Witch, don't be so lazy

Feeling that there might be some important information hidden in the words, An Ke listened patiently for a while.

As for the result, the summary translation is "42-grade concrete mixed with pasta, fried chicken requires two and a half years of practice gasoline", the main point is that it has no logic and is a complete waste of time.

Forget it.

An Ke bought some things first to get rid of the negative state, and then wandered around the city, intending to find a place to stay and observe the situation at the same time.

Say something.

The first impression that Hongyan Town left on her was one of prosperity, even more prosperous than Xueshan Town. She had felt it when she looked at it from the hill before, but she could understand it more deeply when she actually went inside.

There are streets that extend in all directions, houses that are arranged in an orderly manner, carriages that come and go in an endless stream, bustling markets and shops that are crowded with people, and even a colorful theater.

If Anke were to describe it, she would say it's like Saint Denis in Red Dead Redemption, only on a smaller scale, without as many factories, and with a more exotic desert feel.

It was clearly in a desert, yet such a city was built out of thin air.

But considering that it is a magical world, and it is a small world in the spiritual world, it may not be consistent with real history.

Generally speaking, the deeper the spiritual realm, the greater the degree of distortion.

Oh, speaking of depth.

Anke felt that there seemed to be something wrong with his spiritual journey.

Just talking about the corpse Ukerbak she met at the beginning, and the desert worms that attacked on the road, although she dealt with them cleanly and neatly, if it were another apprentice, they might have died on the spot. Well, the combat power benchmark here is Mars.

It's not that he's bragging, An Ke is still confident in his own strength, which is definitely better than more than 90% of the apprentices.

A 230-depth start shouldn't be that difficult, right?

Could it be that I am too unlucky, or have I sunk a little deeper?

Encore's intuition is the latter. Where is the locked position?

Is it locked?

Like a lock!

But things have come to this point. As the old saying goes, "It's already here", so An Ke can only be vigilant.

Back to Hongyan Town, another impression it gives people is comfort and peace.

Well, although Anke saw some minor frictions while walking on the streets, such as bare-handed fights, knife robberies, and multi-person shootouts, these things were harmless.

After all, when those ferocious police officers arrive at the scene, even if they cannot arrest all the criminals, at least they will scare the villains away.

But no matter what, this is much better than the scene Anke imagined.

Because according to the background of the parade incident, the people in Hongyan Town were in panic due to the mutations and monsters, so they offered a large sum of money to issue a commission and recruit witchers to solve the problem.

However, at the moment, it seems that the town has not reached the point where everyone is staying indoors, and there are still many people strolling around the streets.

This either means that they are too careless and have taken it for granted, or that the problem is not serious, or there is something else going on.

……

"Although this desert is entirely sand, treasures are buried beneath the ground: gold, black copper, and earth crystals... To facilitate mining and processing, the wizards of the Old Empire built a town on the edge of the oasis. After the empire collapsed, the Church took over and renamed it Red Rock Town."

The dirty little newspaper boy sat nervously on the chair, staring at the sumptuous dishes on the table with his mouth watering, and then cautiously looking at the girl opposite him.

"That's all I know. I heard it from grandpa. I don't know if it's right... Sister, can I really eat it?"

"Eat if you want. Look, I'm already full."

Anke shrugged her shoulders, picked up the grape juice beside her and took two sips. It was sour and sweet, quite to her taste. Although it was expensive, she had collected a lot of gold coins before, which was exactly what Anke was like.

She had just walked around the city and was hungry, so she found a restaurant that looked the most luxurious and had the most people. She was about to have a big meal there when she noticed a little newspaper boy working hard opposite the store. After thinking about it, she bought a newspaper, said she had something to ask him, and treated him to a meal.

I flipped through the newspaper, which reported some glorious deeds of the Papal States, the great achievements of the town lords, some daily life and gossip, and finally some dirty jokes and dream talk in the corner. Overall, it was not very nutritious.

As for eavesdropping on the conversations of the guests around, they were all about family matters and jokes.

The little newsboy answered whatever was asked, highlighting his willingness to tell everything he knew.

Perhaps because he saw that Anke was full, he moved his fork tentatively, and when he didn't get scolded, he started to eat voraciously.

"One more question for you."

The little newsboy stopped what he was doing instantly, puffed up his cheeks and replied, "Ning (you), go ahead."

"Do you know about the strange events in Red Rock Town? Have you heard the rumors about monsters and ghosts?"

An Ke held her chin, perhaps seeing that the other party was standing there without any response for a long time, she blinked and added,

"If you don't tell me, I'll just pay for myself."

"No! Please!"

The little newsboy was so anxious that he almost cried. He swallowed the food in a hurry, looked around carefully, and lowered his voice.

"I, I only know a little bit. It's said that terrible monsters appear in the town at night and kill innocent people. I don't know if it's the mutation you mentioned..."

"Are there scary monsters at night?"

Anko raised an eyebrow.

"You, please keep your voice down. The town master doesn't allow these things to be discussed openly."

The little newsboy was startled and looked around cautiously. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one was paying attention to him. Then he hesitated for a while, shrank his head like a quail, and whispered,

"I learned this from eavesdropping on the big boss. He said the barrier the church had set up in the town had weakened. It was fine during the day, when the Lord of Dawn's light shone brightly and suppressed the monsters. But at night, the monsters became active, killing and committing evil in the town."

He paused, "So now everyone goes out and moves around freely during the day. When the sun sets completely and it's night, most shops will close, and people who are afraid of monsters will choose to stay at home."

It turned out to be like this...

An Ke tilted her head and looked at the already dark sky, feeling somewhat confused.

"But I see so many people in this restaurant, and the shops on the street outside are bustling with people coming and going. They don't seem to be closing down or going home."

She stared at the newsboy, who instantly tensed.

"I, I'm not lying! Seriously, if you don't believe me, go to the downtown area and see for yourself. The streets there are already deserted, and every house is closed. I swear!"

He made a gesture of swearing, and then said,

"This is the upper city, and even this hotel is in the central neighborhood, so close to the Cathedral. Although those monsters are terrifying, they still have the instinct to seek profit and avoid harm. They wouldn't dare to run wild here."

The little newsboy muttered, "I finally managed to get a job selling newspapers in the upper city. I did it for safety. I even had to sleep next to a trash can in the middle of the night. I'm small, so I can hide easily and won't be easily caught by the police..."

No wonder he was so dirty and had a sour smell.

Fortunately, the waiter in the restaurant was quite professional. Although he rolled his eyes countless times, he still arranged a seat for me with a smile on his face because of the shiny gold coins.

"The sanctuary? The one in the center?"

An Ke looked out the window. Because of the houses, she couldn't see the church below, but she could still see the tall, straight bell tower and the holy light of the morning sun on the top.

"Yeah, that's it."

The newsboy nodded. He looked at Anke's clothes and asked quietly, "Are you a witcher from outside?"

"Correct."

"Then if you have any questions, just go directly to the church and ask the priests. They will definitely know more than me."

An Ke had figured this out long ago without anyone reminding her.

But she did not go to the temple immediately because she was an apprentice in the North in the present world.

Historically, the relationship between the Holy See and the North has never been harmonious. Although it has never reached the point of a large-scale war, there have been conflicts between the two sides, both openly and covertly.

Because she was unsure of her real background and whether it would have a negative impact on the parade, she needed some time to prepare even if she had to disguise herself.

So Anke chose to inquire around on her own first, observe, and finally contact the church in Hongyan Town after making up her mind.

But she couldn't say these words directly, so she nodded: "I understand, thank you."

"No, you're welcome. Can I still eat? I can't afford it..."

"My treat."

"Really?"

"……real."

"Thank you, oh, you, please don't betray me, or I'll get beaten up and have to pay for jail time. I don't have any money, so I'll definitely end up in the mines..."

"will not."

An Ke was a little speechless and interrupted the other party's pleading, "Go eat your food."

"Oh well."

The little newsboy began to eat like a whirlwind.

An Ke summarized the information in his mind and looked around.

Lingmeng Erlin~Baling Jiusanxu IX accidentally looked at the street below the window.

A group of fully armed police officers and several white-robed priests were accompanied by a tall man wearing a round hat, windbreaker, trousers and riding boots. His clothes were almost the same as Anke's, except that he had an alchemical pistol and two knives, one long and one short, on his waist.

The witcher, look at his movements and magic power, he is definitely a master.

This group of people were surrounding a young man on the street who had a dull expression and was staggering as if he had taken poisonous lampwort. They seemed ready to take him away.

Because An Ke did not deliberately hide it, the man seemed to sense something and glanced over with sharp eyes, but it was a little too late. All he saw was the little newspaper boy who was peeking out.

"Do you know what they're doing?"

An leaned back in his chair and said, "I've seen gang fights involving multiple people before, and the police officers who rushed in to clean up the mess didn't see anything like this."

"I'm not sure... Hey! The one leading the group is the church's pharmacist. I recognize him. I even bought medicine from him before Grandpa passed away!"

The newsboy scratched his head. "Maybe it's related to a disease? There seems to be a rumor that there's a strange plague spreading in the town. Uh, but we don't know if it's true or not, because no one has seen any patients, and the town hasn't issued any notices."

If we arrest them all, we won’t see them anymore.

An Ke said in her heart, but she thought again, if it was a contagious plague that started to spread, then the rich and powerful people in the upper city would definitely get wind of it and it would be impossible for them to still live a leisurely life.

I don't understand.

She shook her head, waited for the newsboy to finish eating, asked a few more questions, then paid the bill and left.

……

night.

The lights in the room were turned on.

Anke looked around and found that the bed was neat and clean, and the surroundings were also cleaned. She nodded with satisfaction.

This is a hotel in the heart of Upper Town.

She had just gotten some information from the pub, and it was almost the same as what the newsboy had said.

After struggling for a long time, I finally returned to the room.

meditation.

First, adjust your magic power and mental strength, and then think about tomorrow's actions.

A few more hours passed.

late at night.

A high-pitched scream pierced the inn.

"It's dead!"

"The monster killed people!"

An Ke, who had just laid down, suddenly opened his eyes.

Absolutely.

We were told there would be no problems in the center of Uptown, so why did something go wrong right after I arrived?!

Chapter 52: Mutation Event

The wide-open door, the lit lamp, the serious police officer, the frightened waiter, the busy corridor and the passengers peeking in.

The clean and tidy bed was now covered in blood. The woman's eyes were wide open, and there were horrifying bloody holes on her forehead, throat and chest. With such terrible injuries, it was impossible for her to still be alive.

"When did you find the body?"

The old police officer in the lead asked.