Chapter Eleven: Thick Darkness

  After walking around the outskirts of the wetlands for about an hour, Luo Lin found that he didn't feel tired at all, still full of energy, as if his body had endless strength, which was completely different from the weak and frail state when he first crossed into this body.

  He knew it wasn't just because of the upgrade, but also thanks to Zhī Nǎo's efforts in enhancing his physical quality.

  "Brain, at this rate, when can the quality of my body be upgraded from poor to average?"

  A progress bar appeared in his mind, showing: 56/100.

  Very concise and figurative answer.

  Luolin touched his arms and chest, discovering that the originally shriveled muscles had slightly bulged up. He was becoming strong at an unimaginable speed, but at a cost... His stomach growled with hunger again.

  Fortunately, this time I brought enough dried meat.

  After walking for a while, he crossed the outer edge of the safe wetland and began to enter the depths of the wetland. The small paths trampled by herbalists and hunters on the ground were slowly covered with weeds, shrubs, etc., until they disappeared from view.

  The forest ahead began to grow denser, with puddles appearing from time to time, tree roots tangled in the water, and wild grasses growing thickly. No one knew if there were hidden beasts lurking within, or perhaps even quicksand that could swallow a person whole.

  The road became increasingly difficult to navigate, and Luo Lin became more and more cautious. His speed slowed down, and from time to time, he had to stop and climb up a big tree to observe the surrounding terrain, then compare it with the memory in his mind to determine the correct direction.

  As he moved forward, Luo Lin was also searching for herbs. After walking for about half an hour or so, not only did he find the snake venom herb that Horn mentioned, but he also found some extra good stuff.

  These are Wormwood, Star Grass and Heart Lotus, they are materials for a highly effective beast-repelling medicine.

  It was this beast-repelling medicine that gave him the confidence to make a three-day bet with Davie, another reliance being his familiarity with the terrain of dusty and muddy lands. He had long known the general location of the bandits' camp, and now he was retracing his steps only to confirm the details of the road and terrain, while marking signs along the way for later followers to find.

  After finding the herbs, Luo Lin started to configure the beast-repelling medicine, which was also a basic medicine. Its effect was to use the smell to drive away wild beasts. It was very simple. He first mixed the three herbs together in proportion, then put them in his mouth and chewed hard until they became a paste before swallowing them down.

  After doing this, Luo Lin stood still and waited. After about ten or so minutes, he exhaled a mouthful of air into his palm, smelled it, and suddenly a pungent smell rushed up to his nose, making him tear up.

  "It's done!" Luo Lin was delighted. This smell comes from wormwood, which is toxic and quite potent. If eaten directly, the whole body will break out in blisters within three minutes, and it will be fatal after five minutes. However, when mixed with stardust grass and fallen leaf flowers, the toxicity is neutralized, leaving only this irritating smell behind.

  The creatures of this swamp avoid wormwood as if it were the plague, and at the mere scent of it they would run away. And Roland now looked like a mobile, humanoid wormwood... He could safely enter and exit the swamp, hardly worrying about being attacked by beasts.

  This is a rare and precious thing worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.

  After eating the bitter herb, Luo Lin continued on his way, searching for the past in the general direction of the Jingying campsite as he remembered it.

  This search was just one day, the effect of the medicine was surprisingly good, on this road, except for encountering a marsh wolf once, there were basically no dangers, by dusk, Roland successfully found the goblin camp in a low-lying depression.

  Luo Lin climbed up a lush big tree beside the valley to observe the situation of the camp.

  In a dense thicket of grass, many low thatched huts were scattered about. In the center, the weeds had been cleared away, revealing a circular open space over 50 meters in diameter and length. Small grey creatures often walked across this empty space.

  This is the earth spirit, they have a ridiculous big nose, sharp ears, and a weak body like a bamboo pole. When walking, it swings left and right, looking as stupid as possible. Any human who sees this thing will say with disdain: "Foolish dirty gray-skinned monster."

  Luolin counted the number of huts in the grass thicket, there were about thirty or more. Calculating that one hut could sleep five goblins, this camp would have around a hundred and fifty goblins, which was a fairly large goblin tribe.

  Having understood the situation, Luo Lin was about to climb down the tree and circle around the campsite a few more times to get familiar with the terrain, but just as he was about to move, his actions suddenly froze because he saw a human figure appear in the goblin camp.

  He emerged from the largest of the huts, with several earth spirits wearing animal hides and looking relatively clean and tidy following closely behind him, apparently discussing something.

  Humans and earth spirits living in peace was unusual, Rolin's curiosity was piqued, he remained still on the tree, perked up his ears to eavesdrop.

  Faintly, a voice was blown over by the wind, not very clear, but barely distinguishable.

  "...I took the things, but you guys have to remember, when looting, don't always go for the same thing every time. You should loot everything and then divide it among yourselves. Only 'occasionally' loot something that the master needs, so as not to draw attention." That's what that person said.

  "Yes, yes, we remember." The voice was shrill and came from a gnome.

  "Hmm, don't make mistakes like this again. Otherwise, the master will definitely let you experience the scenery of hell!"

  "Yes, we all know, we all know." The goblins nodded and bowed repeatedly, their faces full of fear.

  "Uh-huh. I'll come back for the next shipment in a month." The human finished speaking, pulled up his hood to cover his head, and hastily left the camp.

  His speed was extremely fast, and he disappeared from sight with a few flashes in the bushes. From his action details, the intelligent brain deduced this human's physical data.

  "Ordinary Assassin"

  Grade 2

  Vitality is unpredictable.

  Estimated magnitude: 12

  Estimated coordination: 13"

  At the sight of this data, Luo Lin's heart turned cold. Similarly a level 2, his opponent's body was only one grade higher than his, yet his attributes were so much higher. If he were to be discovered, it would be a disaster.

  "This data also raised some doubts for Luo Lin: 'Zhi Nao, why is it an estimate? Don't you have a game database?'"

  "In fact, no. To cross the information wormhole as safely as possible, it is necessary to compress the information as much as possible. All game data except for the innate system comes from your memory."

  "Oh... I see, so my memory is your database?"

  "It can be said that way. What you don't know, I don't know either. What you do know but can't recall for the moment, I can help retrieve from your memory."

  "I understand."

  Luolin shrank on the tree, not daring to move, until the other's shadow disappeared for a long time, he was sure it was safe, and quietly climbed down from the tree.

  The situation is quite clear: these goblin thieves have a human behind them who is directing them to secretly steal something.

  Roland thought more and was shocked, more memories of the main task were triggered. In the game, Davy's assassination, when he was assigned by Vianna to participate in the investigation task, he encountered obstruction from various forces even assassination, all indicating that the powerful force behind this - the destructive cult had infiltrated Valdemar to a terrible extent.

  "It's really ominous." Luo Lin felt the presence of a thick black curtain, and being in it was like having a thorn on his back.

  No way, he has to get this message to Davy ASAP.

  After Luo Lin came down from the tree, he went straight to Wangduom, but unexpectedly met that terrible assassin on the way. He deliberately took a detour and rushed back from another direction.

  At this time, the sky had already darkened, and Luo Lin did not rest, rushing overnight, all the way through the stars and moon, until dawn, he finally arrived at the outskirts of the wetland, Wangduom City was in sight.

  After walking for a while, the forest began to thin out, and the small paths trodden by people reappeared. Here we were already outside the wetlands area, and looking ahead, you could even see the top of the Vandom Tower.

  Luo Lin finally felt at ease. Here, even if he ran into that scout, it shouldn't be a problem. Of course, it's still best to avoid him.

  But his good fortune seemed to have run out, for at the gates of Vandom he once again encountered the assassin from the dwarven encampment.

  He was covered in mud, with dew on his head and some bloodstains on his arm. His clothes were also torn in places, looking like he had been through a fierce battle.

  From the scratch marks on his armor, he must have encountered a wetland leopard. Luo Lin sighed secretly: "Why didn't this leopard fight back and scratch him to death? What a nuisance that's been left for a thousand years."

  This man didn't notice Luo Lin's existence, because at the city gate entrance, people were coming and going, all of them early-rising farmers entering the city to sell vegetables and grains, Luo Lin stood among them, very inconspicuous.

  He hastily entered the city.

  Watching the assassin's back disappear into the distance, Luo Lin's heart skipped a beat as he quietly followed.