Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 207 Attack and Cipher

Xia Nan reacted quickly.

Although it is a rare safe environment during the adventure, it is also a time for restoring one's mind and spirit.

However, the good habits he had developed during his time since transmigrating, along with his perception attribute of 10 points, still kept him alert to his surroundings.

Almost at the same moment the scream reached his ears, accompanied by a fleeting glint of iron-gray light in the air, the decapitation sword was instinctively drawn and tightly gripped in his hand.

As for the bowl of mixed mushroom soup that he was holding, it had naturally been overturned on the ground.

A glance out of the corner of his eye caused his brow to furrow slightly.

Xia Nan, however, did not rush toward the direction from which the sound came.

Instead, he focused his attention and concentrated his mind to quickly and safely check his surroundings.

I didn't spend so many days in the tavern lobby for nothing.

Having heard countless strange and unusual tales, I know that using the movements of teammates to attract attention and then ambushing and attacking when the adventurers' attention is diverted is a common tactic used by many monsters and even intelligent creatures.

After confirming that there were no enemies in the surrounding darkness, he then used [Gravity Control] to reduce the effects of gravity and increase his movement speed.

Heading towards the source of the sound, the black figure clad in iron armor instantly disappeared into the depths of the night, leaving only the howling of the wind in the air.

The village is small, and although the empty houses are scattered, a few seconds is enough for Xia Nan to get to the scene.

The first thing that catches the eye is a collapsed wooden house, which was obviously not long ago. In the moonlight, there are even wood chips and dust floating in the air.

The house was almost completely destroyed, split in two from the ridge, as if it had been ripped apart by some enormous force, leaving only the leaning beams and the dangling, crooked wooden planks.

With a slight twitch of the nostrils, a faint, metallic scent of blood entered the nasal cavity with each breath.

"This should be Mint's place, right?"

Xia Nan frowned, sensing something was wrong.

A deep black shadow flashed across the ground in my line of sight.

The next second, a tall figure dressed in leather jacket rushed into the ruins ahead of him.

Vera's house was much closer to here than his own. Although he was quick to react, it was not enough to offset the advantage of distance, especially when the other person he was comparing was a wanderer.

Therefore, when Xia Nan followed the other party into the ruins of the wooden house, the drow half-elf Veris had already bent down and half-squatted to check Mint's injuries.

Without needing any further reminders or explanations, Xia Nan's gaze swept over Mint, and while remaining wary of a potential backstab, he was already on guard for the two of them, wary of any enemies who might not have left yet.

At the same time, he quickly analyzed the injuries he had just caught a glimpse of.

It looked terrifying, with scarlet blood staining almost half of the robe, but the actual wound appeared to be just a graze about five inches long, running from the left shoulder to the collarbone.

I must have twisted my right ankle, which caused me to fall and lean against the wall.

Apart from that, there were no other visible injuries.

Judging from her expression and eyes, Mint herself is at least still relatively clear-headed, and there is no possibility that she is seriously injured or on the verge of death.

"Clap! Clap!"

A few seconds later, accompanied by hurried footsteps, Cash arrived with a serious expression.

Behind them was the village, which had also been awakened from its slumber by the noise and was gradually becoming noisy.

"How are your injuries?" Cash nodded to Xia Nan, who was standing guard to the side, and quickly stepped forward to ask Veris.

Before Veris could reply, Mint spoke up herself:

"Captain, I'm fine."

"It's just, just a minor injury."

Although her voice still sounded a little shaken, her ability to express herself was still good, and she didn't seem too weak.

Cash frowned as he glanced at the mostly collapsed wooden house next to him.

"What happened? What attacked you?"

“Beastmen, beastmen!” Mint exclaimed repeatedly. Her already pale face appeared even paler under the moonlight and blood, and her body trembled slightly, as if she was still in fear.

"Just now, I was preparing to organize our supplies for our team's entry into the forest tomorrow when I suddenly heard footsteps outside the house..."

"You didn't set up any warning traps?" Cash interrupted.

"It was arranged, absolutely arranged, I remember it clearly!" Mint showed rare excitement on her face. "My mentor once told me that even on the night with the brightest moonlight, we must not let our guard down."

"I don't know how it avoided my trap."

"Fortunately, it seemed to be wary of something and did not attack directly, giving me time to make a sound and pick up my staff."

"And then?" Cash asked seriously, as if pondering the girl's words. "You chased it away?"

“No, it shouldn’t be.” Mint shook her head hesitantly. “It’s very strong. The walls are as fragile as dead tree bark, offering no defense whatsoever.”

"My thorns managed to buy me a few seconds, but..."

She glanced at her slightly swollen ankle.

"I was backing up too hastily and twisted my ankle, falling to the ground."

“I thought…” Mint paused, a deep look of confusion on her face, “but for some reason, even though I knew I would never escape if I had just taken one more step, it turned around and ran away.”

"Perhaps... they heard the commotion of your arrival?"

"Have you seen the details of its appearance?" Cash nodded slightly to show he understood, then pressed on, "Is it a bear-man?"

Having just been attacked at close range, even at night, Mint should have been able to identify the enemy.

But at this moment, when faced with Cash's question, she shook her head somewhat ambiguously.

"It was shrouded in darkness, so dark that even the moonlight couldn't penetrate it, and you couldn't see it clearly even if you stood right in front of it."

"I was able to barely determine that it was a beastman based on its roar and general size."

"As for whether it is a bear-man..." A thoughtful look appeared in the girl's eyes as she tried her best to recall, "I can only say that its body is much more slender than that of a normal bear-man, so I cannot be sure."

“Mint is right,” Viris, who was half-squatting to examine the girl’s injuries, suddenly said.

“I was closer, so I was the first to arrive here.” She glanced at Xia Nan on the other side, then looked at Cash, her tone carrying a strange undertone that no outsider could detect.

"When we arrived, although we missed the main battle, we could still see the shadow of that beastman in the dust of the collapsed wooden house from afar."

"Just like Mint said, he wasn't as bulky as the bearman, but his body was covered in thorns."

"But I only caught a glimpse of it, and by the time I got there, it was already gone."

"What's the direction?" Xia Nan, who had been silent and attentively listening to their conversation, suddenly asked.

"Do you remember the direction that beastman fled in?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Mint, who was leaning against the wall, raised her uninjured right hand and pointed to the plain behind the house.

"That's it!"

Xia Nan walked slowly, concentrating on carefully sensing the ground while also taking in the surroundings.

Good news, there are footprints.

The bad news was that the footprints on the ground, just like the beastman's body shrouded in shadow, as Mint had described earlier, were also well-concealed. The specific shape and number of toes were completely indistinguishable, as if they were wearing some kind of shoe cover, leaving only blurry oval footprints of varying depths in the mud.

It then suddenly disappeared about ten meters behind the house, as if it had teleported.

And in the distance, on the open plain under the night sky, there were no fleeing figures.

"How's it going? Did you find anything?"

Behind me, Iris's voice came asking.

After spending so much time together, even without any detailed demonstrations, the rest of the team knew that Xia Nan's perception abilities far surpassed those of ordinary adventurers.

Seeing him take action now, one can't help but feel a bit of anticipation.

There was no direct answer; after a moment of contemplation, he did not give a direct answer.

With his back to the group, a gray glint suddenly flashed in Xia Nan's eyes.

【A World That Opens Your Mind】!
My mental energy was being depleted rapidly, measured in seconds, and I felt slightly dizzy.

The world shrouded in night before my eyes transformed in an instant into pure blocks of black and white, with extremely complex gravitational ripples colliding and merging with each other, turning into fine water ripples.

Suddenly, he sensed something was wrong and memorized the directions.

The special field of view closed instantly.

Xia Nan strode forward, heading towards the strange location that had appeared with the help of [Mind-Guiding Vision].

Bending, reaching out.

The next second, a small tuft of dark hair appeared between his fingers.

Turning around, he signaled to his teammates that he had discovered it, while simultaneously focusing intently on their reactions.

Mint behaved perfectly normally, consistent with her appearance after being attacked by the beastmen.

He was taken aback at first, but after seeing what Xia Nan was holding, he excitedly pointed out that it was probably hair left behind by the beastman when he escaped.

Cash and Veris's expressions were quite interesting.

They were equally stunned, but what followed was an immense joy, as if they had won the lottery.

Xia Nan noticed that although there was a slight difference in time due to the order in which the mane was seen, the two people's expressions of astonishment mixed with ecstasy were exactly the same.

Even after a moment of surprise, the tense expressions they forced to suppress their emotions and control their facial expressions were remarkably similar.

Xia Nan silently memorized it in his mind, his face expressionless, and handed the mane to Bo He.

"Look closely, is that it?"

The girl reached out and took it, rubbed and kneaded it with her fingertips, then brought it close to her nose and sniffed it lightly.

"Yes, that's it! This tuft of mane was definitely left behind by that beastman!"

She seemed very certain, as if she were quite familiar with the scent of the beastman.

"Ahem." Cash cleared his throat twice, taking over the conversation with a concerned expression. "How are your injuries? Will you be able to make it tomorrow?"

Upon hearing this, Mint quickly sat up:

"I'm fine, Captain."

"Although it looks a bit serious, it's actually just a minor injury. The wound on my shoulder was even caused by a piece of wood falling from the ceiling. The beastman didn't even touch me, so there's no need to worry about getting the beastman disease."

"It's just a minor injury. I'll treat it myself when I get back, and it'll be basically healed by tomorrow. It won't affect the team."

“Hmm.” Cash nodded, his gaze sweeping over Xia Nan and Veris beside him, then looking at the dark plains in the distance.

"Nighttime is the natural home ground for wild animals."

"Furthermore, the beastman that attacked Mint seems to possess some kind of stealth ability, so it would be too dangerous to pursue it rashly."

“After a beastman is completely corrupted, his personality may become violent and bloodthirsty, but his intelligence will still be at the level of an original intelligent being,” Veris added, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Based on Mint's description of the situation at the time, it cannot be ruled out that it had set up a trap in advance and deliberately exposed its whereabouts in order to lure us to chase after it."

"Therefore, I personally suggest that we take turns keeping watch tonight, giving Mint enough time to rest while remaining vigilant against another enemy attack, and then make further plans after dawn tomorrow."

Cash made the suggestion with a serious expression.

Vera shared the same thoughts as him, so she couldn't possibly object.

Mint is injured and has difficulty moving. She needs time to heal, and going out to fight in her current condition would only be a burden.

Xia Nan keenly sensed the meaning of his teammates, and the current situation was indeed not suitable. With the beastmen already gone, rashly pursuing them would only put him in a more dangerous situation, so he nodded in agreement.

Looking around and seeing that none of the people in the group had any objections, Cash began to give his instructions at a faster pace.

"Xia Nan, take Mint to your room first. Veris and I will go back and pack our things. We'll meet up later and stay at your place tonight."

“Remember to check all the warning traps around here, and set up more…” Cash shook his head as he spoke, “Never mind, you take Mint back first, and we’ll check the setup together when we gather later.”

Understanding the other party's meaning, Xia Nan used his right hand to pull Bo He up from the ground, and helped her walk towards his house.

Behind them, Vera and Cash walked together, seemingly heading back to their respective residences to unpack their luggage.

Silent, not saying a word.

Until Xia Nan and Bohe's figures completely disappeared into the depths of the night.

Vera couldn't contain her excitement any longer, deliberately lowering her voice, which trembled slightly with elation:

"It's this one, isn't it! Isn't it!"

Seeing this, Cash's smile grew even wider, until finally he grinned broadly.
"Don't even mention that tuft of mane, didn't you see the figure when you rushed over?"

"dont you agree?"

"I never expected this." As she walked along the road, Vera's slightly dark skin seemed to blend into the darkness.

"Beastman...beastman..."

"We should have realized this sooner. How could a normal wild animal be so intelligent as to have kept us at bay for so long?"

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he frowned.

"In that case, Mint is easy to deal with, but what about Xia Nan...?"

"This is his mission. Given his personality, he definitely wouldn't agree to go back for nothing. But if we really do this and this kid finds out in the end..."

"Don't worry."

Cash gradually calmed down after that.

"That beast has been playing us for so long. Even though we're closer now, it won't be easy to catch him."

"We need Xia Nan's perception abilities, as for the rest..."

"It's good that he didn't find out; it doesn't matter if we give him all the mission rewards."

"If you discover it... follow my signal."

(End of this chapter)