Werewolf Trap

The destruction of warning totems is the most serious type of event during peacetime.

The city wall troops responded quickly, and within minutes, multiple duty teams arrived at the scene. Torches and Illumination spells illuminated the broken totem pole.

The city defense commander in charge of the current section also arrived and arranged for his team to begin searching both sides and conducting an investigation.

Several shamans planted temporary replacement totems in the damaged area, completing the connection and restoring coverage to the missing warning zone.

The semi-permanent totem poles were not delivered until half an hour later, when they were escorted over by a team of guards from the warehouse in the workshop area.

They were all cursing and swearing.

No one would be in a good mood if they were woken up from bed at this hour.

"Who the hell has nothing better to do!"

"Damn it, this piece of junk is incredibly heavy."

Amidst the complaints, the four carriages set off on the road.

"The transport convoy has set off!"

Inside the Raccoon Dog Dream Theater, Ximina, watching the monitor screen, announced to everyone. There wasn't much she needed to do.

The system has automatically synchronized the real-time location of the transport team to everyone's wrist screen, and there is also a support team in the back.

The main purpose is to conduct teaching within this process.

"Received!" Su Ming replied.

He found a place to hide his backpack and then continued on his way to the designated location.

"Yise, what's the situation on your end?" he asked.

"Mission accomplished," Yise replied. "I'm heading to the second fork in the road."

"OK."

Unlike Su Ming's hometown, eight o'clock in the evening is the time when all is quiet in the orc city.

Aside from the nobility, most orcs had no choice but to sleep at night.

Even though there were obvious unusual noises around, no one came out to check.

Su Ming sprinted along the wall. The uneven stone road was deserted, with only occasional gusts of wind carrying debris across the street.

When he encountered patrolling guards, Su Ming would take a detour and climb over the wall to avoid them.

He soon arrived at the first possible fork in the convoy's route.

Su Ming glanced at his watch; the other party would arrive in three minutes.

Two wooden barrels had already been placed against the wall.

Su Ming put on a mask and kicked them down.

The two wooden buckets rolled halfway around, and the accumulated sewage inside poured out, spreading rapidly along the stone pavement, filling the air with a foul stench.

Su Ming held his breath and retreated into the shadows.

Soon, the totem transport team arrived.

The orc guards pinched their noses, not giving the sewage-filled road a second glance, and drove the carriage straight onward.

"First waypoint complete."

Su Ming sent the message, then vaulted over the low wall behind him and disappeared.

The second waypoint where Yise is located is a bit troublesome.

The main problem is that once the orcs arrive here, they need to make a detour to enter the route the orcs have planned.

There's no guarantee the other side won't switch.

However, Su Ming had arranged to meet someone here beforehand in the name of the Black Claw Gang to make the transaction.

He was a corpse collector.

He sat by the roadside smoking, next to a cart filled with more than a dozen long, rectangular burlap sacks. Some of the sacks had viscous liquid seeping from their edges, dripping down.

Cloud Fang Royal Palace is overflowing with these things now; they'll sell them for whatever price you want!

Yise subtly circled the street corner, raising his hand to unleash a thin, concealed sword aura.

The sword energy skimmed across the ground, accurately severing the axle frame on one side of the cart.

With a snap, the car tilted.

The body collector was startled as he watched several sacks slip to the ground. He quickly unloaded the remaining sacks and began repairing the cart.

So when the totem transport team arrived, they found sacks spread out all over the ground, completely blocking the road in their direction of travel.

The body collector squatted beside the broken axle, sweating profusely as he hammered at the sheet metal and wooden wedges.

"Let's go this way, it's closer," the captain said nonchalantly.

The soldiers drove the horse-drawn carriage, turning towards the red-light district.

Under the shadow of the nearby city wall, Yise and Su Ming, who had already arrived, both breathed a sigh of relief.

There were no more forks in the road. Unless the orc soldiers suddenly decided to carry the four wagons over the wall or take a detour around half of Cloud Fang City, they would not deviate from the route again.

Before leaving, Su Ming turned his head and glanced at the body collector who was still repairing the car.

He remembered the "fleshy, boneless" fish that Hubiang had bought.

"I wonder what the Black Claw Gang does with the corpses, aside from 'special cases' like ours."

He murmured something under his breath.

**** First published on "Deqi Novel Network" d e q i x s. o r g

Warning totem poles require long-term operation and are the thickest and longest of all totems.

Two totem poles lay flat on each vehicle, extending beyond the carriage, causing the axles to creak under the weight.

The roads in Cloud Fang City were in terrible condition, with uneven flagstones and slippery mud accumulating in the cracks.

The wheels frequently got stuck, and the horses' hooves often slipped, forcing the soldiers to push the cart constantly.

"Damn it, it hasn't been fixed in years."

The captain complained as he pushed the wheel.

The soldiers were equally angry.

They were woken up in the middle of the night to move pillars, and had to push carts through mud and water. The city defense personnel made a mistake, but it was those guarding the warehouse who suffered the consequences.

When the resentful transport team arrived in the red-light district, the orc women standing on the street immediately erupted in cheers.

They struck various seductive poses and spoke in a flirtatious tone.

"Soldier, please patronize our business." "I'm on a mission!" the orc guard replied irritably.

However, he did not object to the other party surrounding him and taking the opportunity to grope the women who crowded around him.

"Just rest for a bit, it's the middle of the night, you're working so hard." Many women offered their advice.

Lang Yefu naturally followed suit.

The fabric covering her body wasn't revealing, but it accentuated her shapely figure, making her stand out among the group of orc women.

When she joined in soliciting customers, both the soldiers from the transport team and the vendors focused their attention on this new face.

The former is attracted, while the latter is driven by jealousy from a powerful "competitor".

[Lang Yefu, you fried this fish way too much.] Su Ming complained.

Sure enough, someone shoved Lang Yefu.

She stumbled and fell to the ground like a white lotus flower, letting out a delicate "Ouch!"

"What are you doing? The new girl needs to do business too!"

The captain chuckled, stepped forward to help Lang Yefu up, and took the opportunity to grope her. A cold glint flashed in Lang Yefu's eyes, but her face maintained its ingratiating expression.

She had just stood up, about to start soliciting customers, when she suddenly squatted down and quickly picked something up from the ground.

Orcs have excellent night vision, and even though Lang Yefu was very fast, everyone around her could still see her clearly.

There are two silver coins!

The orc captain's expression changed, and he subconsciously reached for his clothes.

There is no purse.

He then remembered that he had come on a temporary mission and hadn't brought any money with him.

Lang Yefu naturally tried to put the silver coin away.

But a half-orc woman standing nearby objected, grabbing Lang Yefu's wrist and holding it tightly.

"Don't try to keep it all to yourself, everyone who sees it gets a share!"

The orc woman knew immediately that this wasn't the money she had lost. After all, people often have to take off their clothes while working, so who would carry money on their person?

Only this newcomer would be so inexperienced. So what she needs to do now is to characterize the incident as Lang Yefu finding money.

Only in this way can we legitimately get a share of the profits!

The others present shared this idea and chimed in with agreement.

Lang Yefu's statement, "The money is my own," was completely shut down by their cacophony of voices, leaving her speechless.

The orc guards nearby also joined in the jeering:

"We get a share too, let's all share it!"

The captain was pleased with the outcome.

Two silver coins are equivalent to two hundred copper coins. Although each person can't get much, even a small amount is still something.

The prostitutes have quit.

"Why should you get a share of the money we found ourselves?!"

"That is!"

The two sides immediately confronted each other. One side was engaged in low-level jobs, while the other side was nothing more than a group of laborers and soldiers.

Life in Cloud Fang City is tough enough; if you're not assertive and don't dare to fight for what you want, you won't even be able to earn money for food.

The captain was considering retreating.

After all, the team is on a mission tonight, and there's no need to let a small matter cause a bigger problem.

Just then, a madam came over.

She made a very good suggestion.

"Each of you should order one girl."

"Two silver coins, consider it payment."

The madam then turned her attention to the group of people in the industry.

"Whoever is selected on your side gets the money!"

Upon careful consideration, everyone realized that the proposal was indeed fair; the prostitutes received money, and the soldiers enjoyed the services.

Moreover, the person who received the money did so based on their own ability, making it the best possible solution. The argument gradually subsided, though a few older women who were clearly out of the running were unwilling to accept it, but they couldn't go against the majority.

The captain glanced at the slender and graceful Lang Yefu, and was genuinely tempted.

He coughed lightly and signaled to the soldiers to pull the carriage to the side of the road.

He then divided the team into two groups.

One group stayed behind, while the other group took the selected people into the small hut by the roadside.

The captain grabbed Lang Yefu's hand and went inside first.

****

The soundproofing in this room isn't very good.

With so many orders coming in at once, the whole row of low houses suddenly became lively. The sounds of doors opening and closing, bed legs scraping against the floor, and feigned complaints mingled together.

Su Ming and Yise used invisibility magic to approach.

There were twelve orcs in total; seven went in, and five remained.

But less than a minute later, two more guards, swayed by the prostitutes' enthusiastic solicitation, hastily left their posts. Only three remained.

Lang Yefu arrived beside Su Ming, also covered in invisibility magic.

"[Where's the captain?]" Su Ming asked.

[I placed an "Illusion Totem" inside, and then left someone in the room to keep him company.]

Lang Yefu explained.

Illusion totems will make the captain see what he thinks is happening.

Lang Yefu raised a talisman in her hand, which she had stolen from the orc captain.

[I got this.]

But three orcs remained standing beside the carriage.

Su Ming activated "Thread Puppet Prison," and the madam who had been controlled stepped forward again.

Her movements remained somewhat stiff, though this was concealed by the dim light.

The madam brought out some cheap liquor and set up a small table nearby. "Gentlemen, please sit here and rest!"

"Later, you must choose one of our girls!"

Orc soldiers are perfectly acceptable.

Having traveled a long way, they saw that drinks were free, so they immediately sat down at the table and poured themselves a bowl.

While complaining that they were the second group to be assigned to the three of them, they also discussed which one to choose later.

Su Ming and Lang Yefu approached from the other side, where their view was blocked by the carriage.

Lang Yefu revealed the stolen rune mark, on which several dark red light patterns appeared, matching the warning array on the first carriage and deactivating it.

Su Ming placed his palm on the totem pole and activated the spell:

"Summoning of All Things!"

Far away in the Radiant Holy City, next to the rift test array, stood seven replica totem cores.

They are made of the same materials, but some details of the procedure were modified by the team of scholars.

After a flash of light, two of the replica totem cores disintegrated, turning into fine dust. The extracted material order traversed tens of thousands of kilometers and projected itself towards them. Su Ming used the hard core of the totem pole on the carriage as material to perform a reconstruction on the spot.

Throughout the entire process, only a few faint rays of light flashed between his fingers.

When the replacement was completed, the appearance of the two totems remained unchanged, but the internal hardware core had been replaced with a hacked version.

[Sharp!]

Lang Yefu gave a thumbs up.

If she hadn't witnessed Su Ming's actions firsthand, she would never have guessed that the totem had been tampered with.

****

Lang Yefu locked the first carriage and then lifted the guard on the second carriage.

Su Ming activated the interdimensional summoning spell again, making the replacement.

After repeating the process, the two arrived at the third carriage.

But just then, sounds of finishing up came from several of the prostitutes' rooms.

One of the orc soldiers, while picking up his clothes, complained with obvious displeasure that the prostitutes were rushing things and lacking in martial ethics. The latter retorted that they were too unfamiliar with the business and didn't frequent it often.

Wow, that was fast!

Lang Yefu was quite surprised.

She turned to look at Su Ming, sincerely seeking his advice.

Is this normal?

Su Ming remained silent.

The support team at the rear also expressed their condolences.

"It seems like this is the average duration; after all, the opponent is a professional."

"We completely forgot to investigate such a crucial issue!"

Yise gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn't escape it any longer.

She stepped forward and took out the "Toad Key".

A key the size of her palm floated in her hand, its surface adorned with Toad patterns slowly lighting up. An invisible ripple swept by.

The rooms, which had just quieted down, were suddenly filled with the sounds of shaking tables and chairs and a woman's furious shouts.

"Why are you still doing this now that it's over!"

A prostitute who was just about to see a customer off was suddenly grabbed by the waist by the man.

"It's still soft, isn't it!"

However, as the light penetrated further, the prostitutes complained less and began to work harder.

[Yise, what exactly is that?]

Su Ming was shocked.

[As you can see, this key can ignite desire.]

Yise blushed slightly.

Su Ming wisely refrained from asking what kind of loss of control had occurred during her research on the "Toad Key" control method last night.

"Why would a Saint Rank item have this function?" he changed the subject. "The Toad represents fertility," Lang Yefu explained. "This ' Toad Key ' is the High Priest's token."

Population and reproduction are key to the continuation of a nation. From this perspective, childbirth is a very serious topic, even determining survival.

"That's true," Su Ming said.

Taking advantage of the soldiers being distracted again, Su Ming quickened his pace and completed the replacement of the remaining totems.

Lang Yefu locked the last carriage again, then quietly returned to the previous hut and stuffed the talisman back into the orc captain's pocket.

Fifteen minutes later, the second group of soldiers also finished.

The captain inspected the area and found everything to be normal; all the carriages were unchanged, and the totems were unharmed.

With a wave of his hand, he led his team off again, full of vigor, and left the red-light district.

Su Ming manipulated the madam, making her drink the remaining inferior liquor.

Then he had Jinxiu's memories erased.

The group quickly evacuated.