Quadruple split.

Chapter 868
"You guys, what exactly do you want to say?"

Having regained the gem she had vowed to protect until death, Carleon Heipi did not let go even a breath of relief. She didn't seem to feel the slightest joy. Expectation's eyes suddenly became terrified at this moment, full of fear and despair.

That was the gaze when he realized that the life-saving straw that he had finally grasped was actually a rootless duckweed.

"I think you've guessed it."

Mo Tan stood up and said softly: "We are not the culprit who caused the disappearance of your nephew, and we did not come here this time to threaten you with the safety of that boy, although we are indeed entrusted by the Archaeologists Association to Get the key to the ruins in your hands, but you will never use such low-handed means to achieve your goal."

Jia Lian glared at the two of them with sharp eyes, clenched the big gold chain in her hand and gritted her teeth: "I don't trust you, outsiders, after knowing that your purpose is the 'Keystone', every word you say Didn't even say anything"

"Let's face it, Madam Patriarch, your nephew has been missing for a whole day and night, and we are running out of time."

Mo Tan, who has always been polite, interrupted Jiali Ang with a deep voice, and looked into the latter's eyes with burning eyes: "Indeed, in the current situation, our 'words' may not be very convincing, but I just now I should have proved my position to you with actions."

"That's all"

Jialian wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Ji Xiaoge's soft voice.

"Madam Patriarch, please calm down."

The girl fluttered her wings twice, creating a cool breeze around Mo Tan and Jia Li'ang, and slowly analyzed with her sweet voice: "Assuming that the 'Keystone' you just handed over to Mo is real, Then we can leave as soon as we get the things, do you think you and the two guards outside the door can stop it?"

"."

Caroline was silent.

"Well, let's take a step back, even now, as long as we want to, we can definitely snatch that keystone from you."

Ji Xiaoge sighed, and continued: "We just want to discuss with you how to find that child quickly. As long as you are willing to continue chatting with us calmly, you will find that we have no wrong thoughts at all."

"I"

Jia Lian opened her mouth, and after a long silence, she said hoarsely after she couldn't find any reason to stand up, "I don't want to believe you."

"You mean 'don't want to'?"

Ji Xiaoge blinked and asked curiously, "It's not that you really don't believe us?"

Jia Lian nodded slightly: "Yes, I don't want to believe you."

"why"

"Because if we are telling the truth, it means that Hogg Blackpipe, who was very likely to be secretly captured by us, was not used as a bargaining chip or a hostage. In other words, he really disappeared."

Mo Tan interrupted Ji Xiaoge's question, and looked down at Jia Li'ang's big face full of anxiety: "Under this premise, that child may encounter many things that may be neither threatening nor coercive. Really dangerous."

Carrie was silent.

"so."

Mo Tan showed a kind and kind smile, and asked Jia Lian softly: "For your important nephew, can we have a good chat now?"

"Let me ask a question first."

Jia Lian neither nodded nor shook her head, but raised her head and calmly met Mo Tan's four eyes: "If you are not lying or teasing me, then why did you do it to this extent? In conclusion, I can now Here you go, the matter of handing the keystone into your hands just now has exhausted all my courage and impulse, and there will never be a next time this kind of thing happens, even if you use Hogg's life to force you."

"I told you the reason before."

Mo Tan shook his head, and smiled at Ji Xiaoge.
"We can't just sit back and do nothing about this."

five minutes later
patriarch's house, living room
"Our kobold tribe is very exclusive."

Jia Lian took a sip of the light brown tea, and said to Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge who were sitting in front of her in a deep voice: "I think you know this, but the reason for this situation is actually There are two."

Although he didn't know why the other party didn't get to the point, Mo Tan still nodded cooperatively and said: "All ears."

"On the one hand, it's because our family has been deceived by many foreigners in the past, even now, even if we exchange things like ores for food, the necessities of life, the price will be suppressed by outside merchants to a very low price. Low, it's not that those people are targeting us, it's just that the long-term isolation makes it difficult for us to bargain with those smart guys."

Jia Liang put down the cup helplessly, raised her hand and interrupted Ji Xiaoge who was hesitant to speak, and said lightly: "I know what you want to say, but we can't and don't want to integrate into the outside world, this is what I want The second reason mentioned is that our tribe actually has a mission, and this mission prevents us from leaving this land."

"Is it similar to some kind of magical contract?"

Mo Tan frowned slightly, and subconsciously thought of the kind of supernatural contract that would end badly if it violated the rules.

"No, it's actually a mission. In the final analysis, it's just an ancestral precept passed down from generation to generation, and it doesn't have any binding force."

Jia Lian shrugged, and took another sip of the tea that exudes a strong medicinal fragrance: "But this kind of ancestral precept passed down from generation to generation is still being abided by every member of the tribe until today, and ours with a black surname Its lineage plays a relatively more important role."

"Is it the role of the patriarch?"

Ji Xiaoge asked while swaying restlessly on the seat, then took a sip of the tea handed by Mo Tan, and was immediately inspired by this drink that resembled 'medicinal tea'.

"Yes, the patriarch of each generation can only be a member of the Heipi family. If you encounter a worthless child, you will call some older people with a calmer personality to support them. But no matter what, the patriarch must be named Hei. Skin is the only way to do it, which is also part of the ancestral training."

Carleone nodded slightly, and continued after a moment of silence: "Actually, for us, the other identity obtained when inheriting the patriarch's position is the most important."

"Another identity?"

Mo Tan was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously looked at the big gold chain that Jia Lian hung around his neck again.

Intuition told him that the so-called other identity should have something to do with the keystone that is said to be able to open the entrance to the ruins.

As it turned out, his intuition was quite reliable.

"administrator."

Carleone lightly stroked the big gold chain around her neck, and said in a deep voice: "When the new patriarch inherits the position, he will get the title of 'Administrator' and the 'Keystone' at the same time, and wait until the next patriarch takes over." Pass it on."

"Then what exactly does 'administrator' mean?"

Ji Xiaoge tilted his head and asked curiously, "Are you trying to manage something?"

Jia Lian pondered for a long time this time before raising her head and said seriously: "I don't know."

"Eh?"

"what?"

Then Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge were completely dumbfounded.

"I just don't know."

Jia Lian smiled weakly, spread her hands and said: "Because whether it is the term 'administrator' or this keystone, it was passed down by the ancestors a long, long time ago, so it is said that it is the patriarch, the administrator What, but in fact, even our black-skinned people don't know what mission we and other clansmen have to complete, we just blindly follow the rules to do things."

Although the female patriarch spoke easily, Mo Tan still heard a little helplessness and unwillingness from her words. This is not difficult to understand. Bound by a 'mission' that I don't know the contents of, I've been living in this place for decades.

Even Xanadu would be boring, not to mention that this place is far from being Xanadu.

"Why don't you give up this mission and integrate into the outside world? Since it is an ancestor's motto a long time ago, and you don't even know the specific content."

In line with the principle of asking if you don't understand, Mo Tan directly asked out the confusion in his heart.

"Maybe it's because our lineage has done well over the past few hundred years and is still loved by everyone. In addition, after this kind of life has passed for a long time, our thoughts on the outside world have faded. They didn’t return, but most of them stayed.”

Jia Lian muttered with a complicated expression, then raised her finger and pointed at herself: "As for those of us with the surname Heipi who are qualified to be 'administrators', we cannot leave here."

"Can't leave?"

Mo Tan widened his eyes, and said in surprise: "Didn't you just say that?"

"For the vast majority of the tribe, there really is no such thing as a magic contract."

Jiali Ang sighed and stroked her chubby hand: "But if it is a person with the surname Heipi, it will be different. As long as we leave the village for more than fifteen miles, we will suffer a cardiac arrest due to inexplicable reasons. And death, not only that, even if you don't go that far, as long as you leave the village, even if you just go around the surrounding area, you may suddenly disappear, and you will never come back after you disappear."

When the word 'missing' was mentioned, Jia Lian suddenly clenched her hands tightly, and her slightly bloated figure trembled slightly.

After reacting, Ji Xiaoge suddenly raised her hand to cover her small mouth, turned to look at Mo Tan, and received a friend message from the latter in the next second——

'I know, this may be the reason why that Hogg black-skinned boy disappeared. '

After sending the message, Mo Tan looked away and asked Jiali Ang at a faster speed: "Can you explain it carefully?"

"Nothing detailed, I've already said everything."

Jia Lian shook her head with a gray face, and said in a trembling voice: "We don't know why, but we, the so-called 'administrators', may disappear mysteriously as long as we leave the village, and we don't see people alive or dead. I will never come back again. Although the probability of this kind of thing is not very high, for hundreds of years, there are ancestors who don't care about this kind of thing and hang out all day without losing it, but this kind of thing still happens occasionally, such as The previous patriarch, that is, my younger brother, Hogg's father, Balthion, disappeared ten years ago and never came back. Hogg's mother went to look for it several times, but she was careless in the last search I strayed into the territory of the night viper, leaving only a turban full of poisonous blood."

Carleon couldn't say any more, she buried her face in her palms and sobbed softly.

The oppressive atmosphere lasted for a long time.

In the end, it was Mo Tan who broke the silence first, and said in a low voice: "So compared to that little brother Hogg who accidentally ran outside the village, do you want him to be robbed by those of us who are looking for the keystone?" ?”

"Hogg is a good boy."

Carleone blew her nose hard, said with red eyes: "And he is my only family member, I don't want to lose him no matter what."

Ji Xiaoge took a deep breath, patted the back of the matriarch with her white wings, and said with a smile: "I also have a family that I cherish very much, so I understand your feelings very well, and the child will be handed over to us." Come help."

"you."

At this point, Jiali Ang had basically dispelled her doubts about the two of them, but she still shook her head vigorously, and said in a hoarse voice: "It's useless, if it's someone else, even if there is an accident, at least you can find them." Corpses, but only those of our black-skinned lineage, as long as they don’t return to the village properly, they will never come back, even if it’s you.”

"It's always good to have more power."

Mo Tan interrupted Jiali Ang decisively, and said in a deep voice: "If possible, I hope to get one or a few of Hogg's personal belongings, one of my partners has a very good sense of smell, maybe he can find some clues. "

"but."

"In any case, it's better than doing nothing, isn't it?"

"."

five minutes later
Jiali Ang returned to the reception room with some dirty-looking clothes, handed them to Mo Tan, and said with a pale face, "Then. I'll leave it to you."

"We will do our best."

Mo Tan didn't boast Haikou to make any promises, but just nodded calmly after taking the things.

Probably because they wanted to keep the 'authentic taste' as much as possible, so the few clothes Jia Lian brought had never been washed, and the kobolds generally didn't pay attention to hygiene, so the smell was pretty bad, but no matter what Neither Mo Tan nor Ji Xiaoge frowned.

"Even if you can find Hogg back, I will not violate the precepts of my ancestors and give you the keystone."

Carrie forced a smile.

"Hmm, can you provide us with some valuable references?"

Ji Xiaoge, who had already put back on the goggles, wrinkled her nose, looking cute.

"Let's talk about it later, by the way, take this."

Jia Lian shrugged, then suddenly threw something like a potion bottle to Mo Tan, which contained a dark red liquid.

"This is."

"Don't ask, I don't want to say."

"Okay, then let's go first."

"Well, thank you."

"You're welcome, goodbye, Madam Patriarch."

Snapped--!
"!?"

"Cough, I can't help it, I can't help it."

Chapter eight hundred and sixty first: The end

(End of this chapter)