Chapter 819: Chapter 543, Harsh Bone Tax
The next day, early morning.
Pruell City was still enveloped in the drowsiness before dawn.
Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, and the city was silent.
In a dirty corner.
On the snow-covered ground, a golden magic array rapidly formed.
When the magic array was complete, the light of the array faded, and several figures appeared where the array had been.
“Ah, ghosts, there are ghosts!”
The crouched beggar in the corner, drawn by the scene before him.
Rubbed his eyes and, seeing the figures that had suddenly appeared, let out a scream.
ℕ○𝕧G○.c○
He then turned and fled toward the other end of the alley.
In his mouth, he kept shouting about ghosts.
Standing on the snow were five people of imposing stature, draped in grey cloaks.
Through the cloaks, one could see the armor and weapons inside.
Watching the beggar shouting as he ran away.
The nearby residents began to curse and light up candles.
One of them said, “Let’s go, let’s leave here so as not to attract others’ attention.”
Five people nodded and then left towards the distance.
After walking a distance, one of them said, “Captain Baccarat, what’s the next plan?”
This five-person squad was an investigation team sent out from Silver Wing City.
The original plan was for 10 people, but to minimize the target, they directly reduced it to five people.
Three from the Hall of Justice, and two from the church.
The Hall of Justice was led by Baccarat, while the leader of the church team was Saint Xu Haide.
Baccarat, pulling a green parrot from his bosom and placing it on his shoulder, began to speak, “Wait till daylight, book a few rooms at the inn first, then go straight to the north to investigate the Undead.”
“Catch the thief, don’t run!” the parrot just brought out, promptly shouted.
Clatter clatter clatter!!
Again, noisy sounds came from the surrounding houses, shouting about a thief.
Baccarat pinched the parrot’s beak, “Let’s go, switch to another place.”
The group switched locations several times.
Finally, daylight arrived.
The silent city seemed to come alive suddenly, with pedestrians starting to appear on the streets.
Workers heading to their jobs, shops opening for business.
The city became noisy.
Rose Tavern.
The only place that appeared clean and also offered lodging and food.
Upon pushing open the door, there was a somewhat portly middle-aged man behind the bar.
“Got any rooms?” Baccarat stepped forward and asked the owner.
The owner looked up, then glanced at the four people not far away.
“Yes, how many do you want?”
“Three, for five days!” Baccarat looked at the price list nearby and directly paid the corresponding price.
“Okay.” The owner took the money, handed them a wooden tag with the room numbers written on it.
Baccarat took it and also ordered breakfast for five people.
After a quick bite, they turned and left the tavern.
No sooner had they left,
than the owner sneakily ran out and headed to the ‘Lively Hotpot’ restaurant across the street.
…
The Silver Wing City investigation team.
Walked around the town.
This not particularly large, even slightly small border city.
Seemed to be developing quite well.
Everywhere, one could see crowds busy with various jobs, even the screaming beggar from last night was now part of a work crew.
The group followed the North City gate out, trampling the snow-covered ground.
They began heading north.
Saint Xu Haide, walking in the middle of the group.
He held the Book of Lords, looking at the map that had generated on his own.
Walking while discerning their direction.
The world was covered in silver and white, without the map in hand, it indeed would have been difficult to ascertain if their direction was correct.
They walked until noon.
They finally saw a river with its surface sealed by ice.
On the other side of the river, a tall fortress stood erect.
“This is the boundary line between humans and Orcs, on the other side belongs to the Orcs’ territory,” Baccarat said, looking at the tightly closed fortress.
Xu Haide frowned—this wasn’t matching the intelligence he had received.
Where was the promised mass of Undead to the north?
Were they perhaps invisible, blending in with the snow and bones?
“Captain Baccarat, could there be Undead appearing in the Orc region?” Xu Haide whispered cautiously.
Baccarat glanced at the tall city walls.
Turning to his subordinates, he said, “Call at the door.”
One of his subordinates nodded, stepped forward, and shouted loudly, “We are a team from Silver Wing City, whose fortress is this?”
The sound traveled far in the open area.
Soon, horns appeared on the city wall, followed by Tauren heads peeking down.
Even amidst the heavy snowfall, these Tauren were bare-armed, their skin glowing red.
“Who are you?” a muffled voice came from atop the city wall.
Xu Haide immediately stepped forward, revealing a friendly smile, “We are from Silver Wing City, wishing to pass through the fortress to head over…”
“Roll, don’t disturb our sleep,” interrupted the Tauren suddenly.
Xu Haide’s smile froze, and the rest behind him were also stunned.
In Silver Wing City, whether it was the Hall of Justice or the church, those were figures who could strut around the city.
In the presence of the cow folk, encountering individuals from these two factions meant addressing them respectfully as “sir.”
When had they ever been treated like this?
They were cursed right as they started talking.
“You’re being quite unreasonable now, we just have some things to check, that’s all,” Xu Haide, restraining his smile, called out loudly.
The Tauren paid no attention to these.
Still loudly yelling, “Stay within your own territories, don’t come to ours.”
“You…” Xu Haide was about to step forward to argue further.