Chapter 204

How rare and expensive magic equipment with special effects was, Xia Nan had some understanding of through the bragging and chatting of adventurers in the tavern before he became a professional.

But he only truly realized its value after his trip to Niumu, when he provided the main materials for forging and used part of them to offset the corresponding labor costs, yet still spent most of his wealth—a huge sum of 500 gold coins—to barely produce a piece of fine (green) quality equipment.

Undoubtedly, even the most ordinary enchanted equipment would easily reach four figures in the market.

If the enchantment effect were better and the quality were raised a few levels, five or six figures would certainly be possible.

However, equipment of this level obviously wouldn't circulate on the market.

Xia Nan sometimes thought that when he first transmigrated to this world, he hadn't even cleared up the concepts of "professional" and "adventurer," and yet in that ordinary goblin lair, facing that hobgoblin that hadn't been an adult for long.

It had actually dropped a green-tier accessory—the 【Deadline】 ring—that came with defensive spells, automatic recharging, and was the real deal.

Was his luck a bit too good?

But turning it around, transmigration itself was an event with a probability close to zero, and since he had encountered that, a little good luck was understandable.

Plus, with the 【Fate Coin】 in his pocket, perhaps the Goddess of Luck was watching him from above, so there was no need to consider so much; he just had to walk forward steadily, step by step.

Meanwhile, the discussion about magic equipment seemed to have stirred up the interest of Weiruisi and Kashi, who were currently engaged in a heated debate over whether to buy enchanted weapons first or a set of high-level armor after saving enough money.

Not intending to participate in their topic.

Xia Nan's eyes shifted slightly, looking to the other side of the campfire.

He saw Bo He sitting alone in the corner, her knees bent, her eyes unfocused.

Her left hand was gently stroking her pale green, teardrop-shaped earring.

Sensing Xia Nan's gaze, she immediately came back to her senses, her left hand naturally dropping from her ear to her knee.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her tone filled with some confusion.

"Nothing." Xia Nan shook his head, but his gaze remained fixed on the girl's left ear. "The earring is very beautiful; did your mentor give it to you?"

As if she hadn't expected him to ask such a question, Bo He's expression froze for a moment, and she was silent for a while.

Then she forced a smile on her face again:

"No, it came from a very good friend of mine."

"Also an adventurer?"

"Mm." Bo He's left hand reached up again, her fingers gently pinching the earring. "After this mission is over, I'll go see her."

"That's good."

It was just a casual question following the conversation, and once the mission was over, he would also bid farewell to everyone, so he had no intention of probing further and didn't take it to heart, ending the topic.

The night grew deeper.

Although they had encountered an unusually high number of beast attacks along the way, after setting up camp, it seemed to have returned to the original state of the outer area of the Mist Forest.

Xia Nan slept very soundly throughout the first half of the night.

He didn't encounter a single attack until he was woken up to keep watch near dawn.

The night was long, especially in an environment like this where there was no entertainment and one needed to be vigilant against surrounding dangers.

Not to mention that a few hours of sleep had already allowed him, with his outstanding constitution, to fully recover his strength and be full of energy.

He couldn't even feel sleepy.

So he just sat by the campfire, staring at the flames in front of him, his thoughts wandering.

On the other side, Weiruisi was the one keeping watch with Xia Nan for the second half of the night.

—Since the Night-Walking Wolf mission, because of her secret wariness of his strength, Xia Nan hadn't kept watch alone for a long time.

Now, this woman, who had both Drow Elf and human blood flowing in her veins, was standing at the edge of the camp not far away, a playful smile on her face, staring at something.

It was an exquisite, small spiderweb woven between two branches.

Realizing what the other party was looking at, Xia Nan instantly withdrew his gaze.

Youan, Drow, spiderweb...

But these elements gathered together were enough to make any creature on this continent with knowledge of gods feel vigilant.

【Spider Queen】, 【Chaos Weaver】, 【Lord of Greed】, 【Drow's Dark Mother】...

The Spider Goddess from the Bottomless Abyss:

—"Lolth".

Even though it was clear that the Drow half-breed in front of him was by no means a God-Favored, nor was she a priest-related professional, and it was basically impossible for a few low-level adventurers like them to attract the goddess's attention.

But out of caution, Xia Nan still very rationally did not disturb Weiruisi, who was currently boredly observing the spiderweb.

After all, he knew clearly that being noticed by this goddess who loved conspiracies, liked to weave fate like a spiderweb, and was cruel and fickle... to some extent, for him now, it probably wasn't a good thing.

"Have you ever been to the Underdark?"

Xia Nan, who was forcing himself to look away and compelling himself to shift his attention, suddenly heard Weiruisi's voice in his ear.

Even though he was slightly resistant due to the possibility of being noticed by the goddess, after hesitating for a moment, he licked his somewhat dry lips and replied:

"Not yet."

The Underdark was not a specific place name like River Valley Town, Niumu City, or the Servia Kingdom.

It was a general term for an ecosystem that covered the entire continent, consisting of tunnels, water veins, caves, and countless underground creatures beneath the surface.

From a certain perspective, perhaps deep underground beneath the Mist Forest, there were tentacles of the Underdark, it was just that no adventurer had yet discovered a stable entrance to this underground world.

And the vast majority of Drow Elves in this world lived in the Underdark.

"Hehe, that place is indeed not a good place for you."

Without turning her head, there was Weiruisi's light laughter in his ear.

"There is air to breathe, and food is fairly sufficient, but people living underground never see the sky in their entire lives."

"Many groups, including the clan I belong to, naturally hate creatures from above, viewing surface dwellers as slaves and consumable materials."

"They wouldn't be as easy to talk to as your sister Weiruisi."

She stared at the spiderweb in front of her, her eyes, which emitted a faint light in the night, vaguely reflecting the clean white spider silk and the little spider waiting in the corner for prey to be caught.

"Spiders living in the Underdark are much larger than the ones above."

"They are cold and cruel, and the spiderwebs they weave are difficult even for the strongest Orc to break free from."

Buzz—

Perhaps attracted by the campfire not far away, a small flying insect flapped its wings and crashed straight into it.

The spiderweb trembled gently.

"And once the prey falls into the trap, those big, furry guys lurking in the shadows will slowly crawl up and use their sharp, deadly chelicerae to inject venom into the prey."

The chelicerae with tiny bristles moved nimbly on the web, and the spider, no bigger than half a palm, moved its body, gradually approaching the prey.

"That venom not only paralyzes the body, causing you to lose the ability to resist, but it also has extremely strong corrosiveness, turning internal organs and flesh into a pool of thick liquid."

On the spiderweb, the tips of the small flying insect's wings twitched, but the amplitude of its body's struggle gradually slowed down.

"It doesn't take long, maybe after a few dozen minutes, you might still look like a human from the outside, but under the skin and bones, you're already empty, leaving only an empty shell."

"At this time, the spider will drink the blood food that has turned into pus inside like soup."

Just as she finished speaking, Weiruisi turned her head sharply, her eyes fixed on Xia Nan by the fire.

As if she wanted to find some expression of fear on his face. But all that returned to Weiruisi was the confusion on Xia Nan's face due to his teammate's strange behavior.

She couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"Aren't you afraid?" She pouted. "I've explained it in such detail, and it's a night in the Mist Forest; any normal person would have some reaction, right?"

Xia Nan smiled and shook his head.

Of course, he wouldn't tell Weiruisi that when he heard the word "food," his thoughts had already wandered.

Wondering if mushrooms grown in an environment like the Underdark would taste better than the ones above.

He heard there were even strange creatures called Myconids (mushroom people); he wondered if they were edible.

As for what Weiruisi said later, he just vaguely heard the gist of it.

He opened his mouth, just about to say a few words.

"Clang!"

In the forest not far away, a sharp, harsh noise suddenly came.

That was the sound made when a warning trap was triggered.

Having just fallen asleep, without needing Xia Nan and the others to remind them, Kashi and Bo He were woken up by the noise, jumped up, and immediately became alert.

Quickly and silently falling into formation, the group gathered in the brightly lit camp.

While keeping their eyes on the direction the sound came from, they were also careful about the bushes and grass in other directions.

Of course, they wouldn't leave the range illuminated by the firelight and enter the dimly lit forest; that would only make the situation more dangerous.

They would first defend in place and wait; if the attacker didn't appear, they would make other plans.

Rustle—

Accompanied by a burst of rapid footsteps, shrouded in mist, the bushes shook.

The group's hearts also tightened.

"Bang!"

Scattered leaves mixed with broken branches suddenly exploded.

What came into view was a horned deer with long legs, standing as high as an adult's chest.

Perhaps startled by the firelight that suddenly appeared in front of it, it subconsciously backed away two steps in a daze.

Immediately, a small knife, not coated with poison and used for dissecting corpses, emerged from the shadows beside it.

Precise and clean, it pierced the heart.

A fatal blow.

The force of the impact caused the horned deer's entire body to fall to the side; it had no time to struggle, let alone any possibility of escape.

After kicking its four hooves a few times, it turned into a warm corpse.

Holding the small knife, she wiped it a few times on the horned deer's fur to wipe off the remaining bloodstains on its surface.

Weiruisi straddled her long legs, her pointed leather boots stepping hard on the corpse's head.

"Thought we encountered another attack."

"Damn, scared the hell out of me!"

Seeing this, Kashi, who was at the front of the squad gripping his grey-blue stone spear with both hands, also clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

He reached out to greet them, just about to say something.

Behind him, a short and sharp voice came.

"Come back."

With a serious expression, the iron-grey blade of the decapitation longsword reflecting the orange-red firelight, Xia Nan spoke.

Even though she was confused, she didn't ask or hesitate.

Weiruisi, who had just been at the edge of the camp, flashed her tall figure and returned to the squad.

"Not just this one."

Xia Nan explained briefly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the three people around him, including Bo He, instantly became alert.

His outstanding perception ability had become an acknowledged fact within the Sea Thorn Squad after more than a month of teaming up.

Even though he appeared to be a melee professional of the "Warrior" type, he was more sensitive in perception than Bo He, who was a sub-class of the "Druid" type.

Therefore, at this moment, no one doubted Xia Nan's judgment.

Even as time passed second by second and the surroundings became increasingly quiet, without the slightest other sound.

The group still maintained their formation and remained vigilant.

The patience of beasts always has a limit.

The Sea Thorn Squad didn't wait too long.

A few minutes, or maybe a few dozen seconds.

Rustle—

A much larger commotion than the one caused by the horned deer earlier came from the forest in all directions—front, back, left, and right.

Only then did the others in the squad realize what was hidden in the surroundings.

"Roar!"

The first to rush out of the forest was a long-haired wild boar with thick skin and flesh, covered in mud armor, emitting a strong stench.

Like a small tank, it crushed the bushes and grass on its path and charged straight toward the direction where the group was.

Its size was actually two sizes smaller than the one Xia Nan had killed before, but its movements were not much more agile, and it was naturally countered by Xia Nan's fighting style.

He didn't even need team cooperation; he could easily handle it all by himself.

And it wouldn't take long; he could resolve the battle in a few seconds.

But at this moment, neither Xia Nan nor Kashi and Weiruisi in the squad dared to act rashly.

Because as the wild boar rushed out of the forest, pairs of eyes—some cunning, some cruel, some cold—quietly emerged in the deep, dark night.

They might be of different sizes and shapes, but what they had in common was the violent bestiality contained within them.

Like a radar map, in Xia Nan's perception, with the camp as the center, countless dense small dots were distributed in the dimly lit forest around them, approaching rapidly!

The warning traps were triggered one after another, but they had long since lost their meaning.

He could feel the countless gazes gathering on the surface of his body, especially on his heart and neck, viewing him as prey and filled with murderous intent.

Extremely keen perception made goosebumps rise all over his body.

And in front of him was the long-haired wild boar, moving its four thick, short legs and roaring as it charged toward them.

And the roar from Kashi that made his eardrums vibrate:

"Prepare for battle!!!"

(End of chapter)