"The white fog seems to be thinning." Xiao Chen saw the outlines of houses faintly appearing on both sides.
"What is that?" Catalina pointed to a fork in the road on their side, where an orange-red color shone through the white mist.
"It's fire! It's possible that Tashia is fighting. Let's go in that direction!" Xiao Chen and Katarina rode their horses towards the place where the flames were leaping. The layers of fog with the smell of smoke retreated to the surroundings. Xiao Chen's eyes suddenly became bright.
He saw two people standing together in the blazing fire. The one in front was Tashia, and the one behind was a middle-aged man, who held her shoulders with one hand and held a dagger against her neck with the other.
When Tasya saw Xiao Chen and Catalina coming, she was happy at first, but then turned anxious. She shouted, "Xiao Chen, don't listen to Sancho, no matter what he says..."
The middle-aged man strangled her neck with force, and said to Xiao Chen: "As she said, I am Sancho, Sir Xiao Chen, I have known you for a long time, but this is the first time you have seen me."
"Sancho? So you are the haunted fellow. What on earth do you want to do by kidnapping Miss Tasya today?"
“Miss!” At this time, Belia rushed out from the fog in the other direction. Seeing that Tasia was kidnapped, she, who was always calm, couldn’t help but screamed. While trying to get closer to Tasia, she shouted, “Don’t hurt the lady!”
"Woman, stand where you are and don't move, otherwise I won't be able to help but leave a few marks on your body." Sancho moved his dagger slightly, and more blood flowed from Tasya's neck.
"No matter who you are, do you know what you are doing? This is a declaration of war against the Alonso family!" Belia roared, but when she saw the streak of bright red blood, she dared not move forward even a bit.
"I just want to talk to someone rational. Master Xiao Chen, I think you should be calmer than that woman."
"Tell me what you want." Xiao Chen took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.
"My request is very simple. Tell me your secrets and let me know who you really are. I mean, behind the identity of the Black Mountain Wizard, you have a more important identity." Sancho stared at Xiao Chen as if he was hiding behind a mask.
"Do you guys in the Shadow Group work by guessing riddles?" Xiao Chen asked back, "I don't have any secret identity."
"Of course I have, and I already have my guess, you just have to admit it."
Xiao Chen shook his head and said, "I can't tell you a secret that doesn't exist."
Sancho smiled rarely, and patted Tasia's pretty face: "If not, what was this lady so nervous about just now?"
"Put down your dirty hands!" Xiao Chen shouted, "How dare you say that! Any respectable lady would feel extremely nervous if she were held hostage by a villain like you."
Sancho picked up the dagger and wiped it on Tasya's face. The blood on the dagger drew an arc on her face: "Be quiet! You know, I have been eyeing you since Montenegro. You people appeared inexplicably, and every part of you is out of tune with this world.
And after you showed up, you quickly revealed your magical power. This kind of situation is naturally the focus of our Shadow Group's attention.
But all the men I sent to you were killed. How could I not investigate you? I was determined to investigate you thoroughly. "
Sancho's dagger kept moving between Tasia's neck and face, but he spoke slowly: "I quietly observed in the dark and slowly collected evidence. I found out that the house where you appeared was the house of Matthew Doria. Although this guy was a member of the Tower of Refining Spirits, there are rumors that he has inherited the Tower of Dreams. I found out that when you fight, you are best at using mental magic. I also investigated the conflict between you and Master Perrin. It seems that as soon as you appeared, the old guy Ikasa paid special attention to you. I followed you to the imperial capital again and found that you and Kona of the Tower of Refining Spirits also quickly established a relationship. The origin of the Tower of Refining Spirits... is still the Tower of Dreams.
Next is this one…” Sancho tapped Tasya’s face with his dagger, “Miss Tasya, the pearl of the Magic Association, the daughter of the Alonso family, a proud woman who usually never talks to anyone, unexpectedly got involved with you so quickly. Today, she even ignored her status and was willing to be bait to help you. What charm do you have that makes these people pay attention to you?”
"Until she shouted at you not to say anything just now, I finally had a clue of what I was thinking. What could have made the Alonso family so nervous? There is only one possibility. The problem you have is so big that even they are afraid. The biggest possibility is that you are related to the Dream Tower and you are the heir of the Dream Tower!"
Xiao Chen had a hunch about what the other party would say halfway through, so when Sancho called out the Tower of Dreams, he tried his best to control his expression. He said calmly, "You made up a good story."
Sancho said, "Your acting is terrible. If you really have nothing to do with the Dream Tower, you would be confused, surprised, or even curious after hearing what I just said, but you would not be indifferent. Your expression... just shows that I was right."
Sancho caught a trace of astonishment from Xiao Chen's face again, and said more confidently: "Admit it. Admit that you are the heir of the Dream Tower, tell me what happened before and after, and I will let this woman go!"
At this time, Xiao Chen saw a figure slowly appearing behind Sancho. It was Roger. He had arrived nearby at some point and was slowly approaching them while Sancho was analyzing proudly.
Xiao Chen was ready to buy him some more time, so he said, "All your speculations are nonsense. I can find other reasons for every one of your speculations. If you were really sure, you would have reported it to the Shadow Group headquarters long ago, but now, no one cares about your speculation."
"It doesn't matter, as long as I find the real evidence..." Sancho was halfway through his words when Roger behind him suddenly pounced on him. Belia in front also took action and attacked Sancho from the front and back with Roger.
However, Sancho seemed to be prepared. With a strange dodger, Roger and Bella missed their chance.
The strength displayed by Sancho was obviously superior to Roger's. Even though he was holding someone hostage, he was still very agile. He moved sideways to avoid Roger's counterattack, and fighting spirit burst out from under his feet. He jumped over a wall of fire that was about to burn out, and floated back seven or eight meters.
He stood across the flames, picked up the dagger and stabbed it into Tashia's shoulder: "You asked for it!"