CHAPTER 392: CHAPTER 204: MAPLE SYRUP (PART 2)

Little Allen said I’ve become somewhat frightening now, with eyes as cold as the beasts in the jungle, and the few playmates I used to have in the village are gradually distancing themselves.

I don’t know what happened.

I want to go back.

But I can’t control it.

Later, on a certain bright moonlit night, I had a dream.

In the dream, I seemed to become a tiny black bear the size of a cat, running freely in the woods, catching a few birds and squirrels to eat when hungry, digging a hole in a tree to suck honey when thirsty, and finding a corner beside a tree root to nap when tired.

All the pain and torment during this time seemed to be alleviated in this short dream.

Then, I woke up.

I’ve never had the habit of sleepwalking, but when I opened my eyes that morning, I had already arrived at the entrance of the village.

I suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

What hung high in the sky was not the rising sun, but a full, clear Silver Moon.

And the gold-red before my eyes wasn’t the leaves of maple trees, but the scorching flames that set the whole village ablaze.

The tips of my fingers felt sticky, and when I looked down, it was a crimson mixed with bits of flesh.

Instinctively licked my lips.

Oh, it wasn’t maple syrup; it was the taste of blood.

But... equally sweet.

Memorable.

...

...

"Puh!"

As if tasting something unclean, Xia Nan grimaced and stuck out his tongue.

In his hand, he held a palm-sized jar.

It was a "small surprise" he discovered this morning while packing his backpack at the camp.

Probably supplies prepared for a previous task, overlooked in the depth of the backpack.

The jar contained high-grade honey he had specifically purchased from the "Green Grass Cauldron."

He spent quite a bit of money on it, intending to enjoy it during his adventures.

But he had forgotten about it until just then when he found it in his bag.

Impression was that honey should last a while, so with the thought of not wasting it, he took a taste.

Unexpectedly, it had completely deteriorated, nearly making his tongue astringent.

"Is this honey from the snail shell bee?" Cash, standing beside him with a smile, kindly reminded, "The taste is nice, but it only lasts a month; after that, the flavor turns sour."

"Speaking of which, if you truly enjoy similar condiments, I recommend the maple syrup, a specialty of Pan Yun Province. It tastes better and is easier to preserve. River Valley Town should have it for sale."

Hearing this, Xia Nan nodded, showing his understanding.

He had already remembered it in his mind.

The adventuring tasks were dull, and he had no particular hobbies.

He was already accustomed to spicing up his journey with good food.

Even if it cost a bit more money to make his trips more enjoyable, it was entirely worth it.

Xia Nan even considered whether to learn an instrument to enrich his mundane life in the Otherworld.

But considering the dangerous adventure environment, the sound made by an instrument could attract unnecessary danger, so the idea was dropped.

Maybe when he has the means to block sound transmission, he would consider it then.

The two chatted idly, with Vireis wandering on the side of the team while Mint trudged along behind.

The entire Sea Thorn Squad seemed a bit relaxed, not in the state they should be while in the Mist Forest.

In fact, they were indeed not in the Mist Forest.

Currently, the Sea Thorn Squad was walking along a countryside path.

On both sides were vast, endless plains with little obstruction, making it easy to see everything around.

Not to mention it was bright daylight.

Even the most experienced Wanderers would find it difficult to ambush in such an environment.

And the reason for not entering the forest directly based on the Association’s location data was due to other considerations.

Unlike the previous beast-clearing tasks, the type of the Beastman task was "investigation."

It didn’t require directly bringing back the head of a Beastman. To some extent, as long as the existence of a Beastman was confirmed and specific information about them was provided, the task was considered complete.

Of course, if handled perfunctorily like this, the task rewards would be significantly diminished.

After all, the reward section on the bounty already specified a range for payment:

——30-300 Gold/1-10 points.

If Xia Nan wanted to obtain enough Corpse Erosion Pattern Steel to upgrade his Snake Scale Arm Shield, simply gathering some information and returning to submit the task would certainly not be sufficient.

In his opinion, to be on the safe side, it was better to get it done in one go and completely clear the trouble of the Beastman.

But with the forest being so large, even though the Association provided the location information, if the Beastman really existed, how could they possibly stay in one place without moving?

Rushing in without thought could waste time along the way, not to mention that if a battle truly occurred, they knew nothing about their enemy, naturally placing them at a disadvantage, and they also had to worry about the risk of infection from Beastification.

Very troublesome.

Therefore, before officially entering the forest, the Sea Thorn Squad planned to make a trip to "Qingmai Village."

——A small village located near the eastern side of the Mist Forest.

Rumor had it that it once hosted a few adventurers who were suspected to have encountered attacks from Beastmen.

Currently, these adventurers couldn’t be located, so they hoped to gather some related information from the villagers.

Qingmai Village was not a particularly prosperous human settlement.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t still bear the suffix "village."

The overall environment was not even comparable to River Valley Town, Kalanfor, or even Xia Nan’s promotion site "Cui Xi Village."

At a distance, only a few seemingly dilapidated houses scattered on both sides could be seen, with plainly dressed residents coming and going on the roads.

Of course, since it was still fairly close to the Mist Forest, adventurers often passed through.

Regarding the sudden arrival of the Sea Thorn Squad in the village, the villagers were curious but didn’t show much over-the-top behavior.

At most standing by the roadside, watching the group.

The village was small, and news spread quickly.

Shortly after entering the village, an elder in relatively clean clothes came up to them proactively.

The arrival was naturally the village chief of Qingmai Village.

And the one responsible for negotiating with him was the squad leader, Cash.

Without much small talk, and politely declining the village chief’s invitation to discuss indoors, he got straight to the point and explained their purpose.

Xia Nan stood in the back of the team, not speaking, just silently observing the team’s demeanor and actions.

Mint remained silent, her head bowed, fingers gently rubbing her branch Magic Wand.

Vireis appeared listless, looking around aimlessly, completely different from her demeanor in River Valley Town.

If one had to describe it, it would be the difference between being in an office and on a subway commuting to and from work in the previous world, a feeling of no longer needing to socialize with colleagues, isolating the surrounding crowd.

As for Cash, who was conversing with the village chief, it was more apparent.

Although he didn’t show much aggressiveness himself, his instinctive body movements and certain phrases in his speech consistently displayed an air of superiority.

It was as if the elder standing before him was not someone decades older, but a subordinate or steward.

And unexpectedly, yet understandably, the village chief showed no discontent or anger, instead, taking a relatively low posture in the conversation.

In a matter of minutes, Xia Nan gained a new understanding of the relationship between "adventurers" and "ordinary civilians" in this world.

He suddenly paused in thought.

"Have I... changed at all?"

He believed that less than a year was too short to alter the worldview he had built over decades in his past life.

But he also knew that a person’s strength and mental resilience were often not directly related.

Power, status, and wealth could easily turn a good-hearted person into a twisted beast of greed.

Instinctively, he reflected on his recent interactions with ordinary village and town residents.

But before he could think further.

The squad leader at the forefront, Cash, turned to call out to the others.

"Let’s go, we’ve found the person."