Li Xi kept his gaze fixed on these mercenaries. As the night deepened, he noticed they shed their earlier indolence and began patrolling with a sense of preparedness. Their movements were fixed, never impeding each other, as if pre-assigned.
Servants and the butler, taking advantage of the fading light, also departed, leaving only the mercenaries within the estate.
Time crept towards midnight. Without any unusual occurrences, many mercenaries, accustomed to the routine, found spots to sleep. Li Xi, too, tightened his clothes and closed his eyes to rest.
Another two hours passed. During the deepest part of sleep before dawn, Li Xi's ears twitched slightly. A faint, mournful sound seemed to reach him, like a wronged woman seeking her unfaithful lover.
He opened his eyes to pitch darkness, with only the glow of a few bonfires breaking the gloom. Today, for some unknown reason, thick clouds had obscured the moonlight and starlight, allowing no illumination to descend.
The sound gradually grew louder, waking the other mercenaries. Yawning and holding torches, they began to patrol. Two mercenaries were close to Li Xi, and their conversation was clear to him.
"What's this noise? It happens every day. Sounds like a prostitute begging for mercy."
"Heh, I think you've frequented brothels too much. You hear everything like that. Hurry up, do a round, and if you find nothing, go back to sleep."
"Alright, it'll be light in two more hours. Just endure it."
From their words, it was evident that this wasn't their first time on this mission; they were intimately familiar with the situation. If not for the system's need to check mission completion, Li Xi would have preferred to just coast through. However, in case of any discovery, he quietly slipped away from the corner. He evaded the other mercenaries, searching meticulously for clues, but found nothing.
Li Xi frowned. The mournful sound was now quite loud, as if someone were speaking normally beside his ear. Such a commotion had roused all the mercenaries, turning the previously quiet estate into a hubbub. Amidst this lively scene, Li Xi felt something was amiss. Recalling his steps since entering the estate that morning, he suddenly remembered the eight dogs. There was no sound from them at all.
He crept over and saw the eight large dogs sound asleep, utterly unaffected by the uproar, showing no sign of waking. Li Xi approached and examined them closely. There was nothing outwardly unusual; they looked like any normal sleeping dogs. He patted a dog's head, but none reacted. He suspected they had been drugged or controlled, as killing them now wouldn't even stir them.
The mercenaries continued their search but, after two thorough checks, relaxed their vigilance and returned to the bonfires, resuming their idle chatter. Li Xi had also conducted his own search, finding no anomalies. This was to be expected; countless mercenaries had been here before, and many had failed to find anything. It would have been strange if Li Xi could discover it in one go.
With the situation as it was, Li Xi felt helpless and considered returning to his corner to pass the time. As he walked past the villa entrance, he saw Frank and his companions leaning back-to-back, sleeping, with no intention of getting up to investigate. Seeing this, Li Xi shook his head. "Old hands, just trying to get by, avoiding trouble whenever possible."
Just as Li Xi was about to walk away, he suddenly thought of something. He turned to look at Frank and his group, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes, and slowly approached them. He got so close that he could feel the warmth from the bonfire, yet the men remained motionless.
As Li Xi was about to move closer, Frank suddenly stood up, his hand on the dagger at his waist, and asked Li Xi with a smile, "Little brother, did you discover something?"
Li Xi stopped, his gaze on the defensive Frank. He waved his hand. "I'm alone. I heard the noise and got a little scared. I wanted to join you."
Frank's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Our Brave Mercenary group isn't large, and we don't have the capacity to help you, little brother. Perhaps you could try other mercenaries?"
"Since it's inconvenient for you, I'll find a place to lie low. Dawn is almost here anyway." Li Xi chuckled, but his eyes swept over the faces of the other three. They were sleeping soundly behind Frank, undisturbed by their conversation. Frank saw Li Xi glancing at his companions and stepped forward to block Li Xi's view, his threat evident in his gaze.
Li Xi offered a disarming smile and turned to leave. Frank watched Li Xi depart, his hand hovering over his dagger several times before he finally put it away, as if remembering something.
Li Xi quickly found another corner to hide in, his suspicion of Frank deepening significantly. With the commotion in the estate, how could those three sleep so soundly? And even after he approached and spoke extensively with their leader, they remained completely unresponsive. If they weren't involved, Li Xi would have dared to eat his shoes. If there had been no previous discoveries, he might have let it go. But now that a problem was clearly present, Li Xi couldn't let it slide.
Using the bonfire's light, he watched Frank return to his seat, his head lolling as he fell asleep. After observing for a while, he found they genuinely seemed asleep, with no reaction at all. Li Xi muttered in surprise, "They fall asleep that fast?" He watched for a moment longer and then noticed something abnormal: the chests of Frank and the other three showed no rise and fall, as if they were dead.
Seeing that the other mercenaries hadn't noticed this development, Li Xi moved within seven meters, formed hand seals, "Un-Hai-Chou-Xu-Yin," and whispered, "Body Replacement Technique." A wooden stick beside the steps at the entrance instantly vanished, and at the same moment, Li Xi appeared there. His footsteps landed softly on the ground, less than two meters from Frank and his group. Li Xi crouched low behind the steps, holding his breath, afraid of being discovered by Frank and the others. After half a minute, they remained motionless.
"Whoosh." He let out a quiet breath and cautiously moved closer to examine the four men. Unlike from a distance where he could only see their chests not moving, upon closer inspection, through the gaps in their armor, their bodies seemed to be composed of swirling smoke. The smoke filled out the armor, making them appear normal in the darkness, revealing no abnormalities unless one was very close. They were clearly a group of puppets; the real individuals were long gone.
With this discovery, the mission had a breakthrough. However, Li Xi didn't want to proceed alone. Facing four opponents, his chances of winning were too slim. He looked at the mercenaries scattered in other locations and had an idea. Suddenly, he shouted, drawing everyone's attention. "Ah, Frank, it's you causing trouble! Using a few puppets to deceive us, what a wicked scheme."
Then, he shot out four steel needles, obliterating the smoke puppets. The four sets of armor clattered to the ground. Li Xi then clutched his arm, crying out, "You used traps, and poison too! You just wait!" With that, Li Xi ran, disappearing into the darkness within a few steps.
The other mercenaries rushed over to investigate. A few experienced ones quickly grasped the truth. "Frank and his group used puppet magic to cover their tracks, surely up to no good. That little mercenary who discovered their ploy and was poisoned likely won't survive the night."
"Brothers, let's spread out and search. If we find them, it's at least one gold coin!" The lure of wealth, a substantial sum, ignited excitement. Now that there was a lead, and it wasn't something they couldn't handle themselves – just four ordinary mercenaries – they were overjoyed. Capturing Frank and his group would elevate their commission from one silver coin to one gold coin, a hundredfold profit. Those who didn't dare were simply fools.
Before long, someone made a discovery. "There's a tunnel under these steps, looks like it leads to the basement." Others came over and, after sniffing the air, made their assessment. "This tunnel was just dug. It must have been Frank and his crew doing this recently. No wonder they insisted everyone work separately, claiming it was for efficiency. They were up to no good."
A slightly older mercenary began to give orders. "The agile ones, come with me. The rest, stay up here and guard the passage, don't let anyone escape." The others chose their positions and followed the older mercenary down. Li Xi hid in a small garden not far away, watching their actions. Soon, the sounds of weapons clashing echoed from underground.
He had expected these four to be no match for over twenty mercenaries. To his surprise, within a minute of engagement, mercenaries were screaming in death. The situation escalated, and the older mercenary's voice, laced with terror, boomed from underground. "They have been defiled by abyssal energy, quickly go to the temple and find a priest!"
The moment "abyss" was uttered, over half of the remaining mercenaries on the surface bolted, fleeing faster than ever. Before leaving, these escapees shouted, "You stall Frank and his gang, we'll go to the temple and find a priest immediately!" Only four remained to guard the passage, their faces pale and their weapons gripped tightly. If their companions weren't down there, they would have fled too.
Li Xi's current body lacked specific knowledge about the abyss, only hearsay. Infected by abyssal energy, one supposedly turned into a berserk killer, devoid of reason, and only priests and bishops could kill them. Li Xi harbored doubts about this. If it were true that only priests and clergy could kill abyssal creatures, the main plane would have been overrun long ago. How could it have repelled the abyss? Therefore, he believed the rumors were unreliable. Not being able to kill them simply meant insufficient attack power. Li Xi bolstered his resolve, took out two steel needles, and waited, listening intently to the sounds from the tunnel.
Aside from the screams of dying mercenaries, he could hear non-human roars, tinged with a hint of excitement. Without a doubt, these were Frank and his companions. Ten minutes crawled by slowly. The sounds from the tunnel gradually faded. The four mercenaries at the tunnel entrance nervously pointed their weapons at the opening and cautiously asked, "Big brother, are you still there?"
The answer was a spinning dagger, or rather, a curved blade. Two curved blades shot out from the tunnel, instantly embedding themselves in two mercenaries. Half the men on the ground were immediately incapacitated. The remaining two could no longer hold back. With a scream, they turned and ran. But it was too late. A man with blood-red eyes and a ferocious grin crawled out of the tunnel. Though his features were altered, he could still be recognized as Frank. As soon as Frank emerged, he pulled the curved blades from the mercenaries' bodies and swiftly approached the two fleeing men. Two spurts of blood sprayed out, and they too fell to the ground.
Li Xi, hidden in the garden, dared not even breathe. The mercenaries should have been of comparable strength, yet here, four were dispatched in a single second. This meant Frank's power had increased significantly. Li Xi held his breath, watching Frank while also observing the tunnel entrance, wondering if anyone else would emerge. No one did. It seemed Frank's remaining three companions had perished along with the dozen or so mercenaries.
Just as Li Xi was contemplating hiding until the temple priest arrived, he saw Frank's gaze drift towards him. A playful smile spread across his face. "So, you little mouse didn't run. In that case, I'll grant your wish, and let you remember in the abyss not to be so curious."