Chapter 251: Prey

"Saeflo?"

Xia Zhi blinked.

"Yeah, it was him who brought this group of... this group of Tieflings to the Woodland..."

The responder used a strange tone, a subtle expression appearing on their face, as if wanting to convey some unusual emotion.

It was just that at this moment, two Tieflings happened to walk past not far to the side, so it still wasn't expressed.

But even so, these subtle emotions were still captured.

"It sounds like you have some dissatisfaction?" The Magic User tilted their head slightly, asking with a tone seemingly of curiosity and exploration.

"How could that be..."

The elf watched the two Tieflings walk away, only then continuing to speak.

Although not admitting it, the words revealed a meaning of contempt and mockery.

"After all, the story of the renowned Hell Knight enduring hardships and leading his clansmen on a long journey to escape with their lives is something that has greatly inspired everyone in the Woodland!"

"Hell Knight?" Xia Zhi raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that Tiefling's title is Hell Knight, doesn't it sound especially impressive?" The elf's tone was full of mockery and disdain. "Even though he's fundamentally just a stray dog."

However—

"Impressive oh, Hell Knight..."

The Magic User instead nodded with a face of deep agreement.

This title sounds like the "Heaven Dancer" style at first listen, and it's symmetrical too; it sounds very prestigious.

"..."

"..."

The Opposite Side instantly wore a speechless expression, then didn't say anything more, directly turning and leaving.

Xia Zhi didn't mind either; this situation was within his expectations from the start. It could be seen that although the Woodland could generally maintain surface harmony, it was absolutely not completely without grievances.

Even though that Great Druid's prestige was high, and after making a decision could obtain the agreement of the majority of Woodland residents, it was still inevitable that a minority would have opinions.

At most, they just couldn't say it out in the open.

That is to say, every sentence he spoke now, every word he uttered, carried an indescribable persuasiveness of its own. It didn't reach the level of charm, but was enough to make people unconsciously open their hearts.

That's why a casual question would get someone to answer his question and even complain to him.

Under normal circumstances, they probably wouldn't have shown it at all.

Glancing casually at that Tiefling with the title of Hell Knight, Xia Zhi pondered slightly, estimating that this Saeflo had probably become aware of the faint Dark Currents beneath the Woodland's calm, which was why he was somewhat worried.

This was correct.

After all, Tieflings were ultimately outsiders, and because of the devil bloodline inherited from their infernal ancestors, they were automatically at the bottom of the contempt chain...

If everything was peaceful, if times were peaceful, perhaps time could slowly wear away the grudges.

It's just a pity that there was no time left.

Xia Zhi also didn't rush to come into contact with the other party; he simply put them into the Candidate List for now, preparing to observe a bit more before deciding.

The Woodland interior also seemed to have been divided into Internal/External Division again because of the Tieflings' arrival.

The natural Stone Caves outside were the Tieflings' Resting Place, and there were also quite a few people doing some Small Business here by the way.

And the deeper area further inside was the Druids' Living Area.

This also happened to give him Convenience in his actions.

Like a Standard Engineering outsider, he continued wandering around the Surroundings, specially patronizing every traveling merchant.

However, just like the Halfling Merchant before, these merchants were all doing Small Business too; the goods they could provide were equally Standard Engineering.

—No magic.

—No Magic Equipment.

At most there were one or two bottles of magic potions or the like; this seemed to have slightly lower Rarity.

Xia Zhi didn't care, spending money to buy a few bottles, then seemingly putting them away but actually throwing them to Huifeng to analyze the components.

The Nano Intelligent Module was just that useful; even without the scale deployed, he was equal to carrying a Personal Data Terminal standard for the Interstellar Era.

Technical capability and Computing Power that could blow modern Supercomputers out nine streets.

Wandering around randomly on one hand, having Huifeng Scan everywhere on the other, compiling basic data on all people and events, then archiving it all.

From the Road to the Terrain, not only the Woodland Gate outside and this Stone Cave inside, but even the deeper areas were scanned back and forth who knows how many times by various Frequency Band scanning technologies.

Even separated by Buildings and Strata, they were still seen through completely.

Under the excellent Algorithm, a Three-Dimensional View of the entire Woodland was constructed almost instantly, including how many Channels it had, how many hidden areas and underground secret chambers...

The Druids might not know these conditions, but he had already completely mastered them.

The only thing worth noting was that at the Woodland's Central Area, there existed a Special Energy Field, Unknown Nature, Unknown Purpose.

After pondering a bit, Xia Zhi still didn't let Huifeng attempt a Deep Scan, forcibly analyzing that Energy Field's model.

After all, this was Sylvanus's Woodland, the Oak Father's Territory—

Although the mountain is high and the emperor far away, the Church's power projection here is limited, but a Divine Spirit's power projection might not be so.

So he also wanted to keep a Low Profile as much as possible.

Currently he seemed to have some kind of Mysterious Home Field Advantage, and the greater Advantage was still Enemy Clear Me Dark, not having appeared on the surface.

As long as there was no true Exposure, then whether for the world or for the Gods, he should be a person who Does Not Exist.

Such an Advantage naturally had to be well maintained, so it was still better to quit while ahead.

After all, who knew if that Special Energy Field was the Oak Father's Divine Power, if it would attract a Divine Spirit's Attention or something.

Just like that, Xia Zhi wandered a circle and returned to where he started.

But the difference was that under the originally empty Big Tent, that Ethel Auntie had already appeared there.

………………

The old ghost woman had finished tending to her wounds; she had merely suffered a big loss, yet she looked as if she were gritting her teeth in hatred, her face ferocious.

Of course, beneath the cover of a high-level illusion, on the surface it appeared——

Everyone simply thought a kind old woman had suffered an unprovoked disaster, and that she was wiping away tears there because of pain and anger.

"... Do you need anything?"

The old ghost woman reined in her emotions, striving to squeeze out an amiable (self-deceived) smile, hawking her wares to passersby.

After all, no matter what, life still had to go on.

Whether to take revenge or not could wait; that was all a matter for the future.

But her home was temporarily impossible to return to, and she didn't know if that hateful drow would leave her even a little something!

Because she fundamentally didn't know this was a black pot falling from the sky, nor did she know Mingsala's sudden attack on her was merely to pin a shit basin on her head——

Truth be told, it was fundamentally impossible for anyone to figure that out.

So the old ghost woman naturally, as a matter of course, believed the other party had acted on profit-seeking impulse, wanting to get something from her, which was why they brazenly launched an attack.

Otherwise, a drow from the Underdark, a race of gnomes infamous everywhere, no matter how you looked at it they were creatures of the evil alignment—what other reason could there be……

Could it be that these evil creatures suddenly discovered——

That she had always harbored the noble ideal of serving country and people in her heart?

That because she couldn't bear to see the people suffer, she drew her sword to help when seeing injustice, wanting to eliminate the evil ghost woman?

However you looked at it, that was unrealistic, so the old ghost woman naturally only thought in those conventional directions, believing she was like those dragons in stories who got targeted because of their accumulated treasures.

Recalling her savings, the old ghost woman's heart ached so badly it practically bled.

But there was no help for it; days still had to be lived. If she could find that damn drow later and take harsh revenge, snatching the things back would be fine……

If not, she'd just have to restart.

Before that, the identity of "Ethel Auntie" in this woodland had to be maintained.

"It's fine, it's fine, I'm really fine, don't you worry……"

Having sent off another foolish fellow who showed some concern, the old ghost woman said with a face full of smiles.

Matched with that kindly countenance, the expression of forcing a smile while enduring pain, and the wretched state with half her face and eyes wrapped in bandages, it inevitably stirred sympathy and pity.

After all, everyone felt Ethel Auntie was a very kind old granny.

She truly shouldn't have encountered such a disaster.

"Hello, do you need anything?"

At this moment, the old ghost woman turned her head and saw a young man standing before her stall.

"……"

"……"

The young man didn't answer immediately, but frowned and sized up the old ghost woman.

A withered face draped in tattered long hair, skin covered in pockmarks growing terrifying black moles and flesh tumors, slender fingertips tipped with sharp claws that could easily slice flesh.

One had to say, this was just too ugly.

Supposedly this thing came from the Feywild? Some kind of fairy creature?

For an instant, Xia Zhi felt a bit unable to accept it; after all, in his cognition there were only two kinds of fairies.

Vivian——and others.

The Magic User lightly drew a breath, having Huifeng project a mosaic onto his retina over the ugly ghost woman before him.

To prevent himself from being unable to bear it and pinching the other to death like an insect, this was necessary.

"Hello, do you have anything here?"

"It's all here, take a look, just a tiny bit of copper coins for the old woman, that's all……"

The old ghost woman had no idea her illusion had already failed, having zero effect in the eyes of this "ordinary person," and still grinned wide her bloody maw in a good-natured laugh.

Casually browsing her goods, Xia Zhi frowned on cue.

"What's wrong, nothing suitable?" Ethel Auntie read his expression and asked.

"Nothing much……"

The young man shook his head, didn't say anything, and seemed about to leave.

"Wait, you want something magic-related, right?" Ethel Auntie hurriedly called out to stop him.

She'd been paying attention to this young man since just now, knowing what he wanted to find.

"That's right, but I was indeed overthinking it; a remote place like this fundamentally wouldn't have such things……"

The youth waved his hand and turned to go.

"Wait, don't rush, I might indeed have a tiny channel……"

The ghost woman instantly perked up.

She felt her luck had arrived, directly finding a pretty good prey.

(Chapter End)