Chapter 5

"Are you alright? I am Xiazuo Aleren, the leader of the Wolf Fang Mercenary Group. Is your foot okay?" Xiazuo said while extending his hand to pull Tao De up.

"Thank you, Mr. Aleren. If it weren't for you and your companions, I would have been dead long ago." Tao De put his heart at ease. Although he hated Nicholas Andrews, he performed commendably in the castle.

"No need to thank me. I'm very interested in how you got here," Xiazuo said.

Tao De quickly figured out the names of these people. The mage was called Bonifa Willy, the woman was Joanna Sunu, the long-range support of the mercenary group. The man with the dual short axes was called Colin Borujie, fierce in close combat. In addition, there were two others: one was a thief skilled in gathering information, called Daina Kate, and the other was a bard, Devin Gale, who was not very strong in combat but served as a strategist. These two were not present, staying at a camp several miles away.

Joanna had already bandaged Tao De. His foot had been bitten by a wolf, but fortunately, the wolf had only intended to drag him away, so the injury was not severe. Tao De recounted his experience, believing that Wang Qinan had wanted to kill him to silence him. The poor Wang Qinan had done a good deed and received no reward. The group exchanged glances, and Colin said, "Such a thing, actually wanting to kill to silence him. Nicholas Andrews is too cruel. No, we need to give him a taste of his own medicine."

Bonifa frowned, "Is this the Nicholas Andrews who attacked several churches of the Creator's Church? If it's him, it's not easy to deal with."

"He is injured and has transformed into a lich," Tao De said.

"A lich, forbidden by the Creator's Church. A lich, interesting. What level of mage was he originally?" Bonifa asked.

"A ninth-level necromancer," Tao De said uncertainly.

"A ninth-level necromancer transforming into a lich has a very low success rate. It seems he was severely injured, perhaps even irreparably, and had no choice but to transform into a lich. Such a lich is not very frightening. Nicholas Andrews has a castle. Leader, should we go and check it out? If possible, we can eliminate him, but we don't know where his phylactery is," Bonifa said.

Upon hearing this, the group was clearly interested. A castle, with much wealth inside. As for the lich's ability to resurrect, it was none of their concern. They would rob the place, and if they were lucky, they could find the phylactery. If not, it wouldn't matter. Afterward, they would leave the area, and the lich would have a slim chance of finding them. Besides, the Creator's Church had offered a substantial reward. They could achieve two goals at once, and the castle would be purified, possibly solving the phylactery issue.

Xiazuo thought for a moment. Tao De looked at him eagerly, and his three subordinates' eyes shone with enthusiasm. Xiazuo said, "Let's return to the camp first and plan this carefully."

At the camp, the six of them planned meticulously. Tao De provided a lot of information about Nicholas Andrews. They didn't realize that Nicholas Andrews had already met his end, and all their plans were based on him.

Devin Gale, seeing no flaws in the plan, said, "Leader, this time we are killing a lich and obtaining the wealth in the castle. The plan is based on the information provided by Brother Tao De, targeting the weaknesses of Nicholas Andrews. However, Tao De is a servant and doesn't understand magic, so there must be some flaws. In the coming days, we will secretly observe Nicholas Andrews' movements and refine the plan."

Xiazuo nodded, "That's a good point. Regardless, Nicholas Andrews is a formidable opponent. It's better to be cautious. Daina, go and gather more information on his movements."

"Sure, Leader. I'll complete the task. He's just a ninth-level mage, and our Bonifa is a tenth-level mage. Do we need to be so cautious?" Daina said lightly.

"He's a lich! Not a ninth-level mage. Even if his power is weakened, he is still stronger than before," Bonifa didn't take this lightly.

"If we hadn't followed the wrong people, it wouldn't have come to this," Xiazuo sighed.

The group was silent for a while. Then Bonifa spoke, "The road ahead is dark. Edward Earl failed, and he himself is fine, but we suffered. We offended Lord Ryan and had to hide in this forest. Fortunately, the Liar Forest is filled with monsters, and few people come here, so we haven't been noticed. But where is that thing hidden?"

"This is our chance. If we kill Nicholas Andrews, we will have done a great service to the Holy Eaton Church. The blood feud between the earls will no longer concern us, and we will be favored by the Holy Eaton Church. We can also search for that thing openly," Xiazuo said.

The others' eyes immediately lit up, and Tao De's eyes showed a deep hatred for the lich.

On the vast, desolate land, a figure moved through the trees. The trees were sparse and strangely shaped, influenced by the castle's aura. Nicholas Andrews had long been summoning undead and skeletons, making the area heavily infused with negative energy, causing the trees to mutate. Daina's figure was faint; he couldn't become invisible, but his form was very pale, and his movements were unpredictable, blending well with the surroundings.

Wang Qinan, lacking experience, didn't expect someone to come and spy on him so soon. He had spells to prevent this, like the Undead Eye, which could provide early warning, but they required his magic power and constant attention. Wang Qinan didn't use such spells.

However, Wang Qinan's castle gates were tightly closed, and he was focused on his practice, which objectively prevented Daina from entering the castle for the time being. He could only observe from outside, hiding behind a tree.

Inside the castle, there was no sign of life, as if everyone had left. The large castle seemed lifeless and desolate. Within ten miles of the castle, only the wind blew through the twisted, strange trees, giving an eerie and desolate feeling even during the day, as if Daina were the only living being.

Daina didn't relax his vigilance but became even more cautious. The area was clearly influenced by Nicholas Andrews, with a faint, lingering aura of the undead. Daina was puzzled; there were no skeleton warriors patrolling, and no traces of other spells. Had the people left the castle?

Daina's concern was justified. Nicholas Andrews had offended the Creator's Church and dismissed his servants, possibly having fled. But Daina didn't dare to take the risk and remained hidden behind the tree, observing.

The sun had set, and the castle looked even more eerie in the twilight. He saw a wisp of smoke rise, and his spirits lifted. Someone was there! Unconsciously, he let out a sigh of relief, but he overlooked one point: liches don't need to eat.

Wang Qinan only thought of eating in the evening. As a lich, strangely, he felt hungry. Was it a memory of his mortal life? Eating or not eating made no difference to him, but he still went to the kitchen, where there were bread, cured meat, eggs, and some dried vegetables.

Wang Qinan lit a fire and started toasting the bread and cured meat. In his past life, he was a wealthy young man, and in this life, he wasn't skilled at cooking. The bread and meat were burnt, and Wang Qinan sighed, wishing he hadn't dismissed his servants.

Wang Qinan didn't notice that as he ate, his internal organs, different from those of a lich, began to function efficiently again, and his withered body became slightly fuller. Everything happened unconsciously.

Daina quietly retreated to the camp and reported his observations. The group had some doubts and decided to observe more carefully the next day. They were very cautious, spending eight days thoroughly investigating the area around the castle. With Tao De's help, they also understood the castle's structure.

That night, Daina decided to take a risk and sneak into the castle alone to check on the lich. Liches usually prefer to remain still, but he didn't know that Wang Qinan was an exception.

The castle was tall, and entering through the main gate was impossible. The main gate was locked from the inside, and breaking in would be difficult. Daina climbed the wall directly.

Under his dark gray cloak, he clung to the stone wall, his hands and feet seeping a faint mist into the wall, moving slowly in a strange posture. Daina had a skill, similar to magic, that allowed him to climb walls using water's adhesive properties. This was one of the basic skills of a thief, enabling him to climb very high buildings. Fortunately, there was only one person in the castle; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to be so bold.

He slowly climbed the castle, being very careful. The angle he chose was good, and the night provided cover. There were several gargoyles on the roof, like stone statues, squatting on the roof. He was in a blind spot and had to be cautious. The gargoyles were not statues but magical constructs. Any slight noise would cause them to swarm and tear him apart with their wings.

He carefully avoided the gargoyles, leaped suddenly, and hid in the arrow tower and lookout tower. He didn't stop but rolled down the stairs, hiding in the shadows. His figure quickly faded, leaving only a faint outline.

He held his breath, and outside the tower, he heard the sound of wings. A gargoyle flew over, circling the tower twice. Seeing nothing on the top floor, it returned to its original position.

Daina breathed a sigh of relief, having passed this obstacle. He tiptoed down, reached the bottom of the tower, and found a door. He took out a dagger, nearly a foot long with a thin blade, and gently pushed the door open.

A shadow stood at the door, and he was startled. Without thinking, he thrust the dagger forward.

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