Longxiao City, Spear District.

Old Booker extinguished the lights that he lit in order to attract customers, and lamented another day of no business and a bad time.

The spear area is an interesting place: it is neither as poor and backward as the shield area and the hammer area, nor as noble as the axe and arrow districts, nor even as lively as the bow area, sword area, and armor area, but the slope in Longxiao City is relatively high, and most of the people who live here are the families of the king's loyal servants who have a half-official position but have not been able to get the title for a long time, or the commoner merchants who have surplus wealth but cannot live in the aristocratic area, so the spear area has become an out-and-out embarrassing area.

But Booker Sr., a innkeeper from Kangmaswarir, was one of the few people who took advantage of this embarrassment: he saw a business opportunity.

Old Booker's inn was clean and tidy, not too badly decorated, and more expensive than the previous one, but it always attracted the low-ranking customers, such as wealthy merchants or craftsmen, or declining aristocrats who did not want to lose their dignity, or travelers who came from afar and did not know the local situation.

These people, who often came from other places and waited to meet the "big guys", were not qualified to stay in the axe and arrow districts for too long, and did not want to surrender themselves to the messy sword and bow districts (of course, the lowly and humble shield and hammer districts did not need to be considered at all), so they often chose to settle in this well-organized and shabby inn located in the spear district, Old Booker.

After countless hardships, Booker Sr. and his family took root in the spear area.

Unfortunately, since the assassination of the Moral prince, the relationship between the two Western Continent powers has become strained.

Rumors of conscription, tax increases, wars, and out-of-stock came one by one, and the tense atmosphere in the city had caused Old Booker's business to plummet for more than a month, and he had only one guest staying recently, so he could only sigh that his luck was too bad, and then, according to the custom, cut the cost from the purchase of alcohol and miscellaneous wages to maintain the survival of the hotel.

When the news of the Star Prince's envoy came, he thought the crisis was over.

It wasn't until last night that Booker Sr. woke up from his sleep.

See you in the moon!

Why are countless patrols hurrying through the streets at night?

What were those horrible loud noises last night?

What are those thunderous roars in the second half of the night?

Although Old Booker is a Comas, he is different from the fellow merchants in Longyi Square who are mercenary and only plan to make a fortune and leave.

It has been twenty years since Booker Sr. was a Booker Jr., from the time he saw the Northland girl in Waril who helped deliver the goods, to the time he was wholeheartedly fascinated by her, to the desperate elopement with his future wife to Longxiao City: it had been so long that the local neighbors with their own backers had become accustomed to his presence, so long that even the harshest and xenophobic magistrates would not come to trouble him, so long that young people always thought that he was just a more special-looking Northlander, so long that even the words spit out under his tongue had a strong Northland accent— These were vague tailnotes that he would have derided as "vulgar" when he was younger—until the death of his beloved Northland wife, Booker Sr. had no plans to return to his hometown or change places.

But Old Booker could point to the Goddess of the Bright Moon or the Harvest Lady and swear by it: in all the years he lived in Longxiao City, he had never seen or heard after opening the window last night!

Disaster?

The big octopus with its teeth and claws in the direction of the shield area?

Dragon?

The winged lizard that landed and roared in the flames?

The whispers of panic or awe among his neighbors, and he was terrified when he didn't know much about the legends and stories of the Northlands: Is this a return to the age of mythology?

Forget it, the big guys will take care of it - the old Booker, who had palpitations, yawned sleeplessly, shook his head and opened the accounts, and was about to calculate the points for the orderlies and patrols, when a black-haired girl of fifteen or sixteen pushed open the door and calmly walked in.

Old Booker instantly drove away all the gloom on his face, as if he was about to greet his princess.

"Lucy!" said the innkeeper happily, "my dear daughter!"

But after seeing the girl's clothes clearly, Old Booker immediately frowned.

The girl was covered with snow and ice, her mouth and nose were tightly covered with a black cloth, revealing only a pair of clever eyes, she was dressed in a simple but thick cotton coat, her gloves were full of snow particles, and her pants were tightly tied with straps on her legs, and tucked into her boots.

I don't know where I'm going to go again—Booker Sr. thought unhappily.

"You're running outside the city again?, so heavy in the snow, you don't even have a hat!" The boss forced himself to keep a straight face and raised a finger: "Didn't I say it, you also saw it yesterday, and now it's chaotic outside, and there haven't even been a few guests in the past ten days......"

"The patrol passed by this morning......"

"There are rumors everywhere that the following districts have ruined ......"

"Those hillbillies from the poor districts......" Old Booker looked at his daughter worriedly, "You're a girl, Lucy!

The girl who covered her face stepped on the ground, rubbed the snow off her feet, patted the gloves with ice crystals, and pulled a pair of white hands out of it, and then pulled down the black cloth on her face, revealing a face that was red in the cold, playful and cute.

The girl turned to the boss and smiled brightly.

This suffocated Booker Sr.'s heart-wrenching preaching.

"Yes, yes, yes, dear father," the girl smiled and waved her hand, holding on to the handle of the wooden ladder, "I see." ”

"I'll go upstairs if it's okay......"

The girl tilted her head and grimaced, then bounced and disappeared before Old Booker's eyes.

All that remained was the sound of scurrying upstairs.

Old Booker was immediately angry.

"You, Lucy!"

The boss leaned out halfway, suppressed his voice, and said angrily to the stairs: "Don't disturb the guests - he stressed the need to be quiet!"

In response to him, his daughter dragged out a long tail note: "Know-Dao-la-"

There were also a few whispered mutters from above, which generally seemed to be "long-winded old man".

Booker Sr. withdrew his head from under the stairs and let out a long sigh.

"Imperials, scourge, dragons, curfews, well, and a daughter who is just as uneasy as her mother......" The boss reluctantly walked back to his seat, took a sip of his deceased wife's favorite ale, and shook his head: "God knows what else awaits me......"

But......

Old Booker rolled his eyes and curled the corners of his mouth:

As long as Lucy is okay, as long as Lucy is happy......

That's not too bad.

Old Booker's originally dull mood suddenly brightened a lot.

But what he didn't know was that the moment his daughter disappeared out of his sight, the girl's originally youthful and playful expression suddenly cooled down.

It was as if the frost had suddenly arrived.

A faint chill emanated from underneath her body, and her light and happy steps immediately became silent, like a black cat walking on tiptoe.

The girl pushed open the wooden door of a room and walked indifferently into the narrow, dark, and drug-smelling room.

On the wooden bed in the room, a man sitting against the wall slowly opened his deep eyes with a gloomy expression.

He was wrapped in a close-fitting and tight gray coat that did not freeze in the cold weather at all, his sleeves pulled up to his upper arm, and his left arm and right shoulder were wrapped in thick bandages.

The girl closed the door and slowly curled the corners of her mouth, revealing a sneer that was diametrically opposed to the playful smile she had just had.

She whispered to the man, and respectfully and patiently called out a peculiar salutation:

"Father. ”

The man in gray didn't respond, just looked out the window with a crack in it.

"The city is beginning to be relaxed," the girl seemed accustomed to the silence of the other party, she sat down on a stool beside her, grabbed a short knife from the table, and said to herself, "Probably the big men in the palace have reached an agreement." ”

"When are we leaving?"

The man in gray still didn't respond.

But in just the next second, he suddenly raised his head, and the emptiness in his eyes turned into vigilance.

The man in gray raised his hand slightly, and a short knife jumped strangely from the table two meters away, and flew into his hand abruptly.

I only heard him say smoothly: "We have a guest." ”

The girl's pupils moved, she stood up, and instinctively moved.

She stretched out her long, white and slender fingers, which were rare in the Northlanders, pulled out the black cloth that had been tied around her neck from the collar, and pulled it all the way to her nose, covering half of her face as if it had just been.

It's like a professional face mask.

Cover not only your face, but also your breath.

As soon as she pulled up her mask and held the dagger in her arms, a shrill voice came from outside the door.

"Long time no see, old friend. ”

A middle-aged man pushed open the door and walked in, a smile on his smooth face.

This "guest" wears a thick coat and a thick fur hat that covers his ears, but he has a flat face that is rare in the Western Continent, with shallow lips and a yellowish complexion, which makes people feel good at first glance.

He sighed into his hand, ignoring the girl beside him, squinting his eyes to adjust to the light in the room.

The girl frowned, but the man on the bed made a gesture that made her hold back the ** who made the shot.

The guest smiled unabated, looked straight at the man on the bed, and walked forward.

At this time, the man in gray suddenly raised his deep eyes, and a cold light radiated from his eyes.

"There are three traps ahead of you. ”

The guest's smile froze on his face, just like his right-foot, which he had just raised.

The man in gray said directly and emotionlessly: "Two of them are deadly. ”

The flat-faced guest took a deep breath, blinked, shrugged, and put his raised right foot back in place, as if helplessly.

The girl on the side curled the corners of her mouth and smiled silently in her heart.

But the guest's smile seemed to be on his face, and it was recolored in the embarrassment.

"Now you're a veritable family of king-killers," the guest smirked and rubbed his hands, his lingua franca accent tinged with strange emphasis, neither like Exeter and the Starmen, nor like Comas or Southwesterners: "It makes people feel ...... just thinking about it."

The guest's words were abrupt - his gaze moved to the bandages on the man's shoulders.

"Oh," his voice sank, as if surprised, and then abrupt, "you're hurt." ”

"Accident?"

The girl on the side snorted coldly.

But the man in gray on the bed just looked at the guest coldly.

"White Guards, sixteen. The man said softly.

The guest looked interested.

"Three knives, one slash is deeper than the other," the man in gray moved his bandaged left arm, and continued to say nonchalantly, "It's good to be back." ”

The flat-faced guest put away his smile, he lowered his head and looked at the man quietly.

It's like peeping behind a door.

"Where's your brother?"

The guest grinned and asked softly, "With such a difficult job, he let you go alone?"

"He's got his own place. The man said silently.

The silence lasted for a few seconds.

The guest stared at the ground under his feet, stretched out his hands behind his back, and silently rubbed in front of him: "Does it matter if the injury is there?"

The girl, who didn't feel quite right, frowned.

The gray-clothed man's eyes were still unwavering, staring at the guests from a distance.

The man slowly curled the corners of his mouth and moved his shoulders: "If you want to kill me, now is a good time." ”

"While I can't use the knife in either arm. ”

The guest's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

He tilted his head forward, motionless, staring straight at the man in front of him, his eyes soft and eerie.

The atmosphere suddenly became strange.

The man responds silently and calmly.

Finally, just when the girl was about to get impatient, the guest suddenly grinned.

"Hahahaha......"

The guests squinted their eyes and tilted their heads back, as if they had encountered something very interesting.

He raised his fingers to eye level and nodded at the man, with a playful expression of "I caught you".

"You're getting more and more humorous, Ba'an Knight!"

He laughed, his index finger shaking faster and faster in the air, and his tone exaggerated: "I just like you about that!"

The man in gray who was called Ba'an Naite just looked at him coldly and didn't say a word for a long time.

But the guest did not feel left out in the slightest, he put away his smile and fingers, and turned to the girl with interest.

"Oh, girl, you must be the brilliant 'Lucy'!"

The guest politely bowed and continued to smile strangely, and said in his strange accent: "My subordinates are worthy of your father's ...... thanks to your help."

But he was clearly unpopular.

"Stay away from me," the masked girl said with a look of disgust, "a strange Far Easterner." ”

"Oh, that's cold," replied the guest from the Far East, patiently, without the slightest hint of dismay, "it breaks my heart." ”

The gray-clothed Baan Knightt snorted coldly and interrupted the other party: "You never risk your life. ”

He said indifferently, "But you still came." ”

Hearing this, the guests from the Far East closed their mouths in embarrassment and sighed helplessly.

"This time the patrons are not easy to deal with, if I don't come again, the little ones will be messed up. He shrugged.

And......

The guests from the Far East sighed lightly: More importantly, it is the boy who represents the Fuxing Palace.

But the man was unmoved: "Why did you come to me." ”

The guest exhaled, hehe, hehe.

"My friend got some news from Xingchen China," the guest blinked, as if he was about to take out a big treasure: "You know, it's not easy to get the news there now......"

The gray-clothed man's voice was cold: "Talk about the point." ”

"You may be interested," the Far Eastern guest's words quickly changed the subject, smoothing out the apparently blunt turn: "Several population meeting points on the border have encountered invaders......

Ba'an Nate snorted heavily, "Important." ”

The Far Easterner did not hesitate, and directly said the next sentence: "It is very similar to the style of the Saliton family, whether it is knife technique or body shape." ”

At that moment, the girl on the side breathed sluggishly.

It's like remembering something.

The Far Easterner raised his eyebrows, observing Ba'annet's expression.

The man in gray still didn't react, just suddenly glanced out the window.

Far Easterners were a little confused.

But after a few seconds, he also froze slightly, and also looked out the window.

The faces of the Far Easterners became solemn and serious.

"Are you going to help you cook?" said the man in gray lightly.

The Far Eastern guest sighed softly, but then changed into a happy smile again.

"How dare you. ”

He bowed slightly: "This is my personal matter." ”

"Okay," the man in gray nodded slightly, "Don't." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the man named Ba'an Naite rolled out of bed.

The moment his legs hit the ground, the five short knives on the table jumped up as if they were alive, and flew back and forth towards Ba'an Net.

Then obediently inserted into several different scabbards all over his body.

Seeing this incredible scene, the Far Easterners couldn't help frowning slightly.

"The trap is lifted," said the gray-clad man, who put on a wide robe to cover the bandages on his body, and whispered as he walked past the Far Easterner, "You can come in with confidence." ”

Far Eastern guests bowed politely.

The girl snorted, glanced at the Far Eastern guests with a sly smile, and followed her father out of the room.

The moment the two of them left behind him, the Far Eastern guest raised his head, and his eyes became extremely cold.

He closed the door softly, looked out the window and sighed.

"Fifteen years," the guest spat out another language composed of monophonic sounds, which was very different from the lingua franca of the Western Continent, "and you have found it." ”

At the window, a hand suddenly appeared and grabbed the edge of the window—and the second Far Easterner neatly rolled into the room.

"It's been a long time," the butcher shop owner who had just turned over from the window and had a relationship with Tails, Gu, stood by the window and patted the snowflakes on his hands, and said lightly in the same language: "Senior Brother Teng." ”

"Mr. Teng. ”

————

On the stairs outside, a man in gray and a masked girl went downstairs quietly.

"He's ......" The girl turned her head, glanced at the room just now, and couldn't help but speak: "Is it him?"

The man didn't answer, just nodded.

The girl's eyes tightened.

"Father, what he just said, the intruder," the girl asked tentatively, "could it be mother or sister......

"How much?" said the expressionless man, abruptly.

The girl was slightly stunned: "Huh?"

"That guy," the man in gray said coldly, "how many lies did you tell?"

"Lies......" The girl was a little puzzled.

"Eleven. ”

"From the time he stepped into the room until we walked out, he told a total of eleven lies," the man concluded softly, his eyes solemn as he continued, "nine of them are fatal—if one of them is unrecognized, and reacts to temptation......"

The man suppressed the trembling of his palms, waved his left hand, and caught a drop of blood oozing from the bandage in the air, preventing it from dripping to the ground: "That scene will be ugly." ”

The girl was taken aback and blinked: "But he didn't say much in total......"

"Lies need not be woven with words," the man in gray interrupted the girl coldly, "this sentence comes from the mouth of a terrible lady, remember it well." ”

The masked girl was stunned.

"And, remember," the man did not look at the girl beside him, his face was expressionless, and his tone was indifferent: "Your mother and sister are dead." ”

"Don't mention them again. ”

Hearing this, the girl's shoulders shook slightly, and she clenched her fists lightly.

"Next time," the man in gray may have noticed the girl's abnormality, but he didn't respond: "Don't let people adorn you again, so that you come to the door." ”

The girl bowed her head deeply.

It is impossible to see her eyes.

They went down the stairs.

"Lucy, why did you come down with the guests?"

Old Booker raised his head in the chair and looked at the girl masked in black cloth, with a surprised face: "And you put on a scarf again, do you want to go out?"

But the girl ignored him, and just looked at the man in gray.

"This guest," Booker Sr. reacted, looking at the man attentively, "are you going to settle the bill?"

The man in gray bowed his head slightly and said in a low voice, "Be clean."

Booker Sr. looked at the interaction between his daughter and the guest suspiciously, not knowing why.

The masked girl nodded, and under the inquiring eyes of Old Booker, she walked up to him and embraced him with open arms.

It's like a daughter hugging her father.

"What are you doing here, Lucy?" Old Booker watched his daughter's actions with a smile, and hugged her helplessly, while giving the cold guest an apologetic look: "I still have to entertain the ......"

But he couldn't finish his words.

"Whew!"

Old Booker's face changed, and he shook violently as he hugged his daughter!

Booker's teeth began to tremble, his face twisted incomparably, and he looked down at his daughter in his arms with difficulty and shock.

"Lucy, you ......" Booker Sr. trembled more and more, as if he was enduring great pain.

But nothing compares to the incredulity, and pain and despair in his eyes at the moment.

"Poof!" "Poof!" "Poof!"

Old Booker shuddered three more times, each more terrible than the other!

His eyebrows twisted into a ball, but he could only find coldness and indifference in his daughter's eyes.

The girl let go of her arms and embraced it, gently pushing Booker Sr. away.

"Poof!" said Booker, who fell to the ground in despair.

His lips trembled as he looked at the bloody dagger in the girl's right hand.

The feeling of wetness and warmth spread from the boss's aching back, soaking through the robe and wetting the ground.

No.

Lucy.

No!

Old Booker, lying in a pool of blood, curled his lips and stared at the dagger in the girl's hand.

In the severe pain that almost blurred his senses, he stretched out his weak right hand to his beloved daughter, and said in a trance with a cry:

Lucy ...... No...... Why ......"

But the girl just looked at him coldly, with disdain and disgust in her eyes.

"Listen up, dear Dad. ”

"I'm not called 'Lucy,' that's just my job name," the masked girl crouched down gently and leaned into Booker Sr.'s ear, "My real name is ......"

She said in a voice that only two people could hear:

"Jessica Saliton. ”

Old Booker's eyes froze.

But he couldn't say anything anymore.

The man in gray stood silently behind them, not saying a word.

Jessica stood up silently, glanced at her dagger silently, and gently shook off the blood from it.

On the dagger, two letters appeared on the blood-soaked blade:

y。

?? Sorry, but the next chapter is the end of the volume.

?? PS In fact, this chapter is a foreshadowing.

?

????

(End of chapter)