Witch

Following the path the monster had smashed open earlier, the players pressed on, each with their own thoughts. The forest had fallen silent again, and the only sounds echoing through it were their footsteps. An ordinary person might have been driven mad after spending too long in such an environment, but none of the players here could be called normal anymore.

"We're here!" Xu Haoran stopped and looked at the strange lake ahead and the small wooden cabin standing beside it. The cabin's door was already open, as if welcoming Lu Li and the others. Only then did Lu Li realize that something was wrong.

They had followed the monster's tracks to get here, but now that they had arrived, there was no sign of it. It was as though they had stepped into another scene in an instant, the previous one overwritten.

"Come in. What are you standing around out there for?" A hoarse voice suddenly sounded in their minds. The players exchanged glances. Xu Haoran led the way into the cabin, followed by Hu Wenxu. Lu Li, carrying Gao Xiaowen, brought up the rear.

The first impression upon entering the cabin was that it was enormous. It looked tiny from outside, but inside, the space was impossibly vast—a world of its own. Then everyone's gaze was drawn to the figure reclining in a chair.

Lu Li had imagined the Witch looking like the one in fairy tales: a huge hooked nose, a face full of warts, a black wizard's robe, a crooked hat, and a nasty, raspy laugh. The very definition of evil.

But aside from that voice, the Witch was nothing like Lu Li had imagined. She had long, straight golden hair and delicate, beautiful features. Reclining as she was, her silver-white robe showed off her perfect figure.

The Witch lounged in her chair, eyeing them with an amused smile. When her gaze passed over Xu Haoran, his breathing grew heavier without his realizing it, and his heart rate seemed to double. But then the Witch's eyes shifted to Hu Wenxu, and Xu Haoran felt a pang of disappointment. He even began to resent Hu Wenxu and feel murderous toward him.

The Witch studied Hu Wenxu's unruffled expression, which seemed to reflect nothing but a desire to investigate. She nodded, then gave a soft snort. Hu Wenxu clutched his throat and crouched down, spewing mouthfuls of black slime and yellow-green eyeballs.

Then the Witch's gaze passed over Gao Xiaowen's left hand, which was pretending to be unconscious, before settling on Lu Li. She looked puzzled, then smiled at him. This sent Xu Haoran's anger surging. If the Witch hadn't been right there watching, he probably would have attacked Lu Li on the spot in his current state.

"Enough. Tell me what you want, strangers." The Witch's voice clashed completely with her appearance. It was dry and hoarse, enough to make anyone feel sick. Even Xu Haoran, who had thought he was in love, abruptly came to his senses. His face flushed as he lowered his head and dared not look at her again.

When Xu Haoran said nothing, Hu Wenxu kept throwing up eyeballs, and Gao Xiaowen continued pretending to be unconscious, Lu Li vaguely explained that the Mermaid Princess wanted to change species. The Witch let out a dry laugh. "Another little mermaid bewitched by a human, eh? Changing her species isn't difficult for me, but I have plenty to do right now. I can't spare the time..."

"So take care of these few things, and then I'll have time to visit that amusing little mermaid..." The Witch stretched lazily, showing no sign of being too busy to spare a moment. Then she pointed at Xu Haoran. "I have a plot of medicinal herbs in the eastern part of the forest. A swarm of worms has been coming to ruin it lately. Go kill them for me..."

As soon as the Witch finished speaking, Xu Haoran hurried out with his head bowed. Then the Witch looked at Hu Wenxu, who was still vomiting eyeballs. Without even moving, she made him spit out the last mouthful of black slime. He raised his head to look at her, his face still smeared with black filth.

"Your thirst for knowledge is admirable, but you've been far too reckless. Who gave you the nerve to plant so many surveillance devices in a Witch's home? As punishment, spit out every last one of them. Your eyeballs are quite well modified, I'll give you that. It's just a shame you haven't made better use of them..." The Witch pointed at the filth on the floor. Flames roared to life and burned it all away without so much as scorching the wooden floorboards.

Only then did Lu Li realize that the beads Hu Wenxu had been planting were his eyes. They must have been his mutated organs, capable of constantly regenerating and moving far from his body to monitor all sorts of places. But against a powerful Witch like her, they were useless. Her magic had even linked them to his throat, forcing him to spit them all out.

"There's a giant beast in the northern part of the forest. Your job is to lure it to the seaside. Then run..." The Witch assigned Hu Wenxu his task. He nodded, wiped the filth from his face and mouth with his clothes, glanced at Lu Li, and walked out of the cabin.

"As for you, put that woman down and head west. There's a cave there. Kill every monster inside and bring me the thing at the very back..." The Witch let out a hoarse laugh. "Good luck..."

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[You have accepted a stage quest: The Witch's Request 1/3]

[Quest description: In the western part of the Black Tide Forest, where the Witch lives, there is a strange cave inhabited by a group of monsters. Kill them all and bring the treasure inside the cave to the Witch...]

[Quest hint: The Witch has three requests, and you got the hardest one. Good luck. Of course, you should be praying that your teammates can complete the other two requests. Otherwise, you'll have your work cut out for you...]

[Quest reward: The Witch might give you some kind of reward. You might also learn something about yourself from her...]

Lu Li blinked. This quest seemed like a real trap. The weakest one of them had been assigned the hardest part. Under normal circumstances, it would be better to wait until the other two finished their tasks, then go together.

"But that wouldn't be any fun..." Lu Li smiled and turned to leave the cabin. The Witch watched him go, amusement glinting in her eyes. "Marked by a great being... Let's see what makes you different..."

Then the Witch looked at Gao Xiaowen on the floor and said with interest, "You over there, get up... Since you're carrying..."