While Ash was sleeping, on the plain far away from Duogu Village, an old man in a star robe and a young man in a gorgeous dance costume were walking slowly under the cover of night.
"Sigourney," the old man suggested tactfully, "Aren't you going to change out of these cumbersome clothes?"
"Why did you change it?" The young man lowered his eyes and looked at himself, "Doesn't it look good?"
Old man: “…”
"I didn't expect you to be able to dance like an elf." The old man tried to praise, "I've never seen you dance before, and I thought you had lost the steps."
The young man glanced at him coldly: "Why should I dance for an old man?"
Old man: “…”
"Why don't you tell the kid your name?" The old man continued, undeterred. "He seems to like you very much."
"And let him be obsessed with this name, thinking about it day and night?" The young man sneered, "Forget it, we won't meet again."
Old man: “…”
"You should thank that child." The old man slowed down and continued earnestly, "In this Broken River Plain, our magic power is imprisoned. Even though the suppression has been alleviated recently due to the drying up of the Elemental River, it is still difficult for me to communicate with the stars and predict Rachel's whereabouts. Thanks to that child who guides us every night, otherwise we would not be able to find Rachel."
"Why can't you be more confident?" The young man said in a mocking tone, "Maybe your astrology skills have improved by leaps and bounds, and the divination results have nothing to do with that little devil at all?"
Old man: “…”
He took a deep breath. "When I saw the child, I understood. It was he who invoked the power of the stars, which gave me enlightenment." He said with certainty, "He is a child favored by the stars."
The young man said indifferently: "Oh."
What does that have to do with him?
"..." I want to beat him. Veins on the old man's forehead throbbed, and he tried his best to tell himself to be elegant and calm. For the sake of his deceased friend, he had to tolerate the big trouble entrusted to him by this friend, even though he was narcissistic and mean, and not likable at all.
Thinking about the child's cold and miserable past, he wanted to teach the child to understand warmth and learn to love.
The old man muttered to himself, hypnotizing himself for the thousand and first time. Very good, he was calm again.
"Are you really not going to say anything?" He guided her patiently. "You just succeeded in your revenge by killing one of the best grey-robed wizards in the world. Don't you have any thoughts?"
The young man stopped.
The old man was greatly encouraged and looked at him expectantly.
"It's a great relief?" The young man tilted his head to look at him and raised a nice smile, "As expected of me."
The old man, who had silently opened his arms to comfort: “…” then silently narrowed his arms.
Are you crying because you have got your revenge?
What should he do with the inspirational lines he had been thinking about all night?
"Nance." The young man looked towards the sky and called his name.
"Hmm?" Nance looked at the young man in surprise. Was he going to open up to the young man? Had he finally warmed up this cold guy?
"It's almost dawn." Sigourney stood still, "We should stop and rest."
Nance: "..." Be! Elegant! Be! Cool! Be quiet! Teach this damn kid to know warmth and learn to love!
Damn the warmth and love!
He rolled up his sleeves, took out his shining astrological staff from the space ring, and was about to hit Sigourney's beautiful head with it.
"Eh..." Sigourney suddenly raised her arm and asked in surprise, "What is this?"
Nance paused, temporarily giving up the idea of hitting him with the stick, and moved closer to watch suspiciously, particularly suspecting that this was Sigourney looking for an excuse to avoid being beaten.
But when he saw Sigourney's arms, the doubt disappeared.
——That was Sigourney’s left forearm. On the pale and smooth skin, a clear pattern emerged: a silver-white star the size of a fingernail, with five pointed corners, small and cute.
"What is this?" Nance also murmured to himself, his wise brain pondering the answer, "I feel the power of the contract. The contract..."
Soon, he remembered: "...before, before you killed Rachel, he seemed to be making a contract with that child?"
"What does this have to do with me?" Sigourney stared at the strange mark on her arm, very angry, "It's not like I made a bond with anyone—"
His voice suddenly stopped, his neck twisted stiffly inch by inch, and he looked at Nance in disbelief, as if he was trying to verify something.
Nance tried to make a serious expression and said in a heavy tone, "Yes, the contract ceremony between them was interrupted, but it was most likely transferred to you. You were the closest person to them at that time."
Sigourney argued with difficulty: "...I didn't do anything."
He didn't recite the words of the contract, cast any spells, or even give his own name.
What kind of contract would be so unreasonable that it would bind any random passerby to the contract?
Nance shrugged. "You know, even though Rachel is a villain, a lunatic, and a scumbag, his knowledge and ability are unquestionable. Who knows what weird stuff he found in the notes of some ancient wizard? No matter how incredible it is, it's possible."
"Before, I couldn't understand why he quietly left his impregnable wizard tower and risked everything to go deep into the Broken River Plain. In this place, even a gray-robed wizard can't exert one thousandth of his strength. It's hard to believe that a cautious guy like him would make such a bold decision. Of course, thanks to his impulsiveness, otherwise we might never find a chance to kill him." Nans said with emotion, "But now it seems that he may have come here just for the child."
"So?" Sigourney frowned, irritated, "Can it be erased?"
"Don't you understand yet?" Nance sighed. "That's the cunning and cowardly Rachel. She took a huge risk to come here to sign a contract. Will she let the contract be erased so easily?"
"This contract must be extraordinary." He said in a loud voice, but when he saw Sigourney's cold and livid face, he coughed twice, "...But, give me some time, I should be able to solve it. I am also very interested in the contract prepared by Rachel."
"Hey, it's almost dawn." Nansli, not like an old man, quickly took out the magic tent from the space ring and urged, "Sigourney, you can't be exposed to the sun, go in quickly."
Sigourney glanced at the brightening sky, then stared blankly at her arm, tilted her head to glance at Nance, and spoke each word with emphasis: "You said it can be untied."
Nance nodded solemnly in assurance.
Sigourney pursed her lips, opened the tent and walked in.
Hmm? In?
Finally got in?
Nance stood outside the tent, facing the first rays of sunshine in the morning, with his hands on his hips, his heavy expression suddenly changed, and he became very happy: Ha! Ha! Ha! Sigourney, you have come to this day! Oh no, he was so depressed just now, let him laugh for a while!
As expected of me?
Very satisfying?
Won't we meet again?
The contract has been signed!
It was a slap in the face.
Hahahaha! Hahaha! Hahahahaha!
When the sun rose, Ash from Duogu Village also woke up driven by his biological clock.
There are rare dark circles under the eyelids.
He opened his eyes and was in a daze for a while, one foot stuck in the dream and unable to pull out.
I dreamed of a very good-looking and beautiful person...
He thought about it, and then suddenly shuddered.
Beautiful young people…dancing…troupe…Rachel!
The memory of last night came back to him instantly, and he jumped up from the ground and looked straight ahead.
This is the only high ground outside the village. Standing here, you can have a clear view of the direction where the troupe was last night.
The lawn where many villagers slept at night was now mostly empty. Some people woke up in the sunlight, slowly got up, looked around, and seemed to be wondering why they slept in this place.
Then they brushed off the grass and dew on their bodies, woke up people they knew, greeted each other, joked with each other, and walked towards the village.
When passing the high ground, I saw Ash.
So he raised his hand and waved to Ash: "Ash, did you have a good birthday yesterday?"
Ash blinked and nodded.
He had a birthday he will never forget.
He ran down from the high ground to where Aubrey and Shayna had slept last night.
Shanna had sat up and was half-lying, pulling out a blade of grass and using the tip of the blade to tickle the nostrils of Aubrey, who was still snoring.
Ash watched and couldn't help but rub the tip of his nose, feeling like he wanted to sneeze.
"A-choo!" Aubrey sneezed loudly.
He sat up suddenly, his face full of rage: "Which bastard - Ah! Shanna!" He performed a classic transformation from a Tyrannosaurus Rex to a little lamb, just in the blink of an eye.
Shanna and Ash both laughed at him.
"Good morning, Shanna." Aubrey blushed, "We..." He looked around, his expression even more embarrassed, "Did we sleep outside together last night?"
Shanna blushed a little because of him: "Yeah."
"You guys, do you remember what happened?" Ash asked carefully.
"What happened?" Aubrey stammered, almost fuming, and explained in a panic, "I, I didn't do anything to Shanna!"
Shanna also nodded hurriedly.
No one asked them to prove their innocence, but the two newbies in love seemed to be afraid of being misunderstood, so they kept talking and trying to explain everything clearly.
Ash listened to their incoherent words expressionlessly, and from the pile of "we are not" and "we don't have", he picked out the information he wanted to know -
The two of them didn't remember being held hostage by Rachel last night.
In the two men's impression, they watched the entire show. The performance was particularly wonderful and the atmosphere was particularly warm, so much so that after the show, they continued to celebrate on the grass until late at night, when they were tired and lay down to sleep.
They all slept soundly and felt refreshed when they woke up.
——Is this also an effect caused by magic?
Ash was lost in thought and didn't say anything, but Aubrey, who was trying to explain himself, was so anxious that he was sweating profusely: "Ash! Ash! Believe me! I really didn't..."
Ash looked at him strangely and asked in confusion: "Why do you have to make me believe it?"
Aubrey & Shanna: "Uh..."
Finally realized why they were trying so hard to explain to Ash?
The author has something to say: Nance: Do you know how thick Ash’s filter was last night? =-=
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
