Chapter 28: Reason

"Bang!"

The single-handed hammer with a metallic luster slammed down.

Accompanied by the sluggish sound of hard objects colliding with flesh, the green snake that had just been curling its body and raising its head in a warning posture instantly became a lump of meat that could only twitch and wriggle.

"Are there really so many snakes in this forest?"

The fatty Lali, in a tight combat suit, complained with some disgust, shaking off the blood droplets on the hammer face.

Now it had been a few more hours since Xia Nan joined the squad.

The complex environment of the Mist Forest, filled with dense bushes and long grass, made their journey difficult, to say the least, and their physical strength was consumed rapidly.

And facing potential encounters at any time, Xia Nan and the others naturally couldn't exhaust all their physical strength on the road (they needed to maintain a certain combat power).

Therefore, they found a relatively safe location to temporarily rest and recover their strength.

Xia Nan leaned against a tree trunk, sitting in the corner of the camp.

The iron-grey decapitation longsword was placed diagonally beside him, ready to be picked up at any time.

The gauze in his hand was dipped in a bit of water, and he was carefully wiping the leather armor on his body.

The life-and-death battle with the duo just now hadn't caused him any injuries, but the enemy's blood had splashed all over him.

It wasn't that he had any mysophobia.

It was just that the smell of blood easily attracted danger, and he himself felt uncomfortable being sticky.

Now that he had free time, he took the opportunity to tidy up.

"Xia Nan, are there always this many snakes when you usually do missions?"

Throwing the long snake that had been smashed into a lump of meat into the bushes on the side, Lali asked casually.

Having already become a member of the squad, the few naturally reported their names to each other.

Xia Nan raised his head and glanced, forcibly holding back the urge to rush over and dig out the snake gallbladder.

He couldn't help but recall the situation when he came over, and he felt somewhat puzzled in his heart.

"The various snakes encountered along this road seem to be a bit too many indeed."

"Back in the Rotten Fish and Shrimp squad, I didn't see this many snakes in the forest."

He thought so in his heart, but didn't say much.

After all, this was only his second mission, and he wasn't much more familiar with the Mist Forest than Lali, so he just opened his mouth and said:

"Perhaps this area is relatively special? You know, the Mist Forest is filled with strange things everywhere, and no one can say for sure what you'll run into."

"Oh? Strange?" The ambiguous statement aroused Lali's interest. "Is it that kind of rare magical beast? Or a giant plant that can eat people?"

"I heard from my cousin that this kind of 'large magical energy gathering point' even has legendary ancient fortresses and dungeons!"

Discussing things he was interested in, Lali's voice was slightly louder, and the golden-haired girl beside him also vaguely pricked up her ears, seemingly looking forward to the stories of this adventurer who had just joined the squad.

But without a doubt, the other party's topic had already exceeded Xia Nan's knowledge range.

Not knowing how to answer, he twitched his mouth and said helplessly:

"I'm just a novice too; I don't know much about what you're talking about."

"Novice!? Your performance just now doesn't look like a rookie at all!"

"Why don't you ask Wood? His experience is clearly much richer than mine." Xia Nan changed the topic somewhat stiffly.

Hearing this, Lali first shrank his neck, looked around thief-like, and remembered that the other party had already left the camp to scout ahead.

Then he leaned in and lowered his voice, whispering:

"Him? Besides Haian, he looks at everyone with a dead face. Who dares to ask him?"

"He can't squeeze out a sentence in half a day, and when asked anything, he just looks at you coldly. If it weren't for……"

"Cough cough."

Haian coughed twice deliberately, interrupting Lali's speech.

His face was somewhat helpless:

"Don't listen to his nonsense, Wood is still very competent."

Xia Nan quite agreed with this.

Being able to feel the guard's vigilance toward himself didn't hinder his recognition of the other party's professionalism.

Still entangled in his heart about that wooden plaque, he hadn't had a chance on the road, but seeing the other party take the initiative to speak now, he followed up and asked about its origin.

"This?" Lali took the initiative to take over the conversation. "I bought it when I went out to pick up goods last month. At that time……"

According to what the fatty Lali said, the wooden plaque was first picked up by an adventurer in the Mist Forest. He originally thought that this plaque filled with exotic style could be sold for a good price, but didn't expect that no shop in River Valley Town would accept it.

He could only recycle it to the owner of "Griffin Department Store" in Niumu at a low price, and it was finally discovered and bought by Lali.

"I originally wanted to invite that adventurer to come and lead the way, but he refused to die, and finally I spent some gold coins to buy the location where the wooden plaque was discovered from the other party."

"Only you guys? Why didn't you bring some guards out?"

Xia Nan discovered the blind spot in it and couldn't help but frown.

Even if it were rich young masters from the city coming to the countryside for a tour, they would at least bring a few personal guards.

Looking at Lali in front of him, whether from his dress or his style of doing things, he didn't look like someone who lacked money.

Under these circumstances, he didn't even bring a single personal guard?

Xia Nan didn't understand.

If it were him, he might not even come down personally. Anyway, it was on the outskirts of the Mist Forest, basically no danger, and spending some money to hire dozens of professionals who did this for a living would be safe and could greatly improve the probability of finding something.

To this, Lali just scratched the back of his head foolishly,

"My dad doesn't like…… bank accounts…… they are all eyes and ears…… secretly……"

Muttering incoherently in his mouth, his gaze subconsciously glanced at the golden-haired girl resting on the side.

"Tsk."

Xia Nan pursed his lips and shook his head, no longer curious.

Having already walked to this point, whether it was him or Lali, whatever they encountered was their own choice.

"Then what is special about this piece of wood that could make you run here from Niumu?"

For Xia Nan, the source of the wooden plaque's attraction naturally didn't need to be repeated.

But what about these few native otherworldly people?

They weren't archaeologists; risking their lives to enter the Mist Forest filled with magical beasts for a plaque of unknown origin wasn't worth it.

Lali stopped talking.

Haian sighed silently and explained:

"I led the squad." He raised his head, and the silver-grey eyes unique to the Half-Elf gazed at Xia Nan in front of him.

"I'm not convenient to say much about the specifics, but I suspect this wooden plaque…… is related to the disappearance of one of my relatives."

Hearing this, Xia Nan couldn't help but frown.

Just as he wanted to speak, he heard a sound coming from the long grass beside the camp.

Standing up instantly, subconsciously picking up the decapitation longsword beside him, he was already prepared for battle.

Then, Wood's figure wearing black leather armor appeared before everyone's eyes.

Sweeping his gaze across everyone's faces, he finally stopped on the face of the Half-Elf Haian:

"Young Master, there is a discovery."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 29 =====