Capítulo 337: CHAPTER 337 - He Shouldn’t Have a Daughter...
The village was eerily quiet.
Even though winters in Demacia were harsh, some insects thrived here that didn't exist on Earth, staying active even in the cold.
In villages like this one, nestled at the foot of the mountains, one would expect an abundance of such strange creatures.
However, in Hengfeng Village, not only were there no people, but even these small insects and other creatures were nowhere to be found.
The village had around a hundred households, and according to the footage captured by drones, which had broken through several windows to film inside, each house was locked from the inside, with no sign of anyone having left.
It seemed as if the villagers were hiding from something, trapped inside their homes with no apparent way out—yet they had somehow vanished without a trace.
Li Lin, Jarvan IV, Barrett, Alberk, and Shyvana all exchanged looks, their silence heavy with unease.
"Did we... come too late?" Alberk couldn't bear to keep looking at the holographic images captured by the drone. He turned his face towards the other side of the river, where Hengfeng Village stood.
"Andel didn't have a horse. Even traveling here took us over 20 days..." Barrett sighed. "If we're truly dealing with a demon, we should have anticipated something like this."
"Andel's sudden disappearance might be a bad omen," Li Lin added, "Your Highness, I advise we don't pursue this matter any further."
Jarvan IV fell into deep thought.
This village had already missed its chance to evacuate, and all the villagers had likely fallen prey to the demon of fear.
If Andel had merely gone mad from some breakdown, it wasn't worth risking the lives of his men to search for him.
Just as Jarvan hesitated, torn between calling off the operation and heading downriver to Terbisia before returning to the capital, a fleeting image of a young girl appeared on the holographic screen before him.
"Wait... what was that?!"
Shyvana's sharp eyes caught it, her hand shooting out to point at the screen.
At her shout, Li Lin quickly adjusted the drone's angle.
On the screen was a little girl, dressed in coarse cloth with a simple braid, her small frame suggesting she was only six or seven years old. Their faces filled with shock.
"That's impossible! My drone already scanned the area—there was no sign of any living being in the village!" Li Lin exclaimed.
Yet there she was, a girl with no life signs on the drone's sensors, like a ghost.
Li Lin swiftly activated the "Data Mind" system, preparing to analyze this mysterious girl's attributes.
But it seemed she had anticipated his intentions.
Before Li Lin could make out the data on her profile, the girl cast a glance toward the invisible drone and gave a chilling smile.
Then, with a light skip, she disappeared behind a house.
By the time the drone caught up, she was gone.
"—Hiss!" Alberk drew a sharp breath. "Is that... an illusion conjured by a mage?"
"This girl looks exactly like the one Andel described," Shyvana said, confusion evident on her face. "But wasn't she reported missing?"
"Missing doesn't necessarily mean dead," Barrett replied. "Don't forget, we haven't ruled out the possibility that she and her mother were abducted by bandits."
"But if they were taken, how could she have come back alone?"
Alberk's question left Li Lin, Jarvan IV, and Barrett all frowning, their eyes fixed on the replay of the girl's eerie glance into the camera, each lost in thought.
"She spotted the drone," Li Lin said, his tone carrying an inexplicable weight.
"So... that girl isn't Andel's daughter. Or rather, she's not human?" Jarvan IV asked, his voice low and serious.
He knew that if Li Lin's drone had gone into stealth mode, no ordinary person could have detected it.
Either this "girl" was a wicked sorceress, wielding forbidden magic that reversed aging, or she was some sort of spirit familiar created by a dark mage. That would explain why the drone couldn't detect any life signs, only faint energy fluctuations.
At least, they could rule out the possibility that the girl was the demon.
"Let's head back, Your Highness."
Li Lin tried once more to persuade Jarvan. "My drone has already scanned the area within a five-kilometer radius—there are no survivors. This village is beyond saving."
"For now, the village seems... relatively safe, doesn't it?"
Jarvan's unexpected question took Li Lin by surprise.
"That's true..." Li Lin hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Then, we'll set up camp here for now. Let the drones continue their investigation of the village."
"Your Highness?!" ×3
Li Lin, Barrett, and Alberk were all taken aback by his decision.
"If a demon has already ravaged this village, then any of the surrounding towns could be next," Jarvan IV explained. "There's no record in the capital of how to fight a demon. We need to understand why it's here and devise a way to defeat it.
"If it reaches the capital, and we have no means to fight it, we'll be nothing but lambs for the slaughter."
He scanned their faces, then added, "Besides, encountering a demon is the worst-case scenario. If this is the work of an evil mage, we can't just leave without investigating. We'd be letting them roam free."
With that, Jarvan IV turned to Li Lin, his gaze softening with a plea. "We'll have to rely on you for this, Li Lin."
"Fine... as long as we don't enter the village."
In this timeline, Jarvan IV hadn't lost all his men, and Barrett hadn't sacrificed his life to save him. Unlike in the original timeline, he wasn't left alone and broken, saved only by a passing Shyvana.
Though he had still faced hardship, the severity was different, and so his personality hadn't changed as drastically as it had in the original timeline.
That meant, while Jarvan IV had matured, he remained true to himself in many ways, still stubbornly holding on to his principles in certain matters.
Li Lin could only helplessly agree to Jarvan IV's request.
Otherwise, Jarvan might personally lead a team into the village to investigate.
Under the astonished gazes of the others, who no matter how many times they had seen it, remained in awe, Li Lin's nanomaterial clothing quickly morphed into the appearance of battle armor. This allowed him to better control the drones directly.
Li Lin first recalled three drones from outside the village, leaving only two to continue observing the "scarecrows" outside. Meanwhile, the four drones inside the village broke through windows and doors of each household, investigating the situation within.
Winter's sun sets early.
It wasn't even 7 o'clock yet, but the countryside was already shrouded in darkness.
The soldiers quickly set up temporary tents, lit bonfires and torches, and began to take turns standing guard.
At the center of the camp, Li Lin, Jarvan IV, Shyvana, Barrett, Alberk, and a few elite soldiers sat around the fire, their eyes fixed on the projection from Li Lin's armor, which displayed the footage captured by the drones.
The efficiency of the nanodrones was impressive due to their ability to transform.
In nearly two hours, they had inspected two-thirds of the village homes, but found little useful information.
However, judging by the oil lamps on the candlesticks and the firewood in the hearths, they could roughly determine that the villagers had disappeared in the dead of night.
Nighttime in Demacia, with its medieval-like era filled with strange magic and bizarre creatures, was dangerous.
This matched well with Fiddlesticks' fear-spreading tactics.
In the houses, there were tools like axes, kitchen knives, pitchforks, and rakes, seemingly prepared for defense, but none appeared to have been used.
As Li Lin meticulously explored the village, a guard stationed outside ran over to Jarvan IV and reported:
"Your Highness, a caravan leader claiming to be a villager from Hengfeng has just returned from Vaskasia port town. They wish to inquire about what has happened here."
Jarvan IV's eyes lit up. "Oh? Bring him in quickly!"
After a few minutes, a man in his forties, wearing a deerskin coat and felt hat, with a small deerskin pouch around his waist and a thick beard on his face, was led in by the guards.
His eyes first lingered on Li Lin, clad in his strange "armor," then shifted to Shyvana, whose appearance and skin tone were quite peculiar. His gaze finally settled on the blue-white holographic projection before them, causing him to feel alarmed.
This... is this magic?!
"Ahem…" Jarvan IV deliberately cleared his throat, bringing the man's attention back to reality.
"May the Winged Protector watch over you, Your Highness," the middle-aged man said, crossing his hands over his chest. He wore an awkward but reverent expression as he bowed to Jarvan IV, not daring to ask more.
"And may the Winged Protector guide you as well," Jarvan replied calmly. "Do not be mistaken, this is not magic—it's the latest technology from Piltover."
"I see…"
After Jarvan's explanation, the man's astonishment eased somewhat.
He took a deep breath and quickly introduced himself: "My name is Isido, I was born in Hengfeng Village. In recent months, I've been traveling to western towns for business. Upon hearing of skirmishes along the border, I returned, hoping I could help in some way."
Isido cautiously glanced at Jarvan IV, the worry in his eyes unmistakable. "May I ask, Your Highness, did Noxians or perhaps... dragons attack Hengfeng Village?"
"To be precise, neither," Jarvan sighed and pointed at the projection Li Lin had displayed. "The villagers of Hengfeng … have all 'disappeared.'"
Upon hearing this, Isido's emotions flared up. "What on earth happened?!"
"This matter is complicated…"
Over the next five minutes, Jarvan IV swiftly recounted how Andel, who had lost his wife and daughter, had sought them out, and explained their theories about the events in Hengfeng, especially the possibility of a "demon" being involved.
But to their surprise, after listening to the story about Andel, Isido's face showed confusion.
"If the Andel you met is the one I know… he shouldn't have had a daughter."
"What?!"
His words caused shock among everyone present.
Startled by their reaction, Isido quickly explained: "Andel's daughter passed away when she was seven years old… and that was three years ago."
(Chapter End)
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