As they left, they noted that there were two old people standing on top of a nearby roof.
One was tall and thin, almost like a scarecrow, while the other was short and built like a tank.
Salem noticed them easily as they seemingly made no attempt to hide themselves.
"You see the two old guys on that roof?" Salem asked, jerking his head in their direction. "I bet they're here for Verde."
"I wonder what they'll do with the stone." Ruby said, grinning. "I wonder if they'll pore over it for years, trying to understand it, only to find it's a cryptic and nonsensical phrase."
"By that time they will have spent a lot of resources and time on it." Alina said, smiling. "Imagine their frustration."
"I can imagine it." Salem chuckled, leading them through the streets that were filling up with the early morning crowd.
As they walked away, Salem planted a bug on both of the men as they made their way into the tavern.
Salem began watching them through the bug after they entered the room.
Verde was awoken to the two old men peeling off his blindfold and gag.
"W-What happened?" Verde stammered.
"That's what we wanted to ask you." The left man said.
"I-I don't remember anything after I busted down the door." Verde said as they freed his hands. "I recall the man saying 'I win' and summoning his shade spirit."
"What?" The man on the right exclaimed. "He's got a spirit of shade?"
"It's perfect for your cultivation, second elder!'' Verde exclaimed, finally recognizing the rightmost man.
Salem shook his head ruefully.
"Did it have a corporeal form?" Second elder demanded, shaking Verde. "This is important!"
"Y-yes." Verde stammered.
Second elder collapsed to his knees.
"Fifth elder." Second elder put his head in his hands. "Our family has made a grave mistake."
"What?" Fifth elder asked, confused. "What do you mean?"
"We've likely offended a master that we cannot hope to compete with." Second elder began crying. "We'll all die thanks to this foolish boy!"
Second elder stood and slapped Verde in anger.
"You fool!" Second elder screamed. "You couldn't recognize a master assassin?"
His words finally sunk in for fifth elder, making him realize the deep trouble they were in.
"We....Offended a Shadow Lord...." Fifth elder sat down heavily. "We're doomed.''
Salem's face cracked into a small smile as he listened.
"They think I'm a master assassin." He said, amused.
Verde clearly didn't understand what they were talking about.
"W-what's a Shadow Lord?" He asked, tremblingly standing. "Why are we dead?"
"Shadow Lords are assassins that don't even need to be near you to kill you." Second elder began sobbing, throwing his words out between heavy, heaving sobs. "We've offended a Shadow Lord with a tangible spirit summon. He has an effective range of two kilomiters! I should have spent more time with my daughter!"
"So they know my class." Salem muttered. "That means I'm not the first to master these shadows."
"That's interesting." Alina said, glancing at him.
Salem nodded and continued watching.
Verde took a step forward to comfort his second elder, but his foot kicked sonething hard.
"Second elder!" Verde said, seeing the writing on the object he had kicked. "Is this a clue to their identity?"
Second elder peered at it through tear streaked eyes and picked it up.
"Second elder!" Fifth elder cried.
"If I'm going to die, I'd rather die by my own hands." Second elder said, setting aside his anguish and trying to read the writing through his watery eyes. "Is this the language of Ancients?"
He handed the stone to fifth elder.
"By Satan's right testicle!" Fifth elder exclaimed. "It is!"
"Can you read it?" Second elder asked basking in rays of hope. "Is it a warning? Can we live?"
"It reads: 'Open your eye'." Fifth elder said. "Shouldn't it be 'eyes'? What does this mean?"
"That was fast." Salem said, surprised. "They figured out the writing already."
"It's not a warning?" Second elder asked excitedly. "We'll live!"
Fifth elder sighed in relief.
"We need to report this to your father." Fifth elder said. "And you're lucky that master was lenient enough to offer us cultivation advice!"
"It's...Cultivation advice?" Verde asked in disbelief. "How?"
"You would know if you paid attention to the Body of Immortal Frost cultivation method!" Fifth elder exclaimed.
"I think we've found the cultivation manual that you two will be learning.'' Salem said, hearing the name of the manual. "The Body of Immortal Frost cultivation method."