Goblin Dependency
Chapter 34 - 34 28 The Reason

34: Chapter 28 The Reason 34: Chapter 28 The Reason “Bang!”

The one handed hammer, shining with a metallic luster, slammed down fiercely.

With the sluggish sound of hard metal colliding with flesh, the green snake, which had been coiled and raising its head in a warning posture, instantly turned into a twitching, wriggling mass of flesh.

“There are way too many snakes in this forest, aren’t there?”

Larry, the pudgy man in snug attire, shook off the blood droplets on his hammer with a hint of disdain and complained.

It had been several hours since Xia Nan joined the team.

The complex environment of Mist Forest, filled with dense bushes and tall grass, made their journey difficult, if not extremely arduous, rapidly depleting their energy.

Faced with the potential for combat at any moment, Xia Nan and the others couldn’t afford to exhaust all their strength just traveling (needing to maintain some combat readiness).

Therefore, they found a relatively safe spot where they planned to rest temporarily and recover their strength.

Xia Nan sat at the corner of the camp, leaning against the tree trunk.

The iron-gray Beheading Longsword lay slanted beside him, easy to grab at any moment.

He used some water to dampen the cloth in his hand, wiping his leather armor.

In the recent deadly battle with the duo, he hadn’t been injured, but his body was splattered with the enemy’s blood.

It wasn’t due to any cleanliness obsession.

The smell of blood could easily attract danger, and the sticky feeling made him uncomfortable.

With some spare time, he took the chance to clean up a bit.

“Xia Nan, when you’re on missions, are there always this many snakes?”

Larry casually asked while tossing the snake he had hammered into a pulp into the bushes.

Since he had become a member of the team, they naturally all exchanged names.

Xia Nan glanced up, resisting the urge to rush over and extract the snake’s gallbladder.

He couldn’t help but recall his journey and felt a bit puzzled.

“There do seem to be quite a few snakes along the way.”

“Previously, when I was with the Stinky Fish and Shrimp Group, the forest didn’t have this many snakes.”

He thought to himself, yet didn’t say much aloud.

After all, this was only his second mission, and he was no more familiar with Mist Forest than Larry, so he just said:

“Perhaps this area is special?

As you know, Mist Forest is filled with strange things, no one can say for sure what we’ll encounter.”

“Oh?

Strange?” Larry’s interest was piqued by the ambiguous answer, “Are you talking about rare magic beasts?

Or man-eating giant plants?”

“My cousin told me about ‘large magic power gathering spots,’ and even legendary ancient fortresses and underground cities!”

His voice grew a bit louder discussing topics of interest, and the blonde girl beside him perked up as if eagerly awaiting stories from the new adventurer in the team.

But undoubtedly, the topic had gone beyond Xia Nan’s knowledge.

Not knowing how to respond, he simply shrugged and said helplessly:

“I’m just a newbie, I’m not aware of all this.”

“Newbie!?

Your performance earlier didn’t seem inexperienced!”

“Why not ask Wood?

His experience seems more extensive than mine.” Xia Nan clumsily shifted the topic.

Hearing this, Larry turtled his head and sneakily glanced around, remembering that Wood had left the camp to scout ahead.

Then he whispered conspiratorially:

“Him?

Except for Hai’an, he looks at everyone like the walking dead, who dares to ask him anything?”

“He hardly speaks a word all day, and when you ask something, he just gives you a cold stare, if not for…”

“Ahem, ahem.”

Hai’an deliberately cleared his throat to interrupt Larry’s babbling.

Looking a bit helpless, he said:

“Don’t listen to his nonsense, Wood is quite competent.”

Xia Nan nodded in agreement.

Feeling the guard’s vigilance didn’t prevent him from recognizing the other person’s professionalism.

Still pondering the wooden sign, he seized the opportunity to ask about its origin since they hadn’t had a chance to discuss it while on the road.

“This?” Larry opportunistically took over the conversation, “I bought this last month while out shopping.

At the time…”

According to Larry, the wooden sign was initially picked up by an adventurer in Mist Forest.

He had thought its exotic style could fetch a good price, only for no shop in River Valley Town to accept it.

Eventually, it was sold at a low price to Neum, the owner of “Griffin Department Store,” where Larry found and bought it.

“I initially wanted to hire that adventurer to guide us, but he refused flatly.

In the end, I only spent some Gold Coin to buy information on the wooden sign’s location from him.”

“Just you guys?

Why didn’t you bring some guards?”

Xia Nan noticed a flaw in their setup and frowned.

Even rich young men on rural tours would bring a few personal guards.

Larry, from his attire and style, clearly didn’t seem short on money.

Yet, they hadn’t brought a single personal guard?

Xia Nan was puzzled.

If it were him, he might not even go personally.

After all, it’s just the outskirts of Mist Forest, a bit of money could hire dozens of specialists for this kind of work, increasing safety and discovery chances.

However, Larry just scratched his head sheepishly, laughing:

“My dad never really liked…

bank accounts…

they’re all spies…

secretly…”

His words were jumbled, and his gaze instinctively shifted to the resting blonde girl beside him.

“Tsk.”

Xia Nan clicked his tongue and shook his head, losing interest.

Having reached this point, for better or worse, their encounters were his and Larry’s own choices.

“So what makes the wooden sign so special that you’d travel from Neum to here?”

For Xia Nan, the wooden sign’s allure hardly needed more explanation.

But for these local Otherworld inhabitants?

They weren’t archaeologists; risking their lives for an unknown sign in the demon-filled Mist Forest seemed pointless.

Larry fell silent.

Hai’an let out a quiet sigh, explaining:

“I led the team.” He lifted his head, his half-elf silver-gray eyes gazing at Xia Nan.

“I can’t say much, but I suspect the wooden sign…

is related to the disappearance of a relative of mine.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Nan frowned.

He was about to speak when rustling came from the nearby long grass.

Instantly he stood, grasping his Beheading Longsword, ready for battle.

Soon, Wood, dressed in black leather armor, appeared before the group.

His gaze swept over everyone, finally stopping at Hai’an, the half-elf:

“Young Master, there’s a discovery.”