My Beautiful Duchess Wife

Both brothers have their own supporters. Previously, before Fario and the others broke through to the Demon Emperor level, they were basically the weaker party.

Now, both of them have broken through to the Demon Emperor level, so they are slightly ahead in terms of strength. After all, only one of the other two protectors is a Demon Emperor level expert.

Moreover, he seems to be a mid-level Demon Emperor.

Lin Peng smiled faintly and nodded slightly, acknowledging the nod. He then sat down and continued looking at the map on the table, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Hey, isn't this a map of the area next to our Punishment City? What? Why are you studying this?" Arthur asked, somewhat puzzled, after a moment of surprise.

Lin Peng gave a wry smile and pointed to the map of Punishment City, saying, "Do you think this city is suitable for us to establish a branch? You know, this is a true city of wandering knights! Moreover, with such poverty, do you think anyone other than you would join the branch? Or even buy magical items? Obviously... impossible!"

Arthur listened and nodded, somewhat speechless. If such a branch were actually established in the City of Punishment, it would be hard to say what would happen!

Currently, the left and right deacons have not explicitly stated who they will support for advancement. Meanwhile, the protectors have clearly stated who they wish to support.

Unfortunately, Punishment City is extremely poor. Apart from a few large chivalrous organizations, there isn't a single commoner to be found.

It seems that even if there were civilians, they would have been scared away!

Arthur sighed, then, as if his eyes had suddenly lit up, pointed to a skull and crossbones symbol on the map and said, "If you have the ability, this place isn't a bad one! At least there are cliffs there, and no wandering knight organization would go there!"

"What kind of place is this? Even wandering knights dare not go there?" Lin Peng was taken aback. He had seen the skull and crossbones symbol a long time ago, but he had never been sure what kind of place it was.

Hearing Arthur's words, he became somewhat interested. Although this place wasn't very close to the City of Punishment, it seemed to occupy the area of ​​a small town.

Moreover, the roads were interconnected in all directions, even serving as a major thoroughfare connecting to waterways. He really couldn't understand why such a place was marked with a skull and crossbow.

"This used to be a small town. But, for some reason, a plague suddenly broke out. And then... there were rumors of necromancers. So... hehe... you know, rangers are actually quite hesitant to get involved in these matters. After all, if it really is a plague, no one dares to set foot here! Besides, this town has never been part of the City of Punishment's territory, much less any of the other territories. Think about it, who would bother with it!"

Lin Peng nodded; Arthur was right. It was a no-man's-land, much like Punishment City. If Punishment City got involved, it might really be attacked by the Empire.

Moreover, being a plague necromancer or something similar, not many people dared to go there. Suddenly, Lin Peng thought of Garen. It seemed he was also a necromancer!

Hehe, whatever, I'll call Deacon and his gang. Maybe this town will be mine someday! Thinking of this, Lin Peng couldn't help but chuckle.

After saying goodbye to Arthur, he took Angelina and headed towards the town. Of course, Roland was always following behind, eager to see what was going on.

The town may seem far, but at Lin Peng's speed, it would only take an hour and a half. Leaving the City of Punishment is indeed quite a distance.

Upon arrival, they were stunned by the black mist at the entrance.

Thick black fog obscured everyone's vision. It seemed as if they were shrouded in that black fog. Moreover, from time to time, there were eerie howls and wailing sounds, which were quite frightening.

After all, it's only afternoon. The red moon in the sky is still hanging high.

Roland frowned and said in a low voice, "How about we come back tomorrow? What do you think? It seems like the Red Moon is almost gone!"

Lin Peng completely ignored him and led Angelina straight into the black mist. As they walked, Angelina explained, "This place seems to be enveloped by a magic circle. And... judging from the power, it should be a dark magic circle, not some kind of necromancy!"

Hearing this, Roland felt like he should just kill himself. He couldn't believe a little girl had such courage, and she'd seen right through him. He was genuinely starting to get scared!

However, considering how respectfully those two Demon Emperor-level experts treated the little girl, she decided against it. She simply followed Lin Peng and the other person towards the black mist!

The black fog was so thick that no roads or anything like that could be seen.

Lin Peng snapped his fingers, and a fireball instantly appeared beside his shoulder. At that moment, the black mist seemed to be afraid of the fireball, and it quickly dissipated in large quantities.

"I never expected that this black mist would be afraid of light and fire! Hehehe... It looks like this place is definitely mine now!" Lin Peng grinned, as if he had received an unexpected surprise.

Angelina frowned deeply, looked around at the somewhat desolate land, and suddenly said, "Brother Lin Peng, be careful! Perhaps the demon that set up this magic circle hasn't disappeared yet. Perhaps this dark mage is watching us from there! Everything we see here is just an illusion!"

Lin Peng was startled upon hearing this and immediately became extremely alert. Roland, on the other hand, drew his black light sword, ready for battle at any moment.

Chapter Forty-Four: The Night Demon Clan

It was eerily quiet. The entire area shrouded in black mist was eerily silent, almost frighteningly so. It was filled with a thick, dark energy that made even breathing difficult! Even when a fireball burned through a patch of ground, it left only desolation.

The entire area within a hundred meters was scorched black earth. Of course, this was just an illusion. The true direction was somewhat obscured.

"What do we do? It seems we're trapped here!" Roland asked somewhat nervously. By this time, they had been walking for almost an hour, but they were still surrounded by thick black fog.

Even Lin Peng began to worry. This place really was a very strange place.

Even with his eyes closed and using his sense of heat as much as possible, he couldn't detect anything else. Angelina floated up, closed her eyes, and focused intently on sensing in one direction.

His eyes snapped open, and then, as if he had found something, he pointed in that direction: "Brother Lin Peng, quickly bombard that place with flames!"

Judging from her excited expression, you could tell that she had definitely found the real way to break through the black fog.

Lin Peng nodded, and a curved blade appeared in his right hand. Suddenly, flames erupted all over his body, and he instantly slashed in that direction.

The enormous flames, which seemed to transform into a somewhat ferocious dragon's head, roared forward. Instantly, a sound that shook the ground was heard.

Boom...

At the same time, streaks of fire shot into the sky. The black mist, as if greatly injured, suddenly began to scatter.

They flew and collided everywhere, and were even beginning to thin out. At this moment, the true appearance of the town was revealed. Rows of houses looked as if no one had lived there for centuries. Although they appeared relatively tidy, all the walls, deprived of moonlight, had turned the same color.

Angelina returned to the ground, took a breath, and laughed, "I didn't expect the magic array here to be so powerful. It seems to have been set up by a Demon Emperor-level expert. Perhaps, it was even set up by a member of the royal family!"

"royal?"

Lin Peng was somewhat taken aback; he really knew very little about this royal family. All he knew were the Shadow Envoys of the Shadow Empire, the Dark Angels of the Dark Empire, and the Moon Demons of the Moon Demon Realm.

The rest is almost like a blank sheet of paper.

Roland laughed and said, "In the past, the Demon Realm had many royal families. It's just that after the Dark Emperor was born, it began to unify the realm!"

"Hmm, not bad. Judging by this black mist, only an extremely powerful member of the Night Demon clan could unleash it! Even the Heavenly Curtain within the Dark Sword isn't this powerful!"

Angelina seemed to speak with certainty, but unfortunately, she couldn't find the real master who set up the magic circle there either.

The sky began to darken, carrying with it a mournful, almost beckoning tone that filled one with unease.

"Also, if we weren't all so mentally strong, those wailing sounds might have driven us crazy!" Angelina frowned and said again.

"Let's go in and take a look. There was such a huge fire just now, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It seems this magic circle is really something else!"

As Lin Peng spoke, he walked towards the town.

Angelina walked beside him, while Roland followed closely behind. He looked cautious, glancing around with a sullen expression.

The town's roads weren't very wide, just wide enough for two horse-drawn carriages to pass. And they were small carriages pulled by two horned horses. However, the roads were extremely clean.

Everywhere you looked was spotless, without a speck of dust. Not to mention any trash or garbage. And in front of every house, there seemed to be a very strange broom. It all made things even more puzzling.

Roland was a little annoyed. He scratched his head, looked around, and asked in a low voice, "This... why does it always feel so eerie?"

Suddenly, a ticking sound seemed to come from behind. Roland ran straight in front of Lin Peng, somewhat hesitant to turn around. Lin Peng and Angelina, on the other hand, both turned around with some odd expressions.

Two people arrived: a troll and Laura. Of course, the sound just now was caused by water sticking to Laura's shoes.

Looking at Lin Peng and the other two, Laura said with a frustrated expression, "If you have nothing to do, what are you doing here?"

The troll looked helpless, seemingly frustrated because he hadn't managed Laura well. As one of the key members of this branch meeting, Laura naturally had the right to know.

However, he was afraid that if he came out directly, others would find out. Perhaps some other people were deliberately trying to harm him. That's why he didn't tell Laura.

However, he had been walking through the black fog for so long. These two were really lucky; the black fog cleared up as soon as they arrived! Lin Peng slapped his forehead and smiled wryly, "Do you think that Punishment City is a good place to hold a branch? On the contrary, this place is quite good!"

Laura glanced around nonchalantly, then nodded slightly. "It's really nice, and it seems like nobody's in charge here. From now on, this place is ours!"

He spoke with an excited expression.

Roland's lips twitched slightly as he slowly stood up. From a young age, he seemed to have a particular fear of the dead. Of course, there were also those indelible memories etched in his mind.

So, every time he encountered the undead, his first instinct was to escape, not to fight. But just now, in that instant, he suddenly realized how pathetic he was acting.

The crimson moon has truly set. The white moon in the sky remains as bright as ever, casting a pale glow on the streets of the town. The night wind blows, making the open windows rattle.

After driving around the town, Lin Peng and his group found the best house and settled in. It was cleaner and more comfortable than the other houses.

Even the red carpet was brand new.

Huge tables, and those leather and wooden chairs that still looked quite new. Lying down casually, it was incredibly comfortable. The entire town probably has a capacity of four or five hundred thousand people!

However, what frustrated Lin Peng was that the town was currently deserted. Even if it were to open eventually, he would still have to deal with the person who set up the dark magic circle first.

Angelina sat by the window, quietly watching the night outside. The rings of moonlight were particularly captivating.

"Angelina, are you sure that guy who set up the dark magic circle isn't dead?" Laura asked, pulling out a very large puppet. It was actually a Demon Emperor-level puppet, and one that looked like a dragon-man.

Behind her stood an old man. He was, of course, also a puppet.

Angelina nodded. She also wanted to know why, even though they had been in this town for a long time, they hadn't shown up yet.

Logically, it should have appeared as soon as it entered and destroyed the magic circle.

"Actually, if this was orchestrated by the Night Demon clan, then everything here should be related to the Night Demons. However, when we entered, there wasn't a trace of Night Demon presence. Therefore, I think this town might not be the true location of the Night Demons! This might just be a smokescreen!"

Lin Peng nodded in agreement; Angelina's words made perfect sense. And he understood perfectly. This town, once revealed to its true form, was indeed quite beautiful.

Although there were no flowers in those gardens, the handicrafts were still neatly arranged, providing a visual treat at first glance.

Moreover, the river, hundreds of meters wide, encircles half of the town. Waterways are, in a sense, highly developed. This is the Luo Ling River, named by a woman. Of course, it has its value. It's said to traverse a significant portion of the Demon Realm's territory. And it's actually true.

Originating at the border of the Moon Demon Realm, it flows downstream towards the Shadow Empire. In truth, it's a vital transportation hub for a major river.

Such a situation occurring in such a place... then... it must be the work of someone!

"Go out and check out the woods outside town. It seems even darker there. The Night Demons prefer dark places. So, the darker the place, the more they like it! Let's wait until tomorrow when it's light!"

Angelina said calmly, glancing at Lin Peng.

Lin Peng nodded; that was the only way. After dealing with that Night Demon, they really needed to take a good look at this town.

Who would have thought that the cellar of this house alone would contain so much grain! This might really be the time to strike it rich!

The night fell silent once more.

All that remained was the faint light shining through the town... very faint... very faint!

Chapter Forty-Five: Roland's Madness

As dawn broke, a milky white hue appeared. In the quiet town, Lin Peng and his companions had already risen early. They were walking in one direction, the town at that moment possessing a tranquility akin to a child just awakening from a hazy slumber.

The woods on the outskirts of town are actually quite scenic. They are surrounded by a stream, and beyond that, a wide river flows.

A small bridge allows one to walk directly in, but everyone stopped in front of the grove of trees.