As night fell, sparse torches and hurricane lanterns were lit in the gathering place. The light was dim, and various shadows swayed, making the scene seem even more bizarre.

Mark was riding on a reindeer, holding the newly bought "Heart of Earthfire" and "Frosttooth Root" in his arms. Xiao Mu had already drunk the holy water he personally mixed and fell asleep with a little snore.

He looked at the people who were hunching their necks in the cold wind and hurriedly walking towards different churches, and touched his chin.

"Tsk," he muttered quietly, "these charlatans here are more familiar with business than doctrine. Monopolizing supplies, raising prices... I feel like they're following a different path from the Church of Holy Light in the Central Continent."

"Forget it." He patted the reindeer's neck and turned back to the agreed meeting point. "It has nothing to do with me. At least I've found a useful target for Enzo."

Mark rode on a reindeer and slowly strolled to the pre-arranged meeting point.

This is the doorway of a tavern on the edge of the market town, with a tattered ice pick sign hanging on it, which looks like it will be blown down by the wind at any time.

He looked around and saw that apart from a few local drunkards who were huddled together in front of a weak charcoal fire in a rusty iron bucket to keep warm, he didn't see even a hair of Anna and the others.

"Hmm?" Mark touched his chin. "These guys are a little slow, aren't they? Or... have they been tripped up by some unexpected incident?"

He imagined it.

Monica might be using her identification skills that could scare even the undead to carefully analyze the differences between the murals of the Star-Moon Church on the Arctic ice field and the underground base of the Black Gold Gang.

Anna was probably using her elf-like silence to make the preachers of the Star-Moon Church doubt their lives and consider whether the depth of their faith was sufficient to interpret the scriptures.

As for Enzo... well, he was probably fighting with the people from the Dark Church, or having a drinking contest with some new acquaintances?

I can’t guess! I really can’t guess.

"Mwu?" After waking up from the drunken state of holy water, little Mu crawled out from his collar, blinking his big eyes, as if asking where dinner was.

"Don't worry, little one." Mark patted it. "It looks like they won't be coming back tonight. That's good, we don't have to squeeze into a tent and listen to Enzo snoring. Let's enjoy it too!"

He immediately made a very wise and courageous decision.

Don’t look for teammates for now, just find a place to have a comfortable sleep first!

By the way, please help Enzo find out about the Black Anvil Church, which the old dwarf complained was "more greedy than the black digger worms underground."

So he drove the deer around the market town and began looking for the hotel that looked the most "luxurious".

Finally, his eyes were fixed on a crooked building that was actually three stories high!

And there is a magnificent wooden building built with many whole wooden boards.

There was a sign hanging at the door with a picture of a sleeping snow bear, and below it was written in the common language and several crooked characters - "Northern Bear Warm Nest".

"This is it!" Mark poked his head into the hotel.

Behind the counter stood a proprietress who was so fat that she could almost collapse the counter. She was leisurely trimming her nails with a small file, not even bothering to lift her eyelids.

"Stay in a hotel?" Her voice was lazy and nasal.

"Yes, the best room!"

The proprietress finally raised her eyelids and looked him up and down, especially at the dark cross necklace on his chest, and curled her lips:

"The best room? It has a private bathroom and a floor heater. It costs five gold coins per night. Pay first."

"Five gold coins?!" Mark looked at the proprietress in surprise.

This price is a bit exaggerated even in Osborne Town!

"Is your wall made of gold or is your floor heater made of gold?"

The proprietress slammed the file on the counter and spread out her chubby hands. "The walls are made of icefield hardwood, so it's warm! The stove burns dung balls from ground fire lizards, which are durable and odorless! You can live here if you want, or not, I'm the only one in the settlement with this kind of accommodation. This is the price for outsiders! Unless you go and pay the dues now to join our Battle Blood Sect. Too much? Turn right when you get out the door and dig a hole in the snow. It's free!"

The corners of Mark's mouth twitched.

Salamander feces? That doesn't sound fancy at all...

But the private bathroom and floor heating are too tempting.

To be honest, it is really inconvenient for Mark's team to take a bath without a water elemental mage.

It would be good if there were rivers and lakes in the place they encountered. If not, he would not be able to use the drinking water stored in the Starlight Gap to provide everyone with a bath.

He decisively took out five golden coins from the gap between the stars and slapped them on the counter, feeling a rare sense of anticipation.

"Deal! Keys!"

The proprietress smiled instantly, the fat on her face squeezed into a chrysanthemum, and she swiftly swept the gold coins into the drawer.

He handed over a rusty iron key that looked like it could be used as a murder weapon:

"The 'Giant Bear's Lair' at the very back of the third floor! Boil your own water in the backyard, and the firewood is at the end of the corridor. We'll charge you extra for any help! Sweet dreams, generous Lord of Holy Light~"

Mark took the heavy key, hugged Xiao Mu, and walked up the creaking stairs that seemed to be about to collapse at any second, complaining silently in his heart:

"This place is truly luxurious. Even the hot water has to be boiled by ourselves..."

Although he has money now, he doesn't want to let the hotel make money...

However, when he opened the thick wooden door, he felt the real warm and dry air blowing into the room.

There was even a huge wooden bathtub that looked like it could fit two people, and my mood instantly improved.

"It's worth it!" He laid Xiao Mu on the bed covered with thick animal skins and stretched. Although the mattress was a bit hard, it was still bearable. "Let's take a hot bath first, and then go find out about the Black Anvil Church! Enzo, Enzo, for your people, I'm going to join the fight!"

He happily began to think about how to boil water, and didn't notice that outside the window, several blurry figures in dark leather coats were silently disappearing in the shadows of the dim alley of the settlement. The direction they had been staring at before leaving seemed to be the "Northern Bear Warm Nest".

After the light in his room was turned on, those people seemed to leave as Dachang wished.

At this moment, in the headquarters of the Star-Moon Church in Jisuo, Monica and Anna were sitting quietly in a warm stone house. Opposite them was an old woman wearing a Star-Moon robe but with elf features. On the table between the three of them lay an extremely ancient book.

The old woman seemed to be introducing the history of the Star-Moon Church to the two of them, advising them to turn back from their mistakes and return to the arms of the Star-Moon Goddess.

Meanwhile, in the Dark Church, Enzo, bewildered, was being washed in a tub by two scantily clad women. After drying themselves, they climbed onto the large animal-skin bed in the tent...

The night at Fortagan Lodge has just begun.

What Mark's team encountered seemed to be different from what they had imagined when they separated.