Volume 2: The Church of Light Chapter 197: Study and the Deep River
"Pengfei, is he the new guard?"
Seeing Xu Shen coming out, the few people who were waiting in the hall on the first floor looked over and sized up Xu Shen.
They had received news that a new guard had joined their Sixth Division, but they didn't expect him to look so young.
Han Pengfei nodded and gave a brief introduction to Xu Shen's situation, then introduced the other four people to Xu Shen. After a few minutes, everyone could call each other by their names.
"Let's spar when we have time."
The young man named Lin Xiao said with a smile.
Xu Shen saw that there was no provocation in his eyes, only strong interest.
Han Pengfei said helplessly: "Xu Shen, don't get me wrong. He is just that kind of person. He likes to talk to people when he has nothing to do. If no one is around, he will go to the market to play. He has no ill intentions."
Xu Shen nodded to show that he understood, and said politely to Lin Xiao: "If there is a chance, yes."
"Then it's considered as if you agree." Lin Xiao's eyes lit up.
Seeing how excited he was, Xu Shen suddenly felt that he should just refuse.
"The captain is here."
Another beautiful woman next to her suddenly said.
Her name is Lou Haiyin, and she is another person with perception abilities in the team.
The previous Lin Xiao was of the strengthening type, but his ability was a relatively rare transformation type among the strengthening types.
Moreover, Xu Shen also noticed that the surname Lin is one of the seven noble families in the inner city. Lin Xiao in front of him is most likely the same as Han Pengfei, whose ancestors were exiled from the noble families several generations ago.
Footsteps sounded, and Wang Cheng walked in from outside. Seeing that everyone had gathered, he nodded, glanced at Xu Shen, and said, "Does the armor still fit?"
"fit."
Xu Shen raised his hand to indicate that there was no obstacle.
Wang Cheng nodded slightly and said, "It's almost time. Today's inspection locations are His Highness's study and Youhe River. Xu Shen, you just reported in today. Go to the study with Shen Wanqing to inspect. The rest of you will go to Youhe River. The Queen Ant went there to enjoy the lanterns before. It may be dangerous. You all should be smart."
"Yes." Everyone nodded.
Xu Shen looked at another girl in the team. Shen Wanqing looked ordinary, not the stunning type, but if you looked closely, you could feel that she had a kind of quiet beauty.
As the division was completed, Han Pengfei patted Xu Shen on the shoulder and said, "If you have any questions, send a message. Wanqing is a veteran team member. If you don't understand anything, just ask her."
"Yeah." Xu Shen nodded: "You should also be careful."
"Leave."
Han Pengfei waved his hand casually, and then left with the others.
Shen Wanqing also turned around and walked towards another route.
Seeing this, Xu Shen immediately followed in his footsteps.
Along the way, Xu Shen passed through the garden outside. He was familiar with the route before with Han Pengfei, so it didn't seem too unfamiliar to him.
Soon, they came to the study where the queen ant was reading.
Although it is called a study, it is actually a separate building, as large as a library.
The guard at the door saw the two of them and immediately nodded in greeting. Shen Wanqing said nothing, pushed open the door, and went to the study to patrol around.
Xu Shen immediately saw rows of huge bookshelves in the study. When he was familiarizing himself with the route with Han Pengfei before, he only passed by outside and did not enter. At this moment, Xu Shen felt like he had entered a sea of books.
Looking around, the bookshelves are filled with books.
It was extremely quiet inside, and the guards were all outside. Xu Shen looked around and couldn't help but ask, "Are these all the books that Her Highness reads? Can she...read them all?"
Shen Wanqing didn't even turn her head, but walked ahead and said, "Your Highness likes to read and collect books. Whether he can finish reading is not our business."
Xu Shen also realized that his question was a bit rude, so he asked, "Captain said that Your Highness went to Youhe to watch the lanterns. Why is it more dangerous there? Is there someone lying in wait to assassinate the queen ant?"
Shen Wanqing's voice was calm, not cold, but with a faint sense of alienation, as if she was detached from the crowd. Her eyes showed no joy or sadness, and she said, "The danger is not people, but the ruins. No one in Termite City is stupid enough to assassinate the queen ant. Of course, it's not that no one has tried before, but they all failed."
"Ruins?"
Xu Shen was confused.
Shen Wanqing looked back at him , and seeing that Xu Shen really didn't understand, she retracted her gaze and continued walking while saying, "The queen ant is a third-state monarch. When she moves around, she releases her own scent, leaving traces in the Xu world, and some Xu will pursue these scent traces... Do you know that Xu will eat each other?"
Xu Shen suddenly realized, "You mean, the smell left by your highness will attract some ants, and they want to eat the queen ant?"
Shen Wanqing said calmly, "That's right. Although the deep-level creatures may have intelligence that is not that of humans, their pursuit of delicious food will cover up their rationality and make them more impulsive. Their self-control is much worse than that of humans. Therefore, even in some B-level creatures, the taste left by the queen ant will make them unable to resist the impact of their appetite."
"Then why doesn't the queen ant cover up her own smell?" Xu Shen asked puzzledly.
Shen Wanqing glanced at Xu Shen and asked, "Do you wipe off your footprints whenever you walk?"
"Uh..." Of course Xu Shen wouldn't, he could do it, but he wouldn't do it because of the trouble, unless the footprints would bring him great danger.
"Those ruins that are attracted here are nothing to the Queen Ant, but they are quite troublesome for us and will also destroy the Snow Palace. Simply put, the duty of our personal guards is to make His Highness worry-free." Shen Wanqing said.
Xu Shen already understood.
But he was thinking of another question.
"Will the scent left by His Highness attract a stronger monster?" Xu Shen asked curiously.
Shen Wanqing said calmly, "Of course, but the A-level Xu and Your Highness are on the same level. They can sense each other's power and that this is Your Highness's territory. The top Xu are like lone tigers. In order to protect their own territory, they also understand what kind of attacks they will suffer if they invade other people's territory."
Xu Shen had a strange expression on his face. What I want to ask is...what about the Xu that surpasses Class A?
Would they be attracted by the queen's scent and wander down to feed?
"If they are very hungry, they will come to the shallow layer to find food." Maeve seemed to see through Xu Shen's expression and answered in his ear.
Xu Shen felt his ears a little itchy, even though they didn't touch each other, he knew it was just a psychological effect.
"That queen ant...the taste is still in the germination stage." Maeve chuckled, but her eyes revealed a hint of appetite.
Xu Shen felt a chill in his heart.
So, the stronger one becomes in practice, and the more one's aura is revealed, the more one will be noticed by the deeper realms?
Stronger... and tastier?
"Your Highness usually comes here to read, so the lingering smell in this study will also attract visitors. Don't be careless." Shen Wanqing reminded Xu Shen.
The study looked very peaceful and didn't seem like a dangerous place at all, but Shen Wanqing had already experienced two battles here.
Xu Shen nodded, his eyes became serious, and he looked around.
The study has three floors, each of which is very large, and the bookshelves are thick. What surprised Xu Shen was that some of the bookshelves were spotless and had no dust at all.
Only a few bookshelves were covered in dust.
Xu Shen glanced over the names of the books and discovered that each bookshelf had a classification, with the detective story bookshelf having the most categories.
The Disappearing Third Room
Ellen's Toys
Don’t write fill-in-the-blank questions
The Wall
…
Xu Shen read through the books one by one, and they were all mystery story books.
Soon, I finished walking around the first floor and found nothing unusual.
Xu Shen followed Shen Wanqing to the second floor.
"We don't need to patrol the third floor. There are many top-secret items collected by the queen ant there. Outsiders are not allowed to enter." Shen Wanqing said.
Xu Shen nodded and looked towards the second floor which was equally large. There were just as many bookshelves here. The light was blocked by the bookshelves, making it a little dim between the bookshelves.
Xu Shen saw that Shen Wanqing kept her eyes open and closed. This would consume her energy, but for Erwei, it was affordable to maintain it for a day.
Therefore, patrolling as a personal guard is also a physically demanding job.
"!"
Xu Shen followed behind Shen Wanqing, walked around a bookshelf, and suddenly paused.
