Chapter 15 Unsettling Information

Hao Ren turned his head expressionlessly, looking at the wizard who always hid his face in the shadow of his hood. He couldn't see the other person's full appearance; he could only see a thin, unshaven chin exposed from beneath the hood.

"What do you mean?" Hao Ren said calmly.

"I'm good at observing people's hearts," the male wizard tilted his head slightly. His voice seemed to have been magically altered, giving it a hollow echo. "I can tell that you're not in a hurry to seek a haven, so you're not very interested in the 'City of Shadows' that those witches mentioned. You're approaching them for something else."

Hao Ren looked curiously at this wizard who had suddenly come over to talk to him, then shrugged. "Say what you want. Anyway, everyone is gathered here for their own benefit. Who doesn't have a few secrets these days? The reason and the process aren't important; the result just needs to meet expectations."

"You're right," the hooded wizard seemed to chuckle softly. "The reason and the process aren't important; the result just needs to meet expectations—so Madam Marie and the others don't really care about your origins and purpose. They only need your and your companion's strength."

Hao Ren felt that this wizard was even stranger, so he cut to the chase and asked, "You didn't come to me just to say this, did you?"

"Have you heard of the Night Watch Knights of Hallowen?"

Hao Ren was stunned. He felt like he had heard a completely unfamiliar term, and it seemed like the wizard in front of him had misunderstood something: Did he think of this newcomer as a colleague in a certain field? Or someone with the same goal as him?

Hao Ren wasn't sure if the "Night Watch Knights of Hallowen" had anything to do with Vivian's sleeping place, so he vaguely prevaricated, "Is that question important?"

"No, it seems you don't know about this," the hooded wizard simply ended the topic after seeing Hao Ren's reaction. "Okay, perhaps you're not the 'fellow traveler' I imagined. Sorry for taking up your time—but it's still a pleasure to talk to a powerful wizard."

After saying this, the strange wizard turned to leave. Seeing this, Hao Ren quickly called out from behind, "Hey, wait! I don't even know your name yet—can't just keep calling you Hood, right?"

The hooded wizard paused for a moment, and then his voice floated over, "It's inconvenient to reveal my real name when traveling. You can call me Barn; it's a pseudonym I often use in the black magic world, and it's the name I gave the witches."

After this Barn walked away, Hao Ren curled his lip, "Tsk tsk... and here I was thinking I'm already an acting master... I hate dealing with these perceptive guys. Why so smart?"

"Landlord, landlord, I'm full!" Lily suddenly jumped over, clamoring. The husky girl had gotten plenty of joy from eating, and now she looked greasy-faced. "Hey, landlord, your expression is weird. What happened?"

"Nothing much, just had a round of prize-less guessing with a mysterious guy," Hao Ren shook his head, then suddenly thought that although this husky didn't understand anything, she was at least a century-old figure and had read a lot of miscellaneous books. Maybe she knew some strange and unheard-of things, so he added, "By the way, do you know of an organization or term called 'Night Watch Knights of Hallowen'?"

"Night Watch Knights of Hallowen? Sounds like some kind of thug squad," Lily thought for a moment and shook her head decisively. "Don't know. What are you asking this for, landlord?"

"Nothing, just asking casually, but if you hear anyone talking about this, remember to tell me."

The husky girl nodded vigorously, agreeing happily and without a second thought. Hao Ren felt relieved when he saw this girl's appearance: It was still easier to deal with the simple-minded...

Because he wasn't yet familiar with the witches, Hao Ren didn't look for anyone to inquire about Barn's origins. Anyway, his purpose here was quite simple: just to find Vivian's sleeping place, so he was too lazy to find out the ins and outs of irrelevant people. Next, he planned to ask Madam Marie for more information about "Hesperianna" to confirm whether that was the little bat sprite he knew. Although he didn't think that Hesperianna's abilities would allow her to be caught by a group of human exorcists, who could say for sure about something that happened thousands of years ago? Maybe that little bat had capsized in the gutter in the past, and she hid the matter because she was ashamed of it. Who knew...

But just as Hao Ren was about to talk to Madam Marie, a fluttering sound of flapping wings suddenly came from the night sky, interrupting his actions.

The witches also stopped their conversations when they heard this sound, all looking up at the sky.

The mist covering the entire graveyard opened a gap, and a white owl, particularly conspicuous in the night sky, flew through the night and landed steadily in front of the witch Helen. The owl had a white feather on its head, and its eyes revealed a human-like intelligence. It was clearly also a magical pet.

"Rom!" Helen called out immediately when she saw the owl. "What took you so long? What news did you find out?"

The owl called Rom flapped its wings and sighed loudly in a deep baritone, "Ah—this lonely and desolate night, just like my lonely and sad heart. Poor Rom shuttles through the darkness, but can only deliver news that is more painful than darkness. Listen to the cool night wind; in the wind are weeping words. Poor Rom, what unsettling news have you brought this time..."

The witch Helen lifted her leg and stomped on the table, her toe brushing past the owl's head. "Zhan Ru Niang Qin (roughly translated as 'screw your mother')! Get to the point!"

"Witch Hesperianna has been found guilty of practicing black magic with conclusive evidence and has been sentenced to be burned at the stake tomorrow at noon..."

Hao Ren immediately cursed inwardly. He never realized that this pretty witch, who looked the most kind, actually had this side to her?

Then he realized something more important: The witch called "Hesperianna" was going to be publicly executed and burned in the city tomorrow?

This news also immediately caused a commotion among the other witches. The witch with the sickly face was the first to stand up, "We must start taking action immediately."

Madam Marie also stood up, "Humans have finally decided to take action—Hesperianna leaving the church dungeon is our best and last chance to strike. Before the execution tomorrow at noon, we must rescue her!"

One of the witches questioned, "But the demon hunters are almost here..."

"So we must end everything before those demon hunters really arrive," Madam Marie looked over with sharp eyes. "The humans' choice to act tomorrow is giving us an opportunity. The demon hunters won't come so quickly. Before they arrive, we have plenty of time to rescue the emissary from the City of Shadows and retreat safely."

Several witches nodded slightly after hearing Madam Marie's words, but there was still hesitation on some people's faces: The "information" that Hao Ren brought about the "demon hunters' imminent arrival" had clearly shaken these people's courage. They may have previously formulated a perfect plan and been full of confidence, but when the variable of the demon hunters appeared, their confidence seemed a little insufficient.

"A comfortable life will not fall from the sky. If we want to live a free life in the paradise of black magic, we must take a little risk in advance, otherwise we can only continue to live a life of hiding. And even if there are demon hunters, so what? The wizard Hao Ren has already proven that demon hunters are not invincible. Now we have such a powerful wizard joining us, and a werewolf to help, plus the strength of all of us, the demon hunters are no longer scary! But—" Madam Marie said, her voice gradually turning cold, "If anyone still wants to quit, you can say it now, and I will 'grant' that request."

Helen cleared her throat twice and looked at Hao Ren, "Wizard, can you roughly estimate the number of those demon hunters?"

"Didn't I say before? I can't be sure about the exact number. But I can be sure that there aren't many of them, at most a small team of three or four people."

Hao Ren was now trying his best to minimize his fabricated "demon hunters" because he was afraid that these witches would really be scared out of their wits by the demon hunters, and would simply give up the task and go home. At that time, if the "Hesperianna" to be burned in the city wasn't the little bat sprite he knew, where would he go to continue looking for clues?

Hearing this news, the witches really seemed much calmer.

Madam Marie looked at the situation in front of her with satisfaction and raised her arm, "Very good, then we'll set the action for noon tomorrow. The specific action plan..."

Hao Ren listened to the witch explaining the action plan for "robbing the execution ground" tomorrow, while deducing the next day's actions in his mind, his thoughts drifted away.

Was the "blood mage" named Hesperianna the little bat sprite he knew? Or was it just a coincidence of names? If it was really her, how could she be caught by a bunch of humans? And why was she considered a "blood mage?" Although blood mages also use blood magic, they are completely different concepts from vampires. What exactly happened in between?

While the witches were hiding in the graveyard planning a major operation, on a dirt road far from the city, a group of travelers in black attire were raising a bonfire on an open space, resting temporarily.

Their horses were tied to the dead trees by the roadside, and gleaming holy silver longswords hung beside the saddles.

A tall leader stood up from the bonfire, gazing at the direction of the city: In the night, there were only extremely faint, sporadic lights in the direction of the city, and almost no details could be seen, but the leader was focused, as if he had already taken in everything in the distance.

A young deputy stood up after him, "Elder, is this small place really worth your personal visit?"

The leader looked back at this inexperienced junior, then turned his head back, "A qualified hunter never underestimates any hunt, and... you simply don't know how dangerous she is, especially when she's about to wake up..."