Green Dragon Princess

"Don't make a sound!"

In the reeds.

A ranger with a face full of stubble urgently pressed his index finger to his lips, trying to stop her: "Did you forget what I told you? Jon?"

"In the swamp, you must remain silent!"

The girl behind him couldn't help but stick out her tongue, finally suppressing the excitement she had just felt.

She bent down, lowered her center of gravity, and, together with the stubble-faced man, scouted the situation in the gnoll settlement.

"That's strange, I don't see anyone... Ah!"

Jon was squatting on the ground muttering to herself when she suddenly burst out with an unexpected scream! "Jon!"

The stubble-faced man angrily turned his head to scold his sister:

"I told you not to... Ah!"

Like Jon, he was startled by the situation behind him and let out an instinctive exclamation.

"Eric, it's really not my fault."

Jon said aggrievedly.

A few meters behind them.

A masked man holding a rapier was leisurely looking at the siblings.

"Gentlemen, what brings you here?"

Roger lowered his voice, his tone very calm.

"Don't misunderstand!"

"We're just passing by."

The stubble-faced man, Eric, seemed to have some experience. He raised his hands, his expression sincere:

"Can... can I stand up?"

Roger said, "As you wish."

"Thank you... We really are just passing by. We saw the gnoll corpses and thought it was a bit strange, so we came over to take a look. We definitely have no other intentions!"

Eric was afraid that Roger would misunderstand their motives.

"Oh, really? My companion just went to hunt down those gnolls, and you appeared. What a coincidence?"

Roger's tone gradually became stern:

"Or perhaps, you've been following us all along, trying to fish in troubled waters?"

He was testing when these two had arrived.

At the same time, he was trying to point out that he was not alone.

Sure enough.

Eric immediately explained nervously, "Sir, I swear we didn't see you or your companion before this, let alone follow you."

"We really are just passing by!"

Roger pretended not to believe him and continued to sneer:

"Would ordinary people pass through such a dangerous swamp?"

At this time, the girl named Jon couldn't help but interject:

"Eric didn't lie to you. We only left the village this morning, we really are just passing by..."

When Eric heard this, he became anxious and kept winking at her.

However, Jon couldn't understand the meaning in his eyes, and just clumsily explained to Roger.

In her opinion, the siblings were just ordinary adventurers.

But the unknown stranger in front of her was different—he and his partner could destroy the entire gnoll settlement, their strength definitely far exceeding theirs.

Explaining and gaining his trust was their only way to survive.

"As expected, there's a village."

"But judging from the performance of these two, it should just be a small village."

Roger's mind raced.

He nodded gently and said to Jon, who was clearly a novice, "I believe you. Since it's a misunderstanding, there's no need for bloodshed."

As he spoke, he lowered the Qing Fu Sword in his hand.

The siblings both breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Roger's next words made their nerves tense again:

"My companion and I came from the west and have been hunting in the swamp for a long time, lacking supplies."

"We urgently need a place to replenish fresh water and dry food."

"So, would you mind telling me the location of your village?"

Jon's face became very embarrassed.

She suddenly understood what Eric's wink meant just now.

In that instant, countless bloody scenes flashed through her mind.

Crap, am I going to bring a deadly disaster to the village?!

No, I must not let him know the real location of the village.

Jon thought to herself.

But Eric spoke first, "Go southwest for a dozen kilometers or so and you'll be there.

There's a very tall banyan tree near the village, which can be seen from a distance.

Also, the land there is different from here, it's a very distinctive bright yellow, easy to recognize."

His expression was still sincere:

"Our village is very hospitable, you can exchange what you hunted in the swamp for fresh water and food."

Roger quietly looked at him for a full thirty seconds before nodding in acknowledgement:

"Thank you."

"You can go now."

The siblings were relieved as if they had been granted amnesty.

Even so, they still faced Roger and slowly retreated to the edge of the reeds.

Only when they could no longer see Roger's face did they dare to speed up their departure.

Along the way.

"Why did you say it so clearly?" Jon couldn't help but ask.

"Now that it's been exposed that the village is nearby, there's no need to hide the specific location."

Eric shook his head and said:

"Moreover, in that situation just now, we can only survive first and then seek help from the village."

"We need to go back quickly and tell Lady Cindy about this. These people can actually destroy a gnoll settlement, they're probably not ordinary adventurers!"

On the other side, Roger, having seen the siblings off, sped up his search of the gnoll settlement.

He didn't find any fresh water.

As for food, there were only basket after basket of wild lettuce.

Roger picked a few fresh ones and stuffed them into his backpack.

Honestly, this gnoll settlement was shockingly poor.

If he hadn't found a gold watch and a large box of broken gold and silver in the chieftain's room, Roger suspected he would have come away empty-handed.

"I didn't expect to almost not even earn back the cost of maintaining my arrows."

Roger cursed his bad luck inwardly.

He couldn't help but take a few more lettuces before he was willing to leave.

After leaving the gnoll settlement, Roger followed Eric's instructions and headed southwest.

Before long, yellow soil appeared ahead.

As the reed beds rapidly receded, the visible range also widened.

Half an hour later, Roger came to a road.

There was also a dilapidated road sign by the road, which read:

"Lettuce Avenue."

He followed Lettuce Avenue all the way south.

Gradually.

Some human houses appeared on both sides of the road, but they were all abandoned.

Another half an hour passed.

Roger encountered a white-haired old man fishing by a small lake on the roadside.

After a moment's thought, he stepped forward to ask for directions.

The old man's attitude was a bit cold, but he still carefully answered Roger's questions.

From him, Roger learned a lot of information:

This land is located in the center of the Great Wetland and is called "Yellowstone Island".

If you want to get supplies, there are two inns along Lettuce Avenue to the south.

The first inn is called "Green Dragon Princess".

The old man told Roger that this shop was a black shop, very dangerous, and should not be approached! The second inn is called "Thorn".

This is a safe inn, and the owner is an elderly hill dwarf, who is very enthusiastic.

He suggested that Roger bypass the "Green Dragon Princess" and go directly to the "Thorn" inn.

After listening, Roger thought for a while, then thanked the old man and continued on his way.

After walking for more than ten minutes, he saw the Green Dragon Princess's sign.

Roger didn't stop and quickened his pace.

After a while.

He saw the Thorn's sign.

But he still didn't slow down, but instead went around it.

At noon.

Roger looked into the distance and saw a patch of green canopy.

His pace finally slowed down a bit.