Chapter 42: Where did you come from?

After finishing dinner, Weibai leaned against the carriage wheel with satisfaction.

Looking up at the starry sky, a wave of melancholy washed over him.

He was free now—free to go wherever he wanted, with absolutely no one to control him.

Wasn’t this the life he had once dreamed of?

Toying with the Pendant, Weibai noticed that another tiny rune on the crystal had gone dark.

As a result, only four runes remained inside.

Wait, the injuries he had sustained previously should have had a significant impact on him.

Why hadn’t he felt anything these past few days?

He glanced at the others.

After confirming that no one was paying attention to him, Weibai quietly lifted a corner of his clothes to check his injuries.

He was surprised to find that only scars remained on his body; the previous wounds and bruises had completely vanished.

He touched his chest and discovered that he could no longer feel the pain of his broken ribs.

All his bones felt normal, as if he had never suffered any form of harm.

‘This…’

Weibai was a bit puzzled.

Without a Magic Potion, these injuries would have taken at least six months to show even a slight improvement.

Furthermore, if he didn’t see a Doctor, they would only have worsened.

There was no way he could have recovered this quickly.

Puzzled, Weibai turned his gaze back to the Pendant.

Come to think of it, it was the same last time.

He had been burned badly, yet he had healed after a single night’s sleep.

Similarly, one of the Pendant’s runes had disappeared then as well.

Could it be that this Pendant was healing him?

If that were the case, Weibai took a closer look at the runes inside the crystal.

Now, only four small leaves remained, which meant he had already consumed two chances.

He wasn’t entirely certain if the true purpose of the runes was to heal him, but he felt there was a high probability they were.

If so, it was equivalent to having four extra lives.

If the runes could heal him perfectly every time he sustained a fatal injury, wouldn’t he be able to act without restraint?

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

Weibai truly hadn’t expected the Pendant to have such a function.

Suppressing his excitement, he looked at the people traveling with him and suddenly realized someone was missing.

“Strange, where did Taurani go?”

Weibai looked at the Adventurer Party.

The girl from the Blood Demon race was gone.

After thinking it over, he realized he wouldn’t find an answer just by pondering on his own, so he addressed the others.

“Hey, where did your Doctor go? It’s dangerous to act alone this late.”

As soon as he spoke, the others realized a member of the team was missing.

The realization that someone had vanished without them noticing silenced their idle chatter, and deep worry appeared in their eyes.

“You’re right, where is that little girl?” Grey asked, scratching his head and looking around.

“You’re asking me? I wanted to ask you!”

Seeing this, Weibai couldn’t help but feel a bit angry.

“She’s a member of your team, and yet you didn’t keep an eye on her?”

“We…”

Grey opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.

He had clearly seen Taurani sitting next to Jiu just a moment ago.

How could she have disappeared in the blink of an eye?

“It’s dangerous to wander off alone this late,” Weibai said, picking up his sword and heading into the darkness.

“Mr. Francis, wait a moment,” the silent Jiu suddenly spoke, wanting to say something, but Weibai ignored her.

“If it were up to me, I’d go find her.”

After dropping that line, Weibai vanished into the darkness.

“Hey, wait a second! At least let me finish!”

Jiu hurriedly tried to chase after him, but she found that after entering the darkness, Weibai seemed to have vanished completely.

No matter how she looked, she couldn’t find him.

Upon entering the dark, Weibai began to sense a faint, almost imperceptible scent in the air.

Soon, he caught a delicate fragrance drifting toward the depths of the shadows.

In truth, there was no need for him to risk his life for someone he had just met.

If he hadn’t been an Adventurer before, he might have just minded his own business…

“It should be this way.”

Weibai held his sword and followed the guidance of the scent.

“This Adventurer Party is such a handful. They didn’t even notice a companion was missing.”

Sighing, Weibai continued forward.

Before long, a rustling sound came from the darkness ahead.

‘What was that?’

Weibai tensed up, staring intently at the path in front of him.

Just as he was on high alert, a pair of green eyes lit up.

“Gulp.”

Seeing those green eyes, Weibai swallowed hard, suddenly getting a bad feeling.

Before he could react, a wild boar charged out of the darkness.

*Thud!*

Weibai was sent reeling by the boar’s prepared charge.

He felt his stomach churn and almost threw up his dinner.

Ignoring the pain, Weibai tried to relocate the boar, only to find it had already vanished.

“Damn it.”

After checking several times, Weibai confirmed the boar was gone.

He could only chalk it up to bad luck and resumed following the scent.

After a few more steps, a bat flew out from the darkness, heading straight for Weibai’s face.

This time, Weibai was quick.

He slashed the bat down with one stroke of his sword.

“There are so many wild beasts here at night. I wonder how that little girl is doing,” Weibai muttered to himself, picking up his pace as he ran deeper into the dark.

Suddenly, a flash of light flickered before his eyes.

In the next moment, his vision cleared, and a lake appeared before him.

Cold moonlight spilled over the shimmering lake, and a vast expanse of emerald grass surrounding the water swayed in the breeze.

The starry sky was reflected on the surface of the lake, lending a touch of mysterious fantasy to the scene.

“Where did I end up?” Weibai looked at the unfamiliar scenery, feeling quite confused.

He wasn’t familiar with the geography outside the city, so he didn’t recognize this place.

Looking back, he realized he had been trekking through a dense forest.

No wonder there hadn’t been any light; the leaves had completely blocked out the moon.

Lifting his feet, Weibai walked toward the lakeshore.

He was certain that the scent had vanished right here.

As he neared the shore, Weibai found Taurani’s clothes on a nearby rock, including a pair of cartoon-patterned panties.

‘The person is gone, but the clothes are here?’

Weibai looked at the clothes, feeling confused.

‘What kind of monster strips a Human before kidnapping them? Don’t these monsters usually eat people whole? Since when did they become so picky?’

He leaned down, picking up Taurani’s small dress to examine it.

There were no signs of battle damage or marks from magical attacks.

Setting the clothes down, deep concern appeared in Weibai’s eyes.

He strongly suspected that something terrible had happened to Taurani.

If a monster could kidnap her while leaving her clothes perfectly intact, its strength likely far exceeded hers.

However…

Weibai then noticed the mud on the ground.

There were clear footprints leading toward the lake.

The grass along the path was also trampled and messy, unlike how it would grow naturally.

Weibai concluded that Taurani must have been taken into the lake by some unknown monster.

He had to be fast! He had to hurry, or Taurani might not make it!

Weibai frantically pushed through the tall grass and ran toward the shore.

The thick grass scraped painfully against his legs through his trousers.

Staring at the shimmering water for too long made his eyes feel a bit blurry.

Finally, Weibai burst through the grass and reached the water’s edge.

However, the scene before him made his pupils shrink.

A girl with skin like cream was sitting on a reef by the lake.

A familiar Holy Staff was leaning against the rock beside her.

Her fair, naked body was completely exposed, her jade-like limbs glistening with droplets of water.

Although her physique was youthful, it still exuded a touch of graceful charm.

At that moment, the girl’s bright, beautiful eyes stared at Weibai in shock, and her doll-like face quickly flushed bright red.

*Boom!*

A red beam of light shot toward Weibai.

Sensing the energy contained within the beam, Weibai didn’t hesitate and rolled out of the way.

“You pervert!”

Taurani screamed, her face crimson.

She grabbed her staff and began to wave it violently, raining down all sorts of spells on Weibai.

Weibai’s brain was currently in a state of chaos, still overloaded from the image he had just seen.

“**[3rd Tier Shield Spell]!**“

Faced with the overwhelming barrage of chaotic magic, Weibai was forced to summon a shield to protect himself from the explosions.

Fortunately, Taurani wasn’t using any high-powered spells; she was just carpet-bombing him with low-level magic.

After a while, Taurani exhausted her Mana.

Her face was flushed, her body trembled, and she panted heavily.

Weibai wasn’t doing much better.

Although the shield had blocked most of the magic, a few spells had managed to snake in from awkward angles, hitting him and making him yell in pain.

“Whye are yoo bathin heer?”

Weibai’s tongue was somewhat numb from the **[Shock Spell]**, making his voice sound thick and slurred.

He truly hadn’t expected Taurani to be bathing in a place like this! He had been so worried about her.

“You bastard!”

Hearing that Weibai hadn’t had the sense to leave and was instead trying to talk to her, Taurani felt a surge of intense shame.

Seeing that he was about to look over again, she unleashed her magic without hesitation.

“**[Flash Spell]!**” Following Taurani’s guidance, a brilliant white light suddenly erupted from the Holy Staff.

Weibai, who had just turned his head, felt a sharp pain in his eyes.

It felt as if his retinas were being scorched, and waves of stinging pain radiated through them.

“Argh! My eyes!”

Feeling the searing heat in his eyes, Weibai scrambled to the lake, scooping up a handful of water and splashing it onto his face.

“Calm down! Just calm down!”