The Great Thief

Aoriana Goldtooth only dealt with two kinds of people – guests and people who needed something from him.

Lu Li was both of those things, so he obediently threw 20 gold onto the table.

But then again, the wine was indeed a very good drink. Lu Li wasn’t a person who particularly liked wine, but he was quickly intoxicated by this one. He was simply immersed in the fantasy world and couldn’t remove himself.

"There really are fewer and fewer people in this town," Lu Li sighed.

"It’s all the same regardless, but seeing as you’re here, what do you do?" The bearded Dwarf as quite shrewd as a merchant.

"I make my living by being a bounty hunter," Lu Li said, starting to speak more carelessly.

"Hehe, in times like these, competent people are still in demand. On the other hand, people like me are just left here, waiting to die," Aoriana Goldtooth lamented as he continued to tirelessly clean the wooden wine glasses.

"Besides some buying and selling, this town doesn’t seem to have any quests. Is it just too peaceful here?" Lu Li asked.

Most villages or towns had a sign outside with some quest information on it.

Many players or even NPCs would receive quests there. Bounty Hunters also often got their information from these boards.

"Peaceful?" the innkeeper scoffed, "If this place is too peaceful, then the whole continent must be too peaceful. It’s not that there are no quests, but the rewards for them are too high to list. Althea’s been so worried that almost all her hair is gone."

Althea Ebonlocke was the daughter of the Dimlight Town mayor. She managed the Night Watchmen, which was the only defensive strength in this town. They were the ones fighting the monsters who attacked this place.

"If you have anything you need, now is the time to ask." The old Dwarf was very experienced and had long since noticed Lu Li’s tricks to become closer.

"I do have some questions I want to ask, but this wine is really good. Thank you for your hospitality," Lu Li said as he bowed slightly. "Have you heard of Mor’Ladim?’

He had no clue how to find his target in the large Twillight Forest; even spending four days looking wouldn’t be enough.

"Mor’Ladim..." The bearded Dwarf was puzzled at first, but then he suddenly raised his head. "Oh, you’re talking about Morgan Ladimore. So that’s your target."

"The helpless have made their cry, the blood of the innocent must be washed with blood," Lu Li murmured quietly.

The Dwarf Uncle poured himself a glass of wine and said, "In fact, he was once a great and noble Paladin who sought to defend the innocent and impoverished. For years he travelled to all the remote areas of Azeroth, bringing comfort to the people there and punishing those who were committing evil."

"Then what happened?" Lu Li asked.

He had never heard the name Morgan Ladimore before. He had already rarely come here, so he didn’t know much about the strategy for this place either.

"He later fell in love and married a girl named Liza. She gave birth to one son and two daughers..." Aoriana Goldtooth seemed to have lived through that period, perhaps even with the people in the story.

If the story really did have a happy ending, then it should have ended there.

But, Lordaeron’s war broke out.

The story was being drawn out a little, but in short, Morgan was conscripted into Paladin Uther Lightbringer’s unit to fight Orcs and the Undead for a few years.

The Noble Paladin saw the dissolution of the Silver Hand Paladin Regiment, witnessed the death of Uther and the spread of the plague.

The thing that kept him going was no longer faith in the light, but the belief that one day he would reunite with his wife and children. That drove him to overcome countless obstacles.

"What happened next?" Lu Li asked.

The Dwarf swallowed the last of the golden yellow liquid and slowly put the cup on the counter. "No wine left."

"Fill me up too." Lu Li was wondering what happened next, but he could already guess.

"Once you’ve seen it all, this almost seems normal," the old Dwarf said as he poured himself another cup.

It wasn’t far from what Lu Li was thinking.

When Morgan finally returned home, the sight he saw was no longer familiar to him.

The once lush woods was now a withered, desolate field. The houses and farms were all destroyed, and there was a cemetery near Raven Hill that occupied a large part of the land.

In his shock and confusion, Morgan struggled to return home, only to find that his home was in ruins.

"Did his wife and children all die?" Lu Li asked.

"What do you think?" The Old Dwarf looked lazily at Lu Li before continuing, "He saw many familiar names on the tombstones near Raven Hill..."

That day, Morgan Ladimore saw a name in the cemetery that he didn’t want to see.

Liza Ladimore

The wife and mother that we all loved.

The Paladin’s faith became a frustration and he plunged into unparalleled grief. He looked at the tombstone for hours, begging for forgiveness against the tombstone while crying.

"The story keeps going right?" Lu Li threw a small bag of about 50 gold onto the counter in anticipation.

This couldn’t be the end of the story, otherwise, he was going to be put in a difficult position. Killing a Paladin that was grieving for the loss of his loved one wasn’t something he could do.

"Yes. Morgan was enraged and it blinded him. The three cemetery keepers who heard him were killed by him. They were innocent," the Old Dwarf said as he angrily slammed the cup onto the table. "One of them was my friend."

"Is this how he became corrupted?" Lu Li wondered how the dwarf could act so depressed when receiving money.

"You think this is the end? Young man, you’ve underestimated Aoriana." Aoriana Goldtooth wiped his lips and said in a deep tone, "After he killed them, his rage dispersed and he returned to normal. He saw his own sword embedded in the chest of one of the watchmen. After a while, he suddenly pulled out the sword and stabbed himself in the heart."

It was common for people to think that the only way back to their loved ones was by killing themselves.

In that case, who was Mor’Ladim, the one wandering the Twillight Forest?

This time, the old Dwarf continued without waiting for Lu Li to prompt him as he recalled, "When we found the bodies and understood what had happened, we buried them."

"Then, did Morgan resurrect?" Lu Li asked.

Aoriana Goldtooth looked at Lu Li with surprise before nodding, "Yes. A few days later, a Night Watchman found that his tomb was destroyed and his body had also disappeared. A few nights later, some people had run into him and according to a survivor’s description, Morgan Ladimore now calls himself Mor’Ladim. He now roams the Twillight Forest, filled with hatred, killing anyone he sees."

"What a poor, yet detestable guy," Lu Li concluded.

"That right. It’s sad, but infuriating. Young man, where did you get this bounty request from?" the bearded Dwarf asked curiously.