I really didn't want to burn it.

Thinking about how the other party had just pretended to be a woman to deceive her and win her sympathy, Ritsuka's feelings for Loki instantly dropped three levels.

"So, what were you spying on us for just now?"

Since the other party was not an innocent passerby, but a god of Asgard, Mash changed her gentle tone and questioned him sternly.

Loki's eyes darted around: "Well... I just happened to see Leon in the village, so I was curious."

Mashu clearly didn't believe this answer: "If that's the case, then why did you run away and pretend to be an ordinary person... Achoo."

Perhaps it was too windy, because Mashu couldn't help but sneeze.

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go to my place first," Loki invited the three of them.

Mashu and Ritsuka looked at Leon, waiting for his answer.

Their information about Loki came primarily from mythology, leaving the decision to Leon, who knew him intimately, to make.

Li Ang raised his eyebrows: "Okay, go ahead."

"Yes, thank you for coming."

Upon hearing this answer, Loki revealed a knowing smile.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Loki's house is in a relatively remote part of the village, and Ritsuka suspects that he chose this place to hide his identity.

However, Ritsuka would never say such a thing.

"Hmm... It was still summer yesterday morning, but now it feels like winter."

Ritsuka stood by the window, holding a cup of hot water in her hands, her eyes fixed on the scenery outside.

The heavy snow continued to fall from the sky, and it was unclear when it would stop.

The north wind howled past from time to time, scraping against the windows like knives.

“Not bad, right?” Loki said smugly, sitting on the leather recliner with his legs crossed. “It took me a long time to make it possible for people to enjoy the scenery outside from inside their rooms without opening the windows.”

"Oh."

Leon nodded calmly, seemingly more interested in the beer in his hand than in Loki's ostentatious window.

Loki, frustrated by his failed attempt to show off, curled his lip in displeasure: "Tch, what an uncultured fellow."

Loki had no idea that his little invention was truly amazing in a time when glass technology was not yet widespread.

But for Li Ang, a modern man, a room with opaque windows is far more unusual than this.

Compared to enjoying the scenery, Li Ang would much rather have a cup of warm tea to comfort him than some unpleasant beer.

Unfortunately, this thing doesn't exist in Northern Europe.

[This is unavoidable; after all, the tea and silk production techniques of your Celestial Empire are top-tier national secrets. Only finished products are sold abroad; the technology itself is not disclosed.]

In such a remote and impoverished place as Northern Europe, there's no way anyone would come here to sell tea.

"Even if it could be sold, it would be useless. Although the world of Norse mythology has outer realms, it does not have an Asian region."

Frustrated, Li Ang downed the rest of the ale in his glass in one gulp and slammed it upside down on the table.

“Alright, let’s get down to business.” Leon looked Loki into his eyes and said, “Have you been expelled from Asgard yet?”

When Li Ang spoke with Jereshkogur before, he was afraid of arousing the other party's suspicion, so he did not ask about the specific situation of the deity.

However, since Gershkogur made no mention of Loki, and Loki was actually living in this inconspicuous little village, Leon suspected that he had been driven out of Asgard.

Why did you ask such a question from the start?! How much do you not want to see me?!

Loki kept tapping his wine glass on the table, expressing his dissatisfaction.

"Just tell me whether you left or not."

Leon's overly blunt words left Loki speechless.

Loki glared at Li Ang and sat back down in his chair.

"Tsk, yeah. I got kicked out, are you satisfied now?"

Loki's tone was extremely displeased.

"I guessed it. Why?"

"The charge is..."

Loki paused for a moment before continuing, "He instigated Hodr (the god of darkness) to kill Baldr (the god of light), and was therefore banished from Asgard forever."

Loki deliberately made a very scary face, trying to frighten Leon.

However, Li Ang showed no surprise; instead, he appeared to have an expression of "I knew it."

Loki said dejectedly, "What? Did you hear about it from someone else?"

Li Ang replied ambiguously, "More or less."

Yes, he did hear it from other people (the people who wrote Norse mythology), that makes sense.

"But that's slander."

Loki's words finally elicited a look of surprise from Li Ang for the first time since he entered the room.

“I was framed. Odin knew this, and he sent me away from Asgard to protect me.”

Loki gripped the cup tightly, his expression grim, and said to Leon, "Leon, do me a favor. I want to know who in Asgard framed me!"

M78 Nebula 756365104

P.S.: The image above has nothing to do with the plot. I just felt that this chapter of Lao Jie was great, so I shared it with everyone.

This picture was drawn by Lao Jie's father to celebrate his daughter's collaboration with the eyewear store. =w=

Chapter 255 Mashu: The two of them have such a good relationship.

After spending the night at Loki's house, Leon and the Chaldea duo set off for Asgard early the next morning.

It wasn't that Li Ang and his colleagues were born with a life of hard work, nor was it because they were workaholics in Thailand, but rather because these past few days had been a rare period of relatively light wind and snow in Yongdong.

If they rest in Loki for a few more days, they won't be able to leave when the blizzard comes.

According to Loki, and confirmed by locals in Northern Europe, each blizzard lasts at least two to three months.

Li Ang had no interest in wasting so much time in the Nordic Singularity, so heading to Asgard ahead of time was imperative.

In truth, Leon had some reservations about going directly to Asgard.

He was quite disappointed that he only stayed one night and left after getting a chance to take advantage of Loki.

But Li Ang didn't lose out either; he offered to help Loki unlock his handcuffs as payment for clearing Loki's name.

As a renowned craftsman in the Nine Realms of Norse mythology, Loki's skills, while not on par with the top dwarven craftsmen, are certainly no less impressive, and he has personally forged many divine weapons.

Given the fact that the other party is a mage, breaking the handcuffs of Chaldea wouldn't require much effort.

However, when Loki heard Li Ang's request, this goofball actually opened his mouth wide and said something incredibly suicidal in surprise.

"You were forced to handcuff yourself? I thought Li Ang wanted to have some fun, so he handcuffed you on purpose!"

Then, Li Ang "kindly" used his fist to teach Loki a profound lesson—if you don't court death, you won't die.

Loki was deeply moved and accepted Leon's teachings.

Even when he saw Li Ang and the other two off at the door, he didn't use magic to get rid of the panda eyes on his face.

It's not that I can't, but I don't dare.

"Li Ang, should we go and prove Loki's innocence?"

Once they were out of town, Ritsuka, who had been holding back her laughter, caught up with Li Ang and asked in a low voice.

“How about we change the question?” Li Ang turned to Ritsuka and said, “Is Loki innocent?”

Ritsuka chuckled awkwardly: "So you also think Loki is untrustworthy?"

Li Ang stroked his chin and analyzed, "He definitely didn't tell the whole truth, but I think there's something fishy about this. After all..."

“Loki was merely banished, not bound and forced to endure the torment of snake venom,” Ritsuka interjected.

Anyone familiar with Norse mythology is certainly no stranger to the story of Loki framing Baldr.

The fall of Baldr, the god of light, symbolizes the disappearance of light and also signifies the beginning of Ragnarok.

The story is very simple: Badr has a nightmare about "death," and his mother, the goddess Frigg, is terrified when she finds out, believing that her son's life is in danger.

So Frigga traveled all over the World Tree, swearing to everything that they would never harm her son.

Only the mistletoe growing next to Valhalla was not required to take an oath, because Frigga considered it too weak.

These vows came true; even Thor's hammer, the most powerful weapon among the gods, could not harm Baldr.

Baldr's perfection provoked Loki, who disguised himself as a woman and went to Frigga's palace, where he extracted from her the fact that she had only mistletoe and had not made an oath.

So Loki instigated Hodr, the blind god of darkness, to throw mistletoe at Baldr.

It is said that the sharp branches of mistletoe pierced Badr's chest like spears, causing him to die.

In some versions, the tree branch, after being thrown, transforms into a sword that pierces Baldr's body; this sword is also known as the legendary Evergreen Sword.

This plot was quickly exposed, and Loki received the cruelest punishment.

Although Loki had played many pranks in Asgard before, most of them were just pranks. After committing a crime, Loki would usually give the god he had pranked some benefits in exchange for their forgiveness.

Therefore, although Loki did not have a good reputation in Asgard, the gods did not reject him.

But this time it really went too far. In Nordic culture, murdering a family member is a serious crime, one of the most heinous offenses.

So Odin turned Loki's son Vali into a wolf, which killed his brother Narph.

Next, he tied Loki to the base of the World Tree and subjected him to the torture of having venom dripped into his face.

From that moment on, Loki severed all ties with Asgard and became their mortal enemies.

Some people think Odin went too far, causing his brothers to fight each other.

But in fact, it was Loki who did it first.

It was he who tricked Baldr's twin brother, the dark god Hodr, into doing it; Odin, to put it bluntly, was simply repeating what Loki had done on himself.

While the method of punishment is debatable, it is at least acceptable within the current Nordic worldview.

Of course, all of the above happened in the original mythology. In this singularity, Odin merely banished Loki from Asgard and even spared Loki's two children, but made them never see each other again.

It seems outrageous, but it's terrifyingly mild compared to the crimes Loki committed.

After all, Hodr, the god of darkness, was executed as the murderer shortly after killing his brother—at the time, the gods were unaware that Loki had instigated it.

It can be said that Loki's move directly caused Asgard to lose its gods, and these gods were all sons of Odin, the king of the gods.

In any other country, such an event would be met with the extermination of the entire family, yet Odin so casually let the culprit go. His attitude is indeed worth pondering.

Of course, Loki isn't without his problems either.

The biggest question is why he was in this small town, the first town Li Ang and his group passed through when they arrived in Northern Europe.

Loki's explanation was that he chose a village relatively close to Jotunheim in order to observe the movements of the giants.

Whether Loki himself believed it or not, Leon certainly didn't.

"Leon, if Loki was framed, who do you think could be the culprit?" Ritsuka asked in a low voice.

Li Ang shook his head slightly: "Anyone could be involved; there are too many people. Generally speaking, in these kinds of situations, whoever ultimately profits the most is the mastermind, but now..."

Shortly after his two sons died, Odin went into a deep sleep, and the power of Asgard fell into the hands of Thor.

According to Li Ang's logic, Thor should be the mastermind behind this conspiracy.

But Leon knew Thor's situation very well. This guy was a reckless, muscle-bound berserker. He was fine with charging into battle, but when it came to scheming, he was complete trash.

To this day, Leon has never forgotten the time when Thor disguised himself as Freya and took him and Loki to Jotunheim to retrieve the hammer.

Not to mention Thor's grotesque, muscular Barbie look after dressing up as a woman.

Thor was supposed to infiltrate in women's clothing, but he had no such intentions at all. Not only did he glare at the giants with red eyes, but he also ate a whole cow, eight salmon, all the snacks prepared for the female guests, and three barrels of mead at the banquet.