The most shameless alchemist in history

Chapter 460 Half Price

The night was quiet and peaceful under the full moon. Although it was still a bit chilly, for Du Lei, who had been on the run and fleeing all the way, being able to stop and rest for a moment without any problems was already a luxury. He leaned against the stone statue and looked up at the full moon in the sky.

Looking back on everything that has happened since he left the hot spring village, it has only been a few months at most, and spring has not even passed yet, but it feels like several years have passed. After all, the things he experienced outside the hot spring village were things he had never experienced in the more than ten years he spent on the snow mountain.

"I wonder how Black Wind and Copper Mountain are doing. Copper Mountain is doing well; he's probably still staying in the village, studying his pile of scrap metal. Black Wind, on the other hand, is going to venture into the Land of Dogs. He should have arrived in the Land of Dogs by now, right?"

Du Lei recalled the days he spent in the village with Hei Feng and Tong Shan. Those were truly carefree times, especially when they teamed up to perform a double act against outsiders. Their coordination was flawless, and people who were fooled were even grateful to them.

"And everyone in the village... I don't know when I'll be able to go back after leaving Hot Spring Village this time. Maybe it will be a year or two later, or maybe... Never mind, why be so pathetic as to think about that kind of thing?" Du Lei shook his head slightly and gave a self-deprecating bitter smile.

"Besides everyone in the village, how are Lance and the others doing? They've been away from the academy for several days now, and he's still spending every day in the training ground, right? And Nono... she really gave me a good job. When I get back, I really have to 'thank' her properly."

Du Lei was only able to join the guard team because Nono forced him into it. He had suffered terribly along the way, almost losing his life several times. As a result, he had a lot of complaints to tell Nono.

"But before leaving the academy, I was only at the intermediate level. Now I've probably crossed the threshold of the advanced level, right?" Du Lei was still surprised by his speed of progress, because he knew he wasn't a player with exceptional talent like Sterling.

The fact that he was able to achieve this level in such a short time has greatly exceeded his own expectations.

"Let's think about that after we get back to the academy safely. Let's get through tonight safely first... Hmm? Who's that figure over there?" Du Lei shook his head, trying not to think about anything else, but just then he noticed a figure appearing not far away, which made him alert.

Instinctively, he quietly followed. After all, he was responsible for keeping watch outside the temple, and he didn't want any sudden events to happen that would disturb Wenli and the others. But if he rashly went to tell Hu Che and the others, it would affect their rest. He could only try to figure it out himself first.

He walked more than a hundred meters forward, and when he could see the figure in front of him clearly, he finally understood why he had found it suspicious. The figure was clearly someone he had seen before. He hadn't seen many people in Harrenhal, and the girl who had been stopped by Leopard Tail earlier was one of them.

At this moment, the girl was walking hurriedly down the street. Soon she stopped at a nearby lit spot. Dure glanced at it from a distance but couldn't tell where it was. After all, most of Herenberg was ruins, not the bustling metropolis it claimed to be.

However, he sniffed lightly and detected a strong medicinal smell, which was enough for him to conclude that this was a pharmacy.

"No, no, how can you do this without money? I also need to do business. You should leave now." Before Du Lei even got close, he heard someone speaking impatiently.

"I'll be able to make money soon, please help me, I beg you." Another voice pleaded desperately. Dure was familiar with this voice, as he had heard it not long ago, though back then it was the voice that reprimanded Leopard Tail, a memory he vividly recalled.

"Alright, alright, just leave now. No money, no talk." The other party lost patience and started to kick him out.

"But..." the girl wanted to plead, but it was all in vain.

"Do you think this money is enough?" Just then, Du Lei, who had been watching from outside, walked in. He took out some silver coins and handed them to the man. He had seen clearly from outside that the penniless girl was about to be kicked out of this simple medicine shop by the shop owner.

He originally didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing, but remembering that Leopard Tail's reckless behavior had caused the other party some trouble, and also because he had encountered similar things when he was young, he went over. His appearance immediately attracted the attention of the two of them.

"You are..." The girl was stunned when she saw Du Lei. Her first reaction was that she didn't know this person at all, but he looked somewhat familiar.

"Where is this money from? I've never seen it before." The shopkeeper took the silver coin and examined it carefully.

“No matter where it’s from, the fact that it’s made of silver is genuine. Anything made of silver is valuable, right?” The silver coins Du Lei handed to the shopkeeper were from Maple City, which belongs to the Snow Kingdom. They had already crossed the border of the Snow Kingdom.

The currency in circulation was naturally no longer the Snow Elf Coin of the Snow Kingdom.

"You're right. No matter where the money comes from, as long as it's made of gold or silver, it's valuable. However, I have some difficulty exchanging it, so I can only give you a 50% discount." The shopkeeper was greedy for money, but he still wanted to make things difficult for this seemingly naive boy.

"Since you think it's difficult to exchange them, shopkeeper... how about I exchange them somewhere else first and then come back to buy them?" Du Lei wasn't buying it; he made a move to take the silver coins back.

"Wait, wait, never mind, I only did this because I felt sorry for Connie, so I thought I'd do a good deed. You don't need to exchange it, you can take it." The shopkeeper couldn't let the money he had in his hands slip away. If she went elsewhere to exchange it and then came back to buy it, then he would be the one getting a 50% discount.

"Deal." Du Lei handed the silver coins to the shopkeeper and took a packet of medicine from him, clearly prepared in advance.

It seemed that this girl in front of Du Lei had come here to buy medicine before; the shop owner must have known her for a long time.

"This..." The girl hesitated for a moment when she saw Du Lei suddenly appear and the medicine that was suddenly in her hands, and did not dare to reach out to take it.

"Take this first. We can talk about it after we go outside," Du Lei said, pointing outside the shop.

The girl bit her lip, thought carefully for a moment, and finally nodded emphatically, accepting the medicine and leaving with Durei. The most shameless alchemist in history.

Chapter 461 Koni and her siblings

The herbal medicine shop wasn't too far from the abandoned temple where Wenli and the others were resting, only about two hundred meters away. Du Lei didn't dare to stray too far from the temple, since he was still on night watch and had to guard against any unexpected situations. Otherwise, Wenli and the others might be wiped out while they were sound asleep without them even knowing it.

The main reason he left his post to meddle at the pharmacy was because the girl's back looked familiar, which aroused his suspicion. He happened to witness this scene, and helping her was no trouble for him; it was just a small favor. Of course, he also had some selfish motives.

That is, they knew nothing about Harrenhal. After arriving in Harrenhal, they couldn't find anyone to gather information. Everyone avoided them like the plague. Even the owner of the herbal medicine shop looked at them strangely, only not kicking them out because of the money.

Now that he has helped this girl, if he can get some information about Harrenhal from her, he will have a better understanding of this strange place.

"Oh right, you're the out-of-towner I met on the street before, I remember now!" The girl only remembered that she had indeed met Du Lei once after she left the herbal medicine shop. No wonder he looked familiar to her!

“Yes, we just met. My companion was a bit reckless at the time, and I apologize to you again on his behalf.” Dure nodded. The girl had turned and walked away as soon as she saw them before, but now she had stopped to talk to him. This was a good start.

"You're all from out of town, right?" Although the girl still looked at Du Lei with some suspicion, she was much less wary than before.

"Yes, we're all from the Land of Snow, on our way to the City of Storms for business. We just happened to be passing through and need to rest here for the night." Du Lei didn't tell the girl their true purpose, since they were just strangers who had met by chance, and he didn't want to cause trouble for himself or others.

"The Land of Snow? I heard it snows all year round there, it's so beautiful." When the girl heard the words "Land of Snow," a look of longing appeared on her face, it was clear that she really liked this place.

"Do you like it? If you do, you can go and take a look over there sometime." Du Lei chatted with her casually, and she gradually lowered her guard.

"If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely go with Terry." The girl nodded emphatically.

“Terry? Who is he? Is he your…” Dure remembered that the girl’s name was Connie, which he had heard the shopkeeper mention before.

“He’s my brother. Oh, right, he’s home alone right now. I have to go back right away. I’m so sorry, I can’t stay here any longer.” Connie recalled this and looked flustered, immediately preparing to leave.

"Please wait a moment." Du Lei had originally wanted to get some information out of her, but seeing her like this, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get any.

"Is...is there something wrong?" Connie turned around and looked timidly at Dure.

"Here, take this." Dure handed a soft loaf of bread to Connie, which Bailing had given him not long ago.

“You’ve already bought the medicine for me, this is really…” Connie didn’t reach out to take it.

"It's okay, I ate a lot tonight and I'm not hungry at all. Do you expect me to throw it away and waste it?" Du Lei smiled kindly.

"It's such a waste to throw it away like this! I'll take it then, thank you so much!" Connie accepted the bread with a pained expression.

“Oh, right!” Connie seemed to have thought of something, and she looked up at Dure again.

"Is there something you need?" Du Lei asked with a smile.

“Please tell me your name, I will pay you back the money I owe you!” Connie said very seriously.

"My name is... Redu. Okay, you can give it back to me later if you have the chance." Du Lei didn't tell her his real name, he just made one up, but she remembered it carefully.

"Understood, Mr. Redu. I'm heading back now. Goodbye!" Connie thanked him again and hurried away.

Dure stood there watching her walk away.

"So you still haven't gotten any information? That's really... Oh well, I guess I'll just consider it a good deed." Dure chuckled self-deprecatingly. His initial intention in helping the girl, Connie, was to find out what was going on in Harrenhal, but she had to leave in a hurry.

This thwarted Dure's plans.

"Although I still have some doubts... I'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Whatever has happened in this city, or what is about to happen, is none of our business as passersby. Why should I think so much? As for... Kotetsu..."

Dure's only concern was Kotetsu's relationship with the city; Kotetsu's behavior was just too abnormal.

"I hope my worries are unnecessary." Dure could only sigh, and he quickly returned to the outside of the abandoned temple.

The moonlight still fell coldly from the sky, making everything bright and clear, while distant lights twinkled like stars.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Harrenhal, the hurried young girl Connie returned to a dilapidated house.

The entire city was in ruins, with broken walls and rubble everywhere. It was almost impossible to find any intact houses. Even those that were slightly more spacious and less damaged were occupied by strong and healthy people. People like Connie, who were weak and had no one to rely on, could only live in such places.

"Terry, I'm back! Come see what your sister brought back for you." Although the little house in front of her was barely enough to shelter her from the wind and rain, Connie was very happy. After entering the house, she turned right to see her brother. The room was very narrow, barely big enough to fit a single bed.

It was very clean, and there was even a simple portrait on it. A boy was lying weakly on the bed, his body wrapped in large bandages. Only his eyes were visible, and it was only by looking at his eyes that one could tell that this was a "person".

"Sister, I..." The boy on the bed tried to get up, but he was too weak and could only move his body slightly.

"Don't move. I brought you medicine and food today. I met some kind people today. It's true that praying every day is helpful. The Goddess of Light hasn't abandoned us." Connie's eyes were full of joy. There were only her and her brother Terry in the house.

Her younger brother was her only family in the world.

"The Goddess of Light? Sister, don't believe those priests, they're all liars! Cough cough." The boy coughed violently, his emotions running high.

"Shh, Terry, keep your voice down. Don't let the priest hear you, or the consequences will be severe. You should rest now. Don't think about anything. You'll get better soon." Connie comforted her brother gently. The moonlight outside the window was silent.

Even in the long, darkest night, the followers of the Goddess of Light are omnipresent and omniscient! The most shameless alchemist in history.

Chapter 462 Captain Rafa

Although Harrenhal exuded an air of strangeness, Dure and his party were merely passing through. They would only rest for one night before continuing their journey. After a peaceful night, the next morning, before dawn, Dure had just opened his eyes.

According to his and Leopard Tail's arrangement last night, he was to keep watch for the first half of the night, while Leopard Tail was to keep watch for the second half. He was a light sleeper and would wake up at the slightest sound, but he didn't wake up once last night, which showed that the night had passed very peacefully, even eerily peacefully.

Because he remembered that when they first entered Harrenhal, many suspicious eyes were staring at them, which made Durei feel as if something was about to happen, but nothing happened all night. He almost thought that he had misjudged and was just overthinking things.

But when he saw the group of people surrounding them after daybreak, Du Lei realized that he hadn't thought much of it at all.

"Who are you guys and what do you want?" Leopard Tail, who had been on guard all night, was confronting the other side. Du Lei was the second to notice the group approaching. He quickly rushed over to check the situation. There were quite a few of them, at least thirty or forty.

The group was dressed in white, looking very ceremonial, and each of them was holding sticks. They stood at a distance, confronting Leopard Tail, and their intentions were clearly hostile.

"You blasphemers, outsiders! We are here to arrest you on the orders of the gods!" the man at the front shouted. There were quite a few of them, and they had surrounded the area around the temple.

"Outsiders? Oh no, it's all my fault. Did I attract them by spending silver coins yesterday?" Du Lei was initially puzzled as to why people would come knocking on his door out of nowhere. Upon hearing the words "outsiders," the first thing that came to his mind was the silver coins he had spent yesterday.

He immediately scanned the crowd to see if he could find the owner of the herbal medicine shop from yesterday.

"Don't be nervous, they're coming for me." Just then, a voice rang out behind Du Lei. Du Lei was startled and turned around to see that it was none other than the taciturn Hu Che who had been walking over these past few days. He walked over calmly, while the people in front of him took a step back.

"They're after you? What's going on?" Du Lei was a little confused. He originally thought that he was the one who had led these people here, but after hearing what Hu Che said, it seemed that there was another reason. At this time, Wen Li and the others also heard the commotion and came out one after another.

"It's him! I can't mistake him! That traitor who betrayed the gods, Kotetsu, you're finally back!" Someone stepped out from the crowd. He was a middle-aged man in his thirties, similar in age to Kotetsu. He had broad shoulders and a tall stature. He pointed at Kotetsu and flew into a rage.

“That’s right, I’m back. It’s been a long time, Tiger Yuan, my little brother.” Tiger Che nodded and called out the other’s name.

If the name Du Lei only sounded somewhat similar to Kotetsu and wasn't too surprising, Kotetsu's next address really scared him. He never expected to encounter Kotetsu's younger brother here, especially since he was the one who came to capture them!

“Mr. Kotetsu… what… what exactly is going on?” Wen Li was also full of doubts. She looked at Kotetsu with surprise and suspicion, and then looked at the man that Kotetsu called Kogen. Indeed, there were some similarities between the two.

"Boss Hu Che, what should we do?" Leopard Tail, who had been confronting Hu Yuan earlier, was suddenly confused. He had originally planned to force his way through. Although the enemy had a large number of people, he did not take Leopard Tail seriously and was confident that he could fight his way out.

But now, according to Kotetsu, the other party seems to be his own brother, which makes Hyo-o unable to make a move for the time being.

"Stop talking nonsense, take them all away!" Hu Yuan gave the order, and the group of people behind him made a move to take the people away.

"I'll go with you, but these people have nothing to do with this place. Let them leave." Kotetsu waved his hand to stop them.

"No, they are outsiders, and this is a cursed temple. Coming here is blasphemous heresy. No one is allowed to leave!" Hu Yuan's attitude was firm. He swept his cold eyes over, which made Du Lei frown. This was a difficult person to deal with.

"A cursed temple? What's going on?" Du Lei seemed to understand that there were two reasons why they were surrounded: one was that Hu Che and Hu Yuan knew each other and were even brothers, and it was clear that there was a great grudge between them.

The second reason is related to the dilapidated temple. Du Lei realized that the group of people Hu Yuan led were believers.