The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#139 - Vulture

Lu Jing stayed in the palace for a full two hours, looking at the half of the mural no less than a hundred times, until it was completely imprinted in his mind, before bidding farewell and leaving with Nada.

It was still Yazdan who saw the two of them out, and this second-in-command of Marasal Khan was obviously very patient. Seeing that Lu Jing hadn't come to him, he kept his mouth shut and didn't mention anything about the Vulture.

He only pleaded with Lu Jing to resolve the crisis for Marasal Khan, and also said that whatever requests Lu Jing had during this period, he could come to him.

And just at this moment, Lu Jing once again felt that gloomy, resentful gaze.

This time, he finally saw the owner of that gaze.

"That's right." Yazdan nodded. "The interesting thing is that he also came to our city a month ago. He is an out-and-out outsider, and no one likes him. However, according to Marasal Khan's ancient traditions, my father overruled all objections and let him stay.

"As a result, as soon as he arrived, he began to spread some sensational rumors, saying that disaster and destruction were coming. Half a month ago, the sandstorm appeared for the first time, and many people died in the city. Only he was very excited after the disaster, loudly mocking those who had previously refused to believe him.

"My father therefore felt that he was a capable person, invited him into the palace, listened to him, drove away the other outsiders in the city, hoping that he could eliminate this terrible disaster, but... you have seen the result."

"This old brother seems to have some opinions about me," Lu Jing said.

"I don't know... maybe it's because he just heard that you want to investigate the sandstorm," Yazdan said meaningfully. "He should be afraid that you will steal his job and make him lose favor in front of his father, or... some other reason."

"You told him?"

"Of course not. I only reported your intentions to my father. He is the master of Marasal Khan. Although he has delegated power to me and many people below in recent years because of his poor health, we still need to report the results to him no matter what we do."

Yazdan paused, "It should be my father who told him. The sandstorm is getting more and more serious, and my father's temper is getting worse and worse. He now often scolds us, and compared to before, he is simply a changed person.

"You should know that he used to be very wise and kind, willing to listen to all kinds of voices. But now he only wants to believe in Vulture, regards him as a confidant, and the time they spend alone together is getting longer and longer.

"I'm a little worried about him, oh, and... I apologize to you for what happened before."

"What happened?" Lu Jing asked.

"I shouldn't have played tricks and asked you to come to me, because my relationship with my father is indeed a little tense because of Vulture, and there are now some foolish rumors circulating among the people, which makes me have to act carefully."

"Understood," Lu Jing nodded.

"In short, in any case, it is the city's good fortune that a master like Young Master Lu is willing to investigate the sandstorm. If there is any progress in the future, I hope we can communicate in a timely manner."

Yazdan once again placed his hand on his chest to express his respect.

...\n...\n...

Perhaps because of the friendship conveyed by the Tianjin Mahua, the trip to the City Lord's Mansion was smoother than Lu Jing had expected.

Apart from that black wizard named Vulture, everyone represented by Yazdan seemed to be very friendly and cooperative, and there was no intention to obstruct or conceal anything.

Lu Jing easily found the origin of those iron-clad warriors from the four-hundred-year-old mural, and knew that they were terracotta soldiers from an ancient tomb.

The problem now is, why are these things suddenly running out of the ancient tomb and attacking the residents of Marasal Khan City?

Lu Jing didn't quite believe the saying that the foreigners disturbed the ancestors.

Not to mention anything else, even Vulture himself, this foreigner, is still alive and kicking. The foreigners in the city are about to be driven away, and the sandstorm shows no sign of stopping.

Speaking of Vulture, this dwarfish black wizard is indeed quite mysterious.

According to Yazdan, he successfully predicted this disaster half a month in advance.

Moreover, Lu Jing had already seen the murals on the wall. Although the content was very detailed, it was limited by the painting space. The patterns on the hilts of the iron-clad warriors' scimitars were definitely not drawn.

However, that pattern is now painted on the walls of the City Lord's Mansion by Vulture. Had Vulture seen those iron-clad warriors before? If not, where did he know about them?

Lu Jing asked Nada, "Vulture came to Marasal Khan a month ago. How much do you know about him?"

"Not much. Yazdan is right, he is not a very likable guy. It is said that on the first day he entered the city, he threatened people that they would have trouble recently and asked them to pay him to perform spells to eliminate the disaster.

"However, the people in the city didn't quite believe it, and..."

"And what?"

"And it is said that this great black magician is also a lecher. When female customers go to him to eliminate disasters, he often takes advantage of the spell to take some small advantages," Nada said.

"One of my old customers had her body touched. At that time, she felt something was wrong, but Vulture told her that the spell must not be interrupted, otherwise something terrible would happen, so my old customer could only endure it with suspicion until the end.

"That's not surprising." Lu Jing thought of the four maids around Vulture earlier, all of whom were charming and should have had affairs with Vulture.

"But later he still caused trouble. The daughter of the guard commander Ishag was taken advantage of by him. Afterwards, Ishag brought a team of guards and beat him half to death and wanted to drive him out of the city.

"As a result, Vulture brought up the old story again, threatening that a great disaster would befall Marasal Khan, and only he could save Marasal Khan."

"Then the sandstorm and those iron-clad warriors in the sandstorm appeared?"

Lu Jing thought of Ishag. According to Yazdan, this guard commander led thirty good men and wanted to meet the monsters in the sandstorm under the protection of Vulture's so-called secret patterns, but none of them survived.

Now it seems that this matter is somewhat like Vulture's deliberate revenge.

"That's right. The city lord believed his words, not only did not drive him away, but also invited him into the palace and treated him as an honored guest," Nada said helplessly.