Lost

"Lord Li Lin, are you really sure those Dark Elf have agreed to let us pass through this Black Road?"

Gazing at the deep, dark passage before him, the fat merchant swallowed hard and asked uneasily. Li Lin remained silent, but Angela, who was standing beside him, glared at the fat merchant with displeasure.

"Old ghost, you've asked this five times already. If you're so suspicious, why don't you go back and let those idiot soldiers handle it?"

"Ah, no, no, no, Miss Angela, I absolutely, absolutely didn't mean that...!"

Seeing Angela's obvious displeasure, the fat merchant was also alarmed. He hurriedly waved his hand to avoid pushing himself into a dead end. Although he also doubted whether this little girl was truly human, her power and cruelty (especially the latter) had been demonstrated to everyone recently. Fortunately, however, she seemed to listen to the scholar-mage Li Lin, and even more fortunately, Li Lin seemed much easier to talk to than this young lady.

"I'm just a businessman, and those Dark Elf are cunning by nature. I'm afraid even if the two of you manage to reach an agreement face-to-face with them, what about those guys behind the scenes..."

Seeing that Angela was clearly very dissatisfied, the fat merchant had no choice but to desperately change the subject in order to avoid death—he didn't want to be slapped on the head off by this lovely and beautiful lady at any time.

"Sir businessman, I have a piece of advice for you."

Li Lin stared ahead, seemingly oblivious to Angela and the fat merchant's conversation, but he soon spoke up.

"You'd better not use the term 'they' in front of Dark Elf, otherwise, even I will find it difficult to speak up for you."

"Oh... yes, I... I understand what you mean... Sir, I'm so sorry, I was really careless. Thank you for reminding me..."

He thanked her profusely while wiping the sweat from his brow as he retreated. Li Lin's warning had given him a way out; otherwise, how could he have escaped from Angela so easily?

"Humans are just stupid and cowardly creatures."

Angela glanced disdainfully at the merchant's figure and snorted coldly.

It's always better to be cautious.

Li Lin patted the little guy's head helplessly. He understood, of course, that Angela's anger wasn't because of the fat merchant, but because it had been a very long time since the little guy had... well, for Vampire Species who had been longing for the pleasure of being alive again, it had become rather unbearable. Moreover, with everyone running around both the surface and underground, Angela and her sisters hadn't had a chance to drink blood in a long time either. However, Li Lin was also very busy during this period, so he could only temporarily ignore the little guy's desire...

"I should thank you. If you hadn't killed so many subterranean creatures along this path, our journey wouldn't have been so smooth."

During their last entry into the underground passage, Li Lin, Angela, and the others were attacked by numerous underground monsters. However, they managed to eliminate most of them. Now it seems that Li Lin and his companions' "bloody suppression" is having some effect on those underground creatures.

"Master? How is Nia doing?"

"Nia hasn't contacted us, which means there shouldn't be any problems."

Li Lin was 90% confident about this matter. After all, Maya was backed by the God of Elves pantheon, while the other Dark Elf, having lost the Spider Queen's protection, were unable to use divine magic—a significant advantage in itself. Add to that the Eternal Library that restored their power, and even if the Dark Elf were confident in influencing some god of Hell, unless the Lord of the Nine Hells himself came, they would be evenly matched with the Eight Demon Generals and Nia. Moreover, mages are masters of escape; if Nia didn't possess such abilities, she would likely have been captured long ago within the last thousand years.

Moreover, her personality is most similar to Li Lin's; she never asks for help unless she's absolutely certain. Therefore, for others, the lack of news about their companion might be bad news. But for Li Lin, the lack of news about Nia is good news. If she were to suddenly arrive on the way to report for some reason, that would be a huge problem.

Apart from a few mercenaries who had previously accompanied Li Lin and were somewhat familiar with the area, the rest of the mercenaries wore expressions of extreme tension. After all, even these mercenaries, who had experienced many adventurous journeys, had never been to such a dangerous place as the Black Road before. They cautiously observed the surrounding darkness and the caves that led to unknown destinations, so dark that not a single ray of light could be seen inside, as if something might rush out at any moment.

The experienced mercenaries, however, weren't as nervous as their colleagues. Li Lin's earlier decision was now paying off; whenever the caravan rested, they would boast to the others about everything that had happened since they followed Li Lin into the Black Road. Especially the later stages, when hordes of underground monsters attacked them, but this powerful mage simply waved his hand and killed hundreds upon hundreds (of course, exaggerated figures are always exaggerated, and the limited underground environment dictates that no race could possess such a powerful reproductive capacity) of monsters.

"You know, those guys' hides are thicker than my armor. Look at that mage, he just waved his hand casually, and that unfortunate monster fell to the ground, howled twice, and then went silent..."

The Finger of Death is to ignore...

Li Lin opened his mouth, but ultimately had no choice but to let them have their way. After all, this kind of magical knowledge was completely useless to these mercenaries. As long as they enjoyed listening, they wouldn't care about the difference between Finger of Death and Power Word Kill —they could both kill, wasn't that enough?

Sometimes, this kind of thinking can be quite simple and helpful.

As the mercenaries spoke, Li Lin and his companions' image within the caravan underwent a significant change. They grew increasingly respectful of this man who appeared to be a harmless scholar, greeting Li Lin with utmost deference even on ordinary days. After all, having such a powerful mage on their side was a rare opportunity. Furthermore, as the caravan ventured deeper into the region, the corpses of the magical beasts killed by Angela and Li Lin appeared in large numbers, further enhancing their credibility and intimidating presence.

Of course, these mercenaries also made sure to keep their distance from Angela. After all, their accounts not only described the powerful magic of Li Lin and Nia, but also highlighted Angela's ferocious, cruel, and terrifying fighting style. Even if they couldn't imagine how the little one faced those terrifying and tough monsters, just recalling her battles against those Kudel soldiers was enough to make even the most idiotic mercenary keep their mouths shut in front of her.

However, the mercenaries' overly pragmatic approach put pressure on Angela. She couldn't find anything to criticize, causing the little one's stress to build up. Eventually, Angela found a way to vent: whenever the caravan rested, she would drag Mina to the depths of deserted caves to kill whatever they could find to release their stress and frustration. Since this also helped protect the caravan's surroundings, Li Lin was happy to let her do it. The fat merchant didn't know why Angela and Mina left the caravan during rest periods, but he didn't dare ask Li Lin.

During this time, Fina's enthusiasm for magic grew even stronger. Having witnessed the power of magic firsthand in the Kasos City, she seemed to be deeply moved and began to study magic even more diligently than before. Li Lin naturally welcomed such a dedicated student.

"Your magical perception is getting stronger and stronger."

Li Lin watched Fina diligently copying notes and spoke.

"Starting tomorrow, I will teach you more advanced spells... Although I'd like to say this, avoiding rashness is the most important thing for a mage. You should first review everything I've taught you so far, and only continue practicing after you're sure your skills are stable."

"Yes, Master."

Listening to Li Lin's teachings, Fina nodded earnestly. She picked up her pen and began to write in her spellbook. Li Lin gazed at her obedient and lovely, yet somewhat pale, face and her serious expression, and couldn't help but smile slightly. However, Fina's writing speed soon slowed down, and her expression became somewhat sad and distressed.

"What's wrong?"

"... No, it's nothing, Master."

Faced with Li Lin's question, Fina shook her head vigorously.

"I just suddenly remembered that I used to record things in the same way back in the Temple..."

She didn't finish speaking, but Li Lin already understood what Fina meant.

Where are your parents?

He stared at the fire and asked, feigning nonchalance.

"... I no longer have parents."

Fina bit her lower lip.

"My sister understands, and I understand too... we..."

"It's very painful?"

Li Lin interrupted Fina, his voice unchanged, but Fina immediately felt her body stiffen on the spot.

"If you're in a lot of pain, then I can kill you."

What are you saying...?

"I'm serious."

Li Lin gestured for Fina to wait until he finished speaking.

"That's right. Theoretically speaking, you are no longer alive; you are dead. You are now undead... Perhaps this is a different type from what you banished or encountered before, but it is the same thing. Your bodies are dead; you can feel that your heart no longer beats, and your blood no longer flows. So, now, do you feel sorry for yourself?"

"I..."

Li Lin's question was so direct that Fina stood there dumbfounded.

"You may indeed be pitiful, but it means nothing to us. Fina... you must understand, what Angela wants are two people who can faithfully carry out her orders, not two fools who wallow in self-pity and struggle with pain and contradictions. 'If you're going to do it, do it well,' is her favorite saying. Now that you've become vampires, what's the point of reminiscing about the past? You no longer experience birth, aging, sickness, and death like ordinary people. If you continue to see yourselves as human, then some of Angela's orders will definitely cause you pain... I don't want any destabilizing factors, and besides, your choices will no longer be understood by humans."

As he spoke, Li Lin stood up.

"Mina has made her choice, and I won't interfere. But it's different for you, Fina. You are my student, and it's my responsibility to care about your choice. I will give you enough time to think it over, and then tell me your decision. Don't forget, you are a mage."

"..."

Fina opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then lowered her head uneasily. Although her personality had changed drastically since becoming a vampire, some ingrained traits were not so easily transferred.

"Owner!"

Just as Li Lin turned to leave, another voice suddenly rang out. Mina appeared from the darkness, looked around, and then quickly walked to Li Lin's side, lowering her voice to report to him.

Miss Angela has gone missing!

"Missing?"

Hearing this, Li Lin was somewhat surprised.

"This is underground... where could she have gone?"

"I don't know either, but she has indeed disappeared."

Mina quickly explained what had happened to Li Lin: As usual, she and Angela were fighting underground monsters to "release stress" and "improve their strength" when they suddenly came across a beautiful cave. Unlike ordinary underground caves, it was filled with plants emitting a soft glow. Angela was very excited upon seeing this and immediately decided to explore it. However, after turning a corner, Mina couldn't find Angela anywhere. She had called out to Angela, but the little one didn't respond. Furthermore, the cave's terrain was unusually complex, so Mina decisively decided to retreat quickly, leaving the problem to Li Lin. After all, finding someone is always much easier for a mage.

There's really no way around it.

Li Lin thought about it carefully, shrugged helplessly, and then stood up.

"Looks like I'll have to go check it out myself."

As he spoke, he turned to the sisters and gave them instructions.

"You stay here and protect the caravan. I have a feeling the little guy wouldn't just disappear so easily."

In some ways, he guessed right.