Old Fred lay on the table and snored. Joel looked at him helplessly, then drank the last drop of wine in the wine glass. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then stood up and walked towards the store owner.

"Four copper plates." The boss saw Joel coming over and said in a low voice.

Joel took out four copper plates from his pocket and put them on the bar, then pointed at the drunk old man and asked, "What should he do?"

"He wakes up and he will leave," the boss said, as if he is familiar with him, "we are open all night."

"Open all night?" Joel thought of something, so he sat down at the bar, and took out two copper plates from his pocket, "Help me have a glass of honey."

The shop owner put away two copper plates, then took out a clean oak mug from the bottom of the bar, turned around and poured out a light yellow honey wine from the barrel behind him. "Your wine." The boss handed the wine glass to Joel, who quickly took the wine glass to rinse his mouth and diluted the bitterness of his mouth.

"I want to ask you something." Joel put down his glass and said to the store owner.

"What's wrong with the old water ghost?" the shop owner asked.

Joel turned his head and looked at the old man who was snoring, and then looked at the store owner, "That's right."

"He told everyone here that story," the shop owner said, "but the details are different every time. I have heard more than a dozen different versions. I advise you not to take his words too seriously."

"Who is he?" Joel asked in confusion.

"The madman, sometimes he claimed to be the shoemaker Bernie, said that he had made shoes for the beggar King Renn; sometimes he claimed to be the carpenter Fred, said that the gallows in the trading market were built by him, and said that it was a 'drowned hanger'." The shop owner shook his head disdainfully.

Joel had heard of the story of the beggar king Renn. He was the grandfather of the current kingdom emperor. It is said that he was assassinated that year. After he survived the disaster, he traveled the country as a beggar and secretly visited all the lords who were originally loyal to the royal family. Finally, he summoned vassals on the mountain bag now known as the "Beggar king hill". More than half of the lords responded to his call and helped him overthrow his sinister regent brother who controlled his young son.

"All these are true?" Joel asked suspiciously.

"No one knows that the beggar king Ren had indeed come to Jin Falls City back then. The Duke of Jin Falls responded to his call; and the gallows were also built in that era. Most of the people who knew about this went to the grave." The owner of the shop shrugged, "No one knows who he is, but no one dares to deny that he has indeed been in the sluice area for many years."

Joel nodded, "Let's talk about the two guards who were attacked not long ago." Joel saw the shop owner suddenly become silent and looked at him with suspicion. So he took out the hunting certificate of Yin La from his arms with the Duke of Jin Falls. "I'm here to investigate this matter."

"Where did you hear it?" The shop owner looked carefully at the hunting license in his hand, but did not use his hand to get it. "The guard told me that no matter who asks me about this, he will have to say 'I don't know'."

"It seems that I've been asking only." Joel said as he put his hunting license back under his cloak.

"Many mercenaries have asked," the shop owner nodded, "but most of them are new mercenaries from other places, people like you."

Do I look like a mercenary? Joel couldn't help but feel confused, "I heard that two guards were torn to pieces after they left you."

The store owner refused to comment, "Anyway, my business has made it even worse after that." He said and pointed to the empty tavern.

"Did you hear anything that night?" Joel continued.

"That night I could hear that sound as long as I was around here," replied the shop owner, "I have never heard that scream in my life."

Joel looked at the shop owner again, "You used to be a soldier?"

"How did you see it?"

"The calluses and some movements on his hands," Joel raised his hand and let him see the calluses on his hands holding the sword. "I have had some dealings with soldiers before."

The shop owner nodded, "I participated in the war three years ago, and at least I saved my life."

"Thank you." Joel picked up the wine glass and drank the honey wine inside, then stood up and prepared to leave.

"Wait." The shop owner suddenly called him, and Joel turned his head and looked at his face, "I advise you to rest for a while before leaving. Maybe other mercenaries or guards will come over later. It's best if you follow them at that time."

"Why?" Joel asked drunkenly.

"That thing... seems to be particularly fond of drunk people," replied the shop owner. "The few people who died before were also drunks who went out of the tavern." He paused again, "Are they all drunks who went out of me, but there are several other taverns."

Joel nodded, "I understand, thank you." So he continued to walk towards the exit staggeringly, and the boss behind him sighed a long sigh.

As soon as he left the tavern, a heavy night wind came to him, which woke Joel up a little bit of wine. Where to go next? Joel thought about it, he walked towards the stone alley. The stone alley does not refer to a certain alley. It refers to the shops next to the trading market in the sluice area, a complex alley where the warehouses and living rooms intersect. Joel didn't know where the real incident was, so he decided to go around the alleys near the tavern.

In the past, Joel must not dare to do this, but after experiencing what happened during the North Wind Trial, Joel gradually began to adapt to these things. The mercenaries insisted that these things would only increase, which made Joel feel very uneasy.

Walking past a brazier leaning against the corner of the wall, Joel took out the torch and lit it. Then he walked to the corner behind the corner and looked into the alley. He stretched the torch inside, dispelling the darkness, only seeing the moss and dust-stacked wooden barrels on the ground. He frowned, then pulled out the "silence" from his waist and continued to walk inside.

...

Anthony, wearing a mask, sat in front of the desk full of bottles and jars, and looked carefully at the fragments of the mud shell knocked off the "troll" in the middle of the table. The color looked similar to ordinary dry mud, but the hardness reached an incredible level. He picked up a flask and soaked another piece of debris in clean water. Gradually, he could see that the mud began to dissolve, but the dissolution speed was so slow that it was crazy.

This is a scholar's laboratory located underground. It is said to have been a dungeon, but later the lord ordered the construction of a new gallows and gradually became empty. There were fewer and fewer people committing crimes, or the fewer and fewer cells occupied by criminals. The floor of the laboratory was covered with wooden floors, and the walls were decorated with wood. There were large bookcases on all sides, and there were some cabinets piled with alchemy instruments. There were lit candles everywhere, and there was almost no trace of darkness in the room. If someone hadn't told him, Anthony would have thought that this was once a dungeon.

It is said that this scholar's laboratory was renovated by the last Duke of Golden Waterfalls because he was obsessed with alchemy in his later years. At that time, this was a place for him and his scholars to study alchemy. Later, after his death, the new Duke of Golden Waterfalls had no good feelings for alchemy, but did not order it to be demolished, so he set it up as a scholar's laboratory.

At this moment, several scholars were fiddling in front of their tables, studying the parts cut from the "trolls". The body was locked in the room that was once a prison cell, guarded by two guards. The stench of the body permeated this enclosed space, so that people had to wear masks, but even wearing masks, they could not stay here for a long time. An old scholar had suddenly fainted because of long-term research in such an environment. He was hurriedly carried up to breathe the fresh air for a long time before he woke up again.

In order to prevent the corpse from corrupting, scholars sprinkled lime and salt on the corpse, and even covered some parts with asphalt. However, this could not prevent the corpse from corrupting and the stench continued to emit. Most people could not stand this smell, but Anthony did not agree.

"Is water okay, either..." Anthony touched his chin, "Maybe he could try using fire."

He searched in the bottles and jars on the table, then found a bottle of palm oil, and then he picked up the candle holder on his table, turned around and walked towards the room where the monster's corpse was kept. Two guards holding spears looked at the mercenary dressed in front of him with distrust. "Please open the door," Anthony said patiently and politely, "I need to do a little experiment." Several other scholars also frowned and looked at him, but didn't say much.

The two tall guards looked at each other and didn't say much, but opened the door. Anthony approached the room, and the giant monster's body fell to the ground, like a dead pig. Its legs and hands were very short, but their legs were very thick. Especially the scholar cut a piece of meat from it to feed the dog, but the dog immediately ran away after hearing this. Anthony came to the side of the monster, and the two guards followed in with spears and endured the stench.

"The experiment must be carried out under our supervision." A guard said seriously, and then he walked directly to Anthony's side.

"As you wish." Anthony shrugged indifferently, then looked at the other guard standing at the door. He seemed to be too close because of the foul smell. His position was facing the monster's ugly head, which was a head that was difficult to find where the eyes were, like a pig's head, but had no nose. At this moment, its two small eyes had been dug out, leaving only two gloomy blood holes.

Anthony put the candle holder in his footsteps and opened the bottle containing palm oil. Fortunately, there was a straw available. Anthony sighed, and he sprinkled the oil on the monster's still intact mud shell, then put down the palm oil bottle, picked up the candle holder, and heated it with fire.

"What are you doing?" the guard standing beside him asked in confusion.

"See if the flame can make his shell brittle or even crack." Anthony explained patiently. The palm oil was about to ignite, and the flames jumped on the monster's mud shell, slowly smoking. It seemed that there was something that could be ignited in its mud shell. Anthony smiled when he thought of this. After all, it was a game, so he had to design some points that could be broken through for players.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The guard beside Anthony was already silly. He snatched the spear from his hand. Before the guard reacted, he picked up the spear and stabbed it at one of the two blood holes on its head. The iron spear head directly stabbed into the blood hole that was originally the eyes. The monster screamed shrillly, and his two short hands waved to grab Anthony. "Go out quickly!" Anthony yelled at the guard. The guard then reacted and hurriedly avoided the monster's claws and the corpse of his companions and escaped from the room.

Anthony exerted force again, and the spear stabbed in a few more. The monster's howling became more and more shrill, but the struggle became more and more intense. Anthony let go of the spear and was almost grabbed by the monster's hand. He bent down and picked up the candlestick and palm oil, and walked out of the room against the wall. The monster struggled violently in the room to grab him, but he still came to the exit without any danger. Anthony gritted his teeth and threw the palm oil bottle in his hand out, hitting the monster's head but did not break it. Then he fell to the ground and smashed it to pieces. The palm oil spilled all over the ground and spread along the monster's chin. Anthony threw the candlestick in his hand. The flames hit the palm oil that was the bottom, and the monster ran up. The monster let out a shrill howl, and Anthony escaped from the room.

"Close the door!" Anthony shouted in sweat.

"No! This ignition is not enough!" But another scholar said, "Take something that can ignite! Don't let it escape! Burn it to death with fire!"

"This is a rare living sample!" Anthony shouted to stop him.

"No! This is the Duke's castle above. If you let it run out, the consequences will be unimaginable!" the scholar refused with a serious expression.

Other scholars also hurriedly searched for bottles and jars from their tables. Many people carried several bottles containing flammable substances and ran over, then threw the bottles into the flames. The explosion and heat waves came. The flames completely devoured the monsters in the room. The guards pushed the heavy doors and closed them. The monsters struggled in the room. The whole room seemed to be shaking. The guards upstairs rushed down and asked what was going on.

In the flames and heat waves, the monster's screams gradually subsided, and the struggle stopped, but the flames were still burning, and the choking smoke filled the room. "Go out from here." A scholar with a little prestigious commanded, and the other scholars followed the guards upstairs in accordance.

"You go out from here too." The scholar patted Anthony on the shoulder.

"No, no need." Anthony brought a stool and sat not far from the door where the monsters were held. "I'll wait here." He said with a gloomy expression.

...

Joel walked along these interlaced alleys, but found no clues. Finally, he stopped at the intersection in a stone alley, where he smelled the smell of blood. He lowered the torch and saw some faded blood on the surrounding walls. This should be the place where the last incident happened.

He looked around and saw that the alley was about nine feet wide. He raised the torch and looked at the wall and found some strange scratches, as if it was caused by some powerful weapon.

A battle happened here. Joel realized that the battle began suddenly and ended quickly. Just as he was looking for some clues, a shrill scream of a cat suddenly came from a distance, followed by a short scream.

Joel held the "silence" tightly and looked in that direction with a torch. A black cat rushed out of the darkness, then rushed over from Joel's crotch and entered the alley behind him. Joel alertly slowly approached the past, and at this moment he could only believe in the sword in his hand.

Joel walked forward and found a corner ahead. There seemed to be something hidden around the corner. Joel did not make a sound, but quietly approached the past. If the other party was a living person, he should have seen Joel's torch light, but the other party still did not make a sound.

Joel gritted his teeth and rushed over the corner. What caught his eye was a noble leather armor dyed white and a cloak dyed yellow. Then there was a pretty face full of fear, a girl's face, and the big eyes were full of fear, "Don't, don't come here!" She shouted in horror, with tears on her cheeks, and a thin sword in her hand pointed at Joel.

Joel had no expression on his face. He looked down at the ground. A man was half lying on the ground, placing on the wall, covering his abdomen with one hand. The blood had already formed a pool of blood under him, but the blood had turned black at this moment. "No. It wasn't me!" The girl shouted at Joel in panic. She seemed to be the eldest lady of a noble family.

"Put down the sword." Joel said to her coldly.

"I said it was not my fault!" The girl seemed to have lost her mind. She started to take two steps back while shouting at Joel, "It was not my fault!"

Joel didn't say anything more. He took a step forward and waved "silence" upwards before the girl made further movements. The blade silently cuts the air and hits the thin sword in the girl's hand hard. The blade actually cuts off directly. Joel then realizes that this is not an iron sword.

The girl was startled by Joel's movements, took a step back, but fell to the ground, "Why?" She looked at the broken sword in her hand in a daze, and looked at Joel in horror, "No, it was not me..." Tears flowed down her face, "Believe me, it was not me..." The guards' voices came from afar, and they seemed to hear the restlessness here.

Joel sighed, then bent down, picked up the broken sword on the ground, and found that the blade was actually made of silver. He turned around and looked at the corpse, and moved the hand covering the corpse's abdomen away. Joel saw an exaggerated wound, with one hand so wide that it was cut with a planer. The internal organs inside seemed to be pulled out, but no one was found around.

Suddenly Joel felt a wet and cold wind, and he immediately raised the torch and stood up. The girl in white curled up in her cloak and sobbed, constantly chanting "It's not me." But Joel heard not her voice, and the footsteps of the guards were getting closer and closer. Joel heard the sound again, the sound of footsteps of the puffs.

He walked towards the way he came, drove away the darkness with a torch, and the sound of footsteps disappeared. He continued to walk forward, and suddenly found something was wrong. He bent down and saw a pile of sticky water stains on the ground, which seemed to be footprints of something. Joel raised his head and confirmed that there was nothing around. The guard's voice was getting closer and closer, and Joel could see the fire at the corner of the alley. He had to leave here, and thought with a serious face that he did not want to be arrested by the guard as a suspect. So he threw the torch in place, followed the way he came back, and gradually moved away from the girl's sob.
Chapter completed!