Chapter 117

In the dense forest, towering trees rose from the ground.

Countless tree crowns intertwined into a green dome high in the sky, shielding the scorching sun above; the sunlight barely passed through the gaps in the branches and leaves, casting scattered light spots.

"Phew, finally much cooler."

Xia Mingyu stepped on the damp soil covered with fallen leaves, smelling the refreshing scent of trees in the air, and sighed.

"Your Highness, we have now left the outer area of the Southern Wind Forest and can set up the Bear-Attracting Incense."

Boge, who was carrying the baggage behind him, said.

"Good."

Afterward, Boge put the baggage on the ground, took out a solid orange-yellow object similar to a honeycomb after a search, and then lit it with a match.

After the orange-yellow solid was lit, it emitted a sweet scent, spreading rapidly toward the depths of the dense forest under the breeze flowing through the forest.

"Wind, impact."

Xia Mingyu released magic, borrowed the reaction force of the wind impacting the ground, and jumped lightly onto the thick branch of a towering tree.

And Boge, who was agile, also jumped to another big tree in a few leaps and shifts.

Afterward, the two hid in the dense leaves, waiting quietly for the prey to come to the door.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

When the clear sky gradually became dark, the two people in the tree looked at each other helplessly and finally jumped down from the tree.

"My lord, it seems that Earth Bear magic beasts are not easy to find."

Boge looked at the Bear-Attracting Incense in his hand, which only had a small half left, and couldn't help but sigh lightly.

Indeed, a few bears had been attracted in these few hours, but they were not magic beasts, just ordinary wild beasts.

Before they could bite the Bear-Attracting Incense, they were scared away by the arrows he shot.

Of course, there were also stubborn bears who wanted to eat the Bear-Attracting Incense regardless, but after licking it once, they were jumped down from under the tree by the two angry people and given a beating, so they could only hold their heads with their bear paws and flee in panic.

"After all, magic beasts are different from the wild wolves in the Wolf Howl Forest last time; perhaps ordinary attractants cannot attract them."

Xia Mingyu thought.

In this way, it seemed he would have to stay in the Southern Wind Forest for quite a while.

"Sense enhancement."

Just then, Boge activated his ability, closed his eyes, and listened carefully to everything around him.

In an instant, the quiet dense forest seemed to have been amplified countless times.

The trembling of leaves, the pine scent, the moldy smell of rotting leaves, the urine smell of wild beasts... his perception was like an invisible net, constantly expanding its range to capture various information in the forest, finally gathering in his brain.

Soon, he heard something abnormal.

Somewhere in the dense forest thousands of meters away, miserable pleas and the wild laughter of a group of people seemed to come.

Recalling the information Xia Mingyu mentioned earlier about bandits haunting the Southern Wind Forest, Boge guessed in an instant what was happening there; it was nothing more than bandits robbing and killing.

Should I tell the lord? With the lord's personality, he would definitely go to help the other party.

As an attendant, my greatest duty is not to help others, but to ensure the lord's safety.

Boge began to think seriously.

Just a group of bandits, there shouldn't be any Morning Star Rank experts; since that's the case, it's better to tell the lord...

"How is it, Boge, any traces of Earth Bears?"

Seeing Boge open his eyes, Xia Mingyu asked.

"Your Highness, not for the moment, but I heard pleas and laughter containing malice; it should be bandits..."

"Which direction!"

Before Boge could finish, Xia Mingyu interrupted and asked directly.

"Southeast."

"Boge, let's go!"

The two figures flashed and rushed toward the southeast wind direction rapidly.

"Please... don't kill me!"

Yude looked at the bandits surrounding him with fear; their fierce appearance and the blood-stained swords in their hands made him terrified.

The leading bandit was burly, with knotted muscles, a hideous scar across his face, and a line of emerald green text above his head—Fighter.

"I'm just a pharmacist, coming to the forest to collect herbs; I don't have anything valuable on me," Yude explained in a panic.

As a pharmacist, he wouldn't come to collect herbs personally.

But helpless because he couldn't hire anyone in a short time due to the bandit problem, and his employer was in a critical situation, he stepped into the forest with a fluke mentality, not expecting to run into bandits not long after entering.

"Boss Aike, this ugly guy really doesn't seem to have anything valuable."

Just then, the bandit who had searched his baggage and only found some herbs and bottles and jars came to report.

When he heard the word "ugly guy," a trace of dimness flashed in Yude's eyes.

"Damn it..."

Hearing this, the bandit leader named Aike seemed very dissatisfied; he grabbed Yude, who had a small build, by the neck with one hand and lifted him up.

Yude instantly felt an agonizing pain of being unable to breathe, and he struggled to break free.

Fortunately, Aike soon threw him to the ground in disgust.

"Such an ugly guy, is he really human? Even touching him is unlucky."

Aike wiped his hands with his subordinate's clothes, looking disgusted.

"Can you let me go? My employer is in critical condition and needs my medicine to save his life."

Enduring the pain of being humiliated, Yude forced a smile and begged.

Slap!

"No, even uglier."

Aike kicked the pharmacist away; this heavy blow directly caused the other party to cover his stomach and fall to the ground in pain.

"It can be considered your bad luck; if it were before, seeing you look so ugly, maybe I would have sold you to the circus, but now those lords in the Southern Region have gone crazy and killed people after listening to that bullshit Sage, making us hide in the forest and not dare to go out at all."

Mentioning the Sage, a trace of bone-deep hatred flashed across the bandit leader's face.

He originally had his own gang, usually acting as a dog for a noble, collecting protection fees from prostitutes and lending high-interest loans; he didn't know how happy his life was, but now he could only hide in the deep forest with his subordinates, living in the open like wild beasts.

"Kill him," Aike ordered.

A bandit walked toward Yude, who was lying on the ground, with a knife.

"Is this how I'm going to die..."

Looking at the bandit approaching, Yude, while in despair, unexpectedly felt a sense of relief in his heart.

In his past life, there didn't seem to be anything worth living for, and the only regret was not being able to treat that employer.

This world is too cruel to him...

Swish!

Just then, an iron arrow broke through the air and instantly pierced the head of the bandit walking over with a knife.

That bandit didn't even have time to wail before he fell to the ground abruptly, becoming a corpse.

"Who? Enemy attack!"

The bandits were shocked and immediately picked up their weapons, looking vigilantly in the direction the arrow was shot.

Yude, who had escaped death, also lifted his head with effort, wanting to see who exactly had saved him.

A young man wearing a black top hat pushed aside the dense grass and walked out slowly.

His face was so handsome it looked like a meticulously carved statue; under the brim of his hat were eyes as flawless as black gems, and his skin was white and delicate, glowing with healthy luster in the sun.

What a perfect face!

Yude sighed with immense envy in his heart.

How could such a perfect person die because of him, an ugly monster?

"Run, there are Transcendent bandits here..." Yude shouted with all his might.

But it was already too late; those bandits who had reacted were already holding sharp knives and swords and swarming toward the young man.

Afterward, Yude witnessed something he would never forget in his life.

Slap!

He saw the black-eyed young man just snap his fingers, and those bandits who rushed over fell to the ground one by one as if cursed, even though there were no obstacles on the soil.

Many of the bandits were unlucky enough to hit the sharp weapons in their hands and died in such a ridiculous way.

Afterward, the bandits who climbed back up had a trace of fear in their eyes when looking at the young man, and they hesitated, preparing to retreat behind their boss.

Coo, coo, coo!

However, the black-eyed young man didn't let them go; he took off the top hat on his head, and the next moment, countless white pigeons flew out from the hat.

These pigeons looked peaceful, but were actually extremely aggressive; they rushed toward the bandits with speed so fast that only afterimages could be seen.

A pigeon pounced on a bandit, and its sharp claws directly scratched the bandit's eyes.

The bandit screamed and fell to the ground.

Another diving white pigeon, like a dagger, pierced the throat of another bandit with its sharp beak.

That person covered his throat and screamed, blood spraying from between his fingers, and soon fell, staining the soil red.

Under the crazy attack of the pigeon flock, in just a short moment, those fierce bandits became corpses that had lost their breath.

Only the leading bandit boss barely blocked the attack of the pigeons; he looked at the black-eyed young man with immense fear, as if he had seen the devil.

(End of chapter)