An occasional good deed

After waiting for about an hour, the believers did not return.

Mason took out the leaf of the World Tree again and saw the new words. He breathed a sigh of relief, but frowned again because of the last sentence.

What is the [Deception Real Pointer]?

There was no one to ask at the moment. Mason had to write down the word and turn to another difficult matter.

"Complete the story" seems simple, but it is a very ambiguous definition. This world is based on the fate of Pica recorded by the leaves of the World Tree, and the deadline is the other person's lifetime. But when he changed the protagonist, the story will unfold from his perspective. He can't record the story within his own lifetime, right?

He needs a boundary.

Turning his gaze to the pickup truck hiding in the corner, the goblin shrank back fearfully, suddenly having a bad premonition.

"You may feel that getting involved is a wrong thing to do, but I need you to be alive."

The young man remained standing there, with no smile on his face. His light blue pupils were as clear and transparent as two lenses in the dim light of the cave.

"The Moon Knights will definitely look for us, and then they will find out that the so-called elf nature believers do not exist at all. I can leave, but you can't escape the pursuit."

He bit his finger and wrote something on the page. His body was visibly weakening, but the young man's expression remained indifferent. He pressed the last period, took out a familiar mask from his pocket, and handed it to Pika.

"It can help you avoid being occupied and tracked. Everyone will ignore your abnormality and treat you as an ordinary human being. But using it will come at a price. If I'm not by your side, you have to pay it yourself."

Pica got a start after hearing the last part and took it hesitantly. The smooth, thin tentacles of the mask were soft and made of a strange material that reminded the goblin of the skin of a living creature. He felt numb from head to toe.

But this is definitely better than facing the deceived Templars. It mustered up the courage to put on the mask, and the green skin immediately changed color. Pika touched his face up and down, and was shocked to find that although the touch was still the same, his appearance had changed into that of a short human youth.

The life span of a goblin is only about five years. These little greenskins can grow into teenagers in three months. Pika is two years old this year, which is the most vigorous age for a goblin, and his appearance just matches it.

With [Disguise], the most basic problem has been solved. Mason put away the leaves of the World Tree with satisfaction, although the details still need to be considered. But the elf Pica lived to an old age in the book, and he had better ensure that the story can proceed at the same pace. Mason made up his mind to at least find a way to protect the other party before leaving.

He cleaned up the traces in the cave. Pika, who had received the benefit, followed him reluctantly, mumbling, "Sir, are you not leaving?"

"I have unfinished business."

The Hierophant completed the inspection meticulously and removed the disguise. The two left the cave. It was still quiet around. Pica went around to check the situation first to make sure no one had discovered this place. Shana and the others helped a lot when they left. The Templars' attention was diverted, which greatly facilitated the two's departure.

The goblin touched his face uneasily and asked as if to confirm: "Sir, where are we going next?"

The nearest town was no longer accessible. Mason thought for a moment and asked, "If you were found, where would you go now?"

Pica swallowed his saliva and vaguely guessed what the other party wanted to do: "I will go to a place where no one can find me. The Dark Forest is very big, and there are mountains on the other side. The monsters will not care about a small goblin like me. I can run to the goblin tribe on the other side of the mountains. That is my hometown. Although something happened before, they will definitely accept me."

"Then let's do it."

The young man answered like that. The round scar on his forehead reflected the sunlight, his eyes were looking into the distance, and his tone was so soft that it seemed like he was talking to himself.

"Hopefully it won't take us too long."

To be honest, Mason is not good at surviving in the wild. Weak goblins will not attract the interest of monsters, but humans are definitely good bait. With the power of holy water running out, this journey is even more dangerous.

But the Moon God Mark brought Mason a small surprise. Under the moonlight, it would provide positive energy at a steady rate. This body, which was born for pollution, swallowed everything it came. After barely supporting the [Heaven], things became much easier.

After using the leaves of the World Tree to define the pollutants brought in as [special items brought from a mysterious place], he only needs to pay a certain amount of energy every day, and [disguise] will no longer have a negative effect. After no longer having to worry about external dangers, Mason began to experiment on Pica.

At first, he wanted to tell the prophecy about the future, but there was always a force that prevented him from speaking it out. After several attempts, Mason realized that he could not directly tell the other party the facts of the future.

So he changed his way and told the five taboos in the form of a story. But he only mentioned that "the sun turned into a bloody eye", and a beam of sunlight suddenly fell from the sky and pierced the young man's chest like a sword.

The silver-haired young man fell down directly. Pica was covered in blood. The goblin was so scared that he froze in place, wondering in despair why he was not the one who fainted. Fortunately, this attack was more like a warning, and did not break his heart or head. Mason fainted for two days. With the efforts of [Heaven] and the Moon Goddess Mark, he woke up on the third day, with a charred, indelible wound on his chest. It seemed like a warning or irony, and its shape was just like a wide-open eye. The timid goblin was conscientiously mixing herbs, and when he saw him wake up, he immediately came to him with tears and snot: "My lord! You are finally awake!"

Mason coughed with a pale face and looked a little surprised: "You didn't leave?"

Pika burst into tears: "You put something on me, I don't dare to run away. I'm worried that you really can't resist it, then I will die with you!"

Mason, who had completely forgotten that he had fooled the goblin before, was silent for a moment, and then heard the goblin begging for mercy: "My lord, it's like a blessing from heaven that you woke up this time. It's a lucky goblin! Can we stop blaspheming in the future? You can survive this time, but if you are really hit, Pica can't."

Who taught you to use colloquialisms like that... Mason waved his hand weakly, signaling the goblins to be silent. Pica stared at him with tears in his eyes, with a face that could not be found in the crowd. The latter gasped weakly, and even though he was seriously injured, his eyebrows still revealed an unyielding and noble look. Pica moved closer hesitantly and heard the other party say in a weak voice: "I don't believe this."

Pika: “…”

Pika retreated silently, regretting with tears in his eyes why he had to go with this heretic.

After five days of recuperation, the two finally entered the depths of the Dark Forest. High-level monsters already possess intelligence comparable to that of humans, and relying on the affinity of [Heaven] at this time can no longer directly gain trust. Most monsters will always allow them to pass as long as they communicate well. But there are always some dangerous ones among them. The first dangerous monster Mason encountered was a sphinx. It was cunning and cruel by nature, and liked to play with its prey and kill them in the most cruel way.

After the silver-haired young man made his first request, the monster saw his weakness. The human's friendliness only made it more greedy to covet the sweetness of his wailing. As for the dwarf next to him? He was ugly, short and short, and it was so scared that it almost peed its pants when it saw him. Even if he fell on the road and offered to be eaten by it, the sphinx would think it was dirtying its mouth.

The Sphinx, pretending to be friendly, led them to the depths of the Poison Swamp, its favorite hunting ground. The swamp was complex and difficult to find, and the poisonous fog blocked all the retreat routes of the prey. Even if the opponent had strong support, it would be in vain. It could safely enjoy every howl before death.

When the monster showed its ferocious face, the human did not retreat in the face of the huge claws descending from above. He just raised his head and whispered with an expressionless face through the gray mist.

"There is a story that a mother often tells her child at night. She says pray, the moon and the sun are just His eyes..."

“Bang!!”

A huge beam of light pierced through the poisonous fog and fell from the sky, directly shattering half of the body of the sphinx. The high-level monster screamed subconsciously, feeling the pure divine power from it. It had no time to beg for mercy, and all its magic power was completely melted under the beam of light, but it also weakened the power of the beam of light. The young man groaned, and blood flowed from the corner of his lips. The swamp overgrown with poisonous weeds was burned into a dry scene. Pica had already dodged far away when the sphinx launched an attack, but his clothes were still burnt.

The attacker was obviously furious at being offended again. After the beam of light disappeared, it was as if a physical gaze penetrated the clouds and fell down, disappearing after a long time.

Pika's face was filled with misery: "We, we, we really can't try another way. Sir, if it happens again, it will probably be the two of us who will be blown to pieces!"

The charred wounds caused intense pain. The priest covered his chest and took a long time to calm his breathing. He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips, turned his head to look at Pika, and answered the question irrelevantly: "Have you ever imagined your future?"

His azure eyes were unusually clear, but his tone was ethereal and low: "Have you ever imagined a future where everyone died in madness and despair? Just like what is said in those horror stories, no one can save you, and you will wander in this world forever, living on the blood of others. All the good, bad, kind, and evil are no longer meaningful. Because everything is coming to an end, there is no God to protect you, and no one will believe in others. Everyone has gone crazy..."

This fantasy was too horrible. The moment he said it, the goblin screamed, "Pika would never do that! Pika has never killed anyone! Although Pika walks with evil heretics, Pika, Pika just wants to survive!"

Its voice was filled with endless fear and timidity, so much so that it only realized what it had said after it had spoken its true thoughts. The goblin panicked and tried to explain, but the other party smiled.

"Am I that scary in your eyes? Well, although what I did was indeed not just, I have to admit that I am not a good person, but I am not a bad person either. Whether it is disguise or what I do, everything I do has a purpose, which is to survive, just like you."

He wanted to live, no matter what. It was like a stubbornness that was deeply rooted in human nature. Even if one did not know what he had to hold on to, when faced with death, above all thoughts and reactions, the human instinct was to simply live.

Looking at the pickup truck in front of him, Mason couldn't help but realize that if he didn't have the golden finger, he might be no different from the goblin who was discriminated against in front of him after crossing over and being cursed. The warm sunlight fell through the holes in the poisonous fog and just enveloped the silver-haired young man. He stood there, thinking alone for a while, and sighed softly.

"I suddenly realized that I would replace you as the protagonist of the story."

The words were abrupt and strange, and the goblin was somewhat at a loss as he looked at the other person who turned around and walked towards him, squatting down and stretching out his hand. His hand was slender and white, forming a sharp contrast with the goblin's rough hand, so that the latter didn't know whether he should put it on top for a moment. The young man stared into its eyes and said slowly.

"I can't tell you more details, Pica. Destiny is like a river flowing forward. No one can catch it before the ripples occur. What I can tell you is that we are really similar. This may be the reason why we met here."

"Let's make a deal."

"I know you don't want to face such a miserable future. So this time, I will do my best to give you a happy ending. You may cry, laugh, or face disappointment and joy. But this is a life that belongs only to you and is not affected by anyone. In the end, you will die normally, and when you die, this story will come to an end."

His voice was gentle, and as he spoke, Pica seemed to have really seen such a real life. A shudder from the soul rose from the depths of his heart, and the goblin's foolish and timid mind suddenly realized that this symbolized many things that it did not understand at the moment, but it was huge enough to summarize all its years. Pica looked around uneasily, and instinctively wanted to find a place to hide. This is the nature of goblins, they will want to hide when facing anything risky.

But it soon realized where it was. Apart from the poisonous swamp and the human in front of it, there was no one who could help it make a decision. Pica's lips trembled, and after a moment's hesitation, it carefully placed its hand on the other's palm.

"Really? What do you get for helping me, sir?"

The human shook his hand and replied: "To gain a way back and an occasional good deed."