Chapter 257: Hiss-gah!

Weiergeluofu Town.

A street that was not prosperous.

Still wearing that plate-chain composite armor that looked somewhat tattered after the battle, Xia Nan walked alone on the road.

His eyes were slightly dazed, his mind recalling the scene of the conversation with Beicuisi just now.

Facing his direct attack before parting, this mysterious girl behaved incoherently, even appearing somewhat flustered and at a loss.

It formed a sharp contrast with her performance when confronting the Hong Long named "Kelaogebali," who could wipe them out with one breath of dragon fire.

Making Xia Nan unable to help but feel absurd.

He couldn't possibly be more terrifying than an adult Hong Long, could he?

And after a moment of being at a loss, regarding his suspicion, Beicuisi also gave her explanation stumblingly.

Nothing special, just some sayings like "coincidence," "looks a bit like someone I knew before," or "saw wrong," which had no special information.

Xia Nan naturally would not believe it just like that.

But since the other party behaved this way, it was clear that she was resistant to this type of topic and did not want to communicate deeply with him.

Then he was too lazy to ask more.

Anyway, it was just a casual mention before leaving, and the next time they met would be at least three years later.

Often staying in the tavern lobby, hearing many rumors from countless adventurers passing by, he therefore clearly knew.

Unless it was absolutely necessary and one was familiar with the other party, otherwise in the vast majority of cases, randomly prying into other people's secrets was not a good thing.

It would only drag oneself into unnecessary trouble.

As for why he didn't invite the other party to team up with him for adventures.

To be honest, Xia Nan was a bit uneasy.

Even though the other party had proven her reliability at a critical moment, banishing an adult Hong Long to another plane.

And as a spellcaster with a solid foundation, she could provide a lot of help to the team.

But it must be admitted that Beicuisi hid too much.

Whether it was her combat ability, which seemed to have a low professional level but could actually face an adult giant dragon head-on;

Or her inexplicable joining of the escort squad, as if it were just for the few hundred gold coins that were not much for the vast majority of mages, no one knew the girl's true purpose.

Xia Nan was even skeptical about whether "Beicuisi" was really the other party's real name.

In this situation, with shadows left in his heart, how could he invite such a figure whose bottom line he couldn't grasp at all to team up with him.

And on the other side, it was the same for Beicuisi.

The identity of a "Reborn" and the heavy burden of "saving the world" on her shoulders almost made her unable to breathe.

In countless quiet nights, she thought more than once that clearly, on the Aifala Continent, there were more suitable candidates than her, more than the sand in an hourglass.

Why was it her, such an ordinary transcendent mage who was unknown and even had to work for her mentor in the mage tower's laboratory, who was chosen and given such an opportunity.

But since things had already happened, the sense of responsibility and conscience in her heart left her with no room to refuse.

Beicuisi certainly wanted to tell her encounter to her mentor from her past life, or to the few big figures of the positive camp on the continent, hoping they could share the burden on her shoulders and provide her with help.

But the existence above the River of Time was watching her at all times; if she revealed her identity as a "Reborn" even slightly, what would follow would only be the loss of this only precious opportunity that might save the world.

With this as a premise.

The goals that seemed incomprehensible to outsiders, her bizarre actions that defied common sense, the special nature of the mission, and the extremely high confidentiality requirements destined that Beicuisi could only walk this journey located in the shadows on the back of the world alone.

Short-term cooperation, absolutely no problem;

Long-term teammates, simply impossible.

Neither of them stated it clearly, but a strange tacit understanding formed between Xia Nan and Beicuisi.

Until they truly left and disappeared from each other's field of vision.

Neither side mentioned matters related to teaming up.

Slightly turning to the side, he gave way to the middle-aged man walking from the front, whose clothes were simple and whose expression was terrified.

Xia Nan pondered his next plan in his heart.

The Snake Scale Arm Shield should have been forged; he certainly had to return to Hegu Town, but it was not very realistic to let him stay in such a remote town with nothing for a few months.

Therefore, he decided to return to Hegu Town via the route suggested by Beicuisi, going out from the other end of Yuansha Province and bypassing the Ronglin Mountains.

As for the address provided by the other party...

At least judging from her performance in this mission, Beicuisi had no hostility toward him.

Since she said there might be things that could help him in this place, and it was on the way anyway, Xia Nan didn't mind going over to take a look and doing the other party a small favor.

Gray Valley Village.

A remote village located inside Yuansha Province, close to the edge of Nianshu Territory.

Just like countless remote and nameless small human settlements within the kingdom, it had neither special products with characteristics and economic value, nor was it close to major traffic arteries.

Making many old people living in the village perhaps never walk out of the boundaries intermittently surrounded by scattered fences around the village in their whole lives, and very few outsiders were willing to cross that extremely lush forest to come to this small village that had nothing special.

Speaking of which, many years ago, Gray Valley Village once had an opportunity to change its destiny.

It was also the source of its name "Gray Valley"; near the southwest direction of the village, if one turned around in the forest for half a day, one could see a barren small valley with many gray rocks falling.

A lost merchant once passed through here, discovered a business opportunity, and wanted to develop this place into a quarry.

If it could really be developed successfully, as the only human settlement nearby, this would undoubtedly provide a large amount of income and job positions for the people in the village.

If mineral deposits were discovered, it was not impossible for "Gray Valley Village" to change into "Gray Valley Town," or even "Gray Valley City."

It was a pity that on the third day when this merchant brought experts and guards to inspect the valley and was formulating a development plan.

A group of powerful and cunning monsters inhabiting the depths of the valley attacked their camp.

The merchant died in this attack.

And the "Quarry Plan" that should have allowed "Gray Valley Village" to get rid of its poverty situation naturally came to an end, becoming a past event that the old people at the village entrance sighed about.

Tom had heard about this matter countless times from his father, even on the night before he passed away, the old man with gray hair and a face full of wrinkles still held his hand, nagging that if that merchant hadn't died and the quarry development had continued, their current life might be very different. ===== CHAPTER 258 =====