After eradicating the dozens of bandits in the stronghold, Mo Di didn't rush to leave but instead scoured the place.
With his Soul Eye, he could see through most secret doors and easily found the hidden room there.
It contained gold coins collected by the Crow Claw Bandit Gang, which, after magical calculation, amounted to three hundred seventy-one, along with more silver and copper coins, and some jewelry.
Mo Di didn't let them go, as this was the result of his personal labor.
He signaled the three ghouls to load all these items onto the cart.
He found this carriage in the stronghold; fortunately, the three ghouls hadn't killed the bandits' horses, otherwise, he would have had to make them pull the cart.
As dawn broke, Mo Di used the venison, leeks, potatoes, and seasonings found in the stronghold to casually stew a pot of meat soup, which he quickly ate.
Perhaps due to the ingredients not being fresh, the meat soup didn't taste very good.
As for his cooking skills? He never believed it could be a problem with his own cooking.
“It doesn't taste as good as last night's fish mushroom soup, even though I didn't get a single sip last night.”
Looking at the slowly rising sun, or rather, the shard of the light god, Mo Di narrowed his eyes and called out to the three ghouls to get on the cart.
Barring any accidents, they should reach White River Town before noon.
At that time, he would purchase some supplies there and, incidentally, inquire about news regarding Dragonborn.
That last Dragonborn was a rather unique character in the 【Old Eight Family Bucket】 series; not only was his appearance not fixed, but he was also one of the few un-romanceable characters.
His key characteristic was the ability to absorb dragon souls and quickly master Dragon Shouts that would normally take decades of practice.
Dragon Shout is a method of channeling power by uttering Dragon Language; Mo Di preferred to call it Dragon Language Magic.
The language of dragons itself carries power, so he was quite interested in it.
The carriage moved forward, and the four black-robed figures inside were all silent.
Mo Di fiddled with the emerald dragon carving, his Soul Eye casting a gaze upon it.
Through the outer layer of emerald, he saw an unknown substance.
“What is this thing?” He was greatly puzzled, only knowing that it exuded the lingering prestige of a dragon.
As he currently lacked effective means of intervention, he merely noted his feelings when facing the dragon's prestige, then withdrew his gaze, trying to incorporate the dragon's prestige into the Aura of Fear.
He was studying the emerald dragon carving when the carriage suddenly stopped, and Gan, who was driving, let out a low growl.
Mo Di didn't understand what it meant, but he saw the reason the carriage had stopped.
“Is there someone lying in front?”
He jumped off the cart, stopping five steps away from the person on the ground.
“How long are you going to keep pretending to sleep?”
He deliberately shouted, but the person on the ground made no response.
In the carriage, the three ghouls watched him playfully argue with the air, their expressions thoughtful.
Is this how humans socialize? Learned it, definitely usable next time.
Seeing that the obstructionist hadn't responded for a long time, Mo Di released a blood-qi tentacle, wrapped it around the person's body, and lifted her up.
He also used the tentacle to prick her finger and took a small amount of blood for testing.
‘No special bloodline, no special energy, just an ordinary person.’
He relaxed a little, scrutinizing the person from bottom to top.
She wore coarse cloth clothing, very fitting for a commoner of this era, without strange outfits like stockings, sailor suits, or short skirts. It seemed she wasn't a named character from the 【Old Eight】 series.
He relaxed a little more, his gaze sweeping over her curvaceous figure and settling on her delicate, fair face.
Instantly, he overturned his previous conclusion.
‘Compared to De Wei An... she's not inferior, and she has long brown hair, plus such a delicate face. She looks like she ran out of a two-dimensional anime scene.
Is this really an ordinary commoner?’
Mo Di frowned slightly, turning his Soul Eye, trying to detect any abnormality in her.
But he probed several times with his fifth eye, only getting one result.
The girl in front of him was completely normal.
‘No abnormalities, could it just be a high level of modeling? And why is she here?’
There were no injuries on the girl, only the dust she had picked up from lying on the ground.
She didn't look at all like someone who had been chased and then collapsed here.
Mo Di looked at her exposed feet again; they were fair with a rosy tint, without any marks from scraping against dirt or stones. She likely hadn't run here barefoot.
‘Her hands and feet are well-maintained, without calluses. She doesn't seem like a commoner's child, but this doesn't match her clothing... She shouldn't be an Eternal Realm player either; the character creation process for players isn't like this.’
After pondering for a moment, he cast a cleansing spell on the unconscious girl and still brought her onto the carriage.
Then he bound her tightly with iron chains.
Seeing this, the three ghouls nodded repeatedly, all believing they had mastered the ultimate method in human social interactions.
Next time they encountered other humans, they would definitely try this move.
The carriage continued to move, and besides Gan, who was driving, Wen, Cui, and Mo Di were all staring at the unconscious girl.
They traveled for another two hours, staring for two hours, but the girl they picked up on the road still hadn't woken up, making Mo Di want to weave a nightmare and throw it into her mind.
“She hasn't woken up despite all this bumping. Is she a pig to sleep so soundly?”
The ghouls also agreed with his point; when they were in the underground tomb, they had never seen their master or other ghouls close their eyes for more than two hours.
He finally lost his patience, and just before he made his move, perhaps intuition played a role, but the girl's long eyebrows twitched, finally showing signs of waking up.
The wheels rolled over a raised stone on the road, and the carriage jolted heavily; it was then that she fully woke up.
“Hey, you, you're finally awake.”
Mo Di silently canceled the nightmare he had just woven, gazing into the girl's clear blue eyes, and spoke to her in as gentle a voice as possible.
“You inexplicably appeared on the road, blocking our way. Can you tell us about your identity? And why were you there?”
The girl froze, not answering immediately, her blue pupils fixed on the tall black shadow speaking to her, revealing a clear yet bewildered expression.
Mo Di was not unfamiliar with this kind of gaze; he had once possessed such a gaze during his university years.
What he found strange was that although the girl seemed to be looking at him, her attention wasn't actually on him.
Instead, it was as if she was staring at something on his face, or in front of him.
Several guesses flashed through his mind, and he remained vigilant, awaiting her reply.
After about ten seconds, he felt the girl's gaze fall upon him.
“You... I apologize, I've forgotten many memories, and I can't recall what happened before.” The girl clearly hesitated for a moment, then spoke fluently in the common tongue of Eternity.
“I only remember my name, Elena.”
“...Oh, I see.” Mo Di maintained a smile, his tone still gentle.
This was a lie.
Her demeanor had revealed everything.
He didn't expose the lie but instead played along with Elena.
She was merely a person of unknown origin; he had no grudges against her. As long as she didn't commit evil or go mad, he couldn't be bothered to manage her.
After all, the continent of Eternity is vast, and there are many talented and extraordinary individuals, not to mention the return of numerous Eternals and Immortals in groups after the arrival of the Aether Tide, which would make things even more chaotic.
Let alone visitors from other worlds, even an invasion from another world wouldn't cause a ripple.
Did those stinky otherworlders think they could get a meal by coming to the continent of Eternity?
‘When we reach White River Town, I'll send her on her way.’ He thought this, then suddenly heard the girl gasp.
“Ah, these chains are...?”
Mo Di quickly untied her chains and said earnestly, “I apologize, we didn't know your identity beforehand, which is why we did that. After all, the Northern Territory isn't safe right now, and we have to be careful.”
Hearing him say this, Elena could only whisper, “No, no problem.”
It was evident that she was likely a clear-headed university student who wasn't good at refusing people and hadn't yet been exposed to the harsh realities of society, or perhaps it was due to extreme nervousness.
It wasn't Mo Di's overthinking; her behavior was simply too similar, especially her temperament, which was completely out of place in this world.
‘An otherworld visitor? But there's nothing surprising about that; when the Eternals returned, there were otherworlders who came with them.’
He became more convinced of his guess, and a touch of pity for Elena welled up in his heart.
A university student who hadn't yet entered society, suddenly arriving in this chaotic otherworld filled with madmen, would probably not survive long without a golden finger.
However, judging from her previous performance, she should have one, but that didn't necessarily mean she would survive safely.
To continue existing, one must constantly grow stronger until standing at the pinnacle of all realms.
Silence once again enveloped the carriage, leaving only the creaking of the wheels and the neighing of the horses.
Elena sat restlessly, occasionally glancing at the black-robed man sitting next to her, and feeling the chill around him, she couldn't help but hug her arms.
In the carriage, besides the black-robed man who first spoke to her, the other three hadn't said a word until now.
She didn't dare to talk to them, habitually crossing her hands and rubbing her fingernails.
After a while, she made up her mind to break the deadlock: “This... sir, how should I address you?”
“Mormontis.” Mo Di gave his magic name.
Unlike a true name, a magic name is a wizard's alias, used for signing contracts, for others to address him, and also so as not to reveal his true name.
Only wizards who have officially become Transcendent have magic names; in a way, this name can reflect some of the wizard's personal characteristics.
“Sir Mormontis, I would like to ask, what is the destination of your journey?”
After the initial confusion, Elena had regained her basic rationality. Now, she needed to understand her situation.
And seek help to integrate into this world.
“Oh, that was my oversight, I even forgot to tell you the destination,” Mo Di slapped his forehead, “We're going to White River Town on this trip, and we should arrive before noon.”
White River Town?
Although Elena didn't know where that was, she maintained a polite smile and inquired:
“What kind of place is White River Town? Ah, you know, I've lost a lot of my memories. Could you please tell me about this town?”
She habitually scratched her fingernails, her inner nervousness almost overflowing.
‘What if he doesn't want to answer, what if he gets annoyed, then what should I do?’
When nervous, people always overthink, and she was no exception.
Fortunately, Mo Di wasn't such an impatient person, and his words didn't disappoint her.