Chapter 1152 1134. Squirrel
Because he brought too many things, although it was nothing in terms of weight, it was still large in size, which still caused trouble for Qilin's speed.
This caused Qilin to speed up his pace, but he still couldn't get out of the range of this large cumulonimbus cloud before the raindrops fell from the sky.
When the spring rain comes down, it will darken the sky. In addition, it is noon when Lan En comes back, and now it is already late in the afternoon and close to dusk.
The whole world suddenly became dark.
There are fish-scale clouds in the sky, and the trees on both sides of the river are rooted in the loess. The wind passes through the leaves and branches, making the dark shadows of the trees sway, and at the same time it also carries the shrill whine of the wind.
The darkness in the woods and bushes was shadowy and rustling, as if monsters such as water ghosts and swamp witches would jump out of them at any time.
Drag the fools who dare to wander outside in this weather into the mire or water, soak them to death and then eat them.
Actually, someone should be eaten already.
“Bang bang~”
Qilin's horse's hooves stepped on the moist soil, making a muffled sound.
Lan En sat on the horse and looked down at the bank of this loess river.
A sleeve that had been torn, torn off and stained with blood was lying on the ground mixed with a bunch of scattered leather bags.
It has been stepped into the mud by many messy footprints.
Lan En got off his horse, took two steps forward to the mess, squatted down and took a look.
"One person, four-headed water ghost. What an unlucky guy and a fool."
Based on the scattered footprints and traces of resistance, Lan En can easily tell what happened here. .
"Did someone die here, meow?"
Flannel ball also jumped down and said curiously to this side.
"No." Lan En maintained a half-crouched position, raised his head and looked around with his eyes, "There is not much blood here, the water ghosts just captured people, they are used to eating and being soaked in water. , or bury food in the soil until it rots.”
It was obviously not evening yet, but the gloomy sky was enough to make Lan En's eyes shine slightly in the shadows.
“Wow.”
The kitten marveled, not sure whether it was marveling at Lan En’s observation skills or the taste of the water ghosts.
Lan En looked up at the sky. At this time, the clouds were extremely thick, as if they would condense into water and pour down in the next moment.
In order to decorate Smaug's dragon skin and dragon scales, Lann cleared out many things in the alchemical leather bag, including his waterproof cloak.
Although there is no harm in getting caught in the rain, if it can save people, everyone walking around here should have a place to take shelter from the rain, right?
The witcher scratched his fingers on the messy and moist yellow soil on the ground, picked up a little soil with his fingertips, put it under his nose and smelled it gently.
After a while, he raised his head and looked at the other side of the not-so-wide river.
When I stood up from a squatting position, I patted the dirt on my hands.
“Let’s go, let’s find someone first.”
In the witcher's senses, this rotten fish smell turned into brightly colored streamers in the air, extending into the distance.
The dull air that is approaching rain moves slowly, so the smell lingers longer.
"I won't go, meow!" The flannel ball scratched the triangular ears on its head with its small paws, and then climbed onto Qilin's back. "We're looking at things here."
Lan En said nothing, just waved his hand back without looking back, and walked straight towards the other side of the river.
The width of this small river is about four meters.
It's not that wide, but it's not something that an ordinary person can easily pass through.
Coupled with the increased water flow caused by rain, it may be dangerous.
But for Lan En, just jump over.
He is wearing full body armor. He can cover this distance. He is not wearing armor yet.
After landing much lighter than usual, Lan En continued to walk in the direction where the smell spread.
This direction goes deep into the jungle.
As the witcher walked, he wiped the yellow mud that he had stepped on by jumping hard on the river bank on the trunks of the trees.
As he moved forward in the woods, a fishy smell that was different from the smell of earth and grass in the woods became more and more obvious.
"Wow wow wow!"
"Go away! Go away! Help!"
The screams of monsters and the frightened but feeble screams of humans came from the woods together.
Lan En continued to move forward calmly, now he had found the lair of the water ghost.
As expected, this nest is not far from the river, and the water ghosts cannot stand the long-term dehydration life.
On the other hand, the leaves and xylem in the woods serve as sound-absorbing materials, making it impossible for these sounds to penetrate in this gloomy weather.
In the gloomy woods, several weird and smelly humanoid creatures are suppressing a human's resistance, and seem to be burying him alive in the soil.
This is in line with the water ghost's habit of storing and eating food.
In fact, the soil was pressing down on this man's chest, and the expansion of his lungs was restricted, so his voice was so weak.
But he was still trying to find a way to struggle, and the soil that had been covered would bulge slightly from time to time.
Humans like to drain the blood of prey when eating to reduce the fishy smell. But water ghosts like to drown and suffocate their prey, and it is best if the stench is strong.
The water ghost standing on the outside and continuing to dig dirt on the man seemed to be alert. Just like a fish, the big eyeballs without eyelids look back.
“Wow? Oops!”
The godless dead fish eyes, now there is really no fluctuation that belongs to a living thing.
A dazzling silver light suddenly appeared and flashed through the dark woods at an extremely fast speed.
The explosion of silver light was like a flashlight, but the soft and erratic trajectory, because it moved too fast, left a winding trace in the dim light.
Even the human being, who was almost buried up to his mouth in the earth, briefly stopped calling for help because he felt blinded.
After the silver light flashed, half a second passed before the winding trajectory remaining in the air gradually dissipated in the man's retina.
Immediately afterwards, there was a sudden strong wind!
A sudden and short "stab" sound!
As the shouts and movements of the four water ghosts stopped, the humidity in the air in this area became higher and the smell became more fishy.
The airflow blade slashed across their necks. Lan En was precise and effortless and did not pursue a clean cut, so the heads with scales and fins did not fall off.
It was just that the neck was opened wide, and then the blood was drawn out and spilled out by the airflow blade.
Lan En even thoughtfully controlled the angle at which the blood was sprayed, preventing the smelly water ghost blood from spilling onto the man's only exposed face.
But even so.
"Ah!" The human being, whose face was buried, first instinctively screamed briefly, then stared in stunned silence.
It took a second for his brain to react, and his mouth opened before his brain did.
“Ah~~~! Ah!”
This is the scream after being frightened.
A cold white magic light that had been prepared for a long time flashed through, and immediately the screams subsided.
[Yaxsi Sign] is often used by demon hunters to appease human emotions. After all, if you want to get information from witnesses who are frightened by monsters, you must do this to ensure the credibility of the information.
Taking advantage of the moment when the other party was comforted by the [Yaxi Sign], Lan En walked out of the woods and stepped over the still twitching corpse of the water ghost.
Kneel down and start digging the man out.
"Are you okay, sir?"
Lan asked while digging in the soil.
“I, I’m still alive, so I’m still okay.”
The man responded a little sluggishly, which was a typical symptom of being under mental influence.
With the spray of the water ghost's blood, the fishy smell here is getting heavier and heavier, and the dark clouds and water vapor in the sky are getting heavier and heavier.
Lan En sped up the action of digging people out of the soil.
"Why are you walking to the river in this weather and at this time? You don't want to live anymore?"
Lan En is first going to dig out the man's shoulders and wait for his upper body After being dug out, pull it out directly, otherwise digging will be too slow if you don’t have the tools at hand.
"I'm here to collect furs from hunters. I heard today that there is a good bear skin. If I don't come, I will be beaten first. I am in a hurry!"
The fur trader can't even use the word 'time'. Before he could finish his words, Lan En's quickened movements touched his left arm, causing him to cry out in pain.
“Ah! Damn it! It hurts so much!”
This time it hurt so much that he was out of the influence of [Yaxi Seal].
However, Lan En's [Yaxi Sigil] did not forcibly distort his spirit, but only calmed his fears, so this person did not notice the abnormality and thought that he was really calm just now. Only then was the pain broken.
"If you hold on a little longer, I'll drag you out." Lan En was unfazed by the curse words he burst out in pain, "You're lucky, these water ghosts didn't bury you too deep, otherwise you'd be I should be suffocated to death.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
He is a businessman after all. Although he is still hurting, he does not express his anger or lose his mind. Lan En pulled him and thanked him.
The man was wearing a long-sleeved linen shirt, a sleeveless leather jacket, and his money bag hung around his neck.
Only the left arm on the shirt was covered in blood, and the sleeve had been pulled off by the water ghost long before the river.
The pain and fear consumed a lot of his energy and left him breathing heavily.
He looked at his left hand, which was covered in blood and mud, his face full of despair with gritted teeth.
"Shit water ghost! Shit Scoiatael! It's over! My arm must be infected! The area around the water ghost's lair is full of germs, rotten flesh, and dirt! I'm going to die!" Woohoo~"
While yelling and cursing, he cried out.
“Don’t cry, don’t be anxious.” Lan En’s hands hooked his armpits and pulled him out of the ground in one breath. "I know a little bit about herbal medicine. Find a place to rest. It won't be a big problem if you take care of it."
"But Scoiatael? It means 'squirrel'?"
This is an ancient saying.
Lan En looked at the fur merchant suspiciously.
“What does this situation have to do with the squirrel?”
The fur trader had completely left the pit where he was buried.
First, his legs trembled in shock, and then he thanked Lan En for his rescue. Then he looked at the witcher with disbelief and said.
"Sciatael, yes, means 'squirrel'. To be more precise: Scoia'tael! A group of forest gangs!"
"If I weren't afraid of the Scoia'tael, I could have taken another road , so as not to be caught by the water ghosts and used as food reserves by the dangerous river. What an unlucky place!”
(End of this chapter)