. Walking into the famous 'Sleepy Portal' hotel, which was already full of people, Penny was not surprised by such a scene.

The dense number of wanted notices posted on the streets outside doomed this scene to happen, and it was an unbreakable truth that people died for money and birds died for food in almost all planes, and many adventurers who were carried away by the huge bounties rushed into the nearest path they could think of to the bottom of the mountain, and the big owner of the inn sat on the chair by the table with his arms crossed, and watched with a slightly ironic expression as the adventurers rushed towards his house tunnel.

Penny approached quietly, the boss raised his eyebrows, grabbed the hat on the table and put it in front of the wizard's eyes, in which you could see large and small gold coins, which made Penny admire the boss's business acumen, but he didn't pay for it, but shook his head with a smile, held the little girl and led the big beauty to the side and sat down, the boss was stunned for a moment, glanced at Penny more, blew on the hat, and put it back on the table.

"There will only be more and more people. Lannie looked at the increasingly crowded tavern, looking impatient.

"Lord Lannie, we can't go down until those uncles and aunts have opened the way for us~" The little girl squinted, the smile on her face was very innocent, Penny raised her hand and patted her head, she stuck out her tongue and hugged the little head.

"Well, even a little girl of this size has learned to be cunning and cunning?" Lanny yawned, "Ah, for nothing, she looks so cute." ”

"Didn't you already know?" said Penny, smirking.

"Lannie-sama~" Nephis looked at the Black Warrior with watery eyes, turned to look at Penny's smiling face, stuck out her tongue, and retracted her head again.

While most of the adventurers were either anxious for the bounty or didn't know how powerful the mountain was, many more chose to do the same thing as the mages, sitting in the corners and quietly waiting for the moment, but the oppressive atmosphere of this mix of noise and silence obviously breeds some discordant notes.

An argument took place in the corner.

"Hey, you bastard, we've got to have a good talk. A seven-foot-tall man grabbed a short fellow by the collar and pressed him against the wall.

"There's something to say. The poor creature threw up his hands and waved in vain: "Don't do it, do you want money, or do you want something else?"

"We don't want any, but someone in New Oram wants to teach you a lesson, and beat you into a pig's head, so that my brothers can get money for a drink. ”

The poor man's face immediately turned black as he was about to be taught, and his hat fell in confusion, revealing long rabbit-like ears, but his wider stature told others that his elven blood was not pure.

Dahan's words aroused laughter, and a mercenary who joined in the fun also coaxed by the way: "Hey, this rabbit, it is said that Miss Ellie, who you lured Olam, took off her clothes, I don't know how her figure is?"

"Not very good. The half-elf forced a smile and said, "Compared to the women of Hartland and the South Falling Star Sea, she is a little too thin, like a bamboo pole. ”

"Bamboo poles?hahahahaha, no wonder she's looking for someone to beat you, boy, give me a good time. The big man who was tugging at his neck laughed, and his other hand was clenched into a fist, as if it would soon leave a few dark spots on his face.

"Stop. A voice came from the side, and the warrior's body stiffened like a stone statue, and he turned his head with great difficulty, and saw a young man in a robe pointing at him, and a force was transmitted from the fingertip to his body, and the little girl in his arms looked at him motionlessly, and slowly pulled out a huge pipe from behind.

When the tube appeared, the tavernkeeper's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had become vigilant.

"Wizard?" The strong man who was stopped by Penny with a spell was full of anger: "Why meddle?"

"This should not be the place to settle personal grievances. Penny lowered his hand and took a sip of water, "I don't think the owner here wants his tavern to be a pile of ruins." ”

As he spoke, he glanced at the boss sitting at the door, who coughed: "Yes, if you want to fight, go out to fight, don't interfere with the normal business here." ”

"Come on, Dunant, your business is just to collect ticket money for 'under the mountain', and I'm glad that the old man in the black robe didn't come to you to ask for dividends. The adventurers snorted disapphedly, but no one dared to act rashly anymore, and sat down to drink in a daze.

The warrior Dunant is a celebrity in Waterdeep, and it is said that his martial arts are not below the most famous rangers in the Northlands, and that he was able to enter the 'bottom of the mountain' and escape with his whole body, which shows his strength, and in his tavern, no one really dares to cause trouble.

"Ah, Dunant, thank you so much. The half-elf, who had escaped the disaster, crawled up to the boss, grabbed a jar of wine, and poured it down his throat.

"Heh, I'd rather you get beaten up a few times, well, nasty fellow, you should thank those little friends. Dunant's gaze shifted to Penny's table, and finally landed on Nephis, "Okay, little one, put things away, don't tear down Uncle's shop." ”

"Thank you, uncle. Nephies smiled sweetly and put away the big one in her hand.

At this moment, the half-elf noticed Lanny sitting next to Penny, his eyes lit up, his eyes turned around her body greedily twice, and he came over like a hungry dog, and grabbed her hand: "Ah, this beautiful lady, my name is Anel Stefani, I wonder if I am lucky enough to know your name?"

Boom!

Lanny shook her hand and threw the low-looking guy to the ground, looking at Penny with deep disgust: "You know this guy, why do you want to help him? He looks like a slug." ”

Penny coughed awkwardly and looked down at the half-elf who slowly got up from the ground: "Mr. Stefani, I haven't seen you for two years, and your hobbies haven't changed at all." ”

"I haven't seen ...... for two years," the half-elf scrambled to his feet, and looked at Penny with his eyes dazed, "Is that you?"

"It's nothing, I can't watch you get beaten, after all, we were quite happy. Penny shrugged his shoulders and floated up the quirky minstrels, "Lady Grofia said you were on the Star-Chasing Coast, how did you get to Waterdeep?"

"I'm a bard, and I can't stay in one place all year round. Arnell raised an eyebrow: "It is said that the poets in the New Oram Academy are of a very high level, so I wanted to come and study, but I didn't expect that woman to be so unreasonable, just a joke, to discuss art, and she was going to send someone to beat me." ”

"If I were her, I'd beat you up too. Judging the possible content of this guy's so-called 'art' through the reasons before and after, Lannie narrowed her eyes: "I said Pan, you are really depraved, even if you want to follow the path of the lord, you can't mix with such little thieves." ”

"Uh...... Perhaps this Mr. Stefani thinks that the path of pursuing so-called 'art' is destined to be lonely and incomprehensible. Penny spread his hands.

"You're right, it's really my confidant. Arnell, who felt understanding, laughed, but Lanny snorted.

After chatting for a while, they knew each other before they talked about what was happening.

"Okay, my friend, I'm here to get away from that crazy woman, but what are you doing here?" Arnell sighed: "Are you crazy too, you know, the bounty in Waterdeep City is not so easy to come by, if you want to go to the 'bottom of the mountain', you have to gamble with your life." ”

Penny shook his head, "Okay, but I'm not actually for that woman. ”

"Not for that woman?" Arnell frowned, "That's for what? It won't be for that crazy old man's treasure." ”

"Yes. Penny nodded.

"I think you're a little crazy, boy. Arnell's eyebrows were deep: "This place is much more dangerous than Serre, I finally got out of there, I should cherish my life." ”

"Pan, why talk to this guy?" Lannie frowned, "This is a useless guts bandit." ”

She didn't have any affection for this guy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and had a lewd face.

Arnell shrugged his shoulders and tried to say something, but suddenly stopped.

Soon, the group of people who came in through the door attracted their attention, and the group of people, dressed in neat costumes, greeted Dunant and walked to the depths of the hotel.

"Who are they?" Penny frowned, noticing that almost all of the mercenaries had followed the group into the depths of the hotel.

"Oh, boy, if you want to go down the hill, follow them, there's no better time to do it. Arnell waved his hand: "You know, they are the deep-water royal guards, the highest force dedicated to guarding the safety of the city, the leader is Moore, the first warrior in the deep-water, if you want to enter the mountain, follow them, probably the safest." ”

Listening to Arnell's praise, Penny observed this group of centaurs, among them were warriors, archers, and two wizards of sufficient rank and some clergy, plus sophisticated weapons and equipment, it was indeed quite a luxurious configuration.

Such a team, even if it encounters an army of thousands or a giant dragon, may not be indistinguishable from the superior, and it is probably not uncertain to enter the 'bottom of the mountain' in this way.

As we all know, Helaste Blackrobe is dead, and there is no owner at the bottom of the mountain, and although it is still dangerous, it is not as good as before.

Penny nodded at Lanny, put Nepheth down, and the three of them stood up and walked deeper into the tavern.

Although he didn't pay for the tickets, Dunant didn't seem to ask for it, and just raised his hand to say hello to Nephies as she passed by.

The little girl stuck out her tongue and grimaced at him, and Dunant laughed and touched her hair.

"Hey, boy, are you really going in?" Arnell stood up, and Penny turned back and nodded as a matter of course.

"Well, maybe I might as well go in and join in the fun. The half-elf scratched his head.

"You?" the mage was surprised.

"Oh, I remember that I owe you my life, and I don't have to worry about it now that I pay it back. He yawned, "Maybe I can help you." ”

"He's worked for thieves there in Skull Harbor, and he's no stranger to the Leyline Maze. Dunant interjected.

Penny's eyes lit up, Skull Harbor, also known as 'Shadow Deepwater), is a small town located in the underground of Waterdeep, inhabited by a large number of dark creatures and thieves, not far from the Leyline Maze, if Arnell was born in that place, he might really be able to help.

"Hey, damn it, don't just poke my old bottom. Arnell looked at Dunant in exasperation.

"Well, I wish you all back alive. Dunant waved his hand in disgust and winked at Nepher again.

The little girl snorted softly and turned her head away.

After a quarter of an hour's walk, a gloomy aura rushed over him, which made Penny suddenly vigilant, and the walls of the passage around him gradually became irregular, and the occasional bone fragment reminded the wizard that he had crossed the boundary between the mountain and Waterdeep.

Have entered the lair of the legendary mad mage.

Nephies shuddered and shrank into the wizard's arms.

"It's not a good place. Lannie unleashed her sword, and a heat naturally rose from the blade, which was able to drive away some of the cold.

"I suggest you take your fellow, lovely lady, knowing that there are countless monsters hiding in every corner of this place, and if the temperature change you cause causes some mechanism, I can't guarantee that we'll encounter something. Arnell smiled but didn't smile: "From my own experience, old man Helest is a man with a great sense of humor. ”

"Sense of humor?" Penny asked curiously.

"Yes, if you step on a trap, maybe it contains some dragon dung, and after a while, dozens of feet long dung worms will come out of the tunnel wall, bite your foot and drag it back into the tunnel, like this. ”

Arnell's account made Penny feel extremely weird, setting such a joke trap that made Hylast's last name visible, but it also revealed some other information: "So, there's a super giant bug hidden in here?"

A dung worm can grow to tens of feet, and I'm afraid only the legendary super giant worm that can destroy an entire city can compare to it.

"Super giant worms?" Arnell shrugged: "Super giant insects are all trivial, there are a total of twenty layers under the mountain, and there are more than forty sub-layers in between, maybe except for Helast, no one can explore it thoroughly, what kind of monsters are inside, and few people know, that old man's biggest hobby is to go to another time and space to catch all kinds of monsters that have never been seen, such as some big-mouthed monsters that eat cute children like you." ”

He faced Nephis, who had been staring at him, and the last sentence accentuated his tone, but only got a grimace, so he could only turn his head stupidly: "What a cute boy, hey, what are you looking at?"

He noticed Penny walk up to a stone tablet and crouch down to take a closer look.

And here seems to have reached a fork in the road, a faint light emerges from it, the lair of the black-robed ** master is not as dark as people imagine, and the light patterns shining in many forks are sticking to the wall, which seems to bring a glimmer of hope in the gloom.

But hope is often followed by deeper despair.

There were some garbled characters carved on the stele, not any words, just the handwriting on the graffiti of some urchin.

"Do you know this kind of writing? Hell, the rubbing of this stone tablet has already been sent to the lord's mansion in Waterdeep City, but even the experts of the Silver Moon Alliance can't see what it means. Arnell also walked to the stele and squatted down: "I said that I am afraid that no one can understand this thing except for the black robe of Helast." ”

"This is Malone's ciphertext. Penny stood up and gagged Arnell's mouth with a word.

"Malonen ciphertext, how come I haven't heard of it?" Arnell was shocked, "Where did you know that?"

"Well, it's rare that this guy of yours still knows that he thinks he is shallow. Lanny scoffed and turned to Nephis, "Baby, what is the Maloon cipher?"

Nephies shook her head with her fingers in her hands, turning her gaze to Penny for help, "My lord, I've read hundreds of ciphertexts and magical scripts, but I've never heard of this one. ”

"It's a normal thing. Penny rubbed the little girl's head: "When this kind of ciphertext was used on a large scale in the ancient Imasca era, it was a symbol specially designed to mark the direction of the ancient imperial architects, and it did not belong to any language, and it is normal for no one to know it now." ”

"How do you know?" Anel was dumbfounded, "Hell, the symbol of architecture can't have survived to this day, it's not a text or something else, and it's a little too far away from East Ferron, where Imasca is located, how could that kind of thing happen?" ”

"Of course it's not a coincidence, and I'm more sure of something. A smile appeared on the wizard's lips.

The black robe of Hylaster is really related to Imaska.

"But why do you know these symbols?" Either Arnell or Lannie, or even Little Nefeth, were all curious about the question.

"That's one of the reasons why I'm here to look for the black-robed relic. Penny spread his hands, "Actually, I've always been interested in things related to Imasca. ”

Arnell glanced at him, and there was something strange in his eyes.

He remembered what had happened to the Northland Shadow Plane.

"So, you're going to know the right bearing?" asked Arnell.

"Perhaps, I just hope that the black-robed Lord will not mark himself as dead. Penny stood up: "The portal in front should be passable." ”

Arnell nodded, hesitated for a moment, and saw that the mage and his party had already walked some distance and followed, but they still couldn't believe it in their hearts.

You must know that the black robe of Hylaste is famous for his madness, and the path he marked for himself can't be a dead end?

What's more, as a ** master with extraordinary strength, all the monsters here were captured by him, and many dangers to ordinary adventurers are not dangerous to him, so is it a very wise thing to follow his road signs all the way in?

Penny also understands this, but he doesn't seem to have a choice.

Walking around will only end up worse, and following the signposts set by Hylast, there is a greater chance that you will find the right path.

Passing through a portal, fresh corpses have appeared on the side of the road, which seems to indicate that many adventurers have also stumbled into this seemingly correct path, but then suffered bad luck.

The corpses are not only people, but also many strange-shaped monsters, many of which do not exist in the local area of Faerun at a glance, which makes several people more vigilant and pay more attention to their own concealment, and all kinds of concealment spells are opened, and at this time, a deeper and open field appears in front of you, and at the same time, a noisy sound comes into your ears.

Penny and Arnell stopped, and in front of them was the heavily armed Supreme Guard of Waterdeep, who stopped there, as if they had made a discovery.

(To be continued)