489: Illusionists

“Could you explain in detail how those people managed to win with fewer numbers?”

Gu Qinghan thought for a moment, then decided to ask the question directly.

As he spoke, he intentionally showed an interested expression, as if he was only asking out of curiosity.

The injured man nodded, but then coughed a few more times, this time even showing some blood on his hand.

He sighed; the penetrating wound had already reached his lung. If not for his enhanced body, he might already be a corpse.

Gu Qinghan’s healing item had made him feel a little better just now, but he couldn't continue speaking.

Just then, the man who had previously spoken to Gu Qinghan somewhat impolitely walked over.

He looked at Gu Qinghan, then at the injured man, and suddenly said,

“Let me tell him. Let him rest.”

Gu Qinghan glanced at the injured man, who gave him a reassuring look, then whispered,

“Jiana is very straightforward, but if he actively seeks you out to talk, it means he’s apologizing to you.”

His implication was to tell Gu Qinghan not to worry that Jiana would continue to speak ill of him.

Gu Qinghan nodded. In fact, after understanding the reason for the other party’s anger, he could somewhat comprehend his feelings.

The departure of an important person is indeed difficult to accept.

After the injured man returned to the stretcher with his team, Jiana then said to Gu Qinghan,

“Actually, the main reason we were outnumbered and defeated was because we were scared by them from the very beginning.

There was definitely one Cleric among them, and it should have been only one.”

Gu Qinghan subconsciously asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Because that Cleric’s ability was to create illusions, and illusions that could make people unable to distinguish between reality and falsehood without them even realizing it.

If there had been another Cleric, our entire team would have been wiped out directly, instead of just losing so many people.”

Jiana paused here, then suddenly sighed, somewhat dejectedly.

“Actually, I don’t really blame you Professionals from Huaguo. It’s just that whenever I see Professionals from Huaguo, I’m reminded of my friend’s death.

In fact, what they did was right. If we had firmly resisted from the beginning, the losses might not have been as great as they are now.”

Gu Qinghan didn’t speak, just waited for the man to finish his sentence.

“The Cleric in that team had the Professional ability to create illusions.

Moreover, the illusions she created had the ability to cause harm.

At first, we didn’t know this. After discovering that someone had died, we tried to settle the matter peacefully, which only made the opponent’s illusion effects even stronger.”

At this point, he clenched his fist tightly, his body trembling slightly.

Gu Qinghan suddenly understood; the other party’s earlier attempt to drive him away was because he didn’t want to recall the tragedy caused by cowardice.

Of course, he also didn’t rule out the possibility of the other party lying, but that didn’t matter to him.

As long as he kept asking, it would be clear whether it was a lie or not.

“Illusions? There’s such a Professional ability?”

Gu Qinghan showed a curious expression, and his expression at this moment was not feigned.

The only Professional he had previously known who could use illusions was the one from the Shangjing Military.

But that person’s Professional ability had no damaging power; it could only make people unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, thereby achieving the goal of making them relax their guard.

Jiana nodded, saying with a serious expression,

“At first, we were a bit careless, but we also didn’t want to waste extra energy fighting other people.

But we didn’t realize that from the very first word, we had already fallen into that woman’s trap.”

“That terrifying?” Gu Qinghan raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Jiana nodded, “That’s something I only realized later. In that situation, I didn’t notice anything amiss at all.”

Gu Qinghan was now thoroughly interested. If this person was truly Number Twenty-Two of the Cleric Alliance, then she didn’t seem as weak as others said.

From the testimonies of those people, Gu Qinghan only knew that Number Two had been emphasizing how weak Number Twenty-Two was.

However, it seemed that no one else had seen Number Twenty-Two in action; at least, the souls of the few people Gu Qinghan interrogated hadn’t.

Wrong person?

Jiana didn’t seem to notice Gu Qinghan’s subtle change in expression and continued to describe what happened at the time:

“At the time, after negotiations broke down, we found that someone in the team had died directly.

Their expressions were incredibly terrified, as if they had seen something extremely frightening.

It was this fear that deepened our apprehension of that Cleric, which led to all of us falling into her illusion.

My friend died directly in her illusion, and I almost fell for it too. If I hadn’t dodged quickly, my neck might have been directly slit.”

At this point, he showed Gu Qinghan a wound on his neck.

Gu Qinghan casually glanced at it and indeed saw a scarred wound on the other party’s neck.

Even though the wound was no longer bleeding, it still conveyed the danger of the situation at the time.

Jiana put his clothes back on, exhaled heavily, and said,

“Never mind, those things are in the past.

To express my apology for offending you just now, let me introduce myself first.

My name is Jiana, an Intermediate Cleric, a front-line warrior proficient in both offense and defense.

It seems we’ll need to act together from now on. I still don’t know what your Professional ability is, brother.

From what I see, you should also be a Cleric, right?”

Gu Qinghan glanced at him, but didn’t answer his question, just smiled and shook his head.

Jiana’s expression turned somewhat grim, and he said awkwardly,

“What happened just now was my fault, sigh… Never mind, you don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”

He turned to leave, but then saw his injured companion from before walking over.

The injured man still looked weak, and he apologized to Gu Qinghan, saying,

“Jiana was indeed in the wrong, but if we need to cooperate going forward, it’s best to roughly understand each other’s information.

I am also an Intermediate Cleric, and my Professional ability is…”

“I’m not interested in knowing your professions. Two Intermediate Clerics being so disheveled against one Cleric is truly a bit laughable.”

Gu Qinghan didn’t give the other party any face, and his words were full of contempt.

Jiana’s expression grew even more grim, and he explained to Gu Qinghan,

“It’s not that we’re weak, but that person is too strong… If you encounter her, you’ll know how abnormal her Professional ability is…”

Gu Qinghan smiled, then suddenly stopped and looked around.

Jiana and the injured man also stopped, looking at Gu Qinghan with puzzled expressions.

“Where are you going? Are you just going to keep walking down this aimless path?”

Gu Qinghan suddenly asked, which caused a momentary panic in Jiana’s and the other man’s expressions.

Jiana quickly said, “Let’s take it one step at a time. What if we encounter other Professionals or Clerics?”

Gu Qinghan continued to look around, his tone now carrying a hint of playfulness:

“Is it ‘take it one step at a time,’ or is there a danger on the road ahead that could kill me?”