Lin Gui shifted his gaze from the elves to the lock on the cage.
The lock was intricately designed and pitch-black, with a dark-red magic crystal embedded in its core.
The crystal's surface was etched with fine runes, pulsing with a faint, rhythmic glow like slow breathing.
Lin Gui used his Demon Eyes to examine it closely.
The lock's internal structure was incredibly dense, with a delicate alarm formation nestled at its core.
This alarm would trigger if the lock were to be broken by force or opened without the corresponding magical key.
The formation would activate instantly.
To make matters worse, this alarm seemed to be connected to the mage who was currently drinking not far away...
It was linked directly to his magical perception.
The moment anything went wrong with the lock, the mage would know immediately.
Breaking it was out of the question.
What about... putting the entire cage directly into his 【Storage】 space?
With a thought, Lin Gui scanned his remaining space capacity.
The flying vessel occupied the vast majority of it, and along with the supplies and wooden crates he had gathered along the way...
there wasn't even enough room left to fit half of an iron cage.
It seemed there was only one way left.
He had to get the magical key.
The key would usually be kept on the mage who powered the lock.
Astride his staff, Lin Gui floated silently toward the campfire.
The mage sat cross-legged by the fire, holding a wineskin in one hand and gesturing wildly with the other as he bragged about something to the hunters beside him.
He wore a deep blue mage robe, with a string of various magic crystals hanging across his chest.
Tethered to his leather belt was a dark silver, diamond-shaped key.
The key swayed gently with his movements, glinting coldly in the firelight.
Lin Gui stopped just a step behind the mage.
The Shroud of the Gloomy Night perfectly concealed his presence and form.
He reached out, aiming his fingertips at the key.
With a thought—
【Storage】.
Just as his magic was about to touch the key,
the mage suddenly burst into laughter and threw his head back to gulp down a large mouthful of wine.
Having finished, he let out a satisfied sigh, casually swinging his arm backward.
It looked like he was trying to stretch his stiff shoulders.
But his swinging elbow was heading straight for Lin Gui's face!
Eve reacted incredibly fast, instantly pulling her head back.
Lin Gui also leaned back immediately.
However, because his staff was floating in mid-air, the sudden movement was too abrupt.
Losing his balance, he instinctively reached forward to steady himself.
Slap.
His palm landed squarely on the mage's backside...
It struck him right on the buttocks.
The mage froze instantly.
He whipped his head around, his sharp gaze scanning the area behind him.
There was absolutely nothing there.
He expanded his perception to its limits.
No energy fluctuations, no breathing, not even a change in temperature.
But just now... he had definitely been patted.
“What's wrong, Old Mo?”
a burly hunter beside him asked, his mouth full of food.
“Did you see a ghost?”
The mage frowned, carefully checking his surroundings several more times.
Still, he found nothing.
His suspicious gaze swept across the area, finally landing on the person next to him—
the round-faced, bearded priest.
The priest was currently focused on gnawing on a piece of jerky.
A look of realization flashed in the mage's eyes, and he cleared his throat.
“Cough, it's nothing.”
He waved his hand dismissively, his tone casual.
“I was just... slapped by a sexy mosquito.”
“No big deal.”
The other hunters roared with laughter and didn't press further.
The mage chuckled, then suddenly reached out with his left hand.
He gave the priest's buttocks a firm slap as well.
Smack!
The priest froze, dropping his jerky.
He turned around to look at the mage.
On that rugged face, there actually appeared a bizarre hint of something unexpected.
Was it bashfulness?
“Stop it, you tease~”
The priest pinched his throat to speak in a high-pitched voice, giving the mage a playful glare.
Then, he reached out and gently caressed the mage's thigh twice.
The sheer intimacy of the gesture made one's skin crawl.
Laughter and whistles erupted even louder around the campfire.
Meanwhile, high in the air.
Eve pointed blankly at the male priest and male mage below, who were still “interacting.”
Her purple eyes were filled with sheer confusion and bewilderment.
“Are they...???”
Lin Gui silently raised his hand and covered his eyes.
“You don't want to know.”
The campfire crackled, sparks drifting away in the wind.
The hunters huddled around were thoroughly drunk, and their conversation grew increasingly vulgar.
A balding hunter took a swig of wine and grinned:
“If you ask me, those elves only have their faces going for them.”
“They're stubborn as mules. Touch them once, and they act like it's the end of the world.”
“They're nowhere near as sensible as human girls.”
Beside him, a tall, thin man rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming with greed:
“But that's exactly what those nobles love.”
“The more stubborn they are, the more they resist, the higher the price they're willing to pay.”
“Remember that brown-haired elven girl at the last auction?”
He lowered his voice and snickered.
“I heard some duke bought her and kept her in bed for three days straight.”
“Then he turned around and resold her, doubling his money!”
The men burst into laughter, clinking their cups together with loud clangs.
The scar-faced assassin said nothing, slowly and methodically wiping down his dagger.
A young hunter leaned in and asked curiously:
“Boss, the goods you got this time... the quality is just too good.”
“Night Elves, completely 'untouched,' and most of them are Transcendent guards.”
“How on earth did you manage to pull this off?”
Another hunter nodded in agreement:
“Yeah, the Elven Forest is locked down like an iron fortress right now.”
“They've multiplied their patrols, and the caravans going in and out are inspected like crazy.”
“Plus, those long-ears all carry poison on them now.”
“The moment they're caught, they bite down on their poison capsules. They'd rather die than be taken alive.”
He spat on the ground.
“What a massive pain in the ass.”
The campfire fell quiet for a moment.
A scout who had remained silent all this time suddenly spoke up, his voice raspy:
“So...”
He stared at the scar-faced man.
“The person who can provide us with so many 'clean goods'...”
“Who exactly are they?”
All eyes turned to the scar-faced assassin.
He stopped wiping his blade and looked up.
A meaningful smile curled the corners of his lips.
“Haven't you all guessed it by now?”
His voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the surrounding area.
“They can bypass the defenses of the Elven Forest and secure untouched Night Elves...”
“And they even know the routes, schedules, and patrol gaps inside out.”
The scar-faced man paused, sliding his dagger back into its sheath.
“Only an 'insider' could do this.”
“Who else could possibly pull it off?”
The sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed around the campfire.
The hunters exchanged looks, their faces painted with utter shock.
The young hunter stammered:
“Y-You mean... there's a traitor... among the elves?”
The scar-faced man didn't answer.
He simply picked up his wineskin and took another long gulp.
The firelight flickered against his scarred face, casting dancing shadows.
The answer was already blindingly obvious.
The atmosphere around the campfire grew eerie following the scar-faced man's words.
To the outside world, elves had always maintained an air of pride, isolationism, and untouchability.
They styled themselves as children of nature and guardians of civilization, looking down on other races as inferior.
They always stood on the highest moral ground, preaching justice to everyone else.
But now...
“Is that... even possible?”
one of the hunters muttered.
“Don't those long-ears go around bragging about how noble and refined their race is all day?”
“How could they...”
Another hunter sneered, cutting him off.
“Noble? Refined?”
“They're just a bunch of hypocritical idiots blowing smoke up their own asses.”
“If they're so noble, what's with the bloodline hierarchies within their own race?”
“Just look at how they treat half-elves and mixed-bloods.”
“They're way harsher than we are to them!”
A wave of agreement and mocking laughter rose around the fire.
Their mockery and contempt were completely undisguised.
High above.
Lin Gui and Eve exchanged a look, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
An elven mole?
Selling out their own kin as slave merchandise?
This was practically a joke.
Everyone on the Akara Continent knew that elves despised slave hunting above all else.
The High Elves had proven with their actions that to avenge captured clansmen,
they would spare no expense to deploy the Guardians of the World Tree across tens of thousands of miles, completely wiping out anyone who dared desecrate or insult their people.
Lin Gui instinctively activated his Eyes of the Netherworld and turned to look at Clotina beside him.
He expected to see rage, devastation, or disbelief.
But there was none.
Clotina simply floated there in silence.
Her face held no shock, only a heavy, profound feeling.
It was a deep, silent sorrow.
“It was the Tree Guards.”
Her voice was incredibly soft, as if she were speaking to herself.
“They have never... regarded the Night Elves as their kin.”
Lin Gui fell silent.
Just then, the mage below burst into another round of loud laughter.
He threw his head back to drink, leaning far backward.
The key at his waist swung upward with the movement.
Lin Gui's eyes narrowed.
Now.
He reached out slightly, focusing his mind.
【Storage】.
The dark silver key vanished silently, dropping into his space.
It was a success.
Taking the key out of his Storage space, he prepared to unlock the cages and rescue the elves.
But suddenly, the lively chatter of the hunters by the campfire...
died down.
Lin Gui's heart skipped a beat.
Had they been spotted?
He whipped his head up, only to find that the hunters were not looking at him.
None of them paid him any attention.
Instead, they had all turned in unison toward the entrance of the temple.
There stood a tall, thin woman whose entire body was covered in clothing.
She stood at the entrance, her presence unnoticed until now.
Draped in a tattered gray robe, her frame was as thin as a bamboo pole.
In her right hand, she carried a blood-soaked burlap sack.
The mouth of the sack was open, faintly revealing what lay inside.
They were several severed elven heads.
She chuckled and spoke to the hunters.
“Hehehe, well said.”
“Even though you humans are ignorant and foolish, living like rats in a sewer.”
“Every glance at you only dirties my eyes.”
“But you are right.”
“Those damned elves are nothing but a bunch of hypocritical, incompetent fools who only know how to fight among themselves.”
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