Chapter 175 Hunting Mission
This is a small river.

Clear, blue, gentle...

Wrinkled by the gentle spring breeze, illuminated by the warm sunlight, carried by the fertile riverbed...

After a brief observation, Francesca came to the conclusion:
"It's just an ordinary river, the kind that exists in every human settlement."

Of course, this was not the answer she wanted.

then.

Francesca glanced at the calm river and asked in surprise:
"Where have we been?"

"This is the exit." The witcher answered, and then walked into the river first.

Seeing the witcher's suicidal behavior, Francesca frowned slightly and stared at his receding back.

After a while, hesitantly followed.

In early spring, the sun is warm, but the river water still retains the afterglow of winter and is freezing cold.

"Wow~"

The sound of running water rang in my ears.

My clothes were soaked by the cold river water, a faint fishy smell filled my nose, and my feet sank deeper and deeper into the mud...

Even if the figure in front of you is tall, confident and moving forward.

She also couldn't suppress the panic in her heart that wanted to escape and return to solid ground.

"Hunter... Demon Hunter, are you sure this is the exit?" she asked in panic.

"Trust me! Francesca!"

The demon hunter turned around and nodded firmly.

Then he seemed to realize something, took her hand and said:

"If you're scared, just close your eyes and I'll take you away."

The scorching temperature was transmitted from the point where their skin touched, not only dispelling the coldness of the river water, but also seeming to burn away all the anxiety and panic.

Thinking back to three days ago, he protected her in the same way and left her unharmed.

The last bit of worry in Francesca's heart disappeared.

then.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Following the warmth in my hands, I staggered in the mud.

The cold water flows...

It took away the body temperature, spread across the chest, blocked the breathing, and finally...

Flood the world.

next moment.

Her body suddenly sank, and the last bit of light in her eyes suddenly disappeared, as if she had fallen into a dark abyss.

"Here we are!"

The demon hunter's clear and transparent voice rang out.

Francesca suddenly discovered that the suffocating feeling caused by being drowned in the river had disappeared at some point.

Dry clothes, dry hair, dry skin...

"Ok?"

Francesca opened her eyes in confusion, and everything in front of her was pitch black.

Only the witcher was illuminated, as if he was the only source of light in the world.

"Here we are!"

Looking at the elf standing there stupidly, Ailin repeated helplessly.

"what?"

"Oh."

"Um!?"

Francesca came back to her senses stupidly.

Only then did she realize that the place she was in was no longer the "Hundred Fruit Garden", but a cave filled with familiar stale smells and terrible memories.

"Here we are?"

Francesca instinctively turned around to see if the peaceful, beautiful and friendly village was behind her.

The tug on her left wrist prevented her from turning back.

Francesca blushed and was about to speak when she pulled her hand away.

The temperature on the slender wrist suddenly disappeared at this moment.

Looking at the apologetic smile on the face of the demon hunter opposite her, Francesca smiled politely with a feeling of emptiness that she herself did not understand.

Then he turned and looked at the light source that illuminated the witcher.

It was a white film of light with a colorful glow.

It closed a stone door that was only wide enough for two people to pass through at the same time, as if it was closing off a colorful fairy tale world.

Is the river in Baiguoyuan behind this layer of light film?

Francesca looked at the witcher in disbelief.

He actually did it!

As he always does...

but……

How did he find the exit?
In addition...

In knight novels, aren't wizards usually responsible for solving such magical puzzles?

Thinking of this, Francesca felt a little frustrated.

Not to mention the light film in front of your eyes.

Francesca Findabe, the daughter of Ion Savini, who is destined to lead the Ion Sheedi tribe to take back the land from humans...

All along the way, I have been doing more harm than good.

If it weren't for the demon hunter in front of her, she couldn't even imagine what would happen when she explored the cave alone.

"Alin, how did you find the exit? And this light film... This is an illusion, right?"

Francesca suppressed her inner shame and asked questions to the legendary witcher who only knew 30% of his magic skills.

"These are some tricks used by demon hunters," Ailin said with a smile, "but you are right, this is indeed an illusion."

The demon hunter's little trick?
Doesn't the book say that the only magic a demon hunter can use are sigils like magic tricks, and that the magical knowledge they know is all related to demons?
Francesca glanced at the young witcher with an immature face, feeling somewhat confused.

Is there something wrong with what is written in the book?
Are demon hunters better than warlocks at illusion?

After a pause, Ailin continued apologetically:
"I'm sorry, Francesca. In order to avoid alerting the owner of the illusion, I have been hiding it..."

"No need to apologize, I still know this common sense."

Thinking of what happened in the illusion, Francesca's face flushed again and she quickly interrupted.

With Ailin's "reminder", she suddenly remembered what she had done under the influence of the illusion...

what! ! !
How could she come up with such an excuse that she and Ailin were siblings?

The characteristics of the demon hunter and the elf are so obvious, but Aunt Asha and other villagers didn't react...

How come she, an elf wizard, didn't notice such an obvious loophole!
As she thought about it, Francesca's cheeks became hot, so red that blood seemed to be dripping out.

She could only be thankful that the light here was dim, and the demon hunter would not be able to see the expression on her face...

"Ai... Ailin, where should we go now?" Francesca no longer cared about the witcher's tricks and quickly changed the subject.

Ailin heard this and bowed his head in thought.

After half a minute, he looked up and said:

"Let's go to the cave where the rock trolls are first and take a look at the situation..."

"Three days have passed. The guards in the camp should have had a conflict with the rock trolls. I just don't know how many casualties there were on both sides..."

"Then come back and search for our target... The people we are looking for should be in the illusion... What do you think?"

Francesca pondered for a moment and nodded slightly in agreement.

All these things proved that Ailin's decision was correct, and she had no reason to refuse.

The witcher then drank the cat's eye potion, and the elf put on a black mask and turban and walked in the opposite direction of the light film.

"Right, Aylin."

Before he had taken a few steps, a girl's voice like the sound of a spring dripping in a valley suddenly came from behind him.

"What's wrong?" The demon hunter slowed down.

"Since the place just now was an illusion... then those people in the Hundred Fruit Garden, Aunt Asha and Uncle Will who saved us, are they also... fake?"

The witcher couldn't make out the elf's tone.

He also didn't know what happened between Francesca and the residents in the illusion during the three days he was unconscious.

After a moment of silence, he said softly, "Yeah."

"They are all fake, part of the illusion."

"Oh~" the elf sighed, seeming a little disappointed, "Is that so!"

"It's okay, let's keep walking."

The demon hunter nodded and continued on his way.

Although Francesca once said that her short-distance teleportation was only about one hundred meters.

But in the illusion, the sense of space is affected by the illusion, and the walking distance is far from the actual distance.

After leaving the illusion, the passages in the mine are winding and have many forks.

The witcher and the elf walked for nearly three minutes and still hadn't found their destination.

"Da da da~"

The deliberately suppressed footsteps echoed in the narrow passage.

"Alin, this is the third fork in the road. Are you sure this is the right path?"

"Shouldn't we put a mark on the fork in the road?"

Francesca asked softly, worried.

"Trust me, Francesca." Ailin didn't look back and continued walking forward.

Within the field of vision created by the combined effects of the cat's eye potion and the wolf emblem, the moving black magic points were like migratory birds flying in the sky, never stopping, guiding him in the direction.

"But if you're worried, you can also make a mark at the fork."

Francesca was silent for a moment, then bent over to pick up a stone and was about to mark it.

Ailin's nose suddenly twitched twice unconsciously.

He seemed to smell a scent of rust.

I walked quickly to the center of the fork in the road ahead. Suddenly, a cold wind blew in, bringing with it a faint smell of blood.

"Shh!"

Ailin quickly stopped Francesca from marking and whispered:
"Be careful, the rock troll is just ahead!"

Francesca froze when she heard that and clenched the stone in her hand tightly, fearing that she would awaken those terrible trolls.

"Hi~his~his~"

For a moment, the only sound in the empty cave was the rustling of clothes, like silkworms gnawing on leaves in the dark.

Not long after they walked, even Francesca lifted the black mask on her face to cover her mouth and nose.

The strong smell of blood made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

How many people died before?
This is a common question in the minds of demon hunters and elves.

"... oooo... small stones... oooo... small iron pot... oooo... small gems..."

"...Humans...enemies...rocks...rush out..."

"...mountain stones...human beings...kill..."

"...hungry...meat...hungry...meat...meat..."

Intermittent sounds came from the end of the passage.

Ailin and Francesca looked at each other, took a deep breath, and moved forward at a slower pace, fearing that they would alarm the monsters.

"Dong Dong Dong~"

The closer you get to the end, the faster your heartbeat becomes.

no doubt.

Three days ago, the experience of almost coming face to face with death was extremely unforgettable for both of them.

"Gulu~"

When they were only one step away from their destination, the witcher and the elf stopped almost at the same time, swallowed, and then looked out of the passage nervously.

After just one glance, Francesca instantly shrank back, her body convulsed, and she covered her mouth tightly.

Ailin looked at the scene in the huge cave and couldn't help but hold his breath.

How many people died here?

The demon hunter was horrified.

He had seen big scenes before, but never one as big as this.

The uneven ground was littered with corpses, each one covered in blood.

Moreover, unlike the wounds caused by swords and knives, no matter whether they were wearing leather armor or tin cans in their lifetime, they all looked like they had been crushed by a huge force, and were completely a pool of meat paste.

There were several bodies that were like chalk, with most of them painted on the ground.

The blood flowed into the depression and coagulated into lumps, making the ground gray and black.

The strong smell of blood, as if solidified, mixed with an indescribable stench of decay, hit my face.

This is just the picture of hell.

If the cat's eye potion hadn't provided black and white vision, Aelin's performance would probably have been similar to Francesca's.

Suppressing his nausea, the witcher crouched and leaned out of the passage to check other places blocked by the rock wall.

"Roar!"

A roar suddenly exploded in my ears and echoed throughout the cave.

"...The enemies are coming again...Trolls, kill them all!!!"

It's mountain stone!

Ailin froze for a moment, and his heart skipped a beat.

The body that had stretched forward suddenly retreated, and when he was about to flee back to the illusion with Francesca, who was also terrified...

"kill!"

At the other end of the rock troll's cave, the sound of fighting suddenly rang out.

At the same time, several torches were thrown in, and the moment they came into contact with the oily liquid that had been splashed on the ground at some point.

"Wow!"

A raging fire lit up the entire cave.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Stunned, all the rock trolls within sight rushed towards the cave entrance, and the ground shook as if thousands of troops were advancing.

Even the rocks that were very close to the cave entrance where Ailin and the others were were dragging their heavy steps towards the door.

The treatment that the soldiers at the cave entrance received from the rock trolls was completely different from what Arin and his men had received in the past.

According to Dashitou, this represents an endless hatred!
what!
The huge rocks like a stone mountain disappeared, revealing several small mounds of earth.

The witcher looked carefully for a few seconds in the firelight and found that these small mounds were actually rock trolls, but they were all motionless.

Seven!

In other words, among the seven rock troll corpses, one or two had pools of blood underneath them that had not yet solidified, which meant they must have not been dead for long.

"No wonder these rock trolls went crazy." the demon hunter thought.

and many more!

blood...

Ailin's mind turned, and he opened the Demon Hunting Notes.

[Mission: Summoning I (Collect Rock Troll Blood 3/20)]

[Quest Reward: Intersection of Celestial Spheres - Troll]

Yes, he still has the task of collecting the blood of the rock trolls to complete.

As for the rest...

[Hunting Mission: Water Ghost II (Kill Water Ghost 463/500)]

[Hunting Mission: Little Mist Demon I (Kill Little Mist Demon 2/100)]

[Hunting Mission: Ghoul I (Kill Ghouls 14/200)]

[Hunting Mission: Demon Spirit I (Kill Demon Spirit 12/50)]

The only hunting mission that was about to be completed was the Water Ghost II, after all, this kind of monster is everywhere.

On the way out of Kaer Morhen, Arryn, Hughes and others killed many people.

He originally thought that this task would be completed first, but now...

The demon hunter glanced at the corpse of the rock troll not far away, then glanced at the rock troll who was rushing towards the door, gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

"Francesca, wait here for me. I'll go check out the situation and be back soon!"

"what?"

Before Francesca could react, she suddenly discovered that the demon hunter...

Disappeared!
(End of this chapter)