Chapter 80 The Spear of Courage Still Presses Forward (Part 3) Our Mission...
Winona's father, Ethan, was a minor lord of a stone manor on the outskirts of the starting village. Although his ancestors were also driven to the Elven Kingdom in the east by Ophir due to poverty and power, they accumulated a certain amount of wealth by relying on their racial advantages, through wool trade, mining, and occasional usury. Eventually, they bought the land where the starting village was located and the noble title.
Noah was just a blacksmith's apprentice on the street.
How could a shrewd businessman marry his precious daughter to such a hopeless and powerless young man? His daughter, who had grown up in luxury, couldn't possibly be reduced to surviving on cheap swamp bread in the future.
Like every clichéd love story, the haughty Ethan, dressed in a velvet embroidered coat and holding a cane symbolizing his family's power, casually addressed the disheveled Noah, who was full of enthusiasm but couldn't even afford food: "Fine, let Winona go back with you, back to that leaky, drafty hut, to fill the cracks with your so-called supreme love, to light the long-dormant fireplace with your passion. To create a bright future for you two with your youthful, calf-like courage?"
"Maybe you'll have a child someday, buddy's child... will most likely be another buddy."
"Going west would mean being humiliated by the upper classes who have been bathed in gold since childhood; going south, no matter how hard you try, you can't reach the power level of the orcs; Middle-earth is the domain of the gods; and the northern world is under the sway of magic. Just surviving on the edge of the continent is exhausting. Tell me, poor Noah, what kind of happiness do you intend to give her?"
Noah stared blankly at the lord on the high platform, but he refused to give up. He firmly believed that love could withstand all the suffering in the world, as long as Winona could stand firmly with him. So he agreed to Ethan's conditions, entered the secret forest, and picked the most dazzling flower from the guard of the Needle King Bee.
But on the night before he was to leave, Winona came to persuade him to give up.
She whispered to Noah that it was a rash and impulsive decision to risk his life to pick a meaningless flower, and that he should ask his father for a practical job, whether as a stable boy or a hired hunter.
She said that Ethan's words were not without reason: "Dear Noah, I believe that love can overcome everything, but we must first survive on our own."
With her rosy cheeks and tear-streaked eyelashes, Winona looked like a flower ravaged by cruel reality in Noah's eyes. He couldn't believe that she was agreeing with her lord father.
Then, angrily, he shook off Winona's hand that was trying to stop him and left without looking back.
He vowed to kill the King Needle Bee, bring back the Eingar Flower, and make Winona admit to herself that she was wrong.
“But a day and a night have passed…and he still hasn’t returned…” Winona’s voice choked with emotion as she wiped away her tears with a handkerchief. “The Secret Forest…go out of the village, follow a small river eastward…you will see it, a misty forest…”
She once again grasped the hand of Ji Wuchou, who was closest to her.
"Young hero, if you see Noah, please bring him back to me... whether he is still alive or not..."
The story ends here, and the blonde girl falls back into her sadness.
Perhaps it was because her voice was so melodious and sorrowful that all five of them felt a certain empathy for her.
Feng Feng, in particular, was clinging to Xia Zhu, her honey-colored eyes glistening like slightly thawed maple syrup.
"Love! Is this love? Noah may sound silly, but if you ask me, you should listen to your girlfriend!"
Xia Zhu wholeheartedly agreed, nodding vigorously. Only those who have experienced poverty truly understand how difficult life can be.
"Can we stop for a moment? This is such a big group, am I the only one who remembers that the Unknown Official's mission is to find the demon?" Ying Huo incredulously scanned the faces of the five people one by one, then stopped on Xia Zhu with a contemptuous expression, as if he were the only normal person here.
“Ying Huo is right,” Ji Yinxiu nodded. “This world is too big. Let’s hurry up and proceed with the mission, trying to contact as many characters as possible as efficiently as possible.”
Then, following Winona's instructions, the group left the starting village and headed east along the river.
When Xia Zhu passed by Ying Huo, she raised her eyelids and glanced at him indifferently, then shook her head with a sigh, leaving Ying Huo completely bewildered, and a nameless anger rose from the soles of his feet.
The scenery in the suburbs was enchanting, the air was crisp, and a stream flowed from the snow-capped mountains through the forest, carrying a refreshing scent along the way. Feng Feng jumped around, constantly snapping photos, "click, click, click!" In the short journey, he had already accumulated many pictures in his hands, including scenery photos, selfies of the little sprite, and group photos with three girls.
Along the way, you'll encounter groups of people of various races. There's also a bard in a long robe, sitting cross-legged on a rock by the river, leisurely playing a light and melodious tune on his flute. He greets Xia Zhu warmly and goes far away, but you can still hear the pleasant flute music winding its way into the clear sky.
Half an hour later, the stream beside us narrowed, like a white snake darting into the misty forest in front of us.
Feng Feng stopped taking pictures, put her hands on her hips, raised her head, and tossed a handful of seeds out of her bag. The seeds broke through the soil as soon as they hit the ground and turned into a soft vine that wrapped around her wrist.
"Let's go!" she pointed with her big hand.
With vines around, they won't get lost in the forest.
The secret forest was lush and verdant, with gnarled roots and canopies that blocked out the sky, making it difficult for sunlight to penetrate. All that could be seen was green. Xia Zhu looked left and right and discovered that all the trees in the forest looked exactly the same.
It's not just about types, but also about forms.
"Is the budget so small? By the way, what does the Magic Tree actually look like? All these trees look exactly the same. It can't be... it can't be..." Feng Feng said, twisting his body and reaching behind him to scratch the skin on his back.
"They can't possibly have a sign that says 'Magic Tree,' can they?"
She kept making faces, as if she was incredibly itchy.
"Xiao Feng, what's wrong?" Xia Zhu wanted to check her back, but Feng Feng moved like a slippery eel, impossible to catch.
"I don't know! It's so itchy! So itchy!"
Seeing this, Ying Ya tried to rush over to check the situation, but Feng Feng swept his hands and knocked him to the ground.
Xia Zhu noticed that the fabric on the back of her clothes was stretched into an arc and was rapidly expanding, as if something was about to burst out. Feng Feng staggered and jumped around like a drunken fly. Just as everyone was about to surround her, she suddenly let out a "whoosh" and rushed into the air.
A pair of beautiful, transparent, light green wings grew from her shoulder blades. The wings visibly changed from soft to tough, fluttering so fast that they left only a green afterimage.
"Wings!! I'm flying! Ah Zhu Xiao Chou, I'm flying!"
Well, now he really looks like a drunken fly. The human eye can hardly catch Feng Feng's figure rushing around in the bushes; all that can be seen are crisscrossing green flight paths.
"I want to be an elf too." Xia Zhu looked up, gazing longingly at Feng Feng flying around, almost shedding tears of envy.
"Miss Feng, if possible, please fly to the top of the tree and see if you can find any trace of the Magic Tree?" Ji Yinxiu gently touched the Xuanyuan Sword at her waist, her posture upright, and asked Feng Feng politely. However, the red-haired elf, who was just on the tree above her head, disappeared without a trace the next second.
"Pfft—" She suddenly appeared behind Ji Yinxiu, covering her mouth to suppress her laughter, "Just call me Xiaofeng! You're so weird~" After saying that, she rushed out of the treetop with a whoosh.
Ji Yinxiu was left standing there, dumbfounded.
Xia Zhu noticed that his earlobes were secretly turning red, which was particularly noticeable hidden in his snow-white short hair.
"Found it!" Feng Feng's voice came from above, and then she stumbled and fell to the ground. It seemed that she was not yet proficient in using the new wings. She patted her bottom, stood up, pushed aside Ying Huo who inexplicably blocked her way, and ran towards Xia Zhu and Ji Wuchou.
“I see it, over there!” She pointed behind her, and Xia Zhu nodded, picking a green leaf from her head.
Led by Xiao Feng, the group headed deeper into the forest.
"Little Crow, what's wrong with you?" Feng Feng suddenly reached out and touched Ying Ya's forehead. "Why are you always sticking so close to me?"
Xia Zhu also noticed that after Xiao Feng grew wings, Ying Ya no longer just followed her with his eyes, but unconsciously moved closer to her.
The two walked ahead silently, Feng Feng's little wings flapping open and closed.
Ying Ya quietly moved an inch closer to her, leaned his head in, and said in a very soft voice, "I can fly too."
Feng Feng's eyes lit up as she looked behind him. Sure enough, there was a bulge under his dark purple robe, as if something was hidden there. She nodded with a smile. Since Ying Ya was being so cautious, she naturally wouldn't make a fuss. The two of them covered their mouths and chuckled furtively.
Xia Zhu watched their retreating figures and couldn't help but smile.
"Hmph." A short, cold laugh.
"Why are you always whining?" Xia Zhu frowned.
"Hmph." Ying Huo continued to sneer.
A fallen leaf was blown up by the wind, circled in mid-air, and then swayed and drifted away close to the ground.
Six people stood silently in front of a large tree that looked no different from its surroundings. A wooden sign was crookedly stuck in the ground next to it, with three large characters written on it: "Miracle Tree".
"It's very intuitive, friends," Feng Feng said with a grin.
Xia Zhu took out the parchment scroll from his robe. Sure enough, the guide that read "Enter the Secret Forest to find the Magic Tree" had been crossed out with a red line, and another line of small print had appeared below it.
"Try cutting some branches."
"How do I cut it?" Ji Yinxiu placed her hand on the Xuanyuan Sword.
"No, no, no!" Feng Feng waved his hand. "Let me do it."
Then I saw her walk confidently towards the magical tree, spread her hands, and focus her energy in her lower abdomen.
"Cut down the tree—"
With a "crack," a square piece of raw, angular timber fell from the air into her palm.
"Cut down the tree—"
Another one.
"Cut down trees, cut down trees, cut down trees!"
Five pieces of wood were neatly stacked in her hands.
Feng Feng chuckled and turned around, "Go ahead and give it a try, everyone!"
What a convenient, voice-controlled world!
After collecting all the wood from the Magic Tree, the taskbar changed again.
"Try rubbing a wooden stick between your fingers."
Xia Zhu looked down at the piece of wood in her hand, unsure where to begin.
"Hand-rubbed! It means exactly what it says~" Teacher Feng Feng demonstrated by taking out a piece of wood, holding it between his hands, and starting to rub it like he was starting a fire by friction. After a sound effect that seemed to come from nowhere ended, a delicate little cane was born.
"Clang clang clang clang!" Feng Feng raised her cane high, and another burst of light, seemingly from nowhere, erupted from behind her, making her figure appear incredibly majestic.
So the remaining five people started their crazy caveman mode. Ying Huo rubbed his wooden cane while cursing under his breath, but Xia Zhu found it incredibly fun. She happily waved her cane in front of Ying Huo to show off, saying that hers was obviously much prettier.
The mission changed again, sending them out of the starting village and towards the sacred land of the Great River in Middle-earth.
Xia Zhu guessed that the cane probably had another purpose.
Just as everyone was preparing to return the way they came and look for Noah, a dense, chilling buzzing sound, like a dense net, rapidly approached from the depths of the forest. The pebbles on the ground vibrated uneasily, and an overwhelming sense of oppression filled the air, even dimming the daylight.
Xia Zhu drew the small sword from her waist, feeling that familiar coolness, and subconsciously stepped half a body to the side to stand in front of someone.
Ying Huo suddenly felt that rubbing the wooden staff with his hands was a stupid thing to do that would damage his brain, otherwise why would his head feel slightly hot?
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Author's Note: If you don't like the characters in this section, you can skip it, but I still don't recommend skipping it, after all...
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