The Creators: From Night City

Page 360

At the very least, he felt that being humble in the face of a hero who could banish the Lord of Dread was nothing to be ashamed of.

The ruler wore a loose white robe made of luxurious silk, and instead of a crown, he wore a blue brocade turban.

He has a sexy mustache, and his proactively put-on smile looks very approachable.

However, looking at the other person, Jiang Bing couldn't help but think of a certain bard who had connections throughout Novigrad, as the two shared some strikingly similar qualities.

Is this the unique aura of a seasoned LSP?

But compared to Dandelion's unrestrained nature, the ruler wore an inescapable weariness and looked worried.

"Thank you for your great achievements. I am very pleased that the caravan can once again travel freely to the West to trade. This will undoubtedly greatly alleviate Rugaine's current difficult situation."

Lu Gaoyin is indeed in dire straits; even the tea he is served is poured by Jiang Bing.

"Your Highness Jehain, may I ask what brings you here today?"

Under such circumstances, a king who is in a terrible predicament (the ruler of only one city is also a king) takes the initiative to visit, so naturally he has something to ask for.

“It’s mainly to thank Lord Sabur for his righteous act.” Jehain put down his tea, took an exquisite wooden box from the guard behind him, and placed it on the only table in the camp.

“Atma has told me the truth about your righteous deeds. Your heroic act of eliminating the monsters lurking in the sewers will be forever praised in Ru Gowin.”

The wooden box was opened, revealing a small, exquisitely crafted amulet inside.

Jehain pushed the gold amulet in front of Jiang Bing and said, "Lord Sabur, please accept this honorary badge issued by the Royal Rugaine. From now on, you will enjoy the highest honors in this bustling commercial capital."

This exquisitely crafted amulet is clearly a magical item, and it is currently emitting a soft blue light in Jiang Bing's 'vision'.

The amulet felt incredibly cool to the touch, instantly dispelling the scorching heat of the desert.

This magical item can dispel the scorching heat and keep the wearer's body temperature within a normal range, making it a pretty good magical tool.

Unfortunately, it was completely useless to Jiang Bing. His physical fitness had long surpassed the standard of a 'black-skinned sports student'. Not to mention the scorching heat of the desert, he could even perform a few freestyle swimming routines in boiling lava.

But as the old saying goes, one shouldn't hit a smiling face, so Jiang Bing accepted the talisman very formally.

"With this, His Excellency Sabur's caravans can enjoy tax-free benefits in Rugaud." Seeing that Jiang Bing didn't seem to care much about it, Jehain quickly added.

As a port city built on commerce, this reward is extremely generous for ordinary people or powerful entities. If Varif could obtain this 'tax-free license,' he would probably jump for joy on the spot.

Unfortunately, Mr. Jiang's family is very wealthy and he is certainly not short of money.

However, the necessary commercial flattery still had to be done. Although Jiang Bing wasn't very good at this, fortunately, he needed help from Renjie Haiyin, so he didn't mind and even took the initiative to smooth things over.

The principle that "it's never wrong to be overly polite" applies universally, and a ruler would naturally not rush to curry favor with Jiang Bing and his group for no reason; he would have his own plans.

Chapter 739 Palace Incident

After several rounds of tea, the Sultan finally revealed his true purpose.

"With Lord Sabur's strength, he should already have noticed the unusual situation in the city."

"Which aspect of the Sultan are you referring to?" Jiang Bing was practically pointing out exactly which of Rugaine's many oddities he was referring to.

“Of course it’s the palace,” Jehain said with a wry smile.

"After all, according to common sense, I should invite you to my palace to be entertained, rather than visiting you in person, which would obviously be impolite."

“Speak frankly, Your Highness Jehain. I don’t think the reason you didn’t invite us to your palace is because you’ve invited all the prostitutes in the city to your palace.”

“Of course, of course,” the womanizing sultan was strikingly similar to Dandelion in this respect, in that he was not ashamed of his affairs, but rather proud of them.

“When the demons afflicted Ru Gholein, I allowed the terrified ladies to take refuge in my palace. At first, everything was normal, and the palace was safe, until one night…”

The Sultan hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

'Your affair with them has been exposed?' Jiang Bing thought to himself.

“Until a demon appeared in that former mage sanctuary, right?” the female mage Isendra, who had been listening in, suddenly spoke up.

The city of Lu Gholein was built on the ruins of the Vizjere Fortress, and the female mage from the Vizjere tribe clearly had a lot to say about the city's history.

That's right.

The events of that night must have been terrifying, which is why the Sultan, who has weathered many storms, still feels lingering fear when he recalls them.

"One night, a series of shrill screams suddenly came from where the ladies were sleeping. When the palace guards arrived, they found that a large number of demons from hell had occupied the depths of the palace and had slaughtered all the poor girls."

At this point, the Sultan's face showed unbearable pain, and he couldn't help but close his eyes.

"The scene at that time was truly chilling to the bone."

"After a fierce battle, my loyal guards drove these demons back to hell and pushed the battle line back to a mysterious teleportation array, which was the very place where these demons had poured in."

"But none of my mages could shut down that teleportation array, not even Drognan. And the demons continued to enter the palace through the teleportation array, so the entire city's defenses were tied up in the palace, fighting the demons' invasion day and night."

Jehain spoke earnestly: "Lord Sabur, heroes, compared to the demons outside the city, the crisis in the palace is the real catastrophe for Lu Gowin at this moment. To be honest, I have already made the worst-case scenario plan. Mashev on the dock is the fleet leader I hired at a high price, so that if the palace falls one day, all the residents of the city can still be evacuated by water via the fleet."

Although this sultan had his flaws, they did not outweigh his merits, and he could be considered a competent ruler.

“The Mysterious Sanctuary,” Isendra began.

"That portal most likely leads to the Mysterious Sanctuary."

Jehain's face lit up with delight: "Yes, Ms. Isendra, your erudition is truly admirable. My mage advisor, Drognan, also guessed the same thing."

Jiang Bing tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention back to himself.

"So you want to hire us to help you close this portal?"

“That’s right,” the Sultan said, looking at the crowd with expectant eyes. “For this, I am willing to pay you all a reward that will satisfy you. Afterwards, the doors of the royal treasury will be open to you, and you can take whatever you want.”

But to be honest, apart from the barbarians who 'go out to work' because their tribes are poor, no one else is interested in this condition.

The necromancer Zul, who frequently casts questioning glances at Rasmar, deals with corpses all day long, and the dead don't recognize gold; while the paladin Dolorin is a staunch believer in the Holy Light and is untroubled by money; the Amazon Cassia is a newcomer and has not yet integrated into this circle, so she chooses to observe from the sidelines; and the female mage Isendra comes from a noble family (a mage clan) and is not short of money.

Fortunately, the quick-witted and emotionally intelligent Jehain glanced at everyone's expressions, changed the subject, and quickly added, "Of course, the Royal Library will also be open to everyone unconditionally."

This sentence was specifically said to female mages and necromancers who sought knowledge.

"Lu Gholein can also form a friendly alliance with Westmarch, and subsequent business cooperation will be subject to preferential tax policies." This sentence was directed at Delorin, who came from the Knights of Westmarch.

Barbarians are easy to deal with; just pay them.

However, the most important thing is that Jiang Bing is not someone that Jie Haiyin can sway.

But he wasn't needed for this mission. The people present were all capable, and even without Jiang Bing, they could easily sweep through the entire mysterious sanctuary.

Jiang Bing had more important things to do. Under the pressure of facing both heaven and hell, he had no time to waste on these trivial matters.

He needed to rush to Sescheron, the holy land of the northern barbarians, before the war broke out, to find the 'Phantom Box' hidden by a certain Horadric barbarian and secure it, so as not to miss out on the treasure when he had to run away if things got out of hand.

So, at the Sultan's generous reward and earnest request, the heroes began preparations to launch a counterattack on the palace.

However, on the eve of Jiang Bing's departure, an unexpected incident occurred.

Among the astronomical phenomena that the ancients valued, solar and lunar eclipses were the most typical.

Just as Jiang Bing was preparing to set off with Rasmar for the northern land of fear, the sky over the entire Alanok Desert was suddenly shrouded in darkness, as if a solar eclipse had occurred.

Although the darkness lasted for a very short time, it still caused an uproar throughout Rut Gholein.

It should be noted that the Dark Wanderer is currently residing in the vast desert, so it is hard to believe that this unusual celestial phenomenon is unrelated to him.

While Deckard Kane was intensely discussing the significance of this bizarre solar eclipse with the city's learned alchemist, Reshand, and the old mage Drognan of Vizjere, Rasmar, who was following behind Jiang Bing, quietly approached Jiang Bing for a private conversation.

"The Dreadlord has just summoned His most loyal minions from Hell, and the eclipse just now was a byproduct of the summoning ritual."

Jiang Bing wasn't too surprised by the information Rasma had, but he was very interested in the intelligence channels the other party used. He was quite certain that the other party hadn't left his side during this time, but the current situation clearly showed that someone was passing information to him.

“We need to hunt this demon,” Rasmar stated his plan. “As part of the deal, you can use it to prove to me that the ‘fire-linking ritual’ mentioned in the deal can indeed allow someone to inherit your power to annihilate the demon’s soul.”

Rasma's request was reasonable; after all, a businessman cannot easily refuse a customer's request to inspect the goods.

Of course, most importantly, Rasmar also gave Jiang Bing a reason he couldn't refuse.

He can add money.

Chapter 740 Escape from the Small Town

"Shh~~"

The dim darkness, like viscous grease, enveloped the two of them.

Ryan covered his sister's mouth tightly, his face covered in grime, a mask of sorrow made up of panic and solemnity.

“Don’t make a sound, they will hear you,” the older brother said.

The younger sister could only cover her mouth tightly, letting her tears flow freely, leaving two white tear streaks on her blood-stained face.

Half-congealed, foul-smelling blood dripped from the cracks in the floor onto Ryan's shoulder. This blood belonged to Uncle Ral, who had always taken good care of them. Ryan had witnessed this scalding blood gushing out from the man's severed carotid artery.

A strong, fishy stench suddenly filled the basement, making the 17-year-old boy's heart skip a beat.

"That monster... has it returned again?!"

Despair crept upwards like a tide, engulfing his mouth and nose, giving him a slow, suffocating feeling.

He couldn't help but clench the cold little hand beside him.

Fortunately, the rustling sound of something moving on the ground gradually faded away, and the surroundings returned to calm.

But the wind and snow intensified, with the cold wind carrying snowflakes relentlessly seeping into the small space through the cracks in the wooden planks.

Ryan was filled with despair. He knew that to survive, he had to escape as soon as possible. If he waited any longer, the blizzard would freeze the two of them, the survivors, into ice cubes.

Suddenly, a commotion arose overhead. It was the sound of a storm sweeping across the town, and the church bells on the top of the church were ringing incessantly in the strong winds.

'A great opportunity!' Ryan thought to himself.

The bell not only attracted the monsters' attention but also effectively masked the noise the brother and sister made while they were moving around, and the blizzard provided them with the best cover.

Now is the perfect time to escape.

So Ryan gently pushed open the hidden door above his head.

The howling cold wind rushed into his nostrils.

The southern edge of the Land of Terror is a vast, desolate snowfield, while the town at the foot of the northern mountains of Kanduras is the largest human settlement in the vicinity.

But the bustling activity of the past is long gone.

The once bustling town is now littered with corpses, and blood is splattered everywhere on the simple stone houses and wooden sheds. Looking up, the muddy streets are covered with large patches of blood, as if they were deliberately sprayed there.

"Run! Don't stop!" The brother grabbed his sister's hand, and the two of them raced desperately out of town, braving the wind and snow.

But soon, a large number of hesitant figures appeared amidst the swirling snowflakes.

"elder brother!"

The younger sister cried out in alarm.

These familiar faces were originally residents of the town, but within just a few hours, they transformed into bloodthirsty and insane monsters.

Ryan's limbs, whether from fear or the cold, gradually stiffened. He held his breath, pulled his sister aside, and turned into a small alley.

“Let’s go this way. There’s a hole here that leads directly to the Rydas family’s cowshed.”

Ryan was incredibly grateful to the version of himself who had once sneaked through this dog hole to steal dried cow dung from his neighbor's cowshed; he never imagined that this immoral act would unexpectedly save his life today.

The dog hole was small and very dirty, surrounded by a mixture of cow dung and mud, but the brother and sister clearly had no time to complain.

The two of them struggled to crawl through the dog hole and into the somewhat dark cowshed.

This small border town is not wealthy, and livestock is one of the most important assets of the townspeople, so Rydas always keeps his cowshed very clean.

But at this moment, the two cows that the homeowner regarded as treasures had been gutted at some point, and their colorful entrails were scattered all over the ground, filling the air with a foul stench.

The attacker did not eat the two cow carcasses, as if it did so simply to enjoy the thrill of killing.

Suppressing his nausea, Ryan pulled his sister over the cow's carcass and came to the woodpile from the other side.

Rydas was a very diligent widower. He always prepared enough firewood to last the entire winter well before the blizzard season arrived, so that he could comfortably hibernate indoors.

Looking at the pile of firewood, which was a head taller than him and had been carefully chopped and neatly stacked, a thought inexplicably flashed through Ryan's mind: "That old guy Rydas will probably be busy with this firewood for five or six days straight, from dawn till dusk."

But the sadness that followed almost took his breath away; he knew that the other party probably wouldn't need the firewood.

All the hard work of the past few days has been in vain.

However, Ryan soon discovered something good that eased his sadness.

An axe was embedded in a wooden stake next to the woodpile; clearly, this was Rydas's tool for chopping wood.