Chapter 18: The Outsider Returns

He was getting carried away.

Rod wanted to dump all his remaining Growth Spirit directly over.

Then the 【Timid】 and 【Voracious】 that rolled out scared him off at once.

It looked like the 【Centaur Bloodline】 had already burned through every last bit of his luck.

Following the principle that bad things never happen more than three times.

He fed the very last bit of 【Growth Spirit】 to 【Guardian's Veil】.

【'Growth Spirit' used successfully. Guardian's Veil has successfully grown.】

【Overall performance increased.】

【Extra effect triggered: Night Vision.】

【Details: While equipped with 'Guardian's Veil', gain the ability to see in the dark.】

【Remaining 'Growth Spirit': 0】

The edge of the Bai Yu district.

The outskirts between Windwall Forest and Shi Ying Town.

In the night, two furtive figures emerged on the hillside.

They scanned the burned area over there.

"Brother Wally, there's lingering spirit here."

"I don't need you to tell me that. I'm not blind—how could I miss such obvious signs of a battle?"

The slab of fat on Wally's face twitched: "Is it Ali's?"

A dog-head with mottled black-and-white fur poked out.

Its nose kept twitching.

Then it quickly pulled back again.

"Can't smell anything."

Wally irritably slapped the gnoll across the face.

"I told you not to eat the stuff the ogres gave you, but you just had to. Could you even eat that? If it weren't for you, we'd have been gone half a month ago, right?!"

The gnoll took the slap without caring, craning its neck to stare at the sky.

Wally clutched his head.

"Everything was fine—why'd you have to join the Yige Sect? Look at you now, Seeing Luo De a fate where even your corpse can't be found."

"Is Brother Ali dead?"

"What do you think? The whole town's been talking about it. The Warden here slaughtered a halfling."

"We're not gonna have to take revenge, are we?"

The gnoll shrank its neck in.

Among the gnoll race there are many clan branches—some are famed for valor, others for being simple-minded.

This black-and-white mottled one was, presumably, the latter.

Wally was silent for a moment.

"First we'll find Ali's body. Halflings have the custom of being buried back home."

Wally wasn't all that close with Ali, but the Brotherhood had issued an order, so he at least had to bring something back.

"I heard that Warden keeps a succubus."

The gnoll's crotch swayed vaguely a few times.

"Succubi can't turn into gnolls—they won't bother taking on a lower lifeform." Wally struck a blow.

He knew this pair of brothers had been cuckolded by the goddess back home, and there was always a thorn in their hearts.

The gnoll immediately wilted.

"Boring. Humans are way too ugly—no hair on them at all."

The two of them uncorked a potion bottle.

Purple smoke wrapped around them, and their figures turned translucent.

"Damned dwarves—how can the quality be this lousy!"

Cursing under his breath, Wally led his underling into the forest.

A moment later, the gnoll cried out in surprise.

"I smell Brother Ali!"

He pointed at the side of a tree.

Wally looked and found nothing at all.

"Is it blood?"

"More than that—a scent deeper than blood."

"Is it buried in the soil?"

"No, I can't smell anything from the soil."

Hearing that, he frowned.

"There's some here too! And here! Oh, and up there on the edge too!"

The gnoll kept exclaiming: "Brother Ali is everywhere!"

The color drained from Wally's face.

"Could it be—"

An image surfaced in his mind of a Warden dressed like a butcher.

"Since when have the kingdom's officials become this cruel!?"

The kobold suddenly cried out again.

He pointed at a ranger's cabin in the distance.

"Look, Brother Wally, there's a wooden cabin over there."

The two were far away, but they could see a light still flickering inside the cabin, the window blocked off by curtains.

In the dim light, Wally saw two people locked in a struggle.

He hurriedly used a spiritual art to enhance his hearing.

Then low cursing and a raspy voice begging for mercy drifted out from inside, and after a while it escalated into stubborn, pained groaning.

Right after that, he saw a splash of liquid spatter against the curtain.

"It's blood!"

Wally's mind was thoroughly shaken.

Worthy of the Kingdom of Etherlon—even the forest warden is this ruthless a character.

"Don't go over there!"

Seeing the kobold still wanted to head over, he hurriedly shouted him down.

"Let's go! Now!"

Wally gripped the kobold by the scruff of the neck and retreated at top speed.

Ignoring the drain on his spirit, he fled with everything he had, only stopping once he had completely left the forest.

At this point, the kobold finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Brother Wally, what did you see?"

Wally told him his guess.

The kobold was scared half to death on the spot.

"No wonder Brother Ali is everywhere—turns out the forest warden cut him apart."

"Anyone who can kill Brother Ali can't be a simple character." Wally shook his head inwardly. "Maybe we can't deal with him, but we can shift our focus to gathering intel—that way we can still handle the task from the Brotherhood."

"I fully endorse that with both hands and feet."

The two moved away from the woods.

Slowly vanishing into the night.

And at the edge of the Bai Yu district, a cute half-deer Young Lady hid behind a tree, peering timidly in the direction those two had left.

A moment later.

Rod was sitting in the wooden cabin, breathing in the fresh air.

Tally had recently taken to playing characters of different races.

Tonight she was a spirited, chaste elven Young Lady.

Suddenly, Vivian stepped out from a thick, sturdy tree.

"Vivian, good evening."

Vivian nodded and haltingly relayed what the half-deer girl Xiao Ke had seen.

"They mentioned the Brotherhood? What's that?"

Rod looked up at the sky, scattered with stars.

In truth, having stayed in the forest for so long, he wasn't very familiar with the new organizations on the continent.

"I'm heading into town tomorrow anyway—I'll ask David about it."

Also, this group really did move through the forest as if it were their own backyard.

Especially the location of the cabin.

Perhaps I should set up some defensive measures as well.

Vivian handed over two portrait sketches.

One kobold, one human.

The brushwork was exquisite, vivid and lifelike.

"You drew these?"

"Xiao Ke." Vivian shook her head.

Only then did Rod recall that half-deer were born artists, with very high attainments in music and painting.

The next day, Shi Ying town.

Inside the town hall.

"Leave it to me, my lord. The lord takes this matter very seriously—everyone connected to it will be given special attention."

David took those two portraits.

"As for the Brotherhood, if I'm not mistaken, it should be the Ruins Brotherhood."

"Ruins... Brotherhood?"

"An organization made up of fringe folk and the exiled—they live by taking commissions together. You understand, when people like that gather, they're easily exploited."

Rod nodded.

At a glance, you could tell these people were desperate for recognition.

Especially the exiles of certain races—they value honor above all else, and the fact they've survived this long is solely so they can return to their own clans.

"Oh right, Pete's here. He said he found what you were looking for."

Pete.

A merchant who often passed through Shi Ying town.

Rod had previously commissioned him to purchase some things.

"Thanks, I'll go find him."

(End of this chapter)