Chapter 152: Finally Meet Again!

  As the carriage headed west, it went straight towards the city gate. Xia Ya was a bit puzzled and urged his horse to catch up with the carriage, riding alongside it and asking, "Uh... Excuse me, is the Duke inviting me out of the city?"

  The coachman named Rody smiled slightly and said loudly, "That's right, it's outside the city. After leaving the city gate and heading south, it will take about another hour to arrive." He paused for a moment, looked at Xia Ya, and smiled, "That is the duke's villa, where the duke usually recuperates quietly every day."

  Xia Ya nodded, but frowned and said: "If we leave the city, considering the current time, I'm afraid that after meeting with the Duke, we won't be able to return to the city tonight."

  The city gates of Osgiliath are closed at night, unless one has a special pass to enter and exit. But where can Shaya get such a thing? Going out so late, I'm afraid it's destined that we won't be able to return to the city tonight.

  "Huh. Are you worried about this, Baron?" Rodi laughed: "There are many rooms in the other wing, can't we spare a place for you to rest? Don't worry and follow me, everything will be arranged when we arrive."

  Finally, from the magnificent city gate in the west, passing over the stone bridge on the artificial canal, and then heading south, through a forest, the road became increasingly desolate, the sky had gradually darkened, only occasionally seeing some villages flashing with lights in the distance, apart from that, the earth was pitch black.

  Going south along a road, the terrain gradually becomes flat. In the distance, on a hillside, at half mountain waist is a villa building. The hillside is not high, but the middle of the mountain seems to be suddenly cut into a piece of flat land. Along a main road up the slope, the flat terrain in the middle of the mountain also opened up a lawn and flowerbed about 100 steps wide, and the villa was surrounded by this piece of flowerbed.

  Standing on the hillside, looking far away, you can see the vast ocean in the distance. The hillside is only a few hundred meters from the coastline, and the sound of waves is faintly carried by the sea breeze.

  Dismounting at the entrance of the manor, Xia Ya couldn't help but feel a few doubts as he looked up at the tall building in front of him.

  If this is said to be the Duke's place of rest, at this moment it is already night, looking up, the manor is pitch black - doesn't the Duke's family light lamps at night?

  Moreover, outside the courtyard, it was quiet and clear, and the flowerbeds were somewhat dilapidated, but that's not the point... The steps of the manor's gate still had a lot of dust, and even in the corners of the steps, a layer of green moss had grown. Doesn't this duke's household have even a gardener to tend to the flowers or a servant to sweep the grounds?

  The gate was deserted and cold, let alone guards or attendants, there wasn't even a servant to greet and hold the horse!

  It was so desolate and broken that he suddenly became vigilant, his hand pressing the hilt of the sword at his waist, his eyes staring at Rody.

  Luo Di jumped down from the carriage, took a few steps to jump onto the stairs, and pounded on the large gate several times. He shouted loudly: "Hey, open the door! I'm back! And I've brought someone with me!"

  This shout is completely unbecoming of a noble family, let alone a dukedom; even in the humblest country gentry household, no servant would dare to be so forward and loud!

  Xia Ya's heart was filled with even more doubts, her eyes narrowing into a line.

  The gate of the manor creaked open, and a head poked out from inside. A middle-aged woman with an odd and stern expression looked at Rodi, slightly furrowed her brow, then opened the door and said in a cold voice: "What took you so long to come back?"

  Rody tilted his head: We met a few merchant teams at the city gate and waited in line for a while. He said, turning back to Xia Ya: Here, this is the guest we invited, Lord Xia Ya.

  Having said that, Rody nodded slightly towards Shaya and smiled: "Baron, I've completed my task. Please come in."

  The woman with a stern expression inside looked at Xia Ya with a scrutinizing gaze, then seemed to be somewhat displeased and stepped aside.

  Xia Ya looked inside the big gate, the top was dim and cold - with some hesitation in her heart: This place has too many suspicious points, what Lodi said about being the Duke's villa is probably all a scam! How could a dignified Imperial Duke possibly live in such a place? Hmph!

  What kind of enemy is this, tricking me into coming here?

  As he looked up, the emblem on the gate of the manor house had a totem pattern that seemed to have a history. The raised part of the metal badge was already dull and faded, but the pattern on the badge was surprisingly the coat of arms of the Minas family.

  The emblem of the Minas family, Shaya had seen it somewhere in Ruhr before, this is indeed authentic. Moreover, the emblem on the gate looks like it's been there for a long time, absolutely not a temporary disguise.

  Okay, although this place is full of weirdness, Xia Ya took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, glanced at Luo Di, and still stepped up onto the stage.

  No matter what, I've already arrived at this place, whether it's good fortune or bad luck, there's no escaping it.

  If it's really someone who has set up an ambush here, and I've already walked to the gate, now even if I sneak away, it's too late. If they can set up an ambush in the house, can't they just chase me? At this point, running again doesn't make much sense, so I might as well be brave and go inside to see what's going on!

  He grasped the hilt of his sword with one hand, and thrust the other into his bosom. Xia Ya felt a little regretful in his heart, thinking that he had come to see Duke Minas, but he hadn't worn the dragon scales close to his body, and he hadn't brought his fire fork either. The only thing he was wearing now was an ordinary long sword, and on his body was just a simple brocade robe.

  Although she thought so in her heart, Xia Ya still stepped up onto the stairs and walked towards the door.

  The woman with a cold expression suddenly flashed beside her, and Xia Ya saw the other's appearance clearly. The woman was wearing a black robe, which was conservative in style, just like the clothes of those nuns in the church. With this woman's rigid facial expression - could she really be a nun?

  The woman held a candle holder in her hand and threw a cold sentence at Xia Ya: "Come with me, don't wander around."

  As he watched the woman walk into the hall, Xia Ya had no choice but to follow her. Just two steps later, the large door behind him creaked and slowly closed.

  The hall is quite spacious, but it's also obviously old. There's a faint smell of dust in the air. The chairs and sofas in the middle of the hall are clearly not cleaned, still covered with white cloth to prevent dust. On both sides, there are two flights of stairs leading to the second floor.

  The hall had no electric lights, and it was only by the candlelight in the hand of a woman in front that I could barely make out the outlines around me. The hall was very high, with an empty space jumping up to the second floor, from which you can clearly see the railing on the second floor. In the middle of the hall, there were several metal lamp posts as tall as one person, but it was obvious that they had not been used for a long time and were almost rusty.

  Underfoot was a soft and luxurious carpet, but as I walked along it, it clearly raised some dust.

  Xia Ya's mind was filled with growing doubts, his vigilance raised to the highest level. One hand tightly gripped the hilt of his sword, not advancing too quickly, closely following behind that woman, having made up his mind that if anything unexpected happened, he would take her down first at the earliest opportunity!

  The woman walked ahead, completely ignoring Xia Ya's actions. He didn't lead Xia Ya to the stairs on either side, but instead went straight in, walking deep into the hall and passing through a circular arched doorway inside...

  After the two people walked into the hall and through a corridor, at the end of the corridor, the woman finally stopped in her tracks, turned around to look at Xia Ya with an eye that seemed somewhat dissatisfied, furrowing her brow as she said: "What are you doing following me so closely?"

  Xia Ya didn't respond, but instead gave a cold stare. A hint of disgust flashed across the woman's face, then she pushed open the door at the end of the corridor with one hand: "Here, it's inside."

  Xia Ya took a glance outside the door and stepped out, but that woman stood inside the doorway and suddenly added: "Don't take too long! Hurry up and come out!"

  She actually slammed the door shut after saying that!

  With a slight press, at this moment, the letter was immediately picked up!

  Outside the door, there is a garden. Obviously, the house in this estate presents a circular shape. This garden is located in the courtyard of the building. At first glance, the area is quite large, with a width of about 100 steps. The ground beneath one's feet is soft mud. In the garden, shrubs are planted in clusters, and some wintergreen trees that are clearly lacking in pruning appear disheveled. Around the perimeter, a patch of flowerbeds has been opened up, but at this time of year, there aren't many blooming flowers, making it look desolate. The black soil in the flowerbeds is exposed like that.

  It's a relief that Xia Ya has passed by, this place is not complex in terrain, and it's clear that there aren't many evergreen trees here. If it were an ambush, there wouldn't be enough space to hide several soldiers.

  At this moment, Xia Ya had already made up her mind that the person waiting for her here was absolutely not Duke Minas! She was afraid that she had been deceived and brought here under false pretenses.

  He didn't mince words either, lightly drawing his long sword and holding it in his right hand. He slowly stepped into the courtyard garden, looking around and saying coldly: "Hey! Is there anyone alive? Make a sound! Who is it that saw me and tricked me into this godforsaken place?"

  He shouted twice in a row, looked around and finally fixed his eyes on the direction of the row of slightly taller arborvitae trees in the distance - in this yard, there was only one place where people could hide!

  As expected, just as Xia Ya was intently looking over, the evergreen tree suddenly shook slightly, and the green shrubs seemed to be startled by something, swaying gently. From behind the tree, a figure emerged. With a hint of starlight, the figure appeared tall and slender, with an unusually long shadow. As Xia Ya took two steps closer, she suddenly saw that the person in the distance was rubbing their hands together, as if using some sort of fire-starting tool. With a "whoosh" sound, a flame burst forth. The person held a candle in their hand, carefully lighting it. Under the soft glow of the candlelight, a familiar face appeared, with a joyful smile directed at Xia Ya. The face was slightly flushed, with an air of excitement and a hint of melancholy in the eyes, which also shone with two bright lights.

  "Hey, Toad, don't you recognize me?"

  Xia Ya took a closer look at her opponent's appearance and suddenly felt relieved, immediately followed by extreme excitement.

  "Huh? You... pitiful worm?!"