madnovel Chapter 124 Unexpected Gains
Chapter 124 Unexpected Gains
Chapter 124 Unexpected Gains
After Kane sent men to interrogate the prisoners and extract information, the group immediately mounted the horses they had brought and galloped towards the wooden fortress.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
Theresa had just bitten through the rope with her teeth and was frantically untying herself, leaving many wounds on her body from the ropes.
She gritted her teeth, picked up a kitchen knife from the table and gripped it tightly. Standing barefoot in place, her expression shifted for a moment before she turned and walked deeper into the room instead of heading towards the door.
The gentle voice in her heart rang out again: "Risa, let's leave as soon as possible, before they come back."
Theresa gritted her teeth and hissed, "Shut up! You kidnapped me, how are we going to leave without getting some money? And where can we go if we leave?"
She paused, then added, "Besides, they haven't come back for so long, maybe something happened to them."
Upon hearing this, the gentle voice fell silent.
Theresa continued into the room, where a strong stench and blood filled the air. There were many corpses lying on the ground, some of which were already rotting and decaying, clearly other ritual offerings.
She frowned, enduring the pungent smell as she searched around. Suddenly, her eyes lit up—several boxes were placed not far away.
"There's money!" she thought with delight, and quickly went to open the box, but her brows furrowed instantly; the box was empty.
She flipped through several more, but they were still empty.
Having gained nothing, she cursed the elves a few times, thinking to herself, "Has someone beaten me to it? Could there be a traitor among us?"
Before she could finish speaking, a horse neighed outside the door. She immediately looked out and saw a masked man mount a horse, carrying a bulging bag, and ride straight into the night and escape.
"Damn it!" Theresa cursed, but the gentle voice finally couldn't help but laugh.
Theresa cursed a couple more times, then quickly found a set of clothes to put on, changed her dagger, hastily collected some silver coins, and rushed out of the room into the night.
But as soon as she reached the entrance of the stronghold, she froze, her expression changing drastically.
Using the half-elf's dark vision, she saw a dozen horses galloping toward her from afar.
"Oh no!" Without thinking, she turned and ran, randomly choosing a direction to escape.
Kane sat on horseback, somewhat clumsily controlling the horse. His riding skills were poor; he had been taught at the last minute before setting off and could only follow at the back of the group.
The prisoners were bound hand and foot and led along on horseback by mercenaries.
Just then, a horse galloped up to Kane's side. The skinny mercenary reined in the horse and said to Kane, "Boss, someone escaped over there, and it was a woman."
Kane looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a slender figure running frantically in the darkness. A thought struck him; he felt that the figure looked somewhat familiar.
"Take her with your men," Kane ordered in a deep voice.
Upon hearing the order, the skinny mercenary nodded, selected a few mercenaries with good horsemanship, and rode off together in pursuit.
Before long, the woman resisted a few times but was subdued by the mercenaries and brought before Kane, whose hands and feet were once again tightly bound.
The moment Kane saw the person who had arrived, he was completely stunned—this was the "Theresa" he had been searching for, the woman of dreams.
Theresa was in a terrible state, her clothes were disheveled, her hair was loose, and she was covered in dust and grime.
Kane's lips twitched involuntarily; he was momentarily at a loss for words, both amused and exasperated.
He went to great lengths to capture this man, not only personally going out to test him but also seeking information from the Dark Brotherhood's underground contacts.
As far as he knew, Mrs. Ella's Finafenne family had also been looking for this Dream Lady, but had never been able to find her.
But now, he found the person so easily, and in such a disheveled state, that he couldn't help but wonder if he had found the wrong person.
He recalled the descriptions of dream-like demons in "The Ritual of Abyss Worship," gave Theresa a deep look, reined in his horse, leaned closer, and asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"
Theresa looked at the unfamiliar drow elf before her, her heart filled with doubt. Her gaze unconsciously drifted to the prisoners behind the group, then she forced a smile and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, I am an innocent victim. My name is Vera. Thank you for saving me. I hope you will let me go."
"Vera?"
Kane's expression shifted slightly, while the mercenaries beside him watched indifferently, their faces showing a hint of mockery.
"Okay." Kane suddenly smiled, and just as Theresa breathed a sigh of relief, he changed the subject.
"However, I need to prove first that you are not a remnant of the Bloodline Purification Society."
Theresa chuckled dryly, then hurriedly explained, "I'm just an ordinary person—"
Kane ignored her explanation and clapped his hands lightly.
Soon, two mercenaries stepped forward and ruthlessly retied Theresa.
Theresa tried to shout, but a mercenary grabbed a rag and stuffed it into her mouth.
Without lingering any longer, the group, along with their horses and prisoners, entered the wooden fortress.
Seeing the ballistae set up at the entrance, the expressions of the mercenaries changed slightly. A greedy glint flashed in the fat mercenary's eyes as he spoke:
.
This thing is worth a lot of money!
Kane's eyes flickered slightly, but he remained silent.
The skinny mercenary then spoke up: "But there's a lot of trouble behind this thing, and the Dark Brotherhood probably won't take it."
"We'll take them back directly to the Noble Council and just say we wiped out the Bloodline Purification Society's stronghold."
Upon hearing this, the fat mercenary's greedy expression froze instantly, and then, as if he had thought of something, he reluctantly shut his mouth.
Kane had a slight thought, and looking at the group of mercenaries, he said, "When you return this time, just give my share of the reward to Sophia when you submit your missions."
As for the matter of wiping out the Bloodline Purification Society, you just need to collect your bounty; there's no need to publicize it or cause any unnecessary trouble.
The chubby mercenary asked, looking puzzled, "Boss, why?"
Kane said calmly, "An organization with a history of over a hundred years was so easily wiped out just because a second-tier member died?"
He knew very well that the "deterrence" prompt on the task panel only meant that the Bloodline Purification Society would not dare to target him again, and did not require him to completely eliminate the organization.
This indicates that the Bloodline Purification Society still has a foundation, and there is likely a group of members who have become official members of the nobility.
As for the stronghold he destroyed, it was merely a facade.
"Go in. Apart from the spellbooks and enchanted equipment, all the other valuables inside are yours."
After Kane finished speaking, he dismounted first. The mercenaries nodded in agreement and led the prisoner into the stronghold.
Immediately afterwards, the Bloodline Purification Society's prisoners were taken inside the stronghold, and the mercenaries followed his instructions to find places where valuables were hidden.
But everyone discovered that all the most precious jewels and gold were gone, and the mercenaries' faces instantly turned grim.
They came to participate in this mission with the expectation of obtaining valuables.
However, their expressions improved slightly when they broke open a door and saw the weapons, equipment, and half a chest of silver coins inside.
Kane was not surprised by this, presumably because the people left behind at the base had taken away valuables beforehand, which also meant that the Bloodline Purification Society might have noticed the anomaly long ago.
However, he didn't care about the money.
If he really needed money, he only needed to go back to the Dark Forest and he could get tens of thousands of gold coins from the Spiderblade family.
Right now, what he cares about most is Theresa's identity.
A demon descended from the abyss could not possibly be captured so easily; she must have other plans.
Kane pondered for a moment, then turned his gaze to Theresa, who was being held captive to the side.
It was late, so Kane found a room, pretended to close his eyes and rest, and arranged for two mercenaries to stand guard at the door. The rest of the men dispersed to count the valuables and guard the prisoners.
As night deepened, Kane pretended to close his eyes and rest, but for some reason, he felt increasingly sleepy.
"Here it comes," he smiled. "Now, let's see if my guess is right."
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