Hao Ren turned his expressionless face toward the wizard who always kept his features hidden beneath the shadow of his hood. He could not make out the other man's full appearance, only a gaunt, untrimmed chin protruding from beneath the hood's edge.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hao Ren asked calmly.
"I am very good at observing people's hearts." The male wizard tilted his head slightly. His voice seemed to have been altered by magic, giving it a hollow echo. "I can tell that you aren't in any hurry to seek a place of shelter. That means you aren't particularly interested in the 'Shadow City' those witches mentioned. You approached them for something else."
Hao Ren looked curiously at the wizard who had suddenly come over to speak with him, then shrugged. "Say whatever you like. Everyone gathered here for their own benefit anyway. Who doesn't have a few secrets these days? The reasons and the process don't matter. As long as the result meets expectations, that's enough."
"You're right." The hooded wizard seemed to chuckle softly. "The reasons and the process don't matter. All that matters is that the result meets expectations. So Madam Mary and the others actually don't care about your origins or motives. They only need the strength of you and your companion."
Hao Ren found the wizard increasingly strange, so he asked bluntly, "You didn't come to me just to say that, did you?"
"Have you ever heard of Roan's Night Watch Knights?"
Hao Ren froze. The term sounded completely unfamiliar, and it seemed that the wizard had misunderstood something as well. Had he mistaken this sudden newcomer for someone in the same field? Or perhaps for someone with the same goal?
Hao Ren could not be sure whether Roan's Night Watch Knights had anything