The Genius Mage

However, this was not bad. Was she not sent by Lance to help the village?

“Did something happen here? We’re not too sure. But, Elder, can you tell us? We’ll definitely do our best to help.” Audrey gave Cole a meaningful glance, stood in front of him, and chatted with the Elder.

Only then did the Elder put away his puzzled expression and let out a deep sigh, he said, “Not long ago, some mysterious people came here. I don’t know what kind of bewitching potion they gave the villagers. Everyone started to become strange. The kind and simple village from before is no longer there.”

“Mysterious people? What do they look like?” Audrey frowned.

“They were all wearing masks when they first arrived, so I couldn’t see them clearly. Later on, they moved into the villagers’ homes and rarely came out. I haven’t seen them much either,” the Elder said meaningfully.

Audrey’s eyes deepened as she listened.

Those mysterious people lived in the villagers’ homes. No wonder the villagers were not willing to let them stay over. There must be a reason for the mysterious people. What were their motives?

Audrey could not help but feel worried for the villagers after having such close contact with them.

“Then, how do you want us to help?” Audrey continued asking, wanting to see if the Elder had any good ideas.

However, what the Elder knew was only one-sided. He did not have any concrete ideas. He only said, “I hope that you can chase those people away and let the villagers return to normal.”

Although it was just a simple sentence, Audrey knew that there might be a lot of implications involved. When the Elder said that they were all wearing masks, Audrey’s mind flashed with the image of a person. It was a mysterious person in royal blue clothes.

Was the mysterious person here related to the man in royal blue clothes?

“Leave this matter to us for the time being. However, we might need some time to investigate it clearly. When the time comes, we might need the Elder’s cooperation.” Audrey thought for a moment and said in a serious tone.

“Alright, I’ll definitely cooperate with you. Thank you very much.”

Audrey did not say anything. She only took out the frost bead and handed it to the Elder. When the Elder saw the frost bead, his eyes lit up instantly. Then, he placed the frost bead on the ice platform.

The ice platform instantly emitted a blue light and began to surround the cold air in the village.

“After the frost bead was taken away by the Blazing Flame Beast, the village became much colder. Fortunately, you guys took it back,” the Elder said gratefully.

Audrey nodded slightly. Remembering what the Blazing Flame Beast had said, she decided to ask the Elder.

“The Blazing Flame Beast said that it stole the ice bead because the villagers wanted to take away its beast core. It had no choice but to do so. Elder, do you know what happened?”

“It’s strange to say this.” The Elder sighed and stroked his beard gently, he said thoughtfully, “The Blazing Flame Beast has guarded this place for a hundred years. It has always gotten along well with the villagers. Usually, everyone would send it some food. However, ever since the mysterious person came, everyone wanted to take away the Blazing Flame Beast’s beast core.

“That day, the villagers drugged the Blazing Flame Beast and tied it up to take away its beast core. The Blazing Flame Beast had extraordinary abilities. After struggling, it escaped and took away the frost bead.”

So that’s how it was.

Audrey nodded in realization. No wonder the Blazing Flame Beast would do this. It was because it had received such treatment from the villagers. The villagers who had been friendly with each other had suddenly acted this way. The Blazing Flame Beast must have felt that the villagers were unscrupulous and had betrayed it.

Fortunately, the Blazing Flame Beast still had a certain amount of goodwill, which was why it had agreed to trade with her.

It could be seen that the Blazing Flame Beast itself was not bad. It was just that it had been forced into a corner by the villagers.

“I understand. Thank you for informing me, Elder. We’ll head back first.” Audrey nodded, smiled gratefully, and left with the others.

“Audrey, are we really going to stay behind and help?” On the way, Klein asked worriedly. The situation here seemed to be much more complicated than they had imagined. Staying behind would be dangerous.

Audrey nodded and snorted, “Since we’re already here and know about this matter, we have to resolve it. Otherwise, do you think that the mission is as simple as getting the frost bead?”

“That makes sense. It’s not reasonable for us to get the frost bead so easily,” Cole echoed from the side.

“Yes, we still have to help Audrey get the bracelet back,” Kate added.

If they wanted to get the bracelet back, they had to solve the problem between the villagers and the Blazing Flame Beast. The prerequisite was that they had to solve the mystery man’s problem. This was related, so Audrey and the others had to stay behind.

After knocking on the door yesterday and failing to stay overnight, Audrey still wanted to test the waters today.

Therefore, they found a few more houses and went up to knock on the door. The reason was that they had come from afar and wanted to enter the house to rest for a while and ask for water.

“There’s no water here.”

“It’s not very convenient.”

…

The villagers still gave the same excuse, but the villagers who came out today looked much better than yesterday. They also looked like normal cultivators.

“It’s still not working. If we don’t go in, we won’t know what they are doing inside,” Hobart said.

Audrey thought the same, so she had to think of a way to go in and observe.

Audrey looked carefully at the houses around her. Most of them were of the type of houses with a courtyard. If she could go into the courtyard, she might be able to see the daily lives of the villagers.

“Wait for me here. I’ll go take a look.” As she said that, Audrey flashed and left. She quietly came to the courtyard of a villager’s house.

The door of the house was closed, but she could vaguely see someone inside through the window. Audrey tiptoed over and quietly observed.

Inside the house, there was a strange aura. It was not a combat aura, nor was it magic.

Could it really be a demonic aura?

Audrey did not have a good understanding of demonic aura, so she naturally did not know much about its aura. She could only rely on guesses.

“Not bad. You’ve made great progress recently. I believe that you’ll be able to breakthrough in another week.” A gloomy voice came from inside the room.