Chapter 9 Departure

  Looking at the girl in front of him, Rode let out a sigh.

  "Lijie, right now the person who should be most worried is you. From last night till now, haven't you had a good rest yet?"

  When she heard the word "last night", Lijie's body suddenly tensed up, as if she had remembered that thing again. However, despite this, the girl still stubbornly bit her lip and shook her head.

  "Not... I..."

  "Slap!"

  Lijie's words were cut off as Rod raised his hand and slapped her heavily in the face.

  What is he doing?!

  Covering her bright red cheeks, Lijie couldn't believe her eyes were wide with surprise, staring at Rode in front of her. But this young man just quietly gazed at her, then opened his mouth to speak.

  "I can understand what you're thinking right now."

  Upon hearing this calm and almost emotionless statement, a surge of anger immediately erupted from Lijie's innermost being. She put down her hand, clenched her fists, as if wanting to refute Rode's irresponsible remarks, but Rode's next sentence made her completely lose the strength to do so.

  "Just because I'm different from others, I feel guilty for being able to survive. For a fallen angel hybrid like me, such thoughts aren't exactly correct."

  “！！”

  Upon hearing this, Lijie was shocked and subconsciously crossed her arms to protect herself, taking two or three steps back until she bumped into the big tree behind her. However, even so, Lijie still didn't react. She just stared at the man in front of her, opening her mouth but unable to say a word. How could he possibly know? No, this was impossible. She hadn't told him herself, and even within the mercenary group, there were only a few people who knew about this matter.

  "How did you..."

  "Your eyes."

  Rod stretched out one finger.

  "Your eyes reflect a golden glow in the light, which is the mark of an angel as a 'Guardian of Light'. But unlike pure-blooded angels, the light in your eyes isn't dazzling, and that's because it's been covered up by your human bloodline... isn't that right?"

  The girl didn't say anything.

  Although he didn't get an answer, Rod had already confirmed that his thoughts were not wrong. The girl standing in front of him at this moment was indeed a mixed-blood angel. In fact, he had been observing Lisha for some time, and as a top player, Rod had long been familiar with the means of judging the opponent's attributes through equipment and characteristics during his long gaming career. This not only allows you to formulate the most suitable tactics in the shortest possible time during BOSS battles, but also allows you to take the initiative in PVP combat. It can be said that this is a technique that all veteran players must master.

  In fact, after Rod and Lidge were rescued, he began to consciously observe the girl, and soon discovered her true identity. Although it was just a mixed blood, the angel's strong healing power and resistance to damage did not disappear, which is also why Lidge could survive after being thrown out of the floating ship.

  Lijie herself must also be very clear about this point, so she would be so depressed.

  "So I said, I can understand your idea."

  Rod shrugged his shoulders.

  "You are very clear about why you were able to survive, but it's not luck, it's because of the differences between you and others that led to this result, and you can't accept that... If possible, you even hope that you're just an ordinary human being, facing death with your companions, rather than surviving in such a cunning way."

  “…………”

  Lijie hung her head low, her hands tightly grasping the hem of her skirt.

  "But that's not for you to decide."

  Looking at Liche's slightly trembling shoulders, Rode's tone slowed down a lot.

  "You can't decide your birth and you can't stop all this, it's something beyond your control, never regret for things that are not in your power."

  "So..."

  Lijie finally spoke up.

  "What should I do?"

  "This is your road, you should choose it yourself."

  Lijie fell silent for a moment after hearing this sentence, then she raised her head.

  "I understand now, thank you, Mr. Lord."

  "You're welcome."

  "...But, your slap really hurts..."

  Although the process was a bit "violent", Lijie still walked out of the shadow of losing her companion and self-blame, when the sun rose on the second day, the blonde girl's face had completely lost its previous sadness, replaced by a gentle smile as always. This made Mes, who woke up from sleep without fully understanding what happened, feel a bit surprised, he curiously looked at this and that, finally floating out a meaningful smile towards Rode - as for what it meant, nobody knew.

  However, before the fat merchant could satisfy his curiosity, a sentence from Rode immediately plunged him into an abyss.

  "I think it's also time to set off."

  Departure?

  This word suddenly made the fat merchant, who had just woken up from his sleep and eaten a satisfying breakfast, let out a loud belch. He then realized that he was not in his comfortable and warm room, but in this vast and dangerous forest... Ah yes, they were not here for a picnic, that damned wind snake, and that damned captain... Forget it, forget it, there's no point talking about these things now. The most important thing is - how are they going to get out of this damned forest?

  Mace hastily lifted his head and looked at Rode. Since this young man said he had a way, he must have made a very detailed plan. After all, they were in the deep mountains, and it was not impossible to get lost if they were not careful. Moreover, there were many ferocious beasts lurking inside, how could they avoid their pursuit? These were essential knowledge for survival in the wild, and he had to pay attention again and again, lest he die here due to carelessness, which would be a great loss.

  With that thought, Mais slapped his face hard to dispel the last bit of drowsiness. He then carefully watched as Rode stood up from the ground, casually patted the dust off his legs and feet, flexed his wrists, and finally spoke up.

  "Let's go."

  …………………

  "Wait, wait, Mr. Lord!"

  The fat merchant almost jumped up like he was sitting on a chair with nails facing upwards.

  "Where are we going?"

  "In the northeast direction, there is a small town, once you get there, the road ahead will be much easier to walk."

  "Isn't there anything we need to be careful about?"

  "There's nothing special to note."

  It's not surprising that Rod would say this, after all, as a gathering place for newcomers to the Dragon Soul continent, the Paphield region has long been thoroughly explored by players, especially under the influence of the internet. In the early stages of the game, many players deliberately ventured into some uninhabited, dangerous or hard-to-reach areas to explore, trying to get legendary equipment that would make them dominate the game. Then they could wield powerful weapons, roam freely and create a strong force, eventually unifying the continent... Of course, reality is always cruel, although under the relentless efforts of players, some very rare and decent equipment was found, unfortunately none of which met the player's requirement of "with divine weapons in hand, I am invincible".

  After all, this standard is also a bit too high.

  Although this place is full of danger for Mais, every step could be fatal, but for Rod, this area is as familiar as his own backyard. As a senior member in the game, Rod has often brought new members to this place to level up, so he knows which monsters are where, what equipment is suitable for which profession, and what attributes are best suited for efficient training. For Rod, it's all second nature, even if he were thrown somewhere randomly, he could find his way out with his eyes closed. So there's nothing special that needs to be reminded of here, but as for Mais? Rod has done the quest to protect merchants at least 800 times in the game, how could he possibly care?

  Upon hearing Rod's response, Mais' chubby face immediately wilted like an eggplant that had been drenched in frost. He wasn't clear about Rod's thoughts, but this was also too careless. Thinking to this point, the chubby merchant instead began to reflect on whether he had made a wrong choice. Carefully thinking back, this young man had suffered severe injuries in the deep mountains. If it were said that he hadn't been injured, then it would be somewhat understandable for him to be so carefree. But now that he was injured, being so careless... wasn't that just asking for death?

  Although he had already vaguely regretted it in his heart, as the saying goes, "riding a tiger and not being able to get off", for Meis, there was no other way out. So under helpless circumstances, he could only grit his teeth and follow the two people, walking towards the depths of the forest.

  Under the warm sunlight, the Silver Moon Forest seemed extremely quiet. The sun shone through the gaps in the leaves and cast dappled shadows on the ground. The crisp bird songs echoed from time to time, and even the footprints of wild rabbits could be seen in the grass. The scene before him was so peaceful that the originally tense fat merchant gradually relaxed. He was no longer as suspicious and uneasy as before.

  Rode walked in the front, although walking in the forest without a road was not easy, but his figure was exceptionally agile and shuttled back and forth in the forest. Neither vines nor plants with hooks could stop his actions. Just looking at his back, it's hard to imagine that he was seriously injured before.

  Lilith followed closely behind, clearly accustomed to this outdoor action and life, although wearing a not-so-convenient long robe. Lilith still walked steadily beside Rode, occasionally reminding the merchant behind her to be careful of the road ahead.

  The deeper she went, the more astonished Lijie's inner heart became.

  Although on the surface it seems that Rode's leadership is quite arbitrary, he doesn't choose to move in a straight line, but instead turns left or right from time to time, and occasionally even makes a big circle. If you only look at the surface, you would think that he is leading them astray. However, very few people notice that under Rode's leadership, what was originally a forest full of obstacles has revealed a flat road, as if it had been hidden in the forest all along, waiting for people to discover its existence.

  Lijie had heard the captain mention it before, a very high-end skill that ordinary people found it too difficult to navigate in the forest. Only those elves who were in harmony with nature and rangers who often ventured into the deep mountains would master this skill. She had also seen it once before. At that time, her team was lost in the forest, and the elf sent to assist them did not follow the existing roads in the forest, but instead chose a completely opposite direction to move forward. Lijie was worried at the time. But in the end, they left the forest quite smoothly, and it was also at that time that Lijie learned about this skill from her captain, however...

  Looking at Rode's back, Lijie was somewhat puzzled and tilted her head. According to the captain's words, that skill could only be mastered by experienced elves and rangers, ordinary elves had the ability to communicate with nature, but they couldn't do it to this extent. However, looking at Rode, he seemed so relaxed and natural, he didn't even stop to communicate with the plants around him, which meant he shouldn't be an elf, but... ...looking at his appearance, he didn't seem like a ranger either? Although Lijie hadn't had much contact with rangers, she still knew that their main weapon was the bow, but looking at Rode, from the beginning to now, Rode had never used a bow...

  What kind of person is he?

  At this moment, Lijie's heart is increasingly puzzled.

  Luo De stopped in his tracks.

  Through the bushes, he can clearly see the crystal clear lake not far away, which is the center of Silvermoon Forest, Moonlight Lake. In the game, this place can be considered as one of the outdoor campsites for players to rest halfway.

  "That's terrific!"

  Looking at the clear lake water in front of him, Mais subconsciously licked his dry and cracked lips. Although it hadn't been a long time since they set out, for a merchant who was used to being pampered, it felt like several days of hardship. Seeing such a good resting place in front of him, the fat merchant immediately took big strides forward, planning to go to the lake shore to rest properly. However, as soon as he moved, Rode's hand pressed down on his shoulder.

  The stout businessman looked at the young man in front of him with a puzzled expression, but Rode didn't say anything. He simply stretched out one finger and made a gesture to be quiet, then pointed forward. The stout businessman followed Rode's pointing hand with a puzzled look, and suddenly his face turned deathly pale.

  Under the shade by the lake, a white giant wolf was quietly lying there, eyes closed and resting.