Who hid my body?

Chapter 335 Sincerity for sincerity

Lyle felt uneasy walking in the thick fog.

He was following the messenger from the Land of Contracts to the meeting point. Although he had prepared himself mentally before coming, he still overestimated his ability to cope. He always felt that the outlines in the thick fog were his old home, so he would be terrified every time he passed by those new villages. He would breathe a sigh of relief after realizing that they were not his old home, but in the end, he would feel melancholy.

This experience tormented him repeatedly until he could no longer bear it and decided to do something to distract himself.

So he naturally turned his attention to the messenger who was leading the way.

“Hey, brother.” Lyle strode forward, walking alongside the stern-faced messenger. “How much longer until we get there?”

The envoy replied calmly, "That's about it."

What do you mean by "almost there"?

It's just the two of us, can't we talk things out more clearly?

Lyle was very dissatisfied, but he didn't show it, for fear that the messenger would ignore him.

So he asked again, "Brother, are you really me?"

The messenger glanced at him, as if he were a fool.

"Yes, you must be her. Your eyes are different from your master's," Lyle concluded. "His eyes were more... um... was he a woman?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."

“How will I know whether I should ask or not if I don’t ask?” Lyle said. “If it’s taboo, you can just tell me then.”

The messenger ignored Lyle.

But Lyle, being a black marketeer, had enough thick skin, so he continued to try and get closer to him: "I think we should have a lot to talk about, after all, we're the same kind of people, the kind of puppets... I mean, agents, that's a rare profession, isn't it?"

"I'm different from you."

"What's the difference?"

“I will not betray my master,” the messenger said calmly, “but you will.”

“Hey, what are you saying? How could I betray Vess… my… my…” Lyle almost blurted out Vesss’s name, then quickly corrected himself. He then cautiously looked at the messenger, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the messenger didn’t seem to have noticed anything amiss. He continued, “Besides, my relationship with that gentleman is different from yours. I have a cooperative relationship with that gentleman, but you and the lady above you have a master-servant relationship… Hmm, it seems that we are indeed somewhat different, but still pretty much the same.”

The envoy initially didn't want to pay much attention to Lyle, since once he knew that this guy was just a puppet, there was nothing to take seriously.

But at that moment, Diana's voice rang in his mind.

“Talk to him, find out what kind of person he is, why he is willing to risk his life for his ‘tongue’, be natural, and don’t reveal that I asked you to do it.”

The messenger's expression remained unchanged upon receiving the instruction; he simply nodded slightly: "Perhaps."

This is in response to Lyle's previous statement.

"Right, right, so you agree after all." Lyle looked at the envoy with a smile. "Then we can definitely find common ground to talk about."

“Alright.” The envoy nodded. “Then let me ask you first, who exactly are you?”

"You're being way too blunt."

"I'm not good at being tactful."

“That’s fine too. I don’t like beating around the bush.” Lyle revealed his fake name. “My name is Rice, and my real identity… is a black market dealer.”

It's better to use a real profession; a half-real, half-fake one is more deceptive.

“Alright, my name is Carter,” the envoy said, “and I am the guardian of the Land of Contracts.”

“Hey, hey, hey, you said that yourself. That’s not what I’m asking you,” Lyle said. “Everyone knows you’re the guardian of the Land of Contracts. This information is as meaningless as you saying you’re a man. At least answer the questions I asked.”

Carter frowned slightly, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that Lyle's words made sense, so he nodded: "Okay, that doesn't count, just ask directly."

Lyle kept observing Carter's expression as he spoke.

After such a long period of contact, he had come to know Carter quite well.

Simply put, Lyle sensed that Carter's head was a bit off, the kind that wasn't working properly.

A more accurate description would be that Carter wasn't like a normal person, but rather a puppet with a certain degree of independent thinking, and lacked much emotion.

But this still needs to be verified, so Lyle asked, "What are your hobbies?"

"Hobby?"

"Yes, it's about what you like to do when you're not working for your master."

"No."

"No?"

“Yes, no,” Carter said. “I exist for my master, and I don’t need to do meaningless things, so I don’t have anything I like.”

"Then what do you do when you're not working for your master?"

“Rest,” Carter said calmly. “Rest so that you can better serve your master.”

Lyle was shocked.

What a chosen servant! No wonder his master said he was more loyal than himself; at least he didn't consider himself to be that loyal to Lord Vessas.

“Now it’s my turn to ask you,” Carter said. “And what are you doing working for the tongue?”

“Of course it’s money,” Lyle said matter-of-factly.

"It's just money?"

“What do you mean ‘just’?” Lyle said somewhat discontentedly, then continued, half-jokingly, “That’s a lot of money.”

Lyle's voice and expression naturally reached Diana's mind, even from thousands of miles away.

Diana quietly observed Lyle through her servant Carter.

Although she herself never left the Land of the Covenant, Diana saw far too much through the eyes of countless servants.

Therefore, she was able to determine that Lyle's words were not true, or at least not entirely true.

Of course, this is quite normal. Diana didn't believe that Tongue would dare to hand over her secrets to a black marketeer who only maintained relationships with money; there must be something else involved.

Diana intended to find out about this relationship.

Whether she relied on him to better get closer to and understand Tongue, or directly turned Tongue against her and planted a time bomb, it would be an operation where the rewards far outweighed the costs, and Diana had no reason not to do so.

Moreover, no one in the world is better at manipulating people's hearts than her.

Diana slightly raised the corners of her mouth, then gestured for Carter to continue asking, "So what are you going to do with the money?"

"What are we going to do with the money?" Lyle scratched his head. "Well... there are plenty of things we can do."

“Like eating and drinking well, having a big house, being able to breathe fresh air and stuff,” Lyle said. “And then living to seventy… no, eighty.” “That’s it?”

"What do you mean 'just like this'? Do you think it's easy?" Lyle sighed. "This is already pretty good, even if it's not much money... Haha, let's forget about that. The more money the better, right?"

"As long as you have money, that's all it takes?"

"As long as you have money, that's all that matters."

Lyle's image felt very familiar to Diana; he was just like the black market businessman she knew—the kind who would do anything for money.

So Diana instructed Carter to probe further, suggesting that they could make more money by cooperating with the Land of Contracts. Lyle immediately rushed over as if he had been thinking, "I've been wanting to ask that for a long time," pleading for "cooperation" like a lapdog, completely disregarding the reaction of his tongue.

If this guy wasn't faking it, then his bottom line was indeed lower than Diana had anticipated.

But it's not an act; we'll find out soon enough.

They should be arriving at their destination soon.

……

"Where is this place?" Lyle noticed the surrounding fog was rapidly dissipating and a large crowd was gathering ahead. He immediately realized something. "Are we here?"

“Yes, the meeting place is just ahead, and it’s also within the range of the Voice of Heaven,” Carter said. “However, you need to wear this before you officially enter.”

Lyle saw the messenger hand him a necklace.

"what is this?"

“You can think of it as an assimilation device,” Carter said expressionlessly. “Once you wear it, your aura will be the same as mine in the eyes of the other Guardians. Outsiders are not allowed here, you know that.”

Lyle understood.

He already knew before he came that the Land of Contracts and the woman behind this envoy were not of the same mind, and not all the guardians were that woman's servants.

He is now disguising himself as a woman's servant.

Lyle took the necklace, but before putting it on, he asked just in case, "This thing doesn't have any negative effects, does it?"

“If I had to say, there is indeed one,” Carter said calmly. “When you put on this necklace, you are essentially entering into a temporary contract with my master. During the contract, you cannot use your own power, such as magic or prayer, unless with my master’s permission.”

"Oh, that's how it is."

Lyle didn't care. He didn't know any magic or prayer anyway. If Lord Vessas didn't intervene, any one of these people could kill him a thousand times over.

Without thinking twice, he put the necklace on.

Carter simply watched quietly.

He didn't finish his sentence. This necklace would isolate not only its own power, but also the power and information coming from the outside.

In other words, once Lyle puts on this necklace, he will be unable to communicate with his tongue.

From Diana's perspective, Lyle and the Tongue must have been communicating remotely through some kind of magic. Now that she has severed the connection, the Tongue will not be able to see anything Diana doesn't want Lyle to see, including what she says and does, as well as the layout of the meeting place.

Moreover, the necklace has more than one function; it also has a hidden, subtle effect.

That is, the contractor will subconsciously increase their trust in Diana, become more open, and reduce their guard.

Although he doesn't completely reveal his inner thoughts like a true contractor, he subconsciously speaks his mind when talking to Diana, which is commonly known as being completely open and honest.

Of course, this is on the premise that the person is unaware of it or has strong resistance in their mind, in which case this subconscious contract will be interrupted instantly.

Even so, there is already a lot that can be done.

“Come with me.” Carter took two steps forward, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked casually, “By the way, what should I call you again?”

“Lyle,” Lyle answered without hesitation.

……

Inside Lyle's body, Bai Wei remained silent.

He could naturally sense the necklace's restriction on Lyle, but unfortunately, this restriction was of no use to him because he was not an external force, but rather lived within Lyle's body.

But Bai Wei didn't speak or show his presence to Lyle; he just watched quietly as the meeting point gradually unfolded before his eyes.

The first thing you see is a massive pillar that seems to connect heaven and earth.

……

"Oh my God."

Lyle naturally saw the "pillar" as well. Although the fog had thinned considerably, it hadn't completely dissipated, so he couldn't make out the details of the pillar. But it was precisely this haziness that added to the pillar's oppressive aura, as if the world would perish the moment it collapsed.

“That is the obedience of the Heavenly Voice,” Carter said calmly. “It is not fully assembled yet... but you’d better not stare at it too long, or you’ll look like an outsider.”

Lyle immediately realized that this was not his territory.

In the light yellow mist, he could see many "phantom figures" working.

Most of them were human, but a few were not. They were huge and ferocious, like strange beasts that Lyle had never seen before, and they would occasionally let out low roars, which terrified Lyle.

“What are those?” Lyle couldn’t help but ask.

“You wouldn’t want to know,” Carter shook his head. “Come with me, Mr. Lyle.”

Then he got up again and walked deeper into the yellow fog.

Lyle quickly followed, but at the same time kept looking around.

When Carter noticed that Lyle's attention was mostly on his surroundings, he spoke again, seemingly casually.

“Mr. Lyle, did you say before that you were working for Mr. Tongue for the money?”

“That’s just the surface reason,” Lyle replied, having unknowingly opened his heart to Carter. “Of course, the main reason is that I want to prove myself right.”

"Oh?" Carter had indeed discovered something new, but he didn't show it, calmly asking, "To whom should we prove it?"

"To my wife and children, to my parents, to everyone."

"Is that why you need money and status?"

"Yes."

“So what if—and I mean what,” Carter turned to Lyle—“we were to give you these things?”

Lyle was slightly taken aback: "What?"

“Money and status, we can give you much more.” Carter looked Lyle into the eyes. “You should be able to guess who my master is. Whatever that person can give you, my master can give you too. What do you think?”

　Kavenka was devastated. Writing this volume was truly painful; there was just too much to write, and his brain simply couldn't keep up.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)