Above the mage

Chapter 260 Breakthrough

Kastra Volcano, in a golden wheat field.

Elder Grant rubbed his hands together with a beaming smile, as the wheat seedlings swayed gently in the breeze, full of vitality.

Another day has passed.

Since yesterday, when he followed Gao De's advice and watered the wheat field with water from neem grass, no new Jin Hui wheat seedlings have withered and died.

Even a small portion of the wheat seedlings that had previously shown signs of disease have regained their vitality.

If nothing unexpected happens, the problem that kept him up at night for several days has been solved.

Standing beside Elder Grant were God and Loich, and then look at God—

A little figure sat on his left shoulder, swinging his legs casually, looking completely idle.

"Thanks to you this time," Elder Grant said solemnly to God.

Gao De smiled and corrected, "It wasn't me, it was her."

"That's amazing!" Elder Grant lowered his head, his eyes shining as he looked at Flora.

Flora ignored Elder Grant and turned to look at the wheat seedlings in the field.

Upon seeing this, Elder Grant thought for a moment, then cupped his hands and, imitating God, solemnly thanked Flora again, saying, "This time, we owe a great debt to Lady Flora for her help."

"Hmm~"

Only then did Flora turn her head back and respond with a hum.

Seeing Flora's behavior, Elder Grant felt no dissatisfaction whatsoever; in fact, he was filled with affection.

"It's a pity that she's a summoned magical pet, otherwise I would have made an offer to buy Lady Flora from you," Elder Grant remarked.

Although it was just a casual remark, Gao De's expression turned serious, and he said earnestly, "Elder, you misunderstand. Although Lady Flora is my magical pet, that is only her origin, not her status. Lady Flora is my companion, and we are equals."

Elder Grant was taken aback by what he heard, but seeing that God's expression was unusually serious, he thought for a moment and then apologized, "It was I who was offended."

"Let's discuss your matter in detail at my place." With the pest infestation on Jin Huimai seedlings resolved, Elder Grant finally had the mind to attend to other matters.

"Great!" Seeing hope, Loich was overjoyed and quickly said.

Elder Grant's willingness to help doesn't guarantee Catherine's innocence will be cleared, but at the moment, Elder Grant is indeed the only person he can rely on.

If all else fails, he will have no choice but to disregard Catherine's wishes and return to the sect to seek help from that person.

In Elder Grant's residence, in a room specifically used for receiving guests and conducting business.

Gao De habitually glanced at the room's furnishings and found that there was no exquisite furniture at all, not even any wooden furniture.

Even the table was made of gray stone.

Even as an elder of the Zhenbing tribe, and one of the high-ranking members of Phoenix, Elder Grant's "mansion" was actually quite simple, even less impressive than that of a small merchant with some assets in Hogan City.

There's no other way; these are the only conditions in the North.

It's not just a simple tent anymore; it's a real building.

After they sat down on the stone bench, a servant from Elder Grant's household brewed three cups of hot water for the three of them.

Looking at the strange plants floating in his cup, resembling weeds, and the yellowish soup that seemed faded, Gao De hesitated for a moment before taking a small sip.

The taste turned out to be quite good, light yet with a hint of sweetness.

"Actually, as soon as the Holy Maiden was taken away, I went to inquire about the specific situation." Elder Grant also took a sip of his "hot drink" and spoke first.

Saintess Goddess was moved when she heard Elder Grant address Catherine.

So, this is Catherine's true identity?

"I had only just learned about the situation when something happened on the volcanic land, and I couldn't take care of it anymore," Elder Grant added.

"I understand." Loich didn't dwell on that; the most important thing right now was to clear Catherine's name and get her out of trouble as soon as possible.

He looked at Elder Grant, waiting to see what would happen next.

Elder Grant didn't mince words and gave Loich a detailed account of what he knew, including the cause and effect, explaining all the details:

"Some time ago, a hunting team from our tribe discovered a young Frost Giant Lizard with diluted dragon blood on the snowfield."

"You must be aware of the power and wonder of dragons, so even if this young lizard only possesses a trace of dragon blood, its potential and value are immeasurable."

"The hunting team knew the value of the baby lizard. After a brief hesitation, they decided to take the risk and capture the baby lizard while the mother lizard of the Frost Giant Lizard was away. They then rushed back to Phoenix overnight."

"Adult Frost Monitor Lizards are guaranteed to have at least a level three combat power, and the elite among them can even reach level four combat power. This hunter team is also afraid that the mother lizard will discover that the baby lizards have been abducted and follow the scent to catch up with them."

"They are no match for an adult Frost Giant Lizard."

"So they immediately released their falcons to send the message back to Phoenix, requesting the tribe to send reinforcements to meet them."

"However, when the tribe's reinforcements arrived at the agreed-upon route and location, they couldn't find a trace of the hunter team at all."

"If they died because they were caught by the mother lizard and were eaten by her, then there would definitely be some traces left behind."

"But the tribe's hunters searched for a long time and found not a single trace. It was as if the hunter team, along with the dragon-blooded baby lizard, had simply vanished into thin air."

"There's no doubt that it couldn't have just vanished into thin air; something must have happened."

"Only humans could do something so seamless."

"This hypothesis had only just been formed when the hunters in Phoenix received a message from their tribesmen that they had seen suspicious figures and discovered something unusual near their homes."

"When the tribe's hunters arrived as instructed, they found the saintess and the hunter team that had vanished into thin air."

"But... the entire squad has become a corpse."

"As the only living person at the scene, the Holy Maiden is naturally considered the prime suspect," Elder Grant said helplessly, spreading his hands.

"What suspect? That's completely illogical! Whether the hunter team was killed on the snowfield and their bodies were brought to Phoenix, or they were captured and killed in Phoenix, it just doesn't make sense." Loich's voice rose involuntarily, unable to control his emotions any longer.

The hunter team disappeared on the snowfield, and their bodies were found in Phoenix.

What murderer would be foolish enough to deliver the evidence to their doorstep? Do they want to die even faster?

"Isn't this a blatant setup?"

"That's true," Elder Grant naturally understood this principle, and with a sigh, he revealed a deeper reason:

"However, upon inspection, all seven hunters died from the unique spell of your Snowfield Guardians, [Frozen Blade]."

"【Frozen Blade】is not only a unique spell of you Snowfield Guardians, but it can even be called one of your signature spells. Outsiders could never possibly master it, so..."

"Even if this wasn't Catherine's doing, it must be related to your Snowfield Guardians. Under these circumstances, the tribe will naturally not let your Holy Maiden off easily."

After he said this, Loich's expression changed several times.

"Whether it's to retrieve the lost dragonblood lizard or to give an explanation to the seven dead hunters, the tribe will never let the saintess go easily. Unless Your Excellency is prepared to reveal your identity, there might be some chance of a turnaround," Elder Grant affirmed.

"Impossible, Catherine would never reveal her identity." Loich knew Catherine's personality all too well.

He then fell into deep thought.

After a long while, Loich suddenly looked up. "Could you take me to the scene where the hunter team's bodies were found?"

Elder Grant frowned slightly, but finally nodded and said, "No problem."

In front of a house deep in an alley in Phoenix.

The wall connecting to the gate had collapsed, and rubble and dust were scattered all over the ground, making it look particularly messy.

"This is the scene. Your Holy Maiden was also taken away from here," Elder Grant explained to Loich.

"Why did Catherine come here?" Loich looked at the dilapidated houses in front of him, his brows furrowed, utterly puzzled.

We had long since strayed from the main street. If it weren't for Elder Grant leading the way, we would never have ended up here, let alone entered any of the houses.

This was something that Loich really couldn't understand.

Unable to figure it out, Loich decided to skip it for the time being.

He walked through the "wide open" passageway that had been created after the collapse.

Inside the inner room, two members of the Zhenbing tribe were guarding the place.

However, after Elder Grant stepped forward and said a few words, the two members of the Zhenbing tribe left the inner room first.

Elder Grant lifted the animal-skin curtain and led Loich and God inside.

The room was dimly lit, and there was a very faint smell of blood in the air.

"The bodies of our tribe's hunters were found lying in this house. Based on the condition of the bodies, it can be determined that less than half a day had passed since their deaths," Elder Grant revealed another detail.

Clearly, this detail is not good news for Loich.

However, he has now suppressed his emotions.

The more unfavorable the situation, the more necessary it is to remain calm.

At that moment, a fleeting, almost imperceptible glint of light flashed in his eyes and nose.

As a hunter skilled in tracking, Loeqi is an expert in searching for traces and details.

The reason for having Elder Grant bring him to the scene was to use his own abilities to see if he could find any overlooked details or even crucial evidence.

He looked around, carefully observing every corner.

Loich found some tiny footprints in the dust on the ground.

However, there are many people coming and going at this location, and some footprints cannot provide much information.

"There are no signs of resistance or fighting. So those seven hunters must not have died here, but rather died elsewhere first, and then their bodies were dumped here."

"Seven living corpses, it won't be easy to get them into Phoenix from the outside without anyone noticing. This might be a breakthrough. We can ask the guards at the city gate if they've noticed anything suspicious among the people who have entered the city in the past few days."

As Loich examined the area, he made his judgment and offered his own thoughts, "You've recently been subjected to an additional interrogation process when entering the city, so you should have some recollection of it."

"What you say makes perfect sense. I will have someone take care of it." Elder Grant nodded in deep agreement.

"How many people have come here since Catherine was taken away?" Loich sniffed and asked again.

"That's it. After a thorough inspection of the site, the tribe sent two people to guard the place, and no one has come here since."

"The strongest smell here is that of the two guards, followed by a slightly fainter stench of blood and a mingled scent of people. Judging by the concentration, it's the same group of people, probably those who took Catherine away."

"These are all normal, but what's abnormal is that, apart from these smells, there are no other human scents."

"That's unreasonable. It can't be that clean. At most, it should be a little faint, but it shouldn't be completely non-existent," Loich muttered to himself.

"Unless someone understands your abilities and has already taken care of the smells when setting up the scene," Gao De, who had been listening for a long time, said softly.

He had suffered from Loych's ability before and knew exactly how sensitive Loych was to smells.

"Yes. Both the cause of death of those seven dead hunters and the handling of the scene indicate that the real culprit must be from a cult, which is why they would understand my methods and know how to counter them," Loich said slowly, his tone unusually heavy.

"Given the methods the murderer has demonstrated so far, my earlier suggestion to start by breaking through suspicious points of entry into the city may very well not work."

"Since I was able to figure out this breakthrough, the murderer must have realized it as well and would have corresponding countermeasures."

Gao De nodded in deep agreement.

Since the murderer was able to set up such a trap, it's unlikely that he would leave any obvious flaws.

but

Gao De thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Perhaps there's another way to break through."

"Hmm?" Loich, who was deep in thought, subconsciously looked up at God.

Gao De smiled slightly and turned his gaze to Elder Grant.

"How many years has the elder been in charge of the cultivation of Golden Glory Wheat?" he asked.

"Forty or fifty years, right?" Elder Grant was taken aback, not understanding why there was this turn of events, but still answered subconsciously.

"Before this, Jin Hui Mai should never have experienced ice line pest infestation, right?" Gao De asked, but he already had the answer in his mind.

If that had happened before, Elder Grant wouldn't be so clueless this time.

"It is indeed the first time," Elder Grant nodded.

"Has the elder considered how these ice worms appeared? And why has there never been an ice worm infestation before, but suddenly appeared when Catherine encountered this incident?" Gao De asked rhetorically.

The two were taken aback, then were both jolted awake by the words.

Seeing that the two had reacted, Gao De continued, "It's not easy to find a breakthrough from the hunter's death. Why not try a different approach and start with the ice-line worm infestation?"

"I wouldn't dare say that these two things were done by the same person, but I'm certain that they are related."

(End of this chapter)