adult witch had at least a dozen faces. Sotis, the witch would even forget her original face. So it was useless to identify a witch by her face.
Nevertheless, Hao Ren figured that at least these witches would not change their appearances so soon during his “visit”.
Therefore, Hao Ren quickly identified Madam Marie from among the witches. Madam Marie stood in front of the chair at the end of the long table. She was wearing a simple black robe with copper ornants hanging from her chest. The big crow, Kodo was sitting on her shoulder and tearing up a piece of bloody raw at with great relish.
“Very good. You’ve co as promised,” said Madam Marie, lifting her chin with a blank expression. “Mysterious wizard and mysterious werewolf lady, these are trying tis. I hope you do not mind the shabby eting place.”
“You can call Hao Ren.” Hao Ren did not bother to feign a Western-style na. He used his real na, which the locals would find exotic. “This werewolf is nad Lily.”
“Hao Ren? What a strange-sounding na.” Madam Marie pronounced it clumsily. She had taken it as a pseudonym. Wizards were not as sophisticated as the witches when it ca to camouflage, but the use of simple face-changing and fake nas were still common. “Foreign wizard, I hope you understand our caution. In this day and age, it is a considerable risk to receive a stranger. So I hope you can prove yourself as a wizard.”
“I totally understand. Trusting people too easily in this day and age will only bring great danger to one’s self.” Hao Ren smiled. With the wave of his hand, swords and weapons of various shapes and sizes erged from the ripples in the air. The cold light of tal filled the air. Hao Ren surely did not know the tricks of a wizard, but he had more than one trick up his sleeve as an inspector. It was difficult to differentiate; all the more so with the ssy schools of wizards on Earth, where the otherworldling gods used trial and error to produce magic apprentices.
The way Hao Ren proved his identity surprised the witches. There was a commotion, and Madam Marie’s expression changed slightly. She thought that his “weapon-making” magic was indeed one of the tricks of the wizards.
At least it was not of the demon hunters; that was certain.
Lily stepped forward with great enthusiasm. “Do I need to prove myself too? Take a look at my ears and fangs—they’re all real!”
Several witches closest to her instinctively stepped back, and a young woman bowed awkwardly as a sign of respect. “Your identity as a werewolf is plain to see, there is no need to prove it. We can sense your strong scent.”
Lily was delighted.
Hao Ren’s eyebrows twitched, realizing that although the Mythological Era was over and the human magic practitioners were free from slavery and independent, purebred otherworldlings still posed a strong deterrence to them. Lily was no werewolf, but she had an exceptionally similar nacing power and the scent of a werewolf. For the half-human witches, it was impossible to distinguish the subtle difference.
It seed that bringing Lily along had its advantages.
“So, you’ve brought news of the demon hunters?”
After confirming Hao Ren’s identity, Madam Marie quickly got down to business.
Hao Ren did not answer imdiately but found an empty chair and sat down at the long table. He saw a mysterious man in a black robe. His face was hidden under the hood. Judging from the person’s build, Hao Ren knew it was likely a man—the one Gray Rat had ntioned before.
The hooded wizard nodded at Hao Ren as a sign of respect, and Hao Ren returned the gesture. Only then did he respond to Madam Marie’s question. “First of all, I would like to know about the arrested witch.”
Madam Marie beca downcast. “As I’ve said before, that is a—”
“A ruse to fool the people?” Hao Ren looked up and shot the witch a glance. “That has to be one important flimflam since you’ve invested so much effort and gone to great lengths to lay a bunch of runes around the place of execution.”
There was a surprised expression on the middle-aged witch’s face. “You’ve gone and investigated those things too?”
“How would I deal with sneaky fellows like the lot of you if I am not cautious and careful?” Hao Ren spread out his hands. “I think we should be more open and honest with each other. The demon hunters are still wandering around, and the human church is very influential. Do we not have enough enemies that we still have to be suspicious of each other?”
Madam Marie’s face still appeared gloomy, and she did not say a word. A young witch behind her finally got to her feet. “You should understand why we are so cautious, wizard. It is because we have to save soone important. She is a representative of a formidable force. We hope to get protection from this force through her.”
Hao Ren could not care less who the witch they were going to save was. He was more interested to know if there were any old castles nearby. But to warm up to the group of witches, he had to continue the conversation and even consider helping them save the witch. “Oh? Who is it?”
“She is Hessiana, a powerful Blood Mage.”
“What?”
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