The Ring: Sell Dung Beetles in Junction

Chapter 461: Useful Lailana
"You said this is an abandoned road, right?"

Patch turned his head and stared at Moore fiercely.

Moore shrank his head and said timidly:

"That's what the collector said... There really is no barracks here."

Patch pointed one finger behind him and the other at Moore: "Then explain to me why there is this thing here too, and it's even stronger?!"

They rode out of Pony Village on horseback, passed through a forest trail, and passed through a small tunnel, making sure that the wolves on both sides of the road would not rush over.

When they went out, they found themselves standing under the crotch of the Furnace Golem.

What’s even more terrible is that the golem’s legs are covered with iron, making its defense even stronger and more difficult to deal with.

The scorching air rushed towards them, and everyone looked at the furnace golem and forgot to breathe for a moment.

Then he rode as fast as he could and fled for his life.

Patch was the fastest. He pulled Tanis and Laya off the horse, put them on his back and rushed out, leaving the golem's lava and fireballs, as well as other teammates behind.

While running, he did not forget to turn back and curse at Moore.

The others carried two people per horse, and the horses could not handle it and almost escaped.

Everyone was in a panic and didn't pay much attention to the road. After they got rid of the evil fire giant, they realized that they had gone astray and ran to the front of a dilapidated church.

"Turn back?" Roger asked Patch.

"I'm so tired." Patch panted, "Take a break, go in and take a break."

There was a pool of water in front of the church. Patch lay beside it and started drinking.

Everyone took refuge in the dilapidated church and prepared to rest for a while.

But Leida discovered that there were still people in the church.

The church was quite large, divided into two halls, inner and outer. Leida had sharp eyes and saw that in the deepest part of the church's inner hall, there was a person sitting on the chair in the center. From a distance, it seemed to be a woman.

They thought it was an abandoned church, but unexpectedly it still had an owner. They approached and tried to ask the owner for permission to let them rest here for a while.

When I got closer, I found that it was a man wearing a luxurious robe with a purple base and golden embroidery. The collar was like a blooming flower, tilted high. The hat on his head was a strange shape with a round hole.

The man sat in an elegant posture, with a hint of femininity.

The man's face was quite thin, but the robe he wore was larger, as if his body was more muscular, which was a bit disproportionate.

The man smiled at everyone:
"Oh, we have visitors. How rare! My name is Ymir, and welcome to Manus Meter."

Leida stepped forward, gave a brief introduction, and explained the purpose of taking a break.

"Please make yourselves at ease." Ymir was very hospitable. "There aren't many people in the church anyway, so there are a lot of empty chairs. Please make yourselves at ease. It's just that there's too much dust and it's a bit dirty."

"Thank you." Leida found a nearby chair, and with a flash of the golden needle, all the dust and cobwebs on it disappeared, and then she sat down.

"Are you the priest of this church?" Roger started chatting with Ymir. He always felt that the other party's temperament, clothing style, and the style of the church were quite familiar.

The lighting hanging high in the church seemed to be a kind of light pink pyroxene, which Roger had seen in the academy. Bird cage-like decorations could be seen everywhere in the church, which he had also seen in the academy.

"Yes, I am considered the high priest here." Ymir nodded with a smile, "But not many people come to this abandoned place."

"I think you look like someone from the Rhea Lukalia College," Roger said.

Ymir nodded, "I am Laelana's magic professor."

"Wow, you are Laelana's teacher, that's awesome!" Lance Shanks exclaimed.

Ymir's smile was a little stiff. "I don't deserve it. I can't be considered Laelana's teacher. The magic of the Kalia royal family is mostly based on their ancient heritage and skills. After all, their most representative magic has nothing to do with the academy."

Lance Shanks tilted his head: "But aren't you her magic professor?"

"The word should be judged according to the situation." Ymir said softly, "If I say that I am a magic professor of a magic apprentice, then I am his teacher. But if I say that I am the magic professor of Dean Reinara, then I am actually saying that I am her colleague and subordinate."

"It's so complicated." Lance Shanks scratched his head, feeling like he needed to grow a brain.

"This is the word." Ymir smiled, "Because we have the words of faith, we can gain wisdom."

Colin became excited when he heard this: "This is the teaching of the Two-Finger Sect. Are you also a believer? May the Golden Tree be with you!"

"I guess so." Ymir's answer was a little subtle. "Finger's beautiful figure makes people admire her."

"That's right." Colin nodded repeatedly, walked to Ymir excitedly, and asked Ymir for some teachings.

Ymir chatted with him briefly, but seemed absent-minded. He sighed:
"It's just a pity that our learning of words is not perfect, so people always have disagreements. Just like just now, my words were not well understood by you."

Ymir remembered something, raised her finger and said to Roger:
"But do you know that there is a word that has no ambiguity, and that is mother."

Ymir sat upright on the chair, her upper body slightly leaning forward, her face slightly flushed, and she smiled involuntarily:
"Mothers are great no matter in which world. That is the anchor and starting point of our consensus."

Roger smiled awkwardly through the round hole in Ymir's hat, not knowing how to answer.

Ymir also noticed her own gaffe and sat back, fidgeting in her chair. "Excuse me, I've been telling you all. How did you all end up in this abandoned place?"

Everyone hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to say. Patch spoke up, "We are entrusted by Laelana to go to Shadow City."

Ymir was surprised: "Oh, then why come here? This was the entrance to the parish in the past. People who prayed would go here. But the road to Shadow City is abandoned. Why not go through the main entrance?"

"I can't reveal this, after all, it's a request from someone else." Patch replied calmly, "But the church is actually abandoned? It seems that Shadow City is also living a miserable life."

Ymir nodded and didn't ask any more questions. Instead, she looked at Patch in surprise, a blush appearing on her face again.

Ymir observed everyone and seemed quite satisfied. She nodded repeatedly:

"It's an honor to meet you. It's rare to have a new encounter in such an abandoned place. I think we are destined to be together. Please accept this gift as a commemoration."

Ymir took out an object from her arms and handed it to Colin who was standing beside her.

"What is this?" Colin stroked the object handed to him by Ymir.

It was a necklace, and the necklace was tied with a light blue stone necklace with several holes on the surface, and it was shaped a bit like a finger.

There were two pieces of paper holding the necklace. Colin couldn't figure out what was on the paper, but others had seen that they were two maps.

"It's a finger-shaped whistle." Ymir smiled. "In this land of shadows, there are finger ruins. They are the miracles left by the fingers. There is a bell in the center of the ruins. You can use this to blow them. You must have a difficult task. If you are unable to do it, you can blow the bell. In this way, your destiny will be guided by the bright stars. That will be a help to you."

"What, there is such a holy place!" Colin exclaimed.

He originally wanted to leave this shabby place immediately, but when he heard that there were remains of fingers in the Shadow Land, Colin now wanted to make a pilgrimage before leaving.

Ymir continued, "Here is a map of the ruins. I'll give it to you as well."

Leida took the map, looked at it, and looked surprised.

What Ymir gave them was not only a simple map of the Finger Ruins, but also a map of Shadow City, which was a guide that would allow them to enter Shadow City smoothly from here.

Ymir smiled: "You are Laelana's friends, I will help you. After all, it is still very dangerous to go here."

"Thank you very much for your kindness." Roger thanked him.

"You're welcome. If things don't go well, you're welcome to come back and rest at any time." Ymir said, "But if you're out here, please watch your feet. There may be children playing on the ground, so don't hurt them by mistake."

Children? Roger was a little confused, but he still agreed with a smile.

Roger looked at the quiet environment in the church, then looked at the female wizard they had rescued before, and hesitated whether he should ask Ymir again to take her in.

But Patch interrupted him:
"Okay, we've rested, it's time to get going."

After resting, everyone continued along the road towards Shadow City.

On the way, Roger also sighed:
"You can still meet good people in the Shadow Land. I didn't expect to meet a magic professor here. He's a great help."

"Good man?" Patch smiled. "Let me see the whistle he gave me."

Colin hesitated for a moment, but finally handed it over.

Patch hooked the necklace with one of its spider legs, looked at it in front of his eyes for a moment, then swung the spider leg. The smooth necklace continued to accelerate along the spider leg. After breaking away from the sharp spider leg, it immediately turned into a meteor and flew to an unknown place.

Roger was shocked:
"Why did you throw it away?"

"What?" Colin was also shocked when he heard it. He was already unhappy with Patch, and now he was even more angry.

Patch clapped his hands—or rather, rubbed his spider legs—and picked his teeth. "It's not nice to see this guy who looks like a charlatan, and he gave me something that looks like a charlatan."

Roger said, "They gave me a map. Are you going to tear it up too?"

Patch asked, "Where's the map?"

Patch asked Leida for a map and tore up the one with the Finger Ruins, but kept the one of Shadow City:
"What finger remains? It's just a dream. It's obvious that the man has bad intentions. Be alert when you go out."

"You were supposed to stop there," Lance Shanks muttered.

"I can control myself, but you can't." Patch said shamelessly, "I have backup plans and trump cards, don't you understand?"

"Then why do you keep this one?"

"I gave this to you out of respect for Laelana. It's reliable." Patch swore, "Laelana, it's really useful."

After receiving a few cold stares, Patch led everyone to the side door of Shadow City.

Everyone dismounted and entered carefully, but they did not see any guards along the way.

It was not until they walked a little further that they understood why this place was abandoned.

They stood on a high platform and saw the houses below, which had been submerged by the flood, with only the roofs and buttresses accessible. Many houses were in disrepair and had many holes.

On the roof, there were several corpses of people who had somehow fallen to their deaths and were being eaten by crabs.

Everyone looked back at the map Ymir had given them, and even these were marked out, and they were also considerate enough to mark which route to take to reach the interior.

Everyone was impressed by Ymir's motherly care and at the same time they complained more about Patch.

Everyone walked along the rooftops carefully. Next to them was the bottomless water, and occasionally one could see some unknown giant creature swimming underwater, knocking down some trees buried in the water, which was terrifying.

The church has been flooded, the holy statue of Malika has been submerged in water, and a haze has shrouded everyone's heads.

Everyone climbed up the ruins and prepared to jump onto the narrow flying buttress. This was an almost impossible task for the heavy and clumsy Moore and the broken-armed and broken-legged Greg. If others took them with them, it would greatly increase the difficulty of jumping over. There were now fourteen creatures in their group, and eight of them were disabled.

This road is indeed not guarded by anyone, but it is even more difficult to travel on.

"It's all Patch's fault." Colin took the lead.

"Can you blame me for this?" Patch rolled his eyes, but found that other people didn't say anything good about him either.

This has nothing to do with the current predicament, it's just that everything Patch has done before is not very pleasing.

Patch curled his lips and said, "I am getting farther and farther away from the southern coast. It's not my intention to come here. You were kind enough to bring a disabled person over there to cause trouble, but now you blame me?"

"It wasn't me who came here on my own initiative..." Greg said aggrievedly.

"I'm not talking about you." Patch said impatiently, "I'm talking about the wizard - and Moore, can you please let go of your bug? We've arrived at the station! Where are you pointing the way? And how can we point the way to the golem?"

Mur reluctantly put down the corrupt family member and treated it along the way. The worm was already cured, and after thanking Mur, it left in a flash.

Seeing that a burden had been reduced, Patch looked at the wizard.

"We won't leave her here." Leida stood up with a firm look in her eyes.

Lance Shanks hesitated: "How about I transform and take you over? But it might make a little noise." "Okay, everyone get out of the way." Patch waved his claws, walked to the front, and landed lightly on the buttress opposite. As soon as he landed, he jumped back immediately.

This process was repeated over and over again, with more and more spider silk stretching out from his spider's belly until it formed a white bridge.

"Okay, let's go." Patch said, stepping onto the spider silk bridge and crossing the flying buttress.

"Is this... safe?" Moore was a little worried and didn't dare to move forward. He was the heaviest and was afraid that the spider silk couldn't bear it.

Patch rolled his eyes: "You can leave if you want."

As he spoke, he walked forward a few steps and left, also to make room for others. The buttress was very narrow and not many people could stand on it.

Moore turned around and said to his companions, "You go ahead. If the line is cut off, it won't delay your journey."

Upon hearing this, Leida lifted her robe, twisted it into a rope, and handed it to Moore:

"You go first. If you fall, we are here to catch you."

Mur couldn't persuade Leida, so he carefully tiptoed on the spider web with one foot, trying to increase the force.

After stepping on it, Moore was a little surprised.

He felt that he was not stepping on a spider web, but rather on a solid stone bridge. Even with his heavy body pressing down on it, he could not feel any deformation.

Mur loosened Reda's robe, stepped on the spider web, and walked smoothly onto the flying buttress.

Moore turned around and called to his companions:
“It’s really solid!”

Others also walked over and were all surprised at the sturdiness of the spider web.

Tanis and Laya had visited the Holy Tree before and often walked on Patch's spider silk bridge, so they had nothing to worry about. When they walked over it, they were a little surprised.

Tanis asked Patch, "Is the bridge strong this time?"

Laya nodded: "Yeah, unlike the bridge of the Holy Tree which is soft and comfortable, this one feels really uncomfortable."

Patch only softened his expression towards Layatanis:

"There are no good people in the Shadow Land. I made some extra preparations. After all, I have to protect you."

"You've already taken enough precautions." Tanis looked at Patch's pale face after shooting, "Don't overwork yourself."

"It's okay." Patch forced a smile at Tanis, "Let's go traveling after we finish things here."

"Ah, if you say that, it's easy to get into trouble." Lance Shanks said, "We might be discovered as soon as we enter."

"Say less, no one will think you're dumb." Patch rolled his eyes.

After going through the most difficult section of the road, they found a path leading to the interior on a damaged roof. As long as they jumped onto the beam, they could officially enter the Shadow City.

Leida lay on the edge of the broken roof, leaning her flexible waist downwards and sticking her head out to observe the situation inside.

After looking around, Reina suddenly retracted her head and gestured to the others to keep quiet.

"Anyone?" Patch asked quietly.

Leida held up a finger, indicating that there was someone.

Then, a wailing sound came from downstairs, and the sobbing sound went straight to the roof, scaring everyone.

A few curious people leaned over and found a guy with a pot-covered hair covering his eyes, stumbling along the wall below, in danger of falling into the deep water beside him at any time.

The pot-covered man walked along this road, opened a small wooden house, and fell inside. There was a sound of metal clashing, which meant he fell to the ground and never got up again.

The infiltration team looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and finally jumped off the roof.

Everyone was a little nervous because they were not sure when the guy with the pot-cover hair would come out of the room.

"It would be nice if Huliye was here too," Leida whispered, "so that we could sleep with that guy."

"Sleeping clothes?" Patch glanced sideways.

"It's about letting him sleep, not sleeping with him." Leida said with a straight face.

Roger glanced at the map and said, "The direction of the room he went to is a dead end. We should go in another direction. But if he comes from behind us, it will be dangerous."

"Kill him." Leida raised her sword.

"I'm afraid it will cause some noise," said Patch. "I'll go."

Patch had no armor on and moved swiftly and silently, crouching outside the wooden door and observing the man.

The Jarhead was curled up on the ground. The room was empty except for a few holy grails placed in the middle. This was a prayer hall.

The pot-covered man curled up and prayed, his voice filled with suppressed pain and fear:
"Lady Marika, our mother. Please have mercy on me and bless me. I have eliminated those who are your enemies and cause you troubles - I did so before, and I swear to do so in the future. So please have mercy on me and bless me. Don't take away that light... I have dedicated everything I have, no, I am not a filthy thing, and I will never offend you... Please, please..."

"Oh, Marika is really pure and powerful." Patch laughed and stopped hiding. He closed the door and went back carelessly. "It's not a big problem. He won't pose a threat and he can't come out."

"Is it enough to just lock the door?" Leida saw Patch's actions, "Then the door can't be opened from his side?"

Leida was still a little worried: "Let's kill him."

"That guy has faded, and he is asking for a blessing from Marika." Patch smiled, "Let him ask, he has it in this life."

Hearing this, Leida was relieved:
"That person is indeed no longer a threat. I understand that kind of pain. If it weren't for Lady Michaela, I would still be sinking."

Patch said, "Focus on the front."

"There are enemies ahead." Roger reported.

The Flame Knight was patrolling here. Fortunately, there were many forks in the road. Everyone hid and managed to bypass the Flame Knight. They took the elevator and entered the species collection library.

They entered a storage area near the second floor. There were few people there, the view was wide, and it was relatively safe.

After entering the vault, everyone was shocked at first like Wuming, but soon, they all looked worried.

With a wide field of vision, they could see this huge library, and there were really a lot of people there. They couldn't imagine how they could find Messermo and Wuming while avoiding so many eyes.

"There are too many people here. How can I find them? They will be discovered in an instant." Lance Shanks looked around and found that even on the beams he could see human figures. There was nothing he could do.

As soon as Lance Shanks finished speaking, he saw that the little black men on the lower and upper levels had been noticed and were hurriedly going to find the Flame Knight.

"Ah, we've been discovered," said Lance Shanks.

Patch said: "You should be a dragon, or a crow."

"What should we do now?" Roger asked for advice.

Patch's eyes slid around, and he thought:

"On our way here, we encountered three Fire Knights. They will surely bring more Fire Knights later. We should be ready. When the Fire Knights come, we will knock them out and disguise ourselves by wearing their clothes. We will then have the right people put on armor and sneak in."

Roger glanced at his teammates and said, "Only five of them are suitable."

"That's enough. Everyone else, retreat first." Patch said, "We'll capture the Flame Knight as quickly as possible."

Everyone discussed the quickest solution and waited for the Fire Knight to come down.

Not long after, a man came slowly towards them.

But when that person showed up, everyone was stunned.

This man was indeed covered in a bright red cloak and black iron armor, but he didn't wear a helmet like the other flame knights. His long red hair was casually draped over his shoulders. His face was thin and his body was slender, as if he was malnourished. The only eye that was open was dim, and the sunken eye socket was filled with deep fatigue and sadness.
Under the cloak, two equally bright red snakes slithered beneath it, their green pupils reflecting everyone's figures.

The red-haired man was holding a large spear with a slanting flame design on the tip of the spear, with a hint of dark red.

"Here we go." Lance Shanks was eager to try. "Let's go through the process. I'll hold him down while you guys strangle him."

"That's not the fucking Flame Knight." Patch's expression turned grim. "That's Messermo! A demigod!"

"Huh? Is that so?" Lance Shanks was stunned.

The next moment, Lance Shanks flew out.

The huge spear appeared in front of Lance's abdomen in an instant, stabbing her directly and sending her flying, crashing into the opposite wall.

Everyone drew their weapons and looked at the tall, thin, one-eyed man nervously.

The two red snakes moved around freely, casting sinister reflections on everyone's faces.

At the critical moment, Patch was still at the forefront.

Patch looked at the red-haired man:
"Messermo?"

The red-haired man did not deny it. He lowered his head and looked at Patch:
"The Fader?"

Patch said bluntly, "Laelana sent us."

"Laelana?" Messermo was stunned for a moment.

Seeing Messermo's hesitation, Patch was secretly happy.

Laelana, it's really useful.

"Oh?" Messermo continued, "You were also called by Laelana? All right then - let her confirm it."

Behind Messermo, Lailana also walked over slowly. This time she was wearing a double-moon helmet, like a cold crescent moon.

Lailana stared at Patch and the others for a while, then glanced away and crossed her arms, "I don't know them."

Messermo turned around and stared at them along with the two snakes, making everyone sweat profusely.

"Wait!" Patch continued, "We are from the border area and have important information to tell you."

"The mother disappeared, the king faded?" said Messermo.

Patch was stunned for a moment, and more and more cold sweat appeared on his bald head:
"How did you know?"

"The unknown knight told me," said Messermo.

"Nameless!" Patch was furious. "All he said were my words!"

"Do you have anything else to say?" Messemo's right hand collapsed, and a huge fireball rose up. Messemo's golden pupils reflected the black and red fireball, ready to blow everyone to pieces.

"Why do I have to clean up Wuming's mess?" Patch wanted to cry, "Wait, let me think about it, is there something that only I know... Don't rush to kill him, there must be something, I just need to think about it. Don't waste people's knowledge."

But the fireball in Messermo's hand has become more and more active, like a leaping elf, ready to jump out and devour anyone at any time.

Suddenly, Messermo's flames subsided, and he stared behind everyone with a frown.

Everyone followed Messemo's gaze and looked behind them.

At this time, Fia was hugging the witch woman tightly, ready to use her body to block Messermo's fire.

"You kidnapped the witch?" asked Messermo.

"We rescued the wizard," said Patch.

Messermo stared at the sorcerer for a moment, then put away his spear:

"Find them a room, too."

(End of this chapter)