Chapter 48

Professional forest rangers guarded the outer oases of Stanrosai City, and safety in the oases was often more important than human lives.

Without special permission, leaving the main road to enter the depths of the oasis could even get someone directly arrested and imprisoned by the rangers.

Yet there were exceptions to every rule. Right at that moment, in a dense shrub forest hundreds of meters away from the main road, a figure wrapped in a black robe sneaked to the back of an old tree, pulled off their hood, and revealed a rather comical hairstyle.

Mhm, during his time in Stanrosai, Xuan Ye's hair had finally grown out from the reform-through-labor crew cut into a relatively normal length. Er, though because it hadn't been trimmed, now that it had grown a bit longer, it all stuck up and looked somewhat funny.

Tsk~ Who knows what they eat to grow hair so fast, did people here have their physical and talent stats allocated wrong? Back on Earth, I had to be forced by family to get a haircut once a month.

First touching his hair, which could barely be considered normal, Xuan Ye muttered inwardly unceasingly, then looked up at the dense branches and leaves covering the sky above and spoke softly to himself.

This place should be out of the Mage's Eye's range by now. Formal Mages all have the potential to be voyeuristic maniacs.

Thinking of how, back within the Mage Tower's range, his personal secrets had been directly spied on in part, Xuan Ye felt quite uncomfortable, even knowing it was only because he was within the other party's Mage Tower range that he was so easily perceived.

Yet this shadow was precisely what made Xuan Ye completely relieved only after getting this far away from Stanrosai. Mhm, Stanrosai City was also the place where the other party had lived for so long; goodness knows where hidden magic arrays might have been set up.

The reason he was sneaking into the depths of the oasis with a guilty conscience was that Xuan Ye also planned to change back into his original identity and re-enter the city. Mhm, his magic core and magic-related goals had been achieved far beyond expectations, and this return to the city was just to wrap things up and inspect the results.

He wanted to see if that beanpole of a Thorn Monkey captain from the Sand Rat Mercenary Group had handled things well. At the same time, because he was already prepared to leave Stanrosai and no longer had concerns, he could also go and tentatively find out about the situation of this body's original owner's father.

Even though he had no emotional attachment to him and had never even met him, having only "seen" him through memory fragments, the man didn't even feel as familiar to him as the deceased Luo Luoji and the others.

Regardless, he was still the direct blood relative of this body. Putting aside whether or not to rescue the man, if he didn't even try to understand the current situation, his thoughts would remain blocked and his conscience ill at ease.

Making the decision at the very last moment and gritting his teeth to risk using the magic core directly could be considered a spiritual transformation for Xuan Ye. Leaving other aspects aside, he needed to make sure he left no regrets!

If he couldn't rescue or find out anything, that was a matter of ability; not even trying was a matter of attitude!

Besides, although the Kend Family's overall strength was indeed far superior to his, and they even had a clan head at the peak of the professional tier who was hailed as Stanrosai's number one genius—whose match with Roland would probably first depend on the distance between them, possessing terrifying strength—nevertheless, as the clan head, it was impossible for him to personally guard a prisoner who wasn't even at the professional tier.

When they captured that father and son in the beginning, they hadn't even dispatched someone from the professional tier, finally sending only a One-Star professional expert to hunt them down. Based on deduction, the guards could not possibly exceed that level of force.

While pondering this inwardly, he took out equipment from his spatial bag to change. He wore tight martial arts clothes on the inside, draped a new, wide, black sand-proof robe on the outside, pulled up his hood, strapped a new bow to his back, tucked a new short sword at his waist, and slipped a dagger into his ranger boots. A standard wild ranger was born.

Then, with a single leap, he jumped onto a thick tree branch, and relying on the excellent physical constitution of the professional tier, he easily shuttled through the forest, seeming completely unconcerned about the patrols of the rangers.

Naturally, he had come in here to do a mission; when leaving the city, he had already seen the bounty notice at the city gates, and that Gnoll Tribe that had migrated into the oasis was still tenaciously fleeing.

Under the condition of not causing large-scale destruction to the oasis, unearthing this bunch of mud-legged creatures was indeed very difficult.

Gnolls were a rare race that could still steadily bully humans even after the Human Race had fallen from their pedestal, yet the reason this race had managed to survive since ancient times was also largely due to their tenacious vitality.

Their strong reproductive capacity made them like wild grass that could never be entirely mowed down. If they were really allowed to successfully take root in the oasis, the citizens of Stanrosai would have no choice in the future but to resign themselves to living in the same oasis as the gnolls.

Of course, as for whether Stanrosai City would "dance with wolves" in the future, Xuan Ye didn't care much. He was just using the bounty's excuse to shuttle freely through the oasis, and after casually hunting a few and taking their claws, he would head straight back to the city to clear his name and turn in the mission...

"Good brother~ Are we really going to hunt gnolls? They look so terrifying and ferocious, I'm scared."

A beautiful female archer wearing tight green leather armor, with an exquisite figure and holding a bow, spoke coquettishly to her partner.

This made the burly, sword-and-shield-wielding fellow feel his bones melt with delight. Truly, they still needed to go on adventures together from time to time to further "deepen their bond." If not for the possibility of rangers appearing at any moment, coupled with the gnolls, he really would have had the impulse to have a wild battle right here.

"Haha, don't be afraid. Gnolls just look a bit hideous; in reality, most of them are very weak and can only rely on gathering in groups to pose a threat. They're generally all beneath Level 4 Attendant strength. With me, a Sixth Grade Knight Attendant, right here, you have nothing to worry about. Just shoot your arrows with peace of mind."

Tapping his firm chest muscles with his shield, the Sword and Shield Warrior said with extreme pride.

"Heehee, then I can rest easy."

A cloying, seductive smile appeared on the leather armor girl's face.

Swish~

Before the smile on the girl's face had even faded, a sharp arrow that suddenly darted out from the jungle pierced the Sword and Shield Warrior's neck, pinning him to a nearby tree trunk as fresh blood splattered all over the archer girl's face.

"Ah!!!"

After pausing in a daze for a split second, a terror-filled scream that pierced the eardrums burst from her mouth.

Never mind the girl who had suddenly encountered this upheaval, even Xuan Ye, who was secretly preparing to set fire to the arrow tip in an attempt to roast this couple of lovebirds, couldn't help falling into a bit of a daze. Holy crap, is someone faster than me? With this accuracy and this force, how deep is this grudge!

He had originally just planned to roast them a bit to scare them away, but as it turned out, an even more ruthless person was hiding in the shadows.

"No way! Again?"

Just as Xuan Ye was somewhat stunned, his ears suddenly twitched, and then, acting on pure instinct, he directly loosed the arrow he had nocked.

Swish~

Hum~

A dark shadow darting out from the depths of the jungle shot fiercely toward the screaming girl. Yet less than a centimeter from her forehead, just as it severed her bangs, it was directly intercepted and broken in half by another fierce arrow!

The snapped arrow tip left a bloody scratch across the screaming girl's forehead, then spun, sheared off a few strands of hair, and embedded itself into the nearby tree trunk.

"Such crude arrows..., gnolls!"

Relying on the Perception Inner Mansion and the astonishing eyesight brought by five Bright Eyes runes, Xuan Ye looked at the broken arrow that had been severed by his single strike, and the expression on his face also appeared somewhat gloomy.

The first arrow had bypassed his perception! The second arrow had also almost succeeded! It was a professional-tier Gnoll Hunter!

A small tribe actually had such a tricky fellow; no wonder they hadn't been wiped out or driven away for so long! Were the people in the City Hall responsible for mission intelligence and verification all alpacas?

To actually hang a mission involving such a tricky nuisance among tasks mainly meant to be completed by civilians and low-level mercenary groups...

Thanks to Shi Sa, Rongguang Xinghuo, Meng Yichang Yi Shinian, Wusui, and Book Friend So-and-So for the tips~

Tomorrow is Monday, there'll be another chapter past 12, asking for all kinds of support for tomorrow.