I'm not a goblin Frankenstein's monster.

Chapter 132 Night Dive 4k

Seeing that he didn't speak, Joel assumed he was frightened and became even more smug: "What? Scared? If you're scared, then hurry up and pack your things and leave. Don't worry, we won't make things difficult for you, as long as you—"—"Wait a minute."

Xia Lin interrupted him.

He put down the brush, turned around to face the three men, and said with a puzzled expression, "You mean, you came to me wanting me to resign and give you my position?"

Joel nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

Thinking Xia Lin had given in, Joel's smile widened: "Good to know. What are you waiting for? Pack your things and get out of here."

The fat guy next to him, Oni, spoke up: "Bro, can I chime in?"

"With your thick eyebrows and big eyes, and being so handsome, where can't you find a job?"

If all else fails, I'll become a gigolo!

You know, the elite circles in the upper district are a mess, and your looks will definitely be a plus!

Honestly, with the job market so bad right now, why bother competing with us ordinary folks? Right?

Xia Lin was stunned.

Is this fat guy trying to persuade me or praising me?

He looked at Oni's chubby face and for a moment didn't know what to say.

Rimbaud glared at Oni fiercely: "Can't you fucking say something useful?"

Xia Lin looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Um—I'd like to ask, are you here representing Butler Bourne, or—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three faces: "Did you come on your own?"

Joel was taken aback; they certainly didn't dare to go to Butler Bourne.

The short, chubby man, Oni, who hadn't spoken until now, scratched his head and said sheepishly, "Um—Brother Rimbaud, what he said seems to make sense. We don't think we told the butler—"

"Shut up!" Rimbaud glared at him fiercely.

Oni shrank back, not daring to utter another word.

Xia Lin saw this and her smile became even more genuine: "So, you came on your own, right?"

Rimbaud's face turned red.

He stepped forward, his voice low and threatening: "Kid, don't be ungrateful. Let me tell you, in this mansion, the three of us are the elders, and you're the newcomer."

We can make it impossible for you to stay here, you believe it or not?

"In short, you'd better be smart and get out of here. Otherwise..."

He paused, took a step forward, and looked down at Xia Lin: "Don't blame us for being impolite."

"You're welcome?" Xia Lin dusted off his hands, his tone calm. "To be honest, I'm afraid that's impossible. Although I personally don't have any particular attachment to this job that smells like horse manure, unfortunately, some people disagree."

"Does anyone disagree?"

Rimbaud burst into exaggerated laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. He turned to his two henchmen and said, "Did you hear that? This idiot said someone disagrees!"

In this backyard, besides that stubborn old butler Bourne, who else dares to meddle in my affairs, Rimbaud's?

Xia Lin shrugged, casually patted the firm rump of the chestnut horse beside him that was enjoying the afterglow with its eyes closed, and said indifferently, "Look, it's this one."

Rimbaud froze for a moment, then his face flushed crimson, feeling utterly insulted: "You dare to play me?! It's nothing but a beast that can't even speak, how could it not—"

Before the word "agree" could even roll out of Rimbaud's throat, a sudden change occurred.

The chestnut horse, which was originally immersed in Xia Lin's professional SPA treatment comparable to that of a royal masseur, was suddenly interrupted and was already a little grumpy from waking up.

Adding to the rage was Rimbaud's discriminatory remarks, which completely enraged this hot-tempered old man with excellent warhorse bloodlines.

The chestnut horse snorted loudly, its hind leg muscles instantly tensing up like a fully drawn bowstring.

Immediately afterwards, there was a muffled "bang"!

The back kick landed squarely on Rimbaud's chest.

Rimbaud was like a tattered sack, tracing a graceful parabola in the air before crashing heavily into the mountain of discarded hay in the corner of the stable with a short scream, raising a cloud of dust.

It twitched once, then its eyes rolled back, its limbs sprawled out, and it remained completely still.

"Boss!"

"Gods above! The boss is dead!"

After a two-second pause, Joel and Oni burst into a scream like pigs being slaughtered.

Xia Lin, somewhat puzzled, stroked his chin, looked at the chestnut horse, then at the "dead" Lambo lying in the hay, and muttered under his breath, "That shouldn't be happening. That horse's hoof shouldn't have been that powerful, right? It killed him with a single kick?"

He turned his gaze to the remaining two people.

Joel was startled when he met Xia Lin's gaze.

He glanced at his "tragic" leader and instantly assessed the difference in combat strength between the two sides.

Without the slightest hesitation, Joel's knees seemed to have lost their bones, and with a "thump," he knelt down cleanly on the ground covered in horse manure.

"Brother Xia Lin! Spare me!"

Joel clasped his hands together, tears and snot streaming down his face, utterly devoid of any sense of loyalty. "It's all that damned bastard Rimbaud's fault for forcing us to come! I admire you so much, we're completely convinced!"

Xia Lin's lips twitched. With that kind of change of expression, it's a waste of her talent that she's not performing comedies at the Royal Capital Theater.

He turned his head and looked at the fat man, Oni, next to him.

At this moment, Oni's forehead was covered with large beads of sweat, and his heavy breathing revealed his extreme fear.

His legs trembled uncontrollably, but surprisingly, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly, resisting the urge to kneel down like Joel.

Xia Lin looked the fat man over with interest and asked, "Why aren't you kneeling? Do you intend to use your fat to challenge me?"

Oni swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly, but he still stubbornly said, "Listen, outsider. I admit, we can't beat you."

But—that doesn’t stop me from being unconvinced!

I am a dignified servant of the Baron's manor. You may defeat my body, but you will never make me kneel like a coward!

Wow, that's pretty tough.

Xia Lin chuckled inwardly.

In this place full of flattery, it's amazing to encounter such a stubborn and inflexible person.

Xia Lin's smile faded. He looked at the haystack, then at the two men, and said, "Alright, put away your ridiculous sadness and so-called dignity."

Don't worry, although this horse is a bit reckless, your good-for-nothing boss is still alive.

"Not dead?!"

Joel stopped howling, and Oni's eyes widened in surprise.

In fact, Rimbaud, who was kicked away by a horse's hoof, did not die.

Although the kick made his chest feel like it was being torn apart, the cushioning effect of the haystack prevented him from suffering any fatal injuries.

He had already recovered while he was in the haystack.

The reason he refused to get up was because he felt that he, a dignified leader, had been killed instantly by a horse, which was a huge loss of face in front of his two subordinates.

To avoid embarrassment, he simply held his breath, lay down on the ground and pretended to be dead, planning to sneak away after Xia Lin left.

But how could his laughable, third-rate acting skills possibly fool Xia Lin?

Xia Lin had already heard his deliberately suppressed breathing.

Without a word, Xia Lin flicked the ground with his toe, and with a "whoosh," the pebble shot out like a bullet, hitting Lanbo's inner thigh with perfect accuracy in the haystack.

"Awooo—!!!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the stable.

One second Rimbaud was "dying peacefully," the next he sprang up from the haystack like a baboon whose butt had been branded with a hot iron, clutching his groin and jumping around wildly, tears streaming down his face: "Aaaaah! It hurts so much! Damn it!"

"He's alive! Praise be to the merciful goddess of life, our leader is really alive!" Joel and Oni burst into tears of joy upon seeing this, and embraced each other excitedly.

After the brief farce, the three bruised and battered guys stood in a neat row, trembling in front of Xia Lin.

"Charlin, oh no, Lord Charlin—" Rimbaud clutched his chest and thigh, pleading with tears welling up in his eyes, "Please, have mercy on us! Please don't go to the old butler, Lord Bourne, to complain."

If he finds out we're causing trouble in the stables, he'll not only take all our meager few coppers, but he'll also kick us out of the Baron's mansion!

If we don't work here, we'll have no choice but to beg on the streets!

Joel and Oni nodded frantically, their eyes filled with pleading.

Xia Lin leaned against a wooden pillar, arms crossed, looking down at them: "Let you go? Of course. I'm always magnanimous. However, in exchange, you need to do something for me."

"What is it?"

Rimbaud raised his head warily, swallowed hard, and said, "We can't do anything too dangerous. We're just the lowest-ranking servants, we've never even held a sword. If you want us to assassinate any important figures, you might as well let a horse kick me to death right now."

"Put away your feeble imagination. Who ordered you to kill people?"

Xia Lin rolled her eyes. "I need you to draw me a map of the inner courtyard of this Baron's mansion, the more detailed the better, showing the routes of the residents and the night patrol guards in each courtyard."

These three men had been lurking in the Baron's mansion for years; they were practically living maps of the place.

Xia Lin has been hiding for the past few days, but he has been struggling with the limitations imposed by his identity.

As a groom, his activities were limited to the outer stables and servants' quarters.

He had no way of getting close to the inner courtyard where the Baroness lived, or the courtyards of some important figures.

He always felt that this seemingly luxurious baron's mansion was hiding a dark secret.

An internal topographic map is essential for facilitating nighttime reconnaissance operations.

Upon hearing this request, the three servants exchanged bewildered glances.

Then, Joel gave a knowing, lewd smile and lowered his voice, saying, "Oh—I get it. You've got your eye on one of the pretty maids in the inner courtyard, haven't you? Planning a secret rendezvous under the cover of night? Heh heh, you've come to the right person!"

In their eyes, what other reason could a young and strong man have for trying so hard to get a map of the inner courtyard if he wanted to sneak in and have sex with those pretty maids?

After all, such romantic affairs were not uncommon in aristocratic residences.

Xia Lin was too lazy to explain, and simply glanced at them coldly: "Enough nonsense, are you going to draw or not?"

"Draw! Of course I'll draw! As long as you don't complain to Butler Bourne, I'll not only draw you pictures, but I'll also keep watch for you when you're doing your job!" Rimbaud nodded repeatedly, feeling like he'd been granted a pardon.

Xia Lin found a charcoal pencil and a rough piece of parchment and threw them in front of them.

The three men immediately lay down on the haystack and, like three cobblers, huddled together. Relying on their years of memory, they drew a crooked but very detailed map of the Baron's mansion's inner courtyard.

The midnight bells tolled from the distant clock tower, their deep sound echoing through the silent night sky.

Xia Lin dragged a wooden box out from under the old bed.

He quickly took off the smelly groom's clothes and changed into his gear.

"Ga"

Accompanied by a slightly hoarse caw, a crow that was a size larger than an ordinary crow and whose feathers shimmered with a dark blue metallic sheen appeared beside them.

"Oh!" Woody's voice rang directly in Xia Lin's mind, "I can finally get out of that damn demiplane and breathe some fresh air!"

Xia Lin, you heartless bastard, I've been so bored these past few days! I feel like my feathers have lost their luster!

"Stop complaining, Woody. I have no choice but to put you through this so that the people in the manor won't find out."

If a lowly coachman has a magical pet perched on his shoulder every day, it's practically like he's got "I'm a spy sent by the church" plastered on his face. Get ready for work.

"Hmph, I hope tonight will be a bit of fun." Woody preened his feathers, then transformed into a black shadow and merged into Xia Lin's shadow.

After getting ready, Xia Lin opened the window and, like a nimble night cat, silently slipped out.

With the help of the map drawn by the three servants during the day, Xia Lin's operation went exceptionally smoothly.

He moved like a ghost through the shadows, deftly avoiding the two patrol teams.

About ten minutes later, he successfully sneaked into the inner courtyard and arrived at the Baroness's private back garden.

This place is filled with precious flowers and plants, which exude a rich, almost intoxicating fragrance under the moonlight.

Suddenly, Xia Lin's keen hearing picked up the sound of water and conversation coming from a brightly lit room next door.

He looked around and his gaze settled on a thick old oak tree next to the house.

With a sudden burst of strength, he climbed the tree trunk silently and disappeared among the lush foliage.

From this angle, he could see the entire scene inside the house through the half-open window.

This is a luxurious bathroom.

The floor was paved with white marble, and in the center was a huge bathtub with a thick layer of bright red rose petals floating on the steaming water.

Two young and beautiful maids were busy at work.

They wore light linen nightgowns with low necklines, and their fair skin and alluring curves were faintly visible as they bent over to pour water into the bathtub.

"Listen, Lilia," the maid, whose appearance had become even more alluring, said excitedly as she dripped expensive perfume into the water, "the lady has personally promised me today that she will introduce us to the upper-class nobles from the capital at the banquet a few days from now."

Oh, Gods help us! If we can catch the eye of some great person, we might rise to the top in one fell swoop, never have to serve others again, and become nobles dressed in silk and adorned with jewels!