WTYTIAAN Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Scarn City.

This was the most remote city in Bato Vita. Because it had experienced years of war, the city walls looked very old and bore traces of repairs. Even so, it was still dilapidated compared to the royal city.

However, it was better than Freedom City. At least the main city here had city guards watching the entrances and exits. Freedom City was completely unmanaged. To put it nicely, it was free, but to put it bluntly, it was a haven for crime.

Yan Yunqing had already changed into his Edward disguise when he approached Scarn City. This disguise wasn’t particularly outstanding in appearance. As an itinerant alchemist, it was perfectly normal for him to come to Scarn City in search of inspiration and materials.

At least, the identity of this disguise wouldn’t attract too much attention in Scarn City, because there were countless alchemists who occasionally appeared in Scarn City.

Yan Yunqing was wearing a very plain robe, which he had bought on the way to Freedom City. Its origin was untraceable, it was loose and comfortable to wear, and it was very low-key.

It was perfect for Edward’s persona.

“Who’s there?” The guard at the city gate saw Yan Yunqing and blocked his path with the spear in his hand, sizing him up. “What are you doing in Scarn City?”

“Edward, an alchemist.” Yan Yunqing’s expression didn’t change. “I’m traveling around and just happened to arrive here.”

“Alchemist?” The city guard muttered. “Why have so many strangers come to the city recently? Strange.”

A glint flashed in Yan Yunqing’s eyes. “What? Besides me, would anyone run to such a dangerous and dilapidated place?”

The city guard wasn’t annoyed by Yan Yunqing’s words, because what Yan Yunqing said was true. He snorted. “Who knows? Some inexplicable mercenaries. Coming to our place is not as good as going to a wealthier city. We don’t have any noble lords here to entrust them with missions.”

Mercenaries? Mercenaries wouldn’t come to this kind of ghost place. It was indeed very dangerous here, and there weren’t many missions to take on. After all, the only noble here was the Sawyer Family, and they had already sold all the family property they could mortgage to turn it into military pay to subsidize the Sawyer Army.

“Maybe they received some kind of mission?” Yan Yunqing asked tentatively. “Isn’t it said that you have a noble here? Named Sawyer?”

“What a joke.” The city guard shook his head. “General Sawyer’s family is indeed noble, but Lord Sawyer is very frugal. Their money is used to subsidize the Sawyer Army, all for the sake of protecting Scarn City. They don’t have time to play house with those mercenaries. Can those mercenaries even go to the battlefield?”

At the end, the city guard’s tone was a bit mocking, and he carried a fierce aura. It was obvious that the city guards of Scarn were all soldiers who had been on the battlefield.

Don’t mention it, looking at the location of Scarn City, it was estimated that the entire city was in a state of military preparedness.

After all, the city was less than a hundred miles away from the Scarn front line. If the monsters really attacked, these ordinary residents of the city could take up arms and become soldiers on the battlefield.

Yan Yunqing didn’t continue the conversation. He casually registered his situation, and the city guard let him pass.

Once inside the city, the feeling of everyone being a soldier was even more obvious. Even the children on the roadside didn’t look simple. As soon as Yan Yunqing came in, he was watched by all sides.

There was no way around it. Entering such a city would lead to this problem.

But it didn’t matter. It shouldn’t be long before those who wanted to figure out his identity would figure out his origins. Knowing that he was just an ordinary alchemist passing through, they would temporarily relax their attention on him.

There were also businesses open in Scarn City, but not many. Yan Yunqing walked all the way and only saw two restaurants and one inn.

The inn was also dilapidated, with a kind of beauty that had endured the vicissitudes of time.

Yan Yunqing was very adaptable to the environment. He could go into and enjoy a luxurious inn like the ones operated by the Augreir Family. If there was really no place to sleep, he could find a favorite tree to climb and make do with a night’s sleep fully clothed.

Calculating it, he had been transmigrated into this other world for half a year. In these six months, he had indeed experienced a lot, and his adaptability had also been greatly enhanced.

Yan Yunqing walked into the inn. A landlady with a cloth wrapped around her head looked up at him. “Staying at the inn?”

Yan Yunqing nodded. “I want the best room.”

The landlady waved her hand. “The rooms in our inn are all the same. Are you alone? We only have one double room left here. Do you want it?”

Yan Yunqing: …

What else could he say? Otherwise, would he sleep on the street? Oh, not really. Maybe he would soon be able to figure out where Rowena and William had gone, and he wouldn’t have to stay here.

“Then a double room.”

“One silver coin a night.”

Yan Yunqing sighed. As expected of a border city, the prices here were cheap. Before, in a small city far from the royal city, the inn he stayed in cost six silver coins a night. This inn in Scarn City actually only cost one silver coin a night.

“One month, no need to look for change, send me a meal with the rest.” Yan Yunqing took out a gold coin and put it on the table. Edward’s persona was that of someone traveling around. He couldn’t just run away after staying for a day or two. What kind of travel would that be?

No matter which disguise Yan Yunqing used, he would carefully maintain the persona. This way, those who were secretly wary of him would also relax their vigilance because of the side he revealed.

The landlady glanced at the gold coin, then at Yan Yunqing, her eyes filled with the emotion of ‘Is this person stupid and rich?’ “A meal can’t cost that much. I can’t make change for gold coins here. Go to other stalls to buy something and exchange it. Scarn City mainly uses silver and copper coins for transactions. Be careful not to show off too much wealth and get targeted.”

Yan Yunqing didn’t expect that the landlady would refuse even free money. He was stunned and embarrassedly put away the gold coin. He rummaged through the inner pocket of his cloak and finally took out a tattered money bag.

When did he get this money bag? It seemed that he had picked it up after mopping up corpses when he destroyed the Black Snake Mercenary Group in Freedom City before?

Ew, this money bag was a little too broken.

Yan Yunqing reached out and pulled, and the drawstring of the money bag was almost torn. He poured out twenty or so silver coins from it and piled them in front of the landlady.

The landlady smacked her lips and spat out the melon seed shells in her mouth. She reached out and began to count the silver coins that Yan Yunqing had poured out.

“Twenty-eight coins, short two coins for thirty days.” The landlady pulled out a small notebook from the drawer under the table while speaking, writing and drawing. “Forget it, you’re staying for twenty-eight days at once, I’ll waive two days of room fees for you and send you a dinner. Am I generous enough?”

Yan Yunqing maintained Edward’s persona, nodding in a daze, using the shadow of his hood to cover half of his face.

The landlady didn’t think that Yan Yunqing was impolite for ignoring her. After registering, she took out a key and threw it to Yan Yunqing. “Turn left and go upstairs. The room number is written on the key.”

Just as Yan Yunqing was about to take the key and go upstairs, the door of the inn was pushed open again. The person who came seemed to be a little anxious, using a lot of force. The door slammed into the wall with a bang, scaring everyone present.

The landlady, who was sitting at the counter, hadn’t even seen the person clearly. Hearing the sound, she had already cursed, “Are you trying to die! Using so much force! Do you know that my this…”

After the landlady saw clearly what the person who pushed open the inn door looked like, those swear words were forcibly held back, almost causing her to choke. Her face twitched a few times, and she awkwardly continued the words she had just said, “You, why did you suddenly come?”

Yan Yunqing happened to turn his head back and ran into a pair of deep, icy blue eyes.

At that moment, Yan Yunqing almost thought he was being stared at by some cold-blooded animal. Goosebumps rose on his arms. He calmed down and realized that the person who came was actually Adrien!

…Wait, why is it Adrien?

The calm expression that Yan Yunqing was maintaining almost broke when he saw Adrien. What was going on? Although he had a premonition that he would meet Adrien if he came to Scarn City, and he had specially used Edward’s disguise for this, he didn’t expect it to be so soon!

You’re a good General Sawyer. You have nothing to do all day, and you wander around Scarn City every day?

Not to mention that they actually ran into each other at an inn… an inn?

Yan Yunqing subconsciously turned his head back to look at the landlady in front of the counter. He saw a respectful expression on the landlady’s face. She wasn’t afraid at all when facing the young master of the only noble family in Scarn City. She stood up and took a few big strides to greet him. “Are you here to—”

Before the landlady could finish her words, she had already been pushed aside by Adrien. He was faster and more urgent than the landlady’s steps. He almost flashed in front of Yan Yunqing and looked at Yan Yunqing with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

Yan Yunqing:?

Excitement? Wait, is this still the rumored cold and ruthless killing machine, General Sawyer?

“You’re here!” Adrien grabbed Yan Yunqing’s arm.

Yan Yunqing was confused, but he still responded to Adrien’s words, “Yeah.”

Adrien: “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!”

Yan Yunqing: Ah???

“You, knew I was coming?” Yan Yunqing was confused. Before today, he didn’t even know that he was going to come to Scarn City. How could Adrien look like he was sure that he would come over?

Adrien paused and nodded again. “I know.”

Yan Yunqing was even more confused. What was going on? Could it be that there was someone who was good at predicting magic by Adrien’s side? Or was everything he encountered being controlled by Adrien behind the scenes? The disappearance of his companions, the disappearance of Sigrid’s students?

“You said that if you needed anything, you would come to me.” Adrien’s eyes were very focused when he looked at Yan Yunqing. When his cold, deep blue eyes stared at people, it gave people the feeling of a fierce wolf pack staring at its prey.

Yan Yunqing tried to ignore the discomfort of being stared at by Adrien, and tried to recall when he had said this sentence before.

Ah… it seemed that when they were parting, Adrien had given him a small note, asking him to write to him, and he had casually said, “If I need anything.”

Adrien was very certain: “I know you will definitely come.”

Yan Yunqing: …What do you mean? Did you think he would definitely have something to ask him for help? Isn’t this person a little too confident?

Overconfident male, avoid!

…Oh, no, Adrien’s level is 100, he does have the capital to be confident.

Yan Yunqing fell into a brief silence. The landlady looked at Yan Yunqing, then at Adrien, and cautiously opened her mouth: “Sir, do you know this guest?”

“Yeah.” Adrien nodded very definitely. “He’s here to find me.”

Yan Yunqing: “…Whatever you say.”

The corners of Adrien’s mouth turned up a few pixels, but everyone could see that he was in a good mood at the moment.

The landlady was shocked by this weird atmosphere. She hesitated for a moment. “Since he’s a friend of yours, then let’s forget about the fee.”

Yan Yunqing frowned. “He’s him, I’m me, no need to waive it for me.”

Adrien didn’t speak, focusing on looking at Yan Yunqing.

The landlady was a little confused. She looked at Adrien out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t get any hint from this lord. She awkwardly retracted her gaze. Don’t mention it, this was the first time she had seen someone who wasn’t short of money in Scarn City.

She had already said that she was going to give the person a free order, but the guest was unwilling. It was really rare to see this kind of thing in a border city like Scarn. After all, Scarn was consistently poor from top to bottom.

“Uh, okay, okay?”

Yan Yunqing nodded to the landlady, took the key and was about to go upstairs, but Adrien grabbed his wrist.

Yan Yunqing looked at him in confusion. Adrien looked at the key in his hand. “Are you going to stay here?”

“Yeah.” Yan Yunqing pretended not to see the look in Adrien’s eyes. “I’m going to go up and clean up. Do you want to come with me?”

“Oh, that’s right, I do have something I want to ask you. Is it convenient?”

Adrien’s deep blue ice eyes lit up, and he naturally followed Yan Yunqing’s footsteps, no longer entangled in the fact that Yan Yunqing had come to his territory but still wanted to stay in an inn.

After finding his room, Yan Yunqing opened the door and realized the reason why the inn was cheap.

Even the double room was extremely small. The room could only fit a double bed, a single table, and a chair. The aisle in the middle was very narrow, and even two people couldn’t walk side by side.

Fortunately, the room was cleaned fairly well. There was nothing particularly dirty or messy in visible places. Yan Yunqing pulled out his magic wand, cast a few cleansing spells, and the whole room looked cleaner and tidier on the surface.

Yan Yunqing put down the luggage he used to show others, and pointed to the only single wooden chair. “Sit.”

Adrien actually sat down very obediently, but the chair was obviously a little too small, and Adrien’s size was a little too big, so that he was bound by his hands and feet when sitting on it, and he couldn’t even stretch his legs, sitting extremely restrained.

It looked a bit comical.

Yan Yunqing took out a cup from his backpack, waved his magic wand casually, condensed a ball of water and threw it into the cup, and heated it up by the way.

Just as Adrien reached out, Yan Yunqing looked up and took a sip of hot water.

Adrien paused and silently withdrew his hand.

Yan Yunqing took Adrien’s reaction into his eyes, and organized his words in his heart. “It’s good that you’re here, I don’t need to go looking for you specifically. There is something I want to ask you.”

He had thought about what excuse he would use to get information from Adrien if he met him on the way here.

Based on the impressions he had left on him during the days he spent in the Bato Vita Royal City with Adrien, plus the evaluations of Adrien from various sources, he felt that Adrien shouldn’t be a member of the masked man.

After all, the masked man’s dress looked like a certain evil cult organization. Adrien was very upright in terms of both his origins and his adherence to the border. Even if he had a different heart, with the current reputation of the Sawyer family in Bato Vita, maybe he would give an order, and all the Sawyer troops would cut down trees on the spot and raise their poles to rebel, and follow General Sawyer directly south to kill into the royal city.

And there really weren’t many checkpoints that would block the Sawyer army in this process.

It could be seen that the Sawyer family had such a reputation in Bato Vita, and it was no wonder that the old Bato King would have such a strong fear of the Sawyer family, and repeatedly wanted to marry his twelve or thirteen-year-old daughter to Adrien in order to win over the Sawyer family.

Moreover, the reason why the Sawyer family could have such a reputation was also because the Sawyer family had guarded the border for generations, exchanging blood and tears for peace.

Of course, these were not the reasons why Yan Yunqing directly rushed up. The main reason was that his mission guide updated a message at the moment when Adrien appeared.

-You can try to inquire about news from ‘Adrien’.

Since the mission guide had given such a suggestion, Adrien was likely not a member of the masked man.

Adrien nodded very seriously: “Tell me.”

“I told you before, right? My travels are actually to find my brother.”

Although he had confirmed that Adrien wasn’t a member of the masked man, Yan Yunqing didn’t completely tell the truth. Instead, he took out the Edward backstory he had made up before and revised it.

“I’ve been searching for a long time. Some time ago, someone told me a message that my brother may have been taken away. I followed the clues of those people all the way here…”

“Their last whereabouts are in Scarn City. It’s very likely that they are still nearby.” Yan Yunqing stared at Adrien. “I need to find them and ask where my brother is.”

Adrien nodded thoughtfully. Yan Yunqing saw that he was listening very carefully, so he described the clothes of the masked men he had seen before to Adrien, expecting Adrien to give some new clues.

He saw Adrien pause, and asked an unrelated question: “Have you been following them all this time?”

Yan Yunqing stalled for a moment, thinking of the reason he had made up casually, and nodded with a thick face, “Yes, I have been following them all this time.”

Adrien’s eyes darkened, and he said very bluntly: “So that’s why you didn’t write to me?”

Yan Yunqing: “…Yes, that’s why I didn’t write to you.”

It’s not that, I just accidentally forgot about you.

No, he had already made up his mind not to contact Adrien again when he left Bato Vita! How can it be said that he forgot?

Adrien suddenly asked again: “So you have a feud with the Bato King? Or with that uh…what’s-his-name prince?”

Yan Yunqing was stunned. Almost in an instant, all his hairs stood up. If he was still in the form of a little black cat or Kami Beast, he would definitely be seen bristling.

Yan Yunqing stiffly pulled the corner of his mouth, “What do you mean? Why are you suddenly saying this? I don’t understand a bit.”

Adrien looked at him strangely, and kindly reminded Yan Yunqing: “The mysterious man that night, red cloak? Blew up the royal palace.”

Yan Yunqing’s scalp began to tingle. These things were all done by him. How could he not understand what Adrien was talking about? Wasn’t it about him wearing the Joker’s disguise to kill Fei Wu, blow up the royal palace, and put the blame on the second prince?

A little cold sweat oozed from Yan Yunqing’s forehead as he stared into Adrien’s eyes, trying to find a hint of joking or probing in the other’s eyes. But there was nothing.

There was nothing. From Adrien’s eyes, it could be seen that he was very sure that the Joker that night was him.

No, could it be that this person also has [Eyes of Truth] similar to Alice? Or can he see through his acting skills when his level reaches 100?

Yan Yunqing was sweating while digging his toes into the ground. He hadn’t forgotten the big commotion he had caused in the royal palace—he had used the most exaggerated acting skills to play a arrogant criminal.

Then, in Adrien’s eyes, wouldn’t it be: An alchemist who doesn’t talk much and is very gloomy on weekdays said that he was leaving, but then transformed and stood on the stage to perform chuuni lines?

This is too embarrassing!

“What exactly do you want to say?” Yan Yunqing gritted his teeth and decided to try again. What if Adrien really just wanted to shock him?

You can’t say that everyone has a bug-level talent skill like Alice, right?

Adrien shook his head. “I just want to say,”

He paused, “If you are going to kill the Bato King next, don’t go, it’s very dangerous.”

At this point, Adrien stopped, seemingly organizing his words, or thinking about how to say the next words. He hesitated for a while before saying: “After your last assassination failed, the royal family has gathered many strong men to guard the Bato King. It’s very dangerous for you to go.”

He emphasized the words ‘very dangerous’ three times, but Yan Yunqing was stunned.

What does ‘assassination failed’ mean? When did he assassinate the old Bato King? Wasn’t his goal Fei Wu? Fei Wu had already been killed by him!

Soon, Yan Yunqing reacted. Although he didn’t attack the old Bato King, there was someone who was likely to attack.

Cornelia.

After he killed Fei Wu, he also made such a big show, which was originally to fulfill his agreement with Cornelia—to attract the attention of the audience.

So, did Cornelia attack the old Bato King while he was attracting the attention of the audience?

Then Adrien mistakenly thought that Cornelia was in his gang, and his goal was also the old Bato King.

He did see the news in the Bounty Hunter Association that the Bato King was attacked and was now injured and unconscious, and was likely to die soon. Does the attack that he encountered refer to the things he caused?

“If you must kill him, I can help you.”

“I am very powerful.”

Adrien said very sincerely, and there was a seriousness in his eyes. “Don’t go, it’s very dangerous.”

This was the third time he emphasized that it was very dangerous.

These words also stunned Yan Yunqing. He thought that Adrien was here to test him, and he also thought that Adrien was here to threaten him, but he never thought that Adrien was here to submit his resume.