After saying goodbye to the enthusiastic sheriff, Shad rode his horse around Lake Luther, hoping to find the mysterious lake.
He still remembered the hint given by the professor, so he tried his best to forget the purpose of his trip, but the more he thought about it, the more thoughts about the "Lady of the Lake" kept echoing in his mind.
As a result, Shade didn't meet the "Lady of the Lake" that afternoon, nor did he encounter a talking black snake, rabbit, or raven. When the sun sank to the west and the sunset glowed on the horizon, Shade was riding his horse and thinking about whether to return to the city. But he soon noticed that a group of wolves that hunted in early winter had appeared behind him, and they seemed to want to bite Shade and the bay horse to death as food reserves.
Shade, who was already in a bad mood, certainly would not let them go easily. So after calming down his frightened mount, he dismounted and rushed towards the wolves with the Night's Watch in hand.
So, under the strong sunset beside Lake Luther, the sword-wielding knights started fighting with the wolves.
This was not a large wolf pack, with only eight or nine wolves in total. They had been boldly besieging Shade, but as Shade swung his sword to chop the wolves that were rushing from both sides into two, then kicked the leader wolf that was rushing from the front to death, and finally picked up the wolf with a broken tail that was rushing from behind, threw it to the ground and smashed it into the mud, the remaining wolves immediately fled in all directions.
"Why do these wolves still dare to attack me even though I'm holding a sword and a gun?"
Xia De was puzzled.
Maybe they were too far away from you, and you attacked them before you had time to get closer to observe them.
While "she" whispered her answer in the wind, Shad had already chased the scattered wolves into the dead forest with only branches left by the lake, with the idea of eliminating the local pests.
This area is a local forest farm, which looks more like a wasteland at this time of year. The wild wolves being chased by Shade fled into the forest in a panic, but as several silver moonlights passed through the cracks between the dead trees and swept across the ground, the last of the wild wolves were also split in two, leaving only the fastest one that ran deeper into the forest:
"Why did you come to mess with me?"
Shade, holding the sword, looked back at the horse eating wild grass by the lake, then chased after the escaped wolf, vowing to kill it before returning home.
Four-legged wolves generally run faster than two-legged humans, especially in the forest with branches and twigs. But for Shade, no matter how fast the other party ran, it was not a problem. He didn't even need to use magic or spells. He only relied on his strong physical fitness and the silver sword in his hand that could cut through almost everything. He quickly cut a path in the forest and caught up with the wolf.
The latter was frightened by the movement behind him. After the moonlight flew behind him and broke the big tree in front of him, the back half of his body was pressed down by the tree. Then he howled and watched the human behind him approaching:
"Really? Why are you messing with me?"
Xia De asked again. If it wasn't for the late time, he would like to go home early. He even wanted to put the fish training ring on the other party's claws and ask why he was targeted.
He ignored the wolf and swung his sword to kill it. But after thinking for a moment, he took two steps back and took out the revolver from his waist, which was the one MI6 had equipped him with.
Actually, since he got the gun, Shade has fired less than five times. Seeing that the wolf could no longer resist, he took out the gun and prepared to test his accuracy. After all, the bullets can be used up.
Peng~
The sound of a gunshot startled countless birds in the forest and sent them flying towards the sunset. But the wolf was still alive, only the wood that was holding it down had holes in it, and because the wood was dry, the bark and wood fibers flew everywhere.
Before the wolf that successfully survived to the end could recover from its fear, the second gunshot, lingering in the early winter sunset, rang out again and successfully hit its head.
"My shooting skills are still very accurate."
Satisfied, Shade blew on the muzzle of the gun, then put the gun back into the holster and hung it around his waist. He took out some cloth from his pocket and wanted to turn the wolf carcasses into toys to take back to Tobesk as a souvenir, but after taking two steps on the muddy ground, he suddenly stopped.
He actually didn't go too far into the forest, and the dead trees at the edge of the forest were unusually sparse due to the autumn logging. There were no leaves on the branches, and the setting sun could shine directly on the ground. Looking up, he could see most of the sky and clouds dyed red.
But at this moment, Shade actually felt that the visibility around him was gradually decreasing, and the already biting wind through the forest became even colder. The Night Watcher in his hand suddenly vibrated rapidly at this moment, and it sensed the evil earlier than Shade.
"What's approaching?"
He no longer paid attention to the wolf corpse pressed under the tree, but stood in the forest with a sword in hand and looked around.
Outsider, you touched the whisper.
"Whisper?"
Listening carefully, he could hear a subtle whisper that was hard to detect since some time. The sunset dyed Xia De's shoulders red, but the woman's wailing, crying and screaming made Xia De feel cold in his heart.
The sunset this evening was so strong, but the atmosphere at this time was incompatible with the sunset. Looking at the light around him, he felt dizzy because of the appearance of the high-level relics. Xia De tried to maintain his spirit, carefully turning around on the spot, observing every detail around him, until he turned half a circle, and turned his head, a pale woman with long hair was sticking her head out from behind a dead tree not far away, looking at her with black eyes.
Xia De was shocked. This was the woman he saw in Professor Drake's cursed photo:
"Sage-level relic swamp witch? She actually appeared so close to the city?"
The humanoid relic poked out its head and equally pale shoulders, as if it had been hiding behind the tree and spying on the man in front of it since a while ago.
And Xia De only needed to look at her for a moment, and he saw in the forest illuminated by the setting sun, countless evil spirits with tragic deaths, rushing out from behind the densely packed trees and rushing towards him.
Hallucination, don't move.
The sound in his ear made Shad regain some consciousness. He gritted his teeth and stood where he was. As expected, the evil spirit passed through his body like a phantom, and then disappeared in the light of the setting sun.
But then, the dark shadow of the dead tree standing in the sunset began to wriggle like a tentacle. Then, the black shadow crawled along the ground towards Shade like a snake. This was probably a scene that only appeared in horror stories.
It's still an illusion, don't move.
Xia De believed in "her" judgment and remained motionless. As expected, the wriggling shadow disappeared in the light of the setting sun after reaching Xia De's feet.
But the abnormal phenomenon around him still did not disappear. Xia De heard a rustling sound behind him, but now he was concentrating on paying attention to the movements of the woman who was looking out from behind the tree, and he did not dare to move at all. Fortunately, "her" vision was not affected by the eyes:
The wolf you shot came out from under the tree.
"Is this also an illusion?"
No, it's real this time.
Xia De was startled and subconsciously blinked. The blinking time was no more than half a second, but between the time his eyes closed and opened, it was as if the scroll in front of him was taken away and replaced by another one. The woman who stuck her head out from behind the tree disappeared:
"What?"
He immediately turned around and looked behind him, and sure enough, he saw the dead wolf coming out from under the tree, limping and staring at Shade, but did not attack him. Instead, it turned and walked deeper into the woods.
"Have there been any changes in the nearby whispering elements?"
The wolf has the most intense element.
"It is indeed a zombie controlled by the Swamp Witch... But why did the Swamp Witch's real body leave? Isn't it full of malice towards all men?"
The lame wolf walked a distance into the depths of the forest, then suddenly stopped and turned to look at Shade. Shade looked around and behind him suspiciously, somewhat unconvinced:
"Let me follow it? I'd be crazy to follow it."
Although thinking this way, Shade did not turn around and leave immediately. Instead, he recalled the characteristics of the Sage-level relic Swamp Witch:
"It will guide kindhearted women who are lost in the swamp to leave, and may even protect them. But for women with impure hearts and any men, it will cast a curse that corrupts the soul."
Shade was very sure that he was not cursed, and that the wolf really seemed to be guiding him in a certain direction.
But the problem is that Shade is not a "kind-hearted woman", and if she wants to leave the woods, she won't go in the direction the wolf is going now.
"It's really strange. Instead of encountering a talking animal, I encountered something strange like this."
The Swamp Witch's real body had undoubtedly left, but the fact that the wolf controlled by her still existed meant that the terrifying humanoid relic was still watching Shade.
The zombie wolf that stopped there and looked at Shade did not wait, but soon continued to walk deeper into the forest. Shade thought for a moment and said to the wolf:
"Please wait a moment. I will bring my horse over and then I will follow you."
In order to prevent the relics and wolves from not understanding, the Kasenric language was deliberately used.
After saying that, he returned to the path by the lake without looking back, and found the horse that was eating wild grass with its head down. The latter followed Shade, who was holding the reins, back to the forest very docilely. After passing the corpses of the wild wolves, he saw the big tree that was struck down by the "Moonlight Slash" again, and the wolf waiting not far away.
"I was thinking that if you hadn't waited for me, I would have left here and gone home for dinner. But since you're still here..."
This time, without hesitation, Xia De followed with his horse. The wolf, which had been squatting like a dog, also stood up and walked slowly deeper into the forest.