210: The Jackal in the Inn

Idora understood.

She put on a humble yet somewhat fawning smile, stepped forward quickly, and bowed slightly to the white-robed man.

"Sir, you've misunderstood," she explained softly, pointing at Mo Yan behind her, "My master is a wealthy merchant traveling around, and he heard that Black Crow Town had unique scenery, so he specifically came to visit."

"We just want to find a place to rest our feet, and we'll leave after two days of rest, absolutely not causing any trouble for the town."

As she spoke, Idora's palm, clutching the gold coins, was already completely sweaty.

She took a deep breath, mimicking the merchants described in her father's notes from her memory, and while bowing, quickly slipped the few gold coins into the white-robed man's sleeve.

The leading white-robed man's body stiffened, and he instinctively wanted to push her away, but the cold, hard touch on his fingertips made him change his mind.

He greedily glanced left and right, saw that there were few pedestrians on the street and no one was paying attention to them, and then quickly clutched the few gold coins tightly, hiding them in his sleeve.

His movements were practiced, clearly not his first time doing such a thing.

Fortunately, Mo Yan had given Idora a small bag of gold coins for emergencies before they set off.

He knew very well that no matter what world they were in, money was always the best pass.

"Cough, cough." The white-robed man cleared his throat, his arrogance significantly reined in, replaced by a hypocritical expression.

"So, you are guests from afar." He waved his hand, as if shooing away flies, "Since that's the case, go stay at the inn on the west side of town."

"Remember, be well-behaved in town, don't run around, especially after dark, you are absolutely not allowed to go out!"

He looked towards the church, lowered his voice, and warned, "And don't even get half a step closer to the church! Otherwise, divine punishment will descend, and no one will be able to save you!"

After speaking, he ignored everyone, took the other white-robed man, turned and quickly departed, as if staying for another second would cause trouble.

"Master, they..." Idora returned to Mo Yan's side, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Interesting." Mo Yan looked in the direction of the church.

The group followed the white-robed man's directions, passing through several quiet streets, and arrived at the west side of the town.

A three-story wooden building appeared before their eyes, with a crooked sign hanging at the entrance, on which a crow was painted in black paint, "Black Crow Inn."

The inn's door was half-open, and the light inside was dim, emitting a strange smell of cheap tobacco.

Mo Yan led everyone inside.

In the inn's lobby, there were a few tables of scattered guests, but the atmosphere was unusually oppressive.

No one was laughing loudly; there were only the sounds of cutlery clinking and low conversations.

And in the most prominent large table in the corner, sat seven or eight burly men.

They wore worn-out leather armor and had various weapons hanging at their waists.

The table was covered with empty wine bottles, and each of them was flushed from drinking.

Mo Yan only took one glance and concluded that this group of people was definitely not local townspeople.

The bloody smell and Evil Qi on them indicated that they were desperadoes who constantly lived on the edge of a knife.

Mercenaries.

When Mo Yan and his group entered the inn, the mercenaries' gazes, like a pack of hungry wolves, stared at them in unison.

Their eyes lingered briefly on Bai Lingyue and Idora, flashing with admiration and greed, but soon, they all focused on Mo Yan and the twenty Soldiers behind him.

Especially the exquisite armor and weapons on the Soldiers made the mercenaries' breathing become somewhat heavy.

"Captain... look, outsiders are actually coming to this cursed place." A burly man with a full beard lowered his voice and nudged his leader with his elbow.

The leader was a cyclops, with a hideous scar running from his forehead to his chin.

He squinted his only eye, scrutinizing Mo Yan, his eyes glinting with calculation.

"Good equipment, looks like the guard team of some big Family. But looking at the leading kid, he doesn't seem like someone who would come to such a poor, remote place." Another thin mercenary licked his lips and whispered, "Captain, should we..."

"Shut up!" The cyclops coldly shouted, interrupting him.

"Don't forget what we're here for this time. Business comes first; if we mess up the task given by the Light Church, not only will we not get the remaining payment, but we'll also be chased to the ends of the earth by those white-robed mad dogs!"

He paused, then glanced at Mo Yan again, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "After the deed is done, if they still haven't left, it won't be too late to act."

Their voices were very low, believing themselves to be unnoticed.

However, these conversations, word for word, clearly reached Mo Yan's ears.

A task from the Light Church?

Mo Yan remained calm, as if he had heard nothing, and walked to the counter.

Behind the counter, an old man with white hair and cloudy eyes was listlessly wiping a chipped wine glass.

He was the inn's owner.

"Boss, we'd like a few rooms." Idora stepped forward and placed a few coins on the counter.

The boss lifted his eyelids, looked at them numbly, took the coins, and pulled out a few rusty keys from the drawer.

"Second floor, go find them yourselves."

Seeing this, Idora tentatively asked, "Boss, can I ask you something? Is there some custom about this town at night? Why don't the church people let us out?"

Upon hearing the words "night" and "church," the boss's hand, which was wiping the glass, suddenly stopped.

Fear flashed in his cloudy eyes, and his body began to tremble slightly.

"For my Lord... For my Lord..." He seemed to have had a switch triggered, and began to repeat this phrase incessantly, his eyes becoming even more unfocused.

"Be careful... be careful of the darkness... the darkness will devour everything..."

He spoke a few incoherent sentences, then ignored Idora, just holding his head and curling up behind the counter, continuing to mumble to himself.

It seemed nothing could be asked of him.

Idora shook her head helplessly, picked up the keys, and returned to Mo Yan's side.

"Master, this boss seems to have been scared crazy."

"Not crazy, but his mind has been under long-term pressure and has already collapsed." Mo Yan said lightly, "The darkness of this town is even stranger than we thought."

The group did not linger, taking the keys and walking up the creaking wooden stairs.

Behind them, the mercenaries' gazes remained glued to their backs until their figures disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

The room was very simple, with only a bed and a table, and the air was filled with a musty smell.

Mo Yan used the Taiyi Refinement Technique to check the surroundings, and only after confirming that there were no magical items for surveillance did he gather everyone in his room.

He closed the door and immediately gave orders.

"Spiritual Moon."

"Here." Bai Lingyue stepped forward.

"You follow the group downstairs." Mo Yan's eyes sharpened, "Don't be discovered, find out what transaction they are making with the Light Church, and what their mission objective is."

"Understood." Bai Lingyue bowed slightly, "Your subordinate guarantees to dig out all their little secrets for you."

Before her words finished, her figure transformed into a black shadow and disappeared into the twilight.

Mo Yan then looked at Gun Gun, who was gnawing on an obsidian at his feet.

"Gun Gun."

"Grumble?" Gun Gun looked up, still holding a piece of iron filings in his mouth.

"You stay with Idora tonight, protect her, and don't leave her side for a moment."

"Okay! Gun Gun will protect Idora!" Gun Gun nodded vigorously, ran to Idora's feet, and rubbed her calf with his fluffy head, looking like "With me here, everything will be fine."

Idora looked at the adorable little fellow, and her nervousness dissipated considerably.

"You all take turns guarding the door in shifts, ready for battle at any time." Mo Yan ordered the twenty Soldiers outside the door.

"Yes, Master!"

Having arranged everything, Mo Yan walked to the window and looked out.

Night was quietly descending.

On the town's streets, the last few pedestrians also hurried home.

The entire Black Crow Town, after the last ray of twilight disappeared, fell into a complete dead silence.

But Mo Yan felt that beneath this dead silence, something was about to awaken.