Seeing the collapsed quaint castle, Laisli's face was filled with sadness. Her legs gave way and she was about to collapse to the ground. Lin and Kelly quickly worked together to help her up.
Lei Xiao was shocked, while listening to Lin and Kelly whispering comfort to Laisili, he looked attentively again.
The castle has been completely reduced to ruins, and there are no signs of struggle or breaking out of the ground. There is lifelessness everywhere.
"Judging from the scale of the explosion, the opponent must have secretly deployed a series of large detonating arrays in advance to be able to cause such destructive power."
Lei Xiao froze his eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully: "Coupled with the unpredictable attitude of the Guardsmen who retreated in advance just now, the culprit is naturally self-evident."
"But judging from the previous series of actions of the other party, although the other party was ruthless, he also acted very cautiously. He did not do anything too unscrupulously and always avoided leaving any excuses."
"After all, once word spreads about the direct murder of the elders, even if Han Shui takes complete control of the Shangluc family, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction and criticism both inside and outside the clan, which will be detrimental to future development."
"And if we blow up this castle directly, it will undoubtedly make the murder of the elder public. Hanshui and his group will never be so impatient. After all, everything is completely in their hands."
Thinking of this in his mind, Lei Xiao frowned more and more while staring at the ruins.
Thinking about it this way, there are only two possibilities left.
The first is that our rescue of Laisili aroused the other party's vigilance, causing the other party to speed up its original pace.
The second is what the four opposing elders did, causing the other party to blow up the castle.
"After rescuing Silly, I ordered Erza and Xiao Huan to deploy the Misty Illusion on the spot."
"This kind of illusion cannot be detected from the outside. Even the fourth-level peak powerhouse cannot leave immediately after entering. It is enough to trap everyone for more than half a day. The news will never spread so quickly."
"Then the only possibility is that the four people are against the elders themselves?"
"But the other party's claws have already reached their necks. Why would they further anger the other party and choose to destroy themselves?"
Just when Lei Xiao thought of this, he suddenly noticed something strange.
That is, the huge ruins of the castle seem to be filled with a faint mist, which is clearly the breath of illusion.
Under the dual influence of the power of the divine scroll and the [Blessed Golden Child], Lei Xiao's perception far exceeds that of ordinary fourth-level powerhouses.
Surprised, Lei Xiao quickly mobilized the energy in his body to surge up, observed carefully, and then noticed.
On the ruins of the castle, which was still belching thick smoke, there was still a looming outline of a castle, which was exactly how the castle looked intact before.
This sudden and wonderful scene looks like the past and present intertwined, which makes people marvel.
At this point, the situation could not be clearer.
"Is it true that the explosion just now was just an illusion to confuse the other party? In this way, the matter can be explained clearly."
"That's because the four opposing elders knew that the odds were against them, so they pretended to anger each other, creating the illusion of mutual destruction, and then bought a certain amount of time to find a way to put them to death and survive."
Just as Lei Xiao's dark eyes lit up, his heart suddenly became enlightened.
The three fifth-level powerhouses, Gracilaria, Polygonum cuspidatum, and Hongye, all saw the clues one after another.
Erza and Xiao Huan obviously reacted more quickly, and had already come to the other subordinates who were still kept in the dark, as well as Lei Xiao, ready to tell everything.
"I already know."
Lei Xiao tapped Xiao Huan's elf head with his finger and led him to Laisili.
At this time, after Erza's prompting, Laisili and other fourth-level subordinates learned the truth of the matter.
"So the castle was not destroyed? Is everything just a delaying tactic by grandfather and other elders?"
Laisili wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, with a look of joy on her face.
Immediately, a trace of doubt appeared on her rosy face, and she puzzled: "But the Shanglu clan does not have such a powerful illusion master, how on earth did all this happen?"
"It seems that your grandfather has other helpers beside him."
Lei Xiao raised his eyebrows, then waved his hand and said: "Without further delay, let's go and check it out before Han Shui's minions react."
…
At the same time, the focus of the group's attention was in the castle on the ruins of the illusion.
"Did you successfully hide it from the guards?"
On a castle balcony with a wide view, an old man wearing a pale blue robe with white hair and beard looked down at the Guards soldiers pacing below the city and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
Next to the old man in blue robes, there were three serious-faced old men who also made the same move.
On the chests of the four people, they were all engraved with the stag coat of arms of the Phytolacca family. Their identities were naturally self-evident. They were Laisili's grandfather and the other three opposition elders.
"Don't worry, they think they are checking the ruins, but in fact they are just walking in circles."
Not far away from the four elders, a tall and thin figure with a black silk scarf wrapped around his head said proudly in a disguised stiff voice: "Even the fourth-level peak powerhouse can't see through my illusion.
"
"Thank you so much, Your Excellency! If it weren't for your help, I and others would have been imprisoned by those guys."
The old man in blue robe sighed heavily, clenched his fists and said, "I didn't expect that they would actually take action against me!"
"There's no need to thank me, I'm just a mercenary, just taking people's money to eliminate disasters for them."
There was no fluctuation in the voice of the tall and thin figure, and he said calmly: "The agreed price is 50,000 gold dragons a day. You just need to pay on time. As long as I am here, no one can threaten your safety."
After a pause, the tall and thin figure added: "According to the contract, I am only responsible for ensuring your safety and will not participate in your family disputes. Please don't forget it, otherwise I will leave immediately."
After finishing speaking, the tall and thin figure stood on the other side minding his own business and stopped talking.
You must know that the strength of this tall and thin illusionist is already extremely rare among the fourth-level seven-stars, in the mercenary world, and even in the human nations.
Coupled with the enhanced illusion card on his body, he is enough to compete with several fourth-level peak experts without falling behind. He indeed has the capital to be proud.
"I understand, you have already been of great help."
The old man in blue robe nodded towards the tall and thin figure, his gray eyebrows tightly knitted together.
Although his personal safety was temporarily preserved, the blue-robed old man still had no idea how to fight against the elders who supported Han Shui.
"Brother, what should we do next?"
Another old man in gray robe slowly stepped forward and said solemnly to the old man in blue robe: "The matter is very clear. They are determined to kill us."
"We can only go to the two old guys who are neutral first, otherwise the strength of the four of us will not be able to shake the whole family."
The old man in blue robe had a sad look on his face, and he sighed heavily again.
In addition, the old man in blue robe is most worried about his granddaughter coming to Silly.
After all, the family records of the other three elders are all in this castle, and only Laisili is still outside. The consequences can be imagined.
"Brother, Laisili is a leader among the younger generation of our merchant land. She should not be easily involved in danger."
Seeing the worry in the old man in blue robe, the old man in gray robe quickly comforted him: "Maybe she has hidden in a safe place."
"Well, I hope so."
Naturally, the old man in blue robe knew very well about his granddaughter's temper. Since they themselves had almost been killed, let alone the unruly and willful Laisili.
Although he was extremely worried, the old man in blue robe understood clearly.
Only by stabilizing the situation can it be possible to save his granddaughter and others, so he had to grit his teeth and return his thoughts to finding the next countermeasure.
The old man in blue robe pondered for a moment and continued: "At the same time, we need to recruit some more helpers so that we will not be intercepted by the opponent halfway, and then we will find a way to make everything public."
"Brother, since the other party has chosen to attack us openly, they must have made adequate preparations in advance, including finding the corresponding reasons and cutting off all our retreat options."
The old man in gray robe shook his head helplessly, his face full of helplessness: "In this case, where should we go to find help?"
"That's right. The mercenary guild must have been monitored by those guys. I'm afraid a dragnet has been set up around the city. Moreover, all the strong men under my command have been taken away by that guy Han Shui for various reasons."
The third green-robed old man clenched his fists, and then was unable to loosen his fists: "This city is full of the opponent's spies. I am afraid that the four of us will have a difficult time. After all, other tribesmen are afraid of the opponent's power and will not reach out."
A helping hand."
"In addition, if those two old guys who remain neutral have been bribed by the other party, then wouldn't we just fall into a trap?"
The last old man in red robe tightened his gray eyebrows and stared at the old copper bell-like eyes and said: "Furthermore, even if everything goes smoothly and we escape by luck, what if everything is made public? Isn't it going to be cold water in the end?"
Did that guy take it all away?"
"You know, that guy is now a popular figure next to His Highness the Fourth Prince. Lionheart City is even closer to the Fourth Prince's sphere of influence. How can we defeat him?"
At this point, the red-robed old man shook his head helplessly, and gently twisted his gray beard with his fingers until it twisted into a ball: "Even if you can't wait to kill me this time, will you still have the plan to kill me next time?"
Is it far? After all, you can escape for a while, but you can’t escape forever.”
After the discussion reached this point, several elders suddenly realized that they had reached a dead end and had no way to retreat.
Just when the four of them were looking sad, the tall and thin illusionist suddenly looked stern and said in surprise: "Who is that person?!"
Before the illusionist mercenary's words could be fully finished, he was accompanied by a pale gray energy wave.
A group of sudden figures appeared out of thin air in front of the four elders and the tall and lanky illusionist.
"grandfather!"
As soon as those figures appeared, one of them ran up to the old man in blue robe and said excitedly: "It's great that you're okay!"
The visitor was none other than Laisili.
The other figures are naturally Lei Xiao and his party.
"Come Silly?!"
Seeing his precious granddaughter miraculously appear in front of him, the wrinkled face of the old man in blue was immediately filled with love and joy, and he asked in disbelief: "How did you get here?"
"Grandpa, three elders, the situation is like this."
Excited, Lai Sili began to talk about the series of processes when she was rescued by Lei Xiao.
At this moment, Lei Xiao led his subordinates to surround the mysterious illusionist.
Lei Xiao clearly understands that no matter who the other party is, he must at least be sure that the other party will not affect his next plan.
"You, you can actually see through my illusion?"
Facing Lei Xiao and his subordinates who surrounded him, the voice of the tall and thin figure was obviously much panicked, and he forced himself to calm down and said, "Who are you?"
While speaking, the tall and lanky illusionist tried to escape from the encirclement by becoming invisible, but found that his vision had lost its original effect.
"Stop playing tricks. If it affects the ruins outside, my master will not let you go."
Erza took a step forward with Xiao Huan, who had transformed into a young magician, and said calmly: "In front of the two of us, all your tricks will be useless."
"Two illusionists who are stronger than me?!"
The tall and thin illusionist's panicked eyes wandered back and forth between Erza and Xiaohuan, and finally fell on the leader Lei Xiao. He was shocked and said: "Your Excellency, who are you?"
"When asking someone for their identity, you should first tell your family name, right?"
Lei Xiao raised his eyebrows and nodded to Erza.
At the beginning, Lei Xiao had already discovered that the other party had used illusion magic to disguise himself, and now it was time to see the other party's true face.
"As you command, Lord."
Erza understood, and waved her slender hand gently in front of the other party, and a slender and strange female figure appeared in front of Lei Xiao.
I saw that the other person seemed to be in his 20s, and his fair and delicate young face revealed a hint of childishness.
What surprised Lei Xiao the most was that it could be clearly seen from its pointed but not slender ears.
The opponent was not a human, but a half-elf rarely seen in the human world.
Although they were both female illusionists of a foreign race, her slender body and fair and translucent face were completely opposite to those of the diminutive Dark Elf Erza.
"Jiang Li, do you know this guy?"
Seeing the obvious half-elf characteristics of the opponent, Lei Xiao first turned to the half-elf ancestor under his command.
"Back to my lord, my subordinates don't recognize this strange fellow member."
Jiang Li stroked her chest and saluted, shook her head and responded: "Although half-elves are relatively rare, the Yuebai clan is not the only one under my control. Traces of half-elves have appeared in the surrounding areas of many human countries."
"You, you can't be?!"
Just as Jiang Li finished speaking, Ariel's starry eyes widened with a look of surprise on her face.