Dazhe led the mage into a large room, where several low tables were arranged in two rows. There were no chairs, but plenty of soft cushions. Dazhe and Lynch sat behind the tables opposite each other.
Soon, a few young girls brought in small white bowls, filled with fragrant hot tea.
Dazhe gestured for Lynch to drink the tea, then waved for all the maids to leave.
Lynch took a sip of tea, finding it very strange as it had no sugar, milk, or wine added. He sneaked a glance at the retreating girls, spotting a few snake heads peeking out from their veils that covered their entire faces.
"Medusa!" Lynch couldn’t help but feel secretly alarmed. To recruit such powerful beings as maids, how strong must this man called Dazhe be? And what was he aiming to achieve with such power?
"Once again, welcome to my castle. Treat this place as your home, don’t feel like an outsider. Feel free to do anything," Dazhe said with a smile.
"Last time I came, I was almost burned to death by you," Lynch put down his teacup and scrutinized the figure across from him. "I don’t dare to suffer like that again."
"Haha, so that’s how it is, I apologize," Dazhe clapped his hands, and two young girls entered. He said, "At the time, I thought you were an assailant, so I acted first. You have to understand, although it’s newly established, quite a few characters have designs on this place, so I have to be cautious. I felt really bad about scaring you last time. As an apology, I would like to offer these girls to you as maids; what do you think?"
"More snake-men, are they?" Lynch didn’t dare to use the Eye of Insight recklessly, afraid of meeting Medusa’s gaze by accident. Although he had a talisman that granted immunity to petrification, it wouldn’t rid him of the pricking sensation of being attacked by supernatural power.
"Of course not, these two are beautiful human girls. How could I entertain such a distinguished guest with snake women?" Dazhe chuckled. "These girls have never even been with a man before, they are absolute virgins..."
Lynch waved his hand to stop Dazhe from continuing. "We mages are solitary by nature and not accustomed to keeping servants, so I appreciate your kindness, but I must decline." Google seaʀᴄh NoveI[F]ire.net
"What a pity, I thought you would like them," Dazhe looked disappointed. He clapped his hands again, and two strong Snake-man Warriors entered. He said, "Since they’ve now seen a man, they’re of no use. Take them away, see if those beasts are hungry."
"Wait," Lynch raised his hand. "It seems they haven’t seen many men indeed, but they’re quite good as magic materials, so I’ll keep them."
"That’s perfectly fine," Dazhe gestured for the warriors to leave. The two girls obediently stood behind Lynch, unable to stop trembling. Dazhe smiled and said, "Mr. Mage, how did you come to this space?"
"Honestly, I don’t know either," Lynch replied, his eyes never leaving the man across from him. "I just closed my eyes, and the next moment, I woke up here."
With a few crisp sounds, the low table in front of Dazhe was overturned. He leaped up, completely ignoring the hot tea splashed on his legs, and stared in surprise at the mage.
Lynch felt as though he was absolutely being watched by a giant serpent.
Dazhe pointed at Lynch, taking a long moment to force out a single word: "You..."