Chapter 221
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Chapter 221: The Riverbank
Bits of dry leaves were scattered on the water by the river wind from time to time. Jesse looked across to the pale yellow Westfall, filled with lifeless dead trees and feeble bushes… Finally, it seemed like he found a hint of the scenery from the game.
The two of them walked by the river for over an hour, with Greed constantly glancing over this way.
Arriving here, Jesse looked around at the quiet and empty surroundings, feeling a bit impatient.
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
"I’m just not used to seeing you in a long robe, it almost feels like I don’t know you."
As Greed used a stick to push aside a patch of yellow grass in front of them, he spoke.
Just as he finished speaking, Jesse glanced at his own robe. Suddenly, there was a splash from a grass pile at the riverbank ahead, as if a fish had leaped out of the water and back in.
Both of them stared in that direction for a while. Greed asked, "Was it a fish or a frog?"
Jesse looked at him and asked, "Winter frog?"
"Have you heard of magic potion?" the dwarf asked.
"Amaniwitchery master transforms magic frogs here, are you joking?" Jesse laughed.
The dwarf glanced up and asked, "You actually know about magic potion?"
Jesse’s smile suddenly froze on his face, trying to cover up, "I am also from the north and know some odd things. Come, let’s go take a look."
Greed nodded, slowly pushing aside the grass to approach, suddenly hearing a low groan.
The two hurried over and saw a man covered in knife wounds lying on the riverbank, struggling to move his lips.
Greed picked up a water bag to try to give him some water, but the man seemed to have lost consciousness of drinking, his face pale like a corpse, muttering that he couldn’t drink anything, just staring blankly at the sky. Even when Greed shook him, there was no actual response.
"He’s as good as dead," Greed stood up and said.
"Can the Healing Potion save him?" Jesse asked.
Greed sighed and said, "Impossible, he’s about to die anytime soon. Unless a botanical elf suddenly appears here, he’s doomed. This poor guy might have been lying here all night."
At that moment, the person suddenly went silent.
"Damn it," Greed threw a stone into the river, saying, "It would have been better to come later and see a dead body. Maybe seeing the two of us, he would have been excited and could have survived for another hour or two, but couldn’t handle it all at once."
"Facing less suffering would be good," Jesse frowned and asked, "Who did this to him?"
"Who else could it be? Isn’t it Gnoll?" Greed said.
"Would Gnoll leave him lying here?" Jesse said, "Gnoll likes to eat human flesh."
"Do you remember that woman we met last time?" Greed said, "It was on our way to Raven Hill, we encountered that dead woman by the river, the Northrend woman."
"I remember," Jesse said, "Are you saying that woman wasn’t eaten? I won’t be checking the wounds, do you know how to tell what weapon caused the wounds?"
"Let me see." Greed lifted the bloodied clothes off the person, and Jesse noticed a terrifyingly deep wound under their ribs.
"The sword stab, it’s deep… probably what ended their life." Greed sighed.
"Do Gnolls use swords to stab?" Jesse asked.
"They might." Greed frowned, saying, "I really don’t want to consider other possibilities, Jesse. Why has it come to this, having to fight not only Gnolls but our own kind?"
"Our own kind?" Jesse said. "Now we have to watch out for other mercenaries who may pose a threat. We should have thought about this from the beginning."
When the sheriff at Westbrook Garrison said "You’re different from the other mercenaries," Jesse had a vague feeling of what they would face here, but didn’t expect it to be so blatant.
Looking at the freshly deceased person, he felt a strong sense of nausea, even more so than when facing the risen undead in Dalaran.
"I’m going to let it out, Greed," Jesse said.
"It? Who?"
Jesse whispered, "Saenor, come out and watch for us."
Saying that, imp immediately popped out from the Warlock Pack on his back.
Greed looked at the golden ghost head poking out and staring at him. His face went from shocked to puzzled to angry. He grabbed Jesse’s robe and asked in a low voice, "What are you planning to do?"
Jesse explained, "It can sense potential enemies approaching, especially spellcasters. Greed, shouldn’t we be cautious of mages that may be among the mercenaries, or even other warlocks? Not to mention, there could be warlocks among the Gnolls… Don’t get angry for now. You’ll understand slowly. Remember when we encountered that dragon in Southshore? It sensed us from far away."
Imp nodded vigorously.
"Why isn’t he speaking?" Greed asked.
"Before we left, I told him not to speak," Jesse said. "Otherwise, both of us would go crazy. I can’t stand it. He’s here to quietly scout for us. Let’s go on our way."
"He’s so obedient?"
"At least on the surface." The two walked along the riverbank, concealed by the tall grass by the water, heading south for about two hours. During this time, imp did not notice any unusual movements.
"Look at the map," Jesse patted Greed’s back and said.
"I doubt looking at the map will help."
Greed took out the forest map that the sheriff had lent them from his bag.
Jesse took it and checked the directions, confirmed north and south, looked at the river’s direction, then walked along the shore, through tall grass.
In front of them was a vast, seemingly bewildering forest, stretching as far as the eye could see. Even in the bright afternoon sun, the depths of the forest felt eerie and unsettling.
With their walking pace, they felt like they had covered about four to five kilometers in two hours. They should be close to the Gnoll Campsite marked on the map.
"Are we lost?" Greed asked.
Jesse looked back at the calm river and said, "Since we left Westbrook Garrison, we have never strayed from this river. Honestly, Greed, if we don’t leave this river and head into the forest, we can’t even consider it a journey, let alone being lost. I’ve checked the map as well, let’s go further in."
"Then let’s go," Greed replied.
The two of them looked around in the forest, made sure nothing was strange, and then went deeper inside.
Elwynn Forest in winter was even lonelier than in summer. Despite the fewer leaves, the white tree trunks and bare branches were very dazzling.
After the two of them searched in the forest for about twenty minutes, imp suddenly scratched Jesse’s neck, causing a sharp pain.
"What’s wrong? Speak," said Jesse.
"It seems like there’s a spellcaster nearby…but then again, maybe not," Jesse replied.
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