"Have you seen them?" Shang Jianyao asked excitedly.

Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen were also delighted.

Gitis glanced at them and said:

"We rarely see Ashlanders here. Occasionally, some come in small groups of three or four. But they had several vehicles and more than ten people.

"So, even though I was quite young at the time, it left a deep impression."

"Yes, yes, that team was quite large!" Shang Jianyao responded hastily.

Jiang Baimian frowned and carefully chose her words:

"In the eyes of us Red River people, Ashlanders all look pretty much the same. Why can you remember the appearance of the person in the photo?"

Gitis opened her mouth, and after several seconds, she replied:

"This might be my talent; otherwise, I couldn't be an information merchant.

"Even if I've only seen someone once on the street, I can recall their appearance."

Honest Shang Jianyao immediately pointed out:

"You almost didn't recognize us just now. We chatted for a while this morning!"

Gitis's tone turned cold:

"Didn't I recognize you after thinking about it?"

*This* person really does feel a bit strange… Jiang Baimian muttered to herself.

She asked Gitis before Shang Jianyao could:

"Do you know what the person in the photo and his team came to Gesterburg to do?"

Gitis was silent for a moment:

"I'm not quite sure, but I can help you ask around. I know who to look for."

"Okay!" Shang Jianyao agreed directly without asking for instructions.

"This may take a lot of time to visit people. I don't want my efforts to be wasted," Gitis emphasized slowly, seeming distracted.

"Down payment?" Bai Chen was familiar with this aspect.

Gitis nodded:

"Five Knight silver coins. If there's no relevant information, I'll refund you four and give you some additional news."

"Very fair," Jiang Baimian said with a smile. "But we'd also like to know two more things."

Gitis didn't speak, only gestured with her eyes to continue.

Her gray-blue eyes finally seemed less vacant when she was communicating.

"Do you know Smith's 'Rootless' team?" Jiang Baimian asked.

"Yes, they just came to me last week, hoping I could gather various information about something," Gitis's voice suddenly became a little low.

This formed a certain contrast with the content of her words.

Jiang Baimian "hmm"ed:

"We want to know who provided the goods that Smith's 'Rootless' team transported last time, uh, about ten days ago."

"Okay," Gitis accepted the commission.

Jiang Baimian continued:

"We also want to know all kinds of information about the Bodhi Statue mission, um, including rumors, anything that the Hunter's Guild doesn't have."

"So many Ruin Hunters have been asking about this recently, it's earned me quite a bit in information fees," Gitis rarely showed a hint of a smile.

She looked much better when she smiled than when she didn't.

"Just those three things," Jiang Baimian concluded.

Gitis nodded slightly:

"The down payment is still five Knight silver coins. I'll be working at the hotel tomorrow morning and afternoon. You can come find me then, and I'll give you some initial feedback so you know your money hasn't been wasted."

"Why not go through the Hunter's Guild?" Bai Chen interjected.

Having the Hunter's Guild review the mission, provide guarantees, and confirm whether the corresponding information has value can effectively promote trust between both parties.

Gitis's expression became vacant again, and she said sternly:

"I don't want some of the information I provide to be in the hands of the Hunter's Guild."

Her appearance and temperament instantly became serious, completely different from usual.

"No problem," Jiang Baimian looked at the eager Shang Jianyao, smiled, took out five Knight silver coins, and handed them to Gitis. "You're a local, so we're not worried about you skipping out on us."

Her smile was full of the meaning of "you can run but you can't hide."

As for whether Gitis could understand it, she wasn't sure.

Gitis accepted the five Knight silver coins, and her eyes lost their luster once again.

She nodded and said, "If there's nothing else, then I'll be leaving."

"Okay," Jiang Baimian didn't give Shang Jianyao a chance to show off his generosity.

Because after paying the down payment, the "Old Task Force" had to be frugal enough to make the remaining money last until they took on a mission the day after tomorrow.

After Gitis found a seat in the corner and skillfully ordered a set meal, the brown-haired waiter who had previously served them came to the "Old Task Force's" table with a bread basket.

"She really is a local?" Jiang Baimian asked to confirm.

The brown-haired waiter nodded as he placed the small basket of bread:

"Yes, she and I used to live on the same street.

"She used to be a very energetic, idealistic, and compassionate girl who wanted to become a knight. But you know, women face a lot of discrimination in that regard, and her parents were just ordinary workers. In recent years, one of them got sick and the other was injured, so they couldn't work and had to stay at home to rest.

"That's one of the reasons why Gitis became an information merchant. She also worked part-time at the hotel front desk. From then on, she never mentioned wanting to become a knight again. She changed completely, often spacing out, being careless, and liking to daydream."

Long Yuehong wanted to say something, but in the end, he could only sigh:

"Ah…"

At this time, the honest Shang Jianyao looked at the brown-haired waiter and said:

"Do you like her?"

The brown-haired waiter immediately became a little flustered:

"No, no."

He moved the extra chair away as he spoke.

After lunch, the "Old Task Force" had Genaeva come out and met at the hotel entrance. Then, they went together to the Hunter's Guild near the castle.

After Jiang Baimian and the others registered as hunters with their current Red River appearances and newly made-up aliases, Genaeva, having observed the environment, asked Shang Jianyao to help her commandeer a machine in the hall that allowed Ruin Hunters to view and accept commissions themselves.

Then, using Shang Jianyao's body as cover, she began trying to hack into the local Hunter's Guild's system.

Although the system architecture, program writing, and machine procurement of the Gesterburg Hunter's Guild weren't directly from "Mechanical Paradise" like the Wildlands City's, they had more or less referenced that model blueprint. Therefore, Genaeva felt like she was coming home when she hacked into it.

Before long, she fraudulently added a few simple and ordinary missions for Jiang Baimian and the others, allowing them to obtain the corresponding credit points and become "Official Hunters."

Next, Genaeva wrote the fraudulently added missions into the database and took the opportunity to filter and iterate through the missing person missions that had been posted in the past two years.

Just as Shang Jianyao yawned and glanced at the machine's interface, Genaeva withdrew her palm and snapped her fingers straight.

After leaving the Hunter's Guild and reaching a deserted area nearby, Genaeva's eyes flickered with a few red lights and said:

"There is indeed a missing person mission that we speculated about. Its content is to find the whereabouts of a monk, and from the image description, it matches the ascetic monk in the Bodhi Statue mission.

"This mission was only posted to the Gesterburg Hunter's Guild half a year ago, but it has been posted for nearly three years, so the time matches."

Clap, clap, clap, Shang Jianyao applauded himself:

"Just as I guessed!"

Although he had guessed two possibilities, they were both essentially that the ascetic monk was being hunted. His purpose in coming here might have been to go to some place in the Icefield with the Bodhi Statue at the end of his life, or to contact certain forces in Gesterburg and seek protection.

"We can't be completely sure yet. We must first rule out the possibility of death by homicide," Jiang Baimian reminded calmly. "If the ascetic monk didn't expect to die so quickly, then it's normal that he didn't have time to send a telegram to headquarters to inform them of the situation."

She continued:

"This is the next direction of investigation."

In the evening, the "Old Task Force" and Spanter, who had finished a day's work, came to the Hunter's Guild and registered for the corresponding commission.

"You're all just 'Official Hunters'?" Spanter was quite surprised. "I thought you had a lot of experience."

They seemed experienced and their strength was also not bad.

"The focus isn't on experience, but on strength," Jiang Baimian said with a smile, pointing to Genaeva.

This matter came to an end. The "Old Task Force" would meet with Spanter the day after tomorrow to complete the mission of escorting supplies.

…………

The next morning, Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao without saying anything.

This guy tossed and turned at night and didn't sleep well. He got up early in the morning.

Knowing the reason, Jiang Baimian didn't mention it. She waited until Gitis and another colleague completed their handover and started working before taking the team members down to the first floor.

"Are there any results?" Shang Jianyao asked impatiently.

Gitis's image was the same as yesterday, and so was her mental state.

She took a little time to recall and nodded:

"There has been some progress.

"I have roughly found out what that team of Ashlanders asked about here twelve years ago."