Most members of the Tree Worship Church have long been accustomed to and accepting of this kind of death.
After all, three generations have passed since the outbreak of the Demonic Tide. If there were a solution to this problem, it would have been solved long ago. Why wait until now?
But these seemingly young and ambitious outsiders did indeed appear very confident, and everyone Whisper among themselves upon hearing this.
After a while, an elderly villager was the first to come out:
"I feel like I'm about to die of old age."
The Soul Returner looked in the direction from which the sound came, and saw a ragged, white-haired old man looking at them with some fear.
His back was hunched, his shoulders drooped sharply to the left, and a Symbiotic Tree was twisting and growing upwards from under his right armpit.
It's clear that these two haven't been cooperating very well over the past few decades; humans haven't been able to grow into healthy adults, and the Symbiotic Tree hasn't grown straight either.
However, the two have managed to survive this long by depending on each other, until the old man felt his bodily functions declining at an increasingly rapid pace, as if his old friend was trying to drain him dry.
"Indeed, please register here first, then you can go home to pack your things. We'll take you away after everyone else has been registered."
The old man did indeed have doubts about whether he was going to be subjected to some terrible things, but then again, he didn't think he had any value as a guinea pig.
Moreover, the Symbiotic Tree had already tormented him enough; he simply couldn't imagine what even greater suffering would be like.
So he followed the Soul Returner looked to be under twenty, to a long table and began answering his questions.
"Name?"
" Bei'er, everyone calls me Old Bei'er."
Are there any other people named Bei'er in your village?
Yes, there's also Little Bei'er.
"Good."
The Soul Returner and wrote "[ Bei'er Old]" on the paper, then continued to ask:
"Age?"
45.
"How many?"
The Soul Returner looked up sharply at the guy who looked almost exactly like his grandfather in real life:
Are you sure?
Old Bei'er nodded.
The Soul Returner thought of the villages that were now part of Valhalla. There seemed to be some people in those villages who were similar to him, commoners who were only in their thirties or forties but looked as old as fifty or sixty.
With a sigh inwardly, the Soul Returner and Old Bei'er continued their question-and-answer session.
In the mountains a dozen miles from the village, Xilǐ'er and " Zhou Cang " finally encountered their first problem since embarking on their journey—
The road is difficult to travel.
Although the road had been winding and rugged ever since he left the village, Xilǐ'er simply couldn't take it anymore.
The previous road at least allowed him to ride or lead his horse forward, but now it could hardly be called a road anymore.
What appeared before the two of them was an almost completely vertical cliff face, and at the bottom of the cliff, in a slightly recessed area, there were obvious signs of human excavation.
The excavated recessed areas have been completely connected into a line, and you can walk step by step to the corner hundreds of meters away by simply bending down.
And behind that corner, who knows if there are even more treacherous sections of road?
Xilǐ'er wouldn't have minded if it were just that the roads were difficult to travel, but the problem was that the version of events given by the villager who had just given him directions seemed outdated.
Judging from the numerous damaged sections of the mountain road ahead, this place has not been maintained for at least a decade.
Faced with this obvious problem, Xilǐ'er turned to look at the Soul Returner:
We need to find another way.
The Soul Returner to its source and nodded, then asked:
So, which way do you plan to go?
Xilǐ'er looked back and said:
"Go back a bit, then go into the woods and up the hill, avoiding this cliff."
"Good."
In the real world, players following Xilǐ'er would obviously need to consider a series of issues such as physical strength and resources, worrying about whether they might become the subject of an outdoor adventure program.
But in World of Disorder, this is clearly not a problem.
The two turned around and walked for a while longer, until they reached a slightly flatter area.
Xilǐ'er led Radish into the dense forest. Radish, Xilǐ'er's warhorse who had fought alongside him throughout his life, had followed him since he was knighted. Later, the two of them turned into amber, then into living armor, then grew flesh and blood together, and then underwent plant-based modifications together...
Although it's hard to say whether Radish is still the same steed as it was two hundred years ago, in Xilǐ'er's eyes it will always be the best mount.
Even now, when it comes to traversing steep mountains covered in dense forests, Radish has absolutely no resistance.
But a certain Hoofed Beast with poor judgment was different.
Seeing Xilǐ'er easily enter the dense forest with his mount, the players naturally didn't think it was any difficult.
So he led the six-legged Hoofed Beast away from the path and into the forest, but unexpectedly the Hoofed Beast instantly transformed into a stubborn donkey, determined not to go in even if it meant death.
Xilǐ'er noticed the commotion behind him and turned to check what was happening.
A man and a Hoofed Beast were locked in a struggle, neither willing to back down an inch.
Seeing his embarrassing moment exposed, the Soul Returner chuckled awkwardly and released his grip, his mind racing at the same time—
If Xilǐ'er is made to wait because of my own reasons, not only will I lose trust, but I might also delay my own mission.
With this thought in mind, he steeled himself, loosened the reins, and quickly walked to Xilǐ'er's side, saying:
"Can I ask Radish to help me carry my drawing board?"
A wooden drawing board isn't heavy, so it's not a problem.
Having settled his easel, the Soul Returner approached the Hoofed Beast and pulled a small, dark pink ball from his robes.
He covered his mouth and nose with one hand, squeezed the ball hard with the other, and then held it in front of the Hoofed Beast's nose.
After a few breaths, the Hoofed Beast began to stagger, even with six legs it was not enough to keep its balance.
A few breaths later, the Hoofed Beast completely lost consciousness.
Xilǐ'er watched this scene with great interest, wondering how the Soul Returner would break the deadlock.
Unexpectedly, after using the sleeping potion to subdue the Hoofed Beast, the Soul Returner did not act immediately. Instead, he reached out and tapped the air in front of him a few times, then uttered a low shout:
"Dark Blue, add some points!"
The next moment, Xilǐ'er noticed that the aura emanating from the Soul Returner had suddenly increased significantly.
The man seemed quite surprised by this as well, clenching and unclenching his fists, and stretching his arms a few times as if adapting to his new body.
Once everything was ready, he approached the unconscious Hoofed Beast. With a low shout, the six-legged mount leaped into the air, its two front legs resting on his shoulders, its two middle legs tucked between his sides, and its two hind legs unconsciously bracing themselves against the ground.