"Do we still need to stay overnight in this place?" Lady Kuisu glanced at her subordinates, knowing that although these old fellows trusted her, staying overnight in such an eerie place was truly terrifying for them.

She understood that everyone was actually just waiting for her decision.

Fang Hong shook his head.

At least he agreed with her on that point. Although those strange shadows underground might have already disappeared with the Sorcerer-Ghoul, it's also possible they haven't; who knows what might appear after midnight? Staying in this place a little less is always better.

"Pack up, and get ready to leave." He finally replied softly.

The woodcutters noticeably breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, even though they hadn't encountered any danger so far, they had at least heard about the combat outside — the Troll Mountain Kou Ke and the Undead Wizard.

Who knows what they might encounter at any moment in the wilderness; they are woodcutters, not adventurers.

However, just as Fang Hong's words fell, he saw a line of prompts appear in the system in front of him:

'Task "Lady Kuisu's Request" completed. Task target found, task target deceased, completion rate 76%—'

'Cognitive experience settlement begins—'

The experience given by the system wasn't much, not even a third of what was received from killing the Undead Wizard.

However, Fang Hong felt a trace of amazement as these lines of text appeared. Was the task's completion only 76% because of the task target's death? Could it be that there was a possibility to prevent the target's death?

Or maybe it was due to not finding the mastermind behind it and more clues?

What intrigued him more was, what exactly are the standards the system uses to evaluate a task? He glanced at Lady Kuisu, knowing that although the task was named "Lady Kuisu's Request," it wasn't really issued by her.

In fact, it has long been proven that Invokers can also generate tasks, but the mechanism for task generation in this information-based world is still unclear to people.

It may be an attribute inherent in the Dragon Knight System and the Summoners System itself—

But the issue is, where does the power and experience granted to players by the Dragon Knight and Summoners System actually come from?

When Fang Hong realized he was pondering such a question, he couldn't help but laugh at himself, realizing he was overthinking it. This question could even trace back to the fundamental existence of this world of Eteliria, what exactly does this world beyond the Stargate exist as.

At least, up until now, on Earth, this remains an unsolvable question.

Countless researchers have proposed various hypotheses, yet they cannot self-consistently explain, let alone prove their correctness, so how could he?

...

Parker sneezed heavily.

Tianlan had told him that if he sneezed, then someone must be speaking ill of him behind his back. Although the Papalarians superficially sneer at such nonsense, he couldn't help but wonder:

Is someone speaking ill of him?

But deep down, the Papalarians knew that if there was anyone in the team who might speak ill of him, it was probably just this cackling little crazy girl in front of him.

Tianlan was wrapping snow in her thick gloves, rolling it into a ball, and then throwing it forcefully in this direction.

Before throwing, Miss Poet had deliberately played a "Hunting Tune," and offered a Lucky Silver Coin to the Hunting Lady who roamed the woods, the protector of the forest and elves, Ameya — the snowball, blessed by both the Poet's magic power and the Goddess's power, traced a beautiful arc across the sky.

It landed right on the tip of Parker's nose.

Despite the Papalarians being plump with short noses that were nearly just a dot, this impact still made him exclaim "ouch," and he fell backward instantly, leaving a person-shaped dent in the snow.

Tianlan laughed heartily at the sight, nearly laughing herself to tears.

Parker flailed his arms and legs, finally managing to wipe the snow off his face, cursing inwardly whether his brain was malfunctioning to agree to this crazy girl and accompany her for a snowball fight.

Knowing very well that she would cheat—

Oh, right. He suddenly remembered, it was because Tianlan had promised to treat him to a snack...

After all, the Papalarians would never be enslaved, except when food and lodging were provided.

He then hurriedly scrambled to his feet, shouting, "That's enough, little girl, when are we eating... I'm out of strength."

Unfortunately, before the Papalarians could finish his words, he felt himself pushed down to the ground again, Tianlan pressing his head into the snow, making him eat a mouthful of mud. Parker struggled angrily, thinking this little girl was trying to renege on her debt, but then heard Tianlan whisper atop his head:

"Don't move, I can barely hold you down—"

"Don't try to fool me, what now?"

"Someone's coming."

"Let them come, what does it have to do with us."

"But they're familiar."

"Familiar?"

"Really, if you don't believe me, see for yourself."

Tianlan then loosened her hold a bit.

Parker, half-convinced, raised his head from the snow, slightly stunned, and found it really was someone familiar. The person approaching from afar was actually the Alchemist they had once encountered in Lan Wuxin's adventure team.

Back then, Tianlan might not have cared much in her description, but Parker found himself impressed by this person.

"It's him."

"Yes, and it seems he hasn't noticed us."

"Wait, what are you planning to do?" Parker immediately sensed something off in Tianlan's tone.

Tianlan leaned in close, whispering mysteriously in his ear, "That guy is shady, there's definitely something up with him."

The Papalarians blinked their black bean-like eyes, bewildered.

He could see no suspicious behavior from the other side, especially since he was just passing by with a few others accompanying him. So how could Tianlan tell that there was "definitely something up"?

This crazy girl wasn't planning on using this as an excuse to renege on her debt, right?

Parker immediately became alert.

...

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