第四十八章 精灵要查房

Flames spread along the road like lamplight, and these torches provided Li Ziran with his only illumination.

Within that light, squad after squad of Centaur warriors carrying spears darted swiftly along the road.

They stormed into shop after shop like bandits, dragged out everyone in the establishments, and lined all manner of creatures along both sides of the street.

This was highly abnormal.

Mading'er Town's current prosperous trade scene depended largely on the Centaurs' kindness.

Though Centaurs used force as well, it was only when defending their city-state.

When dealing with guests, not a single Centaur would draw the spear at their side. They carried their "kindness" to the utmost extreme.

That was also the fundamental reason Mading'er Town had flourished on the Wasteland.

The town's population was at least ten times that of Black Wolf Territory. Most laborers on the Wasteland would travel thousands of miles across dangerous stretches of wilderness to make a living in Mading'er.

This place had more ordinary creatures than anywhere else on the Wasteland.

Yet now, these ordinary creatures who created value for Mading'er stood along both sides of the street like slaves, while the kind Centaurs rushed through their own town with spears in hand.

Others might overlook it, but Li Ziran knew this should never have existed.

Such bizarre behavior made Li Ziran instantly realize that something unusual must have happened just now, something that had changed the town's situation.

He lightly twitched his nose. The air was filled with the strange stench of flames and scorching, yet mingled within it was a distinctive fragrance.

That scent resembled the natural smell emitted by trees.

Instinctively, he focused his mind. As an Organ Witch Doctor, he could distinguish the body fragrances emitted by all kinds of creatures. This was basic training.

This particular scent could only naturally arise from a species that dealt with trees year-round.

Without exaggeration, such a scent simply should not have appeared on the Wasteland.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

At that moment, a long row of flaming balls tore through the dark night sky with shrieking whistles. A triangular tower beside the Windmill was swallowed directly by flames.

Fire magic!

The entire mill exploded like a bomb, debris scattering everywhere. Amid the crackling blaze, it was gradually turning to ash.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The knocking became fiercer. The Centaur owner was clearly getting anxious. "Sir, can you hear me? A few Elves want to inspect the place. Don't worry. As long as you haven't had contact with Elves, there won't be any problem."

That simple sentence instantly allowed Li Ziran to grasp the situation.

Elves!

Elves had come to this town.

Had the town already fallen under Elven control? Otherwise, the Centaurs would not be acting so abnormally.

For them to occupy a Wasteland town so openly could only mean that his luck was poor—he had happened to encounter the great tide of Elven pilgrimage.

Elven pilgrimage. Everyone believed that when Elves left the tropical rainforest, they became a lavish feast for Wasteland slave gangs, but Li Ziran had never thought so.

He had never believed Elves would be like Pigman beasts in pens, freely left for others to slaughter.

These were Elves, the darlings of the Elemental Tide.

They possessed strength that every creature had to respect.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The knocking grew more urgent, leaving Li Ziran no time to analyze the situation. The Centaur owner was practically about to kick down the door.

"Sir, did you hear me?"

"Oh, I heard you. Let me put on my clothes. This girl..." Li Ziran hurriedly replied, but when he saw the two bloody frogs on the large round bed, he instantly fell into a quandary.

Elves were not as peace-loving and nature-friendly as the legends claimed.

In Li Ziran's impression, they were a race selfish and closed off to the extreme.

Relying on their formidable elemental power, they huddled within the rainforest and forbade any creature from trespassing upon that region.

Everyone in the slave trade knew that the slave gangs lost in the rainforest every year could rank among the top five in the loss charts.

The greater the strength, the harder it was to restrain.

This suited Elves perfectly. Even the most ordinary Elf would become an Intermediate Mage upon reaching adulthood. It was this foundation that allowed them to charge back and forth across the Wasteland without restraint.

Li Ziran had once seen a group of Flower Elves from afar. They summoned enormous man-eating flower vines that devoured an entire village clean.

Only because the creatures in that village carried the scent of Flower Elves.

The Elves' rejection of slave traders could absolutely rank first. They would stop at nothing to find anyone who might possibly traffic Elves.

Their method was quite simple.

Magic!

The magic every Elf was born controlling.

Li Ziran glanced out the window again. Those constantly moving firebrands were clearly the work of Fire Elves.

These people could use noses keener than dogs' to smell out the Elves' unique scent.

He had just dissected an Ancient Elf. He still had two Elfstones on him, and had even soaked in an Elf's rotting corpse for an entire afternoon.

The Elven scent on him was like a lamp in the black of night—terrifyingly conspicuous.

Li Ziran smiled bitterly to himself. If he stood before the Elves, he would probably be turned into a torch in an instant.

He could not help growing angry. Why did this kind of upheaval have to appear out of nowhere? Couldn't they let him finish the transplant surgery properly?

He was destined not to meet the Elves.

Or... should he escape?

But Mading'er Town had already completely fallen. Elves were everywhere. The moment he went outside as such a giant beacon, he would be walking straight into the net.

"Oh, sir, hurry up. If those Elves get tired of waiting, they'll kill people." The Centaur was extremely anxious. Even through the door, Li Ziran could hear him stamping his hooves outside.

"Right away!" Li Ziran heavily stomped the floor twice. "I'm putting on my shoes. You know women are troublesome. Wait for me to open the door!"

How could he dare open it? Even if he could conceal the surgical scene, the bloody smell and the dense scent of the Ancient Elf were impossible to hide.

Running was completely unrealistic.

But letting the Elves see him was even less realistic.

This was a deadlock.

"Wait a moment!" Li Ziran hurriedly took Nicole down from the hook and carefully applied protective fluid.

The surgery could not be done now. He needed to flee as quickly as possible.

"Ah, your luck is really bad beyond measure!" Li Ziran flicked Nicole's belly and smiled bitterly without pause.

He had come to such a remote place for surgery, avoided Neon Magus, only to somehow end up on the pilgrimage route of a massive Elven force.

He truly did not know what to blame. Fate was impossible to fathom; no one knew when the next calamity would strike.

The only thing one could do was make their brain spin at full load when misfortune descended.

"Sir, aren't you done yet?" The Centaur had completely panicked. "Sorry for the offense." With that, all four hooves kicked the wooden door.

In an instant, the fragile wooden door crumbled like a mountain collapsing, and he charged straight in amid flying wood chips.

He had wanted to offer an apology, but what met his eyes was not the ambiguous scene he had imagined.

It was a grown man stuffing frogs into his arms, while the carefully arranged large round bed was bright red and covered in blood.

"You... this..."

That brief hesitation cost him his chance to escape. Oily green membranes spread over his entire body like ants, and his form rapidly shrank, turning into a frog.

Li Ziran strode over, picked him up, hung him at his waist, then took out a red cord, tied his hind leg, and fastened him behind his waist.

Yet there was little joy in his heart. Dealing with a mill old man like this did not help his current crisis in the slightest.

The sound of the door crashing startled the Centaur captain on the first floor. He shouted upstairs, "What happened?" When no reply came for a long while, he signaled the Centaur soldiers to go up and take a look.

The Elves at the side had already gone on alert.

The thudding sound of hooves climbing the stairs was like a doomsday whistle. Through the broken doorway, he could already see the tall Centaur silhouette by the spiral railing.

He had been exposed.

And he had no choice but to face them.

Li Ziran condensed a Transformation Array. The instant these people came up, he had to transform into a frog with absolute precision.

Attacking Centaur soldiers was equivalent to telling the Elves that resistance existed here. What awaited him would be even more Elven Mages.

He knew the Transformation Spell, but the Elves' exceptional magic resistance would greatly weaken it.

One fireball was all it would take to easily claim Li Ziran's life.

Li Ziran stared fixedly at the doorway. He needed to risk his life and silently turn these Centaurs into frogs.

Using that brief time difference, he would escape from the Windmill, slip into the slave market, find a hidden corner to conceal himself, and figure out a way to leave Mading'er.

He needed to seize every detail. This was a path to survival, but it was exceedingly dangerous.

The Centaurs' voices drew closer and closer. It seemed that in the next moment, those towering figures would appear in the doorway.

Li Ziran hid behind the door and focused on distinguishing the sounds. At this moment, he felt like a special police officer, about to make a graceful turn before firing a Transformation Spell like a bullet and instantly transforming his opponent.

Unfortunately, that was only imagination.

One step!

Two steps!

Three steps!

Li Ziran silently counted down in his heart, the palm clutching his wand already sweating.

"They're here!"

Li Ziran sensed the crisp sound of Centaur hooves landing on the floor.

He leaped, turned, and pointed his wand forward.

[Transformation Spell: Frog]

The point of light from the Transformation Spell shot out along a perfect trajectory, but just when Li Ziran thought the transformation would happen silently—

One Centaur unusually lowered his head, and the transforming light grazed the mane on his forehead before flying past.

Not good!

The Centaurs' reaction speed was too fast. Their unusual pupils could distinguish certain magical trajectories, giving them a chance to evade some spells.

[Transformation Spell: Frog]

Li Ziran had no choice but to cast the Transformation Spell again. This time, the Frog Transformation did not miss.

But it was already useless.

The fellow let out a cry, enough to tell the Elves that something had changed here.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Li Ziran could now clearly hear the sound of people climbing the stairs. Every step seemed to trample upon his heart.

He bent down, picked up the two frogs, and hung them behind his waist, but his entire body had gone rigid.

What he had just done was the instinct of collecting slaves, but what was he supposed to do now?

Die?

Simply let the Elves turn him into a giant torch like this?

He was lost, even a little afraid.

Like a child who had made a mistake, he stared at the end of the spiral staircase and quietly waited for doomsday.

Squeak!

A strange cry broke his stupor. Turning his head, he saw two rats fighting over his bread.

When Li Ziran looked over, the two rats hurriedly burrowed beneath the large round bed.

Rats?

In that instant, an idea suddenly sprang into Li Ziran's mind.

Listening to the sounds drawing ever nearer, he no longer had time to consider how feasible the idea was.

He immediately pointed his wand at himself. In an instant, black mucus wrapped around his body, slowly stretching it out as his limbs degenerated, turning him into a slender black-spotted snake.

He flicked out his forked tongue, followed the rats' trail, and slithered beneath the large round bed.