Chapter 37: The Devil's Shadow in the Haunted House

  "What did you say?!"

  The old chairman suddenly stood up.

  "That little demon took Liche to Ciel's mansion?! Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

  "I just found out too, old friend."

  Xie Rui's face was filled with helplessness and bitter smile.

  "I originally wanted to go find them and ask about this little guy's next plan, but unexpectedly neither of them were there. Later I found out that the kid went to the city hall and spent 500 gold coins to buy down Seriel's mansion - I have to say, just his courage alone makes me optimistic about his future."

  "Nonsense, it's simply nonsense."

  The old chairman slapped the table.

  "That place is not somewhere just anyone can go, go and bring them back immediately!"

  "It's too late, they've already gone in."

  Serak shook his head, but soon a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

  "But come to think of it, old friend, why are you in such a hurry? Didn't you always hate this kind of thing that disrupts the mercenary rules? Now isn't it good, if those two disappear in the mansion, the mercenary group will disband immediately, and you'll save one spot, won't you? Let them go and bother with whatever they want."

  "This is this, and that is that."

  The old chairman frowned and complained very discontentedly.

  "Now that young man is also the captain of a mercenary group, how can such an irresponsible captain be? Alright, Serrek, I hope you won't make any more sarcastic remarks here. Go and bring back those two ignorant kids, it's probably still not too late."

  "Don't be so tense, my old friend, maybe things aren't as bad as you think."

  "What do you mean?"

  Upon hearing Serrek's calm and composed words, the old chairman revealed a hint of doubt. Based on his understanding of Serrek, this swordsmanship master was not someone who prioritized personal gain or was cold-blooded. However, looking at what Serrek said now, it was clear that he had an ulterior motive.

  "It doesn't mean anything."

  Faced with the old chairman's curious inquiry, Serrek just smiled and spread his hands, revealing an elegant smile.

  "You haven't fought him, so you may not understand him, but I do... Maybe this young man can create a miracle. Since he dares to go, he naturally has confidence, and we just need to quietly watch from the side. Didn't you say it to Lijie? This is a gamble, she gambled, and we should too... The Seriel mansion is located in the upper district, and our mercenary association has never had the opportunity to get there. Now if this young man can take down the mansion, it would be a good thing for us, and I think he believes he has the ability."

  "It's just the arrogance and pride unique to young people."

  As for what Serak said, the old chairman seemed to be unrecognizable.

  "With a bit of excessive strength, they think they are invincible, and there are quite a few idiots like that."

  "Geniuses also have many."

  Xie Ze Ke smiled and continued with what was said next.

  "This young man is a fool or a genius, we don't know now, but I think we will soon find out."

  "I just think it's a bit... exaggerated."

  The old chairman raised his eyes and looked at Serak with a hint of depression.

  "To be honest, if you hadn't been stuck in Shen Shi City for decades, I would have suspected that the kid was related to you or something, and that's why you're so protective of him."

  "I'd like to have some kind of relationship with him."

  Facing the old chairman's ridicule, Serak let out a somewhat tired sigh.

  "I've grown old, I didn't feel it until yesterday, but unexpectedly I was forced to take drastic measures by that little guy. Thinking back to what I was doing at his age and looking at these kids nowadays... Don't you think we're really out of touch with the times?"

  "But history will still have a place for us."

  The old chairman said casually and picked up the pen in his hand.

  "Young people have their own glory, we also have our pride. It's not time for you to admit defeat yet... Alright, since you think so highly of that little brat, I won't interfere with this matter for now. But if there's still no news in three days, be prepared to go collect the body."

  In the dimly lit corridor, the rotten wooden boards creaked under the heavy pressure.

  The Cyreil mansion, though rumored to be terrifying, is still a well-appointed building as it stands in the upper district. The dark red velvet carpet, ornate sculptures and solid wood decorations, and crystal chandeliers all showcase its opulence and beauty - of course, that's when they're clean and pretty.

  But now, full of holes, the curtains swaying in the blowing wind through the shattered glass gaps, the incomplete furniture, fallen on the ground, the chandelier that originally hit the floor with a deep pit, everywhere is covered with cobwebs and oil paintings, looking around is also a kind of alternative beauty - but obviously not developing in a good direction.

  Although it looks quiet and artistic, the noise that follows ruins everything.

  "Whoosh."

  Rode patted the dust off his hands and then tossed aside the wooden table fragments that had already turned into a pile of trash at his feet, while behind him, Lige was watching him with bated breath.

  " Luo, Mr. Luo De, what are you doing?!"

  "Sweep the floor."

  He made a gesture, indicating that the soul bird used its strong wind power to thoroughly sweep away the accumulated dust. Rod then turned his head around and said to Lige in his usual serious expressionless face, "It's done."

  "After all, this place has been uninhabited for years, these things should be thrown away... As the base of our mercenary group, we can't make it as troublesome as a noble's, let's keep it simple... Hmm, but the quality of this carpet is not bad, we can leave it here, what do you think?"

  "After you, sir!"

  Lijie was on the verge of tears, while Luo De in front of her looked like a homeowner who had just bought a new house and was busy decorating and renovating. He walked around, looking left and right, picking up this and that, seemingly without any pressure at all. On the other hand, Lijie felt a great deal of pressure from the moment she entered, after all, the mansion had a notorious reputation for being haunted. The poor girl was so scared that even the slightest sound, like the wind blowing through the curtains or a faint rustling noise, made her jump with fright. This wasn't something to be blamed on her, though - although Lijie had faced many life-or-death situations as a mercenary, those were all tangible enemies she could see and touch, and she was mentally prepared for them. But now, being inside this haunted mansion, she didn't even know what the enemy looked like or where it would come from. As she gazed around at the ruined mansion, Lijie's heart was filled with anxiety.

  He watched the girl's performance with a discerning eye, but Rod didn't say much. He was quite familiar with the process of this task. When he first started this task, he was also very careful, holding his weapon and searching every corner of the house, afraid that some monster would suddenly pop out somewhere. But even Rod hadn't expected that the danger here would appear at such an unimaginable moment, in such an unacceptable way - to be honest, thinking back to that scene now, Rod still felt a chill in his heart, after all, it was the first time he had been scared so badly in the game.

  Saying cleaning up, Rude was just pretending, although he had indeed obtained the land deed from the city hall, but the mercenary team's construction system did not recognize this stronghold, which meant that he had not thoroughly figured out this ghost place. So he brought Lisha here, first to fully take possession of this land. Second... ...this would also be a great help in improving Lisha's skills. Because his subordinates only had Lisha, so he must let her improvement keep up with his own speed. However, Lisha was not a player, Rude could not directly tell her "come on, there is a task here, get ready to level up" and so on. The upgrade of NPCs in the game has its own characteristics, which are different from players, so apart from patience, Rude had no choice but to deceive this poor girl into coming along... ...after all, she had no other choice.

  The sun sets in the west mountain.

  The dark night shrouded, the originally gloomy house now seemed to be painted with a layer of thick ink, so dark that even the boundaries were not clear. Only the fire pit burning in the center of the hall emitted light and heat, bringing a few faint glows to this dark place.

  "Mr. Luo, I think we should head back now and come again tomorrow to tidy up."

  As the sky darkened, Lijie felt increasingly uncomfortable, not physically painful, but a kind of instinctual oppression. It seemed that some unspeakable danger was condensing under the thick ice layer, waiting to break out at any time.

  "No need, just rest here, after all, this is already our base."

  Rod took in Lisha's unease, but didn't say anything more. He was well aware that Lisha must be feeling terrible now, because when they entered this area, Rod had received a system prompt - "Entered an evil region".

  For the pure angel, the evil region is absolutely their arch-nemesis. The eternal opposition between good and evil also represents that both sides will give each other a fatal blow on each other's territory. And Lijie is now under the influence of this evil region, so she will show some weakness, even anxiety. But after all, she is a half-angel, with half-human blood, at least she can barely support this state and won't deteriorate.

  The time is almost up.

  Reassuring Liche with a casual tone, Rode carefully recalled the contents of his previous missions. Then, he stretched out his hand and silently summoned a bright red card.

  "Clang......"

  Just then, a low and muffled sound suddenly rang out.

  PS: The backstage of the fantasy knight is blacking me, I clearly changed the content, and the backstage also shows normal, how can it be wrong when I come in? Tragedy, depression...