The sunlight slants down from the top of the Emerald Forest, and then passes through the layers of trees and branches and leaves, and shines into the forest covered with fallen leaves. Due to the dust, beams of light appear in front of the adventurer's eyes, adding to the forest. More fantasy colors. But starting from a certain moment, the light beam in the forest gradually faded away. Before Duan Qing understood what was going on, water droplets had penetrated the sky above, passed through the dense leaves, and dripped on their heads.
Accompanied by the sound of rustling, the fine spring rain fell next to this remote mountain village.
Except for Mengzhu, who had a hood on his jumpsuit, the rest of the people could only walk forward in the rain - they really didn't prepare anything to protect themselves from the rain. Duan Qing and A Niu both looked indifferent. Only Bad Shao had an embarrassment on his face and cursed the damn weather. The ripped clothes on his body couldn't inflate like balloons, and they were wet and stuck to their skin. On the body.
As the rainy weather predicted, the initial journey into the forest was not smooth.
A few people first met some lone monkeys. Although they were not very good at fighting, they were very annoying jumping up and down, so Duan Qing and the others spent some effort. Among them, the evil young man had the worst fighting ability. He was fooled around by the monkey for a long time. In the end, other people who had already dealt with him came to help and beat the monkey to death.
Later, on the way forward, I heard a faint rustling sound coming from the bushes. Duan Qing stopped and listened. Before the warning of "be careful" could be shouted out, the unlucky young man was once again thrown to the ground by the leopard that had been secretly preparing for a long time. If it weren't for A Niu's quick eyes and quick hands, he hit the big tree with a stick. The evil young man's life was probably sealed on the tabby cat's forehead.
He had boasted so loudly before, but then he made a fool of himself one after another. The evil young man was also quite depressed. He shouted, "Don't attack sneakily if you have the ability, you will make them look good." However, his actions after that were much restrained. Duan Qing and Mengzhu laughed secretly in their hearts, and naturally tried to comfort them on the surface. The dumb-headed A Niu nodded repeatedly, looking very much in agreement.
"Of course, I must get the place back if I have the chance."
They are indeed brothers on the road, not only loyal, but also somewhat honest...
At this point, everyone was mostly in a relaxed mood. They did not encounter any real dangers, nor did they encounter people who suddenly jumped out to cause trouble like at the beginning. However, after continuing for a while, the relaxed feeling finally left. They are gone.
They encountered a black bear.
The black bear is naturally a giant version, and looks as difficult to deal with as a wild boar. Although Duan Qing was confident that he could deal with him for a while, considering the lives of other team members, he had to take everyone on Mengzhu's suggestion and run all the way. If it weren't for the fact that the black bear only encountered him occasionally and didn't have much hatred for him, Their trip to the forest ended here.
However, this aimless escape finally caused them to lose their way in the vast forest. They were originally looking for someone. Although there were no clues, some of the original plans - such as a step-by-step search - were also shelved due to these changes. Several people comforted each other and boosted the team's morale, but frustration still spread among the team involuntarily.
This feeling continued to ferment after the raindrops fell, corroding their fighting spirit. There were even voices starting to complain about why no one had prepared raincoats and the like.
Regardless of the fact that if the rain curtain becomes larger, the visibility will be reduced, even normal walking will be a luxury here. After all, the ground where the soil is mixed with dead leaves will become very muddy after being mixed with rainwater. I don’t know where I am because I’m fleeing. If I get trapped in a swamp or other terrain in the forest...
The joyful atmosphere at the departure slowly disappeared, and silence gradually occupied the air. The girl with a strong nature wanted to encourage her several times, but in the end nothing came out - the feeling of not knowing what to say, It really makes people feel very depressed and uncomfortable. After several people climbed over a few broken trees that had fallen aside and carefully avoided a wild boar that was leisurely wandering by, Duan Qing, who was walking at the front of the team, finally stopped.
At this time, the trunks of the surrounding trees were no longer large enough for two or three people to hug each other. Duan Qing turned around beside a certain tree, leaned his back against the trunk and clapped his hands. Loud claps echoed in the forest, and when he saw the other three people stopping and looking this way, he coughed indicatively.
"Okay, I now declare that our plan has failed."
After saying this with a serious expression, Duan Qing then put on a sunny smile: "Don't be so discouraged, I know the situation is not very good now, but..."
"We are all here to play games, why should we be so serious?" He crossed his arms with a relaxed expression: "Although we have made some...well, it seems a little naive now, but at least we Now that we are here, we don’t need to be restricted by the task of finding Trick. Just treat it as sightseeing. If we encounter a monkey, we will bully it. If we encounter a black bear, we will run away. Maybe... ."
He blinked: "He will run to some strange place, have some adventures, return with a bunch of loot, and then his strength will greatly increase, he will become a powerful party, become a professional gamer, marry Bai Fumei, and reach the pinnacle of life... ..”
At the beginning, he still had to think carefully about what he said, but later on, it became smoother and smoother, and the words got farther and farther. When the rest of the people looked at each other, the little girl who covered herself tightly with a hood jumped to him first. In front of him: "I, we are not so fragile! Damn uncle, give up the idea of being cool..."
"Oh? Who just had a sullen face and kept winking at me..."
"Well, I was actively thinking about countermeasures! And aren't you also sullen? How dare you say that I..."
"Hey, you little girl..."
Just like the daily bickering, the solemn atmosphere finally relaxed. The evil young man in Jie City secretly got lucky, and then he imitated Duan Qing and clapped his hands: "Yes, yes, it coincides with the spring rain, such a beautiful scenery, It is a beautiful thing for us to travel around the mountains and rivers and hunt, so why should we be cautious and afraid? We are all masters. If it hadn't happened suddenly, we would never have been chased by that old black man in such an embarrassing manner. If you meet him again, you must teach him to be a human being! Uh..."
"Hey, you can't even blow anymore?" Mengzhu was surprised.
"Shh, did you hear anything?" Duan Qing on the side pricked up his ears.
"what sound?"
"It seems like something is beating on the ground..."
"Well, it's quite rhythmic..."
"Hey, hey, why didn't I hear anything? Don't lie to me, even though I haven't read much..."
Everyone was looking for the source of the sound. In the woods behind them, a black figure suddenly flashed out: "Roar!"
"Whoa, ah, ah! Here comes the old black blind!"
"I'm just lying, I'm just talking casually..."
"Shut up! What to do now..."
"Maybe it's not the one just now, so you don't have to take the blame, but... let's run!"
Amidst the creaking sounds of trees being broken, several people started running away again. But this time, their mood was relaxed. The air could even hear their chattering as they fled.
"Now it seems that the speed of this black bear is far worse than that of a wild boar. Should we kite it..."
"Whenever you dare to go up and chop it, that's what we'll do."
"By the way, can it climb trees? How about we find a tree and try it?"
"I don't know if bears in other places can fly. I believe bears in the Emerald Forest can fly... Moreover, you forgot that you were bitten by a snake on a tree branch on the way here. What happened to you? How dare you climb up the tree..."
During the thrilling and exciting escape journey, the temperature in everyone's hearts finally rose. Duan Qing ran indulgently, secretly rejoicing in his heart.
He was not grateful that the team's morale had returned to normal again, but that he was freed from his inner confusion.
During the past journey, there was a moment when I had the thought of failure: maybe this action would be fruitless, or maybe this impulsive acceptance of an unknown little boy's request would eventually lead to the loss of myself. Dragging people into despair...
Maybe I shouldn't be here... huh?
When did I start worrying so much about gains and losses? Didn’t I enter the free world just because I wanted to play a game? If I had to be cautious and thoughtful when accepting a task, would I still be the same person who played games wantonly? If I will retreat because of this level of setback, what is the difference between it and the various failures in the past three years...
Don’t forget your original intention and do whatever you want. I used this sentence to educate many people...
"When playing games, the most important thing is to relax..." Duan Qing whispered to himself while running.
"What did you say?" Mengzhu on the side asked, "Did you come up with any good ideas?"
"No..." Duan Qing raised his head and let a drop of rain fall on his face: "Maybe it's a good thing that I didn't prepare rain gear. It feels quite good to be soaked in the rain like this... ..."
"I wouldn't buy it if I thought about it!" the little girl shouted loudly: "Those raincoats cost 10 Ebri coins to buy one..."
"Pfft." Duan Qing staggered: "You little iron cock..."
I don’t know how long it took, but the black bear was finally no longer visible. A few people panted and rested for a while holding on to the big tree, and then continued to explore aimlessly - after these two escapes, they had completely lost their direction. .
However, maybe God couldn't stand their experience and turned Duan Qing's previous words into a prophecy. They didn't walk long before they found a tree house.
To be precise, it was a wooden house built among the trees. It is rare to find such a wooden house among the surrounding towering trees, but in such a secret place, there are probably good things hidden inside.
Duan Qing wanted to remind him if anyone was inside, but before he could say anything, several people rushed in cheering. Mengzhu used his familiar experience to lead everyone to quickly sweep the two-story house from top to bottom, but the result was somewhat disappointing.
Although the wooden house remains intact and the appliances inside are relatively complete, you can tell at a glance that it is very old and even dilapidated. It was a feeling that no one had lived in it for a long time and that it was abandoned here. And the most annoying thing is: there are obvious signs of being rummaged through.
If any players come here, it's definitely out of the question.
Duan Qing even guessed that more than one group of people had been to this place, so it should have been looked over many times by others. He looked at the dagger in his hand and remembered what Iron Heart said when he gave it to him.
"I found this short sword next to a tree house in the Emerald Forest...it must have been visited many times by players..."
Sure enough, it has been visited many times. Look at the iron wire under the porch. There should be an oil lamp hanging there. You are so poor that you don't even let go of the furniture...
Looking at the disappointed expression on the face of the girl who came back, Duan Qing shrugged. The girl looked at Duan Qing and said as if someone was bullying her: "A group of robbers."
"Maybe a few groups...but you were not slow in grabbing them just now, girl."
"Can this be the same? We are already miserable enough..."
Amidst the girl's complaints, the evil young man from Jie City continued to search inside. A Niu on the other side patted the dust on his body and walked over with a book in his hand: "Hey, brothers, take a look at this book I found. .”
It was actually not a book, but a diary - Duan Qing checked it and came to the conclusion just now. But both the book and the diary have become unrecognizable under the erosion of time. The shell and paper of the diary have also become very fragile, as if the entire diary can be crushed with just a little force. But on the title page of what looked like a diary, there was a name that could still be recognized: Phil.
Is it really called Phil? Duan Qing remembered the introduction text on his dagger, and then asked Xiang A Niu: "Where did you find it?"
"On the second floor over there, a branch stretched out and knocked down a wooden wall. I found it under the broken wood, so I quickly brought it over for you to see. I don't know if I can find anything else. ..."
Anyway, it was still drizzling outside, so a few people went into the house again, planning to search carefully again, maybe they could find something valuable like a diary, but not long after, they had to withdraw again.
Maybe it was because of their rummaging, or maybe the tree house finally couldn't withstand the power of time and rain. With an ironic collapse sound, most of the roof on the second floor of the tree house completely collapsed.
Duan Qing and the others ran out of it in embarrassment, and then stood helplessly in the rain, looking at the dying house. Although the entire tree house has not completely collapsed, no one is willing to go in anymore. The bad boy who was still on the second floor when it collapsed just now patted his chest with lingering fear: "I'm scared to death. If I were crushed to death like this, if word spreads about this How can you show off your face when you are so young..."
"Okay, we can only search to this extent now." Duan Qing looked at the diary in his hand, and after confirming that nothing else was found, he threw it to the ground: "Since nothing valuable was found, so be it. ,gone."
He greeted a few people, especially the reluctant little girl, and casually looked for a direction to continue this seemingly aimless adventure. In the sound that gradually faded away, Mengzhu was still aggrieved.
"I thought my luck had changed, but the guide was indeed a lie..."
"Which guide will tell you that there must be something hidden in a place like this. I will argue with him later."
"What, you actually want to vent your anger on me?"
"No, I just want to tell him that this kind of thing is outdated..."
Above them, perhaps moved by the loss of the treehouse, the drizzle became sparse and finally stopped.
***********************
"The rain has stopped."
At the south exit of the village, the woman in white armor said calmly. Several people behind her straightened their bodies and assumed serious postures. Only a man standing behind her on the right still looked at the back in front of her with passionate eyes.
As if sensing this gaze, the woman frowned slightly, immediately put aside her distracting thoughts, and began to make her declaration before departure without looking back.
Every time she leads the team into action, she is used to saying a few words before officially setting off to boost military morale and morale. But this time, she obviously didn't want to say too much: "I don't think there is any need to explain what happened this time. Now that the rain has stopped, we won't wait any longer. Everyone..."
“…Give it your all.”
She began to walk forward, and behind her, the sounds of weapons and armor colliding could be heard one after another. Although the number of people was not very large, the fierce and murderous aura slowly emerged in front of people, and then moved away.
The momentum was overwhelming, pressing towards the Emerald Forest, and then disappeared into the shadow of the trees.
