Magic that can play a role in mind control is actually very common in all kinds of virtual reality games in the past, even Duan Qing, who only specializes in physical melee classes, has been forced to study the problems of fighting against mental magic in some game battles, but Val is just a blacksmith who has been a veteran, and it is already very extreme to be able to make him believe in the power of magic, and things like mind control that Duan Qing once mentioned have always been unimaginable in the pursuit of the real free continent.

Although at this moment, this bald uncle who has been in Greenstone Village for many years seems to have some insights that are more unscientific than magic.

"The chief of Fabregas once told me something."

In the still crackling sound of the fire, the voice belonging to Val then sounded again under Duan Qing's gaze: "Some are about the past of Greenstone Village, and some are about the Emerald Forest, I didn't really understand the meaning of those words at the time, but now...... I seem to understand a lot. ”

"What do you mean...... The Emerald Stone thing? ”

"No, that's just an illusion." Shaking his head slowly, Val's voice remained as low as it should be: "The village elder has told me a few stories, a few stories about the misuse of magic and its consequences, and now I want to ...... Most of those stories are from some real history at the end of the Old Magic Empire. ”

“…… What's mentioned in that? ”

"The appearance of the Emerald Stone once attracted the attention of the Magic Empire at that time, but the disasters and internal instability from all over the world did not give them much time to study, so when the mountains of green stones that no one cared about formed a large area of illusion in the area around the Emerald Tower, the people around them were powerless to stop the spread of this state. The civilians who lived nearby also entered a certain abnormal state with the spread of energy, becoming delirious and deranged, as if because of the influence of that strange energy, they regarded everything around them as their enemies. ”

"After the jungle-like self-elimination, there are very few 'monsters' that survive in the end, and then ...... The forest seemed to absorb their presence, transforming into the form of the Emerald Forest. As he spoke, Val's voice slowed down: "This is the origin of the so-called Emerald Forest, which has been passed down for a long time, and what I just said is only some of the ingredients that have been deduced from this story. ”

"You mean to say...... Those stones have a will of their own? Duan Qing's face became a little more solemn: "Then according to the characteristics of the surrounding lifeforms, simulate and change the surrounding environment?" ”

"These conjectures of your kind are too professional, and I don't have the skills to answer them." Val shook his head and whispered, "But...... Powerful, insane, indiscriminate - from the description in the story, I can still imagine the state of the civilians. ”

"Before there is a strong dominance and stereotype, those who are in those energies should see something more bizarre." Duan Qing groaned and guessed, "For example...... What you expect to see, or what you don't want to see. ”

"You...... I seem to have had a lot of similar experiences. Val, who raised his head, looked at Duan Qing with a little more surprise in his eyes: "Is it the experience from that adventure trip in the past?" ”

"No, it's some recent experience." Duan Qing lowered his head and replied, "I regarded you as an enemy for no reason...... It seems to be similar to what you just described. ”

"What happened to me and Captain Slanko, there should be no way to investigate it now." Val sighed and stood up: "Those few people who pretended to be Duchy soldiers to infiltrate our regiment are probably nowhere to be found at this time. ”

"Maybe there are still such people in the Duchy's troops?" Duan Qing asked tentatively, "Do you have a similar clue?" ”

"I'm not one of the others, I've been living in seclusion in Greenstone Village for so long." Val shook his head and replied, "What I know should have been explained before, if you really have any doubts...... It would be better to ask those who are more professional. ”

"More professional people...... Are you referring to the village chief? ”

"Including the rest of the village."

Pointing in a certain direction in front of him, Val's eyes gradually lowered: "They ......"

"I guess I know something."

The cold wind became more and more intense with the appearance of this sound, rolling a few pieces of snow falling around him into the sky, and the figure belonging to Duan Qing then appeared in front of the door of the compound, and gradually walked towards the gloomy light in the distance, because the temperature dropped again, the pedestrians who were still occasionally in the town became less and less, and he continued to drive away the cold on his body after passing through a few empty streets, and finally followed Val's prompt, and came to the front of another large mansion: "Excuse me...... ”

"Is the chief of Greenstone Village here?"

“…… Ah, it's you. ”

Surrounded by countless wounded people lying in the courtyard, an elderly woman in a white coat turned around and stood up in the direction of the gate where Duan Qing was: "We haven't seen each other for a long time since that day when they escorted us away, Your Excellency Adventurer. ”

"I can't afford that, Lord Claire." Duan Qing hurriedly leaned over and saluted: "Just tell me to go to Qingshan." ”

"The village chief, the two of them are entertaining guests inside."

The doctor named Claire smiled more kindly, and at the same time lowered the hand of the wounded man who was being treated: "If you have any urgency, I can go and inform ...... first"

"No, I'll wait here."

Looking in the direction of the house that Claire had shown behind, Duan Qing pushed his hands uselessly: "It's just some questions about the Emerald Stone, I don't know if the village chief will answer it......"

"Emerald Stone?"

Putting down the work at hand, Claire, who still had a nameplate on her chest, opened her kind eyes slightly: "You...... What do you want to ask? ”

"Why, Lord Claire knows these things?" Duan Qing raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Don't you ......?"

“…… It's just an old man who has lived for a long time, it's not a big deal. ”

Waving her hand slightly, Claire, whose face had regained her calm, pointed to the corner of the courtyard where the makeshift tent was set up: "But...... If you're really interested in that, I can answer a little bit for you. ”

"So...... I have a couple of questions that need to be confirmed. ”

Following the other party's slow footsteps, Duan Qing then came to the warehouse tent full of medicinal smell: "I don't know you...... Have you ever heard the name of the person Mestrada? ”

"It's a very old name."

Slightly stunned, Claire's face regained its previous kindness: "Ancient to ...... I almost forgot. ”

"I see."

Knowing the meaning of this sentence in his heart, Duan Qing bent down straighten again: "Mestrada should be the magician who ruled the Emerald Tower and the surrounding area during the period of the Ancient Magic Empire, and was also the creator of the later Emerald Forest, the reason why he created this substance...... Did you know a thing or two? ”

"How can you ask such a question...... "The smile on Claire's face narrowed slightly, "Where did you know these things?" ”

"From ...... A diary in the Emerald Tower. Duan Qing replied in a low voice, "I originally thought that no one in this world knew about these things anymore, but according to Val's description, ......"

"Vallar, this person seems to be quite enthusiastic."

Claire, who had a standard standing posture and was dressed up in a neat face and hair accessories, replied with a smile, "As long as you become friends with him, he will definitely do his best to help you...... I guess he should have explained everything in his past to you, right? ”

"You...... Know his past? Duan Qing's face became surprised: "Did he tell you personally?" Or ......"

"Let me think about it......" Claire, squinting her eyes, made a reminiscing expression: "Oops...... He really didn't seem to mention it. ”

"Then you ......"

"There's something special about him."

Raising her hand to interrupt Duan Qing's words, Claire smiled and pointed to the northwest of the town: "Just as a person who has been contaminated with sulfur bofu incense will never wash it away, we recognized the breath of the person who just came to our village at a glance, and that smell is so familiar that it even made us observe and watch out for the person who claimed to be a blacksmith for a long time......"

“…… Breath? ”

"That's right, breath."

Looking up at the top of the tent, Claire's kind face slowly disappeared again: "We have fought with those things for so long, and we will never forget that kind of breath......"

"That's the breath of the Emerald Stone that I once touched."

Whew-

As if it heralded that the heavy snow that had swept across the entire Fenghua Plain was about to fall again, the wind from outside the sky was once again blowing from the top of the tent, as if the hunting wind that was about to set off the entire tent roof then continued to echo above the heads of Duan Qing and Claire, and shook together with the heavy atmosphere around them: "Emerald Stone...... The breath? ”

"People who have come into contact with the Emerald Stone and those who have been affected by the Emerald Stone will leave a special aura." Claire replied in a low voice, "It is an aura that is difficult for ordinary people to detect, and it does not have any negative effects in itself, its existence only proves one thing, and that is his soul...... It has been transformed by the Emerald Stone. ”

“…… That is, Val is actually a victim? ”

"Influence and change are important."

Shaking her head to deny Duan Qing's question, Claire slapped the white collar on her body: "People who are less affected will have mild dizziness, vomiting, and weakness in their limbs, and people with low mental strength will also have hallucinatory symptoms, as well as some memory loss, this lack will expand with the gradual expansion of the impact, accompanied by more obvious hallucinatory reactions and unstable mental state, the patient will take everything he sees under the influence as everything that really happens, and gradually fall into the world created by illusions, I can't break free anymore. ”

"Your soul will ultimately belong to the other person – that's the end result of this process of change."

Gently tending to the same neat and clean white shirt, Claire's voice was full of the seriousness peculiar to the doctor: "And in order to stabilize the strength of the host, those who are swayed by the power of the jade will also get their power and become the bane of the free continent." ”

“…… Has this kind of thing ever spread in the past? Duan Qing's eyes also became equally serious: "Just like Val? “

"Of course it spreads, but the end result is ...... It is now the Emerald Forest. Claire replied in a deep voice, "We've been monitoring the changes around us, and we've tried not to keep the extra living from getting close to the interior of the forest, but this process has taken hundreds of years, even when adventurers and the young people of the village start to frequent it...... That effect has become very weak. ”

"Is the energy contained in it exhausted?"

"No, we doubt it...... It's because of the loss of command. ”

Pointing in the southeast direction, Claire shook her head slightly: "That is the Emerald Star that you destroyed later...... The substance that was made by the Mestrada did not continue to realize its will for a long time, like ...... It's like falling into a deep sleep because of the loss of his master. ”

"To exert the power of the Emerald Stone, you need the manipulation of a magician?" Duan Qing touched his nose and asked, "What happened to Val is really the result of being manipulated by some mysterious people?" ”

"I don't know what happened to him." Claire shook her head and replied, "As a qualified attending doctor, the only thing I can ascertain to you is the fact that Val has been affected by the Emerald energy, and where does this energy come from and who brought it...... Sorry, I can't answer that for you. ”

"Then tell me how to discern this energy." Duan Qing, who had been thinking for a while, asked in a low voice, "If I have the chance, I may be able to investigate the ...... behind this matter."

"It's actually very easy to identify this energy." Claire regained her usual kind smile: "And ......"

"One of the best examples is right now in front of you."

In the sound of the wind still blowing outside the tent, Duan Qing, who was thinking, raised his head in a little surprise, and then looked at the house where the village chief and his wife were on the other side of the courtyard in the direction that Claire indicated.