Cthulhu Gonfalon

Just as Shaman Lande was feeling nervous and secretly praying to the ancestral spirits for nothing to go wrong, Sui Xiong had already strolled into a tavern.

The Manor of Samat had an entirely different style from Keane Hill. Keane Hill was a town mainly agriculture-based with business as supplementary. A majority of the city's inhabitants were either rich farmers or small businessmen, or veterans who had already retired from the army. The entire city gave a rather quiet and warm vibe—this was probably because, for two decades, the city had been under the rule of a gentle and soft-spoken couple. The lord and his wife were people who relished in the idea of quiet and peaceful lives. On the other hand, the inhabitants from the Manor of Samat consisted mainly of adventurers, businessmen, and soldiers of service. These people were more ambitious. They were full of vigor and vitality, yet they were also more vicious and uncouth.

Take the taverns, for instance. The tavern in Keane Hill only started to serve customers in the evening. The tavern mainly sold wines that had a milder taste, like rice wine and fruit wine. The side dishes served were generally foods that were rich and thick, but easy to digest, like stewed dishes and meat broth. The prices were also relatively cheaper. On the other hand, at the Manor of Samat soon after lunch, their taverns would already be almost half-filled with a small crowd of customers and the menu hanging by the bar top would suddenly present super-strong spirits like "Drunk Dwarf,""Blood of Demon Beast" and "Burning Iron," that had been mixed with a small number of drugs to enhance their intensity. The dishes were more boorish, mainly consisting of huge chunks of barbequed meat, so the prices were naturally higher in comparison.

This signified that the inhabitants of the Manor of Samat were more passionate about seeking excitement as compared to those of Keane Hill. It also proved that they had more powerful capabilities—those strong spirits infused with drugs were not what an average person could drink. For ordinary civilians who downed a single glass, under the milder effects, they would be knocked out for four to five days, while the under the stronger effect, they would have to be carried over to the temple for emergency rescue. It was not strange even if they were to lose their lives.

And… this also meant that the locals were much richer than the people of Keane Hill.

"Strong, rich, and eager to seek excitement…" Sui Xiong sat by a corner near the main doors in the tavern and pondered in silence.

He wanted to help Keane Hill solve their problem, but he did not wish to bring attention to himself. This limited the methods and power he could use, but it also gave him a different kind of fun.

It was like playing a game. Some liked to use a modifier directly, which was simple, rough, and brainless; some liked to do things according to a prescribed routine, following the normal procedure to slowly go through the game. There were also some who liked to impose restrictions on themselves and increase the difficulty level just to pursue a higher level of fun. Sui Xiong used to belong to the second group, but now, he wanted to use the third way of playing the game.

Anyway, under the worst situation, he could just tear off his disguise and reveal his identity of a god. Then he could clear the scene using violence. As for the post hoc explanation—"Brother Xiong has been doing many things in a "topsy-turvy" way throughout these years, would one more make any difference?"

Moreover, it made perfect sense for gods to roll up their sleeves to beat someone up just to protect their own followers. These were more compliant to the rules as compared to the things he had done in the past!

Of course, unless it was absolutely necessary, Sui Xiong still wanted to resolve the problem by using normal means. After all, that would at least be a relatively more interesting way.

Just like now, where he could have clearly ordered better wine and dishes that were better suited for his palate, he had instead, asked for the usual strong spirits and barbequed meat. Then just like how normal travelers behaved, he took his time and ate unhurriedly.

But just by doing this, he had already caught the attention of others.

"Look at that black-haired fellow," said a tall man near the bar with a mohawk, as he pointed in Sui Xiong's direction. He said to his companions, "He seems a little strange, right?"

"Here in the Manor of Samat, at least 20 to 30% of the people are weird," said his companion with indifference. His companion was a short man who wore his heavy suit of armor even while he was eating. He went on to say, "At least that guy is still a human being, no matter how weird he is. That's better than him being an orc of a lizard man or the likes of these creatures."

"But look, he seems so weak, but he actually travels alone. Don't you all find that strange?"

"Don't think so at all," another companion replied simply.

"What's so strange about it?" a short, thin martial monk dressed in simple and plain clothes, with nothing but vegetables and water before him, said flatly. "Although this person carries no dust and dirt, dons neat and clean clothes, he may possibly be a mage. There is a simple spell that could allow him to do something like this effortlessly."

"But his mental state seems very good too," said the thin man, who refused to give up. He whispered, "A lone traveling mage should at least appear to be a little tired. But look at him, it seems like he just set off from home, so relaxed and at ease."

At this comment, his companions could not help looking towards Sui Xiong. Then, they all started to frown.

"Indeed, something does not seem quite right…" whispered the companion who was more of a succinct speaker, as his brows furrowed.

"Even if he came from Keane City, the nearest city from here, he would need to trek for a long journey of at least two to three days. Even professional adventurers like ourselves, after such a long, tedious journey, it is impossible not to show signs of fatigue," said the martial monk. In a low voice, he said, "Unless he is a resident of this city. But I'm sure I've never seen him here before."

"Mm, there aren't many black-haired and black-eyed people in the Manor of Samat. Those with such scholarly looks are few too. And those with these two features together, we couldn't possibly miss seeing any of them," the short man mumbled as he picked up his wine glass. "But, what has that got to do with us? No matter who he is, it has nothing to do with us."

"Not necessary! For all we know, he could be some kind of spy or scout…" said the thin man.

But before he could finish his piece, he was cut off by the short man, who interrupted with a laugh, "Don't be ridiculous! Have you ever seen such an eye-catching spy? Such utterance, do you even believe that yourself?"

The thin man thought for a while, then broke into laughter.

Just as what the short man said, in the spy business, one must stay as inconspicuous as possible. Looks were inherent, that could not be helped, but at least when it came to dressing sense and working style, one should try to be as common as possible.

Only in stories by bards did those spies, who donned fine clothes and rode well-groomed horses drink fine wine with beauties by their sides, and who were so high-profile that they had no friends at all exist. In true life, they were nowhere to be found.

So no matter how suspicious Sui Xiong appeared to be, with at least four to five adventurers discussing him, ultimately, no one dared to hastily step forth to sound him out.Visit web novel. live If You like manga , comics

People with strange appearances were bound to have eccentric abilities. This strange person most probably would have some strange ability. Those adventurers' purpose was to seek wealth. It was not worth provoking a potentially dangerous person for the sake of a little curiosity.

However, those adventurers choosing not to do so did not mean that no one else would. After around ten minutes, a short man wearing a leather jacket that was not the least bit eye-catching walked in with two burly men. They headed straight for the bar, and then the short man ordered each of the burly men an expensive bottle of fine wine. He gave them some instructions, then quietly retreated to the innermost corner of the entire tavern.

The two burly men were obviously not very intelligent, and they had exceptionally uncouth personalities. They finished their drinks in one breath and then in a somewhat drunken stupor, they walked over to Sui Xiong in an unsteady manner. They dragged two stools from the side, then stationed themselves on either side of Sui Xiong. Boldly, they sat down in a straightforward and imposing manner, keeping him surrounded in the middle.

Sui Xiong smiled. He was neither angry nor surprised. He continued to sip his wine and chew his food peacefully.

"Hey! You black-hair!" one of the burly men said in a gruff voice. "How about you change your seat?"

Sui Xiong looked up at him and said with a smile, "You're drunk."

"Nonsense, I'm not drunk."

"You are really drunk."

That burly man suddenly flew into a rage. Raising a clenched fist that was as big as a king-sized bowl, he threw a punch at Sui Xiong.

"Drunk, screw you!"

A moment later, the two burly men went away in a scurrilous tirade. The adventurers looked at one another with eyes filled with bewilderment.

Sui Xiong, who had been badly battered, lay in the corner with a badly bruised face, looking like a pile of non-recyclable garbage. If his chest had not been heaving up and down, everyone would most probably have suspected that he had been beaten to death.

"What's going on?"

"Something's wrong! Something's really wrong here!"

"It shouldn't be like this!"

The adventurers whispered among themselves. Some could not even believe their own eyes.

"How is that possible? How could that guy possibly be so weak!" said the thin man who spoke earlier as he shook his head. Finding what they saw as unbelievable, he said, "Those two were merely rough journeymen who knew nothing at all. I could easily fight ten of them! He is such a mysterious character, but at the very least, he should not be weaker than me!"

"Honestly speaking, he should be stronger than you."

"Nonsense! I wouldn't be able to pull off such a stance… But why would he choose to take a beating like this?"

"I don't know," said the short man, who was very focused on fighting a huge chunk of pork that was not very cooked.

At that moment, the martial monk had already gotten to his feet. He walked straight to where Sui Xiong lay.

"Hey! What are you going to do?"

"Walking over to take a look," replied the martial monk who did not even bother to turn around. "If I don't find out what is happening, I can't understand the situation. Then my mind can't work well."

Under the watchful eyes of almost every adventurer present, he went over to Sui Xiong, then reached out to help Sui Xiong up. But Sui Xiong, who was originally black-haired with black eyes, underwent a drastic change in appearance. He went to the short man wearing a gray leather jacket. This was the man who had brought the two burly men in earlier on.

The martial monk froze because of astonishment. The adventurers were all taken aback too.

For a moment, the entire tavern fell into dead silence.

A while later, many people quickly turned their heads to look at where that gray-clad man originally sat.

Sui Xiong smiled and stood up. The food and wine on his table were finished.

"The bill, please," he said to the waiter standing next to the bar. Then he added, "By the way, serve everyone here a glass of wine. That wine the two drunk men had earlier on."

With a snap of his fingers, a golden coin flew across half the tavern in an arc and landed on the bar top. Loud clangs sounded out as the golden coin became a small pile of gold coins. To say the least, there should be at least 20 to 30 coins.

Again, the adventurers froze. This time, the martial monk was still the first to react. He reached out to open that small leather purse used to put money. The purse was fastened around the waist of that gray-clad man who had been beaten unconscious.

Although he had no reason to, his intuition told him that he should at least look to see what was inside the purse. Just as he had expected, there was a lot of loose change in the purse, but all of them were silver and bronze. There was not a single gold coin to be found.