North of Luke, Mist Forest, Silver Tears Lake.
“Chirp chirp…”
When Fatty Bird landed again, it waved its wings at Lin Nuo, who then slipped into a spot carefully chosen by Fatty Bird—concealed enough yet still allowing him to roughly observe the others’ movements.
The night, mixed with thickening mist, steadily reduced visibility, but Lin Nuo could still make out the shape of the place: an oval-shaped lake surrounded by forest, vast enough that even standing amidst the fog and peering into the distance, the opposite shore remained unseen.
The water was crystal clear, as if aware that something terrifying was about to awaken.
Every so often, the splash of fish leaping out of the water and thrashing on the shore could be heard—a natural instinct of fear driving them to flee this lake in urgency.
He stealthily approached a patch of light by the shore, moving quietly until the sharp sound of reprimand reached his ears.
“Heh, you’ve hidden in that spot long enough… and now you dare to come back?!”
“Who gave you permission to come directly here? So what if you transported the silver… do you think I care about his things?”
“Get lost! Take it away!”
Ruding, seated in a wicker chair, grabbed the hair of one of the children without knowing exactly whose.
If it weren’t for his two severed legs not yet fully healed by magic and the slow recovery of his severed arm, he would have thrown that child hard into the water.
“Crying again, a bunch of worthless slaves! How do I know he didn’t come with you?”
“Besides, can you guarantee the stuff brought from the Clemence Family isn’t a trick?”
“No! There really isn’t!” Bella’s sobbing voice broke through, speaking incoherently: “Lord Lin Nuo gave these to us and left, not even using the carriages from the manor that know the way. He told us Duke Kuxiu wouldn’t be able to send a single soldier…”
“Lord Lin Nuo said delivering the silver was the only thing he could do for Her Highness the Princess, and it was the only thing we could do. Please, just accept this silver!”
“Lord Lin Nuo? You actually call him that now?”
Ruding’s fury deepened, but Parkes was already inspecting the at least thirty carriages lined up, poking at the neatly arranged silver ingots with the tip of his sword.
He even examined the wheel tracks in the mud carefully.
Among them, one carriage’s track was noticeably shallower than the others.
Before he could fully assess the sword stance, the entire carriage was cleaved with a thunderous “crack.”
The horses ahead were startled, rearing and letting out long neighs as countless shining silver ingots and silver bars spilled onto the damp ground.
Hidden among the silver ingots, a Spirit Pearl was exposed.
Parkes crushed it with a single kick.
“Hiding a Spirit Pearl in the middle of the silver—do they think the Magic Whale sleeping deep underground would be scared by the light? Such a naive and boring little trick.”
“There really is something wrong!” Ruding flung the elf slave in his hands violently aside.
“Old man, won’t you make these worthless slaves take their things and leave?”
Parkes said nothing, instead staring coldly at the twenty or so elf slaves huddled together in fear.
His gaze was terrifyingly cold.
“Everyone, show me your memories. Don’t hide anything. You know you can’t fool me.”
——No, I guess my father can’t send a single soldier… and no matter if it’s a hundred of me, a thousand of me, or ten thousand of me, it won’t change the ending where Amidina dies.
——But you don’t need to be afraid.
——This matter doesn’t require thousands of me either. In fact, one me and twenty-three of you will be enough, if you’re willing…
——You will be my greatest reliance in this high-stakes gamble.
Under the strange power of magic, all conversations in the memories appeared completely, impossible to hide.
The sound of Ruding scraping his nails against his dagger grew even more chilling.
“Not only did he reveal all the information, but just for being called a ‘reliance’ by that useless guy, they were bought off… One him and twenty-three of you want to oppose us? Should I call him naive or arrogant?”
He dragged pale-faced Bella forward and said, “Guess how many of those worthless, deluded fools like Lin Nuo, who can’t even use magic properly, have bled onto what I’m holding?”
“He even knew to cover their eyes so I couldn’t see what happened during their talks, but in the end, he didn’t say what plan he came up with… A scheming young man indeed.” Parkes pondered deeply.
“Since it’s confirmed a trick, why waste words!”
Just as Ruding was about to throw his dagger and flip over the second carriage, Parkes grabbed his wrist to stop him.
“Keep it. I misjudged that Clemence guy.”
“A bit clever, but not much.”
“He named three methods to stop us but ruled them all out. At least here, I can praise him for some self-awareness.”
“But he said he came up with a fourth idea, though I don’t know what it is, but since it starts from trying to lure away the Magic Whale, the essence of that idea is already wrong…”
Parkes stroked his beard and continued, “How cautious must I be to believe such a reckless kid could tamper with the magic array I’ve prepared for seven years? He’s probably more cowardly than a mouse to think he can actually guide the Magic Whale’s movements.”
“Relying on a Spirit Pearl that can’t even emit light underwater, and trying to send signals to the Magic Whale with it?”
“Such a boring and childish idea.”
“I won’t be fooled by him a second time!”
Parkes glanced disdainfully at the silver ingots again, then flicked his gaze to the elf slaves’ dirty clothes and grime-covered hands.
Finally, he simply patted the burlap covering the silver with his sword, hearing the dull thud confirming nothing was wrong.
“Besides, the silver is necessary to lure away the wraiths. Keep it.”
The wild wind howled all around the sky, and the thunderclouds above the lake thickened.
When a streak of purple lightning pierced through the clouds, Lin Nuo saw the silver scattered on the ground and the Spirit Pearl crushed beneath Parkes’s foot.
That’s right.
The entire carriage was loaded with real silver, and the Spirit Pearl was deliberately placed there by Lin Nuo.
He guessed Parkes would be this cautious, and considering his own desperate bluff when confronting him, Parkes would never believe Lin Nuo had no other tricks up his sleeve.
Moreover, if every carriage was filled with silver, Parkes would be more likely to flip every single one, refusing to believe otherwise.
So Lin Nuo deliberately reduced the load on one carriage and planted a Spirit Pearl among the silver, exactly to show Parkes what he wanted him to see.
Then Parkes’s arrogant voice echoed in his ears…
Sure enough, he left the silver behind!
Lin Nuo relaxed the hand rubbing the leaves.
It looked like the first step had been a success!