Gnoll

The outer oases of Stanrosai were home to professional forest wardens, and more often than not, the safety of the oasis mattered more than human life.

Without special permission, anyone who left the main road and ventured deep into the oasis could be arrested and imprisoned directly by the forest wardens.

But nothing was absolute. At this very moment, in a dense thicket hundreds of meters off the main road, a figure draped in a black robe crept furtively to the back of an old tree, pushed back his hood, and revealed a rather comical hairstyle.

Mm-hmm, during his time in Stanrosai, Xuan Ye's hair had finally grown from the convict's Plum Head cut into something approaching a normal length. Though, since he hadn't trimmed it, it was now a bit long and sticking up in all directions, looking rather ridiculous.

"Tch~ I wonder what I need to eat to make hair grow faster. Did the people here put all their talent points in the wrong place? Back home, my family used to drag me to the barber every month."

First, he touched his barely-passable hair, grumbling inwardly, then looked up at the dense canopy covering the sky and muttered to himself, "This should be out of the Mage's Eye's range by now, right? Full-fledged mages all have the potential to be peeping perverts."

Thinking back to how, within the Mage Tower's range, part of his secrets had been directly pried into, Xuan Ye felt quite uncomfortable. Even knowing it was because he was inside the other mage's tower that made it so easy to be seen through, that shadow of unease had still forced him to come this far from Stanrosai before he felt completely at ease. Mm-hmm, Stanrosai City was where that guy had lived for so long—who knew if hidden arrays were set up somewhere.

And the reason he was sneaking guiltily into the depths of the oasis was to switch back to his original identity and re-enter the city. Mm, his goals regarding magic cores and magic had already far exceeded expectations. This trip back was just for final checks.

To see if that bamboo-pole-like Thorn Monkey, the leader of the Sand Rat Mercenary Group, had handled things properly. At the same time, since he was already planning to leave Stanrosai and had no more worries, he could also tentatively look into the situation of this body's original father.

Even if he had no emotional connection to the man, had never even met him, only 'seen' him in memory fragments—giving him less warmth than even the deceased Luo Luoji and the others—

no matter what, he was still the direct blood relative of this body. Even setting aside whether he could rescue the man, if he didn't even try to understand the current situation, his conscience would be uneasy, and his thoughts wouldn't flow smoothly.

That final decision back then, gritting his teeth and taking the risk to use the magic core directly, had been a spiritual transformation for Xuan Ye. Other matters aside, he had to make sure he left no regrets!

Failing to rescue or find out information was a problem of ability; not even trying was a problem of attitude!

And although the overall strength of the Kend Family far surpassed his own, with a clan leader who was a peak Professional Rank, hailed as the number one genius of Stanrosai—someone who, in a fight with Roland, would probably have the outcome decided by distance, making him terrifyingly powerful—as the clan leader, he couldn't possibly personally guard a prisoner who hadn't even reached Professional Rank.

Back when they were capturing father and son, they hadn't even sent a Professional at first, only dispatching a one-star Professional Expert for the pursuit. By inference, the guard's strength couldn't exceed that.

While thinking it over, he took equipment from his Spatial Bag and changed clothes. Wearing a tight inner suit, he donned a new, loose black sand-proof robe, pulled up the hood, slung a new bow on his back, stuck a new shortsword at his waist, and tucked a dagger into his ranger boots. A standard wild ranger was born.

Then, with a leap, he jumped onto a thick branch. Relying on his excellent Professional Rank physique, he easily darted through the forest, seemingly unconcerned about being spotted by forest rangers.

After all, he had come in here to do a mission. When he left the city, he had already seen the Bounty Notice at the city gate. That migrating Gnoll Tribe that had entered the oasis was still stubbornly fleeing.

Without being able to cause large-scale destruction to the oasis, rooting out those mud-footed bastards was really difficult.

Gnolls were one of the few races humans could still bully with ease even after falling from their pedestal. Yet this race had survived since ancient times, and their tenacious vitality was a key reason.

Their strong reproductive ability made them like weeds that couldn't be completely cut down. If they really managed to take root in the oasis, the citizens of Stanrosai would have to resign themselves to living in the same oasis as gnolls.

Of course, Xuan Ye didn't really care whether Stanrosai City would end up 'dancing with wolves.' He was just using that notice as an excuse to freely move through the oasis. After casually hunting a few, he would take their claws back to the city, whiten them, and turn in the mission...

"Good brother~, are we really going to hunt gnolls? They look so scary and ferocious, I'm so afraid."

A beautiful archer in a tight green leather armor, with a shapely figure and a bow in hand, spoke to her partner in a coquettish voice.

This made the strong, sword-and-shield-wielding man beside her feel his bones go weak. Sure enough, going on adventures together from time to time was the best way to 'deepen their bond.' If it weren't for the possibility of forest rangers showing up at any moment, plus the gnolls, he would have been itching for a wild outdoor battle.

"Haha, don't be afraid. Gnolls are just ugly-looking. Most of them are actually very weak and only pose a threat in packs. They're usually below Level 4 Attendant in strength. With a Sixth Grade Knight Attendant like me here, you have nothing to worry about. Just focus on shooting your arrows."

The sword-and-shield man thumped his firm chest with his shield, speaking with great pride.

"Heehee, that makes me feel so much better."

The leather-armored girl flashed a sickly sweet coquettish smile.

'Swoosh~'

Before the girl's smile had even faded, an arrow suddenly shot out from the jungle, piercing the sword-and-shield warrior's neck and pinning him to a nearby tree trunk. Blood splattered all over the archer girl's face.

"Ah!!!"

After a brief, stunned pause, a piercing scream of terror erupted from her mouth.

Leaving aside the suddenly stricken girl, even Xuan Ye, who had been in the shadows preparing to light his arrowhead and roast this lovey-dovey pair, was a bit stunned. Damn, someone beat me to it? With that accuracy, that force—how deep a grudge must they have?

He had only planned to scare them off with a little roasting, but it turned out there was someone even more ruthless hiding in the shadows.

"No way! Again?"

Just as Xuan Ye was a bit dazed, his ears twitched, and he instinctively loosed the arrow he had nocked.

'Swoosh~'

'Hum~'

A black shadow shot out from the depths of the jungle, hurtling toward the screaming girl. But just a centimeter from her forehead, cutting through her bangs, it was snapped in mid-flight by another powerful arrow!

The broken arrowhead left a bloody scratch on the screaming girl's forehead before spinning, shearing off a few strands of hair, and embedding itself in a nearby tree trunk.

"Such crude arrows... Gnolls!"

Relying on the Perception Inner Mansion and the extraordinary vision granted by five 'Bright Eyes' inscriptions, Xuan Ye stared at the broken arrow he had shattered, his expression darkening.

The first arrow had slipped past his perception! The second had almost succeeded! This was a Professional Rank Gnoll Hunter!

How could a small tribe have such a troublesome bastard? No wonder they hadn't been wiped out or driven off for so long! Were the people at City Hall responsible for mission intelligence and verification all alpacas?

Hanging a mission with this kind of nasty surprise in the tasks meant mainly for civilians and low-level mercenary groups...

Thanks to Shi Sa, Rongguang Xinghuo, Dream of a Decade, Five Years Old, and Book Friend So-and-So for the tips~

Tomorrow is Monday. There will be another chapter after midnight. Please support me tomorrow in various ways~