When the third elder's gloomy voice sounded close to his ears, not only the Terashima siblings who were shrouded in shadow, but also the audience in the live broadcast room were so nervous that they held their breath.
The sky outside the window was as dark as night, and the flickering candlelight inside the room disturbed the light and shadow, infinitely amplifying the sense of oppression in the silence—until the sound of voices broke the almost solid air.
"Hey, why are you slandering people with your mouth?" The adventurer named Beidou said inexplicably, as if he didn't feel the vague hostility shown by the third elder at all. "What we said the day before yesterday was to try to report every day. ——The emphasis is on 'try your best', but I never said I would definitely come, and there was no such clause in the contract I signed."
When he said this, he took two steps back vigilantly, "Third Elder, I admire your leadership skills very much, and I also know that managing such a large villa requires a lot of expenses, but we have to pay attention to the principle that every injustice has its owner, right? Warcraft Ignoring the damage caused by the attack on the villa and looking for excuses to deduct the wages of little people like us is not what the Himi family should do."
Siblings: "..."
Audiences:"……"
The Third Elder, who was inexplicably labeled as a harsh employee, almost lost his temper: "..."
Probably because the actors were too tired from working at their desks day and night, the third elder was stuck for a while and couldn't figure out how to respond to this line that seriously deviated from the point. The adventurer waited politely for three seconds. Seeing that the other party had no intention of answering, he continued talking non-stop: "Third Elder, what do you think of this? If you need us to report regularly every day, then we can now Fill in this clause and re-sign the contract. However, this may cause our working hours to be reduced, and it will be difficult to spend time hunting the 'big guy' like last night, so I think we deserve an appropriate increase in remuneration—— "
The third elder couldn't bear it and raised a hand, interrupting the adventurer's continuous speech, "No need. So, are you here to report the results of yesterday's battle?"
"Yes." Seeing that the third elder was not going to discuss the possibility of a salary increase, Beidou sighed with regret, then stepped forward and put the collected magic cores on his desk. Among the many inconspicuous little balls, the shining crystal is particularly obvious.
The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly. He clicked on the big magic core, "Did you get this by hunting the monsters yourself?"
"That's right. Near sunset last night, we discovered a powerful Blizzard King deep in the Warcraft Forest. It commanded the Warcraft to constantly harass people in the forest. We judged that it was a great threat to humans, so we spent a whole day I set up an ambush in the evening and finally succeeded in destroying it."
Adventurer Beidou talked eloquently while observing the expressions of the three elders. Seeing that the middle-aged man's stiff expression showed signs of loosening, the adventurer immediately stepped forward and said enthusiastically: "Of course, Third Elder, you hired us, and all the credit should belong to you. After two days of groping, we I have also summarized some experience in fighting ice monsters. If you need it, we can discuss it in detail——"
Seeing that another eight hundred giant text bubbles were about to be blocked in front of him, the third elder burst out at a speed that was inconsistent with his calm and gentle self in the past - he quickly put away the magic core, wrote a few lines of text with flying colors, and then He slapped the scroll in front of the three people and showed them.
"The results of the three of you have been registered. Thank you for your contribution." The middle-aged man said in a firm tone, "I still have work to do, so I can't talk to the three of you more. Please forgive me."
Beidou suddenly showed a look of regret.
"Are you really not considering trading with us? I believe both of us will gain something, such as——"
"Tom, see you off!"
The three adventurers were chased and thrown back into the courtyard. The auxiliary officer named Tom wiped his sweat and told the adventurers the news that should have been narrated by the third elder himself - because of their fruitful results, " The task of "Destroying the World of Warcraft" can be considered completed. From now on, we should focus on the second task, "Destroying the Snowman".
After watching the messenger go away, the Terashima siblings looked at their eldest brother with admiration in their eyes.
At this point, they had more or less guessed that the third elder was definitely not as kind a person as he appeared to be, and was most likely the culprit who had persecuted the Warcraft and Himi clan members. Seeing that the name of the character who was suspected to be the final boss gradually turned from yellow to red, and even suspected that they were related to the night attack of Warcraft, the siblings thought that they would die suddenly on the spot and be eliminated in advance - they never expected that they could still use "talk therapy" The method was used to force the situation back. It is estimated that within at least forty-eight hours, the third elder would only think of them as "the money-hungry and talkative adventurer" when he saw them.
While bathing in the adoring eyes of her younger brothers, Xiaoye silently took out the kettle and took several sips.
…Next time, let’s leave the chatty roles to the chatty southerners.
Afterwards, the three of them walked around the living room of the second elder, trying to meet the elder whose name was engraved on the tombstone. But the guard at the door had already announced that "no one is allowed to enter", and there were an unusually large number of patrols nearby. Even the rooftops were guarded by guards who were watching with eager eyes, almost keeping an eye on this area.
There was no doubt about it - they couldn't get close to the second elder without the help of Pokémon.
The three of them secretly made a plan, and finally Xiaoye made the decision to retreat temporarily and wait until late at night to try to sneak into the elder's mansion to find out.
Before leaving, they saw Tom again in a hurry and received a letter from him.
"This is a letter given to you by the third elder. Please read it when no one is around." The assistant officer emphasized again and again, and only left after seeing the three people nodding to express their understanding.
Lijiu touched the still warm paint on the seal of the letter and said tentatively, "Is it the... 'that' that Mr. Jean said?"
Xiaoye nodded, "I think so."
Long Xing was immediately ignited by curiosity, "Quickly find a place to take it apart and take a look!"
The leader of the team was not in a hurry at all. He put the letter into the package and pointed to the sky, "Go back and eat first."
The siblings raised their heads and saw that the faintly visible sunlight behind the dark clouds was almost reaching their heads, and then belatedly felt hungry.
It was approaching noon, and the maid Linda had already prepared a sumptuous lunch.
She proudly smelled the aroma of the food, and after admiring her achievements for a while, she turned and entered the back room. Within minutes, her mean voice filled the room.
"Oh, Master Carl, you are really a busy man - I worked hard to prepare lunch for you, just because I hope you can study hard and not lose the reputation of our master. It's good for you, you said you want to practice calligraphy, As a result, I didn’t write a few lines and just dozed off?”
"Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"Yes, I understand that you are so busy. Although you went back to the house to rest before eight o'clock last night, you were definitely not sleeping, but staying up late to read. Oh, look at my memory, last night There is no light in your house - so you should read it in the dark, right?"
It wasn't until the sound of the door opening came from the entrance that the maid Linda reluctantly stopped teasing the boy.
"Hey, aren't these our forgetful adventurers?" Linda raised her eyelids and glanced at the people who came in. "Yesterday, I wasted no time cooking a table of good food. Even after the curfew, I didn't even wait for anyone to show up. Why? I finally cured my amnesia today, do you remember your visit?"
It's a pity that the brain circuits of young people in southern China are naturally lacking in twists and turns. Long Xing, who was slapped in the face by the cold words, immediately beat his chest and said, "What, good food!? If I had known, I would have come back earlier - last night we were eating in the wild in the strong wind. Solid food, don’t mention how miserable it is.”
Linda scoffed at the empty space: "..."
Xiao Ye watched helplessly as the poor maid's mood deteriorated rapidly, and in the end she had to put on a world-weary face to serve the dishes. Her expression was quite similar to that of the third elder who was thought to have collapsed.
Thanks to Dragon Star, the three of them had a rare lunch that was not mixed with cynicism. Linda frowned frequently with the way the two siblings were eating their food without any manners. She wanted to make a few mocking remarks but was afraid of backing away again, so she finally hid in the kitchen and kept out of sight.
Considering that the penalty for "making a show" is to be eliminated from the competition, Lijiu and Long Xing did not dare to talk much at the dinner table. Young Master Carl, who was sitting at the same table, looked languid and exhausted, and he didn't even notice the adventurer's voice.
Xiaoye recalled the boy who was surrounded by his fellow tribesmen looking for trouble in the back hill on the first night - and a certain sentence the maid inadvertently mentioned during a chat, and a guess quietly took root in her heart.
After lunch, the three of them gathered in the boss's bedroom and eagerly took out the letters given to them by the third elder.
The yellowed paper has a faint rosin smell, and there are only a few concise lines of words on it.
——————————
Hello young and promising adventurers. I am Bingjian Morton, the third elder of Fengxue Villa.
Thank you very much for your contributions so far. You have proven your strength with your outstanding record. Therefore, I want to give you a secret mission.
Please look for a red crystal in the wilderness north of Fengxue Mountain. It is the "key" to unlock our family's secret treasure. No matter what method you use, as long as you can bring the red crystal, I will do my best to reward you.
What you want is money? Is it power?
Or...become my comrade?
——————————
After all three of them read the letter, Xiaoye left the drawing with the red crystals behind, and the letter itself was placed on the candlelight and burned quickly.
"What do you think?"
Lijiu said with a straight face, imitating the boss's tone: "There is no doubt that this is the 'third mission' mentioned by Mr. Jean. But the intelligence we have is insufficient and we need to collect more information before making a judgment."
Xiaoye: "...Well, you are right."
Long Xing raised his hand actively and spoke, "Boss, what should we investigate now?"
"Go to sleep." Xiaoye said.
The siblings were stunned for a moment. Before they could retort, Xiaoye continued: "Tonight we are going to sneak into the elder's mansion and explore the secrets of the second elder. This will be a tough battle, and we must first recuperate - now go back to your room and have a good sleep. Let’s hold the combat meeting until evening, okay?”
"Uh... ok."
Now that the team leader had given the order, the Terashima siblings had no choice but to nod in agreement.
However, the group had stayed up all night after all. After the excitement caused by curiosity passed, the siblings soon started yawning non-stop, and went back to their rooms to rest without Xiaoye's urging.
Xiaoye did not rush to sleep. She first summarized and sorted out the information obtained today, then released the Pokémon one by one and gave them lunch. Fortunately, the room dedicated to adventurers was big enough, and Gyarados could hold itself together. You can not break the ceiling, so you are not forced to starve.
The Pokémon who had eaten and drank enough returned to the Poké Ball one by one, leaving Ghoststone lying on the ground like mud, with pitifulness written all over his body.
Xiaoye shook the medicine bottle in her hand, feeling a little distressed.
In that big collision of ice puppets, Ghost Stone, who was full of hatred, was unable to defeat the four hands with his fists. In the end, he was caught and beaten up - I don't know what the shells of those ice puppets were made of. , the effect of each slap was comparable to that of a freezing punch, almost beating Ghost Stone out of his body.
Without the assistance of the Pokémon Center's equipment and relying solely on medication, it would probably take several days for such an injury to completely heal. What's more, the medicines provided by the Himi family are limited and cannot afford to be squandered.
She thought about it and felt that there was only one most economical and reasonable method left.
Xiao Ye stretched out her hand, and when her fingertips touched Ghost Stone Liang Bingbing's body, white light flowed from the boulder on her wrist.
In the reverse flow of time, the scars on Ghost Stone's body disappeared little by little. In less than three seconds, the whole ghost jumped up in high spirits and started happily gnawing on the fruit and the trainer's head, frightening the Pichu stuck on the master's shoulder to the point where he almost had an electric shock. The scene was so chaotic that it almost attracted the maids.
After finally dealing with the flying Pokémon, Xiaoye lay back on the bed with eyes full of stars - not because of the use of Moon Heart, but because of the gas from Ghoststone.
The Pokémon were curling up in the ball contentedly and taking a nap, and the two siblings next door had long since stopped moving. Xiaoye gathered the electric mouse that was about to fall out of bed into her arms, closed her eyes and fell asleep.
====================
She knew that what she saw was no ordinary nightmare or hallucination.
That is the "future" that actually happened.
The girl saw the scorched earth, the flames raging in the air, the blackened half of the World Tree, and the black meteorites that swallowed up all the starlight.
...Well, since she touched Xiaotian's necklace, Xiaoye has dreamed of the same scene too many times. At first she would be shocked by the apocalyptic scene, but now she just feels tired of seeing it and wants to press the fast forward button.
As if hearing the dreamer's voice, the dream scene flashed and suddenly changed.
Xiaoye found herself standing beside a noisy path, with cold mountains covered with snow in the distance.
When her five senses returned to her body, she vaguely caught a sense of familiarity - just like she had been in a "dream" of the same origin not long ago. But this sense of familiarity disappeared in an instant, and noisy human voices invaded his ears.
"Have you heard? Something big happened on the mountain. It was said that there was an accident during the competition and everyone died!"
"No way, isn't the Himi family always very reliable?"
"I also heard this from my friends... Ouch, look!"
As people screamed, "she" raised her head and looked at the mountain tops in the distance.
Under the dark clouds, the gorgeous aurora gradually emerged.
Fengxue Mountain is located near the equator. Even though its altitude allows it to have land covered by ice and snow all year round, there is absolutely no reason for the aurora to appear. But now, the blue and green light spread overwhelmingly, almost drowning this small island.
After the heart-stoppingly beautiful Aurora, the dark clouds began to stir.
Like prehistoric giant beasts fighting in the clouds, the wind became so strong that even the people in the small town at the foot of the mountain were blown away from their feet. And "she" opened her eyes wide in the cold wind and saw clearly what was happening in the sky.
One blue and one red, two huge birds were fighting in the distant sky.
Ice and snow are flying, and flames are flowing. The roar of the divine bird stirred up air currents and cut the soft clouds; the blood of the divine bird dripped to the ground, burning the white snowflakes.
That is a war that humans cannot touch.
That is a war that "humanity" must prevent.
"Hey, kid, what are you going to do!"
The voices of the townspeople were left behind. "She" ran desperately towards the mountain, her sweat falling on the gray ground, her eyes still fixed on the distant mountain top.
But compared to the vastness of the mountains, human footsteps are too small and too weak. Purple eyes as clear as an LCD screen clearly and inescapably reflected everything - the wind and snow became more intense, while the flames gradually weakened; the aurora curtain that was so gorgeous that it was not like the human world condensed into a sharp blade and penetrated ruthlessly. The chest of the flame bird.
It was like time was frozen, even the air was frozen at that moment. The next moment, the clouds and mists surged, the earth shook, and countless boulders rushed along the collapsed hillside, like the largest wave under the lightless sun and moon, swallowing up the humans at the foot of the mountain.
At the end when his consciousness sank into darkness, what emerged was heartbreaking pain.
====================
small theater:
Third Elder: Actually, there is no part of sending letters in the script. I should issue the task to them face to face. It's just... I really don't want to talk to that kid anymore. (falling into isolation)
