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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nAfter eating his fill and taking a shower, Goode looked more energetic. Under Yang Ling’s prompting, he started talking about his sad past.

nIt turned out that when he escaped from the capital eighteen years ago, Goode had headed east, finally reaching Wissen Town after much hardship. He had received the admiration of Ymir’s father unintentionally and joined the Anca family after he was promised that they would help save his family.

nHe had not realized at the time that he had slipped into a den of thieves, thieves that would commit all manners of evil!

nAfter he became the tactician of the Anca family, Ymir’s father had secretly slipped a Crimson Pill into Goode’s drink while he was distracted. Goode had to consume an antidote once every set amount of time; otherwise, his Magical Energy would gradually dissipate, finally causing his body to rot and suffer a fate worse than death.

nAfter Goode drank the poison, Ymir’s father no longer cared about Goode’s request, never mentioning again the promise to save his family. Clinging to the hope of surviving and saving his family, Goode could only tolerate the humiliation for all these years.

n“The antidote is in the hands of Ymir’s father. He had not returned for a long time, so the elite warriors and spellcasters left to guard the castle have all had reduced abilities!” Goode sighed before he continued, “And because of that, you sir could so easily bring down this castle. Haha, the Anca family sure reaped what they sowed!”

nReduced abilities?

nHearing Goode say this, Yang Ling had an epiphany. It was no wonder that the Anca family’s defense was so weak. The ferocious guards and powerful spellcasters of the past all felt like ghosts without energy. That was the reason they chose to flee without fighting.

nThey surely reaped what they sowed!

nAfter understanding what was going on, Yang Ling secretly shook his head thinking about how lucky he was. With the Anca family’s massive strength, if not for the fact that Ymir’s father had led a large portion of their elite guards out, and that the rest of the warriors and spellcasters had greatly reduced abilities, Ymir might not have taken the risk and died by his hand.

n“The world is so big, could you not find any other antidotes than the one in Ymir’s father’s hands?” Yang Ling asked curiously, after deliberating for a moment.

nAfter shaking his head, Goode said, “It is rumored that the Crimson Pill was a secret formula Ymir’s ancestor unintentionally learned from an Alchemist on an island. Other than the masters of the Anca family, no one knows how the Crimson Pill is formulated, and even more so, how it should be treated. Unless…”

nPouring Goode a glass full of rum, Yang Ling waited silently for him to continue. An obvious attack was easy to avoid, but it was difficult to defend himself from an attack from the shadows. If Yang Ling did not understand how the Anca family could poison someone, there could be a day where he would suddenly fall to such a tactic.

n“All these years, there have been many who were unwilling to help the Anca family abuse the citizens any longer. They silently left the castle to search for antidotes elsewhere. But there were not many who succeeded!” Goode shook his head. “Unless one possesses the Water from the Spring of Life, which can regenerate flesh and dispel all poisons… Otherwise, the Crimson Pill is a death sentence, even if you manage to escape successfully!”

nThinking about the lethal poison in his body, Goode’s expression turned dull. The Water from the Spring of Life was incredibly rare. It was rumored that only some ancient tribes of forest elves possessed a little of it. But forest elves were reclusive, preferring to live hidden within the vast Terras Forest. You might not even come across the elves, and even if you were lucky enough to find a tribe, the elves were quite possessive of their precious Water from the Spring of Life!

nYang Ling, however, had spent no effort obtaining it!

nTo others, the Water from the Spring of Life was incredibly rare, but since Yang Ling had a symbiotic relationship with the elf tribe, it was not hard for him to obtain a bottle or two.

nAccording to the information given to him by the thief Fenlist, there were still many high level Warriors and Spellcasters of the Anca family in the cells. As long as there was enough Water from the Spring of Life to cure them of their poison, coupled with Goode talking them into joining Yang Ling, Yang Ling believed that the majority of them would not want to serve the bloodsucking Anca family any longer. Perhaps he could boost his abilities overnight.

nDeliberating for a moment, Yang Ling had a preliminary plan. He took out the half a bottle of Water from the Spring of Life he had left and pretended to be nonchalant. “Goode, I still have half a bottle of Water from the Spring of Life. Do you want to see if it has an effect?”

nWater from the Spring of Life?

nSeeing Yang Ling push over the half bottle of Water from the Spring of Life, Goode was immensely shocked. He had not expected Yang Ling to carry such a valuable item on him at all times. After the shock, Goode thought about Yang Ling’s identity as a Tree Shepherd and was no longer that surprised. He was touched when he saw how generous Yang Ling was.

nIn his excitement, Goode immediately opened the bottle and carefully dropped a few drops of the Water from the Spring of Life into his mouth. He then sat cross-legged and began circulating the Magical Energy in his body while chanting softly. With his foundation as a water type Spellcaster, an increasingly thick white fog started to appear in the hall. The ripples of water type Magical Energy also became stronger and stronger.

nSometime later, after sensing that all of the poison in his body was purged, Goode opened his eyes in excitement. He groveled sincerely before Yang Ling. At this moment, Goode finally believed that Yang Ling’s intentions were true. As long as he served Yang Ling to the best of his ability, he could save the suffering members of his family.

n“Goode, we are a family now, so you need not be too formal. There are still many of your partners in this prison. I’ll let you use the rest of the Water from the Spring of Life as you see fit!”

n“Yes, I understand!” As a bright tactician, Goode understood what Yang Ling meant without him having to say any more.

nAfter his excitement, Goode quickly got into character and began coming up with plans for Yang Ling. He spoke eloquently on various topics, from the deployment of the slaves to the renovations of Wissen Castle, from the recruitment of helpers to the sources of income. Yang Ling could only nod his head.

nIt was hard to protect against a thief from the inside, especially a thief who knew the ins and outs of the family!

nAs their best tactician, Goode had played a role in almost all of the actions of the Anca family, and he knew many of the Anca family’s secrets. Under his specific explanations, Yang Ling quickly understood the personality and temper, as well as the abilities of Ymir’s father. He now knew how to guard against his acts of revenge.

n“Sir, there is a group of townspeople outside who are adamant about seeing you!” Just as Yang Ling and Goode were about to discuss the next step of the plan, the guard Argus charged in hurriedly.

n“Argus, you can just talk to the butler Murbaqi for things like this!”

nSeeing that Yang Ling was a little impatient, the heavily armored Argus said nervously, “Sir, this matter is a little troublesome, and Murbaqi hopes that you can come settle it personally!”

nEven Murbaqi can’t deal with the situation?

nYang Ling was a little curious. Ever since Harribell’s old butler had joined him, the man had impressed Yang Ling with both his methods and abilities. He was an expert in dealing with anything, big or small, and he had always done his job well. The old butler had seen to many things while serving his previous noble family.

nYang Ling was not sure of what had happened for the old butler Murbaqi to request that he deal with it personally. Yang Ling skeptically walked out toward the door with the tactician Goode following closely behind him.

nHe had not walked very far when he saw a large group of townspeople gathered around the door of the castle. Some were clenching their teeth, some scolding loudly, and others crying their hearts out. The old butler Murbaqi was standing to the side, silent, his face red. He did not know what was going on.

nCould it be that the barbarian Jarlock had once again gotten his tribesmen to destroy someone’s house? Or was the thief Fenlist not paying his debts again?

nOver the last few days, the barbarian Jarlock and thief Fenlist had occasionally caused trouble. But the townspeople had not pursued the matters out of respect for Yang Ling. But this time, the public sentiment seemed to indicate that this was no ordinary trouble.

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