Chapter Sixteen: The Hidden Dagger and Sword

  The business district was as prosperous as ever, with a nearly fifty-meter-wide street lined with shops and stalls on both sides, while the pedestrian path was crowded with vendors. The road was filled with all sorts of horse-drawn carriages, ox carts, pedestrians coming and going, hawkers' cries, horses' neighs, conversations, all intertwined, creating a bustling scene.

  Looking at this prosperous scene, Luo Lin couldn't help but sigh: "Who would have thought that a year later, the bright pearl would be covered in dust, and this city and scenery would be reduced to ashes by the beastmen, filled with corpses?"

  The world is ever-changing, ordinary people can only follow the trend, to master their own destiny, they must possess legendary power, insightful wisdom, and a group of like-minded friends with shared ideals.

  "Can I do it?" Luo Lin asked himself in his heart, with no answer. He could only try his best to fight on.

  He walked along the roadside stalls, specifically picking out those selling wetland herbs. Along the way, he bought a little of this and that, and four of Luo Lin's five silver coins were spent in exchange for a pile of herbs.

  After obtaining the herbs, Luo Lin went to a alchemy equipment rental shop and after some persuasion, he successfully spent one silver coin to rent basic alchemy equipment for an hour, then he began to rush against time to refine the medicine.

  Rhubarb, fallen leaves flower, yellow jasmine, dragon blood orchid... Various herbs were processed by Luo Lin using various methods and then put into a fire crystal bottle for distillation, condensation, taking forty minutes to obtain half a bottle of amber-colored thick liquid.

  This is a Fire Snake Potion, a low-grade power burst potion that is extremely effective on ordinary people, but has intense side effects.

  Fire, meaning fierce power, after taking it, can double one's strength in a short period of time!

  Snake, meaning this highly toxic, the price of a surge in power means the consumption of life potential. After the medicine takes effect, the user will fall into an extremely weak state. According to individual physical conditions, the recovery time after the event is short for half a month and long for half a year, which can be seen from its huge side effects.

  Now in crisis, Luo Lin couldn't care about that anymore. At the critical moment, he would drink this medicine without hesitation.

  With only twenty minutes left on the rental time, Luo Lin began to refine another potion in a rush. This was also a low-grade potion, which had a slightly higher difficulty than the basic potion, but it wasn't something that could stump Luo Lin.

  After messing around with various herbs for fifteen minutes, Luo Lin obtained a small bottle of clear liquid.

  Low-grade medicine: Mandarin Duck Water, this name sounds like **, but actually is **. Why is it called Mandarin Duck? Because pure Mandarin Duck water is non-toxic and colorless and odorless, but if combined with a medicinal guide, toxicity will immediately erupt, although not to the point of immediate death, but enough to make people paralyzed and lose their combat effectiveness.

  Luolin chose this medicine because the materials were simple, but more importantly, the toxicity was controllable. This bottle of medicine was used to deal with the traitor in Davie's villa.

  Yes, in the game, when Luo Lin was doing tasks, there were clues indicating that there was a traitor in the villa, but who it was specifically, because too much time had passed, could no longer be queried.

  But now he has become Davy's guard, and from his brief contacts with various guards before, Lolin realizes that the person most suspected of being a traitor is none other than Harin, the 15th-level guard!

  Although he has no evidence now, this suspicion is enough for him to make corresponding preparations.

  The medicine guide for the Mandarin Duck Water is very simple, just dry the tender buds of the blackthorn and grind them into powder. Luo Lin bought this thing, but it was only the tender buds that hadn't been dried yet. The rental time for the alchemy equipment here wasn't much longer, and the boss had already started knocking on the door to urge people out. Luo Lin couldn't do anything about it, so he slipped away.

  It doesn't matter, the tender shoots can be dried anywhere, and there is a fireplace in the guard's quarters at Davie Villa, where a fire is still burning, so it's also possible to dry them when I get back.

  It's already past two in the afternoon, and assassins usually strike at night, so it's highly likely that tonight is the night. Roland knows he doesn't have much time left, so he rushes out of the rental place, sprinting all the way from the commercial district to the seaside villa in the dock area, a distance of seven or eight miles, which takes him less than ten minutes.

  The guard at the villa gate saw his panting appearance and frowned: "Young man, why are you in such a hurry?"

  "Hehe, I've finished dealing with my personal matters, so hurry back quickly and get familiar with things a bit earlier." Luo Lin said.

  "Hmm, you're quite thoughtful." The guard replied perfunctorily and let Luo Lin into the villa.

  Rolin first went to the guard's dormitory and put the tender shoots of blackthorn into an iron can, which was placed on the edge of the fireplace.

  This dormitory is a large room with five beds, originally four, but Luo Lin came, so one of them was newly added. Inside, there was a guard resting, who found Luo Lin's actions very strange: "Young man, what are you drying?"

  "Oh, it's the tender shoots of blackthorn, used to treat lung diseases. Now that spring is quite chilly, I'm afraid of catching a lung disease, so I'm using this as a precaution." Luo Lin explained with a smile, and what he said was true - these tender shoots were indeed a medicinal herb for treating pneumonia.

  "You're quite thoughtful." The guard didn't care much about this; his body was robust and he never got sick.

  After dealing with the tender shoots, Luo Lin still had some time to chat with the guard. The guard was also bored and started chatting nonsense with Luo Lin.

  The guard was about thirty-five or six years old, named Wager, and Roland called him Uncle Wager. He himself claimed to be a junior, and his words and manner were very respectful, which made Wager very satisfied. As long as Roland brought up the topic, he would speak without hesitation, saying everything he knew.

  After chatting for more than an hour, Luo Lin quietly got many details from Wager's mouth that outsiders could hardly know about the villa, and also had a deeper understanding of his employer Davie's daily life.

  "Hmm, Ge Wei Uncle, I'm still not familiar with the situation in the villa. It's almost your turn to be on duty, take me with you, okay?" Luo Lin pleaded.

  "Of course, no problem." Gwav felt good about this young man because he was very respectful of him.

  At this time, the buds had also been dried, and Luo Lin rubbed them slightly with his fingers, and all the dry buds turned into powder.

  The medicine for the mandarin duck water has also been improved, and next is to go down with poison.

  Ge Wada's shift change time has also arrived, and Luo Lin followed him, starting a patrol in the villa.

  All the way, Gwav uncle told Rolin in detail what to do and what to pay attention to, letting him benefit a lot.

  "This is the garden, Miss likes flowers and often comes here to relax. So any flaws in the garden should be eliminated in time, when Miss is here, we should keep quiet as much as possible and not disturb her."

  "The backyard is right in front of the young lady's alchemy lab window, and it also needs to be quiet because the young lady spends most of her time inside. If she gets distracted, it will be very dangerous." Uncle Gwav said this while trying to lower his voice as much as possible.

  "And also that one, it's the location of the back door. Every morning, the vegetable vendors will deliver ingredients there. When the chef is selecting vegetables, we need to stand guard there too. The safety of the food is also our responsibility."

  "The third floor is where Miss's bedroom is located, and it is guarded by Captain Harin. Unless absolutely necessary, do not go up there under any circumstances."

  "And here..."

  Luolin followed Gwav uncle to patrol the past, and soon he would be familiar with the layout of the villa, including the situation on the third floor. Because Gwav uncle said that the layout of the third floor was similar to that of the second floor.

  After a round of inspection, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky had darkened. It was time for dinner. Although it was a bit early, Luo Lin's stomach was growling with hunger. Ge Wada, being considerate, took Luo Lin to the dining hall for dinner.

  There are several dining rooms in the villa, one for the guards, one for the servants, and one exclusively for Davy.

  Luo Lin was a guard. His dining hall was in the side hall on the first floor of the villa, and the side hall was not large. There was a long table in it, with two long wooden benches on both sides.

  Luolin and Ge Wa arrived a bit early, the dishes had not been served yet, Luolin said: "Uncle, I'm extremely hungry, go to the kitchen to hurry them up."

  "Suit yourself." Gwav Uncle nodded and continued sitting on the bench waiting patiently.

  Rolin came out of the dining room and just entered the corridor when he saw two maids walking towards him with food, a large pot of stewed potato meat soup and a bowl of cheese.

  Luolin saw the maid struggling to carry a steaming hot pot, and immediately stepped forward saying: "Auntie, let me help you."

  "Oh, don't bother..."

  Luolin snatched the pot from the other person's hand without hesitation, then smiled and said: "No trouble, no trouble, I'm starving, let me take it first."

  His wife saw him looking extremely hungry and couldn't help but laugh: "Go on, go on, look at how hungry you are."

  The young man has a big appetite and is never hungry, she understands.

  Luolin ran into the dining room with a pot of soup, halfway through, he poured half of the swan water into the soup, and left the other half as a precaution, because he didn't know if Harlin's food was the same as theirs.

  When Lao Lin arrived at the restaurant, he realized he had been worrying too much, because Harlin was also there, waiting for dinner to start.

  Before long, the cheese arrived, and each guard got a block, plus a generous helping of stewed meat soup - that was dinner. Hal ate about the same as the other guards, but with some differences: his cheese had delicious butter on it, and he also got an extra serving of fried beef, though he drank the same stewed meat soup.

  More than twenty minutes later, the guards finished their meal. Luo Lin took a closer look at Ha Lin and saw that his face had become rosier, as were the other guards. This was exactly the sign of having drunk the Mandarin Duck Water, because this medicine could make people's blood vessels relax, and without any poison, it would even be a tonic.

  "Rolin, I suppose Wagar has already familiarized you with the villa. Tonight, at midnight, you and Wolington will take turns keeping watch." Harin instructed.

  Luolin was taken aback, the night watch was relatively difficult to pass, he was a newcomer on his first day... He felt a sense of alarm and thought of a possibility, that an assassination would occur tonight, and he was also one of the targets!

  "Rolin, is there something wrong?" Harin felt discontent as Rolin didn't respond for a long time.

  "Yes, Captain." Luo Lin responded, if there was indeed an assassination tonight, then such an arrangement would be just what he wanted!