Warriors will die if they charge.

When they returned to Riverside Town, it was already late afternoon and the sun was waning. Even though Trish loved the sun, the light in the rainforest was too glaring, and the damp heat was almost like baking her.

She could only accept the large banana leaf that Marcus offered, like a village girl who had just finished farm work, with a green leaf covering her head as she walked along the muddy road.

At the town entrance, Kuran, the militia leader known as the "fierce dog," was yawning under a sunshade, clutching his rifle. Seeing Marcus shirtless, he asked curiously:

"The adventurer party that went into the forest with you, are they dead?"

"They were unlucky to encounter a star-striped leopard. They thought they could use their cleverness to catch it and sell it for a large sum of money, but it's probably dead now."

Kuran nodded. The Star-Striped Leopard was a revered beast in Riverside Town, a elusive killer in the rainforest.

Witnesses say the star-patterned leopard has a soft coat of fur that glitters like stars in the night sky, and it will then bite a witness's skull and crush it.

The militiaman glanced at the woman in the long dress hiding behind Marcus and jokingly asked, "How come you can find a wife after just one trip? Maybe I should become an adventurer too."

"It's all luck. You know, surviving an encounter with a star-striped leopard means I'm not unlucky."

Kuran chuckled and scolded Marcus for being sly, waving his hand to indicate that they could go in. As the three passed by, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a grayish-white chin in the shadow of a broad banana leaf, and then reached out to stop Marcus:

"Who is she? I've never seen a woman with such a strange skin tone, all gray and dusty, like she's covered in mud."

"Girls working in the fields, well, what can you do? How many girls in town who actually do farm work have skin as white as yours?"

Kuran clicked his tongue: "I never realized you were so good at talking, Marcus. Now that you're an adventurer, you've even picked up a joke."

The militia, in a strictly businesslike manner, demanded that Marcus step aside, as he had to check everyone entering the town.

When Trissy lifted the banana leaf covering her cheek, Kuran was startled. He pointed at the pale-skinned half-drow, then at Marcus, his eyes filled with disbelief:

"Queen of Water Ghosts, you fucking... picked up a woman with a skin disease?"

Marcus's lips twitched. There was no record of any drow elves ever appearing in the town, and Trissy's pointed ears were covered by her blouse, so Kuran's guess was reasonable.

"Can we go in now? She can't be in the sun, and I need to see a doctor."

"Let's go, let's go, let's see Dr. Pedro. If it's contagious, you'd better tell Captain Fielding. Also, find some clothes to wear. Those women are after you, a vigorous young man. I don't want to deal with adultery."

The young militiaman waved the three in with disdain, then immediately grabbed an adventurer who was trying to take advantage of the situation: "Entrance fee, 5 copper coins per person."

"Why don't they have to pay?"

"They're locals. You, a nobody from out of town, are begging in Linhe Town. How dare you not pay?"

"Are there still dwarf residents in your Linhe Town?"

"I said they're locals, so they're locals. If they don't pay, they can go spend the night by the river and wait to have their heads bitten off by the water ghosts."

"I already handed it in when I came back last time!"

"Then pay it again now. I'm bored, you want to cause trouble, huh?"

Overhearing Kuran's conversation with the adventurer, Trish asked softly, "Your friend is quite interesting. Are all town guards on the surface like this?"

"Most of them are similar to Kuran; they won't make things difficult for the locals."

When Marcus reached the crossroads of town, he encountered a problem:

"Tracy, to be honest, my home is very simple, with only a broken bed. The tavern on the ground is actually quite safe..."

"I'll sleep with you." After saying this, Trish hesitated for a moment, then looked intently into Marcus's brown eyes:

"I won't take up your bed, a chair, or the floor; I'll keep a safe distance in a corner of your room so I can have a quiet night."

"?"

A big question mark appeared on both Marcus and Bardin's faces as they looked at Trish's determined eyes, hesitant to speak.

The captain spoke first: "Ahem, Trissy, what did you mean when you said that I slept with you?"

"It means: I will stay in your room until the sun rises again." A hint of bloodlust flickered in Trish's icy blue eyes beneath the shadows of the banana leaves. "Do you understand?"

Marcus fell silent. Didn't she understand what I meant? You should go to a private room in the tavern, instead of squeezing into a cramped bungalow with a guy.

She still lacked a sense of security, and perhaps her only connection to the earth was the thread that Emma had drawn between her and me.

"Okay, let's make one thing clear first: on the surface, don't say 'I'll sleep with you' to a man."

Why?

"Because it would make the people in town think I picked up a drow who ran away from a brothel."

"A brothel?" Trish frowned, her thin brows furrowing. She didn't quite understand the connection.

"In the Underdark, brothels are dangerous, often rife with conspiracies and assassinations. Are you saying that makes me seem dangerous?"

Bardin patted Marcus on the arm and sighed, "Buddy, you're in trouble. This girl's head is emptier than a long-bearded wine jug. She's not even married yet, and she already has to take care of the kids."

Marcus shrugged and said helplessly to Trish, "No, I mean, you'll make people think you're a slut. Sleeping with you... that's usually interpreted as a sex transaction."

"You mean?" The red light in Trish's eyes became more pronounced, but she remained expressionless.

"Yes, I mean that kind of thing, people will think you're some prostitute I picked up." Marcus raised his hand, trying to calm Trish.

"Then you can squeeze in with me tonight. I'll get a mat and sweep the floor, and we can manage to sleep for one night."

Bardin watched the couple staring at each other, shook his head, waved his hand, and walked away first: "I'm going back to the tavern to rest. Come back for a drink tomorrow, tough guy."

"Okay, then I'll take Trish to get some suitable clothes first, and we'll meet tomorrow."

And so, Marcus dragged the almost completely ignorant Trishes into the damp town. She was filled with curiosity about everything, especially the little kid running around the streets with a paper windmill in his hand, who was even more puzzled:

Are all human babies this lively?

"That's true in most cases, but some poorer families also let their young children participate in work."

"Work," Trish emphasized the word, and continued, "Is it dangerous? Will I fall and die?"

"It's very safe. The work is all simple, like weaving straw sandals and bamboo baskets, which you can then sell at the market for a little money."

The tailor shop was quite far away, and when the knowledgeable shopkeeper saw Trish, he prepared to loudly call for the guards, "There's a monster here!"

But Marcus, with his excellent eloquence, strong biceps, and ample wallet, successfully convinced the shopkeeper that she was just there to buy an outfit and wouldn't take his unruly little brat to feed spiders.

After roughly assessing Trish's figure and Marcus's high standards, the shopkeeper provided a sleeveless top, black trousers, low-top boots, and most importantly, a cloak made of heat-dissipating fabric from the Silver Mountain Alchemy Workshop.

"20 gold coins?! Why don't you just rob someone? Go ask around town and see who can afford clothes that cost 20 gold coins."

The shop owner raised an eyebrow and said bluntly, "Go ask around in Yinshan City how much this piece of material costs. I only charged a basic processing fee."

"Can you give me a discount? Considering... I have no clothes to wear."

No discounts.

Trish gently stroked the knee-length cloak. The fabric was actually quite ordinary, far inferior to the Shadow Cloak she used to wear on missions in the Underdark, and it only had a faint magical aura.

But looking at Marcus, who was shirtless and arguing with the shopkeeper about the price, she suddenly felt that the cloak was very valuable.

This isn't an item meant to perform tasks or allow her to better fulfill her tool value; rather, it's clothing that allows her to adapt to the surface environment more quickly.

"Okay, okay, twenty gold coins, give me another set."

Marcus sighed, took out his money pouch, and seeing the shopkeeper standing frozen behind the counter, repeated his request:

"One more set, have you ever seen a girl who only has one set of clothes? Do you think everyone is like me, willing to go to a tailor shop shirtless?"

Marcus spent a total of forty-five gold coins at the tailor shop on the two cloaks, mainly because they were too expensive. He couldn't understand how a tattered cloak that only provided sun protection and heat dissipation could sell for twenty gold coins.

The intelligence cloak I gave Lorra is a great item that can boost intelligence, but a hundred gold coins... seems like a waste.

Carrying newly purchased clothes and a mat, Marcus walked through the sparsely populated market and asked Trish, who was now wearing a cloak that covered most of her face:

"It's almost mealtime. What kind of food do you usually eat in the Underdark?"

"It's mainly loach meat, mushrooms, moss, insects, and some underground fish."

"Let's try this first." Marcus snapped a banana off the bag. These unbred rainforest fruits were much smaller than the ones he had eaten before, but their sweetness and texture after ripening were no less impressive.

Trish took the banana that looked like a giant yellow insect. The tough skin made her hesitate for a moment. Then she saw a child on the other side of the street peeling off the end of the bellflower stem to reveal the milky white flesh.

She imitated the child's actions, peeling the banana into three pieces and smelling them first.

It doesn't taste like much.

Slowly and hesitantly, she opened her cherry-red lips and bit off a small piece with her pearly teeth.

It's so sweet, with a very pleasant texture, and no raw, mossy feeling.

She ate in small bites, but very quickly. By the time Marcus turned his head to look for any gaps in the fresh beef, Zhuoer only had a banana peel left in his hand.

Trish's red and blue eyes were fixed on the burlap sack in Marcus's hand, her lips parted several times as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

My father once said that being willing to share food was a symbol of friendship, while in the Zhuoer society, giving food often symbolized dominance.

"Eat up, there's plenty of fruit in Linhe Town."

Watching Cui Xisi devour the banana in a few bites, then the mango, papaya, dragon fruit, guava... she ate almost every fruit sold at the market.

Marcus scratched his head in confusion. So this woman was a fruitarian? That was quite rare.

Back home, Trish made no comment on the simple bungalow. While the owner was tidying up, she abruptly asked, "Where's the toilet?"

"Go out and turn left."

After a while, Marcus, who was lighting a campfire, suddenly looked up. His house had an outhouse, and it was the rainy season...

With a flushed face, Trish pushed open the wooden door and coldly walked to the chair in the corner to sit down. For the first time, she felt that the ground was actually worse than she had imagined. Were human toilets just for feeding mosquitoes?

"I told you, you'll adapt better to the pub. Aunt Nora will clean the toilets regularly."

"Can't you clean the room regularly?" Trish pointed to the dusty floor and the bluish moss growing at the base of the walls.

She was certain that the owner didn't care about the condition of the house at all, except that it provided shelter from the rain.

"You know, being an adventurer is actually very busy, busy every day..." Marcus paused for a moment, replacing "playing cards" and "drinking" with more appropriate words: "training and finding quests."

Trish sighed; this was the first time she had sighed since setting foot on the surface.

She untied the sash of her cloak, walked to the door, picked up a straw broom, bent down, and began to give the dusty room a quick cleaning.

Watching her skillfully handling the hygiene, Marcus, who was preparing the food, felt even more embarrassed.

"You know..."

"I know you're too lazy to clean, but I'm going to rest here today, so a simple cleaning is needed."

Trish was very familiar with cleaning. Every child of the matriarch would climb up to the dome of the temple in his childhood and use his small, tender hands to clean the spotless ceiling by holding the tiles.

This is training for awakening magical abilities, and it is also a major cause of early death in children. Gravity does not change due to the special environment of the Darklands.

After she became an adult, she no longer needed servants to clean her bedroom, and she would still set aside ten minutes each day to do some simple maintenance on her private space.

She could understand the cramped and low ceiling of the room, but she couldn't understand why someone wouldn't even respect their limited private space.

The main dish for dinner was stewed beef. Fresh beef leg was cut into small pieces, first fried in palm oil until slightly browned, then water was added, along with some herbs, pepper, and salt. The beef itself was flavorful enough without much seasoning. Marcus didn't like white food, so he poured cheese into the pot.

The beef was lifted from the pot, and the rising aroma turned into steam that floated on the eaves. Sitting by the campfire, Marcus stirred the rolling beef with a wooden spoon for a while, then ladled a full bowl of it, along with two pieces of firm black bread, and handed it to Trish.

Zhuoer took the bowl and bread, looked at the steaming stewed beef, and first sniffed it.

It should taste good, with a very natural meaty aroma.

She didn't touch the spoon, staring at Marcus, while the man on the other end deliberately opened his mouth and shoveled several large pieces of beef into his mouth to show that it wasn't poisoned.

The stewed beef tasted pretty good, similar to Los Bronze, but it didn't have the same wow factor as the fruit that Trish brought.

As for those dark, bland things called bread, even dogs won't eat them; they're so hard they'd break your teeth.

After eating half a bowl of beef, Trish looked up and saw Marcus take a big bite of beef, pick up a few red fruits that looked like fingers, stuff them into his mouth, and eat them with great relish.

"What is that?"

"You wouldn't like chili peppers."

Why?

"It's very spicy."

"What is spicy?"

Seeing this, Marcus reluctantly handed the chili peppers that he had deliberately not put into the pot to Trish.

He looked at Zhuo Er, who was examining the chili pepper in her hand, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, and felt that something very interesting was about to happen.

Trissy sniffed the chili pepper that resembled her finger, but still couldn't detect any flavor. She noticed Marcus's amused expression and hesitated for a moment. This wasn't a poison that only worked on drow, was it?

She opened her mouth, gently biting a small piece of skin at the end of the chili pepper. Juice burst from the flesh onto her tongue, the spiciness and stinging making her eyes widen. She tossed the chili pepper to her feet and pulled out a dagger she had stolen from the market while Marcus wasn't looking from behind her waist.

She pointed the dagger at the laughing man, trying to open her mouth, but felt her tongue go numb.

"What is this? Poison?"

"Chili peppers, silly girl, I told you you wouldn't like spicy food, hahaha~"

Marcus slapped his thigh and, under Drow's indignant, scarlet gaze, handed over a bowl of water:

"Spiciness is a kind of pain. When you are hit, your skin will feel a burning sensation, and chili peppers can make your tongue experience this kind of pleasure."

Taking the water, Trish took a sip. The water did indeed relieve the pain on her tongue considerably. She looked at the chili pepper she had just thrown on the ground, puzzled: "Why would anyone like this feeling?"