A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

The carriage left the north gate of Brug and sped north along the official road of Temuria until the walls of Brug were completely out of sight. Only then did Li De slow down the carriage slightly, allowing the horses to catch their breath.

Coal Ball shook its head beside the carriage, occasionally tugging at Li De's arm with its mouth. It didn't understand why its master had suddenly stopped riding it and started riding in the carriage instead, when it was doing its job perfectly well.

Li De patted Coal Ball's head and fed him a few pieces of dried fruit to calm his old friend down.

As the daytime sun gradually sets in the west, twilight, like a thin veil of pale gray, slowly envelops the world.

The vegetation on both sides of the road grew increasingly lush, with waist-high weeds swaying gently in the evening breeze, mingled with the distant cries of owls in the forest and the howls of wolves, creating an eerie atmosphere.

This explains why merchants preferred to travel in caravans; such an environment was too dangerous for ordinary people.

Li De drove the carriage, his sharp gaze sweeping across the road ahead and the wilderness on both sides.

As the carriage approached a bend in the road, a faint, putrid odor suddenly wafted through the air, mingling with the evening breeze.

Ordinary people might not be able to detect it, but it can't escape the nose of a witcher.

"The smell of rotting corpses..."

After passing the bend, with the obstruction of the surrounding woods, a pile of monster corpses indeed came into view.

Li Dewei frowned almost imperceptibly, tightened the reins, and stopped the carriage by the roadside.

Inside the carriage, Olivia couldn't contain her curiosity. She gently lifted a gap in the curtain and peeked out. In just one glance, she saw the ghoul corpses lying haphazardly by the roadside, mutilated and extremely eerie.

Her expression changed slightly, and she immediately pulled her head back, quickly lowered the carriage curtain, and at the same time reached out to press down on Ciri's little head that was trying to peek out.

Li De jumped off the carriage, walked to the body, and began to examine it.

As the owner of Lv8 Demon Hunter Swordsmanship, he can be called a rare swordsmanship master in this world. After all, the level of ordinary swordsmen is only 2 to 3.

In his eyes, these seemingly ordinary monster corpses contained countless clues, and every wound was a trace left by the "murderer".

"All the wounds were concentrated on the ghouls' weak points, and the attacks were ruthless and precise. 'Mr. Killer' knows the habits of ghouls like the back of his hand."

"The wound is smooth and even in cut, with uniform depth. It was made with a half-sword, and the power was mainly generated by swinging and slashing. It was a wise move. Except in specific situations, straight thrusts are not very effective against monsters."

"The superficial wounds have already shown signs of decay. Roughly estimated, the time of death is more than two days. However, ghouls decompose more easily than ordinary creatures, so the time needs to be pushed back by a third. So, it was probably between yesterday morning and noon."

Li De's gaze swept across the ground. Apart from the monster's claw marks, there was only a single set of human footprints around.

"He's about 6 feet tall, weighs over 200 pounds, and is very strong."

"He single-handedly fought his way out of a group of ghouls; he's a skilled fighter."

After a moment's hesitation, his gaze returned to the corpse's wounds, his brow furrowing slightly. "But some of the wounds lack the strength and depth. Was it due to exhaustion, or was the body injured?"

"Something's not right. This wound was inflicted by the sword dance... and it looks so familiar."

After taking a few more glances, Li De suddenly realized why it looked familiar. The wound was almost identical to the one he had made, only a little shallower.

The Witcher's light-strike sword style is standardized and widely known, but the effects vary depending on the teacher.

He was certain that the guy who killed those ghouls was a Witcher, and an old friend of his.

"Who could it be? Eskar and Lambert have been searching for treasure in the elven ruins of Cordwin, but old man Vesemir rarely travels this far..."

The only remaining answer is... Geralt.

Yes, Calanthe had mentioned before that Geralt went to Cintra two days before the siege of Nilfgaard, intending to take Ciri away for protection and send her back after the war, but she refused, and it ended in a very unpleasant situation.

But how did he end up in Bruges?

Li De was initially taken aback, but then couldn't help but chuckle, his tone full of mockery and schadenfreude.

"Could it really be a grown child?"

The swordsmanship style matched perfectly, the height was correct, and the weight was slightly excessive, but when you factor in Geralt's Witcher armor, it was flawless.

"The footprints during the breakout were a bit messy, haha... The famous White Wolf was forced to flee in a sorry state by a bunch of ghouls, I'll laugh at you for the rest of my life for this."

Despite his laughter, Li De's vigilance remained undiminished.

He quickly looked around, activated his Witcher's Senses, and confirmed that the remaining ghouls had dispersed and there was no immediate danger before turning back to the carriage. He raised his hand, knocked on the carriage wall, and whispered inside.

"It's alright now. The smell of the monster's corpse can deter other wild animals. You guys stay in the car and don't get out. I'll go find someone first."

Upon hearing the voice, Olivia's heart finally settled, and she responded softly.

"Okay, we'll do as you say. Be careful."

Li De responded, jumped onto the coal ball, and followed the footprints into the depths of the forest.

They hadn't gone far when a series of sharp, violent howls of ghouls came from deep within the dense forest. The sounds were numerous and dense.

Li De's eyes narrowed, and he gently tugged at the reins, signaling Coal Ball to slow down and approach quietly.

After rounding a thick, ancient oak tree, the sight before him almost made him burst out laughing.

A familiar figure was seen straddling a tree branch, legs dangling in the air, one hand gripping the branch for balance, the other clutching his chest, his face slightly pale, his expression helpless and agitated.

A dozen or so ghouls surrounded the tree, baring their teeth and brandishing their claws, constantly lunging at the trunk, but they couldn't reach Geralt on the tree, and could only roar angrily.

Geralt stared at the horde of ghouls below the tree, his heart filled with resentment.

Lately, one bad thing after another has happened.

First, he went to Sintra to pick up Ciri. He tried to reason with her, but Calanther wouldn't listen. He sent more than a dozen knights to surround and intercept her. They couldn't kill her, so she could only run away.

He finally managed to get help from Mossack and escaped using a short teleportation portal, but the portal landed in the sky at a height of thirty feet, leaving him completely disoriented.

Just as he got up, he was surrounded by a group of ghouls. He barely managed to fight his way through despite the internal injuries he had sustained from the fall. He was so exhausted that he was forced to climb a tree to survive.

"Damn it, being chased so miserably by a few ghouls, if that bastard Li De finds out, he'll laugh himself to death."

However, he didn't know that some people shouldn't be mentioned, because mentioning them would cause them to appear.

Before the muttering had even finished, a familiar yet irritating voice came from the shadows of the trees not far away.

"Hey, isn't this Geralt? He's looked so tired after just a few days. He's been forced to climb a tree to survive by a bunch of ghouls."