Summer nights were a little stuffy. Ren Xiaosu and Melgor followed Chen Cheng as they made their way through multiple alleys in Winston City.
Chen Cheng handed a black cloak to each of them. “Put these cloaks on. When we entered the city today, your faces were seen by a lot of people, especially Lord Melgor’s. If anyone finds out you were secretly having a meeting with others in the middle of the night, the House of Winston would probably start investigating immediately.”
Ren Xiaosu put on the cloak and pulled over the hood.
Melgor glanced at Ren Xiaosu and thought to himself that the guy seemed to be very proficient at hiding his tracks. In silence, he also put on his cloak.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky. From time to time, they could even hear the dull rumbling of thunder above the clouds.
Being early summer, that definitely signaled an impending thunderstorm.
Chen Cheng said, “Great timing. No one will discover us once it starts raining heavily.”
After that, he turned around and walked forward. Ren Xiaosu asked calmly, “You haven’t said who you’re taking us to meet yet.”
“You’ll know when we get there,” Chen Cheng replied in a low voice. “Why? You scared?”
“Yes.” Ren Xiaosu answered, “I’m scared for both of your safety.”
Chen Cheng was speechless.
As they were talking, the sound of footsteps came from up the street. Chen Cheng pulled Ren Xiaosu and Melgor into the shadows of the alley. There were no street lamps to illuminate the night in the Kingdom of Sorcerers. This made it very convenient for infiltrators to move around freely.
The approaching party consisted of six people who were chatting as they walked. Each of them was carrying a kerosene lamp and had a longsword slung on their belt. They were wearing the Winston family’s standard-issue military uniforms with tall hats.
These were the city’s patrol guards.
After they left, Chen Cheng started moving off again. Ren Xiaosu looked at the flaking street signs they passed: Bailey Street, Rum Street, Dove Avenue.
Chen Cheng finally stopped at 18 Tulip Street. The stone slabs on the long street resembled pieces of a rectangular chocolate bar that spread outwards. The buildings on the sides of the roads were at most three stories high. The arched windows set into the walls exuded tranquility.
Chen Cheng walked towards 18 Tulip Street. However, he did not knock on the door. Instead, he directly took out his orange Eye of True Sight and placed it on the peephole of the door.
The Eye of True Sight pulsed slightly, and the peephole on the door seemingly sensed its call of power. It turned gently, and with a click, some sort of mechanism seemed to activate.
Chen Cheng walked towards an arched window next to the door. He turned around and smiled at Ren Xiaosu and Melgor before walking head first into the window. In an instant, Chen Cheng disappeared from sight.
Melgor whispered, “He’s actually a sorcerer?”
“Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu confirmed, “And his Eye of True Sight is of a higher grade than yours. Why don’t you join them? Look, these bounty hunters are all doing better than you even though they’re wanted by the magus order.”
Melgor was speechless.
Ren Xiaosu continued, “Speaking of which, we’ll have to find an excuse to get you a higher grade Eye of True Sight. If you keep holding onto that white Eye of True Sight, others will look down upon you….”
Now that Melgor could be considered one of the Prosperous Northwest’s supporters, Ren Xiaosu naturally wanted to find a way to package him more presentably.
Melgor might not know it yet, but his kindness and simpleness had gained Ren Xiaosu’s approval. He had established his status in Ren Xiaosu’s mind.
“Should we go in?” Melgor asked softly.
“What sorcery is this?” Ren Xiaosu examined the window and said with interest, “It seems like sorcery is even more mysterious than the superpowers we have in the Central Plains. It’s mainly because there’s already a developed framework and legacy system to pass down these spells. If we can bring this back to the Central Plains, there’ll be a breakthrough in our intelligence efforts.”
Currently, the transmission of intelligence in the Central Plains basically relied on technology such as radio transmissions. But if the intelligence agents could master simple sorcery, the transmission of intel could become even more secure.
Moreover, a whole other world had to be behind the window before him. It was perfect to use a place like this as a safe house.
All organizations in the Central Plains were accustomed to using technology for their counterespionage. But with the introduction of sorcery, those people would probably get caught off guard.
However, the Northwest was destined to not learn the Tudor family’s Blood Summoning spell to transmit intel.
It was not that this spell was difficult, but that no one back there had that many children they could sacrifice.
According to Melgor, almost every male archmage in the Tudor family’s main household had hundreds of children. At such a scale, they could use their children as intelligence tools. In fact, the status of illegitimate children in the Kingdom of Sorcerers was way too low.
There was also a relatively famous illegitimate child in the Central Plains: Luo Lan.
However, Luo Lan’s status in the Qing Consortium could be said to be above everyone else. Even before Qing Zhen took over leadership of the Qing Consortium, Luo Lan was put in sole charge of Stronghold 113.
“What’s the name of this spell?” Ren Xiaosu asked, looking at the window.
Melgor replied to Ren Xiaosu, “I don’t know its name, but I’ve heard of this spell before. It’s some sort of an enchanted doorway that opens up to a hidden space.”
“Is this kind of sorcery common?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“It’s common. Many sorcerers use this spell to hide things.” Melgor said, “Basically, only the caster knows how to open the doorway. Unless the caster tells you how, it’ll take you a long time to figure out how to get in.”
“Since it’s very common, why don’t you know… Never mind, I know.” Ren Xiaosu patted Melgor on the shoulder. “Let’s go. I’ll help you get your hands on those spells. You can have whatever spells you like. I promise!”
‘If you have to ask, it’s because you’ve earned it!‘
After that, Ren Xiaosu stepped into the window in the wall. When he stepped through the enchanted doorway, he felt as though he had passed through a curtain of water. The view in front of him instantly changed.
There was no longer a quiet street in front of him, nor was this a quiet residential home anymore. Instead, it was the interior of a palace bustling with life!
As melodious singing reverberated, Ren Xiaosu saw many people dancing in a ballroom in the center of the palace. There were also many people holding wine glasses in their hands and sipping on golden champagne. Everyone in the palace appeared extremely elegant and dignified, both the men and the women.
On one side of the ballroom, a young woman in a fancy dress was singing. Beside her, more than a dozen musicians were playing their instruments.
The song the woman was singing was in the language of the Magi, so Ren Xiaosu could not understand what it meant. Melgor followed close behind, while Chen Cheng, An’an, and Chen Jingshu were already waiting behind the enchanted doorway and looking at them with smiles. “Welcome to this place! A lot of people are waiting for your arrival. To be precise, they’re waiting for you, Sorcerer Melgor.”
