The Cornflower Witch Chapter 172

The refreshing spring water poured over his head, cooling him down. The gradually awakening Bad Apple didn’t have time to think about who was doing this, only wanting to flee this dangerous place quickly.

But before he could run a few steps, the changing environment and various strange questions overwhelmed him, forcing him to turn back and check the situation. It was then that he saw Hylial standing not far away.

The young girl held a ladle, drenching the immobile figures one by one. The two remaining, of course, were Yarn and Karl.

“What’s going on?” He couldn’t quite react.

However, he wasn’t stupid. It didn’t take long for him to figure things out, and then he looked around and saw the giant lizard’s corpse lying by the pool not far away.

“Is this a petrified lizard?” Instantly, he understood everything.

So, he had been petrified, and then his other companions had also suffered. He guessed they had come to save him, and he felt a little ashamed, rubbing his head.

But, this petrified lizard should be Third-Rank. Who killed it? Could it be Lia?

He looked at the young girl with some disbelief.

Soon, the other two also gradually woke up and recovered, adapting to their somewhat stiff bodies.

“Cough, cough, run!” Karl, as soon as he awoke, prepared to tell everyone to flee. He had already realized it was a Third-Rank petrified lizard, something they couldn’t possibly deal with right now.

Seeing that they weren’t moving, he got a little angry and was about to explode, but then he felt that something was wrong. After looking around, he finally saw the lizard’s corpse by the pool.

“Dead?” His voice was full of surprise, but he quickly scurried over.

For a “Dead Ember” Aspect wizard, a dead high-rank creature was a treasure!

After a thorough inspection, Karl confirmed that the lizard was completely dead before he finally relaxed a little. Many monsters feign death, and sometimes, if you’re careless, accidents can happen.

Yarn slowly awoke, stretched his body, looked at the others who were fine, and then asked for the reason.

The few of them turned their gaze towards the young girl on the steps, their eyes filled with curiosity and surprise. The girl, being stared at, felt a little embarrassed.

“It’s a bit hard to explain. You can understand it as: I’m quite powerful, and I defeated this guy.” Answering in any other way would only make her seem insincere and perfunctory.

“Really? I mean, was there no price to pay?”

“There are many secret arts that can unleash power, but the side effects afterward are also considerable.” The others were very worried.

“It’s fine, just a little tired.” She looked at the immobile lizard beside her, recalling the fierce battle not long ago. She had probably killed it seventeen times, and her cumulative injuries were also very severe, but she had recovered as she fought, preventing herself from collapsing.

At this moment, the three of them looked at each other, their eyes exchanging glances, and they no longer pressed the matter.

Regardless, this young girl was their savior, and there was no need to relentlessly question her. Besides, everyone has their secrets, and prying too much would be impolite.

“It’s good that everyone is fine. It’s all my fault, I almost wiped out the entire team.” Bad Apple was the first to step forward and confess his fault. The main purpose of coming to the Gate of Distant Mountains this time was for the “Stone Mist Water” he needed.

Seeing him say this, the others went over to comfort him, telling Bad Apple not to take it to heart, as it was a unanimous decision by everyone.

At this point, they couldn’t keep blaming Bad Apple. After all, no one wanted an accident to happen, and besides, continuing to blame him wouldn’t change the past, nor could it lead to any good developments.

“Everyone has times when things go wrong. We can only say that our strength still needs to improve.”

“No one can foresee every encounter.” Karl shook his head.

“Besides, this is the Woodland. So many students go on expeditions every year, and they all make various preparations, but unexpected situations still happen. That’s just the nature of probability.” “We knew this before we came, didn’t we?”

The high casualty rate in the Woodland was well-known among Transcendent beings on the surface, yet countless people were still willing to come here, precisely for the opportunities it offered.

“Let’s go, we’ll go examine the lizard’s corpse, and then ask Lia what to do next.”

…

At night, the four of them spent the night in the open space behind the stone archway. This was probably the safest and most relaxed night of their adventure.

The bonfire crackled, everyone roasted skewers, sprinkled spices, and talked about their experiences over the years, feeling a strong urge to confide after narrowly escaping death.

“The last time I felt like I almost died was when I was First-Rank, going with a few inexperienced companions to the grasslands to hunt Rhino-horn Beasts.” Bad Apple propped his head with one hand, gently shaking the wine bottle with the other, taking a small sip.

“The mission then only required us to find traces and report back, but one of our teammates, wearing perfume, attracted a group of wolverines along the way, almost leading to the extermination of our team.”

“Luckily, a passing high-ranking student discovered us and saved my small team.”

“Since then, I’ve hated perfume intensely and even bought special odor-eliminating potions.”

After hearing this, the others around the bonfire laughed. Then Yarn also spoke, recounting his past experiences.

“The last time I faced death was a long time ago, during that assessment for a spot in the Woodland.”

“At that time, three other classmates and I ventured deep into the wasteland to hunt lions. The four of us worked together perfectly, and in the early stages, we easily defeated a lioness of the same rank using shields and sturdy armor.”

“We then continued forward and encountered an ambush by five other lionesses. The fight was incredibly difficult, and we barely managed to win, killing two and driving away the remaining three, all while sustaining injuries.”

“Sensing that things were not good, we prepared to retreat, but a male lion caught up to us. It was a Second-Rank male lion, capable of smashing my shield with a single paw. It directly scattered our team.”

“Seeing my companion torn apart by the male lion, I was terrified to the extreme, swinging my blade, hacking wildly.”

“But going mad was useless. My actions at the time only further enraged it and caused no harm.”

“Then what happened? How did you defeat that lion?” Karl couldn’t help but ask.

“Defeat it? No, we didn’t defeat it. It was just that our fight attracted other enemies on the grassland: a pack of spotted hyenas. They were all First-Rank, and together, they were vicious beyond belief.”

“Facing a pack of hyenas, the male lion also became very cautious. The two sides confronted each other for a long time, and I lay under a tree in the middle, watching them roar constantly.”

“Finally, the assessment time ended, and the examining knight arrived, driving away all the wild beasts and saving me.”

“I survived, but my three companions didn’t. So I became the sole qualifier.” Yarn said, his voice full of sighs.

“What about Karl? Didn’t you say you’d tell us about your past?”

“My story?” Karl looked at the firelight, his voice distant.

“I’ll tell it. It was about ten years ago. I had just begun to learn about the knowledge of Transcendent beings. At that time, I was studying with an elderly wizard, and there were several other students with me, and she was my senior…”