True appearance

Early in the morning, Lenia trekked alone into the depths of the forest.

The girl in a coarse dress walked carefully with a basket on her arm, poking the grass with a wooden stick.

She hadn't been gone long, but she already regretted it.

Adults always told children not to go near the forest, but in reality, only the hunter family in the village dared to leave the village, the well and the farmland and go into the deep woods.

Lenia came secretly because she was angry. It was caused by a small matter. The people of the same age in the village talked about a small bag of dried mushrooms brought in by the peddler, and discussed whether there were such delicacies in the forest around them.

In a few words, Lania said excitedly in front of everyone that she had no fear of going. She was at the age of fourteen or fifteen, the age when it was the most embarrassing to break a promise, and the day after the bet, she sneaked out of the house and went into the forest.

She wanted to take something back with her to prove that she had bravely made the foray.

At this moment, Lania continued to walk forward, unwilling to admit defeat and lose face.

But the girl had never been so deep into the forest alone, and the sound of something rustling among the dead branches and leaves frightened her so much that she turned around dizzy. It took her a long time to recover from her weak legs and palpitations, and then she found that she had completely lost her direction.

The traces she left behind had been swallowed up by some clump of weeds, and now the trees in every direction looked the same.

Lania stood there in a daze, sweat dripping from her forehead and the skin on her palms where she held the hem of her skirt tightly. The more she thought about it, the more scared she became. She squatted down and covered her mouth, with the basket at her feet, and she was about to cry out loud.

At this time, a person who happened to pass by was trapped behind the trunk of a tree.

Lania blinked back her tearful eyes and wiped them away with her palms.

They are beastmen, not ferocious monsters.

She is a wolf sister who is a few years older than her.

She was tall and thin, wearing a simple shirt. Her gray-black semi-long hair and unbuttoned collar made her neck look long and thin. Her waist was tucked into the edge of her thick trousers, with her cuffs rolled up, and her forearms were tight and sleek.

She had only a knife on her waist, and the dry thorns and branches were easily trampled into the soil under her leather boots.

She was dressed more refreshingly and cleanly than in hunting attire, and she looked as relaxed as if she was walking in her own farm, as if she did not think there was any danger in the jungle at all.

At this time, Xiaoman was also looking at Lania. Based on the girl's dress made of coarse cloth but with dense stitching, he judged that she was a local girl who was well taken care of by her family.

"Rabbit tribe? Are they from the village in the south?" she asked.

Xiaoman thought that the teacher must have had his reasons for asking her to stay away from the village. However, she was not the one who took the initiative to approach the village. There was a lost child in front of her, and she couldn't just leave her here.

The forest chosen by Lazarus to build his settlement was relatively safe, but there were still some beasts living there. They were just kept in very small numbers, and each of them occupied a large territory without having to take risks and forage for food.

In the past, Xiaoman was not afraid of dealing with these beasts just because of her agility and youth, and now she has mastered some magic, she is even more so. When Xiaoman takes a walk every day, these beasts will not offend her. The two sides always keep their distance and live in peace.

But they may not let go of the troublesome Lania.

"Yes, yes, I'm from the Cone family in the village, I'm lost..." Lenia stood up suddenly, blushing and stammering, looking like she wanted to ask for help but was too embarrassed to speak.

At this moment, her stomach made a clear "rumble" sound, reminding her that she had not even eaten breakfast before sneaking out in order to avoid being discovered by her family.

The ashamed Lainya heard the wolf sister say to her: "You have come a long way. You are almost at my house now. If you don't mind, come and have something to eat, and then I will take you back."

The girl's bunny ears drooping behind her head swayed slightly, and she agreed a little shyly.

After Lania followed Xiaoman for a while, the scene in front of her suddenly became clear.

To the relatively well-informed Xiaoman, this small building looked just like a normal house for rich people in a town. The only special thing about it was that it was located in the mountains and forests.

But in the eyes of Lainya, who had never left the village and had only heard about it from others, it was already incredible. It was probably no more than the mansions inhabited by hermit characters in fairy tales.

Passing through the garden that had just been watered and loosened in the morning, Xiaoman walked to the door. Just as he was about to open it, he suddenly hesitated for a moment.

She turned to Lania and said, "This is where the teacher and I live. Don't be afraid if you see him later. He may look a little strange, but he is definitely not a bad person."

Lania nodded obediently, as if she understood, indicating that she had remembered it.

So Xiaoman opened the door, which was not locked, and walked in with Lania. He asked the little rabbit he picked up to wait at the dining table while he went to the kitchen to heat up some food for her.

Suddenly, Lania, who was sitting obediently on the chair with her hands on her cheeks, and Xiaoman, who was busy, heard the voice of a third person.

"Good morning, Xiaoman. I heard some voices besides yours. Is there a guest?"

Because the voice was familiar, Xiaoman didn't pay much attention to the fact that the teacher's voice was not as vague as before. He poked his head out of the kitchen and replied, "Yes, teacher. I met her in the forest and brought her back to eat something."

Before she finished her words, she and Lania, who had looked in the direction of the sound, were both stunned.

After walking down a few steps from the second floor, the man standing on the stairs now had a similar figure to Lazarus, but other parts of him were completely different.

This time he did not wear the heavy and complicated robes, but instead changed into a dark red garment with a slightly aristocratic style, embroidered with wave-like patterns from the shoulders to the front of the body.

The exquisite fabric was piled up into beautiful pleats at the elbows, and underneath were wide cuffs made of dark brown satin and crimson gauze fixed with silk thread, lightly covering most of the back of the hand. The neck was wrapped with a beautiful scarf-like ornament, the tail of which fell in front of the body all the way to the waist, and the part behind the body hung down like a soft fairy-woven veil, further highlighting the tall but extremely thin figure.

Xiaoman noticed that the person who looked like Lazarus was wearing a thick opaque glove on his right hand while leaning against the railing of the stairs, and she was immediately sure that this was her teacher.

Lazarus, looking down from above, glanced at the stunned little girl sitting at the dining table, and did not express any opinion about Xiaoman bringing outsiders back.

A faint smile appeared on his face: "Then treat them well."

"Okay, teacher." Xiaoman never had the habit of calculating and scheming when there was enough food and a comfortable life. Hearing this, he responded obediently and went back to the kitchen to busy himself.

Lazarus walked slowly down the stairs to the little guest's side, picked up the small teapot with his left hand, and the scented tea in the pot heated up by itself without any open flame under his hand, making a boiling sound.

In order not to scare the children brought back by the disciples, it was a reasonable way to let the true appearance of "Lazarus" be revealed by disguising the features of the deceased and pretending to be a normal person. In fact, Yuan Qian was worrying about how to achieve this goal naturally, and the opportunity came to him.

From Lania's perspective, this elder with a pale complexion and an unusual beauty that did not seem to belong to the beast race poured her a cup of hot tea in a very kind manner, and also told her that this was the first time he was entertaining guests, and that he hoped she would forgive him if there was anything inappropriate, and that she would be welcome to visit him in the future. These were his kind words.

In the village, Lainya was always treated as a child because of her short stature, childish appearance and the fact that she had an older brother. She had never experienced such respect before and quickly agreed with a blushing face.

The little girl was embarrassed to keep looking at Lazarus' face from such close, but it would be impolite to lower her head, so she could only look at her long hair that seemed to be draped over her shoulders in a somewhat casual manner.

Lania had always thought that this gentle "teacher" was a recluse due to poor health. His figure and facial expression, which were completely different from those of the adults in the village, seemed to hint at this.

But after staring at his hair for a few moments, Lania suddenly began to feel a little uneasy about coming here.

The young and naive child received the reminder given by instinct, but did not understand the meaning. He just thought it was the guilty conscience that was afraid of being punished after sneaking out of the door. This slight uneasiness was soon suppressed by the hunger in his stomach and the hot aroma wafting from the kitchen.

——The long hair falling on the lich's body is a dark red color that symbolizes decay and death.

After Xiaoman came out of the kitchen with the food, Lazarus got up and went out. He obviously thought that the children didn't need their parents to stay here to spoil the atmosphere, so he reminded Xiaoman to remember to send him back before dark and then left.

He was right. Xiaoman found that after the teacher left, the little rabbit girl he picked up was indeed much more relaxed. After her stomach was filled, she gradually dared to chat with her.

When asked how long she had been here, she paused for a moment before calculating the exact time and replied, "Almost two months."

Life of learning magic from Lazarus was actually very dull. Xiaoman really felt that magic was interesting and set a short-term goal of learning enough before continuing his journey. He then devoted himself to the daily routine of studying, taking care of flowers and plants, and hunting, to the point that his concept of time became a little blurred.

Lazarus would not always wait for Xiaoman at home like her mother did, chat with her, or always try to do some caring things like combing her hair. The mysterious teacher just met with Xiaoman several times a week in this common residence and answered her questions appropriately.

Because Xiaoman is used to solving problems by herself as much as possible, even though Lazarus almost always meets her needs and Xiaoman clearly understands that the teacher will be willing to meet her needs, Xiaoman rarely makes requests.

She is already very satisfied with the current situation. She has a warm and soft bed and a safe environment where she can concentrate on work and rest. She has enough food and hardly has to rush around for the necessities of life. Apart from studying spontaneously, she can take a walk and sleep at will. This has given Xiaoman unprecedented conditions for relaxation.

Otherwise, if it were two months ago, although she would still help the lost Lenia and send her back to the village safely, she would never take the initiative to ask for help, let alone invite her to her "home".

Xiaoman himself may not be aware of the change in status brought about by this environment, but Yuanqian, as a bystander, sees it clearly and is happy about it.

Lazarus's apparent schedule during this period was consistent with what he had said to Xiaoman. It seemed that except for the time when he was instructing her, he was either doing research or sleeping, but in fact, it was not the case.

He is very busy. During this period when the protagonist has a rare chance to relax and the comics cannot reach the content capacity for the next update, he slowly accumulates the emotional points that are settled every day according to the time of this world, familiarizes himself with spells, and has to go to the map of the later period - the second city of Baroa, also known as the City of Magic or Mithril - under the wanted order issued by the Temple to get some commonly used or uncommon materials and to inquire about unknown settings.

In short, it was as full as possible. During this period, we were almost exposed several times, but we were able to hide our tracks thanks to our strong strength and the unexpected system support from a local, and did not trigger any incidents that would force us to take action and demolish a corner of the city of Baroa.

In fact, Yuan Qian thinks that everyone who should know knows that the lich Lazarus has recently started to show up again, but this may not be a bad thing.

The adjutant said: "There are very few spellcasters who can teach a child a full set of external magic, so when she makes a move in the future, everyone will know that you taught her. In this case, let them know that you are still alive, so that they will have to think twice before causing trouble for her."

"Why are you so skilled? Are you the villain in someone else's story?" t Yuan Qian complained to the adjutant, with whom he had never met before but with whom he had worked together for some time and got along well.

[Because I can't help but help the heroine, so no.] Julius said something strange and turned off some noise-isolating things, telling Yuan Qian that he was working through various noises that sounded like he had accidentally entered a construction site, such as high-speed cutting of steel, welding, shearing of rebar, and heavy objects hammering at the foundation.

"If the account cannot be registered, don't force it...it's good enough to be able to watch it for free." Yuan Qian couldn't help but say.

[If I just had a forum account, I would have done it long ago. I can use it to reply to posts. So the trouble is you, Mr. Actor. Now it seems that charging you 50,000 is not too much.]

"What should I do?" Yuan Qian hesitated. He quickly recalled the half of his life before he came to the comic world, and still felt that it was ordinary, without any special signs that could lead to such a problem.

"It's easy. Just give up." The adjutant suddenly became cheerful.

"..." Yuan Qian didn't dare to say it. As it was his only pastime now, he had been browsing the forum so much that he wanted to like and comment on the posts of familiar active readers, but unfortunately he had visitor privileges.