Why are all your skill bars full of weird moves?

The dawn mist, like a cool veil, silently spreads to the low slope.

Since Tilia doesn't need sleep, she took the night watch last night.

As dawn broke, she couldn't wait to transform into a bat, hovering above everyone's heads like a little night owl, chirping softly.

Yesterday's intense battle made even the usually self-disciplined Gauss unable to resist staying in bed.

But knowing I still had a long journey ahead, I forced myself to sit up, rubbing my sore eyes. Then I quickly and efficiently rolled up the moisture-proof felt and put it into my backpack.

Gauss took out his water bag, splashed water on his face for a quick wash, then stepped out the embers of the campfire, called to the others, and set off ahead.

At the same time, Gauss also noticed that Tilia might be afraid of the sun, as she had changed into a black cloak with the brim of the hood covering her head, obscuring most of her face in shadow.

After resting, the team walked onto the road. Gauss glanced at everyone and saw that they were all rubbing their eyes and yawning, as if they hadn't woken up yet.

After discussing it last night, they decided not to return the way they came, but to take a detour that would take two more days. They would pass through two villages along the way and could also take care of the goblin Jill.

Since the child has already been rescued, there is no need to risk venturing into the deer forest again.

Gauss felt the solid country road beneath the weight of the van; it was clearly much easier to walk on than the slippery trails in the forest.

The only difference is that the damp smell of the forest is gone, replaced by the fresh scent of the fields and the smell of livestock manure.

"Ring ring—"

Gauss could see a farmer driving an oxcart from the opposite direction, the copper bells hanging around the ox's neck swaying gently with each step.

The farmer, of course, noticed the group of adventurers and immediately lowered his head cautiously.

Of course, the farmer had no idea about the nature of the group of people opposite him.

In his mind, some adventurers were no different from bandits.

until……

Out of curiosity, Tilia approached the ox and bent down to fiddle with the copper bell on its neck.

"jingle--"

But for some reason, the ox suddenly raised its head, its two beady eyes wide open, and it snorted heavily.

The next second, the ox let out a terrified moo and ran forward wildly as if it were a madman.

"My cow!"

The farmer shouted in panic and tried to pull on the reins, but his strength was useless against the frightened animals.

The cart jolted violently, and the farmer flipped over on it before falling heavily to the roadside and rolling down the slope.

The out-of-control ox, dragging the empty cart, resembled a runaway chariot, hurtling towards an old oak tree by the roadside.

"Bang!"

The oxcart was smashed to pieces, with planks flying everywhere.

The ox's head collided violently with the tree trunk, and its massive body fell to the ground with a thud, raising a cloud of dust.

His limbs suddenly straightened, and he was lifeless.

Balk rushed over and helped the farmer, who had rolled into the ditch, up.

"Grandpa, are you alright?"

The farmer stood up, patted his backside, and saw several cuts on his face, but he ignored the pain. He just stared blankly at the dead ox, his lips trembling, tears welling up in his eyes.

"My...my cow..."

The farmer collapsed to the ground, pounding the earth with his calloused hands, and cried like a child.

Gauss walked over and glanced at the oxen. Judging from their physique, these would be worth at least ten gold coins if sold on the market.

For farmers, draft cattle are the most valuable asset of their families, far exceeding the value of ordinary beef cattle or pack horses.

According to Gauss's understanding, ten gold coins in the Kingdom of Odin are enough for a family of five to have food and basic expenses for ten months.

If an ordinary farmer wanted to buy an ox on his own, he would often need to borrow from a lord or merchant, or sell his surplus grain continuously during a good harvest and save up for two to three years to raise enough money.

The death of this cow is tantamount to a devastating disaster for the farmer.

"It's just dead." Tilia tilted her head, her face full of incomprehension. "Watch me make it stand up again."

Having said that, she stretched out her right hand, palm facing the dead ox, and began to chant a difficult and obscure incantation.

"Undead Domination!"

A pale green light gathered in her palm, then transformed into black mist and shot into the cow's carcass.

Gauss tried to stop it, but it was too late.

The ox, which was already dead, began to twitch its limbs and sway as it tried to stand up.

Finally, it propped itself up, but its once docile eyes had become two empty holes burning with green flames, and what came out of its mouth was no longer a moo, but a low, grinding-stone-like roar.

"My cow... how... how did it turn into a demon!"

The farmer was terrified by the sight and quickly took a few steps back.

"Look, isn't it alive?" Tilia clapped her hands, seemingly quite satisfied with her masterpiece, and turned back to Gauss with a smile seeking praise.

"My God," Balk said, rubbing his dog nose and lowering his voice, "you're really Raphael from the depths of hell. You actually did something like this?"

Mia sighed, pulled down her cat ears, and thought that having an ordinary farmer work with a ghost cow would probably drive him crazy.

Gauss, on the other hand, felt a bit of a headache.

This vampire, who has lived for three hundred years, seems to still have the mind and social common sense of a child.

She had no reverence for life and no concept of death; she acted solely on her curiosity and whims.

"Tilya, dispel the necromancy, and give the old man some compensation."

Tilia blinked in confusion and looked at Gauss, saying:

"Why? Can't it pull the cart now?"

"That thing isn't a cow, it's an undead creature." Gauss pointed to the zombie cow that was still swaying in place. "You destroyed its property, so you have to pay for it."

"Oh, I see." Tilia seemed to understand, and shrugged. "I have gold coins, but I don't know if this little bit will be enough."

She casually reached around her waist, and a seemingly ordinary small black cloth bag appeared in her hand.

"Wait!" Ura's eyes widened suddenly, staring intently at the bag. "Miss Tilia, that's... a dimensional bag?"

"I searched in Maple Leaf City, but none of the merchants had the goods. In the capital, someone even offered 2000 gold coins, but no one sold them."

"This?" Tilia shook the bag in her hand, her tone casual. "I remember it was a bag my mother didn't use anymore. She just used it to store some gold coins because it looked nice."

As she spoke, she reached into the bag and rummaged around for a while.

First, he took out a wine glass studded with gemstones, then, finding it in the way, threw it on the ground.

Finally, she took out five gleaming gold coins and walked towards the farmer.

"Here, take these first," Tilia said, reaching into her pocket again and giving the farmer 20 gold coins in total.

"Is that enough? If not, I have more."

Gauss noticed that after the farmer caught the gold coin with both hands, his expression was not one of ecstasy, but rather one of extreme fear.

The farmer knelt down with a thud, scattering gold coins all over the ground, and kowtowed repeatedly to Tilia.

"Your Excellency, I dare not accept this! I truly dare not accept it!"

"I'm really afraid that if I take it... the sheriff will confiscate it, or I'll attract the attention of robbers!"

Gauss felt a pang of sadness looking at the farmer's humble appearance.

He understood that for a farmer, a few copper coins could buy the satisfaction of a black bread, a few silver coins were the unexpected joy of a windfall, but once gold coins appeared…

Those were only owned by lords, nobles, and merchants, and were generally used for large transactions.

A farmer holding gold coins would be fatal to him if word got out.

"Don't kneel, get up." Gauss stepped forward, took the farmer's arm, and helped him up. "Where do you live?"

The farmer, trembling, pointed tentatively forward with his mud-covered finger: "It's...it's in the village just ahead."

"Go back and wait here," Gauss said calmly, brushing the dust off the farmer's knees. "We'll buy you another one after we get into the village."

The farmer bowed and nodded repeatedly, not daring to say anything more. Before leaving, he carefully gathered the scattered gold coins back to Tilia's feet.

He then stood up, hunched his shoulders, and walked quickly toward the village.

At first, his steps were a little unsteady, but after walking a dozen or so steps, he gradually became steady.

After the farmer had gone far away, Gauss looked at Tilia.

Now I finally understand why she didn't care about the loot and gold coins at all.

So what is she after following me?

We need to find an opportunity to get more information out of them.

While pondering this, Gauss noticed Balk's strange behavior.

He rubbed his paws together, moved closer to Tilia, and plastered a fawning smile on his face.

"Miss Tilia, how much money do you have left in that bag?"

"I didn't count them," Tilia replied casually, fiddling with her dimensional bag. "Anyway, before I left, I put all the gold coins that filled the room into it."

Balk, Mia, and Ula all gasped simultaneously.

Therefore, in her mind, the room was filled with gold coins...

Just a little bit?

Balk immediately grew bolder, chuckling as he stretched out his furry paws with a lewd expression.

"Miss Tilia, may I become your leg accessory?"

Just as Balk's claws were about to touch Tilia's slender white legs.

The innocence and curiosity on Tilia's face vanished abruptly.

Her red eyes shifted downwards, and with a disdainful expression and a cold gaze as if looking at an ant, she said:

"You bad dog, if you dare touch me, I guarantee you won't see the sunset today."

Her voice was soft, yet it was like an icicle in the dead of winter, piercing into Balk's very marrow.

Balk's fur stood on end, and his claws trembled in mid-air.

He felt that if he moved forward just a little bit more, his head would separate from his body.

"Stop joking around. Once we get into the village, you can just buy an ox for that farmer."

Gauss walked up to Tilia, ignoring the aura she exuded.

"Tilia, since you want to come with us, then curb your curiosity. We still have to go into the village later, so don't cause any more trouble."

Interestingly, the oppressive aura emanating from Tilia instantly dissipated upon receiving Gauss's "command".

In an instant, it tilted its head and nodded obediently.

"Okay, Gauss."

Balk let out a long sigh and muttered to himself:

"Sigh, it's so unfair to compare yourself to a human..."

The group continued on their way. Gradually, the outline of the village became clearer.

Large golden wheat fields appeared on both sides of the road. Gauss turned his head and saw the wheat ears swaying in the breeze, creating layers of golden waves.

Farmers wearing straw hats are bending over, harvesting wheat with their sickles.

When they saw Gauss and his group passing by, they straightened up, wiped their sweat with their sleeves, and waved to each other from afar with good-natured smiles.

Mia perked up her ears, stood on tiptoe, and waved in response.

Hello.

Tilia followed suit and waved back at the farmer.

"This place is beautiful; my home doesn't have this kind of view."

For Gauss, the beauty of the other world was a primitive and tranquil beauty, incomparable to the modern cities of his previous life.

But there is no internet, no electricity, and ordinary farmers work from sunrise to sunset, their lives firmly bound to the land and the seasons.

This kind of life, which can be seen to be over at a glance, is the mediocrity that Gauss feared.

"A traveler from a foreign land."

A loud, hoarse voice from afar drew Gauss's attention, who was deep in thought.

"Come stop by the village and take a break, and try our homemade fruit wine!"