In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar!

Chapter 80 Arrival at the Ruins (March 20th, please subscribe)

"Then let's talk about the ruins."

Farusan's tone remained as calm as ever, unchanged despite Fordil's shift in attitude.

Fodil frowned slightly, pondered and recalled for a while, before speaking: "I don't know the specifics either. That day, some tribesmen from the desert came to the village to trade. They said that on the way to the village, they noticed something was wrong. It seemed like something was emerging from the sand."

"At that time, I took several village guards to the place they mentioned to check, which is the location of the ruins later."

Farusan nodded slightly: "What did you discover, or rather, what did you see?"

"That site was indeed somewhat different from the other sites I had seen," Fordil recalled. "When I was with the Gilded Troupe, I saw quite a few sites, and the decorative patterns in those sites were all pretty much the same."

"But this site doesn't have similar patterns to those other sites—"

At this point, Fodil's memory seemed to become clearer, and his eyes brightened slightly: "That's right, there were many floral patterns on the gate of that ruin."

"The pattern of the flower?" Falusan frowned slightly. "Anything else?"

Fodil shook his head: "No, we just went over to check, we didn't go any deeper."

"If there are no other anomalies, then the source of these mutated scorpions is most likely this ruin," Farusan said.

Wang Yan frowned: "Mentor, is there something wrong with the relics, causing these scorpions to mutate?"

Although not a member of the Sulun school, Wang Yan had learned some knowledge about ley lines from Falushan. Often, ancient ruins themselves can easily lead to the accumulation of ley line nodes, thus creating monsters.

Sometimes, adventurers enter ruins that haven't been opened for hundreds of years, only to find monsters inside. These monsters are not naturally generated; most of them are monsters born from the accumulation of ley lines, resulting in the reaction of memories and elemental forces within the ley lines.

In Teyvat, there is a special type of stone that can be used to suppress and clear such stagnant ley lines.

The method of relieving the problem is to send people to activate the suppressing stone every once in a while, guide the earth veins to gather demons, and then deal with the demons, which is equivalent to relieving the earth veins.

This method remains one of the most common commissioned tasks offered by the Adventurers' Guild.

Yes, this is one of the daily occurrences that players will encounter.

"No, if it were a remnant of ley lines, these scorpions couldn't have snatched it from the monster." Farusan shook her head, looking in the direction from which the hissing sound had come. "I suspect that an outside monster occupied that remnant, attracting a large number of scorpions, and the source of the scorpions' mutation also comes from that monster."

"An alien monster?" Fodir's pupils contracted. "Could it be a monster from the depths of the desert that has escaped?"

As the guardian of Aru Village, Fodil routinely patrolled the edge of the desert. He knew very well that there was actually no danger within the area of ​​Aru Village.

But once you venture deeper into the desert, all sorts of dangerous monsters will appear one after another.

The mutated scorpions they had just dealt with were monsters that ordinary people would find difficult to handle, but deep in the desert, they were merely food for those dangerous monsters.

"If there are no human factors involved, then this is very likely the case," Farussan replied.

Fodil's expression changed slightly, a hint of hesitation appearing: "So, are you still going? Why don't you go back to the village first, find someone to clear out the monsters, and then go?"

He was afraid, but he was also genuinely worried that something might happen to the two scholars.

"No need." Farusan shook her head. "It's just some kind of sacred beast, I can handle it. Let's go, let's continue."

As she spoke, she glanced at Fodil and said, "Once we get there, you don't need to go near the ruins. Just go back."

Fodil paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth: "No, since the problem has occurred on the outskirts of the village, as the guard, I should go with you to take a look."

"Commendable courage." Farusan nodded, then shook her head. "But it's unnecessary. I can protect the apprentice, but I can't necessarily look after two people. So, you'd better send us over there and then go back as soon as possible to tell Candice what's going on here, and let her make a decision."

Upon hearing this, Fodil's hard-won courage immediately dissipated. Yes, the monsters deep in the desert should be reported to Candice.

He was a little discouraged, but he still cheered himself up: "Then I'll take you there now."

Farusan nodded and looked at Wang Yan, who had already gone to collect the arrows and monster materials: "Hurry up and pack them up. Don't bother with the worthless materials."

"Okay, mentor."

Wang Yan casually tossed a piece of the mutated scorpion's carapace into his pack, gave a nod of agreement, and then sped up.

Before long, after cleaning up the battlefield, the three set off again.

This time, Fudier's attitude was much better, and he would remind Wang Yan and Falushan to watch their step from time to time.

There were no further attacks on the road until around three or four in the afternoon, when a dark blue hue appeared at the edge of the horizon.

"That's where the ruins are located. It used to be a desert, but after the ruins appeared, waterholes appeared here."

Fodil explained, "At first it was just a small puddle, and we thought it would dry up quickly, but after a month, it actually turned into a pool."

He suddenly realized, "No wonder it attracts monsters."

Even monsters need to drink water, unless they are completely elemental monsters.

Therefore, where there is water in the desert, life will inevitably gather.

Farusan didn't speak; in fact, her intelligence report already described the appearance of the pool here.

During this period, it wasn't just Fordil who brought people here.

The three of them moved closer and saw a pit on the other side of the pool.

"This is the entrance to the ruins," Fodil said to the two, stopping in his tracks and pointing to a pit not far away.

Farusan nodded: "Okay, then you can go back first."

"—Be careful." After saying that, Fodil turned and left.

Wang Yan watched him walk away and asked, "Professor, at this hour, isn't he going to be walking alone in the dark?"

"Traveling at night is normal in the desert," Farusan replied, then took a portable tent out of her backpack. "Come and set up the tent. I'll set up the protective gear. We'll rest for the night and enter the ruins tomorrow."

"Okay, mentor."

Wang Yan nodded and took out a portable tent from his backpack.

This tent is produced by the Adventurers' Guild. It doesn't take up much space when folded up, and you can unfold it when you need to use it. It's even more convenient than the camping tent you used before crossing the trek.

However, you still need to secure the tent yourself, otherwise it's easy for it to be swept away by the sandstorm in the desert.

Wang Yan took out long nails and a hammer, and used them to fix the tent with a clang.

Meanwhile, Farusan began setting up various mechanical contraptions around her.

She set up a perimeter around her campsite, from tripping traps to pressure plate mechanisms.

Finally, she released the Heyao multifaceted entity to roam around the camp.

If it were just herself, Farusan would probably have done a quick job, but now that she has brought her only adult disciple along, and considering Wang Yan's weak strength, Farusan feels she has to do it properly.

If something happens to Wang Yan, Farusan will have nowhere to turn to cry.

By the time the campsite was set up, it was getting dark.

Wang Yan then took out the portable boiler and began preparing dinner.

There was a pond nearby, and dinner was simple: just some corn stewed together, enough to eat.

After all, he wasn't a traveler, so it was impossible for him to carry a backpack full of fresh cabbages.

"Professor, do we have to keep watch tonight?"

"No need, just get some rest. He Yao will take care of everything."

"oh."