Chapter 117 - Surprised
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The guards surrounded Laura's carriage as they walked up the road. The black fog enveloped them from behind, like a monster that had swallowed them, making everyone unconsciously speed up.
Soon they saw the manor at the top of the mountain. The last time Laura was here, she saw how shabby the manor was because no one had taken care of it for a long time. But since Zhao lived here now, she thought that it would have been renovated, but there seemed to have been no renovations or maintenance. From the outside, everything still looked shabby.
The doors of the manor were opened. Inside were two rows of humanoid undead standing in line. The bodies of these humanoid undead were dark green, like they had been carved from jade. They were scary looking, but far from the point of terror. On the contrary, these undead almost looked like a work of art.
These two rows added up to nearly one hundred undead, each of them wearing armor that was usually worn by mercenaries, and they were carrying weapons.
When Laura and Kun saw how they were dressed, they couldn't help but look at each other's eyes as they understood. They knew that sometime ago, Garan had brought a lot of mercenaries to deal with Zhao. And Laura remembered that the first time she met Zhao, he had summoned a lot of undead, but very few of them were humanoid ones. Yet suddenly there were so many humanoid undead. If you add in their outfits, it was natural to figure out where they came from.
Green was sitting on Alien at the back of the yard. When Laura's carriage stopped in front of him, he jumped down and stood next to the carriage, then he bowed. "Please, Miss Laura, my master is waiting for you in the living room."
Laura nodded, then she, Nier, and Kun got down from the carriage. Green then turned to her and said, "Miss Laura, please tell your men to follow the undead. They will take them somewhere to rest." He pointed his finger at the undead, and they all immediately bowed to Laura.
Laura and Kun were surprised for a moment. They were very well-informed, but they had never seen a smart undead before. Although they were surprised, Laura turned to the leader of the guards and said, "Sergio, follow them and go rest."
Sergio nodded as he and his men followed the undead.
Green led Laura, Nier, and Kun around the yard. Along the way, Laura stole some glances to look at everything. Although it wasn't much, the yard did go through some renovations, making it cleaner. As the four continued on, Laura's and Kun's eyes found the ditch where the hot springs flowed through.
The last time she was here, the hot springs weren't anything to take note of, but this time, it was all she could see. That was because of the fire fish.
Dense. They couldn't count the number of fire fish that were packed inside the ditch. Seeing this scene stunned both Laura and Kun. They were very clear about the situation of Stony Mountain. These hot springs were unsuitable to raise so many fire fish, but not only were they alive and well, they were even bigger than the average-sized small fire fish. How was this possible?
Green couldn't help but smile as he watched the two stop and stare. Of course, he had deliberately led them here. After seeing the fire fish, it would ease their talks of cooperation. Green then turned to the three and said, "Miss Laura, my master is waiting for you inside."
Laura snapped back to reality, but then she pointed at the fire fish and stammered, "This, this, how did you do this?"
Green smiled slightly. "This is our home. Please come inside." Then he led them into the reception room of one of the buildings.
Laura could see that Green didn't want to say, so she didn't ask anymore questions. She just exchanged a surprised look with Kun as they followed behind Green into the reception room.
Zhao and Meg were standing in the reception room, waiting for Laura and her group. When he saw Laura enter, Zhao said, "Welcome, Miss Laura. I didn't think that when you just got back yesterday, you will be able to see me today. I am really honored."
Laura bowed to Zhao. "Mister Zhao, compared to your life-saving kindness, this is nothing. I feel happy that I haven't disturbed you with my abrupt visit today."
Zhao gave a slight chuckle. "Miss Laura is too polite. Please come in."
They all went into the living room, where they sat on two sides so they could face each other. Meg brought a pot of tea and gave each person a cup. Laura didn't pay attention to the tea, but instead noted the Iron Book that Meg was carrying.
Laura and Kun were well-informed people, so naturally they would recognize the Iron Book, but they didn't think that a servant of Zhao would actually be holding it.
Zhao noted where the two's eyes were looking, but he didn't say anything about it. "This is a small place, and we don't really have anything to entertain you with. Please, won't you two try our tea?"
The two recovered and politely took a sip from their cups. Zhao looked at Kun and asked, "Miss Laura, who is this?"
"Sorry, how rude of me," Laura said. "This is my housekeeper, but I respect him like an elder. He is my Grandpa Kun."
Kun stood up, and then he bowed to Zhao. "I would like to thank Mister Zhao for rescuing Miss Laura. She is like family to me."
Zhao waved it off. "It's not worth mentioning. Sit down, Mister Kun."
Kun sat back down, while Laura looked at Zhao and asked, "I have a question, but I don't know if it iss improper for me to speak."
"What do you want to ask me, Miss Laura?"
Laura looked at Meg. "Mister Zhao, your maid is holding the Iron Book. But where did it come from?"
Zhao gave a slight chuckle. "Oh, I just took it from someone who wanted to come here and make trouble. It's not something I can do anything with, so I just rewarded my maid with it."
Laura and Kun carefully glanced at Meg. Those two could be considered experts, so they were able to detect a strong wave of magic fluctuating off of her. It seems that she wasn't anything less than a fifth level mage.
The two couldn't help but feel surprised. Ever since they came to Stony Mountain, they were overcome by too many surprises. Whether it was a whole mountain covered by black magic, the courteous undead that could understand people, the large number of fire fish, or a maid that was also a fifth level mage, all of these things surprised them.
Laura and Kun could see the glimmer in each other's eyes. Kun paused for a moment to take a deep breath, then he turned to Zhao and asked, "Mister Zhao, what happened to the man who attacked you?"
Zhao smiled. "Haven't you seen that he has become my servant?"
Although they were kind of expecting it, to hear Zhao tell them, they still felt very surprised. "Mister Zhao, are you saying that you made a light mage your servant?" Kun was well-informed, so naturally he knew that it was difficult for a light mage to be turned into an undead. There was a high probability of failure, but even if they succeeded, it would only become the lowest level undead. Did Garan, an eighth level light mage, really become an undead? If Garan didn't become an undead, then how did Zhao get his hands on the Iron Book?
In the Continent, Garan was a famous light mage. It wasn't just because he was at the eighth level, he was also best known as someone who was specialized in fighting black mages. As long as Garan finds a black mage, he would challenge him. Those black mages would only have a little chance of surviving once Garan sets his sights on them. Because of this, Garan gained a nickname: Black Mage Killer.
Garan had been able to win so many battles that many black mages feared him. Apart from being an eighth level light mage, he also had the Iron Book, which could seal a lot of light spells. A lot of black mages had died because of the Iron Book.
Zhao smiled at Kun, then he turned to Green. "Go call Gamma."
Green saluted, then he turned and walked out. Laura and Kun gave Zhao a puzzled look, but Zhao just smiled and didn't say anything as he took a sip of tea. Soon footsteps were heard, and Green came back in with an undead behind him.
When Kun and Laura saw that undead, they were stunned!
Translator Notes: This chapter is to make up for the one I missed on Monday, 5/23