Chapter ; 42

Seeing that this man seemed to really want to take him back, Yan Yunqing found the right moment, quickly ducked down, and slipped out of the man's hands like a slippery loach, nimbly jumping onto a stool three meters away from the man.

The man was slightly surprised.

He looked down and pinched his empty hand, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.

This... really doesn't look like an ordinary cat.

Yan Yunqing looked at the man warily for two more times.

Seeing that he had no intention of coming up to catch him again, he immediately tucked his tail and quickly ran to the corner of the diagonal line furthest from the man and squatted down.

Now, Yan Yunqing didn't dare to get too close to people, for fear that another person would grab the scruff of his neck, his fated weak spot!

Yan Yunqing hid in the corner and shook the messed-up fur on his body.

Nearly two hours later, just before Yan Yunqing was about to be pickled by the pervasive smell of sweat and feet, he successfully collected some useful clues.

Yan Yunqing ran out of the small tavern without stopping.

During that time, he also observed the place where the man had been sitting earlier, but he didn't see the man again.

A man with six question marks, his identity must not be simple. Perhaps they would meet again later.

But he had to use the cat identity less.

What if this man was from a hostile force, and he happened to be infiltrating using the cat identity, getting caught due to bloodline suppression would be a situation with nowhere to complain.

Yan Yunqing found Lilian to rendezvous, found an empty corner, deactivated his role-playing state, and quickly cast several cleaning spells on himself before he felt like he had come back to life.

"Oh no... my nose seems to have lost its sense of smell."

Yan Yunqing rubbed his nose.

A cat's sense of smell was already sensitive.

He had been suffocated in such a harsh environment for two hours, and his sense of smell was basically useless.

He needed to take a break.

Lilian hadn't been idle while wandering outside for so long.

She flew to Yan Yunqing's shoulder.

"I just overheard two city guards outside say that a commoner was locked up in the dungeon the day before yesterday.

I don't know what crime he committed, but it was Feu's manager who ordered his imprisonment. I guess that commoner should be Lane."

Yan Yunqing was very gratified. He had the illusion that after letting his dog out for a two-hour walk, the dog had brought back a golden bone.

"Good job. I have some clues on my side too."

Yan Yunqing said, "I heard from the mercenaries that the city defense has been very strict recently.

It should be because the news from Seta City has spread.

A castellan's son died inexplicably at home, which really panicked these noble masters."

"But a few mercenaries discovered that for a period of time in the middle of the night these few days, the city guards have been exceptionally lax.

The guards who were supposed to be inseparable disappeared, and only reappeared at their posts more than an hour later."

The few mercenaries who discovered this had already snuck in and out of the capital city several times during this period.

After all, mercenaries like them had to pay a lot of fees to enter and exit the city, which was ten percent higher than ordinary commoners. Being able to sneak in was definitely better than paying to enter during the day.

Those few mercenaries were just in the small tavern, discussing in a very low voice whether to take this opportunity to take a few orders to smuggle people into the city from outside.

Yan Yunqing heard it all.

The guards disappeared at a fixed time and then returned after a period of time.

As soon as Yan Yunqing heard this, he knew something was wrong.

It was definitely not because the guards were lax as the mercenaries thought.

Perhaps someone was using the night to smuggle something in from outside the city...

Yan Yunqing felt that this was more or less related to Feu.

After all, there weren't many people in the capital who could make the city guards obey obediently.

But this could be put aside for a while.

Let's go rescue Lane first.

Yan Yunqing was afraid that if they were any later, Uncle Lane's life would be in danger.

"Let's go to the dungeon first." Yan Yunqing made the final decision.

Lilian had no objections.

Before going to the dungeon, Yan Yunqing had to make some preparations.

He randomly chose a mage he had seen in Seta City to role-play, put on a low-key mage's robe, and walked into an alchemy shop.

Such shops not only sold alchemical items, but also some alchemical materials.

They even bought these things from some alchemists, so their functions were very comprehensive.

Yan Yunqing came here naturally to buy all the materials for making [Fire Emblems].

He wrote a list of materials, mixing in some other common alchemical materials that were unrelated to the Fire Emblem, to prevent the shopkeeper from deducing that he was the creator of the Fire Emblem from the materials he bought.

This was not safe enough.

Yan Yunqing deliberately divided this list of materials into five parts and randomly selected alchemy shops at different locations on the entire street to buy them, changing his appearance every time he made a purchase.

"Are you a little too nervous?

Can someone really deduce the alchemical item from the list of materials?"

Lilian didn't quite understand. "Alchemy is a very mysterious discipline.

Many alchemists, even with a blueprint, can't guarantee that they can successfully make it.

There are too many steps that need to be adjusted in between.

Even with the same materials, the final product may not be the same thing."

"We are people who are going to do great things." Yan Yunqing said earnestly, "You can never be too cautious!"

Mainly, his level was still low, so it was better to be a little more stealthy.

And their goal was a jailbreak.

Later, they would have to assassinate a country's prince.

If anyone had nothing better to do and investigated the composition of the Fire Emblem and traced it back to him, he himself would be fine, at worst he would just change his identity to face the public.

Yan Yunqing mainly didn't want to implicate the entire Sunset Village.

This time, when rescuing Uncle Lane, he also had to create the illusion that Uncle Lane had died as collateral damage.

After buying all the necessary materials, Yan Yunqing returned to the inn. It was still early.

They would act in the latter half of the night when all the guards were tired.

In the quiet inn, the first thing Yan Yunqing did after returning was to check the mark he had left on the door.

The strand of hair he had wrapped around the doorknob was still in the same position as when he left, and the door handle was also slightly tilted upwards.

No one had entered his room.

Yan Yunqing breathed a sigh of relief, took out the portable alchemy station he had just bought, and processed the materials one by one.

Lilian was by his side, assisting him, watching as he threw all the materials into the alchemy station at once, and then began an operation she couldn't understand.

Lilian sighed, thinking to herself: He's really something else...

It was hard to tell if Yan Yunqing was cautious or careless.

He was as defensive in front of outsiders as if the whole world was out to assassinate him, yet he didn't pretend at all in front of her.

What a troublesome kind of trust.

Yan Yunqing's alchemy and forging skill levels were relatively low, with a success rate of only 30%. Fortunately, he had bought quite a lot of materials.

After using up all the materials and passing the great success judgment several times, a total of eighty-three Fire Emblems were produced.

Fifty-two green quality, thirty-one blue quality.

His skill level also increased by two levels.

"It's a bit few..." Yan Yunqing looked at the stack of Fire Emblems.

Just as the panel description said, the size of this Fire Emblem was only the size of a button, with an exquisite flame pattern carved on it, containing Yan Yunqing's mana imprint.

He could hold all eighty-plus of them in his two hands.

He wondered how much damage such a tiny thing could do.

He switched back to the alternate identity he was going to use tonight and took a look, making sure nothing was missing.

Then, Yan Yunqing climbed onto the bed, lay down flat, and closed his eyes to rest.

Everything was ready, just waiting for the night to fall.

Late at night.

At some point, the pedestrians on the street became fewer and fewer, until there was no one left, only the occasional patrol guards passing by.

Yan Yunqing, who had rested for a while, once again took on the form of a little black cat.

He left the inn and, following the directions on the minimap, made his way to the dungeon.

This dungeon was built in a relatively remote place.

Yan Yunqing ran for a long time before he finally found the location—completely opposite to the East City Gate he had entered this morning, closer to the West City Gate.

This place was sparsely populated and rather desolate.

The entrance to the dungeon was guarded by many guards.

Yan Yunqing counted them; there were a full twelve guards just at the entrance.

...Uncle Lane is an ordinary commoner, neither a swordsman nor a mage.

Is he qualified to be imprisoned in such a strictly guarded dungeon?

It seems the Fifth Prince and his family are very concerned about the guilty things they have done!

They are so afraid of being exposed that they don't even let their guard down against a commoner who might know about it.

At some point, it started to rain drizzling from the sky.

The sound of the rain pitter-pattered, perfectly concealing Yan Yunqing's tracks.

Heaven was truly helping him.

Yan Yunqing secretly praised the timing of the rain and continued to think about how to break through these heavy guards and successfully enter the dungeon.

Suddenly, a white light exploded overhead.

Yan Yunqing was startled, and then he heard a loud clap of thunder.

It was lightning.

Yan Yunqing's eyes flickered. Since it was a thunderstorm, this natural phenomenon could be used by him.

Yan Yunqing rummaged through his backpack, found a few metal blocks, and smelted them on the spot, reshaping them into a long strip.

He found the tallest tree around the dungeon, tied the metal rod to the treetop, and at the same time, placed two Fire Emblems under the metal rod.

"What are you doing?" Lilian asked.

"A very interesting little scientific experiment device," Yan Yunqing replied.

The Fire Emblem could be detonated by a mana imprint, or it could be detonated by external energy, but it required relatively strong energy.

A thunderstorm of this magnitude was more than enough.

After setting everything up, Yan Yunqing lurked around the dungeon again, waiting for the next lightning strike.

It was unknown whether it was Yan Yunqing's good luck, but less than a minute after he left, another brighter white light exploded in the sky, and at the same time, a louder clap of thunder made his head buzz.

With a whoosh, the white light carrying an electric current struck the tree that Yan Yunqing had tampered with.

Another loud bang was heard, directly blowing the tree into pieces.

At the same time, purple flames spread rapidly, igniting several surrounding trees.

All the guards at the dungeon entrance were startled.

"What happened?"

"It seems like the lightning from the sky struck the tree!"

"Hiss—it's on fire, quickly call for people to put out the fire! Don't let the fire spread!"

Yan Yunqing was dumbfounded: Wait, isn't this effect a bit too exaggerated?

The tree didn't even have its roots left, it was directly blown to pieces!

This... does this really look like a lightning strike?

Yan Yunqing hesitated for a moment, but seeing countless guards leaving their original posts and participating in the firefighting, Yan Yunqing couldn't care less.

He directly rushed towards the inside of the dungeon.

The little black cat was small and inconspicuous in the dark.

With all the guards' attention on the tree, Yan Yunqing quickly rushed into the dungeon.

A long, dark spiral staircase led downwards.

Faint kerosene lamps hung on the walls, and the entire dungeon was filled with a dark and gloomy atmosphere.

Yan Yunqing cautiously walked down the stairs.

The closer he got to the bottom, the more damp and dark it became.

A special earthy smell permeated the air, mixed with an unknown stench and the smell of blood, interweaving into the unique smell of this dungeon.

Yan Yunqing's nose, which had just recovered from the small tavern, suffered such a heavy blow again.

The whole cat was a little numb.

"What's the situation outside?

Why did it suddenly become so noisy?

Is there an enemy attack?"

"No, it seems to be raining.

The lightning struck a tree, and now there's a fire outside.

They are all putting out the fire."

"Should we go out and take a look?"

"It shouldn't be a big deal. It's raining.

Even if the fire is big, it can be put out quickly."

"That's true..."

Yan Yunqing passed by, hiding in the shadows, thinking to himself that the fire was not an ordinary fire.

The panel description said that the purple flame was very difficult to extinguish with ordinary water sources.

The outside would probably be in chaos for a long time.

Yan Yunqing walked all the way in, not forgetting to install Fire Emblems on his way.

They were all placed in inconspicuous places, difficult to see at a glance.

The number of guards in this dungeon was strangely high.

Yan Yunqing had lost count of how many patrolling guards he had passed.

Sometimes he even had to lie in the shadows for ten minutes to move forward a little.

Strange, even if there were serious criminals here, there wouldn't be so many guards, would there?

But many people knew about this dungeon.

Even Lilian could hear people mention it casually. It couldn't be used to imprison serious criminals!

Yan Yunqing couldn't figure it out. He walked forward according to the minimap.

Lilian had been hiding in the fur on his chest under his neck, remaining quiet and not making any sound during the journey.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time deep inside, a green dot finally appeared on the minimap. It was the marker for Uncle Lane.

Yan Yunqing's heart skipped a beat for a moment, and then he noticed something wrong on the minimap.

Strange, why are there so many small dots in this position?

A pile of red dots was mixed with a few yellow dots, almost overlapping with Uncle Lane's green dot.

Because Yan Yunqing was on a jailbreak this time, all the guards he encountered were in the enemy camp, and they were also displayed as red dots on the minimap.

Then what the hell are these yellow dots?

Could it be that there are turncoats in the enemy camp?

Schrödinger's neutral, who will switch sides as soon as there is an opportunity?

And in such a small space, how could so many people be accommodated?

Could it be that they are all stacked on top of each other?

Yan Yunqing had many doubts in his mind, but he could only move forward now.

After turning a corner, the cell where Uncle Lane was imprisoned was right in front of him.

There were only a few guards standing nearby, which was completely different from the dense cluster of small dots Yan Yunqing had seen on the minimap.

Yan Yunqing: ?

What the hell, does my minimap also show the location of ghosts? Where are so many people?

Lilian suddenly hissed and whispered in Yan Yunqing's ear in a very low voice:

"The air flow is not right.

There are other entrances and exits here.

The smell of blood is very strong... and there is a dead aura, like that of a demonic beast."

Yan Yunqing's eyelids twitched. Here? Demonic beasts?

The only thing Yan Yunqing knew about demonic beasts was the line of Augreer smuggling and selling demonic beasts.

In addition, Uncle Lane was imprisoned here by Feu's manager.

How could Yan Yunqing not guess the source of these demonic beasts.

Seriously? Could the Augreer family be so audacious as to transport demonic beasts directly into the capital?

They themselves live here too, right?

There's even the royal family here.

Aren't they afraid that the demonic beasts will riot and directly slaughter the city?

How insane is that?!

Yan Yunqing felt a sense of suffocation.

If this was the place where Augreer stored demonic beasts, if he blew up the place, wouldn't the demonic beasts run out?

He would have a share in the slaughter of the city then.

What a headache.

Why couldn't Augreer just keep the demonic beasts further away?

Did they have to keep them under the dungeon? What?

Are they also playing a game of hiding in plain sight?

Yan Yunqing cursed through gritted teeth.

He could only temporarily suppress the possibility of blowing up the dungeon and escaping.

He had to think of another way...

Yan Yunqing looked at the minimap.

It only showed the structure of this floor, and it didn't show where the hidden entrance and exit was.

But thinking about it this way, Yan Yunqing also understood why there were so many dots on the minimap, but there were only a few guards here.

They were all on the floor below.

Just when Yan Yunqing was at a loss, a sudden change occurred on the minimap.

Those small red dots started to move and collided with the small yellow dots, and then the small red dots began to disappear continuously.

At the same time, another batch of small yellow dots appeared from nowhere, mixing into this sea of red.

Yan Yunqing: ?

Yan Yunqing watched for a long while, and vaguely heard a faint commotion. Yan Yunqing understood.

Good grief, it seems he wasn't the only one causing trouble today.

Hmm... this "again" is very spiritual. Why did he use "again"...

Yan Yunqing paused for a moment, remembering that when he escaped from the auction house, he had also taken advantage of the sudden attack of another force to successfully leave with Lilian and Cornelia.

He had even come face to face with one of the members of that force, and thus received an investigation quest.

Yan Yunqing flipped through his quest list and found the quest [Investigate 'Blood Mist'].

The investigation progress was still 0%.

Yan Yunqing had not yet touched the tip of the iceberg of this organization, and he hadn't even heard of it.

He had also tried to ask the NPCs in Sunset Village, but to no avail.

This mysterious organization suddenly appeared and attacked the auction house.

After that, he hadn't heard any official announcements from Bartovita.

It seemed that they hadn't even figured out who to put on the wanted list.

Could this other mysterious force that appeared today also be related to this 'Blood Mist'?

Yan Yunqing scrolled through the minimap.

Unfortunately, the small yellow dots were NPCs he hadn't met before, so their identities were not displayed.

The guards who had been stationed here all along seemed to have noticed the commotion below.

They exchanged glances, and one of them walked to a corner, which happened to be not far from Yan Yunqing.

He took out a device that looked like a communicator and shouted into it twice.

"06, 06? What's the situation over there?"

The dungeon was silent, and there was no response from the communicator in his hand.

The man frowned tightly and spoke again, "06, 06! Please answer if you hear me.

Are you under enemy attack?"

It was still silent.

Instantly, the faces of the remaining guards here turned much uglier.

One of them, who looked like a captain, said, "I'll go see what's going on.

You guys continue to stand guard here, don't leave."

"Yes!"

The captain left in a hurry.

The remaining people looked at each other, their faces filled with some apprehension.

Those who could be assigned to guard the lowest level of the dungeon more or less knew what secrets were hidden beneath it.

If those things below rioted, these people—no, this entire city would probably be finished.

The important figures would be fine, as they would definitely have many powerful guards with them.

Escaping would definitely not be a problem, but these small fries would definitely be the first to die.

"I wonder what's going on down there." One person's face was mournful, "I hope it's not... a riot."

"It wouldn't be much better if it was an enemy attack."

Another person smiled bitterly, "Those who know this secret and dare to break in are not simple characters.

Have you forgotten the miserable scene at the auction house some time ago?

They even dared to hunt down His Highness the Prince!"

These words silenced everyone.

They prayed even harder in their hearts that the people below were just busy with something and couldn't receive their communication.

Yan Yunqing looked at the gradually disappearing red dots on the minimap and really couldn't agree with their prayers.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the ground under their feet trembled.

Several guards were caught off guard and almost fell over.

Lilian clung tightly to Yan Yunqing's neck, waiting for the tremor to pass.

Things seemed to be heading in the worst direction!

This was the unanimous thought of all the guards.

They looked at each other again, "The captain has been gone for a long time.

Could something have happened to him?"

"Should we go up and get help?

It seems like the fighting down there is very intense," someone suggested.

Of course, getting help was one thing, but whether they would come back down after going up was another matter.

All the guards were silent.

Those who could be assigned to guard this place were basically those with a little ambition but not too much, but were indeed loyal.

After struggling for a while, someone finally started to move silently, running in the direction Yan Yunqing came from.

Yan Yunqing hid in the dark and secretly thanked that mysterious force in his heart.

What a good person, he was just worrying about how to save people!

Seeing that almost everyone had left, Yan Yunqing immediately jumped out from the shadows.

In a blind spot, he deactivated his roleplay, quickly switched to his Joker alternate identity, and rushed towards the direction where the keys were hanging, which he had observed from the beginning.

He leaped up and took the string of keys from the wall.

There weren't many people imprisoned in this level of the dungeon.

The cells around Uncle Lane were all empty, and the ground was covered with suspicious dark red marks.

It was unknown whether these people had left this place or left this world.

Lane was curled up in a corner of the cell, in a very bad state.

His consciousness was hazy, and it was unknown what he had suffered during this time.

Seeming to sense that someone had stopped at the door of the cell, Lane looked up in fear, only to find that the person standing outside the cage was not the guard he had become familiar with these past two days, but a chestnut-haired person wearing a mask... a woman? A man?

It was impossible to tell.

Lane blinked hard. The blood flowing down his forehead blocked his vision.

The more he wanted to see the person outside clearly, the more blurred his vision became.

"You, you are..." Lane asked, trembling.

Looking at Lane's miserable state, Yan Yunqing sighed in his heart, "I was commissioned to save you."

"Save... save me?" Lane's voice was slurred and he was still in a daze, as if he didn't quite understand what Yan Yunqing was saying.

"Mm." Yan Yunqing lowered his head and tried the locks with the string of keys one by one.

"Who... are you?"

"You can call me Joker, a bounty hunter. I've accepted a commission to save you."

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here safely."

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