Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 214 The Stalker: Hostage

As birds returned to their nests and dusk approached, a group of children in white robes followed a nun with great enthusiasm.

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

"Why don't you give us sheep bombs!" the chubby boy muttered, complaining.

A little girl tugged at the nun's sleeve and asked innocently, "Sister Jiayun, what is a 'gaowan'?"

The young Sister of a Thousand Lakes looked exasperated, but smiled and said to the little girl, "Good child, you can't use those kinds of words."

Then he pinched the little girl's cheeks, applying pressure subtly.

"Wow!"

Like herding a pack of wild kittens, Sister Jiayun exerted a great deal of effort to get the children into front of the Shanhaiguan gate and make them line up in a long queue.

Upon seeing the Holy Children return, the royal guards in charge of the checkpoint lowered the drawbridge.

"Okay, proceed in an orderly fashion, one at a time, don't rush, Opak likes polite children!"

"Jimmy, you bastard, try and steal another one, you want to die, you little brat?" Jia Yun flashed a ferocious expression for a second, then quickly regained her calm, squinting smile. "Watch your step, don't fall into the moat, Oppa will protect you."

The long queue instantly turned into a chaotic mess of kids the moment the bridge was lowered, rushing headlong toward the city gate of Shanhaiguan.

The guard counted the crowded children in front of him, all dressed in the same white clothes, making it a dizzying sight.

One little head, two little heads, three little heads—the nun's little feet, four little heads—

Wait a minute, where are we in the count?

"Hey, isn't the number of children on your list off? There seems to be one extra." The guard scratched his head and said to Sister Jiayun while holding the list.

"Are you sure? We're the same people every day. If you're saying one is missing, I'll be terrified—what happened to the extra one?"

The nun smiled politely at the guards, but there was a hint of threat in her smile.

"You know how difficult it is to get these little rascals—the cuties—to sign up. You'd better not force me—Obak will bless the kind-hearted."

""

The guard, feeling uneasy under the nun's gaze, looked away. "Then—then shall I count again?"

"May Oppa bless you."

Just as the guard was counting again, a little girl in the back row suddenly shouted, "I need to pee!"

'

The sound was like a pebble thrown into a river, creating ripples that spread rapidly. In an instant, the children's bodily functions increased dramatically. Complaints about needing to relieve themselves rose and fell. The guards were like those who had stirred up a hornet's nest, their ears filled with noise. A few troublesome children exaggeratedly pretended to be unable to hold their urine, shouting that they would relieve themselves on the suspension bridge and have a contest to see who could pee the farthest.

"Can you hurry up?" the nun asked the guard with a squinting smile.

"Wait a minute—eleven—thirteen—I didn't count this child twice—oh, sorry, they're twins, fifteen—sixteen—your feet are so white.—ten—nineteen? There's still an extra guard." Before he could finish speaking, he looked up and saw the nun smiling, but with a murderous look in her eyes. Instantly, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

"Ah—that seems to be right—yes, it matches up, anyway, they're just kids—"

"Thank you." The nun smiled at the guard, then casually kicked the chubby boy's bottom in front of her, letting the children pass through the checkpoint and enter the city.

After entering the checkpoint, the sun had just set, and the children were urged to hurry back to the church dormitory in the city. Before entering, Sister Jiayun deliberately yawned, and when she opened her eyes, one of the children had accidentally slipped away. She counted them—hmm, eighteen, just right.

Life was peaceful and quiet; nothing had ever happened.

A small dark figure darted onto the roof.

Beneath the grey cloak, a pair of bright little eyes peeked out. Her eyelashes blinked as she pulled a piece of bread from her waist, munching on it while watching the patrolling guards on the city wall. A huge, dead-eyed toad sat atop the girl's head, like she was wearing a giant green hat.

"That should be the magical detection beacon Father Crane mentioned," Little Tani whispered, pointing to a golden obelisk towering atop the city wall ahead.

"Croak," the toad replied softly.

The obelisk emitted a faint golden force field that covered an area of ​​several hundred meters, almost encompassing a corner of the entire city wall.

"Going around from this side will allow us to avoid its detection range. But it looks like there's another one on the other side," the hostage continued.

"Quack."

"You'd better hide well later—I'll let you know when I find a blind spot in the detection." The little girl pulled her cloak tighter, covering the giant toad. "Don't get caught."

On a rooftop outside the outer city of Shanhaiguan, the future legendary stalker Tani (codename: Hostage) lay prone, patiently waiting for nightfall to begin her first infiltration mission.

Although Shanhaiguan is called a "pass", it is actually a three-in-one military fortress. Three small towns surrounded by high walls are connected by a Great Wall consisting of double-layered walls, cutting off the narrow land between the mountains and the sea cliffs.

The first town, "Mountain City," is located halfway up the Giant Mountain Range. Built against the mountain, it commands a high vantage point. The city diverts mountain springs to form water channels, which provide fresh water to the other two towns through hidden waterways beneath the city walls.

The second small town, Fangcheng, is situated between mountains and the sea and is the main city of Shanhaiguan. Fangcheng is divided into inner and outer cities. The outer city has a barbican, and the inner city is the residence of soldiers' families, laborers, and merchants. It consists of outer residential buildings, an inner market, stables, animal pens, and outer warehouses. The inner city is a tall stone castle with towering towers that reach into the clouds, which is where the military camps and command posts are located.

The third town, "Sea City," was built on a cliff, facing east towards the sea, with crashing waves and extremely dangerous terrain. In addition to defending against enemies on land, the town also had a searchlight, a series of ballistae and catapults on the side facing the sea, which served to disperse enemies at sea and support the navy.

All three cities were surrounded by moats. The mountain city and the sea city had no direct entrance gates; only the square city had one. Soldiers were stationed within the inner city of the square city, using its walls to support the other two cities. Due to the treacherous terrain of the mountain and sea cities, the only way to breach Shanhaiguan Pass was almost certainly to attack the square city in the middle. However, regardless of the angle of attack, the city would be subjected to fire from at least two of these cities.

The dwarven crossbows blessed by the kingdom's bishops are no joke; one shot kills, two shots send you to heaven, and three shots will send your whole family to meet O'Bak.

The Holy See, responsible for the protection of sacred relics, has placed the [Demon-Slaying Beacons], treasured since the time of O'Bak, on the city walls, setting up a node every few hundred meters. These obelisks, involving forbidden magic, are among the Holy See's most precious relics. They can resonate with magical fluctuations in the area, detecting magical use within a certain range—under the infusion of high-level divine spellcasters, these obelisks can be transformed into transmitters of holy energy, counteracting magic released within their range and targeting the spellcasters within the area, causing them to be consumed by their own magic.

There is no doubt that this beacon system was prepared to defend against Imperial war mages using magic to attack the city.

This demon-slaying beacon was just one of the more conspicuous defense systems in Shanhaiguan. Gebu wasn't sure if the beacon could detect the magical items and magical pets on his person, but to be on the safe side, it was safer to send his hostage to infiltrate than to go himself.

As the last rays of the setting sun faded on the western horizon, the little hostage nimbly slipped out of her hiding place. Like a cat, she used all four legs to leap from one rooftop to another, then found an empty section of the city wall. She examined the shadows cast by the bricks on the wall—the shape of the shadows indicated the depth and unevenness of the bricks, which could serve as footholds for climbing.

Her little head spun rapidly, her eyes scanning the area, and she quickly found a climbing route.

Da, da da da.

In no time, the hostage had climbed halfway up the city wall. She paused for a while, waiting for her limbs to regain their strength. It was early winter, and a cold wind swept by, causing the little girl to hunch her shoulders.

Ouch—it's so cold.

She glanced down casually; from below, it didn't seem like much, but leaning against the wall, she realized she was already more than ten meters below. For a little girl who was only 1.2 meters tall, this was an unimaginable height.

"Hey!"

Tani immediately shut her mouth, stifling a scream. Her legs went weak, and she clung to the wall, too afraid to move.

This scene lasted for half a minute. The girl's fingers, which were digging into the cracks in the wall, were becoming numb and aching, and her feet were slowly freezing. This couldn't go on—if this continued—

But it's so high! I'd be dead if I fell!

Just as he was caught in a dilemma, Catwoman Fina's words rang in Little Meat Ticket's ears.

"Fina doesn't eat vegetables—give the big chicken leg to Fina, and Nuannuan can eat the broccoli!"

No, that's not the sentence.

Tani shook her head and found the catwoman's correct statement: "Nuan Nuan, don't be afraid of heights. There's no difference between one meter high and one hundred meters high if you're not afraid."

In my memory, Fina was licking her toes on the roof of the third floor, speaking nonchalantly.

Yes, I've climbed halfway up. What's the difference between the second half and the first half?

Deciding to stop scaring herself, the little girl mustered her courage, focused her attention on the next foothold, and then suddenly leaped away!

While the girl was in mid-air, she suddenly heard two people talking coming from the city wall above her. Startled, her hand slipped, and she fell backward, about to fall!