Chapter 37

Seemingly to ease the discomfort and awkwardness of undressing, the two, who were usually rather quiet, seemed to talk more, both trying to find a suitable topic—

"Speaking of which, I miscalculated today. I never thought it would be so different from what I imagined, almost losing my life. Really... I'm somewhat sorry about that."

"This kind of apology... is really quite strange. I don't think there's anything to be sorry about for not being able to beat such a creature." Sally turned her head and looked at the dead body of the scorpion king. With over a dozen arrows stuck in its eye sockets, it looked like it had a bunch of antennas on its head, which was somewhat comical.

"Will we encounter such creatures again later?"

"No, just this one. But it was a deadly one, almost killed us..."

At first, it was a sigh of relief at surviving, but gradually, Sally's tone changed. "Before, when you said you were smarter than me, I thought you were just putting on an act. But now, I have to admit it."

"I just have more experience. To be honest, if you hadn't run away when I was hit, we probably would both be dead here." Rody exhaled, feeling somewhat guilty and frustrated. "I overlooked some issues, and you got stung by the scorpion so many times—"

"By the way... I've always wanted to know—why were you unharmed after being hit? The last time with the orcs, it was the same. I clearly saw that orc cut your back—could you be..."

Sally had been pondering these things since sitting down, and now she finally found the right moment to ask. She stared at Rody, her eyes wide, and asked in a disbelieving whisper, "Could you... be an undead? Are you... immortal?"

"Achoo..."

Rody sneezed, rubbed his nose, and suddenly found the girl beside him a bit cute. Not knowing how to explain, he thought this reason wasn't bad and replied jokingly, "Ah—didn't expect you to figure it out."

The atmosphere was silent for a moment. Sally stared at Rody's face, her expression becoming very vivid.

The next second, a scream echoed through the forest.

"Ahh—"

Sally, as if electrocuted, tried to back away, but her legs gave out, and she fell backward, almost doing a somersault—she truly believed Rody's words. After all, this girl had never seen what a real undead looked like, and with Rody's previous mention of the undead, her mind combined the two, truly believing Rody was one of those undead creatures that walked in graveyards, wobbling and cold all over...

Thinking about how she had just been hugging such a creature in the water, Sally felt like she was about to cry from fear.

Rody was completely stunned. He didn't expect this lady to be so smart just a moment ago, but now her intelligence seemed to have plummeted. He looked at the "tangled" Sally, opened his mouth to say something, but his throat felt dry. He stared blankly, his expression even more vivid than Sally's...

The girl in front of him was naked, wrapped in a leopard skin. Falling backward in such a disheveled manner, the leopard skin, though large, couldn't cover her lower body...

If it were a "wardrobe malfunction," Sally's this time was almost a full exposure...

Yes, it was white, but... how was it golden?

When this thought crossed his mind, Rody realized what he had seen. Remembering the phrase "do not look at what is improper," he swallowed hard, used his strong willpower to avert his gaze, turned his head, and said loudly, "Don't... don't take it seriously, I was joking... it's not true, don't be afraid!"

Sally hurriedly got up, fumbling to cover herself with the leopard skin. Her face, which had been pale with fear, turned red like a chameleon upon hearing Rody's words—

The good impression she had of Rody was instantly ruined. Sally was so angry that she almost bit through her lips. The urge to punch and kick him wasn't enough to describe her resentment... Sally even wanted to bite Rody to death to feel better!

Rody, though awkward with women, realized he had gone too far. Stammering, he said he would go get some food, grabbed his bag, and ran off, leaving Sally sitting by the fire, grinding her teeth.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn...!"

Sally clenched her fists tightly, almost grinding her teeth to pieces. She watched Rody's fleeing back, wanting to say something harsh but couldn't because of her upbringing. In the end, she just clenched her fists in frustration and said nothing.

Rody ran a long distance before stopping, shook his head, and realized his mind was still filled with the golden... Well, he had seen plenty of such things online in his past life, so why was he so flustered now?

The tech-savvy Rody slapped his face, thought for a moment, and decided to check his loot from the battle to distract himself. If he went back, he might get beaten up, but at least he wouldn't die.

Thinking of this, he opened his bag and took out the scorpion's venom sac.

[Scorpion King Gilgus's Venom Sac]

Unique quest item

"Female scorpions use all their venom to fight enemies that block their reproduction, even if it means their death."

The note below the venom sac made Rody frown. He couldn't help but think of a possible fact—this scorpion king named Gilgus was likely breeding its next generation. Could the venom scorpions it was breeding be the one called "Serix"?

Male scorpions can only mate twice in their lifetime, while females can only give birth once. Given the situation, Rody believed he had likely prevented the birth of "Serix" in its mother's womb. Recalling how the scorpion king had desperately eaten the fish in the trap, Rody understood... perhaps because of the need to reproduce, its hunger was much greater than usual.

The venom sac had little use for Rody. Although it was a high-level item, it seemed to have no other purpose besides poisoning weapons. Putting away the venom sac, Rody checked his character stats—killing the boss, which was much higher in level, had given him far more experience than all his previous battles combined, a staggering 2580 points!

This brought him to level 4, and he was only 2000 points away from level 5. Even he hadn't expected to level up so quickly. Thinking about how close he was to level 10, the threshold for class change, Rody realized he needed to prepare thoroughly.

The reason for this was a common saying in the game—"Only after class change can you truly experience the essence of the game."

For the current Rody, the basic class of Legion Soldier only gave him some basic skills. After reaching level 10, he could add points to the "Basic Talent Tree" to improve himself. After class change, he would unlock the "Advanced Class Talent Tree," "Combat Stances," "Optional Skills," and many other abilities that greatly influenced combat. Compared to now, the difference would be like night and day.

Before level 10, the differences between players were limited to a few basic skills and attributes.

Now at level 4, Rody's health had reached 180 points, and his strength and agility had increased. High risk, high reward—Rody could accept the current outcome. At least Sally's life was saved, and he had gained a lot of experience. The bug that restored his health upon leveling up meant he had no wounds, making the upcoming "escape route" easier for Rody.

He had six usable arrows left, and his hornbow and scimitar were in good condition. Learning from past mistakes, Rody, who had wanted to relax, no longer dared to be careless. He glanced at Sally, who seemed to have calmed down and was gradually falling asleep, and found a tree stump to sit on, silently starting his "guard duty."

He didn't know that the girl nearby, wrapped in a leopard skin, had clenched her fists tightly, suppressing the urge to say something.

...

At the same time, Francis in Vic Village was getting restless.

Waiting was always a torment. For him, who had decided to eliminate his sister, every minute without news of Sally's death was a minute of unease—Conston's cavalry had searched almost every possible place. Logically, even if Sally could dig a hole like a groundhog, they should have found some traces.

But the reality made him shiver: no one could find any clues, not even footprints.

Ten orc wolf riders had died, seemingly at the hands of one person. The bodies of Old Gerson and the others were found, showing they had fought to the death, managing to kill three wolf riders before falling. They must have fought with the resolve to die.

This made it even more unlikely that Sally could have escaped the orc's encirclement, yet the fact that she had vanished into thin air was undeniable, leaving everyone at a loss.

Thinking of the possibility that Sally might have survived, Francis was extremely agitated—he knew the capabilities of his subordinates and the strong people in his territory. In the Duke of Holier's city, there might be a few powerful guardian knights with such strength, but in the entire outer fortress and these remote areas, who could claim to take on ten wolf riders alone?

Moreover, the brutal battlefield suggested the opponent wasn't at ease when killing the ten. Skilled with a bow and precise in shooting, such a person was rare—at least in Francis's memory, no one in the entire territory was famous for their archery.

Could it be a wood elf?

But after some thought, the wood elves in the Silent Forest seemed to have no connection with humans, so this absurd idea was dismissed.

He was in a terrible mood but couldn't stay in Vic Village indefinitely, or he wouldn't be able to explain to his father—though his father was now indifferent to his and Sally's affairs, Francis didn't think he could fool him. So he felt like walking on thin ice, not daring to make any mistakes.

"Have Knight Max send troops to continue the search, along the small roads outside Holier City."

"Yes, my lord!"

His confidant left to carry out the order, and Francis mounted the horse prepared by his servant, saying in a low voice, "Return to Holier City immediately. Even if she can escape my pursuit, she will eventually have to walk through the city gates openly."

The accompanying soldiers readied their equipment and followed the earl southeast toward the center of the Evarta territory.

Francis believed that with his horse's speed, Sally, who was constantly evading the search, couldn't possibly return to Holier City before him.

He had a premonition that Sally had hidden in the Silent Forest—but if she was that foolish, Francis would actually feel relieved, because entering that forest meant almost certain death.

Every year, hundreds of people from the Evarta territory ventured into the forest, and almost all of them never returned. No adventurer had ever crossed it alive, and those who had hunted rare magical beasts on the outskirts and sold them for a fortune rarely dared to return, deeply feeling the fear—there were things in the forest that no one could resist, and the ancestors of the Lucifer family had established a rule: never step into the Silent Forest.

"At this point... I don't have the time or patience to wait."

Francis's dark face looked at the dark forest outline by the road, cursing the unreliable orcs in his heart, but thinking of the agreements with Salota, he swallowed his words, whipped the reins, and galloped away.