"Haha, how could you possibly tell at a glance whether someone is from out of town? How are you supposed to tell?" Roy forced himself to remain calm, pretending that he was discussing the contents of the yellow paper with his companion.
He reassured Phil and Pasha with the implied meaning in his words, telling them not to be nervous or flustered. After all, apart from the local Byers, the other three were also citizens of Loen and did not have any Southern Continent blood. Judging from their facial features alone, they had nothing special about them.
"But, but, this is an extraordinary event..." Pasha replied, slightly stammering.
This cannot be judged by common sense!
Roy's heart tightened. He glanced at the slowly approaching, expressionless citizens and quickly called out in a low voice:
"Run!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and sprinted toward the nearest street entrance, with Pasha and Phil close behind.
As a local, Byers tacitly lagged behind last, allowing a layer of illusory fish scales to cover the surface of her skin.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several citizens raised their double-barreled shotguns and fired forward.
Roy, Phil, and Pasha were all Extraordinary Beyonder skilled in combat. While running, they would sometimes change direction, sometimes lunge forward, and roll to successfully dodge the attack.
Then, guided by Pasha, they scurried through the streets and alleys, escaping their pursuers and hiding in a secluded, dark place.
"What do we do?" Phil had lost an arm, asked breathlessly. "Judging from the announcement, we probably can't leave this city directly."
"We need to figure out the pattern and find a solution from it." Although Roy was also flustered, he forced himself to think calmly to prevent the team's morale from collapsing.
Pasha glanced at Byers, who was on guard, and said:
Was that notice board always there?
Byers nodded:
"Yes, although I rarely have the opportunity to go to the city square, I saw that notice board when I was drafted into the army, as we gathered there."
"The notice board should be fine; perhaps those two pieces of paper are the key. They can give the written Edict a mystical meaning," Pasha said, offering her guess.
Roy immediately expressed his agreement:
"Right.
"Furthermore, I suspect that those Edict only have the effect if they are publicly announced. If we can find an opportunity to tear up those two pieces of paper, the corresponding restrictions might disappear."
After hearing Roy's words, Pasha, Phil, and Byers all fell silent.
After a few seconds, Phil's facial muscles twitched as he said:
"Give it a try! If you stay trapped in the city, even if you aren't caught by the citizens, you might still be punished by Edict for various reasons."
Although they are all Beyonder, their Sequence are not high. Dealing with a few ordinary people is not a problem, but facing the hostility of the entire city would be extremely dangerous.
Roy, Byers, and Pasha were all veterans who had seen combat to varying degrees, and they knew that hesitation was the worst thing to do at this time. So they made their decisions one after another and agreed to Phil's proposal.
Guided by the fairly experienced " Hunter " Pasha, the group of four circled around for most of the way and sneaked back to the city square from another street.
By this time, the citizens who had gathered to see the announcement were no longer there; it seemed they were now conducting a city-wide manhunt for outsiders.
After glancing at the notice board standing quietly between the two gas lampposts, Roy and the others cautiously approached, ready to flee at any moment.
As they approached their target, Roy suddenly thought of something and quickly lowered his voice to ask:
Is damaging a public notice considered an illegal act?
"Theoretically, yes..." Pasha paused for a moment before saying.
They then turned their gaze to the notice board and browsed the criminal acts listed in the third Edict:
8. Damaging public property;
"It really is." Byers blurted out.
Phil's already pale face, due to blood loss, paled even more. After thinking for a moment, he said:
What are the penalties for vandalizing public property?
This is only a relatively minor violation, and the corresponding punishment is likely to be light.
If that's the case, Phil intends to take the risk of tearing down the announcement and ending this terrible and bizarre situation.
"First offense, whipping." Just as Roy, Pasha, and Byers were pondering the answer, a voice came from behind them.
The four turned around in surprise and saw a young man with an ordinary appearance, wearing a black robe and a top hat.
The man continued:
"A second offense will result in the loss of a hand."
"I don't know what a repeat offender is."
"How did you know?" Roy asked, frowning as he gripped the concealed dagger warily.
The young man smiled and said:
"I tried it, it didn't work, the announcement will be restored soon."
"So, you were whipped?" Pasha asked, as if suddenly realizing something.
"Hmm." The young man nodded easily. "However, because I also committed fraud, I was subsequently punished by having my hand cut off."
"Fraud?" Byers asked, somewhat bewildered.
The young man replied with a smile:
"To put it simply, I didn't personally destroy the notice; instead, I sent a dummy there, and it was that dummy that was whipped."
As he spoke, he raised his right arm.
His wrist, like Phil's, had been cleanly severed; the skin at the wound was pale with red, and it appeared to be bleeding.
Suddenly, the severed opening began to wriggle, and one after another, Distortion, transparent worms crawled out. They intertwined and overlapped, forming a new hand.
Throughout this process, Roy and the others did not feel any horror, because as soon as they saw those tiny insects whose details were indistinguishable, their thoughts became chaotic, their minds raced, and they found it difficult to control their emotional fluctuations.
Once the hand "covered" their skin and returned to normal, the Beyonder recovered and simultaneously took a few steps back, filled with surprise, doubt, and fear.
What they just witnessed was beyond their comprehension!
"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm a wandering Magician." The one who just committed fraud and vandalism was none other than Klein.
He glanced at the four Beyonder and said with a smile:
"My best magic trick is granting people's Wishes. Do you have Wishes you'd like to have fulfilled?"
Upon hearing this question, Roy perked up and asked with considerable hope:
"Can we leave Beldan?"
"Of course, I will do my best to do it, but not now," Klein promised.
Then, he looked at Phil, who had lost an arm:
"He's finished expressing his Wishes, what's yours?"
"... Let my hand recover," Phil said tentatively.
"Alright." Klein turned his gaze to Byers. "Take his hand out."
Byers hesitated for a moment, but still followed the mysterious man's instructions, took out the wooden box, and returned the hand inside to Phil.
"Come here," Klein said to Phil with a smile.
Phil mustered his courage, took the severed hand, and walked over.
"Remove the bandages," Klein continued, "Place the severed hand back in its original position. And just a reminder, don't reverse it, or we'll have to cut it off and start over."
Seeing the other party's certainty, Phil gained some confidence and hurriedly tore off the bandage that had stuck to the wound with an extremely Distortion expression, hissing continuously.
After he put the severed hand down, Klein took out a piece of white paper and brought it closer.
Immediately afterwards, he reached out and touched the broken edge.
Without a sound, the white paper tore in two, and Phil felt his pain vanish instantly.
He quickly looked down and saw that the wound on his left wrist was completely healed, and there was no indication that he had ever been injured.
Phil subconsciously moved his fingers and found that their dexterity had not diminished at all.
"Your Wishes has come true," Klein said, taking two steps back and smiling.
"Thank you..." Phil replied, somewhat dazed.
Klein then looked at the other two Beyonder:
"What are your Wishes?"
Seeing that Phil's Wishes had truly been fulfilled, Byers immediately stepped forward and said:
I want to know where my family is now.
Klein flicked his left arm, producing a silver mirror with an antique pattern, and smiled as he looked down:
What was the answer to that question?
On the mirror's surface, the water shimmered, and one silver word after another stood out:
" Beldan Gorolin Cemetery..."
Seeing this, Byers, who had been craning his neck, felt a sinking feeling in his heart, and an overwhelming sadness and disappointment welled up on his face.
The next second, new silver words leaped out from the shimmering water:
"... the gravedigger's hut."
... This means... Byers turned from sorrow to joy and sincerely said:
"Thanks."
As soon as he finished speaking, two questions suddenly came to mind:
How many people can live in the cemetery hut? How many cemetery caretakers are there?
His family members are definitely more than just two or three!
Byers' expression shifted between light and shadow, and then he fell silent again.
This prevented him from seeing the problem reflected in the silver mirror:
"Great master, was my answer kind enough?"
"Hmm." Klein nodded almost imperceptibly, turning his gaze to the remaining woman.
Pasha considered for two seconds and said:
"My Wishes is that you protect us until we leave Beldan alive."
She realized that Roy's Wishes was problematic, because those who left Beldan weren't necessarily alive.
"Brilliant," Klein said with a smile, "Your Wishes will be fulfilled."
"What price do we have to pay? I mean, the payment for watching the magic show?" Pasha hurriedly asked again.
"Your Wishes are the price itself," Klein replied briefly, then asked thoughtfully, "If you know something is fake, but you subjectively want to use it, that shouldn't be considered fraud, right?"
Roy and the others looked puzzled, thought about it carefully for a moment, and then shook their heads one after another:
"Definitely not."
"This is actually a game between the two sides."
"A voluntary act with clear understanding certainly does not constitute fraud."
"Without a doubt."
After hearing the four people's answers, Klein smiled:
"Very good, this is the understanding of the average person."
As he spoke, he reached forward with his right hand and pulled out a woman's figure wearing a simple long robe and with long, jet-black hair.
That was a Historical Void glimpse into the life of Arianna, the Abbess of the Evernight Abbey.
Klein glanced around and, seeing nothing unusual, smiled and said to the projection:
"Madam, what happened?"
Arianna's eyes shifted slightly, becoming deep and profound, bringing a sense of peace to those around her.
He said in a calm tone:
"Patriarch Larion of the Church of the God of Combat has fled, and I am tracking him."
Arianna paused and then said:
"After I arrived in Beldan, I received a new intelligence report."
"Intelligence indicates that Larion took a Sealed Artifact with him when he fled."
"'0-02'."
P. S.: I recommend a WeChat official account called " Book Sea Merfolk ". The author is " Andes Morning Breeze ", the number one Mysteries blogger on Weibo. They post at least 4 articles every week, including long reviews of online novels, reviews of new books, and various book lists.