Chapter 199: Maple Syrup

I was born in a small village called "Fengxi Village."

Because it was too remote, it took many days to go to the nearest large town, so it was difficult to describe its location specifically.

It should roughly be located in a certain mountainous area in the southeast of Pan Yun Xing Sheng Sheng.

The village was very small, and the mountains were very high.

It was far from the trade route, and the Mist Forest was even further away on the other side of the sky.

Therefore, even those green-skinned Goblins that were rumored to be as rampant as cockroaches only occasionally appeared in the mouths of the men who got drunk in the village.

But the scenery should be good.

At least that's what my father said—he had followed a caravan for a few years outside.

Every year in the months of "Eli" and "Mano," the entire valley would be dyed golden-red by maple trees.

When the strong wind blew, the leaves, which were even more vibrant than the sunset, swayed along, layer upon layer, as if the valley was breathing.

This was also the origin of the name "Fengxi Village."

The memories of my childhood were already blurred, but it should be like "Little Alan" now, running wildly in the woods all day.

He was very obedient and could always return home before dark, at least much more obedient than I was when I was young.

Of course, I suspected he was just too timid and was scared by a few horror stories Mom made up before bedtime.

Regarding this, I was a bit dissatisfied.

As my younger brother, he should be braver; in the future, not to mention becoming a squire like "William," at least he should be able to shoulder this family at critical moments.

William was the second son of the village chief.

He was handsome and brave, and several years ago, he was valued by the knight lord in the next town and trained as an apprentice.

I have to admit, as a teenage girl who had just begun to understand love, I had some different feelings for him at the time.

Until now, occasionally thinking about it, I couldn't help but sigh a few times in my heart.

Of course, it could only, and only remained, a sigh.

That day, it should have been afternoon.

I was collecting maple sap as usual.

Use a wooden drill to drill a small hole into the tree bark, about an inch deep, insert a tenon, and hang a leather bucket underneath, and the crystal-clear maple syrup would fall drop by drop.

This was our family's, or rather, the entire Fengxi Village's, main means of profit for the whole year.

How the winter would pass depended on these two months.

Although I wasn't old, I had some experience in this regard.

This year's income should be good.

At least filling our stomachs in winter shouldn't be a problem.

And just when I thought today was no different from the past, as the sun was about to set, carrying a full leather bucket, intending to go home.

A short and sharp bird call suddenly came from the depths of the forest on the side.

Various animals often appeared in the forest, and making some strange noises was actually very normal; I had never had any special curiosity in this regard.

But I don't know why, it just happened to be that day, I developed an interest in it.

Thinking of just taking a look, I followed the direction the sound came from and walked over.

Then, I saw the scattered feathers on the ground, the twitching jay corpse, and that black cat lying in the shade, enjoying its prey.

Hmm, it looked a bit strange.

Its body frame was much thicker and heavier than those wild cats in the village, its head was longer, its cheekbones were wider, and its limbs were obviously shorter, but the muscles and fat under the skin were exceptionally thick.

Its tail was very short, only appearing as a small cluster behind its butt, its ears were semi-circular, drooping on its head, and a pair of small eyes were pitch-black like buttons, reflecting a faint light.

Rather than saying it was a "cat," it was more like a miniature black bear.

Regarding my appearance, this strange creature didn't have any special reaction, nor did it have the unique food-guarding behavior of wild animals I imagined.

Even when I walked close, only a few dozen centimeters away from it, it didn't show the slightest resistance.

This made me have some curiosity in my heart, and under some inexplicable impulse, I stretched out my left hand toward its furry head.

"Swish!"

The miniature black bear was very fast, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the depths of the shadows in the woods.

Leaving only the half-eaten jay corpse on the ground,

and a bloody wound on the back of my hand.

I had already forgotten how I got home that day.

But later I should have been severely lectured by my parents, and then carefully bandaged the wound.

Although the tone during the lecture was very severe, whether it was them or me, we actually didn't take it to heart.

After all, in this corner deep in the mountains, children running around wildly and getting hurt was the most normal thing.

"It's no big deal."

I thought so in my heart.

Until a few days later, a sudden fever made me lie in bed for three whole days.

And then it was the whole day of exhaustion-like weakness, and intermittent extreme excitement.

I gradually began to hear the light sound of mice gnawing on wood in the attic in the middle of the night, and the roar from the depths of the night.

I hated the touch of insoles, enjoyed the direct contact of my soles with soil and fallen leaves; my appetite gradually faded, but I had an inexplicable desire for raw food emitting a fishy smell.

Even that ignorant feeling for my peers, after an inadvertent brush past, turned into an instinctive, twisted desire for muscles and scents.

I realized that my body was undergoing some kind of change.

And the cause of all this likely originated from that black bear that disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Time passed day by day.

My condition became increasingly severe.

Not only did inexplicable whispers often appear in my ears, as if someone was whispering, but even the way I looked at the people around me changed.

Little Alan said I was becoming a bit scary now, my eyes were as cold as the beasts in the jungle, and the few playmates I once had in the village gradually distanced themselves.

I didn't know what happened.

I wanted to go back.

But I couldn't control it.

Later, on a bright moonlit night, I had a dream.

In the dream, I seemed to have become that miniature black bear the size of a cat, running wildly in the woods, catching a few birds and squirrels to eat when hungry, sucking honey by digging a hole in a tree when thirsty, and taking a nap in a corner by a tree root when sleepy.

All the pain and suffering during this period seemed to have been relieved in this short dream.

Then, I woke up.

I never had the habit of sleepwalking, but when I opened my eyes this morning, my body had already reached the entrance of the village.

I suddenly realized something was wrong.

Hanging above the firmament was not the rising morning sun, but a full and clear silver moon.

And the golden-red in front of me was not maple leaves, but the scorching flames that ignited the entire village.

A sticky touch came from my fingertips; looking down, it was a piece of scarlet mixed with minced meat.

I subconsciously licked my lips.

Oh, it turned out not to be maple syrup, but the taste of blood.

But... it was equally sweet. Memorable.

"Ptooey!"

As if having eaten something dirty, Xia Nan bared his teeth and spat out his tongue.

In his hand, he held a jar the size of a palm.

That was the "small surprise" he suddenly discovered when he was organizing his backpack when setting off from the camp this morning.

It was probably supplies prepared for some previous mission; he didn't pay attention for a moment and left it in the depths of his backpack.

What was in the jar was the high-quality honey he had specially purchased in the "Green Grass Crucible" before.

He spent quite a bit of money, originally thinking of enjoying it during the adventure.

Later, he forgot about it, until just now when he dug it out of his bag.

In his impression, the shelf life of honey should be very long; based on the psychology of not wasting, he took it out and tasted a mouthful.

He didn't expect it to have completely spoiled, almost making his tongue astringent.

"This is honey from the snail-shell bees, right?" On the side, Kashi had a smile on his face and reminded him kindly, "The taste is good, but it can only be stored for one month; if you put it for longer, the taste will turn sour."

"Speaking of which, if you really like similar seasonings, I recommend the maple syrup specialty of Pan Yun Xing Sheng Sheng; the taste is better and it's easier to store. Hegu Town should have it for sale."

Hearing this, Xia Nan nodded, indicating he understood.

He had already remembered it in his heart.

The mission journey was boring, and he didn't have any special hobbies.

He had long been accustomed to using food for adjustment.

Even if he spent a little more money to make himself feel happy on the road, it was completely worth it.

Xia Nan even considered whether to learn a musical instrument to enrich his boring life in the other world.

But considering that the adventure environment was filled with danger, and the sound made by the musical instrument was easy to attract unnecessary danger, he gave up.

Wait until he had a way to block sound transmission in the future, then it wouldn't be too late to consider.

The two chatted idly, Weiruisi wandered on the side of the squad, and Bo He followed behind, moving her feet.

The entire Sea Thorn Squad looked a bit relaxed, not like the state they should be in the Mist Forest.

In fact, they were indeed not in the Mist Forest.

Right now, the Sea Thorn Squad was walking on a country road.

On both sides were vast plains, with very few obstacles; saying it was unobstructed was not an exaggeration.

It was even a bright daytime.

Even the most experienced Rogue would find it difficult to ambush and attack in this environment.

And the reason why they didn't enter the forest directly according to the location information provided by the association was out of other considerations.

Different from the previous several beast-clearing commissions, the type of the Beast-kin mission was "investigation."

It didn't require you to bring the Beast-kin's head back directly; to some extent, as long as you confirmed the existence of the Beast-kin and provided some specific information about the other party, the mission was considered completed.

Of course, if you really slacked off like this, the mission reward would also be greatly reduced.

After all, the 【Reward】 column on the bounty already stipulated the reward range:

—30-300 gold/1-10 points.

If Xia Nan wanted to obtain the Bone-Eroding Pattern Steel enough for the snake-scale arm shield upgrade, just finding some news and going back to hand in the mission was definitely not enough.

In his view, to be safe, it was naturally best to do it in one step and completely clean up the trouble of the Beast-kin.

But the forest was so big, although the association provided location information, if the Beast-kin really existed, how could he stay in place and not move.

Entering rashly, not to mention the time that might be wasted halfway, if a battle really occurred, they knew nothing about the enemy, naturally they were at a disadvantage, and they even needed to worry about the problem of Beast-kin syndrome infection.

Very troublesome.

Therefore, before officially entering the forest, the Sea Thorn Squad planned to go to "Qingmai Village Village" first.

—A small village located near the east side of the Mist Forest.

It was said that several adventurers who were suspected of having encountered a Beast-kin attack had been received here.

Right now, these adventurers couldn't be found, so they thought about whether they could get some relevant information from the villagers here.

Qingmai Village Village was not a prosperous human gathering place.

Otherwise, its suffix wouldn't be "village."

The overall environment, not to mention Hegu Town or Kalanfur, was not even as good as Xia Nan's promotion place, "Green Creek Village."

Looking from afar, only a few somewhat dilapidated houses were scattered on both sides, and one could see residents dressed simply coming and going on the road.

Of course, after all, it was still close to the Mist Forest, and adventurers often came and went.

Regarding the Sea Thorn Squad that suddenly entered the village, although the villagers all showed some curiosity, there were no overly outrageous actions.

At most, they stood on the side of the road, watching the several people.

The village was small, and news spread quickly.

Just entering the village, without walking a few steps, an old man dressed relatively cleanly took the initiative to greet them.

The visitor was naturally the village chief of Qingmai Village Village.

And the one responsible for negotiating with him was the squad leader, Kashi.

Without too much pleasantry, he also declined the village chief's invitation for several people to enter the house for a detailed talk; he went straight to the topic and explained the purpose of the visit to the other party.

Xia Nan stood at the back of the squad, didn't speak, and only silently observed the expressions and actions of the several people in the squad.

Bo He still didn't make a sound, lowered her head, and her fingertips gently rubbed her purple-wood staff.

Weiruisi looked idle, bored, and looked around, her expression completely different from when she was in Hegu Town.

If one had to say, it was the difference between the office and the subway on the way to and from work in the previous life, a feeling of no longer needing to socialize with colleagues and isolating the surrounding crowd.

And Kashi, who was talking to the village chief, performed even more obviously.

Although he didn't reveal too much aggression, his subconscious body movements and some of the words used in his speech revealed a superior attitude everywhere.

As if the one standing in front of him was not an old man who was several rounds older than him, but some subordinate or butler.

And unexpectedly, yet reasonably, the village chief didn't show any disgust or anger toward this; on the contrary, during the conversation, he took the initiative to put himself in a relatively low posture.

In just a few minutes, Xia Nan had a new understanding of the relationship between "adventurers" and "ordinary civilians" in this world.

He was stunned again suddenly.

"Myself... shouldn't have changed, right?"

He felt that less than a year was not enough to change the three views he had built for decades in his previous life.

But he also knew in his heart that whether a person's power was strong or not, and whether the soul was tough or not, often had no direct connection.

Power, status, wealth, could easily transform a kind person into a twisted beast of greed.

Subconsciously reviewing the communication process between himself and ordinary village residents recently.

But before he had time to think more.

Kashi, at the very front of the squad, turned around and greeted several people.

"Let's go, the person has been found."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 200 =====