My monster cards can evolve infinitely.

The outlines of farmhouses in the distance gradually became clear, and wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys.

Xiuqi walked along the dirt road, his heavy boots making a silent "click" sound as they stepped on the hard, dry ground.

The setting sun slanted down the horizon, and a gray mist began to spread along both sides of the dirt road.

The temperature in the air gradually decreased, and a figure slowly appeared at the end of the dirt road ahead.

He was a middle-aged farmer carrying a hoe. He had dark skin, deep wrinkles on his face, and wore a patched linen garment.

He spotted Xiuqi from afar, his eyes filled with the wariness typical of outsider adventurers.

"Hello, how do I get to Summer Town?" Xiuqi asked directly.

"Summertown?" The farmer glanced at him. "Go east along that road, it's about ten miles..."

"Which side is east?"

The farmer stretched out his hand and pointed in the opposite direction of the setting sun: "It's over there."

"The sun sets in the west, and the east is the opposite direction."

"Thanks!"

Xiu Qi nodded his thanks and was about to leave.

"Wait, are you an adventurer?" the farmer called out to him.

"I guess so."

"You'd better be careful, don't go into the forest lately!" The middle-aged farmer seemed to have found someone to confide in. "Haven't you heard? Something happened in the woods again today!"

"I haven't heard of it. I've been in the forest for the past two days."

"You're really lucky!" The middle-aged farmer exclaimed with an exaggerated expression. "This morning, a seasoned adventure team came out of the forest, and only two of them survived; the rest of them were all dead..."

"I heard we encountered a monster whose singing can make people lose their senses!"

Xiuqi paused for a moment.

"Thanks for reminding me!"

After saying goodbye to the kind farmer, he followed the route the farmer had indicated.

But the other person's words kept echoing in my mind.

"Only two people remain...it should be Captain Rein and that female mage apprentice..."

"The orcs and dwarves ran into the forest... they must have met with misfortune."

call--

Although they almost clashed with the squad called "Gray Blade" at the beginning, the experienced captain resolved the situation.

He was later rescued by this team once, although Xiuqi didn't need it.

I'm not exactly sad, but I do feel a bit sentimental.

If it weren't for him that night, the squad would probably have been wiped out.

Adventurers who appear glamorous on the surface are actually always walking on the edge of danger, never knowing whether risk or tomorrow will come first.

The dirt road gradually widened, and more farmhouses appeared on both sides.

Occasionally, you can see farmers driving oxcarts or farm women carrying firewood.

They looked at Xiuqi with curiosity and wariness, but no one spoke to him anymore.

In the fields beside the road, golden waves of wheat rippled in the breeze, and a few farmers were working in the fields in the distance.

After walking for another hour, he suddenly felt parched.

There wasn't a drop of water in the kettle, and Xiuqi had no intention of using the water bag filled with the Eternal Spring water to quench his thirst.

Just then, he smelled a sweet fruity aroma.

On this cool evening roadside, the aroma was so tempting to a thirsty passerby.

Looking up, I saw an orchard by the roadside ahead, with low-lying fruit trees laden with fist-sized, orange-red fruits.

A simple wooden shed was set up at the entrance of the orchard, with a rough table in front of it piled high with plump, orange-red fruits.

Behind the table sat an elderly woman with white hair, wearing a long, faded linen dress, who was bending down to mend an extremely large garment.

"That outfit must be for a giant..."

Xiuqi estimated that the size of that garment should be large enough to fit six of himself.

It's so big!

Even the bedding in his house isn't this big.

Xiuqi's gaze then shifted backward...

The pupils suddenly contracted.

Because the owner of the clothes he saw was an extremely tall figure.

Even sitting on a low stool, that person looked taller than Xiuqi.

His shoulders were three times the width of an average person's, and his bare arms were muscular and likely thicker than his waist.

Their skin was the classic grey-green of their race, covered with a rough stratum corneum.

Two fangs protruded from the lower jaw of an ugly face, and a pair of small eyes emitted a faint yellow light in the twilight.

That's clearly a cannibal.

Moreover, it was an extremely tall and robust ogre.

Xiuqi instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword, but this time "Bavarian Moonlight" offered no warning, as if it were asleep.

He soon discovered that this cannibal was different from the others of its kind.

It wasn't wearing the usual animal hide armor, but rather a well-fitting coarse cloth garment.

It sat on the stone stool behind the old woman, its legs curled up, in a somewhat comical posture.

At this moment, it is clumsily and carefully sorting the fruit on the ground into different wooden barrels with its huge hands.

"Ado, be gentle," the old woman said without looking up as she mended the garment, "If you tear it any more, you won't get any dinner tonight!"

The cannibal Ado made a muffled gurgling sound in his throat, and his movements indeed became much gentler.

Its small eyes were fixed on the fruit in its hand, its expression serious to the point of being almost devout.

Xiuqi had seen the ogres when he was very young. It happened in the fields around the Shire Manor. Seven or eight armed militiamen were no match for that tall monster.

The image of that man slaying the ogre single-handedly still lingers in his mind.

However, this ogre was different. Although its eyes were dull like those of its kind, it had no ferocity or ruthlessness. Instead, it was as innocent and pure as a child.

A mutant cannibal raised by humans?

This is rare, but it does happen.

After all, for some powerful beings, raising powerful monsters is an ancient tradition.

Although ogres are often described as having legendary stupidity, they can still learn some simple skills if trained from a young age.

However, the relationship between this ogre and the old woman didn't seem like that of a domesticated creature; it looked more like—

A mother and child.

This feeling arises spontaneously.

The old woman seemed to hear footsteps, and she looked up to see Xiuqi.

She looked him up and down, a warm smile typical of elderly people in the countryside appearing on her wrinkled face.

"Would you like to buy some summer berries, sir?" Her voice was hoarse but her words were clear. "These are all freshly picked berries, very sweet!"

"One copper coin can buy two pounds, and if you buy four pounds, you get one pound free!"

As Xiuqi entered the wooden shed, the sweet aroma of summer fruits grew even stronger.

"Summer fruit? I've never heard of it before."

"Sir, you must be from out of town! This is a specialty of our Summer Town!" the old woman said. "Our town gets its name from this!"

"Summer Town, Summer Fruit," the black-haired boy licked his dry lips, "I definitely have to try it!"

"Give me four pounds!" Xiuqi pulled two copper coins from his money bag.

"Yes, sir!"

The old woman took the money, quickly selected the best-colored fruit, weighed five pounds, and put them into Xiuqi's dry food bag.

He didn't leave immediately, but sat down in the chair opposite the ogre and started eating while drinking water.

The ogre was curiously examining him, tilting its enormous head and making a "gurgling" sound.

"Ado, don't frighten the guests," the old woman said softly.

Upon hearing this, the cannibal shrank back and continued sorting the fruit with both hands.

Suddenly, a cacophony of footsteps and laughter came from ahead.