novelraw Chapter 450: Marquis Bai
Chapter 450: Marquis Bai
Fisher timed his return to their rented room perfectly. When he came back, Nekelia even double-checked to ensure no one had followed him. This also meant that the first step of Mikhail's plan to find the Elf traitor had been completed. The next plan to execute was to have Gou Wen impersonate himself, and then bring Fisher, Mikhail, and the others into Jianmu Palace.
Due to his previous conversation with Gui, Fisher suddenly remembered that the identities of the Transferred Persons in their group would be discovered by the Elves. He felt they could conveniently turn someone's trick against them, letting Gou Wen offer the three of them—all Transferred Persons—to the Elf King along with Marquis Bai's tribute.
Since the Elf King must have had a purpose for keeping the Transferred Person who later stole the World Tree Teardrop by his side, there was a much higher probability he would keep the three of them as Transferred Persons too. By then, Fisher and the others kept by the Elf King would also be able to encounter that Transferred Person in Jianmu Palace and uncover the truth behind the stolen World Tree Teardrop.
That was the general idea. Moreover, since this was inside Lord Tao's barrier and not the real world, their plan didn't even require considering a backup plan. Because as long as they found out the truth and the traitor's identity, Lord Tao's barrier would very likely dispel itself.
So, the remaining thing to do was wait until three days later.
As Fisher and Gou Wen discussed, that slacking freeloader Helaire closely followed Fisher back into the room. And she looked rather gloomy.
"Helaire, you're back... What's wrong?"
Asuka Karasawa greeted her, but seeing the expression on her face, couldn't help but ask an extra question. Unexpectedly, Helaire directly reached out and rubbed her face, complaining.
"I originally wanted to have some good fun here, but I forgot that everything here is just a phantom of destiny. Nothing I eat has any taste..."
"Then why did you come back so late?"Fisher criticized mercilessly, prompting Helaire to hide behind Asuka Karasawa, seemingly using her as a shield while retorting.
"Didn't you also just come back?"
"..."
Seeing her peeking at him with only half her face exposed from behind Asuka Karasawa, Fisher increasingly felt that this fellow's movements and behavior leaned more towards being female. He ignored her and instead looked over at Mikhail.
He was still analyzing the Elves who visited the Royal Capital on that tree in an orderly manner. Fisher hesitated for a moment but still recounted encountering Gui wandering around after coming down from the tree this afternoon, though he stated he hadn't revealed anything about their subsequent plans.
Of course, Fisher intentionally omitted that he had discovered her by following the faint familiar fragrance on her, only saying he found her very suspicious.
Gou Wen stroked his chin in surprise, saying.
"Are there really Elves this bold? Eighteenth-Tier Marquises shouldn't be numerous. It's a pity I only know a few of the over a hundred Elves in the Tree Continent... Lord Helaire, have you heard of an Elf named 'Gui'?"
Helaire decisively shook her head without saying a word.
Even Nekelia, a local of the Tree Continent, wasn't quite sure either. According to her, she didn't know much about the Elf nations in the eastern direction of the Tree Continent. Perhaps her grandfather, who served as an Upper Minister, would know.
Since there was no information about Gui, Mikhail merely stated he would use the robot more carefully to keep an eye on the tribute list of the Elves.
Time passed in a flash, and soon it was the third day. Everyone in the room arrived outside the city. Except for Mikhail, who was responsible for surveilling the Elves, the rest of them laid an ambush in advance according to the time provided by Gou Wen.
Mikhail had busied himself for two days and only managed to confirm the identities of nearly twenty of the more than thirty arriving Elves. Firstly, the Elves kept a very low profile within their residences in the Royal Capital, basically not hanging up flags displaying their identities as they would outside. Mikhail had to rely on fragments of conversation from their retinues and officials to confirm their true identities.
Secondly, Mikhail couldn't continuously use that nanobot under heavy load. If he used it for a while, his mental state would become unstable. To prevent him from having another episode and causing trouble, Gou Wen strictly limited the time range he could use the nanobot, so the efficiency of confirming identities remained low.
However, Mikhail was certain he would finish identifying all the Elves today after they replaced the Gou Wen within the barrier.
Thus, exactly in the early morning, the group arrived outside the city to lay an ambush for Gou Wen, who was entering the Royal Capital alone.
At this time, the World Tree Teardrop had not yet been stolen, so the defense of the capital was far less strict than in reality. Fisher's group didn't face much interrogation when leaving the city.
They covered their faces to avoid the two identical people seeing each other directly, pretending to be idle bandits in the wilderness, which also made it easier to strike.
"You came to the Royal City via this road back then? On foot?"
The Royal Capital was located on the northernmost coastline of the Tree Continent. At this moment, the position where they were lying in ambush was quite a distance east of the capital.
Hearing Fisher's question, the masked Gou Wen, dressed entirely in black, looked at Fisher and explained.
"I came back from home, landing on the shore right next to the Royal Capital. It's such a short distance; I changed my clothes and just walked over... Don't hesitate later. When you hit me, you must be fast, accurate, and ruthless. Every time my wife makes a move, I can never react in time. Otherwise, if I manipulate your Five Viscera, you'll suffer."
"..."
Hearing Gou Wen teach others how to beat him up, Fisher was rendered speechless for a moment. He didn't reply, just took out his Fluid Sword and the magic Asuka Karasawa had engraved, ready to strike as soon as he saw the person.
Only after taking in a Direct Disciple did Fisher realize how convenient it was. He could ask Asuka Karasawa to engrave spare magic for him at any time under the guise of "practicing magic," so he didn't have to lift a finger himself. And Asuka Karasawa was very excited about engraving magic, seemingly never getting tired of it.
Hmm, could it be that Mentor Helson thought the same way back when he had him practice magic?
In the team, Fisher, Gou Wen, and Nekelia were responsible for the main frontal assault. Helaire and Asuka Karasawa, holding several wind magics, were responsible for covering the rear to prevent Gou Wen from escaping...
"He's here!"
They didn't wait long. Soon, in a patch of woods outside the Royal Capital near the ocean, Fisher's group saw a figure slowly approaching the Royal Capital. The figure also wore clothing woven from some kind of seaweed product, though the style was a bit different from what Fisher saw him wearing the first time. In his left hand, he carried a small box assembled from some type of shell. It was exactly the whale-man traveling doctor Gou Wen, who was invited by Marquis Bai to treat the Elf King in the Royal Capital.
However, right now, the face of Gou Wen, who always bore a gentle smile, was surprisingly cold. His long blue hair wasn't completely dry yet, looking like he had just come ashore from the sea.
Asuka Karasawa and Helaire were on the other side. Fisher glanced at the Gou Wen walking past, turning to ask the main person beside him.
"Why did you look so awful back then? Did you go back and have a fight with your wife?"
Gou Wen smiled bitterly and gave a perfunctory explanation.
"Not exactly, just some accidents happened at home... Alright, let's get ready to strike. I'll disrupt my own Qi first, and then you and Nekelia can just charge in."
"Alright."
Nekelia silently flapped her wings and ruthlessly raised her longspear.
Not far away, the cold-faced Gou Wen, carrying a medicine box and walking on the main road, suddenly felt the surrounding temperature drop several degrees. Then, he abruptly felt his legs begin to turn weak.
Just as Gou Wen's pupils contracted, realizing something was wrong, his right hand reacted extremely quickly. A small knife formed from flowing golden liquid instantly appeared in his hand. But the attacker clearly reacted even faster than him, or rather, knew him extremely well.
Before he could even see anyone, Gou Wen found that the meridians in his right hand seemed to have been invisibly struck by something. Next, three dark figures viciously rushed out from the bushes beside him. One of them had huge wings, another held an incredibly agile blade in his hand while seemingly also holding a leaf radiating strange fluctuations. The last person was empty-handed, but Gou Wen quickly realized his meridians had just been struck by this guy before him.
Just as the other party was about to strike, the surrounded Gou Wen quickly reacted. He roughly scanned their tiers. One person was only at the Thirteenth-Tier, but the "Spirit" aspect of their Three Treasures was incredibly strange. Another was at the Fourteenth-Tier, and one look confirmed she was a Phoenix, moreover the battle-hardened kind. The last one seemed to be like him, not very good at fighting—the trashiest of the bunch...
Gou Wen swallowed a mouthful of saliva, quickly making a decision. Then, under Fisher's and Nekelia's astonished gazes, he decisively retracted that golden blade back into his clothes, threw the medicine box in his hand onto the ground, and immediately dropped to his knees. His handsome face instantly crumpled into a crying, bitter expression.
"Heroes! Spare my life!! Take whatever you want! I am just a doctor with a miserable life. I have elderly parents and young children to support, and a delicate wife at home with an incredibly huge appetite to feed. With so many mouths to feed in the family, it's not easy coming out to earn a living. Spare my little life!"
The weapons raised in Fisher's and Nekelia's hands suddenly paused before the crying, begging whale-man. The huge whale tail behind this past Gou Wen slapped the ground like a salted fish, and then he decisively raised both hands, earnestly surrendering from the bottom of his heart.
"..."
The imagined fierce battle didn't happen. In fact, it seemed to end far too easily. Looking at the past Gou Wen crying so sincerely and realistically, the masked Fisher and Nekelia couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the main person behind them.
He was covering his face, seeming to feel extremely ashamed. After several seconds passed and Fisher saw Gou Wen truly had nothing to say, he took the initiative to speak to the Gou Wen on the ground.
"No tricks."
"Why would I play tricks..." The expression on this Gou Wen's face grew even more indignant, as if Fisher's words had wronged him. He continued saying, "I'm not going to earn much from this trip anyway. Why would I risk my life for this little bit of money!"
Wait, weren't you invited by Marquis Bai to the Royal Capital to treat the Elf King?
Logically speaking, shouldn't she give you a lot of treasures and stuff?
Fisher turned to look at the main person, only to see him covering his face, his head lowering even further. He didn't deny the past Gou Wen's words, either. It seemed Marquis Bai really didn't give him any valuable rewards afterward.
"...Tie him up."
Seeing things go so smoothly, Fisher decided to tie up the Gou Wen inside the barrier as originally planned and throw him into the sea.
Gou Wen had said previously that as long as he was thrown into the sea, he would absolutely leave.
Nekelia expressionlessly bound Gou Wen tightly with iron chains. She also put on an act of robbing him of everything that looked valuable. However, Fisher didn't notice that small golden dagger on him, so they could only throw him down directly.
Watching the tightly bound Gou Wen slowly sink into the ocean, even though everything here was just a phantom, Nekelia still couldn't help but ask one more question.
"Is it really okay to throw you down like this?"
"...I am a whale-man. I feel much more comfortable in the water than on land. What could happen?"
The Gou Wen in the rear took off his black mask, panted twice, and then looked at the ocean, saying.
"Staying on land with you all for so long has probably shortened my lifespan. Besides, my wife hasn't seen me for a long time. After we finish what we need to do, I will return to the ocean."
Fisher neither agreed nor disagreed. Because after he expelled Death, he would also immediately return to his own time to reunite with Renee and the other ladies.
Asuka Karasawa and Helaire, who ran over from a distance after finishing the ambush, couldn't hold back their laughter, covering their mouths as they looked at Gou Wen. Clearly, the two of them had seen how easily that past Gou Wen cowered just now.
Their silent but laughing appearance made Gou Wen's face darken. He muttered something along the lines of "I'm just a doctor", "I'm not good at fighting", and "I have a wife waiting at home, so I have to cherish my life to reunite with her".
However, the teasing didn't last long. Seeing Asuka Karasawa and the others had laughed enough, Gou Wen took off the black clothing used for disguise, put on his clothes woven from water grasses, and picked up the looted medicine box.
He glanced at the Royal Capital, as if he saw some thorny trouble once again. He sighed and said.
"Let me clarify first. This matter was originally very troublesome, and I didn't want to relive it. But since it's to help out, I naturally won't refuse. Just please, absolutely remember to follow my lead. Marquis Bai is quite abnormal. It's best we hurry over right now; we might already be late..."
"Abnormal?"
Asuka Karasawa had some doubts. Fisher also grew a bit curious about the Elf who invited Gou Wen to the Tree Continent. But just as everyone wanted to learn more from Gou Wen, they suddenly felt the ground begin to shake slightly.
An earthquake?
It didn't feel right; it wasn't as violent as an earthquake...
"Little Wen!! Where are you?! You're late!! Nothing happened, did it?! I'm coming to find you!!"
At the exact same time, along with incredibly obvious ground tremors, a loud, high-pitched female voice seemed to transmit from the horizon, echoing across the wilderness outside the city gates. Yet the inside of the Royal Capital remained quiet, as if not a single sound had traveled inside.
Hearing this, Gou Wen turned incredibly pale, stiffening all over. Next, he hurriedly said to Nekelia and Helaire, who couldn't be brought along.
"You guys, quickly jump into the sea to hide! Marquis Bai is coming to find me!"
Before Nekelia could even react, Helaire gave a thumbs-up. Then, she pulled the dazed Nekelia beside her, jumped into the sea, and quickly disappeared.
Fisher and Asuka Karasawa, standing in place, also quickly felt uneasy as the ground shook.
They turned to look, only to see sky-filling dust and smoke vaguely rising in the direction of the Royal Capital. Asuka Karasawa couldn't see clearly, but with Fisher's eyesight, he could vaguely discern that there seemed to be a figure running in the center of that dust and smoke.
"Rumble!"
As the figure grew further from the Royal Capital, the sound of its running grew increasingly massive. From afar, it sounded like thunder, making Asuka Karasawa's eardrums ache.
Gou Wen's face turned whiter and whiter, and his hands tightly gripped his clothes.
Soon, the figure running in the dust and smoke became clearer.
It turned out to be a beautiful woman with black hair wearing a high-waisted red ruqun. She sported a very elegant trailing-tresses divided-bun style, and a pair of long ears hung with crystal-inlaid earrings. She looked so gorgeous and elegant, well, if one ignored her wild manner of running...
Her bosom was broad, clearly showing she was no ordinary person. The pair of pink embroidered shoes didn't suppress her aura at all; rather, the contrast amplified her capabilities significantly.
Her Eighteenth-Tier aura swept across the earth without any restraint. And then, she quickly spotted Gou Wen, Fisher, Asuka Karasawa, Mikhail, and the others standing in the distance.
"Little Wen, why aren't you entering the city? What are you staying there for?!"
The instant she saw Gou Wen, the expression on Marquis Bai's face became radiant. Er pace gradually slowed, shifting from wild to elegant. She even took the opportunity to tidy up the messy strands of black hair at her temples. Along with this, the tremors on the ground also slowed down until they completely disappeared.
Fisher and Asuka Karasawa both froze slightly and turned to look at Gou Wen, only to see that the smile on his face could no longer be maintained, almost turning into a bitter gourd grimace.
Then, Gou Wen forced his mouth to twitch upwards and explained to Fisher and the others.
"Marquis Bai is very difficult to deal with. She's crazy."
"..."
Fisher and the others didn't reply. They just obediently hid all their masking items away and watched the elegant Elf Marquis Bai, who had gracefully walked into the woods, in silence.
Gou Wen coughed, putting on a serious expression. He set down the medicine box he was holding, preparing to give a standard bow.
"Marquis Bai, I truly apologize for the presumption. To trouble you to come out to welcome me amidst your busy schedule, Gou Wen is truly..."
But before he could finish speaking, Marquis Bai easily seized Gou Wen's hands. Without even looking at the others nearby, she gazed ardently as she forcefully kneaded his hands in hers.
Gou Wen shuddered slightly, his expression unnatural. He subconsciously tried to draw his hands back, but no matter how hard he tried, it was of no avail.
"Oh my, Little Wen is still so easily shy. It makes me so delighted... Wasn't I just worried about you? The outside of the Royal City is so dangerous. What if you met some petty thieves and harmed your precious miraculous doctor's hands, delaying His Majesty's treatment?"
As she spoke, Marquis Bai rubbed every part of Gou Wen's hands even more forcefully, refusing to let go.
At the same time, Marquis Bai seemed to feel something. Addressing Gou Wen's hands with a ruddy face, she lowered her head and said.
"Why are Little Wen's hands so dry? Could it be..."
He almost forgot, Gou Wen hadn't been back in the water for a long time.
Just as Asuka Karasawa grew nervous, Gou Wen forcefully smiled and explained.
"Lord Marquis Bai, lately my body hasn't been feeling well, which is why..."
"Just call me Bai..." Before Gou Wen could finish, Marquis Bai interrupted him. Then, she narrowed her eyes, scanning Gou Wen from head to toe. After that, she sighed and said.
"Oh my, your wife truly has no tender heart for the fair sex. She must bully you tightly normally... Unlike me, you can relax properly here with me. Hurry and follow me into the city; I've prepared food... Oh? Who are these people?"
Marquis Bai rubbed Gou Wen's face—which looked as if he had nothing left to live for—as if doting on him. Just as she was preparing to drag Gou Wen to turn around and leave, she seemed to have finally realized the presence of Fisher's group nearby after the fact.
Next, Marquis Bai's ruddy face gradually drained of color, and a glint of surprise flashed in her eyes. Before Gou Wen could explain, she had already spoken.
"Oh, Transferred Persons, and three of them... How truly interesting."
She smiled, but it was completely different from the shy attitude of the woman facing Gou Wen; instead, it appeared incredibly wild.