Chapter 54: Caravan

Evening.

The molten gold-like orange-red sunset slowly sank into the horizon. The lazily drifting clouds were dyed with a layer of twilight color, embellishing the sky like an oil painting.

The golden wheat fields swayed gently under the dim light, producing fine yet grand "rustling" sounds amid the water-like rippling waves of light.

Sturdy wooden wheels covered in dust rolled with a "creak," splashing a few mud stars, leaving deep wheel rut marks on the soft meadow.

Xia Nan sat outside the carriage, his back against the heavy cargo piled behind him.

On both sides of the road, the pastoral beauty of the sunset was rapidly receding in the jolting undulations.

Feeling the gentle breeze brushing across his cheeks, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes contentedly.

Right now, it was already his second day since leaving the inn.

After confirming that the professional Hai'an had contacted would take at least another seventy-plus days to pass through River Valley Town, and that he had plenty of time.

And also to verify certain speculations in his heart.

He had agreed to Rockhammer shop owner Barn's commission, joining the caravan from River Valley Town to Karanfor as a guard.

To be honest, this journey of four or five days back and forth, although objectively speaking was work that Xia Nan needed to complete diligently.

——And he was indeed preparing seriously and fulfilling his duties.

But from another perspective, for him who had entered Mist Forest twice consecutively in the dozens of days since crossing over to this world.

These few days of travel away from monster gathering places could also be considered giving himself a little vacation.

Unlike modern society's vast ocean of entertainment options, staying in River Valley Town, apart from daily eating, sleeping, training combat skills, Xia Nan could at most drink a few cups of wine and chat with the adventurers in the inn.

One or two days was fine, but over a long period, although it was still within the bearable range, it was inevitably somewhat monotonous.

Now...

"Clatter."

The gradually slowing wheels, under the effect of the heavy cargo inside the carriage, produced a sluggish, grating sound.

Calling Xia Nan back to reality from his scattered thoughts.

The guard on watch duty hadn't made a sound, and there was no chaotic movement in the caravan either.

Most likely nothing had gone wrong.

But he still jumped down from the wagon nimbly, not caring about the wet mud spots on his boots' surface.

Looking left and right to observe.

Footsteps came from the front of the caravan.

What appeared before him was precisely that honest man Xia Nan had already seen twice in River Valley Town, who had remained silent in the face of "drunkard Bernie's" provocation.

And also the captain of the caravan he was currently in—

"Jeff."

From the other party's steady and unhurried pace, it could be seen that the caravan's stop wasn't due to any accident.

And this was indeed the case.

This plainly dressed middle-aged man, seeing that Xia Nan had already jumped down from the wagon, scratched his head and said honestly:

"Mr. Xia Nan, we'll stop here for today."

"Dinner is already being prepared, it's... uh, stew made by Mr. Alton. If you don't mind, you can come try some later."

"Although we're already close to Karanfor, we'll still need to trouble you all to help keep watch at night."

"Don't worry, this is what we should be doing." Hearing this, Xia Nan smiled and nodded.

But he felt somewhat strange inside.

Alton? Stew?

Recalling the memories from these two days, his expression remained unchanged on the surface, but his mind was already considering whether to make do with his own dry rations for this meal.

......

The caravan didn't have many people. Even including the temporarily commissioned guards like Xia Nan, there were only a dozen or so people in total.

And just like when he finished his first mission and encountered those two children and their mother on the return journey.

On this continent, there existed an invisible barrier between ordinary civilians and adventurers.

During the two days of travel, the number of times the caravan's people had actively communicated with Xia Nan could be counted on one hand.

Even during rest and meals, it was often the few adventurers in one circle, and the other people sitting in another circle separately.

Only occasionally would the caravan captain "Jeff" come over with some small pastries, and by the way communicate about the subsequent itinerary arrangements.

Tonight was the same.

Xia Nan and several fellow adventurers sat around the campfire.

Not far to the side, several wagons were deliberately parked crookedly by the roadside.

This way, they wouldn't obstruct the night watch adventurers' field of vision, and in case of danger, they could also promptly use the sturdy wagon bodies as cover.

Naturally, some simple warning traps had already been set up after confirming they would stop to rest.

The night watch order had also been confirmed internally.

Xia Nan was responsible for the latter half of the night and needed to rest early to preserve his strength.

Right now, he was applying honey he'd specially bought from the general store before departure to the dried meat in his hand that had been roasted warm.

In front of him, several adventurers chatted intermittently:

"Hey, did you hear? Some strangely shaped buildings were recently discovered in Mist Forest. Could they be remains of some ancient ruins?"

"That... didn't high-ranking adventurers from the Guild already go check it out? They didn't find anything."

"Ah? I thought there would be a secret realm, spatial folds or something."

"Even if there were, would it be our turn?"

"True..."

"By the way, you know about that Bernie incident, right?"

"Of course, I was right there at the scene! That scene..."

On the other side,

Xia Nan said nothing, seemingly concentrating wholeheartedly on handling his food ingredients, but actually quietly perked up his ears.

Through the other party's mention of "uniquely shaped strange buildings," he could roughly guess.

What they were discussing was precisely the otherworldly object he had encountered before with the half-elf's group.

The dilapidated ruins extended almost from the depths of Mist Forest all the way to the outskirts, so naturally they couldn't escape the eyes of those adventurers from the Guild who frequented various parts of the forest every day.

It was just...

"They didn't find anything?"

Come to think of it, the half-elf and Wood had also mentioned at the time that although they had arrived at the place where he disappeared, they hadn't been transported into the cave.

Now if even high-ranking professionals couldn't discover the secrets within.

Did this also mean that he himself had some special characteristics that could establish some kind of connection with that cave suspected to be a "secret realm"?

And speaking of his biggest difference from the natives of this world, there was only one thing, which was...

"Thud, thud."

Heavy and sluggish footsteps came from behind.

Xia Nan instinctively turned to look.

What came into view was a large iron pot swaying unsteadily, with rising steam and soup water occasionally splashing out from both sides.

Under the dim twilight, that large pot seemed to be under some kind of magic spell, floating in midair, swaying as it approached them with difficulty.

But if you observed more carefully, you could see beneath the large pot, a pair of delicate high-top boots embroidered with four-leaf clover patterns.

"Stew's here!"

"Quick, help me, I can't hold it anymore!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.