WTYTIAAN Chapter 88

Chapter 88

The first thing that entered Yan Yunqing’s sight was a head of hair as fiery as flames, cascading down, moving without any wind.

The newcomer was clad in black leather, accentuating a proud figure, with a beautiful face and a touch of red at the corner of the eyes, carrying an aura of authority above all others.

To put it in simpler terms, it was a domineering presence.

Yan Yunqing spaced out for a second, that description popping into his head, and couldn’t help but twitch his mouth.

Yan Yunqing had thought many times about seeing his dependents again. Each of them was more difficult to deal with than the last. He had considered pretending not to know them if they ever met.

After all, the Demon King’s original appearance was completely different from his current one, the only similarity being the black hair and red eyes.

Back then, when entering the game, character customization was possible, and Yan Yunqing even saw a photo import feature, but he found it too troublesome, so he directly chose a random setting, resulting in a plain system face that would probably take some time to find in a crowd.

His current appearance, however, bore some resemblance to his original one. It wasn’t Yan Yunqing being conceited, but if he wasn’t even a little good-looking, he wouldn’t have encountered so many perverts growing up.

It seemed his looks were even enhanced after transmigrating.

So, he had basically nothing in common with the Demon King’s appearance anymore, except for the black hair and red eyes. If he encountered a particularly twisted dependent, he could completely pretend not to know them and escape unscathed.

Unless he met someone with intuition, but this person in front of him…

“What are you spacing out for?” The red-haired woman walked up to Yan Yunqing in knee-high boots, looking down at him, “That chain has soul-devouring effects. Using a healing potion will only cause the chain to harm her soul.”

Isabel Alves.

From the Brilliant Dragon clan, she was the most respected candidate for the next Dragon Queen, her twin brother being the Dragon Prince whom Yan Yunqing had beaten up several times and who seemed to have Stockholm syndrome.

Yan Yunqing looked at Nana in his arms and then at Isabel, his mind racing.

Isabel couldn’t really be considered Yan Yunqing’s dependent. They had initially met as friends.

The Demon King’s journey had started with a bonded healing support, Sylph, but Sylph hadn’t stayed by his side the whole time. Sylph herself had left the forest for the sake of those elves whose souls were imprisoned by necromancers, so Sylph’s goal was very clear: to find the souls of those elves.

Due to this, the Demon King and Sylph had briefly separated for a time. It wasn’t during the most intense period of the war, and various forces were very active.

The Demon King had accidentally met Isabel, a mercenary known as the Flame Rose, and Merlin, who claimed to be from a minor noble family in the Light Empire and had come out to gain experience after coming of age.

Due to that accident, the three of them had traveled together and became close friends.

Yan Yunqing knew these two friends’ personalities best: Isabel was decisive, brave, and resolute, but she was also very rational, lacking the impulsiveness and recklessness of ordinary dragons; Merlin was from a noble family and had some minor flaws in his personality, but he was equally sincere, erudite, and full of wisdom.

Yan Yunqing wasn’t really worried about his identity being discovered by these two friends. The main trouble was Isabel’s twin brother, the slightly deranged Divic.

Yan Yunqing looked at Nana, who was nearing the end of her life, and made a decision, “Isabel, where is Merlin?”

Hearing this, Isabel frowned, her gaze shifting from the blood-soaked girl to the chestnut-haired man holding her. He was wearing a mask, so she couldn’t see his exact appearance. Isabel didn’t remember knowing such a person.

“You know me? Who are you?” Isabel sized up Yan Yunqing.

Isabel had just been strolling around at night when two auras suddenly appeared in the ruins. Curious, she came over to take a look and saw this masked chestnut-haired man holding a girl imprisoned by the Soul-Locking Chains, trying to save her life with healing potions.

Since Isabel hadn’t seen Soul-Locking Chains in a long time, out of curiosity, she spoke up to remind him, but she didn’t expect this person to be able to call out her name and even know Merlin.

The name she was using now wasn’t Isabel.

This person did have the scent of a dragon, but Isabel was certain that this person wasn’t from the same clan. Wait… this scent was a bit like…

Isabel moved closer, just about to sniff carefully to find out what exactly this familiar scent was when her arms suddenly felt heavy.

The blood-soaked girl was stuffed into her arms. Isabel reached out to catch her in surprise, “What are you doing?”

“Take her to be healed, I’m counting on you, Isabel.” Yan Yunqing quickly explained, “Even if she’s healed, don’t let her out. Wait for me to find you.”

After saying that, Yan Yunqing quickly ran towards the direction of Freedom City.

He had originally wanted to say a few more words to Isabel, at least to explain Nana’s subsequent arrangements, but a message from Rocco popped up on the private chat system.

[Rocco (Private)]: Hooded people are here searching. When can you come back?

Yan Yunqing secretly cursed. His portable anchor teleport was one-way. Once teleported out, he could only return using the doppelganger doll’s active skill.

However, the portable anchor point was installed outside the city. It would take some time to get back, and Yan Yunqing didn’t have time to say much to Isabel.

There was no other way. He could only hope that Isabel, seeing that Nana was about to die, wouldn’t care too much and just save her.

He had to hurry back, or Rocco would be in danger.

[Rian (Private)]: Coming back immediately.

Yan Yunqing arrived at the entrance of Mantipere’s underground arena as quickly as possible. As he walked near the dueling ring, the doppelganger doll’s active skill lit up, indicating that Yan Yunqing had entered the doll’s skill range.

Finding a corner, Yan Yunqing used the Cleanse spell on himself twice in a row, then switched back to his original disguise and used the location swap skill with the doll.

In the blink of an eye, Yan Yunqing returned to the dressing room in the beginner’s area.

He casually put on another bracelet that Rocco had stolen. This bracelet didn’t have any identification function. Its main purpose was location tracking. It was estimated that Mantipere hadn’t considered that guests would steal other people’s bracelets because it was difficult to take off without damaging it.

Yan Yunqing walked out of the dressing room. No one suspected his presence. The beginner’s area was still lively, and no one had noticed that Mantipere had been bombed that night.

To say nothing else, Mantipere’s arena had excellent soundproofing.

Yan Yunqing directly used the bracelet that Rocco had stolen to open the door of the magic compartment and return to the floor he had been staying on these past few days, looking as calm as if none of the bad things were his doing.

[Rian (Private)]: I’m almost on this floor. Did they check our room?

Two seconds later, Rocco’s message arrived.

[Rocco (Private)]: The next one is.

Immediately, the compartment door opened, and Yan Yunqing saw many hooded people standing on the floor where he was staying, checking each room one by one. Returning to his room unnoticed was simply a dream.

Yan Yunqing clicked his tongue in his heart and threw a few more Flame Crests in the opposite direction, closing the compartment door and detonating them at the same time.

As expected, the explosions attracted the attention of the hooded people on this floor. Yan Yunqing watched a group of red names run past on the mini-map. After the last red name passed the compartment door, Yan Yunqing reopened the compartment door and rushed towards his room as a black cat.

He was so fast that the hooded person at the back only saw a black shadow flash past, turning around sharply but seeing nothing.

Yan Yunqing took the opportunity to cancel the disguise and slipped through the crack of the door that Rocco had secretly left open for him.

He had arrived safely!

But that wasn’t enough. Yan Yunqing had already stuffed the stolen bracelet back into his backpack. Rocco returned his original bracelet to him, and Yan Yunqing put it on and rushed into the washroom to start running hot water.

Before long, there was a knock on his door.

Yan Yunqing stripped naked, made sure there were no wounds on his body, took a hot shower for two more minutes, wrapped himself in a bathrobe, and impatiently opened the door, “Who is it? What’s with all the knocking?”

As soon as he opened the door, several hooded people were standing outside.

The hooded people saw Yan Yunqing looking like he had just come out of a hot bath, his whole body steaming, and his cheeks flushed from the heat. Their suspicion decreased a little.

“Sir, there was an attack at Mantipere just now. We need you to show us your bracelet to confirm whether you participated in this attack.”

Yan Yunqing leaned against the door frame, crossed his arms, and looked at the hooded people, pretending to be very impatient, “An attack? You don’t suspect me, do you? I just became a Goldfinger. Is this how you treat a Goldfinger?”

The hooded people looked at each other, a little surprised that there was a Goldfinger living on this floor. One of them said suspiciously, “It’s just a routine check, sir. We’re not suspecting you of participating in the attack.”

Yan Yunqing clicked his tongue but still held out the hand with the bracelet.

Seeing his cooperation, the hooded person immediately checked the bracelet’s location, confirming that Yan Yunqing’s bracelet hadn’t left this floor during the time of the incident.

And he was indeed a newly promoted Goldfinger.

The hooded person took a step back, bowing respectfully, “I’m very sorry, but a criminal broke into Mantipere. Please be careful.”

After dismissing the hooded people and closing the door, Yan Yunqing turned around and saw Rocco looking at him nervously.

Yan Yunqing reached out and ruffled his hair, whispering to him, “Don’t worry, I’ve already sent Nana out. She’s a bit seriously injured. I asked a friend to take her to be healed.”

Hearing this, Rocco finally breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Yan Yunqing had gone to save Nana. Yan Yunqing’s delay in returning had kept him in a state of mental tension, worried that someone would come to investigate Yan Yunqing’s whereabouts at any moment.

Fortunately, the plan had succeeded.

Hearing the news of Nana’s injury, Rocco couldn’t help but worry, “Is it serious? Should Nika take Nana to Mr. Paul for treatment?”

Yan Yunqing shook his head, “It’s not convenient for Nana to appear in front of outsiders right now. Don’t worry, my friend is very reliable. If even he can’t do anything, no one else can save Nana.”

“I see…” Rocco murmured.

Yan Yunqing walked back to the washroom. There was still a bucket of hot water inside. Although he had used the Cleanse spell, he still felt like his whole body smelled of blood. He might as well take another bath.

And that cold feeling still hadn’t dissipated. There were no negative debuffs on the status bar. Yan Yunqing could only attribute it to his illusion.

He casually asked, “I always hear you guys talking about Mr. Paul. Is he a physician in Freedom City?”

Rocco followed behind him, hearing Yan Yunqing’s question, “No, Mr. Paul is the bishop of the Light Church stationed in Freedom City. He’s a good person. He often treats us poor people for very little money.”

Yan Yunqing paused in his footsteps, shocked, “There are people from the Church stationed in Freedom City?”

Rocco nodded, “Yeah, is that strange?”

Yan Yunqing: “…It’s more than a little strange.”

Yan Yunqing walked behind the screen in the washroom, threw off his bathrobe, stepped into the wooden bucket, and the scalding hot water instantly enveloped his whole body.

Rocco also came in, but he didn’t go behind the screen. Instead, he squatted at the entrance of the washroom, “Do you think Mr. Paul is a bad person? But he’s really nice.”

“I didn’t say that Paul is a bad person.”

Yan Yunqing said, “It’s just that the people from the Church… Never mind, you guys better not trust the people from the Church too much.”

In his heart, the Light Church was a villainous reserve force. The believers were crazier than the last. Yan Yunqing didn’t think that the new Light Church that had emerged after the death of the God of Light would be any better.

What’s more… the Church would actually send people to station in Freedom City?

What kind of place was Freedom City? It was the former site of the Eternal Empire. Freedom City was built on the ruins of the Eternal Empire, and most of the people living here were descendants of the Demon King’s subjects.

How was the previous Light Church destroyed? It was because the Demon King killed the God of Light, and the people who had been oppressed by the Church for a long time rebelled and wiped out the Church.

It could be said that the Church and the Demon King had irreconcilable conflicts. They were mortal enemies.

As a result, the new Church sent people to station in Freedom City and even treat the descendants of the Demon King’s subjects?

How could that be so magical? Unless this new Church had nothing to do with the old Church, otherwise, with the personality of those fanatical cultists, it would be good enough if they didn’t kick someone when they were down, let alone treat and help the poor?

The resurrected God of Light would think this was a funny joke.

Yan Yunqing, the Demon King himself, felt it was even more outrageous.

Rocco was silent, and Yan Yunqing didn’t care. He closed his eyes, soaking quietly in the water. His quest panel still didn’t remind him that the quest had failed, so Isabel must have taken Nana to be healed. With Merlin and Isabel around, Yan Yunqing could relax a little.

Today’s high-intensity money-making and the thrilling rescue activity had taken a toll on Yan Yunqing’s energy. Now that he could finally rest for a while, Yan Yunqing suddenly felt a wave of sleepiness wash over him.

There were rustling sounds behind the screen. Yan Yunqing barely managed to stay awake in the wooden bucket, but he was still drowsy from the steaming heat.

Rocco’s low voice came from behind the screen, “Now that you mention it, I suddenly remembered something.”

Yan Yunqing casually responded, “Hmm?”

“Actually, Mantipere had contacted me and Nika before, wanting us to work for Mantipere too.”

Yan Yunqing opened his eyes, barely perking up a little, and said strangely, “You and Nika?”

Rocco and Nika’s appearances couldn’t be said to be outstanding, and they were even scrawny due to malnutrition, even less cute than ordinary chubby children.

Looking at Mantipere’s selection criteria, all the children who were selected into the child group were either very beautiful or had delicate features. Even the most ordinary Xiao Ai was better-looking than ordinary people.

With Rocco and Nika’s conditions, it was impossible for them to be selected by Mantipere.

“I remember that it was when Nika and I had just awakened our talent skills.” Rocco said, “Jeff didn’t know much about this, so he took us to Mr. Paul.”

“Mr. Paul gave us a physical examination and said that there was nothing wrong, so he let us leave. A few days later, people from Mantipere came over and said they wanted to choose children to enter Mantipere. At that time, there was also a very beautiful younger sister in the children’s group, but that person chose me and Nika.”

“Actually, at that time, I really wanted to enter Mantipere, and so did Nika. Although we wouldn’t have freedom if we entered Mantipere, we could eat our fill, have warm clothes, and have money for medical treatment.”

“Nika and I both really wanted to go in, but at the last moment of decision, Nana stopped us. Later, Nana said something to Jeff, and Jeff didn’t let me and Nika enter Mantipere.” Rocco said a little embarrassed, “I was a little angry with Nana at that time…”

Now it seemed that Mantipere was indeed not a good place.

Yan Yunqing’s sleepiness was briefly dispelled. He sat up straight and seriously asked, “Are you sure? At that time, who knew about your awakening of talent skills?”

“In addition to the people in the children’s group, the only person in Freedom City who knew that Nika and I had talent skills was Mr. Paul.”

Yan Yunqing confirmed that this Mr. Paul definitely had something to do with Mantipere.

“What happened after that?”

Rocco recalled, “After rejecting Mantipere… once when we went to steal money, we were caught, and Fudi almost had his leg broken. When we went to Mr. Paul’s place for treatment, he asked us why we didn’t want to go to Mantipere. Does that count?”

“Of course it counts.”

Yan Yunqing confirmed that this Mr. Paul was definitely related to Mantipere.

“What did you answer?”

“Nika said that she didn’t want to leave Jeff, so she didn’t go to Mantipere.” Rocco thought for a while, “I was a little unhappy at that time, so I said Nana didn’t let me go.”

Yan Yunqing leaned back in shock, “Wait, how long ago did you say this happened?”

Rocco: “…Umm? About a year or so ago? I can’t remember.”

Yan Yunqing: … Jeff and Nana weren’t retaliated against because of this, were they? It shouldn’t be, right? It’s been a year already. Did Mantipere need to wait until a year later to cause trouble for these two?

Yan Yunqing shook his dripping hair, falling into deep thought.

This Mantipere didn’t seem right from the start. What kind of casino had a secret prison? That strange magic circle that absorbed the magic power from his body was also very strange, and Nana was hung there with chains piercing through her… Wait, thinking about this scene carefully, it was very similar to those sacrifices and demon-summoning plots in some novels and TV series?

Although he didn’t know the specific function of the magic circle, Yan Yunqing estimated that the truth was not far from what he guessed.

Rocco and Nika were approached by Mantipere’s people not long after they awakened their talent skills. Besides the members of the children’s group, only Paul knew about this… Was that Mr. Paul related to Mantipere, or was he simply in a cooperative relationship?

Where could the connection be…

Yan Yunqing’s thoughts turned quickly, and in an instant, many details flashed through his mind, finally stopping on the tall relief mural he saw when he first came to Mantipere.

If he remembered correctly, the one in the center of that relief mural, overlooking all living beings, was exactly the newly born Goddess of Light.

Yan Yunqing remembered that he had complained in his heart: If the God of Light could be resurrected, he would definitely be angered to death by this mural.

Looking at it now, even the head of all gods in the past, the God of Light, had been tampered with by the owner of Mantipere and turned into the Goddess of Light. From this point, it could be completely seen that Mantipere was definitely related to the new Church.

In fact, the Church was very likely the force behind Mantipere.

So the Church’s bishop stationed in Freedom City would cooperate with Mantipere, perhaps for the sake of Nika and Rocco’s talent skills… But their two talent skills weren’t valuable enough that Mantipere needed to use all means to take them?

Yan Yunqing pressed his eyebrows. He had thought that he shouldn’t be facing the Church so soon, but he had come to do an assessment task, so how could he have suddenly run into a force related to the new Church?

*

Isabel also returned to Freedom City with Nana in her arms. She avoided the roads where she might be spotted and hid in the shadows, arriving at the door of a remote shop.

Before she could knock, the shop’s wooden door creaked open, and a messy-bearded old man opened the door.

“It’s the middle of the night. Do you still need to go for a walk?” the old man muttered. His gaze fell on Nana in Isabel’s arms, “It’s fine for you to go for a walk, but why did you pick up a person on the way back?”

Isabel raised an eyebrow at the old man, “Do you have a problem with that?”

The old man shrank his neck, “I wouldn’t dare.”

Isabel put Nana on the sofa by the door, and the old man shouted from behind, “Don’t put her there! She’s covered in blood, it’ll be hard to clean!”

“Annoying.” Isabel glared at him again, “I’m leaving her to you, heal her.”

The old man, or rather Merlin, leaned over from behind Isabel and looked, surprised, “Huh? Soul-Locking Chains?”

He stepped forward and walked up to Nana, grabbed one end of the chain, and began to study it carefully, “It really is a Soul-Locking Chain… You suddenly brought her back, is it because she’s related to the matter you’ve been investigating recently?”

Isabel went to pour herself a glass of water and took a few big gulps, “I don’t know.”

Merlin: ?

“I don’t know?” He muttered, “You must be tricking me again. I’m telling you, I’m not easy to trick…”

He muttered to himself, and finally his voice disappeared under Isabel’s raised fist, accusing him in a cowardly way, “Violence can’t solve the problem.”

Isabel chuckled, “But violence can solve you.”

Merlin: …

Merlin was weak, pitiful, and helpless. He didn’t dare to really experience Isabel’s fist. Her terrible fist had really broken his leg back then.

He could only take out his magic wand and rummage through his potion shelf, finding something to use and starting to remove the Soul-Locking Chains for Nana.

Isabel pulled up a chair and sat down next to him, supervising while saying, “I met a man outside the city just now.”

“Man?!” Merlin said alertly, “What man?”

Isabel rolled her eyes, “That’s not the point, shut up, and listen to me finish.”

Merlin: “… Oh.”

“I met a man. He suddenly appeared in the ruins, holding this girl in his arms.” Isabel pointed to Nana on the sofa, “He wanted to use a healing potion on this child. I saw that she had Soul-Locking Chains on her and spoke up to stop him.”

“As a result, he turned around and looked at me, called out my name, stuffed this girl into my arms, and said let me bring her back for you to heal, and then he ran away.”

Hearing this, Merlin didn’t care much, “It’s not normal to know your name, you’ve been pretty famous in Freedom City lately, it’s not strange that people who pay attention to you know me too.”

Isabel’s eyes flashed, “No, the name I’m saying is not Kris.”

Merlin’s hands that were treating Nana’s wound froze, “… Are you saying?”

“It’s Isabel.” Isabel said, “He even called out your name, Merlin.”

“He knew me and also knew that you hadn’t died.”

Although Merlin was the greatest magician in history, he wasn’t a long-lived species. With the human race’s short lifespan of only a few decades, there was no way he could live to two thousand years later.

Even if Merlin broke through to the realm of Archmage, it was impossible unless he became a god in human form to have a long life.

Of course, Merlin didn’t become a god. The reason why he lived to this day was also because of some special reasons.

This reason was not easy to make public, so Merlin consciously disappeared after realizing that he would not die normally. Until now, many people believe that the great magician Merlin died in an unknown corner of the Ermann Continent.

Merlin asked suspiciously, “Knows me?”

Not many people knew the news that he hadn’t died, even among his former friends. Basically, he could count them on one hand.

Isabel hesitated, “I seemed to smell Divic’s scent on him.”

Merlin realized the key, “Divic’s people? But you don’t know—”

Wait, how could Isabel not know the people around Divic, unless it was an identity that Isabel shouldn’t know—

Merlin’s pupils trembled.

Old man shocked .JPG

Could it be—

Isabel punched Merlin in the back, “Shut up.”

Merlin’s hands didn’t even shake, continuing to treat Nana’s wound. He was a little depressed, “I haven’t said anything yet!”

Isabel had a cold face, “Do you expect me not to see your exaggerated expression?”