Chapter 81

When lost in thought, time always passes quickly, and before he knew it, the sky had gradually turned dark. Because this time he was traveling on horseback and not in a hurry, Rody chose a route he had planned beforehand—crossing a low-level creature area of the Silent Speech Forest, and seeing if he could get a few animal skins on the side. This way, he could take a shortcut while earning some extra money.

"Living frugally is no easy task!" Rody sighed—this journey to the兽人王国 (Orc Kingdom) had brought some small gains, but there wasn't much that could be turned into cash. The "funds" issue was a big problem that could never be avoided. With over thirty people to feed and drink every day, it wasn't a small expense. Although the remaining money would last them for about a month, without a steady income, Rody felt uneasy.

In the evening, this now 8th-level legion soldier boldly entered the Silent Speech Forest and found a flat, safe spot to set up his tent before nightfall. He leisurely built a campfire and roasted a pigeon he had shot earlier.

Rody, who was used to being alone, didn't seem to have a reclusive air. On the contrary, he seemed to enjoy the freedom of being alone in the jungle.

"If only there was an MP3 player built in to play some music."

"There's no cumin here, which is a real headache, and no chili peppers... tsk tsk."

The quiet night, the orange campfire, and the young man with a relaxed face talking to himself—this scene was all too familiar to Rody. He had spent countless nights like this in the past, and now, thinking about it, he couldn't help but wonder—what were the NPCs he used to interact with doing now? Without the influence of players, would they take a different path?

Looking at the roasting chicken over the fire, Rody carefully checked the heat and began to ponder his plan for the 10th-level class change... If everything went as planned, he would have to come to the Silent Speech Forest, as his former mentor lived in this forest.

But in the year 588... what was his mentor doing?

Thinking about this, he reached out to stir the fire. Just as his dinner was almost ready, the "rustling" sound from not far away foretold that his meal would not be as smooth as he hoped.

***

The darkness of the forest was not complete; on the contrary, under the silver moonlight, the leaves, branches, and the soil covered with fallen leaves were clearly visible to the naked eye.

For the wood elf Nata, the jungle was far from as terrifying as humans perceived it. In a way, the dense trees even gave wood elves a sense of security. However, unlike other elves, "wood elves" had a deep connection with humans in terms of bloodline, so they were not strict vegetarians and also needed to hunt in the jungle to survive.

Nata, as a young and strong member of the village, was highly praised by the old hunters for her exceptional talent. However, she was still a young "novice"—novices always make mistakes, and unfortunately, Nata made many mistakes today, leading to an unprecedentedly unlucky situation.

Because of her cold and unsociable personality, Nata never liked to hunt with her village companions. So every time she went out, she would choose to act alone and leave the group.

In the past, Nata almost never failed, but today her luck was clearly bad: she missed a wild boar by three centimeters and it escaped with a wound. Then, she failed to catch three different prey in a row due to various inexplicable mistakes—this was frustrating for the young Nata, and her emotional turmoil led her to make a big mistake...

She inadvertently entered the territory of an adult steel-tailed leopard and provoked it.

For Nata, who was not yet powerful enough, a "steel-tailed leopard" was not something she could handle. So she immediately chose to flee—but she didn't expect the leopard to pursue her relentlessly, all the way to now!

She had run for two or three kilometers, but the black shadow was still chasing her relentlessly. In the complex forest, Nata felt that the leopard was deliberately trying to tire her out. She had a short bow with five arrows left in her quiver, and although she still had a chance to fight back, she knew that her shooting had lost its advantage. If she chose to fight to the death, she had no chance of winning!

Her breathing became increasingly labored, and her legs felt numb and heavy. In the darkness, she couldn't find any obstacles to shake off the leopard, which made her feel a chill. Just as she was considering whether to turn and fight, a patch of orange light appeared at the end of her vision, making her eyebrows rise sharply.

Is that a campfire? Could there be human adventurers here?

Wood elves never built campfires outside their camps, and they were very particular about using wood, never taking it from living trees. So when she saw the fire, Nata instinctively thought of the only possibility—this must belong to the "human adventurers" often mentioned in the village.

Her mood relaxed slightly. She knew that steel-tailed leopards were afraid of fire, so Nata immediately changed her direction and headed toward the flickering fire in the forest—she believed that when the leopard noticed the fire, it would stop chasing her.

As for whether the leopard would attack the unknown caravan or adventurers, Nata didn't worry at all. She had no intention of interacting with them and didn't even have a bit of curiosity.

Wood elves usually ran through the forest almost silently, but because she had been running for too long, Nata's footsteps were now quite noticeable. Even more noticeable was the sound of the leopard's paws hitting the ground without any attempt to hide...

The steel-tailed leopard began to accelerate.

Although it was still forty to fifty meters away, Nata could already see the figure by the campfire. To her surprise and disappointment, there was only one person in the camp.

Not far away, three horses were tied to trees, and they were pawing the ground restlessly, apparently because they had heard something. Despite the horses' clear warning, the person by the campfire seemed oblivious, holding a few large leaves and fanning the white smoke from the fire while singing a strange "song":

"Only You—can accompany me to fetch the Western Sutra, Only You—can subdue demons and monsters..."

Nata frowned, and after rounding a giant tree, she suddenly slowed down, her steps becoming light. She then leaped forward, her figure disappearing silently into the shadows of a tree.

Now, she was twenty meters behind the human roasting meat. Nata believed that with her stealth skills, the person would only notice some movement nearby and wouldn't realize she was right behind him.

Looking into the darkness, Nata breathed a sigh of relief—just as she expected, the steel-tailed leopard had stopped, its tail slightly raised, hesitating as it looked at the campfire. Its eyes, wide with anger, seemed to be searching for something. From this angle, Nata, Rody, the campfire, and the steel-tailed leopard were in a straight line... so the leopard could only see the bright fire and the singing Rody, not Nata...

The large leopard crouched low, its body in the characteristic ambush posture of a feline, showing that it had not given up its desire to attack. Clearly, after losing Nata as a target, its anger had not subsided but had shifted to the human by the campfire.

Although it feared fire, the leopard, a highly intelligent creature, understood that this new prey was alone and posed no threat, like a delicious lamb that had fallen from the sky... it could not let it go.

The decision was made in an instant. The adult steel-tailed leopard, at the peak of its physical and mental abilities, slowed its steps and crept into the shadows, gradually approaching the edge of the campfire's light, proving its determination to kill the human.

Thus, on this quiet night, the wood elf and the leopard, who had broken the silence, forced an unwarranted conflict upon the young man roasting meat by the campfire—

leaving him no room to protest.

...

Rody's mood was actually quite subtle at this moment.

Having spent too much time in the forest, his never-abandoned vigilance had long detected the source of the sound. In the past, he would have shot several arrows at the sound without hesitation, regardless of who or what it was.

However, the reason he hadn't acted yet was twofold: first, Rody's level was high enough that he wasn't afraid of any creature within a twenty-mile radius, and second, he recognized the light footsteps as those of a wood elf from the Silent Speech Forest—coincidentally, his former mentor was also from this forest-dwelling race.

Thinking about future interactions with this race, he didn't react aggressively.

Speaking of the "mentor," Rody had only met her a few times. The always cold-faced old spinster had only assigned him advancement tasks and taught him the most basic skills. After he reached the 30th level as a ranger, he never saw her again.

In his memory, the old spinster was as cold as ice, indifferent to everyone. Now, recalling her, he realized he had almost forgotten what she looked like.

Sitting by the campfire, Rody listened to the footsteps gradually fade, feeling somewhat helpless: it seemed the wood elf couldn't deal with the creature chasing him and had run to the campfire to divert attention—Rody, who had no grudge against him, felt a sense of "doomed to a lonely life."

However, Rody didn't complain much. He quickly made a decision: to use this opportunity to show off in front of the wood elf and get closer to her. Since he would have to come back, he wanted to leave a good impression and boost his "reputation"!

Yes, that's what he decided!

"An old friend prepares chicken and rice, inviting me to his countryside home... what comes next? Anyway, when the Double Ninth Festival comes, I'll come back to—chrysanthemums!"

Recalling some unrelated poems in his mind, Rody tore off a chicken wing, blew on it, and took a bite, nodding in approval of the taste. Then... he slowly stood up, still holding the chicken wing.

Twenty meters away, the leopard, slowly advancing in the shadows, stopped, apparently preparing for the final burst of its attack.

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