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Chapter 162: The abnormalities of the white bone staff
“There are three people five hundred meters behind you. Because they’re further away and wearing ordinary gear, I can’t figure out their strength.” Han Shuo observed for a moment as he stood on the outcrop with narrowed eyes, responding to Candice’s question in a low voice after a while.
“Thank you Bryan, I’ll remember your help.” Candice said lowly and didn’t say much else to Han Shuo, turning to return to the Battlefire mercenary band, discussing something with the mercenaries.
“What is she to you that you’re willing to help her?” Lisa tugged on Han Shuo’s sleeve after Candice had left.
“A friend of mine from awhile back. Let’s go. We’ll leave in another direction. We still need to return to Valen City in a bit.” Han Shuo looked at Candice and saw that she was still discussing things with her employer. He knew that his words had had an effect then.
Candice was a mercenary and had her missions and way of living. Han Shuo gave her a reminder out of the kindness of his heart when he ran into her and saw that her mission held some latent danger. He was being a good friend, but wouldn’t interfere in her matters.
When she heard that Han Shuo wanted to leave, Lisa didn’t say much as she ducked her head shyly and walked behind Han Shuo, reaching out her hands to entwine around his neck and jumping firmly onto his back. She said merrily next to his ear, “I still want you to give me a piggyback me.”
Han Shuo was speechless, and then smiled ruefully. He said to Lisa on his back, “I had no choice just now because there was an emergency. That’s why I put you on my back. Now that we’re out of danger, you no longer need to be piggy backed. We can slowly walk back.”
“Hehe, I’m not getting down no matter what you say.” Lisa’s small hands entwined themselves around Han Shuo’s neck as her fleshy thighs criss crossed themselves around his waist, appearing quite at ease.
Lisa was at an exuberantly youthful age, and because of Han Shuo’s random teachings, her originally flat chest was now a bit ridiculously well rounded. Han Shuo could even feel that her chest on his back wasn’t much smaller than that of Emily’s. That soft, wondrous feeling made Han Shuo’s heart itch a bit.
Off in the distance, Candice spoke a bit with her comrades and seemed to be set on continuing to make their way to Valen City, ignoring the three following behind them. Their minds made up, the group began moving out again. Candice flicked a glance over at Han Shuo and happened to see Lisa on Han Shuo’s back. She was rather taken aback.
Han Shuo felt Candice’s slightly bizarre gaze and turned to lift his head proudly, as if showing off something to Candice. She couldn’t help but break into soft laughter.
“Hang on, we’re leaving too.” Han Shuo didn’t force her to come down from his back when he saw that Lisa’s mind was set. She’d just lost her parents and was in the most painful moments of her life. He didn’t want to make her unhappy at a time like this. He gave instructions in a low voice and walked off on another path, avoiding the direction that Candice’s crew was taking to Valen City.
It was already evening at this time. Han Shuo took note of the direction and made a circle around the city walls. He used the “Art of the Demonic Ninth Heavens” to fly over the city walls when night had fallen, landing in Valen City’s territory.
They arrived at the hotel that Emily had stayed at last time and Han Shuo made his way directly to Emily’s room. Chester called out lowly from within the room before they entered, “Who is it?”
“It’s me!” Han Shuo responded and pushed open the door. He looked at the surprised Chester and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Chester hesitated when he saw Lisa on Han Shuo’s back, responding, “Madame Emily thought that this might be where you’re meeting Lawrence and had me stay here in hopes of receiving word from anyone of you.”
“Then, did you receive any messages from Lawrence?” Han Shuo couldn’t head directly to the Dark Mantle from here because Emily had arranged for men to be here, and because Lisa was present. This was also where he’d told Lawrence he was staying, so Lawrence was likely to come here after he escaped.
Nodding, Chester answered, “Lawrence hasn’t come by yet, but he’s sent a messenger. The man told me that if you and Lisa came back, please take Lisa to this place!” Chester handed over a card as he spoke. The address that was not too far from here was written on it.
“What did the man who Lawrence sent look like?” Han Shuo had to take all precautions.
After Chester had described the person, Han Shuo immediately understood that the person who’d come was the old assassin Lucky and therefore there was nothing to worry about in this matter.
Letting Lisa down from his back, Han Shuo looked at her and said seriously, “Lisa, we’re about to do something very dangerous. You should go with Chester and immediately go to where your cousin is. Lawrence will take you back to the Empire in a short period of time. Do as I say, alright? We’ll stay and get revenge for you.”
After experiencing an extreme hardship in life, Lisa was much more mature than Han Shuo had remembered. Although an expression of longing remained in her eyes after he said his words, she nodded her head docilely, agreeing to Han Shuo’s arrangements.
“Hire a carriage. Take Miss Lisa to the place on Lawrence’s card yourself. Place her safely in Lawrence’s hands.” Han Shuo said with a smile to Chester.
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle all of this perfectly.” Chester promised Han Shuo with great confidence and then bowed towards Lisa, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him.
Lisa looked deeply at Han Shuo, saying to him with some worry afterwards, “Be careful, don’t let anything happen to you.”
“Don’t worry, nothing will happen to me. Make use of the cover of the night to make haste. Go with him.” Han Shuo nodded and urged Lisa on with a slight smile.
Lisa turned and followed Chester after these words, and the two quickly moved outside. The Dark Mantle’s influence was naturally significant in such a city as large as this. It wouldn’t have been a difficult thing to accomplish if Han Shuo had wanted to send Lisa back.
However, he’d only joined the Dark Mantle only a short while ago, so it wasn’t a good thing to use the organization’s resources for his own personal affairs. In addition, as the third prince, it would be a more than appropriate thing for him to handle this matter and take care of Lisa’s affairs after she’d returned back to the Empire.
Han Shuo turned after Lisa had left and walked into the inner chamber, saying with a slight smile, “Come on out.”
Emily walked out with a smile from the inner chamber wearing a soft leather coat and rolled her eyes when she walked next to Han Shuo. She reached out a hand and pinched him, saying with some jealousy, “You made off with Lawrence’s sister after visiting him and made him send men here to ask for her. You’re something alright!”
Grasping her pinching hand and pulling it forward, Han Shuo held Emily in his arms and started roving his hands all over her well rounded chest. He smiled in explanation, “I’m not as bad as you think I am! I only took her with me because Lawrence’s location had been compromised.”
He explained the entire matter to Emily, who then responded with a furrowed brow, “According to Lawrence’s words, he may be here to act against Bob Ascher on the king’s silent approval. This may be one of the methods that His Majesty is using to test Lawrence. He’ll be using Lawrence’s performance in this matter to determine Lawrence’s future path.”
Han Shuo started slightly after hearing Emily’s words. He hadn’t thought that much at first, but it all made sense after Emily had explained things. He mused silently for a moment and then said, “If this is the case, then we might actually have the inclination to cooperate with Lawrence.”
“That’s right, the Dark Mantle is under no restrictions when we conduct missions. I don’t mind cooperating with Lawrence if the timing is right, but as for how to actually act, we must have a defined plan.” Emily’s slender brows were knit tightly as she spoke with some concern.
Emily’s worries stemmed from Lawrence’s identity as prince. She was afraid that if others misunderstood their relationship before the greater picture had been set. If Lawrence wasn’t king in the end and another prince inherited the throne, then Emily, Han Shuo, and those others who had been too close to Lawrence might attract fatal disasters. Thus, Emily was quite cautious.
“I understand your meaning. Don’t worry, I know my place when interacting with Lawrence.” Han Shuo said quietly. He thought for a moment and then asked, “Right, you left in a hurry to notify your brother about the Calamity Church and told me not to mention this to anyone else. Why is that?”
Emily’s charming features became incredibly grave when these words were voiced. She took a deep breath in and responded, “The Calamity Church is an evil church. They worship all sorts of evil gods, and numerous evil experts are gathered within their ranks. I only know of a few rumors about this church and don’t know the details, but my brother told me that this Calamity Church is the largest evil cult on the entire continent. They commit acts hated by both man and god in the shadows. It’s always a great threat to any country whenever they embark on a large scale mission.”
“Ten years or so ago, several empires cooperated to exterminate the Calamity Church and swept away all of their exposed strongholds. There was no news of the Calamity Church for a long while after that, but everyone knows that they hadn’t been destroyed at all. They are only in hiding. The fact that you confirmed this fact from the memories of the necromancer from the Calamity Church means that this matter is receiving significant attention.”
Starting in shock, Han Shou looked askance at Emily, “Did you report the fact that I took the necromancer’s memories?”
“Of course not.” Emily pouted and rolled her eyes at Han Shuo, seeming to fault him for not believing her. She only continued to speak after he apologized. “I only said that we killed the necromancer together and gained this information from his space ring.”
“I see. It looks like this necromancer was a big fish.” Han Shuo smiled and fished out the white bone staff as they chatted, toying with it as they continued talking.
A strange buzzing sound suddenly emitted from the white bone staff, like the drone of an unknown bug. This made Han Shuo’s hair stand on end with astonishment.
“Is there anyone here in this hotel?” A familiar voice traveled in from outside at this moment. It was Candice calling out loudly.
The white bone staff still continued to sound out oddly and kept vibrating, seeming to want to fly out of Han Shuo’s grasp. This greatly surprised both Han Shuo and Emily.
“Eh? Miss Belinda, what are you doing? You can’t leave by yourself.” Candice’s shouting suddenly became frantic calls. It seemed that her employer had walked out of the Battlefire mercenary band’s protection.
Firmly grasping onto the shaking white bone staff, Han Shuo also felt rather perplexed and shook his head quickly. “I don’t know what’s going on either. This has never happened before whenever I used it.”
Frantic footsteps quickly approached their room, accompanied by Candice’s frantic yells. Han Shuo’s thoughts raced as he seemed to understand something and put the white bone staff back into his space ring. He made a motion towards Emily as he tip toed over to the window.