Chapter 20: Into the Forbidden Zone
Before the sky was completely bright, Qin Lun took Mastasya back to their previous camp. + The camp companions have packed up and are waiting for his return.
After everyone saw him, their expressions did not change, but they frequently paid attention to the large beauty behind him, which couldn't help but make Qin Lun a little depressed, after all, he went out to pursue the enemy alone. When Guò inquired about Rand, he learned that it was Hill's work.
The three killers are an apostle team, as long as the member code names do not disappear, they naturally know that Qin Lun is fine. The old god stick used this to tell Rick that he had a mental connection with Qin Lun and knew that nothing had happened. Since Hill, who was a companion, said so, Rick and the others, who had originally planned to go out to find Qin Lun, gave up the search.
"Qin Lun, is this the result of your pursuit? Turn around and come back to one! Rand squeezed his eyes at Qin Lun.
"What do you mean to turn around and bring back another ......" Qin Lun couldn't cry or laugh a little, and he was also puzzled when he saw Rick and the others, so he had to give a detailed introduction to the origin of Mastasia.
Of course, this omits his guilt as Prince Theopia, and only says that the Highland Elves are trying to find out why the expedition is missing.
He originally thought that Rick and the others would definitely have doubts about Mastasia joining, but what he didn't expect was that the Bloodpiercing Mercenary Group actually welcomed the arrival of the Highland Elves very much, and they didn't even question Qin Lun's flawed excuse.
Later, Qin Lun learned that this was the shrewdness of the three blood-piercing mercenaries. The Harpist League is a very special existence in Faeron 6, on the one hand, the high-ranking people of various countries are afraid that they do not follow the established rules, and on the other hand, the mercenary groups and caravans in various regions are very welcoming to join the adventure party.
This is because most harpists will wander around the Whole Big 6, all of them knowledgeable and experienced adventurers. As long as the purpose of their adventure is not contrary to the purpose of the party, the harpist is the best guide for the adventurer's team.
"Your companions are all interesting!" Mastasia glanced at Ciel and Rand a few times, with a hint of wariness in their eyes.
As a sharp-eyed harpist master, Mastasya could feel the true strength of the two of Hill, and it didn't surprise Qin Lun. However, the way Mastacia looked at the three of Rick always made him feel a little meaningful, and further made him confirm that the origin of the three guys was a bit difficult.
"Okay, now that you're all ready, let's go out, and don't delay the rescue of the victims any longer." Mastassia looked at the neatly packed team, clapped his hands, and naturally took over the leadership of the team.
In this regard, the three murderers looked at each other and did not object in vain. There are guides who are familiar with the terrain to command the team, and the three of Rick don't care, only a certain employer who has been forgotten by everyone has been silently drawing circles in the corner.
Having reached the outer edge of the Land of the Dead, the wildebeest and the caravan were left in a wide fence with plenty of forage.
These docile horned hoofs are very intelligent, and as long as they are not infested by predators, they will stay until they run out of forage. If Qin Lun and the others didn't come back on time, they would cross the fence and run back to Baldur's Gate on their own, urged by hunger.
They took food and water, and some necessary tools, and went into the hinterland of the land of death. For them, the real adventure has just begun.
Qin Lun and the others followed Mastasia into the swamp all morning, the highland elves had searched here for a long time last time, and they were already familiar with the entire periphery.
The Land of Death is very vast, roughly a square area, covering an area of at least hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, according to Qin Lun's estimates. In other words, the shortest distance across the swamp is hundreds of kilometers, and even if there are no obstacles on the way, it will take about ten days to walk in a straight line.
As the party delves deeper into the Land of the Dead, the geography of the swamp becomes more apparent. If there were still a few signs of the activity of the intelligent races in the place where they had camped before, then this place was completely primitive.
Compared to the outer edge of the area, the marsh banyan trees here are thicker and taller, with fluffy branches hanging down like catkins. The mudder the land became, the more muddy puddles could be seen everywhere, and some molluscs that looked like earthworms would emerge from the soil and plunge headlong into the muddy fields next to them.
"Be careful, this is a swamp vampire loach, don't let them climb up, or it will be difficult to get into the skin. If it is broken in the body, it will definitely rot. Mastasia's reminder made everyone's faces look ugly again.
The other female magician, Winnie, was even more exaggerated, she was already dressed a lot, and when she heard this, she immediately added a cashmere cloak to herself, wrapped it tightly, and looked like a bloated doll, which was both cute and ridiculous.
The tall trees of the swamp are not dense and are very different from the usual sense of the forest, at least they do not block the sun.
However, the light in the swamp was still not bright enough, and the air was filled with a thick fog, and it was basically impossible to see things from a hundred meters away. The mist was like a heavy quilt pressing on everyone, making everyone feel that they couldn't breathe well, and they were very depressed.
Qin Lun accidentally glanced at the death list, and there was actually an extra abnormal state of "methane erosion" on it, and all major physical attributes had decreased by 1o% to 15%, almost offsetting the increase in his attributes from the Iron Cross.
"This place is really weird!" After reminding the two of them, Qin Lun secretly sighed that it was the first time he had encountered attribute suppression caused by the geographical environment.
"Covering your face with this will make you feel better." Mastacia duly handed each of them a wet wipe to use as a mask.
"What a choking smell...... Winnie couldn't help but raise her hand to rub her eyes, wiping away the choking tears from the corners of her eyes.
After Mastaxia's wet wipes covered his face, Qin Lun immediately smelled a very spicy smell. However, when the respiratory tract became a little familiar with the smell, the anomaly in the death list seemed to be gone.
"What is this?" Largo the thief asked, surprised.
"How about the sobering potion I made myself, it's good!" Mastasia was a little proud, "Since the last time I came to the Land of the Dead, I went back and specially prepared this potion. ”
The Highland Elf said, rolled his eyes, turned his head and sneered at Qin Lun, "You are too a hunter to do too much, in addition to your combat ability, you can also take a look, in terms of adapting to the environment, you are almost a rookie, how can this be considered a high-level hunter?" ”
Qin Lun smiled bitterly when he heard this, and he had to admit that he didn't have a thorough grasp of the hunter profession. This is also the biggest gap between him and those high-ranking apostles, the rapid promotion only brings an increase in combat strength, but there is still a lack of accumulation in other aspects.
Everyone walked and talked, and the first day passed without incident.
The swamp was getting darker than the outside, and as soon as Mastassia saw the light waning, she immediately stopped her advance, and led the group to find a giant banyan tree, and let everyone clean the crown at the top, and rest for the night.
When they got up the next day, Qin Lun and the other apostles were nothing, but the three of Rick were haggard, and they didn't sleep well at all. It's not that it's a dangerous night in the swamp, it's quiet all night, and you can't even say it's silent, and you can't even hear the insects and birds chirping, like a terrifying graveyard.
The only people who were comfortable with this qiē were Mastasha and Sifo. Sifer had been here several times, and although he was only walking around the periphery, he was already mentally prepared for this kind of environment.
As for Mastasia, it seems that she is naturally immune to this environment, according to herself, this is called adaptability, but Qin Lun thinks that this is simply because the highland elves are too nervous, and many terrifying associations are automatically filtered in their minds.
This somewhat boring expedition situation finally began to change by the afternoon of the third day. Seriously, it was they who had finally completely crossed the outer terrain of the swamp and entered the real Death Zone.
From here, puddles on the ground begin to connect, and many places become ponds and even lakes. The wetter and slipperier the ground, the more you look at it, surrounded by lakes, the black soil resembles a single-plank bridge in the depths of the lake, and some of them even contain silt pits.
Lago, who was exploring the path in front, accidentally fell into a mud pit. The whole calf was not in it, and when it was pulled out, there were more than a dozen vampire loaches hanging on the leggings.
However, in response to this situation, the expedition team made preparations in advance. Rick took out a few pairs of special wide-board straw sandals from the backpack behind him and handed them to everyone. These straw sandals have a wide sole and can be worn over everyone's leather boots, have a non-slip effect, and can also stand on top of mud puddles.
Mastasha was tall, and Rick was the only one to match her, and the knight gave her a spare pair of straw sandals of her own.
In addition, it is strange to everyone that Rick, who is dressed in steel armor, never sinks into the soft ground under his feet.
According to his own vague explanation, the inside of his armor is engraved with a constant magic rune, similar to a mage's lightweight technique, which can be activated by guò inlaid magic crystals. In this way, the armor would reduce its weight and allow him to wear it under any conditions.
Hearing Rick's explanation, everyone looked strange while relieving their doubts. You must know that such armor is not a vulgar thing, Qin Lun guessed that it had at least reached the level of high-grade dark gold, or even legendary equipment.
Mastasya, who had already paid a lot of attention to Rick, was now looking sideways frequently, and her hot eyes were so hot that Winnie looked at her angrily several times. If it hadn't been for Largo's covert obstruction, the grumpy female mage would probably have used her staff to knock out the Highland Elves.
Qin Lun and the others knew that Mastasya was not interesting to Rick, and it was estimated that they knew a little bit about the identity and origin of the knight, so they were so weird.
"It would be nice to get a little clue to the story mission from these two guys." Qin Lun and Hill began to secretly exchange glances, smiling as ambiguously as they were.
"Wait!" Just when everyone thought that today was going to pass like this again, Mastasya, who had finally come back to his senses, suddenly frowned and stopped the team, "It's not good, I seem to have taken the wrong way, there may be a big ~ trouble ahead." ”
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