Chapter 332 Wildflowers, Farewell, and Morning Training

Late at night, in the barn.

Bright moonlight seeped faintly through the crack in the door, scattering a layer of soft, pure-white silver frost across the ground.

Dongshu stood in place, the silvery moonlight from outside spilling over his thin frame.

He didn't make any large movements.

But his slightly trembling arms and the boots that occasionally tapped against the ground revealed his turbulent emotions.

"Lillie, you really—really can't stay in the village anymore!"

The youth's clear eyes were completely red, and his voice carried a hint of a sob.

In stark contrast to him was the young girl standing quietly in the shadows before the moonlit Dongshu.

Wearing a plain white linen dress, she looked like a wildflower beaten by rain in the mud. Her appearance wasn't particularly outstanding, and her unrefined features were obscured by the shadows over her face, leaving only a blurry outline visible.

Only those crystal-clear eyes reflecting the moonlight, incredibly calm, appeared exceptionally striking.

"Dongshu." Unlike the youth's urgency and anxiety, her voice was as soft and clear as the evening breeze. "I understand how you feel, but..."

"Running away is useless, and it has no meaning."

"How could it have no meaning!?"

Dongshu's tone was agitated. He subconsciously reached out to grab her shoulders, but just as he raised his hands, he seemed to realize something. He stiffened in midair for a moment, instead gently grasping her wrist.

"We can leave together! Rivervale Town, Nym—anywhere is fine! I can hunt, I can do hard labor, I can protect you, I swear!"

"As long as we leave the village, you can... you can..."

Looking at the calm, unwavering eyes before him, Dongshu forcibly suppressed his emotions. He spoke faster and faster, his voice eventually turning into a hoarse roar.

"Do you—do you really have to use your own life to trade for that so-called peace and tranquility!?"

"That's all a lie!"

"It was all made up by the village chief and the others—"

"Dongshu." The girl named Lillie interrupted him, her tone still steady and serene, the depths of her eyes rippling with moonlight.

"The 'Ritual' requires a sacrifice. This tradition has existed since our ancestors' time. If my sacrifice can buy the village a few years of peace, allow the children to grow up safely, and let the hunters return fully loaded, then it—is worth it."

"Worth it? Even if the price is a life that shouldn't be lost like this?" Dongshu's voice trembled with despair. "I don't believe it!"

"Right, Mr. Xia Nan, that powerful adventurer, is staying in the village—I'll go beg him for help! Even if I have to be his servant for the rest of my life, I'll—"

"And then what?"

The girl's voice was soft and placid, yet it seemed to contain an unquestionable power, interrupting him once again.

"Have him use force to control the entire village, or even fight against that entity in the Canyon? Let an outsider's power trample on the traditions we have believed in for generations?"

"Moreover, that gentleman is an adventurer, not a believer serving a god of justice. What makes you think he would wade into this mess? Just for the few moldy, rotting empty houses in the village?"

Lillie raised her head slightly, her moonlit eyes staring straight at him, causing Dongshu to subconsciously look away, not daring to meet her gaze.

"Dongshu, even if I agreed to leave with you today, what happens after? What will happen to the village?"

"Who will bear the rage of that entity in the Canyon? How will the other villagers look at my family? How will they look at you?"

She gently broke free from Dongshu's hands and took a step back, letting the shadows completely swallow the last touch of moonlight on the tip of her nose.

"This is my fate, Dongshu."

"From the moment I was born in Fog Lamp Village, it was already decided."

"I have accepted it."

"Please don't do anything foolish. Live well."

The girl gave Dongshu one last deep look. The complex emotions hidden deep in her eyes—the concern, the farewell—withered away the moment she turned around, lost in the swaying folds of her plain white dress.

With steady steps, her figure vanished into the darkness.

As if all his strength had been drained, Dongshu suddenly dropped to his knees beside the haystack. His hands dug deep into the stalks of hay, and his shoulders heaved violently.

The barn was empty and cold, leaving only his suppressed, broken sobs echoing faintly like a wounded beast.

Standing quietly deep in the shadows, Xia Nan watched the curled-up figure ahead. He didn't speak, nor did he intend to reveal his presence.

He couldn't help but recall his conversation with the village chief and Aspen during the day, and an idea already formed in his mind.

'Ritual, sacrifice, Canyon, Lillie. No wonder...'

Looking at it this way, the village chief had specifically asked him to stay in the village for two more days to wait for the Sacrificial Ritual to end. The sacrifice was highly likely this girl named Lillie.

'But, a living sacrifice?'

Xia Nan thought.

In this fantasy world where various gods existed, it wasn't exactly strange.

To some extent, it could even be considered common.

After all, when an individual's might was enough to override the collective and remained unchecked by order, twisted desires would inflate wildly like a balloon. Incidents like this would only increase, never decrease.

But on the other hand, everything about this matter revealed a sense of oddity.

Judging from the details revealed during the argument between the girl named Lillie and Dongshu, the purpose behind Fog Lamp Village holding the Sacrificial Ritual was to pacify "a certain entity in the Canyon" to secure its protection for the next few years.

But honestly speaking, if the other party really was some terrifying and powerful evil god, setting its sights on an isolated, tiny village like Fog Lamp Village seemed far too petty.

Moreover, with such a long interval between Sacrificial Rituals, and the sacrifice being merely an ordinary human girl without any transcendent power, it was hard to imagine how it could provide any practical benefit to an entity at that level.

'I still need to observe carefully and gather information. Let's see if I can find anything else.'

As it concerned his action plan for the next two days, Xia Nan needed a much deeper understanding of this village he was currently in, as well as the Canyon he would enter in two days.

His gaze lingered briefly on the trembling, sobbing Dongshu beside the haystack, and then he glanced in the direction Lillie had left.

Turning around, he disappeared into the shadows.

11I

Perhaps because it was situated in a depression, Fog Lamp Village was exceptionally damp in the early morning. Even the air had condensed into a faint mist, similar to the Misty Forest.

If one stayed outdoors for a long time, they could clearly feel the clammy, wet sensation on their skin.

If ordinary people lived in this kind of environment for extended periods, it would easily lead to respiratory and skin diseases, worsening joint inflammation.

Xia Nan had outstanding physical fitness, and this was only his second day in Fog Lamp Village, so it was still bearable for him.

Squinting as he looked up, he glanced at the dim morning sun in the sky through the thin mist and the dense canopy of vines.

He made up his mind that after he retired in the future, he absolutely had to find a place with plenty of sunshine and distinct seasons to settle down.

It would be even better if it was near the sea; when he had nothing to do, he could go out fishing and empty his mind.

Secretly making plans for a retirement that was who knew how long away, he estimated the time and figured that the people in the village should be mostly awake by now.

He sheathed his sword, rinsed his face with clean water from his canteen to wash away the sticky sweat clinging to his skin, and prepared to end today's morning training.

Coincidentally, he was only halfway back.

Accompanied by the sound of a blade piercing the air, a familiar shout echoed from the woods nearby once again.

As if he had also been training for a long time, the linen clothes on Dongshu's body were completely soaked in sweat. His hair was dripping wet, his cheeks were slightly flushed from his body heat, and mist could be seen around his mouth as he exhaled.

Unlike his pain and despair from last night, his expression right now appeared focused and serious.

With his legs spread wide, his entire body stood firmly rooted, like tree roots plunging deep into the soil.

Holding his Worn One-Handed Sword tightly with both hands, he swung at the empty air. Every fall of the blade was accompanied by his short, forceful shout of exertion.

The frequency of his swings wasn't considered fast, but every strike was meticulous, wholly focused, and executed with all his strength.

Seeing Dongshu like this, Xia Nan was somewhat surprised.

After all, he had been present the entire time last night, watching with his own eyes as the boy was rejected by the girl and fell to his knees weeping.

Given how much pain the kid showed at the time, no matter how well he adjusted, he shouldn't have been able to muster any energy today.

He hadn't expected him to be so hardworking, getting up early in the morning to train.

Moreover, based on the proficiency he displayed when swinging the sword, it definitely wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision provoked by the shock. Instead, he had long cultivated the habit of morning training. Even when his life encountered such a sudden upheaval, he hadn't given up halfway; he had gritted his teeth and persevered.

'His willpower is decent.'

He couldn't help but find it interesting.

Xia Nan had never undergone professional combat training, nor had he learned any stances or routines.

Coming from an unorthodox background, it could be said that he had just recklessly fought his way up to this point.

Therefore, he didn't have much understanding of Dongshu's current training posture.

But on the other hand, his hard training over the past year or so had given him a certain understanding of the human body's structure and physical conditioning, coupled with his current Class Grade eyesight.

Standing aside and observing just slightly, he sharply caught the disharmony in Dongshu's sword swings.

"When swinging the sword, you can bend your knees a bit more. You don't need to retract your strength so urgently either; wait until the force fully flows out of the blade before lifting the hilt to pull it back."

The sudden voice from the nearby woods scared the sweat-drenched youth so much he nearly jumped.

But the next second, following the sound and seeing Xia Nan's figure, Dongshu quickly calmed down.

Realizing that this might be one of the few precious opportunities in his life, he didn't even dare to greet him. Instead, he forced his attention entirely back onto his training.

Following Xia Nan's pointers, he bent his knees slightly, gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, and suddenly swung forward!

The sound of the air tearing echoed through the forest once again.

The fleeting sword light and the sound of the swing fading away in the echoes didn't seem any different from before.

However, a pleasantly surprised expression unavoidably surfaced on Dongshu's sweat-covered face.

He could clearly feel that with the slight bending of his knees during exertion, the transmission of force in the strike he just made was noticeably easier. It even seemed to alleviate the burden on his body.

And strictly following Xia Nan's advice, lifting the longsword only after all the power had poured out from the blade's edge gave him more recovery time amidst the rush. He could also more clearly feel the direction of his power's transmission on the blade, making the rhythm of his swings increasingly smooth yet far more forceful.

It was only then that he hastily sheathed his sword, bowing to Xia Nan nearby as he thanked him.

"Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Xia Nan! This is a great help to me!"

"May I ask if you rested well last night? Do you need me to clean your room again?"

Nodding slightly, Xia Nan's gaze swept over the sincere and earnest face before him, pausing briefly on the still slightly red rims of his eyes, and asked with pointed meaning:

"I've already cleaned the room myself, so there's no need to waste effort on that. But you—what, didn't sleep well?"

Hearing this, Dongshu's expression involuntarily stiffened.

He looked at Xia Nan with a sudden hint of strangeness, suspecting whether the other man had heard something. But then he remembered that before meeting with Lillie, he had already checked around the barn, so it was impossible for anyone else to have been present.

Shaking his head vigorously, he simply assumed the man had noticed his listless spirit. Forcing a bright and enthusiastic smile onto his face, he answered, "Haha, I didn't expect you to notice that."

"I had a nightmare last night and was scared awake before dawn. I haven't slept enough at all—I'll just catch up on sleep during my noon break."

"A nightmare, huh." A hint of amusement flashed in Xia Nan's eyes. He didn't expose the boy's lie, merely standing off to the side and quietly watching him train.

At the same time, his thoughts drifted slightly as he watched the other's practice.

Speaking of which, his current build of combat techniques seemed somewhat strange compared to the vast majority of Class Holders in this world.

Using [Fang Hunt] as the core of his combat was certainly good, but compared to its inherent offensive attributes, utilizing it was skewed more towards leveraging its displacement and dash capabilities.

As for the remaining [Gravity Etching], [Gravity Control], and [Ember Echoes], they all had more or less corresponding limitations regarding their number of uses, level of development, and casting conditions.

This made Xia Nan's combat style look clean and decisive, but his actual array of offensive moves and methods was noticeably lacking.

He only had the all-purpose [Spinning Slash], which he combined with his other combat techniques for some coordination.

To a certain extent, his combat power could almost be said to be built upon "stats—physical fitness" and "mechanics—the 'Gravity + Fang Hunt' system."

He lacked a foundational combat technique like [Spinning Slash] that could be unleashed limitlessly as long as his stamina was sufficient, and which could seamlessly integrate into other moves.

But on the other hand, if Xia Nan really had to go to the second floor and use Points to exchange for those ordinary combat techniques, he didn't want to sacrifice his own upper limits.

The problem arose right there.

As for the solution...

Xia Nan thought that perhaps he still needed to start from the [Meteor Blade Hunter] class itself.