Chapter 1310 - Ambush (1/2)

That was nothing unusual for a garden of herbs. Lord Shawn turned into the size of a hand, and stood on Lin Yun’s shoulder. Its purple hair made it look like the baby of a Purple Back Wolf.

“Merlin, this place—”

Lord Shawn’s eyes glittered. It looked into the mist, as if it had discovered something. However, Lin Yun interrupted him before it could finish.

“Lord Shawn, do you want to have fun or not? There are very few things that meet your requirements…”

Hearing that, Lord Shawn immediately shut up, and pretended that it didn’t see anything.

Lin Yun paced forward unhurriedly. The other guests had already gathered in the manor.

The leaders of the three planter families weren’t strong. They were only on level 2 of the Heaven Rank. Such families that were devoted to herb plantations weren’t very renowned in the Odin Kingdom, not even as renowned as some mage families that did business. However, while herbs weren’t as profitable as potions, they could always be sold out.

Every alchemy store was worried about its business competitors, but the herb planter families had nothing to worry about. They could sell their herbs to a lot of alchemy stores. Such families were very wealthy, and usually had a lot of experts. They had plenty of Archmages, but not as many Heaven Rank experts.

After all, no Heaven Rank experts could’ve emerged with nothing but resources…

Such families didn’t have a high position, but they were necessary too. The three families in the manor at this moment were virtually the three biggest herb suppliers around Neverwinter City. Some others planted higher-level herbs, but nobody planted more herbs than they did.

Inside the castle in the manor, delicious food and wine had been placed on an enormous table. The leaders of the three families sat there expressionlessly.

Wilder Lodney sat grimly, and Reynolds from the Roosevelt Business Alliance sat still too, with minor confusion.

A few minutes later, Wilder couldn’t sit any longer.

“Why have you invited me here? Damn you, jerks, I’m not here to waste my time. If there’s anything you want to tell me, you’d better tell me fast. My time is too precious to be wasted on silly moles like you.

“Yesterday, you mentioned a new herb that can be manufactured. What is it exactly? You’re still not telling us? Are you challenging my patience or the dignity of the Lodney Family?”

Wilder bashed the table and roared furiously, but the three family leaders sat there expressionlessly just like before. One of them turned around and glanced at Wilder.

“Mr. Wilder, the negotiation will begin when everybody arrives. There are four rare herbs that could only be collected in the wild in the past, but can be manufactured now. If you can’t wait, you’re free to go.”

Hearing that, Wilder gritted his teeth and sat down. His family had been selling potions, and he certainly knew how profitable the manufacturing of the four new herbs would be.

The rare herbs were rare because such herbs could hardly be planted or manufactured on a large scale. Even if they were planted, they wouldn’t be as effective as the naturally grown ones. Some of them could only grow in special places.

Wilder had to hold back his fury. Nobody hated money…

Wilder sat back, but Reynolds ran out of patience.

“Guys, the Roosevelt Business Alliance sells magic tools, and you sell herbs and magic plants. Is there any field where we can cooperate?”

To Reynolds’ question, one of the family leaders replied expressionlessly, “You’ll know how we can cooperate when our last guest arrives.”

A few seconds later, the door was slowly opened, and Lin Yun walked in under the direction of a butler.

Lin Yun was slightly surprised to see Wilder and Reynolds. His puzzle was solved when he saw the three expressionless family leaders.

Wilder and Reynolds both put on a weird expression when they saw Lin Yun. Wilder instinctively tried to hide, or get out of this place. Reynolds was much more brazen. He smiled awkwardly and greeted him.

“So, the last guest is Sir Merlin…”

After Lin Yun entered the hall, the gate behind him was slowly closed. Immediately, the mist around the castle became darker, and shrouded the castle within a few seconds. Even the treants that had been standing on guard fell asleep one after another.

Lin Yun looked back, and said casually, “Alright, I’m already here. What’s the point of hiding?”

What Lin Yun said changed Wilder’s and Reynolds’ expression. Both of them could tell that he had an unpleasant history with someone else…

Applause echoed in the hall, and gray mist was arising inside the castle. A person whose face was obscure and whose body seemed to be behind a curtain walked off the stairs.

Her cold voice that was full of hate descended. Immediately, everybody felt that the air was getting colder. On the furniture that was placed in the hall, black ice was appearing.

“Mafa Merlin, great! You’re smarter than I thought. But you’re much dumber than I thought too. Now that you have come here, you won’t be able to leave. I don’t have time to play any games with you. I want you to die right now!”

Lin Yun was puzzled, wondering when he had offended this female mage, who was clearly on level 3 of the Heaven Rank, and could make use of soul power.

When he saw the three expressionless family leaders, Lin Yun knew that their souls were already affected. Or rather, their souls had been confined in their bodies. They were only rigid, obedient puppets for now…

As a result, Lin Yun confirmed who had been dealing with him behind his back. They were puppeteers who created soul puppets instead of alchemy puppets.

That was a rare type of mages. It was said that they had devil and demon bloodlines that they transferred into human body through dangerous alchemy experiments, giving them the special power of demons and devils.

For example, the demons’ whisper and the devils’ bewilderment.

There was also the power to manipulate souls.

Those mages would be very easy to recognize even thousands of years later. Also, they could hardly escape when they were discovered. They were very weak, and didn’t have great potential, so they always hid themselves, and never fought in person. The plots they worked were much more powerful than their combat skills.

It would be very difficult to eliminate those guys even thousands of years later. When Lin Yun learned that three families broke the contracts, and the Ring of Roses was involved, he had a lot of guesses.

He thought that the Ring of Roses’ mages were either spiritual mages or those who could manipulate souls. Maybe they were spatial mages who were good at hiding, but that wasn’t very likely. The spatial mages in this age didn’t know so many tricks yet.

He didn’t expect them to be a bunch of ghastly warlocks…

“So, this is how the Ring of Roses acquires its intelligence. No wonder you’ve been hiding, and never show up in public. It’s not because you want to stay mysterious, but because you don’t dare to show yourself. Let me guess. You must’ve transplanted a devil bloodline with the undead power, right? Your influence on souls is so rigid. It’s probably a low-level hell creature. Was it Hell Soul Beast?”

Emmy shivered when she heard that. Her body was stiffened too. But then, she smiled coldly.

“Mafa Merlin, stop wasting time. This place has been completely blocked by my people. There are at least 50,000 ghosts outside. I’ve set up sacrificial and soul arrays too. You can’t escape. You’re doomed however strong you might be.