Pillar of Yita

Hansen couldn’t help but laugh heartily at the girl’s disappointed look, saying, ”Ha, but you don’t need to get discouraged. The only thing people haven’t tried out is breaking Jeffrey’s curse. Right now, we are lucky enough, maybe the situation tonight will be different.”

Tianlan was clearly more satisfied with this answer; she observed the hall carefully as if trying to spot differences from the traces of the past—although before this, our little French girl had never been to this place.

Fang Hong shook his head as he watched her, but Tianlan’s deductive reasoning did align somewhat with his own.

Atira was whispering to the noble young lady on the side. Miss Hilveld was listening while smiling and nodding her head before coming over to interject and ask if there was anything to pay special attention to during the upcoming task.

In any region of Colin-Ishurian, even among the noble salons, it would be hard to find beauties of the rank of a noble lady, let alone among adventurers.

Her inquiry clearly caused quite a stir. And a beautiful lady is always treated preferentially; Hansen was of course no exception. This experienced adventurer, in his forties, found himself somewhat at a loss, awkwardly taking off his hat and bowing to her stiffly.

Then amidst the cross talk of others, he carefully explained the points to note for the task to Fang Hong and the rest. Actually, it was simple and could be summed up in one sentence—stick close to the others.

”But this is no joke; the task ahead won’t be difficult, there might be combat, but the key is to keep up with others. You shouldn’t enter the foggy areas in the Phantom, as there have been incidents where people who went in couldn’t get out, and you Invokers are no exception,” Hansen said seriously.

His words startled Tianlan and Gita.

Miss Hilveld also patted her chest and turned around, playfully whispering in Fang Hong’s ear with a breath as soft as an orchid, ”Then, you must take good care of me later, Captain.”

The young men in Hansen’s group watched this scene, their looks filled with disappointment or envy and jealousy, wishing they could rush forward and stab the damned fellow to death and take his place.

Fortunately, the deterrence of the Combat Artisan was still there, and no one dared to act on the impulse to challenge him. But Fang Hong was not deaf to the teasing tone of the noble lady and could only smile wryly, saying, ”Of course, that’s no problem, Miss Hilveld.”

Miss Hilveld smiled faintly, stepping back appropriately to stand behind Atira.

While they were talking, Hansen’s man he had sent upstairs hadn’t returned with Parker, but the Scholar who had been late during the day arrived, still aloof, standing to one side and observing coldly.

Fang Hong glanced at the man, feeling that his temperament had some similarities with Mr. Knight in their group. The old Knight Diket stood alone to one side too, seldom involving himself in their conversations unless specifically asked.

He seemed genuinely here for the investigation, his gaze never leaving the inn’s surroundings, always scrutinizing the interior decorations. But Fang Hong was curious if such investigations were truly meaningful.

While he was pondering, the inn’s door was suddenly pushed open, and a person strode in from outside.

At first, everyone thought it was the Ghost Guest and didn’t pay much attention, but after the person walked in quickly and saw them, he stopped, his expression showing some surprise.

It was only then that people looked over and realized he must be an adventurer—but they had never seen such a bedraggled one. To call his clothes ragged was polite; he looked more like a beggar. His cloak was dusty and dirty, with moss stains on parts, and the battered fabric hardly revealed its original style, with his pants torn to reveal bare knees.

His hair was disheveled, his face covered in grime, only his eyes retaining some color. With lips tightly sealed and stubble on his chin, he seemed like he hadn’t slept well for days and nights, a true picture of exhaustion.

But Fang Hong recognized the man at a glance: ”Hudi?”

The man was taken aback, turning his gaze over, finally noticing Fang Hong and Atira among the crowd. His face showed an embarrassed expression as he involuntarily turned his body away.

”Hudi!” But Tianlan, not caring for the dirt, nor hesitating, ran over and grabbed Hudi’s grubby sleeve, ”Well, I’ve found you, how dare you lie to us!?”

Hudi jumped, then turned around, stuttering, ”Tian, Tianlan Lady, hello, how did I lie to you?”

”Not yet,” Tianlan said huffily, ”You said you and Miss Spoon were staying in Elpaxin, causing me and Gita to search for a whole afternoon!” She raised her hand and exaggeratedly gestured. ”A whole afternoon, do you understand? And that old man accused us of being crazy, it’s infuriating.”

Hudi let out a sigh of relief, thinking carefully about how to respond.

But at that moment, Fang Hong came over, unable to help asking, ”Hudi, what happened to you? How did you end up looking like this?” He eyed Hudi up and down, truly puzzled. After all, it had only been two weeks since they had parted ways at the Traveler’s Rest, but the man’s appearance seemed as if he had aged a century.