Chapter 4 Old acquaintance
Zhu Yu's carriage stopped at the entrance of a camp surrounded by high walls. The flag of the Cold Wind Mercenaries fluttered in the wind, with a lifelike snow wolf pattern on it, symbolizing strength and loyalty.
Along the way, Zhu Yu discovered that many members of the mercenary group stopped what they were doing, and mercenaries in light armor kept greeting her enthusiastically.
"Ms. Elena, you are here."
"Ms. Elena, you look much better today."
“…”
These enthusiastic greetings made Zhu Yu feel pressured. She smiled and nodded in response, but she became more and more uneasy in her heart - the deeper the relationship between Elena and this mercenary group, the more difficult it would be for her to play the role of Elena in front of the leader.
Led by a mercenary, Zhu Yu came to the stable.
From a distance, she saw a figure concentrating on wiping a tall chestnut warhorse.
The man was wearing a neat leather armor and his hair was casually tied behind his head. He looked no different from other mercenaries, but Zhu Yu felt that this figure was somewhat familiar.
"Ms. Elena?"
Hearing the footsteps, the man stopped what he was doing and slowly turned around.
Zhu Yu stopped immediately and widened his eyes.
When their eyes met, Lin Ji's hand movements suddenly paused, with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Zhu Yu?!"
She let out a low cry, but immediately changed her tone and said in a subtle tone:
"No, Miss Elena, how did you..."
Before she finished speaking, she noticed several mercenaries passing by from a distance, so she lowered her voice and said to Zhu Yu:
"This is not the place to talk, let's find a quieter place."
Zhu Yu nodded, and Lin Ji said:
"Come with me to the study."
The two walked through the courtyard and came to a study in the main building.
After entering the room, Lin Ji hurriedly collected all the maps, letters and quills that were piled messily on the table, making room for an empty space.
Zhu Yu poked his head out to look outside the door, and after confirming that no one was there, he gently closed the door.
Then she turned around and pulled up a chair and sat down.
Zhu Yu suppressed his excitement at seeing an old acquaintance and asked tentatively:
"What is the last soup base my hot pot restaurant launched in the Arctic Disaster dungeon?"
Lin Ji looked up at her and answered without hesitation:
“Cantonese coconut chicken hotpot.”
Seeing Zhu Yu nod in confirmation, Lin Ji asked back:
"So what is my profession in that dungeon?"
Zhu Yu smiled and replied:
"Ice Mage."
As the secret code was matched, the two of them relaxed at the same time.
Lin Ji stood up and walked to the side, taking out a plate of hard and crispy biscuits from the small table next to the bookshelf.
Then she poured Zhu Yu a cup of steaming tea.
She pushed the teacup and biscuits in front of Zhu Yu and said apologetically:
"Blackberry tea and coarse oatmeal biscuits. The conditions here are limited, so I can only treat you with these simple things. I hope you don't mind."
Zhu Yu smiled and waved his hand:
"It's okay, this is good enough."
As she spoke, she picked up the cup and took a sip of hot tea.
Although it is slightly bitter at first, the aftertaste is sweet with a hint of berry, and the taste is quite good.
The two of them already knew each other's identities in the dungeon. Zhu Yu didn't beat around the bush. After taking a few sips of tea, he got straight to the point:
"Lin Ji, what is your main mission in this instance?"
Lin Ji: “Eliminate the plague.
Zhu Yu nodded slightly: "It seems that everyone's main mission is the same."
No, in fact there are some differences. Compared with Lin Ji's mission, my main mission, in addition to "eradicating the plague", also has an additional goal - to find the source of the plague disaster.
Why did I have this extra task? Was it because of Elena's identity? Or was it because she drew the wizard card and gained the "purification" skill?
Zhu Yu did not speak out these speculations for the time being.
It's not that she doesn't trust Lin Ji, but because she has too few clues at hand and there are too many things she hasn't figured out yet. If she speaks out rashly, it may make the situation more complicated.
Zhu Yu suppressed the doubts in his heart and asked:
"Do you have any clues about the plague? Or have you come into contact with any suspicious people?"
Lin Ji shook his head: "Not yet, but the Cold Wind Mercenary Group found some traces of infected people when investigating outside the town, and they are tracking them down further."
The dungeon had just started, and neither of them knew much about the clues to the main quest. After a brief silence, Lin Ji changed the subject, his eyes fell on Zhu Yu, and asked:
"By the way, is the card you drew a wizard?"
Zhu Yu was slightly stunned, surprised at her accurate guess.
Seeing this, Lin Ji explained:
"The former leader of the mercenary group had the habit of writing a diary. After I entered the dungeon, the first thing I did was to read through the contents of her diary."
Hearing this, Zhu Yu couldn't help but feel a little envious of Lin Ji's luck.
Being able to obtain valuable clues so easily undoubtedly saved a lot of trouble. But she soon realized that with Elena's special identity and the things she did, it was absolutely impossible for her to leave any handles that could be easily exploited, let alone write a diary.
"What is mentioned in the diary?" Zhu Yu asked.
Lin Ji didn't keep the secret and continued, "The diary mentioned you. Elena has a good relationship with the former leader. She once helped you find several herbs. I checked the information and found that those herbs are all banned from sale on the market. Their effects are the same... they all increase witchcraft power."
Zhu Yu suddenly realized: "So that's it."
No wonder Lin Ji could guess her occupation right away.
She turned her eyes slightly, carefully sizing up Lin Ji's figure and temperament, and after thinking for a moment, she said:
"But your profession is easy to guess. Combining some stereotypes with the horses I saw in the stable just now... you are a knight, right?"
Lin Ji laughed, with a hint of sarcasm:
"Do we even need to guess? Isn't it obvious?"
Zhu Yu couldn't help but curl his lips and glanced at the long sword beside her: "It's really obvious."
At this time, Zhu Yu suddenly remembered something. As they were chatting, she almost forgot the main purpose of the trip.
She raised her hand and took out a cowhide purse from her wide cuffs. The opening of the purse was tightly wrapped with a hemp rope and a simple noose tied on it.
The purse made a crisp "clanging" sound as she moved, indicating its weight.
Zhu Yu put the purse on the table and said:
"This is what Elena gave you. This balance is the reward for the commissioned task. By the way, do you know what the task is? From the tone of one of my friends, it seems to be quite difficult."
Lin Ji was slightly startled, then he reacted and scratched his head:
"Oh, I see. So it's about that. It just so happens that I remember the last page of the mercenary group leader's diary mentioned this mission. I'll show it to you directly."
As she spoke, she stood up, pulled out a thick diary from the corner of the bookshelf and handed it to Zhu Yu.
Zhu Yu's eyes lit up and he quickly took it and opened it.
The diary's narrative is not complicated, but it contains a huge amount of information.
She finally understood - the murdered messenger was not an ordinary person, but a killer sent by the Draca family to assassinate Elena.
Elena had already received this secret information. After learning about her family's plan, she acted decisively and asked her friends to take action to deal with the messenger in advance.
On the other side, Lin Ji leaned on the table and couldn't help but complain:
"I'm saying, Miss Elena, have you gotten into any big trouble?"
Zhu Yu looked up from his diary and asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Lin Ji spread his hands, his expression somewhat helpless: "The messenger sent by your family is not simple. He is actually a knight disguised as a messenger. In the Kingdom of Lodevia, the status of a knight is not low. Your family is willing to send such a person to deal with you. The resources mobilized are not small. More importantly, the strength of that person is very strong. The original captain took a lot of effort to kill him."
Seeing that Zhu Yu didn't seem to know much about knights, Lin Ji added:
"The knights in this dungeon are not only good at riding horses and swinging swords. They are equivalent to combining the abilities of warriors and mages. In addition to being proficient in the basic skills of swordsmanship and riding, each knight also masters an elemental magic ability."
She paused and continued, "And the messenger sent by your family is good at fire magic and is extremely fierce in battle. Fortunately, Captain Yuan is good at ice magic like me, which just happens to restrain his fire magic. Otherwise, this mission would be difficult to complete."
After listening to Lin Ji's long speech, Zhu Yu rubbed his eyebrows and took a deep breath.
Although she was not sure what kind of deep hatred there was between Elena and the Draka family, one thing was certain - since the family had already sent a knight to assassinate her, when the news of the failure was reported back, the next action would only be more rigorous and dangerous.
She might be able to cope with it temporarily with Lin Ji's help, but she couldn't always pin her hopes on outsiders.
Right now, she could only improve her reputation as quickly as possible and release the sealed archer and summoner abilities so that she could better deal with the troubles that would come.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yu stood up suddenly.
"What are you doing?"
Lin Ji was startled by her sudden movement and almost lost his balance on the teacup in his hand.
"On my way here just now, I saw a lot of weapons in your camp," Zhu Yu looked at her with a serious look in his eyes, "I want a bow and arrow of better quality to use for self-defense temporarily. Do you have any suitable ones that you can lend me?"
Lin Ji raised his eyebrows and said with a smile:
"It's just a small matter, yet you're making such a big deal about it. Come on, I'll take you to pick a few to try."
After the two of them arrived at the place where the mercenary group kept their weapons, Lin Ji picked up a bow and handed it to Zhu Yu: "Try this first."
Zhu Yu took the bow and felt its weight a little, not very satisfied:
"It's too light, and the string isn't pulled hard enough."
"Then try this one, it's made of walnut, it's stronger."
Lin Ji picked up another handful and handed it over.
Zhu Yu pulled the string and felt that this one was slightly better than the previous one, but still did not meet her expectations.
She frowned and asked, "Is there anything stronger?"
After trying several bows and arrows, Zhu Yu finally found one that was fairly useful.
However, just as she picked up the bow and arrow, a burst of hurried footsteps came from a distance.
She looked up and saw Maggie running towards her, panting, with an obvious look of anxiety on her face.
She ran to Zhu Yu and whispered in her ear:
"Miss, the people from the Inquisition suddenly came. It is said that they received an anonymous report that there is a wizard hiding in our mansion, and they are now waiting for you to return to the mansion."
Zhu Yu's body stiffened, and the fingers holding the bow and arrow turned slightly white.
Seeing this, Maggie quickly comforted her, "Miss, don't worry too much. Although they are coming with great force, there are no wizards hiding in our mansion. Besides... you don't have any magical power, so they dare not do anything to you."
Zhu Yu couldn't help but twitch his lips as he listened to Maggie's words of comfort.
It turns out that Elena is not a wizard, but she is!
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