The next day, the atmosphere in the castle was still relaxed and urgent, and the servants and soldiers were busy, for they had all been informed of the continuation of the road today.

The atmosphere of the whole castle was busy but not chaotic, and when they saw four black-robed masters leading their disciples to rise from the top of the castle and fly towards the valley mouth, many people looked up and whispered a few words.

In a room in a three-storey annex to the main fort.

On the floor is a scarlet velvet carpet with gold thread entwined patterns from the Holy Empire, which can only be woven by a weaver for a year, and Merlin's Three Lions emblem banner hangs down on the side wall, and all kinds of vases, candlesticks and other ornaments worth 10,000 gold are unremarkably arranged in this room.

An old man who should not have been in this room was sitting behind the long table in front of the emblem, and most of the people in the procession thought that he was in the main building with his wife and daughter, closely guarded by a large number of soldiers.

The old man kept reading and writing, and his desk was lined with a high recital.

Count Jefa was standing on the right side of his desk, flipping through the newly sent folds that had been placed on the left side of the desk, and after reading them quickly at a glance, he sorted them into stacks of folds of varying heights on the Emperor's right hand, and for a moment all that remained in the room was the rustle of writing and the grinding of paper looking through the folds.

There was a faint shadow swaying on the stained-glass window towards the corridor.

Count Jefa raised his head keenly for the first time, saw the shadow of the window flickering, took out the pocket watch in his hand and glanced at it, and quickly read and classified the folds in his hand, and did not take down a copy, and when the emperor finished reading the book, he wrinkled, and then whispered to the emperor:

"陛xià. It's time for breakfast. ”

As his words fell, the floor-to-ceiling mechanical clock in the room rang seven times, and the little puppet in military uniform came out of the box above the mechanical clock with a whirl.

The emperor listened to it, and then took a book and read it, and saw that the stack of folds closest to him had been approved, so he placed the hard-roded quill in the inkwell.

Count Jefa came right behind the Emperor and kneaded his stiff shoulders a few times, but he didn't dare to do more.

Because the emperor has been a little moody lately, the last time he relaxed the back of his neck for the emperor according to the previous practice, the emperor suddenly lost his temper. After that, unless the emperor signaled it, Count Jefa did not dare to make his own decisions.

The emperor's left thumb rubbed the turquoise ring on his right hand, and the turquoise ring seemed to flash a faint green glow on the ring surface. The emperor suddenly cleared his spirits, twisted his wrists with his fingers, and the emperor nodded.

"Send it in."

Count Jefa opened the door and said to the maid outside.

The maid holding the silver plate entered, and the emperor looked at the light and delicious appetizer soup in front of him, but he had no appetite. To Count Jepha said:

"Go and invite Master Rice to come over for dinner, Alpha, you can also sit."

Moments later, Count Jefa entered the dining room with Master Rice, who wore a court robe with gold on a black background, and saluted the Emperor who stood up to greet him.

The Emperor looked at Rice's countenance, which had remained unchanged since he had taken the throne more than thirty years ago, and his hand holding the scepter tightened. The green tendons on the back of the thin hands with a few old age spots are prominent, and the thick blood vessels still seem to show the bravery of the emperor's youth, but the years have ruthlessly carved the imprint of passing on them.

The three of them ate quietly.

The emperor put down his knife and fork. Count Jepha also stopped almost at the same time.

Master Rice, on the other hand, crossed the last two small pieces of bread with his fork, wiped the last bit of thick meat sauce at the bottom of the plate, chewed and swallowed it slowly and steadily, and then drank half a bowl of soup before putting down the knife and fork. I rinsed my mouth with the freshly served mouthwash soup and spit it into a clean basin. Finally, wipe your mouth with a snow-white napkin.

The amount of food left on the plate in front of the three people at the table was the largest in Count Jefa, the emperor was slightly less than the former, and the amount of food left in front of Master Rice was basically clean except for a little residual juice from vegetable stems.

"The master's appetite is as good as ever, and I can eat a few more bites with you!" The Emperor laughed.

Rice smiled, but asked, "Your Majesty has been losing your appetite lately?" You seem to be eating a little less. ”

"When people get old, they can't help but eat." The emperor waved his hand.

"In terms of old age, His Majesty is far from being comparable to an old man like me." Rice Road.

But looking at your appearance, uninformed people, who would believe that this middle-aged man who looks like he is in his forties is nearly ten times older than the emperor?

Hearing the two of them talk about this topic, Count Jefa's eyes tightened, his heart jumped, and he hurriedly gave a look, asking people to quickly remove the leftovers.

At the same time, he inserted himself into the conversation between the Emperor and Master Rice.

"Master Rice, Ulysses and several other masters have left, do you have any gain from the detection of the castle?"

The emperor was really diverted, and Master Rice's face became solemn, and he shook his head and said:

"The other party is very cunning, and after Ulysses and they left, they fell silent."

"Sure enough, it was premeditated."

Count Jefa said solemnly, glancing at the silent emperor at the same time.

"There's something that can sneak into the team at any time and move around, it's too dangerous, Your Majesty, we might as well postpone the trip and wait for the masters to find out the reason." Earl Jerfa built yì road.

"I was so timid, so I took advantage of the other party's heart."

The Emperor said lightly, "No matter what the other party's purpose is, as long as we don't follow their plan, the other party will naturally fail—the other party has created a landslide to block the road, and we can't make a detour or slow down." ”

"What Your Majesty is saying is that with us old guys here, the other party will not threaten Your Majesty's safety, but it is possible that some special secret methods have been used that have effects that we did not expect, so they have repeatedly evaded detection.

But this effect should also be limited, it is likely that it cannot attack others, otherwise since it is infested in the team, why is everyone who sees it only frightened, and no one is injured? ”

Master Rice nodded, "I think what is more worrying is the mole that may be hidden in the team. ”

The Emperor nodded thoughtfully, his betrayal of his cronies and vassals was the most unbearable, and the suspicion of his own flesh and blood in the secret place of his heart made him sleep restlessly, this time hearing the words of Master Rice. There was also a flash of anger in his eyes.

Count Jefa seemed to know the emperor's intentions, "Yes, catching that infiltrator is still secondary, I hope that this time I will continue to move forward unexpectedly, so that the other party's plan can be broken and the traitor will be exposed." ”

If Lin An was here and heard such words, he would understand why the emperor had made a big announcement to everyone.

……

The speed at which the archmages opened the valley mouth was much faster than they imagined, and Lin An was on the way. Sensing the huge magic fluctuations coming from the direction ahead, the overwhelming power seemed to have erupted into a small forbidden spell. The aftermath can be felt even from such a distant place.

"The combination of the four masters is truly extraordinary!"

When Lin An sighed, Andre said on the side:

"Sooner or later, we will be able to be like them."

His tone was calm and determined, as if what he said would come true.

Lin An smiled, and saw a flicker in the shadows on the edge of the forest, and glanced sideways. The slender shadow lynx was seen lying in a thick, thick branch.

Its two forelimbs were lying in front of it, and the figure with black and gray markings on a white background somehow seemed to blend harmoniously with the surrounding environment, if it weren't for the head and neck with a scarf that moved, Lin An wouldn't have noticed its existence.

It is like a well-fed and drunk king of mountains and forests who is too lazy to deal with humans, lying on his own turf. Allowed these stupid humans to walk past it without knowing it, its fragile neck that hides its veins exposed to its range of attack, it is like a pig farm owner who raises domestic pigs. Indifferently examined the fat and thinness of these meats.

Then the shadow lynx seemed to notice Lin An's gaze, brushed and turned its head, and stared at Lin An with lazy squinted eyes, this time Lin An clearly saw its curiosity from those vertical pupils.

Then Lin An's eyes flashed again, and the shadow lynx disappeared again. Only a bare branch remained, and the soldiers on the outskirts of the line walked unaware of the path a few feet away.

But this time. Because Lin An was prepared, his expanded perception clearly captured the Shadow Lynx's way of action:

It jumped into the shadows, not fused by the black shadow, but like a crack in the black shadow, there seemed to be a huge space inside, swallowing the shadow lynx directly, and then the black shadow of the shadow lynx appeared more than ten zhang away, and then it was more than ten zhang, as if pulling out the afterimage.

But because the speed of the flash was extremely fast, it flashed several times in a second, and the eyes had already run out dozens of feet before blinking.

And when it moves, its body seems to be shrouded in shadows, and it becomes completely black, so that in the eyes of those who happen to catch a glimpse, it is as if a black shadow of a huge cat and dog size flashes away.

"Shadow and space double movement?"

Lin An was shocked, it turned out that the Shadow Lynx also had a spatial talent, which was not mentioned in Christian's miscellaneous notes, no wonder it could come and go freely in the traveling procession, and it could not be discovered by the detection spells of the archmages.

On the road after that, the shadow lynx haunted and was caught by Lin An a few times, but there were no more rumors of dark shadows in the rest of the team, as if this shadow lynx was staring at Lin An.

During a temporary break in the middle of lunch, Lin An did not let Angelia follow him on the grounds of dealing with personal problems, and left the crowd alone and walked deep into the woods.

The Shadow Lynx suddenly appeared on a branch less than half a foot behind her, intending to pounce on her from behind.

But at this time, Lin An suddenly turned around, and the shadow lynx was suddenly imprisoned in the air by his mental power, and he roared silently in anger, forcibly tearing the space out of Lin An's spiritual power constraints, and the hair on his whole body exploded on the branches of the trees more than ten zhang away, roaring low, and letting out a low and hoarse warning sound, and the entire front body was lowered and made an attack posture.

"Oh, and it can also use space to move alone, but it's not as skilled as the shadow space, and it seems to be quite expensive."

Seeing that the Shadow Lynx did not enter the shadow, and still tore open the space, Lin An felt slightly disappointed, but as expected, he did not move again, and looked at the Shadow Lynx quietly, with his empty hand hanging by his side.

At this time, a strange sound came from the depths of the woods, and the shadow lynx seemed to have received some information, and the exploded hairy ground fell, and a low growl of dissatisfaction came out of its mouth, and it glanced at Lin An stupidly, turned around and disappeared.

"Who!"

When that strange voice came out, Lin An chased after it violently, but finally returned in vain. The Shadow Lynx and the unknown Being, Zài, are long gone.

Lin An cast spells again and again to detect, and only found a faint footprint on the moss at the root of a thick branch.

And even this vague footprint has disappeared for the most part, and the moss is still rapidly recovering its original state, and after a while, the imprint of half of the forefoot can still be seen, only the imprint of a shallow big toe remains, and then it disappears completely, as if there is an invisible force in the forest helping each other, covering up their traces of activities in the woods.

"It seems that the woods are indeed their territory." Lin An meditated.

From walking into this forest, Lin An faintly felt like he was being watched in all directions. It was as if the trees and bushes she was in had become the eyes of the other party, peeking at Lin An everywhere, but this peeping did not make her feel malice.

Now after the other party leaves. The woods were back to normal, but they were not as vibrant as before, as if they had suddenly lost their souls, and of course the trees inside were still flourishing, exuding a natural aura that made Lin An feel kind.

"Wait...... Nature? Cordial? ”

Inspiration flashed through Lin An's mind. The pupils suddenly widened suddenly, and they looked into the depths of the woods in an instant!

But at this time, the woods exuded a burst of repulsion, and the sound of intricate footsteps came from the place where Lin An was pursuing.

Lin An instantly remembered the chaos caused by the "Legend of the Black Shadow", and the thought that had already surfaced was suddenly suppressed, but an unexpected surprise still appeared on Lin An's face.

Angelia, John, and Andre appear in Lin An's sight. Behind them was a group of guards who heard the noise.

But they saw Lin An standing alone in the forest, with an indescribably complicated look on his face, as if he was happy and angry. But there was nothing unusual around, and there was no trace of the aftermath of the fight.

"It's okay, I'm just a little allergic, I just heard something, come and see. Nothing turned out to be. In the face of everyone's inquiry, Lin An covered up the facts.

Everyone has no doubt about him. John, who was good at tracking, checked around the neighborhood and found no clues.

The team of guards escorted them back, only Andre, who had a keen intuition, glanced at Lin An with some suspicion, and muttered, Why is your expression weird.

Lin An originally didn't tell the truth just because there were outsiders present, but then when she returned to the camp, she thought that for some unknown reason, she was still sneaky when she came back, but now it was obvious that she refused to show up, and she had to find a way to fish that guy out.

Thinking about it this way, I can't tell the others first, lest the atmosphere change, startle the snake, and scare the little fish so much that it refuses to come out, Lin Anke has seen the shadow lynx's elusiveness, and its ability to use the woods as eyeliner.

When exactly did it come?

Why didn't you come out to meet her?

Could it be that the child refuses to recognize his mother when he runs away, or is there something wrong with him who can't see anyone?

Why is it so close, but she doesn't feel it?

……

A knot in his heart was untied, but at the same time, a large number of doubts surfaced, Lin Anxin was now like knocking over the five-flavor bottle, he was both happy and annoyed, shocked and suspicious, so he was not in the mood to do anything, he ate something roughly, and returned to the carriage with the dinner plate.

"Eh, didn't you say I'd deliver food to Saleen?" Andre was depressed and looked at Lin An's back, "Sure enough, there is a problem." ”

In the car, Salin picked up a piece of cut bacon and sent it to his mouth, and he also looked at Lin An twice, and said:

"You seem to be a little impetuous, what happened?"

Lin An came back to his senses from his apprehension, "Well, my brain is a little messy, it's okay." ”

In fact, after she sat down quietly, she suddenly remembered the humanoid footprints on the moss, and involuntarily thought of the humanoid figure she saw in the summoning array when the demon pet summoned the problem, and Titi's actions and messages that obviously had a personality when she was tracking the ice field for thousands of miles, and the conjecture extended made Lin An's mind chaotic.

When did Titi change?

Thinking about it now, it seems to have been traced back to when she was promoted to a full-fledged mage.

That time, in the process of her promotion, Titi didn't know what was affected by it, and suddenly evolved a lot, and it was at that time that her true self-conscious personality began to take shape.

At the time, she thought it was the Warden who had done something to Titi, but judging from Titi's own escape from her, this was unlikely.

Because the guards can't do anything against her, if they do something to cause's after-effects, they will also leave a warning in the space so that she can avoid problems later.

Now that I think about it, if it weren't for the connection between her promotion and the soul contract. The associated influence on Titi, as Titi later described, was the "black black" she ate during her promotion, guiding its evolution and subsequent changes.

"What the specific reason is, I'm afraid we can only find out when it comes back. Now the most important thing is that it must be made visible and not detected - but the question is, what is its current form? ”

Lin An's mind was a mess, and he felt like a worried mother who had raised a runaway bear child.

"Still. It sent the Shadow Lynx to wander through the palace procession, probably to find me, no wonder the Shadow Lynx has seen me ever since. Last night, the night was quiet -- there were more than 20,000 or 30,000 people in the crowd of people moving to the palace this time, and it was probably not easy to find me, and it was difficult for me to find it. ”

Thinking of this, Lin An remembered the previous few times in distress. It connects the soul with "filial piety" to a lot of natural forces, and it can be seen that Titi still cares about remembering her very much, and she is immediately relieved.

On the side, Salin felt that the emotion emanating from Lin An's body was sometimes low, sometimes excited, sometimes chaotic, and a trace of discoloration flashed in his narrow peach blossom eyes, and he looked at Lin An quietly and occasionally. I hid my doubts in my heart.

He put down his knife and fork after lunch, knocked on the wall of the car, and the driver came in and took the plate out. Salin looked back and saw that Lin An was still distracted, and reached out to grab her soft and boneless little hand and put it on his forehead.

"Help me see if I have a fever."

Lin An came back to his senses, and sure enough, he found that his forehead under the palm of his hand was slightly hot. But there was not a trace of sweat.

But other than that, Salin was breathing normally. His throat was clear, his face was as pale as ever, and there was no sign of fever at all—this was obviously not a normal disease invasion, but an abnormal fever caused by mental power.

"What's going on?" Lin An was displeased.

"I was a little bit more successful when I was meditating just now."

Salin sighed, his big palm covered the back of Lin An's slippery hand, feeling the slightly cool little hand bring a burst of coolness, the thin corners of his lips hooked up an imperceptible smile, and let go of his hand before Lin An noticed - if Lin An hadn't been absent-minded before, with her keen perception, he wouldn't have been able to eat tofu directly under her eyelids.

In order to prevent Lin An from detecting the clues, after Lin An withdrew his hand, Salin changed the topic.

"By the way, two young ladies passed by outside the car just now, and mentioned that the emperor was going to hold an autumn hunt after arriving at the Sumisipi Palace, and announced the marriage of the two princesses at the autumn hunt."

Lin An's expression was stunned, and after coming back to his senses, he saw Salin staring at her intently.

"Two young ladies?" She raised an eyebrow.

Salin seemed to be smiling, knowing that she was deliberately shifting her focus, but her heart was also troubled by her rare sour words, but thinking of her look just now, the idea that was originally just used to divert her gaze changed its taste, and she couldn't help but prick Lin An slightly:

"At least not as deep as you and the Lord Ludwig."

Lin An regretted it as soon as she spoke, she never asked about Salin's personal relationship, and kept a clear line between them, but recently because of the increasing contact and getting along, she unconsciously relaxed a little.

And Saleen's mention of Ludwig made Lin An even more displeased, among everyone, the only ones who really knew that she had a relationship with Ludwig were probably only Salene, Sidney, James, Angus and Ludwig's bodyguard, and her current situation was not suitable for people to know her relationship with Ludwig.

"Salin, you've crossed the line!" Lin An cast a silent enchantment and said in a deep voice, "I've never asked about you and Master Nikita, even if she once came to me. ”

"She went to you? When was this? Displeasure flashed in Salin's eyes, "It seems that my decision was the right one. ”

Lin An was stunned, "You broke up with her?" ”

"I just told her, and I regained my memory." Sarin clouds are light and breezy.

Lin An had a calm face, "I hope there is no relationship between me and me." "She didn't want to get involved in Sarin's rotten peach blossoms at all, especially since Nikita was a good female mage.

"I didn't mention you." Saleen Road.

"That's good." Lin An stood up, lifted the mute barrier, and stepped out of the carriage.

“…… It's just that she asked if you knew me before, and I admit it, it's not what I mentioned! ”

In the carriage with only one person left, Salin smiled and muttered to himself.

(To be continued)

PS：

Thank you for the big evaluation votes of Mi Zi Youyou, and the big reward of Yunsha Ruoli! o(n_n)o~

Keep summoning the Pink Ticket and beg for power!