Chapter 395 - THE TIMID BUT DECISIVE LHORIS
LHORIS was exactly as how that NPC at the train in Dream Land that Luo Yan talked to described. Well, aside from that absence of glasses and his hair being white instead of blond.
He seemed to be looking around, as if checking the barrier that was already destroyed by Shen Ji Yun. Then his gaze turned to the destroyed black stone on the ground.
Luo Yan could see the NPC's body visibly shook.
Then Lhoris raised his head and looked at them. "You- you—" But he stopped when his gaze landed on Luo Yan. "A moon elf?" But his surprised tone completely changed when he saw Shen Ji Yun. Even without seeing his eyes, one could tell that he was horrified to the extreme. "A Qilin?"
Luo Yan used this opportunity to walk forward and introduce himself. "Good day, Mr. Lhoris. I apologized for our sudden unannounced visit and for the destruction of your private property. But this is an emergency. We need to discuss something of utmost important with Mr. Lhoris. So, we could only do it this way. I hope Mr. Lhoris can show a little bit of understanding."
Lhoris seemed to be trying to calm himself down. He seemed to want to retaliate. But at the end, he could only sigh and said in a voice full of reluctance, "You go in first."
Luo Yan raised one of his brows when he heard that. It seemed that the character design of this NPC was the type that would compromise once he knew that there would be no other choice for him but to do so. Just like how he easily let them in like this. Probably because he couldn't win against the Qilin. He appeared to be timid but decisive enough in making decisions. Like resigning from his job at Tropical Land or even using the monsters here as some kind of defense to protect him.
It meant that as long as Luo Yan played it right, he could probably get Lhoris to talk and tell whatever he wanted to know.
They walked towards the cabin. Before Lhoris followed them, he raised his hand and another invisible barrier appeared surrounding the cabin.
Luo Yan, of course, noticed this small movement of Lhoris. He probably did that so the next batch of monsters that would appear would not accidentally destroy the cabin. He then looked around when they entered. The interior of the cabin was very simple. There was no extra furniture. Only standard things like table, chair, etc.
"You can sit anywhere you want," they heard Lhoris said who had already sat down on a chair.
Luo Yan and Shen Ji Yun also did the same, sitting on the two chairs opposite the moon elf. Eclipse happily sat down on his master's lap, transforming himself into a black ball with his fluffy head buried.
"How did you find out that I'm here?" the moon elf asked, looking at them.
"The Elder of our village told us that you were currently working at Tropical Land. We went there. But sadly, you already resigned. So, we interviewed the people working at the amusement park, looking for someone who could tell us your whereabouts. Until we met Mr. Alen. He told us about the possibility that you might be here," Luo Yan explained.
Lhoris seemed to be surprised when he heard the name of Alen. "That Alen, how could he tell strangers where I was?" he grumbled.
"It's because Mr. Alen is worried about you," Luo Yan said. "He said that if you let yourself get hurt, he will kill you himself."
A small smile crossed Lhoris' lips, it's so imperceptible no one would probably notice it if they didn't stare at him. "That's certainly something Alen would say."
"He also told us to protect you," Luo Yan added.
That made the moon elf speechless. It took awhile before he spoke again. "Are you sent here by the Elder?"
"No, we're here on our own accord."
Luo Yan felt Shen Ji Yun secretly glancing at him after he said that. The other was probably wondering why he admitted that. After all, they had been telling the NPCs they talked to at Tropical Land that they were sent there by the Elder of the moon elves' village.
Shen Ji Yun was indeed thinking that way. But he didn't say anything nor he interrupted Luo Yan. Because knowing the other, he was certain that he had his own plans. If he interfered, he would surely just ruin whatever plans Luo Yan had.
So, he did that thing he was best at during times like this – pretending to be mute and acting like some background character.
Lhoris seemed to not like that answer. "Then why did come barging in my place like this?" he asked, his voice exuding his dislike of the current situation. "Looking at you, you must be a young moon elf. I'm still your elder. So, you and this esteemed sir doing this is just simply disrespectful."
"I know, Mr. Lhoris. But as I've already mentioned, we wouldn't go here if it's not really something we must do," Luo Yan said, his voice and expression full of apology. "We searched for you because we know you have information regarding the black dragon that was sleeping at the Silent Marsh. We badly needed that information."
Luo Yan saw how the moon elf flinched when he mentioned the black dragon. "I- I don't—"
"Please, don't try to deny it Mr. Lhoris," Luo Yan cut off whatever excused Lhoris was about to say. "The black dragon was already awake. Which I know that Mr. Lhoris is already aware of. Because if you're not, then you wouldn't have resigned on the same day that the dragon awoken. This small action of yours already told us a lot of things. That you're somehow connected with the dragon. And that you're afraid that the dragon would come after you."
Lhoris became speechless once again. Then he sighed helplessly. "If you already know this much, then what else do you want from me?"
"Only two things. To know why the dragon ended up in that cave and what is his identity," Luo Yan said directly. "If you could do that, then we could guarantee that the dragon will not come after you."
Lhoris seemed to want to laugh at that last part, as if he heard the biggest joke of the year. When he was about to reply back, his gaze accidentally landed on the black fox sitting on Luo Yan's lap. At that moment, Eclipse raised his buried head and looked at Lhoris' direction.
The moon elf suddenly stood up as if he had seen something on the black fox that made him extremely panicked. Because of his sudden movement, a few strands of his hair covering the upper half of his face was swept to the side, revealing his eyes.
Luo Yan was a bit surprised when he saw the NPC's eyes. It was just like how that other NPC described it – like a pair of diamond gems. But he was even more startled at the horror that flashed through those eyes while looking at Eclipse.
It was almost as if Lhoris had seen a ghost or something.