Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 180 Buying a coffin and returning a pearl
Bard, who had just barely made his way into the battlefield after most of the trolls were knocked down by the powerful sleep spell, was able to reduce the pressure by using the enemy's massive bodies as cover.

A few minutes later, when the troll, freed from the sleep spell, charged again with a strange cry, Bard, who was about to raise his shield to block the opponent's claws, was suddenly enveloped by a gust of cold wind, and for a moment he was unable to move anything except his eyeballs.

The dwarf brother watched helplessly as a transparent ice barrier froze him. Strangely, what came through the ice was not the biting cold he expected, but rather a comfortable feeling like an ice pack on a wound or a refreshing drink in summer. Even the pain from his cut wounds and injured lungs was greatly reduced.

As one of the parties involved, Bard naturally couldn't help but boast about it after the war, and he did so in the first person, his face beaming with excitement.

Everyone wasn't blind; the effects of magic on the battlefield were undeniable. However, Bard's slightly exaggerated words inevitably aroused some doubt.

It wasn't until Bard lifted his shoulder armor, revealing the healed claw marks, that everyone believed him, and their gazes toward the Winter Wyvern grew even more fervent.

Having a dragon as a healer is such a luxury that you probably won't find another adventure group like them.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the Canaan team's playful antics and moments of wonder.

At noon, the blinding sunlight shone unhindered on the sparsely wooded flat land at the foot of the mountain, and the waves of the winding river in the distance spread this gift evenly, splashing out thousands of golden points of light.

As Zhang Yuan stepped out of the room, he stretched and saw his teammates handling the chess pieces. By the river, Rick and Morty, two big guys, were cleaning their newly captured prey—a poor wild goat.

Hmm, hot pot with mutton?
After a fierce battle, he immediately took a nap. Having not eaten or drunk anything, he was now feeling a bit hungry. He called Kegan over, pulled out a bunch of dry rations, and asked him to help the half-ogre brothers prepare lunch.

I also summoned an Enchantress and a Crystal Maiden, and had them work with the Winter Wyvern to heal my teammates. With the Crystal Maiden on the field, the pieces with endless mana didn't need to worry about spell slots.

The rest of the group went about their business, while Nancy and Lawrence, the two wanderers, were called over by Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan, who was in a hurry to take sleeping pills to fall asleep, wasn't lazy; there was something that needed to be dealt with immediately—the secret box.

With considerable magical identification skills and some knowledge of magical items, the Grand Mage Zhang would not be so easily stopped by a magical lock. Before going to sleep, he specifically memorized detection spells, knocking spells, identification spells, and dispelling spells to ensure that nothing went wrong.

This secret box is not something that can be manipulated at will; even the hammering technique could not completely solve the problem of the methods set up on it.

Although the main magical lock was indeed broken, the arcane vision clearly showed that the lingering magical aura was still attached to the box.

After a very careful and thorough examination, Zhang Yuan was certain that this was a trigger-type magical mechanism. Once it was activated, regardless of the damage it caused, the contents of the box would be lost.

Fortunately, the experienced old pervert standing nearby said that if the triggering spells on it could be temporarily suppressed, he was confident that he could handle the remaining mechanisms.

As he spoke, Lawrence pulled out all sorts of oddly shaped tools from his waist bag, including carving knives, screwdrivers, screwdrivers, wire hooks, and so on.

All we can do now is hope this thing is reliable.

Once Lawrence was ready and confirmed the spell, Zhang Yuan immediately cast a dispelling spell on the box.

The judgment was successful!

The aura emanating from the box in sight was suppressed to a barely perceptible level. At the command of a certain mage, the old lecher began his performance.

To reiterate, don't be fooled by Lawrence's seemingly weak fighting ability, which is only good for bullying goblins. His professional skills are probably maxed out.

The mechanisms, which are distributed with various circuit nodes in the arcane vision, are still incredibly complex even with the spell effects suppressed. However, Lawrence used a series of thief tools to methodically and systematically crack the mechanisms in the box.

Just like a Rubik's Cube, it's difficult for those who don't know how, but easy for those who do. He stared at the complex mechanism for less than twenty seconds, and this lecherous old man had already stripped him bare. "Done."

Lawrence, letting out a soft sigh of relief, handed over the sealed box, his face calm and collected, devoid of his usual slick and playful demeanor.

"Thanks a lot."

After thanking him solemnly, Zhang Yuan opened the sealed box and saw a small glass bottle inside. However, the thread connecting the bottle to the box had been cut; otherwise, if the box had been forcibly opened, the contents of the bottle would have spilled out.

As for what's inside, there's no need to discuss it; it's nothing more than kerosene or acid.

Carefully removing the bottle, I looked inside the box and found only a booklet. After flipping through a few pages, I discovered it was just an account book, recording some of the chamber of commerce's income and expenses.

Disappointed, he finished reading through the document but found nothing unusual. However, the gold voucher tucked inside was somewhat unexpected.

Zhang Yuan picked up the gold foil representing one hundred taels of gold, casually put it into his pocket, and looked at the lecherous old man who was about to say something, and said:

"Consider it as you returning thirty gold coins to me."

"I didn't see anything."

After going around in circles, the most important target information was nowhere to be found.

Looking at this ledger and gold certificates, is that all?

All these things combined probably don't even amount to half the value of this sealed box with multiple spells. All that money wasted for this little thing?

Isn't this like buying the casket and returning the pearl?

Buying the casket... Returning the pearl?
Zhang Yuan's gaze returned to the now empty box. He picked it up and weighed it again, but it felt surprisingly light. He examined it repeatedly but still found nothing.

He simply handed the box back to Lawrence and shared his guess.

"You mean you want me to try taking this box apart and see if there are any hidden compartments inside?" Lawrence was curious and wanted to see the internal structure of the box.

"Yes, but be careful, don't damage anything important inside." The person repeatedly warned.

He gestured with his hand, as if to reassure the old pervert, then picked up that screwdriver-like tool again and started hammering and probing.

squeak~
Within minutes, Lawrence pried open the outer layer at the bottom of the box, revealing a hidden space.

There really is one!?

They exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised. Zhang Yuan took it and saw a perfectly sized, square, and smooth silver box inside the compartment.

Carefully taking out the silver box and placing it in my hand, I felt it was very light, unlike the weight of pure silver. Looking at its mirror-like surface, even fingerprints left by pressing on it would disappear in the blink of an eye, without affecting its appearance at all.

(End of this chapter)