258: Chapter 255 A Deliberate Encounter

"Griffin Legion, on alert."

What Zhang Mu meant by "gutsy" was the section of road about a kilometer ahead.

Someone had likely dug a pit and buried themselves under the road.

Their strength should be at a certain level, but their brain didn't seem quite right.

He and Mihe's Mental Energy sensed the person's vital signs—breathing and heartbeat.

Yet they didn't sense any mana fluctuations.

Being able to block their detection meant his mana level was at least that of a Magister, or he was a complete commoner.

To have the guts to ambush a team composed of a "Magister Lord of Gur City" and "five hundred Griffin Legion" members, calling them a commoner was absurd.

But since they were a Professional, what was up with forgetting to silence their organ activity?

Whose idiot assassin is this?

Besides, who did I offend? They came looking for me just after I left the city?

Zhang Mu crossed his arms, chuckling. No rush, wait for Mihe and the Griffin Legion to catch them...

"Zhang Mu," Mihe's voice entered his mind. "Order the Griffin Legion to stop, and then... you come over."

Hmm? What happened?

Pushing open the carriage door, he jumped down and walked toward Mihe, who was standing in the middle of the dirt road, while calling for the Griffin Legion to stop as they drew their swords: "Stand by."

A kilometer to a Magister was almost like being face-to-face; Zhang Mu reached Mihe's side in a few steps.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't speak immediately, raising his hand to use mana to isolate the sound, and nodded his chin toward the road a few meters away: "The person hidden inside...

They should have applied a precious potion that can completely mask their presence."

"So the Griffin Legion didn't notice him?"

"Yes."

"Didn't we both sense them?"

"Because he was cheated by a potion dealer."

"What do you mean?"

"The potion should have been diluted."

Nodding in realization, Zhang Mu asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with you calling me over?"

"When I got close, my mana sensed that... he's just a commoner.

Judging by being cheated on the potion purchase, there's no possibility of a disguise."

"So?"

"Could you please get to the point and finish what you're saying all at once?"

"Uh... he has some familiar scents on him. Although they're faint, I wouldn't mistake them."

"Whose?"

"A bit of yours and Solon's, and a bit... of the demi-human you keep by your side.

Oh, the demi-human's scent is the strongest, and Solon's is the faintest."

What? The scents of the three of us? Leah's is the strongest? Who could it be...

Halfway through his shock, a bolt of lightning seemed to flash through Zhang Mu's mind.

Thinking carefully, there seemed to be such a person who could contact the three of them and had been in close proximity or even attached to Leah for a long time.

Pavlina.

Her? How is that possible? Didn't she go home to visit relatives?

What reason would she have to do this?

Zhang Mu's mind was full of confusion. He waved for Mihe to step back and took a few steps forward to stare at the ground.

The dirt road had been repeatedly crushed by passing pedestrians and carriages, making the surface exceptionally firm.

Except for a rectangular area in the middle about the size of a human body, where the soil was not only moister and darker than the surroundings but also visibly soft.

Most importantly, there was a finger-thin bamboo tube inserted vertically into the road.

This idiot...

His facial muscles twitched. Zhang Mu raised his hand and swept away a layer of dirt, revealing Pavlina lying underneath.

Because the two had used mana to isolate the sound, she didn't know she had been discovered.

Now suddenly seeing light, she instinctively raised her hand to cover her eyes, her lips pursed around the bamboo tube, her cheeks still puffing and hollowing in a cycle.

"What are you doing?" With a dark face, Zhang Mu reached down and pulled away the bamboo tube.

Whether she was unwilling to face reality or hadn't reacted yet, she still covered her eyes, her cheeks puffing.

"I... sigh..."

He pinched a bit of flesh on her cheek: "I'm asking you, what are you doing here?"

"Ah?" Finally, she moved her hand away, unable to speak for a long time, the blankness in her eyes almost overflowing.

It didn't look faked.

Frowning, Zhang Mu wrapped her body in mana to check; it seemed like oxygen deprivation.

He looked at the bamboo tube in his hand: "So thin, and staying down there for several days..."

Sighing, he picked up Pavlina in a princess carry, turned back to the carriage, let the three of them go to the carriage behind for a while, and entered the cabin himself.

"Eh, Zhang, Big Brother City Lord, is Sister Pavlina hurt?!" Leah, woken by the commotion, hurriedly crawled out of the covers.

"It's a small matter, she'll be fine after lying down for a bit."

Despite saying that, after Zhang Mu laid her flat on the bed, he still mobilized mana to help clear her breathing and speed up her recovery.

Soon, her vacant eyes regained focus.

"I am... how did I..."

"How did you get on the carriage?"

Sitting on a bench, Zhang Mu pressed his hands on his knees, his right foot tapping the floor lightly and rapidly: "Tell me, what were you thinking?"

Pavlina regained her senses and immediately sat up, her head bowed: "Lord City Lord, I..."

"From the beginning."

Seeing that Zhang Mu didn't have a very angry expression and his tone was somewhat gentle, her shoulders relaxed, and she slowly told the story.

It turned out that after being refused to go to the capital, she immediately made a plan—to hitch a ride.

Since she wasn't a Professional, she went to buy a potion that claimed to be able to hide one's presence even from a Magister—it was very expensive and almost emptied her wallet.

Then she prepared food and water, packed her few remaining gold coins, and set out ahead of time to the road Zhang Mu had to take to the capital, digging a pit to hide.

She planned to burst out of the ground and cling to the bottom of the carriage when the convoy passed over her.

Zhang Mu was stunned: "Setting aside that my carriage is in the middle of the convoy, the cavalry behind couldn't possibly ignore a sudden pit appearing,

how could you guarantee you wouldn't run out of strength and fall off midway?"

"I wanted to take a gamble, maybe the Lord City Lord's carriage would be at the end of the convoy.

And I brought hemp rope to tie myself to the car... eh, where's my cloth bag?" As she spoke, she felt behind her back but didn't find her cowhide bag.

"It was full of water and food, I left it in the pit."

After she finished, Zhang Mu took a deep breath and continued: "How many days were you in there?"

"It seems... a bit more than two days." Recalling the faint light through the bamboo tube flickering twice, she said uncertainly.

"If I had set out half a day later, or if your potion's concentration was up to standard and we hadn't noticed you and just left, you would have..."

He suddenly turned and pushed open the rear carriage window, sticking his head out: "Damu, go back to Gur City and..."

Halfway through, he pulled his head back and looked at Pavlina: "What's the name of the shop where you bought the potion?"

"Norton's Magic Potion Shop."

He stuck his head out the window again: "Raze a shop called Norton's Magic Potion Shop to the ground, tie up the Shop Owner and hang him on a flagpole outside the city for three days, and set up a wooden sign next to him,

saying that anyone who cheats in business in the future will end up like him.

Damn it, how dare he sell fake goods on my turf."

"As you command, Lord Marshal."

The sound of horse hooves gradually faded away.

Closing the window, Zhang Mu stared at her: "Why follow?"

"Lord City Lord..." Pavlina's exquisite face buried itself back into her chest, "I... I don't want to stay in Gur City alone."

"Your family is all there."

"They aren't family, and that mansion isn't home."

"Did they abuse you?"

Shaking her head, she said in a low voice: "I lack the talent to become a Professional. My father and mother treated me as a commodity since I was young.

I'm very grateful for the kindness of raising me, but by marrying you, they received a rich enough reward; I've already repaid them."

Leaning back against the carriage wall, his eyes slightly closed: "I said I'd be back soon."

"City Lord... you're lying."

Zhang Mu was silent for a while and asked: "When did you find out?"

"The first day you came to my room."

Shadow Technique, as expected, isn't omnipotent.

Muttering to himself, he looked at Pavlina: "So the question goes back to the beginning, why follow me?"

"You're the kindest person I've ever met. I don't think I'll ever have such good luck again."

Kind?

Zhang Mu scratched his head in confusion. Does that have anything to do with me?

Perhaps guessing what he was thinking, a faint smile appeared on the corner of Pavlina's mouth as she held the round-eyed Leah in her arms: "You're taking the risk of exposure at any time to keep Leah by your side.

You could have completely entrusted Leah to Mr. Domit's care, but you didn't.

So... you can't be a bad guy."

Zhang Mu's gaze was fixed on the two of them.

Blinking, Leah said, "Brother Zhang Mu, I like Sister Pavlina."

"Whatever, it's just another pair of chopsticks."

No longer troubled by this matter, he got off the carriage and went to the carriage where Mihe and the other two were staying to continue discussing the specific strategy after reaching the capital.

It wasn't going smoothly.

After all, the intelligence on hand was too crude. Being able to vaguely analyze the current overt situation of the kingdom was all thanks to Solon having acquaintances in the capital.

Finally, after several days of intense discussion, the four of them only clarified two points.

The Princess of the Lake Kingdom is one of their own, and their sole purpose is to assist the Princess in ascending the throne.

Anyone who obstructs this goal is an enemy.

Domit bared his teeth: "Then there are going to be a lot of enemies."

"In any case, there won't be few," Zhang Mu said, lying sideways on the bench with his eyes squinted.

"If that's the case, the power we hold is still thin. We must find a way to strengthen it."

"I'm prepared, don't worry."

"Form up!"

A low shout suddenly rang out from outside the carriage; it sounded like the Legion Commander of the Griffin Legion.

The four looked at each other, and Zhang Mu stood up: "Domit, command the First Army Soldiers. Mihe, lie in ambush. Solon, look after yourself."

Having issued the orders in an instant, he pushed the door and walked out, standing behind the coachman and looking into the distance.

About five hundred meters ahead, a luxuriously decorated carriage was parked across the road.

The reason a single carriage made the entire Griffin Legion form up was because the person driving the horses was unscrupulously radiating his intense mana.

A Magister.

Besides the coachman, Zhang Mu sensed a presence in the carriage even more imposing than his own.

Just as he was pondering whether to take action directly or first find out what was going on, the person driving the horses flew off the carriage, floated from mid-air, and stopped in the middle of the road about fifty meters away from the convoy.

"Excuse me, are you the Lord of Gur City?"

"It is I."

As soon as he finished speaking, the person turned and flew back, landing by the carriage, his lips moving.

After a few seconds, a man wearing light armor came out of the carriage hunched over, jumped to the ground, and walked slowly toward the convoy.

He didn't hide his mana fluctuations, but Zhang Mu couldn't clearly identify his level.

There's only one possibility for such a situation—the person being sensed exceeds the sensor by at least one level.

Saint Knight.

There were only three Saint-level Professionals on the surface in the Lake Kingdom, besides Potter.

Two Grand Dukes and the King.

The King was far away in the capital at this time, his physical condition extremely weak and liable to die at any moment, so he naturally wouldn't appear here.

Then it must be one of the two Grand Dukes.

He squinted his eyes and jumped to the ground to meet him: "Stand down."

The hundred or so Soldiers of the Griffin Legion and the First Army lowered their weapons and stepped back.

Although the other party had burst out with mana and looked arrogant, Zhang Mu wasn't worried.

Or rather, actively releasing mana was a gesture of goodwill and friendliness.

After all, if they really wanted to launch a sneak attack or ambush, concealment would be the norm.

Most importantly...

Although the resurrection function had serious drawbacks, it could still be useful when facing an irresistible enemy.

Zhang Mu had roughly calculated that he had resurrected hundreds of times since arriving on the Saul Continent, with the most frequent being while setting up missiles in the Silent Forest.

Even with such frequent use of the resurrection function, he had only lost eleven years of memory.

If that person really attacked, trading a few days of memory for a life in a situation where he couldn't win would be a good deal.

"Lord City Lord."

The man's appearance wasn't old, with the skin of someone in their thirties. He had short brown curly hair and a clean face. He wore half-body light armor, with plates protecting his knees and ankles.

With a smile, he said, "I heard of your heroic deeds not long ago.

This Duke is deeply gratified that a hero has emerged for the kingdom, and at the same time, I hope to get to know you personally."

After he finished speaking, Zhang Mu understood; another one trying to win him over.

Tsk...

Clicking his tongue inwardly, he muttered to himself, Senior Sister's situation isn't looking good.

These people, the King hasn't even spoken yet, and they're all running to intercept.

They completely disregard the royal family.

The Grand Duke's act of blocking the road halfway confirmed that the intelligence Solon collected was true—the King could no longer control the two Grand Dukes.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Zhang Mu's expression remained unchanged as he returned the smile: "Your Grace, I am very honored that you came all this way.

Also... I've always stayed in Gur, I don't know who you are..."

Solon had mentioned that the two Grand Dukes of the kingdom had stopped going to the capital for debriefing many years ago, and the former Lord of Gur City had never been to their territories either.

Thus, Zhang Mu asked this, and there was no need to worry about exposing any of his secrets.

"You can call me Blova."

"Grand Duke Bulova." Zhang Mu first used a respectful title, then asked, "As far as I know, your territory is in the southernmost part of the kingdom, why..."

The convoy had set out from the Silent Forest in the far north, and his appearance here was very strange.

Could it really be specifically to see me?

Although he had indeed made a name for himself, it wasn't enough to make a Grand Duke travel thousands of miles to meet him.

"I'm going to the capital for debriefing this year, and I set off a bit early. Thinking that you should have just set out as well, I decided to come and see the kingdom's hero first."

What? Debriefing?

Zhang Mu almost couldn't help but show an expression of shock.

Who are you kidding? Isn't going to the capital for debriefing just seeking death?

The King might be weak, but there must be hidden forces in the dark, and with the royal family's inherited Magic Tower, even Saint-level Professionals couldn't enter the city and would be surrounded and wiped out outside.

"It's windy outside." Grand Duke Bulova didn't mind his unusual reaction. "Let's talk on the carriage. Um, is your carriage convenient?"

"Of course, please."