After chatting, Jolian and Wumulian climbed to the fourth floor of the ancient castle.
There was nothing there except the mutilated limbs and minced meat all over the floor, and the pitch - black liquid flowing from the monsters.
Wumulian told Little An that this liquid could be regarded as the blood of the monsters, and they were also alive.
After the monsters died, they would re - condense and gradually turn into new monsters, which might even trigger a plague at that time.
So if you saw it, you must deal with it immediately!
In this way, the two burned down the ancient castle, then returned to the village outside the [Quiet Forest] to hand in the commission to the client.
The client was also quite frightened after hearing about the monsters in the ancient castle. After thanking the two repeatedly, he paid the corresponding reward.
A total of 100,000 gold coins, the two split it evenly, 50,000 gold coins each.
Jolian intended to let Wumulian take more. After all, Wumulian had eliminated the last monster alone, and she herself didn't help at all.
She even wanted to back - stab her...
But Wumulian refused: "If I thought that way, I might as well have taken the commission by myself. Why would I call you?"
Seeing that Little An still didn't budge, the pink - haired girl directly grabbed her collar:
"We agreed to split it evenly. Do you want me to break my promise?"
"Umm... Forget I said anything..."
The two got on the train back to the guild. Wumulian looked at the setting sun outside the window, and no one knew what she was thinking.
"Qiao, do we count as friends?"
After a long time... she spoke...
But her crimson eyes didn't leave the window, and the grape - colored dusk was reflected in her eyes···
"What do you think?" Jolian asked in return. Her answer was still subconsciously watertight, throwing the question back to the questioner.
But perhaps she didn't even realize that she had gradually started to lower some of her guard against the people around her...
"Um..." Wumulian mumbled, and she never turned her head.
No one knew whether the blush on her face was from the sunset···
Or something else...
At nightfall, the two returned to [The Other Shore].
The guild was still brightly lit. The members who didn't take on missions were drinking inside, boasting to each other about their heroic deeds.
Anyway, it was extremely lively. You could even say it was like a tavern.
"Little An and Little Lian are back. Come here quickly! There will be a party later!"
Fu Xinyue, dressed in a maid outfit, waved to the two at the bar.
"I'm a bit tired. I'll go rest first. Have fun, you guys."
Jolian declined her kindness and returned to her room alone.
"Tired..."
She threw herself onto the bed, and the figures of the monsters in the ancient castle lingered in her mind.
"What exactly am I..."
"Clatter!" Just when she couldn't figure it out, a wine bottle suddenly fell from the balcony, disturbing her thoughts.
Jolian didn't pay attention and turned over, ignoring it. But soon another one fell.
Then a sack full of wine bottles dropped from the sky.
"Wine bottles from the sky?" She lazily got up to see whose prank it was.
Ugh... It was the guild master who was drunk and hanging on the roof.
"Good evening, Little An. Burp..." The old man Luo hiccupped hazily. He lost his balance and fell directly off the roof.
"If I remember correctly, the height from the roof to the ground is probably as high as a twenty - story building?" Jolian looked down with a slight twitch of her eyelids.
The little old man who had fallen to the ground stumbled to his feet.
Then he jumped up and instantly sat on the railing of Jolian's balcony.
"Guild master? Are you okay?"
"Hahaha, it's all minor issues." The old man waved his hand indifferently, took out a bottle of wine from who - knows - where, and took a big swig.
"Sure enough, drinking while enjoying the evening breeze is the most refreshing, hahaha!"
As he spoke, he took out another bottle from behind and threw it to Jolian: "Have a taste. It tastes good."
"Guild master, is there something you want?" Little An caught the bottle and asked.
"Little An, what do you think a guild is?" Guild master Luo took another sip of the wine and looked at her, asking a rather baffling question.
"Inside it gather magisters and alchemists who are homeless but share the same ideals..." Jolian repeated the words of Lady Vesir from memory.
"Then what do you think [The Other Shore] is?"
Jolian didn't know why the old man was asking these questions and replied with a bit of a foreign - accented tone: "The other side of rivers, lakes? A realm beyond life and death? A yearning? Or the Equinox Flower?"
Grandpa Luo didn't speak, just shook his head gently. Seeing that Jolian was still thinking, he then said:
"Little An, why do you have to find an answer?"
"Some things are destined to have no answer, just like the guild or [The Other Shore]."
"The guild can be a haven for the homeless, or a place to pursue ideals."
"[The Other Shore] can be a yearned - for realm, or the end of life."
"They all change according to different people's thoughts."
The old man stood up after drinking the last sip of wine: "Sometimes, in - depth study and exploration only lead us into confusion. It's better to be free - and - easy and not seek exhaustive understanding."
"Child, don't you think so?"
Jolian repeatedly pondered the old man's words.
After seeing the monsters in the ancient castle, her thinking had been drawn into a strange loop.
She had been constantly thinking about what she exactly was?
But now, there were so few clues. Why was she getting stuck in this dead - end and making wild guesses?
What could that change?
Yes, it couldn't change anything, only adding to her troubles.
So why couldn't she be more open - minded? Wait until there were more clues and things would fall into place. Wouldn't that be much better than now?
Now she was neither Android No.0 nor Alchemist Jolian. She was just herself, someone who loved weapons!
Why can't the meaning of existence be defined by oneself?
After her thoughts gradually cleared up, just as Little An was about to thank Grandpa Guild - master, she saw the other person lose his balance again and fall off the balcony.
"Ugh... The guild - master... is really a lovely person..."
Jolian twitched the corner of her eye slightly. Looking at the drink in her hand, she actually had an urge to take a sip.
So she did it. As a mouthful of strong liquor went down her throat, she froze in place for three seconds.
"It seems quite delicious?" She said and drank the rest, then staggered out of the room.
As soon as she went out the door, she saw a big black "rat" scurry behind her.
It turned out to be Wumulian dressed as a cat - eared maid!
"Little Qiao, help! Fu Xinyue's magic has been upgraded! She changed all my clothes!"
"Huh?" Jolian was apparently stunned and numbed by the alcohol: "When did the guild have a cat?"
"Hmm???" Wumulian looked at Jolian, whose whole body was red like a boiled prawn, and felt something was wrong.
She snatched the empty bottle from the other person's hand and took a look.
Goodness!
100% alcohol content. Even industrial alcohol isn't this strong!
"Wait, Qiao! What are you doing with the Twin - Banger Snake?"
While the pink - haired girl was looking at the bottle, Little An directly took out a Gatling from her ring. But without the support legs, she couldn't hold it at all.
She was directly dragged down the stairs by the Twin - Banger Snake. Just as it seemed she was about to land face - first, Yimansha, who heard the commotion, immediately caught her.
"Why did you drink the guild - master's wine?"
"Hmm? Wifey, come closer!"