Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Yang Ling decided to set an ambush.

According to the explanation of the old butler Murbaqi, the other party was very alert and had a very sensitive olfactory system. He would hide far away whenever he smelled something off, then when the coast was clear, he’d rapidly infiltrate the premises and cause trouble when the guards were tired and leaving in frustration. It was incredibly infuriating!

Deep into the evening, Yang Ling came to the small bar counter inside the Shangri-La. As he had many times before, he sat at the high chair reserved exclusively for him. There were only a few people behind him, including the Twin-headed Barbarian, Heavenly Fox Yuna and Dogman Orlando. He was merely there to deal with a wine thief, he did not need all of his forces!

Perhaps it was because she was frustrated by the troubles that the wine thief had caused, or perhaps she wanted to be with Yang Ling. In any case, Alice had also followed him over. After persuading her against it several times and seeing how determined she was, Yang Ling let her come along. He was expecting no real danger. Rather, Yang Ling was treating the situation as a mere annoyance. Considering his own abilities, it would be a snap to sort out.

There were only a few patrons in the bar, the business paling much in comparison to the past. Yang Ling did not know if it was because the troops and adventurers were too busy to drink, or because he did not have enough alcohol to supply the troops.

Perhaps it was because there were not many customers that the handsome bartender John had nothing much to do. He was engaged in conversation with a scantily dressed young lady at the corner of the bar. Their two heads got closer together. In fact, Yang Ling saw the bartender’s hand move sneakily on the lady’s body, making her eyes glaze over. It looked like the flirtatious lad had seduced an honest woman.

The bartender John realized that Yang Ling was watching him, and awkwardly backed away. He looked back at the lady consolingly, and approached Yang Ling. “Boss! It’s been a long time since I last saw you. Do you want some rum, willow wine, or the monkey wine that costs ten thousand Purple Crystal Coins per bottle?”

“En, let’s get two barrels of each!” Yang Ling observed that John had quickly calmed himself down. The lady blushed not far away, and Yang Ling smiled a small smile.

Even though he was a little of a Casanova, John was still talented. His skill at mixing drinks was worlds better than everyone else in Wissen Town, and he truly earned his reputation as a royal bartender.

Perhaps it was time to help him build a family and tie him down?

There were not many things in Wissen Town, but they had an abundance of house building materials like wood and stone. Leaning on the comfortable high chair, Yang Ling came up with an idea. He was going to get the old butler to build a house for John, allowing him to plant his roots in Wissen Town and preventing him from playing around with women outside.

John smiled tightly, turning to fetch Yang Ling’s order. If this was in the past, he could have brought Yang Ling ten barrels of each without trouble. But with the wine thief causing trouble recently, he might struggle to come up with one, much less two.

After all, be it rum or willow wine, they both could only develop their flavors after being set aside for some time. Even though the refinery had already been trying its best to boost production, it was still unable to supply them with premium alcohol after the barrels in the warehouse had been broken by the wine thief.

Yang Ling had been joking when he asked for two barrels of each wine. Seeing John’s worried look, he did not have to hear any more to understand what was going on. He told John to sit down and began casually chatting about what had happened since the thief started coming around.

John decided to introduce the young lady, standing shyly nearby, to Yang Ling and called her over. It looked like this flirtatious lad was serious this time around.

After taking out a few bottles of precious cocktails from the wine cabinet, John poured Yang Ling a full glass and started telling his story.

It turned out that at the beginning the wine thief had silently infiltrated the underground cellar where the wine was stored. The thief would only pick one or two barrels of the oldest vintage, and leaving the other wines undisturbed. The thief had not started to damage or destroy any of the barrels. Nobody noticed the thief’s actions for some time.

Then, a guard responsible for looking over the underground cellar happened to catch sight of the thief sneaking in to drink wine. The guard drugged one of the wine barrels with the intention of capturing the thief after he had passed out. Unexpectedly, the thief smelled the doctored wine, and retaliated by taking a few sips of wine from every barrel, leaving each open to the air, and destroying them. This behavior caused widespread destruction, and much of the soured wine had to be discarded.

The guard, of course, was furious. He gathered some friends to set up an ambush after dark, aiming to capture the wine thief and butcher him alive. The thief, for his part, detected the guard and his posse of angry friends, and avoided the area entirely. He waited until the guards were groggy with sleep, and were headed to sleep. Then the thief inflicted even more damage.

Just like that, the guards failed repeatedly to catch the wine thief, while his actions became more and more drastic. By the time the old butler knew of the situation, it was a huge mess, and most of the alcohol stored in the Shangri-La had already been sullied.

After dealing with the guard harshly, both for his failure to catch the thief and for his failure to convey the situation’s gravity, the old butler personally led a team of elite warriors to ambush the thief, but the outcome was still depressing. They did not even manage to touch the clothes of the other party, much less capture him alive. Their most successful attempt only allowed them to see the faint outline of the other party’s retreating shadow.

“According to the report of a warrior in ambush back then, the other party was incredibly fast and had a short figure. He seemed like an alcohol loving Dwarf!” John said. He shook his head and took a sip to refresh his throat.

An alcohol loving Dwarf?

Yang Ling was surprised. He had thought that an enemy faction had been causing trouble, but he did not expect the culprit to be a dwarf.

Come to think of it, Yang Ling recalled back to the Dwarf Rumi, who viewed alcohol as more important than his own life. Yang Ling realized it was not completely implausible. If an enemy faction was trying to cause trouble, they could have used much less clumsy techniques to achieve their goals.

“Oh Yiblis! I’ll tear him apart personally tonight, no matter if he is a human or a ghost!” yelled the Twin-headed Ogre, who wished to do battle with the other party instantly. Yang Ling was silent.

After a moment’s deliberation, Yang Ling decided to follow through with his original plan. Under the impeccable trap set by his Magical Beast army, he did not believe that a mere wine thief would be able to escape. The other party would not have any way of escape if he were to continue causing trouble! “John, gather the rest of the alcohol into the underground cellar!”

John acted immediately. He transported the remaining alcohol in the bar to the underground cellar with the help of Orlando and all the rest. Even though the guards have already failed numerous times, he believed that Yang Ling would capture the other party now that he was acting personally.

According to the pattern the wine thief was operating on, Yang Ling laid in ambush around the underground cellar late into the night. After some consideration, he did not summon his entire Magical Beast army for the ambush, in case they would alarm the wine thief, with its sensitive sense of smell. All he summoned were a few Horned Bee Beasts to act as hidden scouts.

In order to deal with the crafty, careful wine thief, it was better to have the fewest people possible. As a precaution, he only allowed Orlando by his side. The rest of the people waited far away.

After the preparations were complete, Yang Ling sat cross legged within a small forest not far away from the underground cellar, his head clear as his massive mental energy spread forth like a spider’s web. Orlando stood guard by his side, silent and motionless. The sky was full of snow and the chilly wind howled, covering their scents excellently.

Through his Tree Eyes ability and the Horned Bee Beasts that waited in the cellar, Yang Ling could clearly sense all the movement around him even with his eyes closed. Orlando’s heartbeat, the occasional complaints of the waiting Twin-headed Ogre Braska further away… in fact, he could even clearly hear the customers in Shangri La chewing.

Time passed slowly. There was no action other than the sound of the howling wind. Far away, the Twin-headed Ogre who had been shouting for a battle was already asleep. Even Orlando and Yuna felt their eyelids getting heavy, but there were still no traces of the crafty wine thief!

Could the other party have known of his ambush?

Yang Ling was puzzled. There were no creatures in the few dozen steps closest to the underground cellar. He and Orlando were hiding further in the forest, while the Twin-headed Ogre and Yuna were hiding in a guest room even further away. The ambushing Horned Bee Beasts stayed hidden and motionless. There was no way that their tracks had been exposed!

He took a deep breath, and decided to carry on waiting. He swallowed a Magical Beast Blood Orb to boost his energy as he continued to wait for the thief.

The snow danced under the hazy moonlight. Looking at the multitude of stars in the sky, Yang Ling had an idea. He began to multitask, activating the Starlight Wizard Mantra and Body Honing Wizard Mantra at the same time.

Slowly, streaks of starlight entered his body, circulating within him following a mysterious path. Some of the energy was absorbed by the pulsing Wizard Core, converting into pure Wizard Power, while the other portion seeped into his muscles and bones.

With every shred of starlight he absorbed, he could feel a cold current in his body. Wherever the current passed, even his cells felt like they were contracting, including his skin. They then slowly expanded, after being agitated by the boiling hot Wizard Power. The continuous contraction and expansion… It repeated in cycles, slowly honing his body!

A massive Magical Beast army, powerful followers, strong body, coupled with the ability to control souls…

Yang Ling was full of anticipation for the future. He believed that one day he would be able to face off against the powerful sage level fighters of this world. He would be able to enjoy his new life in peace in this foreign world and freely search for the secrets of the Ancient Wizard, and search for a path back to Earth as well.

Some time later, the night receded. A streak of light started appearing on the horizon.

Dawn was about to arrive!

At the dawn when all the living things were not yet awake, just as the willpower of the average man was at the weakest, a short figure suddenly appeared on the outer walls of the Shangri-La. With a light hop, it managed to silently make it past the two-meter high wall.

Thump, thump…

Perhaps it had sensed something. The dark figure let out a tiny grunt and stopped at the top of the tree at the outer wall, unwilling to take any further action.

Could it be that this is the so-called wine thief?

Yang Ling had immediately noticed the moment the black figure arrived. But the visitor was not a Dwarf, but instead a small, silly looking bear that had a round head and large ears, covered in shiny black fur.