Chapter 316: Major Trouble at Crookes (2/2)

The old man looked between them with lingering suspicion, and then at the personal seal on the letter before opening the door.

However, just as both Terry and Jom was about to enter, the old man stopped them.

“Wait. Both of you pluck out one hair.”

“Pluck… hair? Is that some weird custom around here?”

Jom was puzzled.

“Custom… humph!” The old man sneered. “There’s no such weird custom in Crookes. I’m checking whether you are swampmen!”

“Swampmen? Those sticky, big humanoid monsters?” Terry asked, perplexed.

“Those are swampbeasts. Swampmen are morphing monsters that could imitated a person’s memories and appearance, right?”

Jom, on the other hand, knew more since he would occasionally browse through beast compendiums on the forums out of boredom.

“Even memories?” Terry paled in shock.

“Don’t worry, our memories are protected by our gods. Those monsters won’t keep our memories even if they imitated our appearance.

After all, the Players know too much-the other gods would be able to tell that Xi Wei was not normal if anyone could see their memories, and would string him up to be dissected into pieces. That was why any Player’s memories being read by a foreign power would alert Xi Wei himself, after which he would inflict divine retribution.

In fact, that mechanism also keeps the Player immune against mind control aside from preventing their memories from being read. Jom naturally wasn’t aware of the reasons behind it all and merely continued his story. “It was also said that if any part of the swampmen’s body is detached, the loss of lifeforce would revert them to mud. That’s probably why plucking out a strand of hair would prove that we are fine.”And with that reason made known, neither youths protested any further, each plucking out a hair to prove themselves for the old man.

Knowing now that they are alright, the old man only let them in then.

“Since you’ve mentioned it, does this city have a problem with swampmen?” Jom asked in curiosity. “Has wild magical beasts blended in? Didn’t the churches here take action?”

“I don’t know the specifics, but swampmen has definitely blended in. We have found several water sources that they’ve poisoned, and corpses whose identity they had taken.”

The old man quickly closed the door after both youths entered and only looked relief after he closed its many locks. “The city watch has lost all reputation after going days without finding a clue. And it’s not like churches are dependable anyway, so everyone could only protect themselves by being cautious…”

Jom made a solemn face, while discreetly judged if this would be the next quest.

“Give me the letter.”

The old man then sat grandly beside the hearth and accepted the letter from Jom. “Let me see what the old chap has to say to an old cripple like me.”