"Long time no see, Kolgrim. Come in."

"Don't worry, Lan." The snake school demon hunter smiled slightly, "Remember the school partners I told you about before? Today I want to introduce you to some new friends."

Lan made way for Kolgrim to climb in through the window.

As he looked in surprise, footsteps were heard on the roof again, and then a second person climbed in by climbing over the window sill, followed by the third and fourth.

They lifted the hoods of their cloaks, revealing faces that Lan had never seen before but were extremely familiar to him.

The surprise in Lan's eyes turned into joy, and even ecstasy.

Just as Kolgrim was about to speak, his eyes suddenly fell on Chapelle.

"Looks like I have another surprise for you." The snake-faction demon hunter pointed at Chapelle, "Lane, be careful, he's a shapeshifter!"

Before Lann could reply, a bolt-unbolted [Moon Dust] flew out from the hands of a man behind Kolgrim, and exploded with a loud bang, scattering silver flakes around Chapelle before anyone could react.

When Chapelle saw the four demon hunters suddenly enter the room, his eyes became flustered. He seemed to want to call the temple guards, but the shout suddenly stopped in his throat.

Covered by this mercury, his whole body suddenly melted, like a puddle of mud or a piece of melted cheese.

His hands and feet began to extend and become as thin and long as a spider. All the facial features disappeared, and his skin and clothes became the same tone and even the same material. He no longer looked like a living creature.

"Chapelle" whimpered and rushed towards the door in a hurry, only to find a man with snake eyes standing there.

"Call your temple guards in and show them what they have been serving all these days."

Triss's eyes lit up as she looked at this magical creature that she had only seen in books. Then she looked at Lann, her eyes even brighter.

"He's a shapeshifter." Kolgrim explained, "When we arrived in Novigrad, we heard about the change in Chapelle's personality after he suffered a stroke. We felt something was wrong at the time, and after investigation, we found that he no longer touched silver utensils in his life. Later, we even found the body of Chapelle No. 1 through the witcher senses."

"All this evidence confirms our suspicions about his identity. 'Chapelle' is now a shapeshifter!"

"It's really ironic that the real Chapelle was feared and died quietly, but the fake Chapelle came to power and gained fame, even raising the image of the Eternal Flame to a higher level."

"Chapelle" whimpered again. The shapeshifter's personality would change as his image changed. At this moment, he no longer had the aura of the Eternal Fire Security Officer. He became pitiful and even spoke with a crying tone.

"Lan, don't do this, don't hurt me... I have never done anything to be your enemy, and I have never hurt anyone..."

He seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw: "What you said before was true, right? You said you would not harm lives that did not do evil, and you didn't even hurt the toad... You are Geralt's friend, and so am I... Please don't hurt me..."

Although he had already anticipated Chapelle's true identity, Lane couldn't help but reveal a conflicted expression when he saw this sudden change in character - this was really too different from the image of the security officer who was previously cold and dignified.

That’s right, Chapelle is now a shapeshifter.

In the original novel, Geralt once had a halfling friend who was robbed by a shapeshifter on the outskirts of Novigrad. The shapeshifter then transformed into a halfling and lived in the city, causing considerable trouble to the halfling.

Geralt eventually helped his friend catch the shapeshifter, but he felt that the monster did not deserve death and only wanted to give him a slight punishment.

Unfortunately, the other people in Novigrad didn't think so. At this time, "Shapelle" appeared. Under the cover and protection of the security officer, the shapeshifter was safe and sound. "Shapelle" also revealed his identity in front of Geralt - another shapeshifter.

Lann naturally didn't want to hurt the current "Shapele". From a perceptual point of view, the other party was a kind-hearted shapeshifter. After becoming Shapele, he used this identity to improve people's livelihood, spread faith, and protect the weak. He was more like a security officer than the original security officer, and more like a believer than the believers of the Eternal Fire.

From a rational point of view, the current "Chapelle" can also give Lann more help. They have already established a friendship, and they were even ready to start a deep conversation before the snake demon hunter came in.

And Lann believes that after seeing the other party's true self, this friendship will become deeper and even unbreakable.

Lane said softly, "Of course Chapelle, I won't hurt you."

The voice was gentle, like coaxing a child, and even Triss shuddered. This was obviously the result of emotional management.

After saying this, he turned back to Kolgrim.

"Thank you for your help, Kolgrim. I had some vague suspicions before, but they were unconfirmed. Now there are no secrets between me and 'Chapelle', and we can communicate more openly."

He did not show off that he had known the secret for a long time, nor did he defend the shapeshifter. Instead, he followed the actions of Kolgrim and the others and thanked the snake hunters, thus avoiding the embarrassment of "meaning well but ending up with bad results" when they met him for the first time.

To be honest, Lane had no reason to be angry.

Who among those present had reason to be angry?

"Chapelle" timidly glanced at the snake-eyed witcher blocking the door, then looked at the sorceress. For some reason, he waved his spider-like thin legs and ran to Lann's side, as if this would give him a little sense of security.

"Well, if you insist," Kolgrim shrugged.

The misunderstanding came to an end, and Lan invited everyone who had come from afar to sit down.

He first introduced Triss to the four witchers. The badges on their necks had already trembled, and they were all very concerned about the existence of the sorceress.

For demon hunters, warlocks are necessary because the demon hunter trials must be controlled by warlocks to increase the success rate, and the Snake Sect no longer has warlocks.

I wonder what expressions the Snake Clan will have when Lann mentions Mossak and Yennefer.

After the host has introduced himself, the guests will start to introduce themselves.

Lann finally calmed down a little at this time and began to look at the four big men who climbed in through the window late at night.

He had never seen so many demon hunters appear before his eyes at the same time.

"This is Reso, our current school leader."

The bald giant standing in the middle stretched out his hand to Lann: "I am Letho of Guleta. Thank you for your help to Kolgrim. If it weren't for you, we would have lost a companion."

"I'm Lann from Cintra." Lann smiled and shook hands with the other party. "Every demon hunter passing by would not have allowed the situation to develop like this."

Kolgrim pointed to the two demon hunters behind Letho and said, "This is Serrit, and this is Ox. They are both trustworthy guys. They and I are like brothers."

Lann shook hands with the two snake hunters again and accepted their thanks for saving Kolgrim.

Serrit and Ox were dressed very similarly, both wearing roughly sewn leather armor with some steel elements on the shoulders and gauntlets; Kolgrim was a little better, with a more refined armor. I wonder if he modified his armor himself during the journey with the help of the drawings in his hand.

These three demon hunters all have a strong serpent school style: they are sturdy, of medium build, always fully armed but their equipment is extremely minimal, like venomous snakes ready to hunt at any time.

But their serpent leader is very different from their image.

If Kolgrim and the other three are poisonous snakes, then Letho's image is more like an anaconda, and it is poisonous.

In front of him is: Letho of Guletar, the bald giant, the man who has made Geralt lose many times, the current leader of the Snake School, the future warlock killer, and the regicide.

If you ignore the badge on his neck, Reso looks more like a bear, or more like a "bear": he is as wide as his two companions combined, with only a leather vest on his upper body. His exposed arms are almost as thick as Lan's legs combined, with knotty muscles on them like tree roots.

He was the strongest man Lane had ever seen, someone who could truly demonstrate the word "strength" in a visual sense.

Retho's later military achievements were also astonishing. In order to revive the school, he accepted the commission of the Emperor of Nilfgaard and went north with two companions. Then he split up and assassinated King Demaevi III of Aedirn and King Foltest of Temeria alone, paralyzing half of the North.

Some curious players think that Letho is more like a "king hunter" than a demon hunter.

Lann and the snake demon hunter were looking at each other, and Kolgrim began to explain to Lann why he was here.

"Since our headquarters was destroyed, our school has developed a technique for companions to find each other's tracks. When I was sailing south from White Orchard, I happened to find them nearby; even more coincidental, they were also heading north."

Hearing his companion's words, Letho nodded: "The Emperor of Nilfgaard knows that we want to rebuild the school, and has been trying to win us over and make us work for him."

"Before Kolgrim returned, a sorcerer came to me and said that the emperor had ordered us to go north to attack the lion of Cintra, so that he could not reach Haji Fortress for negotiations. But then they changed the conditions and wanted us to go a step further and capture the lion alive - that is, you."

Letho sneered, perhaps because he thought it was ridiculous. "Nilfgaard first destroyed our school, and then tried to win us over by helping us revive. That was too good of a plan. So we never agreed. The emperor's people have been monitoring us and restricting us from leaving the country. We could only wander around Nilfgaard and could not settle down - until we met Kolgrim again."

"I have heard from Kolgrim about your power and your promises: about the witcher order, about the future of Cintra, about the ancient blood. So I wanted to come and see you in person and verify your words, Lann of Cintra."