In the deep mountains near Lady of the Lake Town, in a clearing covered by vines, a decaying wooden house stood crookedly.
The spoon hanging on the wooden roof was clinking in the wind.
A monster nearly two meters tall and similar in appearance to Broom Witch was covering its head in distress with its withered hands with sharp nails.
Every time the spoon pendant collided, her body trembled involuntarily.
After a while, the breeze stopped, and the monster suddenly staggered up, its cloudy eyes suddenly bulging;
Her hands covered with black spots were shrinking like melted wax, and her sharp nails fell to the ground with a "click-click" sound.
She ran to the rusty bronze mirror hanging on the dilapidated wall and saw that her body in the bronze mirror was gradually shrinking and slowly turning into a normal human appearance. She couldn't help laughing in surprise.
But not long after, it put its face close to the bronze mirror, stared carefully at the ravaged face in the mirror, covered its face again, and cried loudly.
The spiderweb-like cracks on the mirror cut her face into pieces, but each piece was covered with wrinkles.
She trembled and touched the sunken cheek - there were dimples here and a luster like Moonlight.
After a while, the poor old woman finally cried her tears and gradually calmed down.
"I don't know how many years have passed since I became Monster. I have never been to human society, and I haven't eaten human food for a long time.
I must find something to eat. I must find something to eat.
The curse is gone, I'm finally free, I'm finally free!"
She stooped and slammed into the wooden door, causing the rotten hinges to snap.
The thorns pierced into her calloused soles, dragging bloody traces under the moonlight.
After running for who knows how long, she looked down from a high place and saw a bright manor with still fireworks.
Under the reflection of the torch outside, it was obvious that it was a white grape orchard.
The old woman panted heavily and came to the door. After calming down for a while, she repeatedly moved the corners of her mouth, as if she was practicing a human smile.
She tried hard to straighten her stooped back, took two more deep breaths, and then slowly and gently knocked on the door of the manor with her skinny knuckles.
After a while, the lights in the servants' room in the manor came on.
Dick stood still and looked at the prompts on the panel:
Kill Crow X139 and get Energy Points X50;
Kill the wild wolf X99 and get Energy Points X200;
Kill Broom Witch X1 and get Energy Points X50;
Complete the task (lift the gryphon curse of Vivian) and obtain Energy Points X150;
The current total is Energy Points X800.
There was no hesitation, after all, one of Alchemy can be upgraded to master level for free.
600 Energy Points disappeared in an instant, leaving only 200.
Potion Making (elite level): The effect is increased by 30%.
Dick saw that there were still a dozen wolves that had not been affected by his Piercing Cold Shockwave, but Geralt had already sheathed his sword and made no move.
He was just about to drive all these wolves away, but he didn't expect that when they saw the remains of Broom Witch, they were so frightened that they turned around and ran away into the depths of the jungle.
When Dick was sighing, Geralt walked to him with a smile.
"Don't be so murderous. You have killed a lot of wolves today. I don't know how long it will take for the remaining ones to return to their original numbers."
The ecological balance of this forest is almost destroyed, Dick, please restrain yourself."
"Okay, I'm just a little itchy." Dick said, sheathing the sword.
At this time, Jimmy had prepared a velvet blanket and draped it over the naked girl next to him.
Vivian raised his eyebrows and quickly walked up to Dick tightly wrapped in a fleece blanket. He kicked out Broom Witch's head with eyes wide open and its mouth wide open, and was kicked more than three feet away.
Still not relieved, she walked to the spot where the head landed and stepped down hard.
Broom Witch's burnt-yellow teeth were scattered on the ground.
Vivian then roared angrily:
"You made me curse me, made my parents worry about me for so many years, and made me dare not express my feelings to Jimmy.
You damn monster, you should have died long ago, you are finally dead!"
After saying that, she ignored the blanket falling to the ground, covered her face with her hands, and howled loudly.
Jimmy walked to her side in a few steps, picked up the blanket and put it on her body again, hugged Vivian tightly with his arms, and whispered comfort.
The two demon hunters were also quite touched when they saw this scene.
In this day and age, people who can truly accompany you are really rare.
After comforting his partner, Jimmy took Vivian's hand, thanked the two demon hunters repeatedly, and took out a deerskin wallet and handed it over:
"Dick, Geralt, thank you very much. Vivian and I can finally be together in the future. The money in it is not much, 500 Kelang, just treat it as the commission fee this time."
"Yes, I sincerely thank the two master demon hunters. I feel like I have been reborn and can fulfill my previous wishes."
"Vivian, what is your wish?" Jimmy was surprised.
"My childhood dream was to travel around the entire Panda Continent, but this trip there will be one more person by my side."
While the two were snuggling together sweetly, Dick did not take the money bag, but instead raised his eyebrows and said, "Not enough."
He deliberately made the scabbard collide with the belt buckle, making a threatening noise.
Geralt leaned against the big tree with his arms folded, Moonlight faint smile lines appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Jimmy eyes widened slightly. "Then I'll add some more money."
"Of course you have to add money, and you can only add one copper Kelang."
"Why only add one copper Kelang?" Jimmy opened his mouth wide.
"Because if 500 Kelang is divided into two equal parts, the number each person will get is really unlucky."
Although the couple didn't quite understand, they still laughed together a few times, which was a response to Dick's cold joke.
When the two returned the couple safely and returned to Corvo Bianco, they found that the light in the living room was still on.
Opening the door, an old woman was burying her head in front of the dining table, devouring food.
The butler behind him was still awake and was waiting on him.
Seeing the two people coming in, the housekeeper nodded slightly.
The old woman is sitting on one left and right, Little Yennefer and Russell.
Little Yennefer patted the old woman's back gently. "Eat slowly, don't be in a hurry."
"Who is this person?" Geralt asked.
"He is a poor man, my lord."
The housekeeper slowly recounted the old man's experience:
It turns out that this old woman was also a young lady from a wealthy family a few years ago.
One night, a ragged beggar came to beg for food, but her sleep was interrupted and she treated the beggar badly.
Not only did she not give the beggar food, she also cursed a few times.
At that time, the beggar said that she would never be able to eat human food again and would become as ugly as herself.
Over the next few days, her figure gradually changed:
On the first day, only my fingertips turned black;
The fangs pierced the lip the next day;
When the seventh day came, she locked her bedroom door with an iron chain. At this time, she had completely transformed into Monster.
In desperation, she had no choice but to escape to the mountains and build a hut by herself, where she lived for eighty years.
"Then how did she lift the curse?" Dick rubbed her fingers and tapped the wooden table gently.
The old woman raised her head, her cloudy eyes seemed a little brighter, "Two master demon hunters, I don't know, but after midnight tonight, the curse was suddenly lifted."
Dick An idea flashed in his mind, "Curse? Have you seen the true appearance of that monster?"
The old woman nodded tremblingly.
Little Yennefer quickly held the old woman's hand, trying to calm her fear.
"The monster appeared in front of me three years ago and viciously mocked me for being a human being and a ghost for the rest of my life.
Its nose is very long, like a red pepper.
His claws are extremely sharp, and he always likes to tie a huge broom behind his back with rags."
Geralt and Dick looked at each other and said, "I never thought there could be such a coincidence in the world."
Dick told how they broke the old curse and killed Broom Witch.
After comparing the time, it was found that the time when Broom Witch died was the day when the old woman's curse was lifted.
Everything has become clear. Two demon hunters accepted a demon hunting commission and actually saved two people.
The tears washed down the ravines on the old woman's face, reflecting the fine silver light under the candlelight, just like those spoons that were hung all over the wooden house.
"Thank you, thank you very much. However, I have a grudging favor..."
When she hesitated, Russell patted the table lightly and said, "Don't be afraid, keep talking, as long as we can help, we will definitely help."
"I haven't been home for 80 years, and my family must be gone long ago.
I don't know where to go now, but I'm a good cook, can I stay here and cook for you?"
Little Yennefer smiled softly, his eyes full of tenderness:
"Of course you can. You can live there with peace of mind from now on. Geralt happens to be short of a cook."
As she spoke, she stared straight at Geralt with her almond-shaped eyes.
"I'm short of a cook here." Geralt responded.
"Now that your matters are settled, I will arrange a room for the old man, don't worry."
The butler bowed gracefully.
Tips:
Dick's skills at this time
[Combat]: Swordsmanship (Grandmaster level), Bow and Crossbow Shooting (Professional level), Fighting (Master level)
[Signs]: Piercing Cold Shockwave (grandmaster level), Flames (master level), Protection (master level), Magic Trap (professional level), Hypnosis (professional level)
[Alchemy]: Potion Making (elite level), Sword Oil Making (novice level), Magic Bombs (novice level)
[Talent]: School of the Lynx Witcher (5 times the physical strength), Blood of Madness (double the reaction ability, lasting 5 minutes), super [Self-Healing], super [Steel Sinews and Iron Bones], Super [Giant Transformation], Advanced [Extreme Leap], Junior [Beast Taming], Underwater Breathing, Secondary Mutation