Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

Chapter 384 Mist Empire’s Rise- 383: Divination Tasks

Minutes later, a heaven-shaking wail erupted from a certain inn in Kakashi Town.

"Ahhh! My chicken—"

The innkeeper clutched a tuft of mud-covered black feathers. His grief-stricken face twisted into a wrinkled rag, with a huge hole torn in it—his crying, roaring mouth.

Luo Wei never imagined a person's mouth could open so wide. She could even see his trembling tonsils inside.

The innkeeper cried until tears and snot blurred together: "My old buddy, my precious treasure—who killed you, my dear one?"

"Without you, this home is incomplete. Without you, who'll wake me from bed? Who'll tell me the morning time?"

"Wuu wuu, my rooster—you died and I didn't even get a sip of your soup. Who, who could be so cruel!"

Luo Wei: ...

Fellow students: ...

So that last sentence was the real point, right?

Judging from the long tail feathers and half-rotten chicken head, this rooster weighed about eight or nine pounds. Could compete for chicken king. Selling it would fetch at least three silver coins.

Raising such a large rooster required considerable grain investment from the innkeeper. Getting nothing in return—no wonder he cried so sadly.

Luo Wei "kindly" told the boss they'd found the rooster's remains behind the east wall—seemed to be his neighbor's yard.

"It's him! That guy who just moved in—damn thief, robber, bandit!"

"I'm going to settle accounts with him!"

The furious innkeeper gripped the feathers and burst out the door. At the entrance, he grabbed a stick and charged toward his left neighbor's gate.

"Hey, hey—you haven't paid yet!" Vina called out a step too late. The boss's figure had already disappeared outside.

When she turned back, she saw shocked expressions on Luo Wei and six classmates' faces.

Everyone's faces clearly said: You actually care about one copper coin?

Vina straightened her neck: "What about one copper? That's still what we worked hard to earn!"

Divination consumed considerable mental energy!

Renee sighed: "I don't want copper coins. I want points. Why didn't the boss give us the academy badge after we completed the task?"

Vina: "He definitely forgot. We'll ask when he comes back from arguing."

June said weakly: "Is it possible we're like swordsman class—one task split into many parts?"

Find chickens seek dogs one copper—sounded like a tedious task from the start.

Aesar spoke gloomily: "I thought you'd all figured that out already."

June: "Of course we thought of it, just..."

Just still had hope inside, thinking the task wouldn't be as bad as they imagined.

The eight stayed in the inn's lobby without going out, but the quarrel erupting next door transmitted into their ears word for word.

The neighboring yard housed a couple who'd done business in the north, earning a fortune. They'd settled in town just half a month ago.

The inn's rooster jumped on the yard wall every morning to crow, seriously affecting the couple's sleep. It woke them at 5 AM.

They'd been dissatisfied with this rooster from day one. They'd even reminded the innkeeper several times that his rooster's crowing disturbed people.

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But the innkeeper didn't take it to heart. Which rooster doesn't crow?

Besides, businesspeople on this street all praised his rooster's crowing—it helped them wake on time!

The boss was proud. The couple was angry. So three nights ago, they climbed over the yard wall, caught the rooster, brought it home, chopped off its neck, plucked and skinned it overnight, making roast chicken.

They thought they'd done it secretly. Who knew the boss would discover it?

The two couldn't stop him from charging into the yard. Chicken feathers buried at the wall corner and leftover bones were dug up by him.

The couple cursed their bad luck. Seeing a crowd gathering at the door, they had no choice but to pay five silver coins to settle the matter.

Should've burned everything clean. But at the time, they thought burning feathers would smell bad, so they buried them in soil—leaving evidence.

After receiving money, the boss's wailing finally lessened. Wiping tears, he walked out of the neighboring yard.

People watching outside praised his keen nose—could smell dead chicken after two days.

While grieving, the boss didn't forget promoting Luo Wei's group: "I don't have that ability—thanks to the Find Chickens Seek Dogs One Copper Squad..."

Neighbors exclaimed in wonder: "Really found it! I thought they were scammers!"

"What scammer only scams one copper coin?"

"Wasn't it just luck?"

"You try getting lucky then? These days, people working outside definitely have real skills!"

"My dog went missing last year. Wonder if they can help me find it?"

"Your dog from last year—probably already gone. You'd find bones at best. Waste of money."

"Just one copper anyway. Won't hurt if wasted."

"True. Just one copper. Last month at the market someone pickpocketed my purse. If they can help me find it, I'd give two coppers."

"Stingy! Just two coppers? If they can find the money box my father hid, I'll give them three coppers!"

"I thought you were generous. Tch, miser."

"Argue all you want, but don't raise prices! I want to find my wooden shoe a dog carried off. That thing's not worth three coppers."

"Right, don't raise prices. I still need to catch the thief who keeps stealing bread from my shop..."

Amid the commotion, a large crowd surged toward the inn where the astrology squad stayed, blocking the entrance completely.

Seeing this scene, the eight's vision darkened. When they came to their senses, enthusiastic townspeople had surrounded them completely.

Townspeople talked over each other about their needs—finding cats, dogs, shoes, catching thieves, stolen goods, mice. One copper's price was too low. Everyone had something to find.

The eight astrology squad members were squeezed breathless. They had to stand up to maintain order.

"One at a time! Don't push!"

"People wanting to find things—line up and register first!"

Luo Wei took out papyrus and charcoal pencils, distributing them to teammates. Have everyone record lost items, names, and addresses. After finding items, they'd deliver them back.

Townspeople's lost items were diverse. Eight people recording simultaneously still took half an hour. After the crowd dispersed, all eight breathed sighs of relief.

But when they tallied registered numbers, heavy stones pressed on their hearts again.

"Forty-seven people! Too many! When will we finish finding everything?"

"Including Renee's earlier divination, averaged out each person needs to divine six times. The professor is so ruthless."

"Crazy! I feel dizzy divining once a day. Six times—I'll become an idiot!"

"Wuu wuu, our training isn't any easier than swordsman class. I shouldn't have mocked them."

"Did Professor Tobias know so many people would come find us?"

"Must we complete all these tasks? Can we just pick a small portion?"

"Captain, what do we do?"

The troubled group looked at Luo Wei.

Luo Wei put down the papyrus, frowning: "Professor Tobias didn't say what counts as completing the task, but we'll definitely get a hint when we complete it."

Everyone suddenly understood. Right—just like at Hulata Village. After completing the task, someone delivered the academy badge to them.

"Let's do tasks first. We'll split up. Find as much as we can. Don't force it if you can't find something. For tasks we can't complete, we'll think of solutions together."

"When the academy badge appears, our task is finished."

Luo Wei's face remained calm, though inside she felt no more relaxed than everyone else.

She could only divine twice a day—maybe three times. During the astrology exam, she'd asked three questions.

But to find so many lost items, her divination ability was still somewhat strained.

Taking a deep breath, Luo Wei had everyone return to their rooms.

Divination couldn't be seen by others. Could only be done in rooms.

Luo Wei and Vina shared a room. After closing the door tightly, they immediately took out their divination tools.

Vina picked several seemingly easier tasks from the registry—like finding lost keys, wooden shoes carried off by dogs, hats blown away by wind...

These were all inanimate objects. Lost, they wouldn't go far from town.

Luo Wei registered the most tasks—sixteen total. She memorized every task, then pulled out the tortoise shell, wondering if she could handle them all at once.

During the magic competition, she'd divined the positions of all magical beasts in the arena at once. Sixteen lost items were far fewer than hundreds of beasts. Maybe it would work.

Entering her mental world, she reverently asked the star chart:

"Where are the sixteen lost items I need to find?"

Star tracks ran rapidly. However, results were unsatisfactory.

These lost items included inanimate and living things. Inanimate objects couldn't speak. Living things moved.

Some were taken from town—too far from her. Some were lost too long ago—traces long faded.

Star tracks ran chaotically. After a long while, not one was divined.