Chapter 62: The Mysterious Village

There are not a few major families on the continent who have noticed Zhao Hai and his group. A place like Black Mountain Fort naturally cannot have only the Makider family setting up an intelligence point. In fact, many major families on the continent have intelligence points there. Some of these points are just shops, while others are entire mercenary groups.

The major families set up intelligence points in Black Mountain Fort not to investigate military or state affairs. A place like Black Mountain Fort is unlikely to have any significant military or state events. The primary purpose of setting up intelligence points here is talent!

The great nobles of the Ark Continent, most of whom have a lineage spanning over a thousand years, are well aware of the importance of talent. For a noble, a powerful warrior can be a great help. Therefore, places like Black Mountain Fort, where adventurers and mercenaries gather, always have intelligence personnel from various major families, tasked with discovering potential warriors and bringing them into the family to become a part of their strength.

Because of this, when Zhao Hai and his group appeared in Black Mountain Fort, many major families received the news and have been keeping an eye on them.

However, those who were watching Zhao Hai and his group clearly miscalculated. They did not expect that Zhao Hai and his group would not stay in the city but instead go to stay outside the city. Moreover, they usually went to the space to rest at night, making it impossible for those who wanted to track them to discover their whereabouts, which seemed very strange.

However, Zhao Hai's behavior only made those people more convinced that he was a black mage. Those people were not tracking Zhao Hai to recruit him but were afraid that Zhao Hai and his group might pose a threat to their families.

While ordinary nobles do recruit some black mages, they usually know these black mages well. No one is willing to recruit wild black mages, so no one approached Zhao Hai and his group.

Zhao Hai and his group were unaware that they were being followed. They continued to travel at their own pace. Their current speed was not very fast, as there were too many people on the road. They couldn't travel too quickly, or accidents might happen.

It would take seven days to travel from Black Mountain Fort to Casa City even on horseback. Zhao Hai and his group's current speed was about the same as riding a horse, so it would also take them about seven days to reach Casa City.

They had already been traveling for three days. During this time, they passed through two small towns and countless villages, indicating that the Vansel Duchy was quite prosperous.

On the morning of the fourth day, Zhao Hai and his group, as usual, came out of the space and continued their journey. Fortunately, it was not yet the rainy season, so the dirt road was quite flat, and the creatures walked without any bumps.

However, Zhao Hai felt something strange as he walked today. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was missing. He looked around in confusion, unsure of what was different.

Just as Zhao Hai was puzzled, Meg spoke up, "Young Master, it's very strange. We've been walking for more than two hours, but we haven't seen anyone pass by. At this time every day, there are usually many people."

Hearing Meg's words, Zhao Hai finally realized what was wrong. They had been walking for more than two hours since the morning and hadn't encountered a single person. No wonder he felt so strange, as if something was missing—people.

Feeling that something was amiss, Zhao Hai immediately said, "Stop." The creature stopped immediately. Zhao Hai stood up, holding onto the creature's ribs, and said to Green, "Grandpa Green, is something wrong? Why haven't we encountered anyone after walking for so long?"

Green nodded and said, "I've noticed it too, but Young Master, don't worry. Let's keep moving forward. I want to see what's going on. In the worst case, you can hide in the space, and no one will be able to find you."

Zhao Hai smiled bitterly. He thought Green hadn't noticed, but it turned out that Green had already been aware. Although Green's words seemed a bit irresponsible, they were true. They couldn't stop moving forward just because they didn't know what was happening; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to do anything.

Thinking about this, Zhao Hai nodded and waved his hand, "Alright, let's go." The creature immediately started moving again, still at a steady pace, looking neither too fast nor too slow.

However, Zhao Hai and Meg became tense. They had not seen much of the world, unlike Green, who remained calm. Both of them were uneasy, constantly watching their surroundings, as if monsters might suddenly rush out from the surrounding forests at any moment.

To their surprise, they walked all morning without encountering a single person. Even the villages they passed through were deserted, as if everyone had vanished.

When they passed through one village, they even went in to check carefully. There was not a single person in the village. What surprised Zhao Hai and his group was that the village did not look like it had been attacked. It seemed as if all the villagers had left on their own, but strangely, they had left in a hurry. There was no fire in the stoves, the beds were unmade, and it seemed as if they had left their beds without even dressing.

There was not a single chicken or dog in the entire village, and it was completely silent. The messy beds made Zhao Hai and his group feel a chill. The village was too strange, even more so than their own mysterious group.

Green examined the village carefully for a long time but found nothing. However, his face became even more serious. He turned to Zhao Hai and said, "Xiaohai, call out Grandma Merlin. She might be able to figure out what's going on."

Zhao Hai responded and immediately opened the space, calling out Merlin. Merlin had been paying attention to the outside situation and naturally knew what had happened. So when she came out, she didn't say much. She just looked around carefully, then closed her eyes and softly recited a few spells.

A blue light appeared around her and then spread out like sunlight. The light lasted for about five minutes before slowly fading away.

Merlin slowly opened her eyes and said solemnly to Zhao Hai, "Young Master, someone used a black magic spell called the Lure Spell here, which attracted all the living beings in the village. I don't know where they went."

Zhao Hai was stunned and asked, "Black magic? You mean a black mage has been here?"

Merlin nodded and said, "Although some time has passed and the magic energy here has mostly dissipated, I can still be certain that someone used black magic here."

Zhao Hai and Green's faces turned serious. They were sure that the lack of people on the road today was related to this incident, and it might even involve them.

Don't forget, Zhao Hai's current identity is a black mage. With a black mage using black magic here and so many people disappearing, this situation cannot be hidden. When the time comes, something might happen. Merlin can detect that a black mage used magic here, and other mages can too. When people find out that the disappearance of the villagers is related to a black mage, Zhao Hai might become a suspect.

This was what Green and Zhao Hai were worried about. The black mage who lured away so many people must be up to no good. If he does something bad, it will cause trouble for Zhao Hai. Zhao Hai fears trouble the most.

Merlin clearly thought of this too. She turned to Zhao Hai and said, "Young Master, perhaps we shouldn't pretend to be black mages anymore. Otherwise, it will bring you a lot of trouble."

Zhao Hai shook his head and said, "Apart from this black mage, if I pretend to be someone else, it might make it easier for people to discover our true identities, which would be even more dangerous. Grandma Merlin, can you sense which direction the black mage took the people? We'll follow him and see if we can solve this problem. If we can solve it, that would be best. Even if we can't, we must prevent the Vansel family from suspecting us."

With such a major incident, the Vansel family cannot ignore it. This is their territory, and the people living here are their subjects, who pay taxes to them. They have an obligation to ensure their safety.

The only way for Zhao Hai to avoid suspicion is to find the real culprit and hand him over to the Vansel family. This way, he won't be suspected.

Although Green didn't want Zhao Hai to have any dealings with the Vansel family, given the current situation, this was the only way to prevent Zhao Hai from being suspected. They were, after all, on the Vansel family's territory. If Zhao Hai were suspected by the Vansel family, the trouble would be even greater, and his identity might be exposed. Zhao Hai's identity must not be exposed.

Merlin was also looking at Green, wanting to know if he agreed with Zhao Hai. If Green agreed, she would try to find the direction the mage went and catch the culprit.

Green understood Merlin's meaning and reluctantly nodded, "Alright, let's do as Young Master says. Find that guy and hand him over to the Vansel family. This way, we can continue with our plans."

Merlin nodded and used the same spell again, but this time it took longer, about ten minutes. After the spell was completed, Merlin pointed in the direction of Casa City and said, "That's the direction. It might be because of this that we haven't encountered anyone on our journey."

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End of the chapter.