Chapter 99: The Witch In The Twilight
“Hey, are you still alive?”
Xilutiya stood in front of the concealed rock cave, looking at Suolin who lay unconscious before her.
Half of his body was buried in the soft soil, his face was purple, his body was feverish, and he was nearly in shock.
She took out the small knife she carried, slit his wrist, and checked the dark red blood that flowed out.
As expected, he was poisoned, the maiden thought. Then she took out the White Camellia flower leaves she carried in her bosom, pried open Suolin’s jaw, placed the fragrant camellia leaves into his mouth, and poured in some clear water.
After a short while, Suolin slowly woke up and looked up to see Xilutiya standing not far in front of him.
He noticed the flower leaves in his mouth; the clear fragrance dispersed the dizziness in his mind, making him realize that this should be something to detoxify him.
“Tha…nks.” He spoke with slurred words, then weakly closed his eyes again.
The assessment was probably hopeless, but surviving was a great fortune.
In the past, he did not understand why his father, a veteran soldier who had experienced many battlefields, now fled the battlefield and lived in seclusion in a remote place like Jiaoshi City.
Now he could probably understand his father’s feelings and thoughts.
The battlefield and death were truly terrifying things. He recalled the poisonous snake he killed yesterday; even if he won, so what? He still nearly died in the mountains. Compared to surviving, victory became insignificant.
After recovering some strength, he slowly crawled out from the soft soil, then found his buried watering can and drank some clear water, feeling his strength recover considerably.
“I’m feeling better; I should be able to slowly make my way back on my own afterward.” He sat under a tree, speaking with swollen eyes.
“Tiya, you’re still continuing the assessment, right? No need to keep wasting time here.” Though he did not know how this seemingly delicate girl had come to the deep forest, since she had arrived safely, she must be much stronger than him.
“I was originally thinking of competing with Mike, but it seems I was too proud.” He shook his head with self-mockery.
“Since you can guide Mike, you must be stronger than him. I misjudged you in the past.”
“Among this batch of students, probably no one except Iona can surpass you… Now that I’ve become weak, I can truly feel what strength is.”
“Your footsteps and actions are far more coordinated than others; this is not something a delicate maiden can achieve.”
“This bead is for you. If you face Iona, it will be of great help.” He took out a snow-white pearl from his sleeve and handed it to the maiden.
【Blue Water Shell Pearl】（First Order·Sleeping Winter）: A pearl containing Nature Power, which can drive and activate the power within, emitting a chilling aura.（Remaining power 82%）
“Originally, I prepared this for myself, just to gain the power to fight when facing Iona.” He leaned against the tree trunk and slowly explained.
“Now, I have no need for it.”
“I’ll stop here; you continue on…” With that, he closed his eyes again, entering the meditative state of the breathing technique to adjust his bloodline rhythm and heal his wounds.
Seeing this, Xilutiya slowly stood up. She looked at the pearl in her hand and nodded to Suolin, who was meditating with closed eyes before her.
“I’m leaving. There’s some healing medicine here; you can apply it externally.” She set down a small bottle of hemostatic and disinfectant healing medicine, then left.
……
In the evening, Xilutiya found another Ogre. It had rough blue skin, a single horn like a rhinoceros on its head, and its body was stained with foul-smelling blood and filth.
Facing this Ogre, she set down the basket at her side, then gripped her two Tree Jade Spirit Swords in her hands.
Emerald Color radiance flowed; the two jade-like longswords emitted fluorescence in the evening light, becoming sharp and hard.
“You’ve eaten people.” Xilutiya could discern the traces left on its body and murmured softly.
Faced with the maiden’s questioning, the Ogre before her roared disdainfully, then gripped its thick wooden club and strode forward, swinging the club thicker than the maiden’s waist down at her.
Xilutiya had lightly dodged before the wooden club arrived. The club could only splash up gravel and soil from the ground. Then she nimbly rushed behind the Ogre and, before it could defend, thrust her sword into its back.
The sword precisely avoided the tough bones, inserting into the Ogre’s lungs through the gaps between them, slicing horizontally, and then withdrawing.
The intense pain enraged the Ogre. Its blood boiled throughout its body, and the power within it instantly activated in rage. Gripping the wooden club, it wildly turned and slashed at the maiden.
Facing these frenzied attacks, Xilutiya calmly coped, constantly using trees to block the Ogre’s steps, then quickly dodging out of its attack range.
Blood kept flowing from the wound. The herbs applied to this Tree Jade Spirit Sword that hindered clotting prevented the Ogre from healing its wound. It began to shift from rage to fear, then clutched its wound and tried to flee.
In response, Xilutiya shook her head, stopped, and took out the lantern from her waist.
【Flower Blooming Technique】 activated, and the brightness of the Fire Cloud Orchid flower stamens like tiny bits of starfire in the lantern rapidly increased, followed by an invisible fire wave spreading.
Tangible orange-red fire waves spread from Xilutiya’s side, igniting the trees and the Ogre’s body along the way. The Ogre wailed and rolled in the mountain forest, sending up waves of green smoke.
About ten minutes later, this Ogre was completely dead, its charred body emitting a foul, hot stench amid the grassland.
This should count as completing the second objective, the maiden thought. She cautiously approached the dead Ogre and inspected the corpse with her other Black Steel Short Sword.
With the experience of defeating this opponent this time, she had some ideas for facing the previous two-headed Ogre.
It seemed she needed to find other methods to defeat opponents; blindly attacking head-on was not the best choice. She thought the greatest credit for killing this Ogre belonged to the anticoagulant herbs she had unintentionally gathered along the way.
If she could poison it… Xilutiya began to conceive her next plan.
……
On the open ground at the foot of the mountain, Viscount Xue Feng and Scholar Heide sat in a temporary wooden shed, discussing the situation of this assessment.
“Now, the first batch of people who found spring water have returned.”
“Six have returned in total; two brought back spring water, and the other four were injured and voluntarily withdrew.”
“Currently, Iona, Tiya, Komiya, Karen, Mike, Lei, Suolin, and Baron have not returned.” A retainer nearby checked the roster.
“A day and a night have passed; the students’ carried food and clear water are limited, and their supplies should be nearly depleted. If they can’t find water sources and food on their own, it will be hard to persist afterward.” A tall knight holding a heavy sword stood beside the viscount and commented.
“Leven is right. The first objective is within the range of normal people; as long as they study diligently and prepare well on ordinary days, completing it is not difficult.”
“But starting from the second objective, it especially tests talent and strength.”
“How many students in this batch have stepped into ‘First Order’?” Knight Leven asked the instructor.
“Eight students in this batch have stepped into First Order.” The instructor answered proudly.
“Oh, so that means none of the elite students who have stepped into First Order have returned yet, right?” Knight Leven spoke with interest, his gaze under the helmet looking into the distance.
“Yes.” At this, many present began to worry again.
These elite students were the pride of Jiaoshi City. In another ten or twenty years, they would probably become the backbone of Jiaoshi City, standing here like them now.
Though it was good for young people to have ambition, if they encountered accidents while slaying ‘First Order’ monsters, it would be regrettable.
Their conversation echoed under the temporary wooden shed until a black horse carriage slowly approached through the twilight, causing everyone to fall silent.
Two Third Order knights stood in front of Viscount Xue Feng. The ‘Castle’ Nature auras emanating from them spread like city walls, enveloping the entire temporary camp and blocking the invisible erosion spreading in the night.
At this moment, the black horse carriage stopped, and then the door opened.
A seductive black skirt hem gracefully stepped out of the carriage door, followed by a graceful figure whose face could not be seen clearly. She had pale skin, wore enchanting black-as-night attire, and thin black ribbons wrapped around her wrists like living things, occasionally twisting.
【Fourth Order·Nightmare】
When she appeared, many weeds at her feet began to twist unnaturally, turning black and deforming; some even grew wailing human faces, sending chills down the spine.
After brief contact, these plants were tainted by the ‘Nightmare’ Nature Power, mutating and withering. Even the two Third Order knights, who were only one order below, now looked grave and alertly watched the figure approaching slowly.
Was this the witch from the Secluded Forest? So terrifying and frightening, completely unlike a being of the mortal world, more like some twisted monster.
At the moment when everyone was extremely tense, this unknown figure let out a light, ethereal laugh, finally breaking the silence.
“Long time no see, little Heide. I didn’t expect you to be so old now.” Dots of eerie purple light appeared at her side, faintly illuminating her figure in the twilight.
Finally seeing her face clearly, Heide stood up from the wooden chair in some disbelief and looked at her.
“Melinsa… Senior Female Student?”
The senior female student senior he had met by chance during his studies was still so young after sixty years in the past.
