The First Order

The four of them continued running until daybreak before slowly stopping in their tracks. Ren Xiaosu said, "Y'all haven't slept well all night. I think y'all should get some sleep first while I keep a lookout nearby. If anyone unknown approaches us again, I'll wake y'all up."

Melgor smiled bitterly. "Sleep? Who can sleep at such a time?"

They had already lost their tents, and all their luggage had been swallowed by the quicksand, and even a highly revered sorcerer like Melgor ended up in such a pathetic state.

Liu Ting suddenly wondered, "Lord Melgor, have you thought about who might be plotting against us? They even employed a sorcerer to attack us. Do you have any enemies?"

"Why can't it be both of your enemies?" Ren Xiaosu asked curiously, "Don't you two have any enemies?"

Liu Ting said, "We're just the children of rich families, so why would we have any enemies? At most, our siblings might be jealous that our fathers have spent so much money to groom us into sorcerers. But I doubt they'd try to harm us. Besides, there's strict control on finances in our clans, so my siblings can't afford to hire sorcerers at all. Someone did hire a hitman before, but since it was a sorcerer that appeared this time, our siblings are definitely not the culprits."

"Yes." Li Chengguo also nodded. "You can easily pay a sorcerer to become their apprentice or servant, but if you want to engage one to help you kill someone, you have to pay an astronomical sum. Ren Xiaosu, you haven't been to the Kingdom of Sorcerers before, so you don't understand how revered a sorcerer is in our kingdom. Even my father has to kneel and bow when he sees Lord Melgor, so how can a person of that status be willing to so easily be another person's tool?"

Liu Ting lamented, "I only dare to say this because we're already familiar with Lord Melgor. Our families only paid Lord Melgor to assist us in buying an Eye of True Sight because we wanted to bank on his luck. After all, those who manage to buy their Eye of True Sight are still a little different. But even if my father had such practical motives, he still has to be respectful towards Lord Melgor. Lord Melgor, you won't get angry if I say that, right?"

Ren Xiaosu thought to himself, 'Even though Liu Ting is from a rich family, power struggles still exist between his siblings?'

However, Melgor said with a wry smile, "No, I might've implicated you all this time."

When he heard that, Ren Xiaosu's interest was piqued. Oh? Could Melgor have some stories of love and revenge?

Melgor said in detail, "I've mentioned before that my family was rich when I was young, so we had a bigger network of family friends. When I was seven years old, I got engaged to someone. Some people can get engaged without knowing how their future partner looks, but it was different for me. I grew up together with my fiancée, and we were extremely close with each other.

"Although she isn't beautiful, she has a good personality. Once, when I fell down and injured myself, she personally bandaged the wound for me. When my father died and I didn't have any money for his burial, she was the one who secretly gave me the money to handle his matters.

"After becoming a sorcerer, I came to York County to construct a Sorcerer's Tower. However, I would only be allocated my portion of the collected taxes in my second year, so I didn't have any money to build one. If a sorcerer can't even afford to construct his own tower, they would only end up as a laughingstock. Just as I was worrying over what to do, she sent her servant to York County to hand me all the gold coins she had saved up over the years," Melgor said.

Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. "Isn't that good? Now that you've become a sorcerer, you're a worthy match for her. Even if you're just an insignificant one, you're still a sorcerer."

Melgor's expression became strange when he heard Ren Xiaosu say "insignificant sorcerer," but he did not refute him directly. He continued, "Even though I'm considered worthy of her now as a sorcerer, the problem is that her father called off our engagement before I became one."

"My father was still alive at that time, so I went to their manor to protest it, but I ended up getting thrown out by their servants." Melgor said gloomily, "Right now, her fiancé is also a sorcerer who hails from a powerful archmage's family in the secular world. I'm powerless to change our fate."

"So you think that sorcerer was sent by her fiancé?" Ren Xiaosu asked.

"Yes." Melgor said melancholically, "She probably still has me in her heart."

"How long until their wedding?" Ren Xiaosu asked.

"A year from now," Melgor said.

Ren Xiaosu felt that Melgor was just like the protagonist of a fictional story.

A declining clan!

A born loser!

An engagement called off!

However, his fate was reversed at the lowest point of his life. Not only did he manage to randomly pick an Eye of True Sight, but he also met the person who would become his biggest benefactor… Ren Xiaosu!

Starting from now, Melgor would be embarking on a comeback against the Heavens and fate to finally marry the woman he loved. After that, they would live happily ever after in the Northwest's Fortress 178.

When Ren Xiaosu thought of this, he nearly let out an audible chuckle…

Melgor looked at Ren Xiaosu and said bitterly, "Is it that funny…"

"A little." Ren Xiaosu said in seriousness, "They're all at Ghent City, right? I think we should head there as soon as possible."

"Are we in such a hurry?" Melgor said in surprise.

"Of course, I'm going to help you win back your childhood sweetheart!" Ren Xiaosu said matter-of-factly.

Melgor was stunned for a moment and then started laughing. "You? What makes you think you can snatch someone from a sorcerer's family when you're only my steward? I don't mean to belittle you, of course, but you still know nothing about the strength of sorcerers."

Ren Xiaosu curled his lips and thought to himself, 'You also know nothing about the strength of the Stronghold Destroyer.'

"By the way," Ren Xiaosu asked, "Have you ever heard of the name Ren He?"

Melgor was taken aback. "That sounds a little familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen it."

Ren Xiaosu asked, "Previously, you mentioned that there's a book that chronicled the life of that archmage who's really good at the Meteor Shower spell. Do you still have it with you?"

"I didn't bring it." Melgor shook his head. "The books I brought on this trip were the ones I've not read before. But I've finished reading that one already. The rest were swallowed up by the quicksand when we were hit by the Liquefy Ground spell."

"Alright then," Ren Xiaosu said helplessly.

But just as his words trailed off, Ren Xiaosu suddenly grabbed Melgor by his collar and leaped left. Then a pillar of flames shot up from where Melgor was originally standing!

"We're under attack!" Ren Xiaosu roared.

After being pulled aside by Ren Xiaosu, Melgor fell to the ground pathetically. When he heard Ren Xiaosu saying "we're under attack," he nearly even forgot to take out his Eye of True Sight hidden in his sleeve.

Ren Xiaosu whispered, "Be careful."

After that, he chased after the attacker in the southerly direction.