Chapter 223: Reminder · Ijenia · Poison Resistance II
Panasolay?
Hearing this name, Tang Zheng couldn't recall who it was at first. He accepted the Wooden Box from the Guard, but before he could ask, the armored Guard bowed once more, turned, and swiftly departed.
Witnessing this scene, Tang Zheng's eyes flashed. He gazed at the exquisite Wooden Box in his hand, its surface inlaid with a thumb-sized ruby. A thought stirred in his mind; he now remembered who "Panasolay" was.
Panasolei Gruze Day Rettenmaier!
The mayor of this fortress city, E-Rantel.
"Interesting," Tang Zheng said thoughtfully, not even lifting his head. "Xiao Hei, let's keep moving."
"Awooo."
The bone chain on the evil spirit hound tensed again as it pulled the carriage, continuing along the road leading out of the city.
The Green Leaf Witch and Enri both looked at the ruby-inlaid Wooden Box with some curiosity, but seeing Tang Zheng lost in thought, neither spoke to disturb him.
Tang Zheng recalled that he'd had no interaction whatsoever with this mayor. For him to suddenly send a gift was quite perplexing.
This Mayor Panasolay's background was anything but simple. More importantly, their departure from E-Rantel today was a completely spontaneous decision by Tang Zheng.
In other words, that Guard had been waiting for them at the city gate from the very beginning, not dispatched on the spot.
*Squeak~*
The Wooden Box opened with a soft sound.
Inside lay a plain, grayish-black dagger. Beneath the dagger was a slip of paper.
Tang Zheng casually picked up the dagger. It was slightly heavy and unsharpened. He didn't even need to use Item Appraisal to sense that it was just an ordinary dagger.
"Lead?"
"This is hardly a good omen."
Tang Zheng chuckled softly.
In this Otherworld, items made of lead generally signified pain, death, and misfortune. Some structures in cemeteries, for instance, had components made of lead.
He picked up the slip of paper. Four characters were written on it, looking like a name.
"Decipher Magic."
A magical light flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes, and the meaning of the script appeared, startling him:
"Ijenia."
This name was...
A serious expression appeared on Tang Zheng's face. If he remembered correctly, this name represented one of the legendary Thirteen Heroes, the one known as the "Assassin."
His ability to conceal his aura was so great that he could even evade the perception of the Platinum Dragon Lord.
Looking at the lead dagger in his hand and the name on the paper, Tang Zheng naturally didn't believe that Mayor Panasolay was telling him that specific piece of information.
Because that name didn't just represent that member of the Thirteen Heroes; it also represented an organization.
According to legend, the disciples who inherited the abilities and techniques of the "Assassin" Ijenia formed a mysterious assassination group—Ijenia.
The organization was named after this hero.
While this was indeed a legend to most commoners, it was no mere storybook tale for the upper echelons of nobles in various countries.
Not only does this organization genuinely exist to this day, but it is also active in the northeastern part of the Baharuth Empire and the Casanas Federation region.
The Blue Rose members, Tia and Tina, hailed from the assassin group Ijenia, and their older sister was the organization's leader.
"Haha, so even that organization has been drawn in. It doesn't seem like the Blood Emperor's handiwork, though."
Tang Zheng tossed the slip of paper and the lead dagger back into the wooden box, closed it, and then casually threw it onto the carriage, letting out a few laughs.
"Lord Captain, is something making you happy?" Enri asked, blinking her light brown eyes as she looked at Tang Zheng curiously.
"The rest of the journey is about to get much more interesting."
Tang Zheng turned his head and smiled at Enri.
This gift from Mayor Panasolay made it difficult for Tang Zheng to determine whether it was a friendly reminder from the man himself or a message from the Pro-Royal Faction behind him.
However!
To Tang Zheng, these were just trivial matters. He was building his reputation, not to get involved in the boring factional games of the nobles.
Enri was a little confused, but seeing Tang Zheng so happy, she tossed her light golden bangs and broke into a happy smile as well.
So far, although she hadn't known Tang Zheng for long, Enri felt that the Lord Captain was not only generous, but also a very good person.
The Green Leaf Witch glanced coolly at the foolishly smiling Enri.
*Rumble~*
*Thump!*
After leaving E-Rantel, the carriage pulled by the evil spirit hound followed a wide dirt road westward.
The uneven terrain of the small hillocks caused the wheels of the fast-moving carriage to vibrate and rattle continuously.
The wild trees and weeds on both sides of the road, untouched by human hands, were dense. However, due to winter, the leaves had long since fallen, which helped to clear the view somewhat.
Along the way, besides Tang Zheng's group, they occasionally encountered other carriages and caravans. The sight of a fearsome monster like the evil spirit hound pulling a carriage inevitably caused a stir.
Night gradually fell.
The carriage stopped in a relatively spacious and flat area to rest.
A day of travel wasn't a severe drain on the evil spirit hound's stamina, but for an ordinary person like Enri, it was utterly exhausting.
Even so, as soon as the carriage stopped, Enri immediately jumped down and deftly began setting up the tent and preparing food.
Firewood was lit.
A pot of meat soup was placed over the flames, and it gradually began to emit a fragrant aroma.
Tang Zheng sat by the bonfire, ladled out a bowl of meat soup filled with visible diced meat and green vegetables, took a spoonful, and drank. "Tastes good, Enri."
"This is the first time I've made meat soup with so many good ingredients. Back home, my mother was always the one who cooked. I just watched and learned a little."
Enri's cheeks were slightly flushed in the firelight as she spoke shyly.
"Miss Cuiye, this is your meat soup."
Enri ladled out another bowl, stood up, walked over to the Green Leaf Witch, and carefully handed it to her.
"Not necessary."
The Green Leaf Witch spoke faintly, spearing a piece of roasted meat and putting it in her mouth, chewing unhurriedly.
"Oh." Enri ducked her head and spoke in a low voice, taking back the soup she had offered. She then found a corner and sat down.
She was still a little afraid of the ever-aloof Miss Cuiye. However, after interacting with her, she realized that while she might not be as gentle as the Lord Captain, she wasn't a bad person.
"It smells so good. With so much diced meat and fine salt, it's delicious even with simple cooking," Enri thought to herself, holding the steaming bowl of meat soup in both hands and taking a gentle sip. She lifted her head, quickly glanced at everyone, then lowered her head again, savoring the soup.
The Lord Captain isn't picky about food, but he likes to drink boiled water. I'll have to prepare more tomorrow.
Miss Cuiye eats roasted meat sprinkled with fine salt. Her stomach doesn't look big, yet she can eat enough for two or three people at once. Maybe powerful mages just eat a lot.
And then there's Xiao Hei, who has the biggest appetite and likes to eat raw meat.
Thinking of this, Enri couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. Given Xiao Hei's appetite, she felt the supplies they bought in E-Rantel wouldn't last more than a few days.
No wonder the Lord Captain had given her 20 gold coins to buy supplies. She had originally thought she would never be able to spend it all.
*Rustle~*
A faint sound came from the dim wilderness in the distance.
The Green Leaf Witch paused her chewing, looked up first in Tang Zheng's direction, and then lowered her head to continue eating.
"ROAR!"
Suddenly, a ferocious roar echoed out. A fat giant bear, over three meters long, emerged from the distant wilderness.
With crimson eyes fixed on their location, it charged over without hesitation.
Seeing this, "Ah!" Enri let out a scream, a look of terror on her face. She nearly dropped the soup bowl in her hands.
"So noisy!" The Green Leaf Witch frowned at Enri and snapped coldly.
Enri quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, but the fear on her face did not subside in the slightest.
"Plant Entanglement."
The Green Leaf Witch calmly looked at the charging, frenzied giant bear, raised a hand glowing with emerald green light, and aimed ahead.
*Swish! Swish!*
The weeds on the ground transformed into vines, shooting up from the earth and easily ensnaring the crazed giant bear, binding it in place.
"ROAR! ROAR!"
The giant bear roared continuously, trying to break free from the vines, but the rapidly growing vines bound its legs and pulled it to the ground.
At this moment, the evil spirit hound stood up. Its sharp eyes fixed on the giant bear as it strode forward unhurriedly on all fours.
It came to a stop before the struggling, roaring giant bear, which was a full size larger than itself.
The evil spirit hound lifted a foreleg and swung it down casually.
*Splat!*
The roaring stopped abruptly. The giant bear's head was smashed by the claw, splattering into a mess of gore.
The evil spirit hound licked the corner of its mouth, opened its jaws, picked up the giant bear's corpse, and carried it back to devour.
Enri's shoulders trembled slightly as she stared, dumbfounded.
"Cuiye, you're on watch tonight." Tang Zheng hadn't even lifted his head from start to finish. After finishing his meat soup, he stood up and instructed the Green Leaf Witch.
"Yes, Lord."
The Green Leaf Witch also rose and replied respectfully.
Tang Zheng yawned and walked towards the tent. That frenzied giant bear seemed to have been lured here by someone.
They had only just left E-Rantel, and they were already being attacked.
"They're really impatient. But this bounty won't be easy to claim."
Tang Zheng glanced in the direction of the dark night, reached out to open the tent flap, and walked in. He had no interest in the group that had lured the giant bear.
The only thing that piqued his interest was the assassin organization, Ijenia. They clearly wouldn't make a move this early.
Only after gathering sufficient information would they launch a fatal sneak attack.
After entering the tent, a thought moved in Tang Zheng's mind: "Teleport."
*Swoosh!*
His figure vanished into thin air.
The Green Leaf Witch subconsciously glanced towards the tent, then looked away and continued eating her roasted meat.
Inside the lava zone.
Tang Zheng conversed with the dwarven artisans as usual, then continued soaking in the dragon blood. During this time, as his body gradually absorbed the dragon blood, he could feel that his Poison Resistance was about to level up again.
As sunlight broke in the east, Tang Zheng's eyes snapped open, a hint of joy on his face. "It's done!"
*Splash!*
The crimson dragon blood slid down his body.
Tang Zheng waved his hand, collecting it into his item box, then looked at the passive on his stat panel:
...
Passive: Poison Resistance II
Effect: Effective against poison attacks (of approximately Lv 30 or lower).
...
Passive attribute resistances were extremely difficult to obtain. Acquiring this passive ability through dragon blood was an absolutely unexpected surprise for Tang Zheng.
"The effect of soaking in dragon blood is getting weaker and weaker, but it looks like I can still absorb more."
Steam rose from Tang Zheng's entire body. He watched as the crimson marks on his skin's surface slowly faded and were absorbed, speaking softly to himself.
After waiting for the aura on his body to mostly dissipate, he activated his teleportation magic and left the lava zone.
*Whoosh!*
The tent flap was pulled open, and a rush of cold air poured in.
Tang Zheng stepped out of the tent, sniffing the mostly dissipated bloody scent in the air. He saw several corpses lying in the distance.
(end of chapter)