Bumpy

Seeing that the murlocs had already fled, and with it now deep into the night after a full day of hard work and his mana completely drained, waves of exhaustion washed over him. All he wanted was to sleep. He looked around—in this forest of Elwynn Ancient Trees, where could he possibly find a place to rest? And in the pitch black, he didn't dare wander around recklessly. Running into something like a pack of wolves, natural night hunters, would be even more dangerous. Might as well sleep here for the night. Though the ground was littered with murloc corpses and the stench of fish occasionally drifted with the wind, after that big battle, those murlocs probably wouldn't dare come back anytime soon.

Decision made, he started looking for a suitable tree to rest in. He'd initially thought about finding a tree hollow in one of the massive Elwynn Ancient Tree trunks, but then he reconsidered—his Skeleton Warriors and Clay Golem couldn't climb trees. What if there was danger inside the tree? He'd be in a bad spot. So he scrapped that idea. After searching for a while, he finally found a tree with a half-open hollow where the ground beneath was dry. He called over the two upgraded Skeleton Warriors to widen the opening, had the Clay Golem come in to absorb and clear out the dust, then gathered some soft leaves to pad it. Testing it out, it felt pretty good—just big enough for one person to lie down. He stationed the two Skeleton Warriors outside to guard, and had the other one patrol nearby with the Golem, then finally lay down with peace of mind.

His stomach felt a bit hungry and thirsty. Luckily, the Space Belt still had the bread the servant from Azshara's Tower had given him. He took it out and ate a bit to get by, but there was nothing he could do about the thirst. Without water, the bread only made things drier, his throat burning like fire, impossible to swallow.

"Never thought I'd go from being a mine boss to not even having a sip of water to drink!" Li Shaolin couldn't help but sigh. His eyes landed on a branch lying nearby, and an idea struck him. Why not make a container and send a skeleton to fetch water?

No time like the present. He picked a thick-looking branch, pulled out his Infantry Sword, and quickly carved it into a long rectangular cylinder. He tried hollowing out the core—luckily, these Elwynn Ancient Trees, though massive, had hollow centers, and he scooped it out in no time. In a flash, he'd made a small, long bucket. Staring at this first piece of furniture he'd crafted in his second life, he couldn't help but chuckle foolishly.

He called over one of the patrolling Skeleton Warriors, thought for a moment, then drilled two small holes in the bucket—just big enough for the skeleton to grip. He ordered it to go fetch water from upstream. No way was he drinking from downstream—after that fight, the fleeing murlocs had probably churned the water into a muddy mess. What if he got poisoned?

The Skeleton Warrior's bones clattered as it swayed toward the lake shore. Luckily, it seemed the murlocs had gone to rest too—it circled around without spotting a single one.

Seeing the clear bucket of lake water, it felt even more fragrant than the beer at the Lion's Pride Inn. He lifted it with one hand and took a small sip. A cool sensation washed over him, mixed with a hint of fresh woodiness—so refreshing. He downed a few bites of bread with the water. Ah, perfect.

Full and satisfied, he lay down in the half-open, half-closed tree hollow. Waves of drowsiness hit him, and his eyelids grew heavy. Though the occasional wolf howl echoed through the forest, with his bodyguards around, there was nothing to worry about. He yawned lightly and drifted off to sleep.

Maybe it was sheer exhaustion, but he slept soundly, without a single dream. When he opened his eyes, dim light was filtering in—dawn was approaching. Golden rays shone from the eastern sky; the sun was about to rise. The two Skeleton Warriors stood faithfully at the entrance, not moving an inch, while in the distance, the Golem and the other skeleton slowly paced back and forth.

He stretched and crawled out of the tree hollow. The moment he emerged, he got a shock—a brown snake over two meters long and as thick as a small bowl lay nearby, its body cut in two, killed by the Skeleton Warriors. "Damn!" Li Shaolin's heart raced. That thing looked venomous. If it had bitten him, he'd probably never leave this forest. Good thing, good thing.

He called over the Skeleton Warriors, took out the Book of the Dead, and dismissed all three. After all, it was daytime now, and the Watchers from Azshara's Tower would be starting their work. If they spotted his skeletons, it'd be nothing but trouble.

He went to the site of yesterday's bloody battle—no sign of the murlocs now. Across the distant lake was an island-like patch of sand, with faint outlines of large rocks or something. Last night, with the darkness, he hadn't noticed it at all. He quickly pulled out his map and searched carefully. Sure enough, in the northeast corner, there was a massive ring-shaped lake called Stone Stele Lake, with a large stone monument in the middle, commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First War.

"So, if I head south along here, I can get back to the Eastvale Logging Camp? But... which way is south?" Li Shaolin felt a bit puzzled. He'd done poorly in elementary school and always had a terrible sense of direction. He knew the sun rose in the east, but in this forest full of trees, one wrong turn and he'd be lost. Maybe he should just follow the riverbank all the way down? It led straight to that wooden bridge, which should be the road to Goldshire.

No choice but to go with that. He pulled out his Infantry Sword, summoned the Bone Shield for protection, and had the Clay Golem take point. He started heading downstream through the forest along the riverbank. The murlocs seemed to have slept enough too—occasionally one or two were already moving along the river, picking up algae or catching long-snouted loaches to eat. The sight made Li Shaolin feel sick.

He walked from sunrise to sunset. His legs felt weak, and the whole way, he had to worry about being spotted by murlocs and fending off hungry wolves in the forest. It was exhausting. He'd already killed six Forest Wolves. Luckily, the Golem didn't need rest, and after leveling up, its combat power had increased—it could take down a wolf on its own, and with Li Shaolin's help, it was even easier.

Finally, the wooden bridge by the river came into sight.

He quickly dismissed the Golem and hurried over. Just then, a carriage was stopped there, paying a toll.

"Wait! Wait! Heading to Goldshire!" Li Shaolin shouted, dragging his tired legs into a jog. The guards seemed to notice him, and the carriage didn't leave, waiting for him.

He finally caught up—it was an old acquaintance, the same big guy driving the cart. When the man saw Li Shaolin, he grinned and waved him aboard. So, after another inexplicable round of travel, Li Shaolin was once again on the road back to Goldshire, accompanied by the clatter of hooves.

Just like his first time, he arrived at the Lion's Pride Inn late at night. Luckily, he'd paid for ten days upfront, so he didn't need to check in again. After eating the beer and roast meat that had just been delivered in his room, he felt that this was truly the most comfortable thing in the world. Lying in bed, staring at the mounted bull's head, he couldn't help but recall the night spent at the tanner's house—it made him shiver just thinking about it. Forget it, better sleep early. Another tiring day tomorrow—he'd try to get some armor to see if he could equip the Skeleton Warriors, then check out the mine.

He woke up early. All night, there had been a ruckus outside—sounds of music and hammering on wooden stakes, keeping him from sleeping well. When he stepped out, he happened to run into that assistant named Milika Eisenstaedt. The girl looked surprised to see him, thought for a moment, then smiled: "Oh, it's you! Haven't seen you in a few days. Didn't expect you to show up out of nowhere again. You really come and go like a ghost, hehe. If you hadn't paid for the room, it would've been cleared out by now—we've had a lot of guests these past few days."

Li Shaolin scratched his head awkwardly. He hadn't expected this girl to still remember him. But was he really that mysterious? "Uh, been busy lately, heh. Hey, Milika, what was all that noise last night? Kept me from sleeping. Sounded like someone was setting up a tent or building a house?"

"Wow, you're so out of touch!" Milika made a funny face and joked.

"It's the Darkmoon Faire—they've come to Goldshire. They bring rare treasures from all over the world and display these strange and mysterious items from Azeroth on their fairground stage. They even do fortune-telling, and there are races you don't usually see around here, like orcs and tauren. It's really novel. If I didn't have to work, I'd have gone to play ages ago. Oh, I've got to go—busy." She hurried off, carrying a tray of meat chops.

"Darkmoon Faire?" Li Shaolin mused. In the game, what left the deepest impression on him were those messy decks used to trade for trinkets. He wondered what it'd be like in this reality. Forget it, he'd check it out later. First, he'd go to the Blacksmith to buy a set of armor.

The Blacksmith was right across from the Lion's Pride Inn—he remembered from last time. He walked in. The massive furnace still spewed sparks, the heat oppressive. At the anvil, a big man was hammering a red-hot piece of iron.

"Uh, I'd like to buy a set of Mail Armor," Li Shaolin said.

The boss looked him over: "Kid, you seem like a magic class, right? The tailor's shop is over there."

"I'm here to buy Mail Armor. A full set," Li Shaolin said, a bit annoyed.

"Pfft," the big man laughed, pulling a silver set of mail from a box under the counter and placing it on the counter: "Fifteen silver coins for the full set. Kid, I'm warning you—magic classes can't wear mail. It'll mess up your spellcasting and you won't be able to move. This set weighs thirty kilograms!" The man reiterated.

"..." Li Shaolin was speechless. This boss was way too helpful. He quickly paid up, hoisted the mail armor, and headed back to the inn.