Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 154 Seven Little Wolves and Masked Kruk
We are itinerant merchants passing through this area.

Yun Ji said with a smile, "I need to hire some inconspicuous little helpers to keep an eye on our competitors."

"We can do it! We can do it!" The wolf beggar, who had already secretly stepped on the second gold coin, nodded hurriedly.

"How many of you are there?" Yun Ji asked, scattering some more gold coins from her purse as if feeding pigeons. "It won't be enough if it's just you."

We have

"Distinguished Madam"

Before the little beggar could finish speaking, a little fellow still hiding in the tree hole asked warily, "How did you find this place?"

"Yup!"

The little beggar, who was trying to step on the third gold coin, belatedly became more vigilant.

"I noticed a little guy just stole someone's purse."

Yun Ji said with a smile, "But the merchant didn't notice. I was very pleased with the little guy's vigilance, so I followed him all the way."

"Who stole the money bag?" a little creature immediately asked from inside the tree hole.

Amidst a series of denials of "It wasn't me," the little guys hiding in the tree hole inevitably began to doubt each other, unknowingly forgetting their real purpose.

I don't have time to waste on you.

As Yun Ji spoke, she once again scattered the last few gold coins in her money bag as if feeding chickens, and finally even threw the money bag on the ground. "If you don't have the guts to take on this job, then I'll have to use these gold coins to ask other beggars for help. When that happens, please give me back the five gold coins you're standing on."

"we can!"

Before the words were even finished, one wolf cub after another emerged from the tree hole.

"Only a few of you?" Yun Ji's tone betrayed her disappointment; the one she was looking for wasn't among them.

"Beautiful lady, how many people do you need in total?" asked the wolf beggar who had already picked up all the gold coins.

"One more is needed"

Yun Ji said regretfully, "I need your help to keep an eye on eight people, but there are only seven of you. Never mind, just give me back the gold coins."

"Wait, please wait a minute! There are exactly eight of us!" Before the words were finished, another wolf beggar popped out of the tree hole.

"Who let you out! Go back now!" The seven little beggars outside the tree hole panicked.

"He can't do it, he can't go!"

A chubby boy said, "He's sick!"

"That's right! He's sick!"

"The illness is very serious!"

"Where is he sick? He looks perfectly healthy to me," Yun Ji asked with great interest.

"Hands. Feet! That's right! Feet!"

The little beggar who had picked up all the gold coins quickly said, and then he even returned the gold coins he had just picked up, along with the money bag, to Yun Ji, "In short, he can't go! We're not doing this job anymore!"

"All right!"

The last little beggar to appear said, "I can go, I'm not sick! I'm not sick anywhere!"

“It’s him,” Yun Ji suddenly said.

Before she could finish speaking, Cheng Lang, who had already moved to the side of the tree hole entrance while the little beggars weren't paying attention, grabbed the last little beggar who came out from behind the waist.

"Let me go!"

The little beggar was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously began to struggle, even preparing to turn around and bite Cheng Lang's arm.

Then, before his mouth could bite anything, his wildly flailing hands and even his feet were firmly bound by a "snake" that had crawled into his clothes.

"Let him go! You want him."

Before the other seven beggars could finish speaking, Yun Ji had already controlled the little guy who had handed over the money bag and placed a long, sharp dagger against his neck.

Faced with this real threat, the other beggars completely lost their composure.

"Sh-!"

Cheng Lang made a shushing gesture, a common practice in other worlds, and said, "If you don't want your companions to be in danger, how about we come to your home to have a chat?"

The remaining beggars first glanced at their companions who were being held hostage by Cheng Lang, then at their companions who were being held hostage by Yun Ji, and then they all looked at the smallest one among them.

"Please come in, and don't hurt our companions." After saying this, the little guy was the first to crawl into the tree hole where the light was still on.

Seeing this, the other little beggars glanced in panic at Cheng Lang and Yun Ji's hostage companions, and finally followed them inside.

"You're here for me, aren't you?"

The little beggar who was being held hostage by Cheng Lang, along with Yun Ji, pushed her hostages into the tree hole. This time, she looked up and asked Cheng Lang with certainty, "Please let my friends go. They don't know anything. I'll go with you."

"Don't rush," Cheng Lang smiled, bent down, and led his little captive into the tree hole.

Although the tree hollow looked small from the outside, it was surprisingly spacious inside. He could even recognize it at a glance as a lush hunting tent hidden inside a tree hollow. This was quite interesting.

If he, an outsider, could notice these details, Yun Ji naturally noticed them as well. However, she didn't rush to ask questions. Instead, she carefully searched the people she had taken hostage, as well as the other beggars who had been forced in, and then used ropes and tattered clothes found in the room to tie their hands behind their backs and gag them.

Finally, the seven wolf cubs were locked in separate compartments. In this well-hidden hunting tent "living room," only Cheng Lang, Yun Ji, and the wolf cub beggar who seemed to be surrounded by the whispers of elven spirits remained.

"Come on in."

Yun Ji spoke without any context, then turned around and walked out of the hunting tent. She went outside the tree hole, sat on a millstone filled with the aroma of spices, and looked up at the starry sky.

"Who are you? What are you going to do to me?" the little beggar, still bound by the whip, asked in a panic.

"laugh--"

Cheng Lang didn't explain, but instead tore open the other person's tattered clothes, which made the little guy even more flustered.

"So that's what it is."

As Cheng Lang spoke, he reached out and pulled a spider bow, which was strung on a leather cord, off the little guy.

"Give it back to me!" The little guy, who was bound by the whip, immediately began to struggle fiercely.

"I hope I'm not mistaken," Cheng Lang said, reaching out to pinch the little guy's cheek and gently tugging at it. With just that one movement, the little guy froze, and then Cheng Lang ripped a mask of hypocrisy off his face.

As the mask of hypocrisy fell away, the little guy's fluffy wolf ears disappeared, and his originally grayish fur turned pure black.

"As expected." Cheng Lang finished speaking, but then put that hypocritical mask back on the other person's face.

Next, under the little guy's blank stare, Cheng Lang also removed the mask of hypocrisy from his face, revealing his true appearance to the other party.

Before he could react, Cheng Lang had already put his mask of hypocrisy back on, helped the little guy put on the tattered clothes he had torn, and then called out towards the door, "Come in, I found it."

Before she could finish speaking, Yun Ji walked in and asked directly, "Is that so?"

"Yes"

Upon hearing Cheng Lang's answer, Yun Ji also removed her mask of hypocrisy and showed it to the little guy before putting it back on.

"Can you trust us now?" Yun Ji asked, taking the spider bow that Cheng Lang handed her and examining it.

The bow remained in the ring's shape, but simply by holding it in her palm, she could already faintly hear the whispers of the dead.

"Yes, I can trust you." The little guy completely stopped struggling.

Seeing this, Cheng Lang also pulled away the whip that was binding the other party. "Go and explain to your companions. Do you know what you should and shouldn't say?"

"I'll keep this a secret!" the teary-eyed little boy said, and then ran towards the surrounding cubicles.

At the same time, Yun Ji had already gently pricked her fingertip with a dagger and dripped a drop of blood onto the spider bow.

In an instant, the whispers of the undead became incredibly clear, and Cheng Lang and Yun Ji could clearly hear the experiences recounted by the undead attached to the spider bow.

To their surprise, this undead was actually a Green Hunter when he was alive! He was also the little beggar's father.

Under this contradictory dual identity, the only thing he could do while he was alive was to use his position to obtain a hypocritical mask and enough Poseidon's blood for his child.

Originally, his plan was to find a way to have an elf's face replicated in the countryside when their child was older, and then use the fact that the child would be able to use the face forever if the mask wasn't removed in time, thus making him a legitimate elf.

Unfortunately, the accident that occurred in the Sin Gold Mine not long ago led the entire Elf Duchy to begin a thorough investigation of any hidden Dark Elves. Left with no other choice, he had to take a risk and prepare to flee to the Frost Duchy with his child.

Unfortunately, even though he managed to escape to Panjiao Town with his child, his teammates still caught up with him.

Left with no other choice, the Verdant Hunter had to ambush and kill all his teammates. Before his life came to an end, he helped his child replicate the faces of several little beggars, and finally died on Wolf Tail Heights.

What happened next was completely unknown to the undead spirit attached to the weapon, but it did mention something very crucial at the end.

Fortunately, the dark elf who had already rescued his friends knew exactly what they wanted to ask, so he took the initiative to say before they even had to speak, "My name is Bebedo, and my elf name is Shenbei, but I have never used that name before."

After a brief pause, the mask worn by the little guy who called himself Beibeiduo transformed into the face of one of the little beggars, and then into the second, third, and fourth.

Until he controlled the mask of hypocrisy and changed the faces of all the little beggars, finally restoring them to the wolf-like appearance, but different from the seven little wolves around him.

"My father copied their appearance when he was alive, including my current face, which belongs to him."

"It belongs to my brother."

The smallest of the group of beggars said, "He was caught stealing a traveling merchant's wallet a few months ago and was severely beaten."

Bebedo used up all the healing medicine his father had left him to save him. But my brother still died in the end.

"So I stayed."

Bebedo continued, "I stayed behind as his brother Crook. I plan to wait until I'm a little older, then replicate the face of a passing merchant before leaving. They say if I go to Frostflower Harbor now, I'll only be sold into slavery."

“You’ll definitely be sold,” one of the little beggars said, “and for a good price.”

"This kind of deal is not something you people your age should be discussing."

Yun Ji stopped the argument from escalating and asked patiently, "So, can anyone explain what's going on here?"

“This is where we used to live. When my mother was still alive, there was a mill here that was used to grind spices.”

The short but seemingly leader-of-the-child beggar said, "Unfortunately, the mill was demolished later, leaving only this tree."

It is gram
"It was because Beibeiduo brought that strange umbrella that this place became so big; before, we could only squeeze in by huddling together."

"And you? Where is your mother?" Yun Ji looked at Bei Bei Duo.

"I do not know"

Bebedo shook her head blankly. "I've never seen her. My dad said she didn't want us anymore, but before he died, he told me to go find her. But I have no idea where to find her. I don't even know what she looks like."

this.
What should I do?
Cheng Lang looked at Yun Ji, only to find that she was also looking at him.

Let's go outside and talk.

As Cheng Lang spoke, he got up and walked out of the tree hole. Immediately afterward, Yun Ji also came out.

"Did you notice what that undead hunter said at the end?" Cheng Lang asked in a low voice while sitting on the millstone.

"I've noticed."

Yun Ji nodded. "The undead said that in the last six months or so, it seems that more and more dark elves have been born in the Elf Kingdom."

"Is this also part of the web of fate?" Cheng Lang asked himself, almost as if talking to himself.

"Maybe so."

Yun Ji sighed. "So what do we do? Take that little guy away? We're heading to the Elf Kingdom next."

“The hunter’s spirit probably wants us to take his child away,” Yun Ji said. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have risked greeting us.”

"Can the undead of elves recognize a disguised dark elf?" Cheng Lang asked a new question.

"A mask of hypocrisy can only replicate the face, but it cannot change the soul."

Yun Ji said with some relief, "Fortunately, those pointy ears couldn't hear the whispers of the dead."

"Ask that little guy and his friends."

After a brief moment of thought, Cheng Lang made a decision: "Maybe he doesn't want to leave at all."

It's not safe to stay here.

As Yun Ji spoke, she also got up and crawled back into the tree hole with Cheng Lang.

(End of this chapter)