A Strange Environment

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The sound of rushing wind echoed along the forest path as several figures radiating Tier Two auras collapsed to the ground.

Lowering her longbow, Hilia leaped down from a tree and ran over to Xia De's side, her beautiful emerald-like eyes brimming with excitement.

“See? I told you! I don't just cry. I'm actually pretty strong.”

Hilia's tone carried a hint of urgency, as if she were desperate to prove herself.

“Yes, yes, I saw. Thanks for clearing out the small fry!”

As the threads melded back into his shadow, Xia De felt a touch of helplessness.

A day had passed since he rescued Hilia. To coax the information he wanted out of her, Xia De had slowed his pace to match hers.

After chatting with the elven girl along the way, he had learned about eighty to ninety percent of what he wanted to know, save for some deeply guarded secrets.

At one point, when they were discussing the story of the first Hero and an ancestor of the elven race, something came over her.

Claiming she wanted to show Xia De her true strength, she began hunting down magical beasts.

She had slain countless common roadside monsters like goblins and slimes, and had even struggled through a few tough fights with stronger creatures like blue-faced ghouls and crack-rock bears, all seemingly to prove she wasn't a crybaby.

Honestly, Xia De hadn't thought that deeply about it. In his mind, the girl was currently just a passerby he had saved on a whim.

However, with her fighting at the front, he didn't need to lift a finger and could just enjoy the fruits of victory.

It was worth mentioning that after his battle with the giant serpent, his Combat Power had reached 15,967 (Tier Eight, Level One). Combined with the elf doing the work and him reaping the final blows, his Combat Power had already broken past the 20,000 mark.

“But I'm still no match for you. After all, you defeated that monster so easily.”

Her fleeting pride vanished. Remembering how Xia De had descended like a god to save her from that ferocious beast, her expression turned a bit disheartened.

This human youth clearly didn't look very old, yet his strength surpassed even some of the elven elders she had met.

Of course, this judgment was based on her not knowing the actual details of Xia De's battle that day.

If she knew how the battle had actually played out, she would probably have dropped the word “some.”

“Haha, haha.”

Xia De scratched his head, letting out a couple of dry laughs. Then, he pressed his hands together and made a serious request:

“By the way, I don't want anyone else to know about my strength for now, so please keep it a secret!”

Under normal circumstances, he used stealth magic to mask his aura, making himself appear to be at Tier Three.

He had researched it: this level of strength was high enough to deter brainless small fry, yet low enough to avoid drawing the kind of trouble that came with being too powerful.

If his sore spot hadn't been triggered that day, he would never have exposed his full power.

Even to save someone, he estimated that forty to fifty percent of his power would have been more than enough.

If others found out he possessed such immense power at his age, it would definitely invite trouble. Until he became truly invincible, he wanted to stay as far away from trouble as possible.

After all, the mountain of ten million Combat Power still weighed heavily on his chest, leaving him deeply unsettled.

“Don't worry! I absolutely, positively, will never tell a soul!”

Hilia nodded vigorously, patting her modest yet remarkably bouncy chest as she gave Xia De her word.

Thinking to herself, Hilia kept her head down and tried her best not to look at Xia De, a secret thrill bubbling up inside her.

Once her excitement subsided, she suddenly realized she still didn't know this human youth's name. Recalling the mission Xia De had mentioned when he invited her along, she looked up and asked,

“Oh, right, I still don't know your name after all this time. And you mentioned a mission earlier—are you an adventurer too?”

“Yeah. I'm Xia De, currently an E-rank adventurer. This just happens to be my final quest to rank up to C-rank.”

“Huh?! You're this strong, but you're only about to reach C-rank? The Adventurer's Guild in your area must be really weak! You can't even get high-quality quests there.”

Hilia grumbled under her breath, then tilted her head and leaned in, staring into Xia De's eyes.

Her pale golden hair danced in the gentle breeze. As the sunlight washed over her, a radiant smile bloomed on her face.

“My name is Hinaya Kalilaijeno Lia. You can call me Hilia!”

Her breathtaking beauty dazed Xia De for a split second, but then he noticed a peculiar, smug smile playing on the corner of her lips:

“I'm an adventurer too. And I'm B-rank, which makes me your senior!”

Sensing that the girl was getting cocky just because her rank was higher than his, Xia De's lip twitched.

Then, drawing out his words, he replied in a mock-admiring tone:

“Ooh... Senior is so amazing. In that case, could you help me wash that shirt covered in your tears and snot? I'm almost out of clothes to wear!”

At those words, the smile froze on the girl's face. Once again, her cheeks flushed bright red. She averted her gaze, looking thoroughly guilty.

“We're here,” Xia De suddenly said.

The two stopped in their tracks. Hilia reached up to pull on her hood, concealing her pale golden hair and the pointed ears that gave away her elven heritage, and stood slightly behind Xia De.

She didn't want to expose her identity. Elves were rare among humans, and she would undoubtedly draw a crowd.

She wasn't the type who enjoyed being stared at.

The moment they stepped into the village, Xia De suddenly felt the pressure on his body increase, as if gravity itself had been altered.

However, this pressure was incredibly weak—so weak that even an ordinary person could easily withstand it. Anyone slightly stronger who had stepped into the extraordinary domain, even at Tier One, wouldn't feel a thing.

He expanded his Perception Domain, but detected nothing.

He turned to look at Hilia beside him to see if she felt this extra pressure, but she only looked back at him in confusion, showing no signs of abnormality.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Xia De shook his head, keeping his doubts to himself for now.

He needed to gather more information before drawing any conclusions.

The village felt deserted. Even though it was broad daylight with the sun shining bright, there was hardly anyone on the streets. The fields they passed were empty, with only a few scattered figures in sight.

Everyone's face was pale, and they would stop to gasp for air after taking only a couple of steps.

To Xia De, they looked strangely familiar—just like he had in his past life.

He knocked on the wooden door in front of him. A moment later, the door creaked open, and an old man with a goatee appeared, leaning on a cane.

The moment the old man saw Xia De and Hilia, his eyes lit up and welled with tears as he immediately noticed their standard adventurer attire.

“You must be the adventurers who accepted our village's request! Please, save us, esteemed Adventurer lords!”

“Chief, please calm down first. Tell me exactly what kind of trouble you're facing.”

Xia De spoke up, trying to calm the village chief.

The village chief finally composed himself. Stepping aside from the doorway, he said,

“Esteemed Adventurer lords! This is no place to discuss such matters. If you don't mind, please come inside.”

Once the three of them were inside, the chief poured them each a cup of water. As they sat around the table, the chief began to pour his heart out.

“It goes like this, esteemed Adventurer lords.”

“Stop. Please don't call us that. Just call me Xia De,” Xia De interrupted, correcting the old man. He really wasn't used to such an awkward form of address. Hilia chimed in from the side:

“And you can just call me Hinaya.”

The village chief quickly corrected himself:

“Lord Xia De, Lady Hinaya, it's like this. We've always lived a peaceful life in this village, but about two months ago, someone suddenly started experiencing heart palpitations.”

“At first, no one paid it any mind, thinking they had just overexerted themselves. But as the days went by, more and more people began to feel a strange tightness in their chests and pain in their hearts.

“Then, a month ago, the first person who fell ill actually died. He passed away in his own home. The terrifying part is that when we found him, his body was completely intact, without a single trace of a struggle. It was as if he had simply died in his sleep!”

The chief's hoarse voice trembled slightly as he continued:

“Initially, we thought it was just an accident, that he had died from sheer exhaustion. But then, one after another, more people started dying. So far, five have passed away.

“And every single one of them had one thing in common: when they died, their hands were placed over their hearts, and there wasn't a single mark of a struggle on their bodies.

“After hearing this, many are too terrified to even step outside, while others have simply packed up and left. Less than eighty percent of our original population remains in the village now!

“If this continues, more and more people will either leave or die. Riri Village will be completely abandoned!”

By the time he finished, the chief's head was bowed, tears glistening in his eyes. His voice cracked with a sob as he looked imploringly at Xia De and Hilia.

“Lord Xia De, Lady Hinaya, I beg of you, please save our village!”