Pillar of Yita

Not really, Fang Hong thought; I reckon you’re not that old, how come you speak so old-fashioned?

The big catfolk shook the ash from his pipe, then smiled and introduced: ”Miss Neoan is already a renowned knight among us, Light’s Flower, a kind and noble madam, Elect of Ouli—though she’s Ouli’s Paladin, quite different from me—however, I heard she had gone to the Ancient Tower long ago.”

Mei looked at the big catfolk with some surprise: ”You are a brave lady’s paladin?” Then she added to herself, ”I heard the lady’s knights are all upright and brave people. Have you been to the Sangxiake too? Our Knight Order is indeed stationed there.”

The girl shook her head again: ”I did go to the Ancient Tower and inherited the legacy of the Ancient Precept Knight there, but not long ago, I received orders from the Knight Order to come to Colin to capture a great thief who escaped from Giant Tree Hill.”

”Great thief?” Fang Hong instinctively had a bad premonition.

”Yes,” Mei nodded seriously: ”He is also a Papalarian, a vicious, despicable and treacherous bandit.”

”Wait,” Fang Hong hurriedly interrupted the madam: ”Can I ask what he did, to be so heinous?”

”He stole the testimony and the prize at the Nightingale Competition in the Sangxiake Region.”

Fang Hong turned to look at the big catfolk.

Reed seemed not to have heard, squinted his silver-grey eyes, and was lighting his pipe with his head down.

Gita looked at the two worriedly, while Alice seemed momentarily unaware of what was happening.

”May I ask boldly,” Fang Hong dryly asked: ”Miss Mei, then, what is that testimonial?”

”It’s not bold at all, dear friend,” Mei shook her head, ”It was a centuries-old, prestigious Mithril Dagger carved by Master Padwell—”

Fang Hong: ”!!?”

...

After some inquiry, mostly indirect questioning and evasion, Fang Hong finally understood the reason why this knight lady appeared here—she was here to capture that great thief, of course not anyone else but the only Papalarian in their team—self-proclaimed King of Night Thieves, Dragon Slayer, Parker.

It must be that Mei’s Knight Order saw Parker in the Wanted Order from the Colin Ishurian Kingdom before commissioning the knight lady training at the Ancient Tower to make her way to Colin Ishurian to apprehend this great thief.

Fang Hong then realized that the dagger he melted down and turned into a mask had such a huge backstory, it was not just a Mithril Dagger but also an art treasure of the whole Sangxiake Region. He wiped a sweat, as from both arts and historical value, ten of him sold wouldn’t be enough to compensate—

But then he thought about how the guy Parker actually swapped the testimonial right before the eyes of more than ten guilds’ top Nightingales in the Sangxiake Region and ran away with the loot, all the way to Colin Ishurian.

This probably counts as a kind of talent too—

No wonder no matter what they tried, the food on the ship would always mysteriously disappear. The King of Night Thieves truly lives up to his name. But Fang Hong clenched his fist with a cracking sound. Gita watched on with fright, worried about the future fate of the poor Papalarian.

”But how did Miss Mei get here?”

”It was because I was entrusted by Elder Greyface to investigate the disappearance of Tree People Sentinels, and I inadvertently discovered these people sneaking around, so I followed.”

Fang Hong then understood that the commission from the Tree People wasn’t only for them.

After questioning, he realized that the knight lady was quite formidable—she was indeed the one described by Cuiye not long ago as single-handedly slaying a Construct Giant Crab; so the knight lady’s prowess was almost equivalent to him and the big catfolk.

Mei listened to their conversation, also somewhat surprised: ”So indeed the Tree People said there was another paladin with strength comparable to mine, referring to you. But then I also understood that everyone here indeed has the ability to easily defeat those Crystal Monsters.”

Fang Hong did not correct her on the fact that those Crystal Monsters were indeed not monsters but constructs; they continued to talk while walking out of the forest.

While the people from the Holy White Stone Guild had already noticed the commotion in this direction, they did not come over, only that Holy White Stone Captain sent someone to deliver that box to them.

Even though the Holy White Stone achieved the final victory in this combat, whether winning or losing, that’s indeed not the outcome they wanted—their goal wasn’t to seize the Heart of Chongshan; after the initial impulse, people calmed down—started to feel somewhat lost, even regretful.

However, there were still people speaking:

”But there’s actually nothing to regret.”

”Can you all accept such a thing?”

”I admit many among us came into this world for money, but there are many ways to make money, it’s not worth suffering such indignities.”

”Twilight people are sort of pressing the boundaries of the ’Stargate Declaration’; we refuse to comply, and that’s perfectly reasonable.”

The atmosphere amongst the crowd began to loosen.

The person who delivered the box containing the Heart of Chongshan was Time Reflection, who looked back at his guildmates before smiling at Fang Hong and the others: ”...It almost turned into a major mishap, truly sorry... I think the Heart of Tree did not deceive us, no matter how the guild ultimately sees it, I believe the captain and others made the right choice. Though we’re not native born, the guild similarly relies on this land to thrive; if Nogness were to face devastation, it would be catastrophic for us.”

”But those people might not believe you.”

Alice looked at him and said.

”Their belief is not important,” Time Reflection replied, ”The key is everyone then unanimously made that choice, which made me feel very gratified; it was the first time I truly felt being part of a team.”

He looked at Fang Hong: ”In the times with Mr. Ade, I was somewhat envious of their team, Mr. Reed, Miss Gita, and others were all so strong and coordinated seamlessly. But now I might not see it that way; perhaps the most crucial aspect of being in a team is having many people who share your ideas; when people unite, the team is far greater than the individual.”

Fang Hong smiled, such ideas were in line with his beliefs.

He also looked toward the direction of the Holy White Stone Guild members, perhaps this matter will eventually pass, and it’s uncertain what awaits them on the path ahead—for Holy White Stone, this team clearly wasn’t particularly central, and the members within the team were generally not highly leveled.

Perhaps they will continue to remove these people from the guild to maintain their relationship with the Twilight Guild and even hold them accountable. Perhaps people will regret their impulsive choices and bear a price originally not belonging to them.

But one day, they will remember this moment.

Remember the moment when many people made a choice together and worked in unison. People might forget many things, but they won’t forget the inner emotions, the kind of emotions that prevail throughout and will always leave a mark deep in their memories.

And that is precisely what he seeks, the most fundamental driving force.

”Let’s return this to its original owner together.”

He held up the box and said to the others.

Mei nodded lightly.

Time Reflection also nodded, he then turned to ask Alice beside him: ”Miss Rainbow, will you join us?”

”Me?” Alice replied: ”Of course I’ll go.”

...