Our Family Has Fallen

Moreover, several strong figures lurked nearby, watching intently; any conflict would not bode well for her.

Grendel's gaze landed on Wang Cai wandering outside, her eyes carrying an inexplicable hostility.

"What would be your reaction if a malicious wolf suddenly appeared in the wilderness?"

The meaning behind her words was nothing more than treating Wang Cai as a predatory beast, so a defensive reaction would be quite normal.

"Being cautious is good, but we must also see the situation clearly," Lance said as he released the thorns and gestured to the others not to be tense.

He wasn't foolish and certainly didn't believe she was truly afraid of wild animals. The atmosphere simply needed to be defused to de-escalate the situation. Since she was extending an olive branch by softening her stance, he didn't press the issue.

However, Lance seemed to realize something as he raised his hand and looked at his palm, pierced by the thorns. Droplets of fresh blood fell—a small wound like this would normally stop bleeding instantly without the use of an Ability, but he found the bleeding wouldn't stop, and it was accompanied by mild paralysis.

The thorn was capable of causing continuous bleeding and had a paralyzing effect. No wonder the Witch had stiffened when entangled by it earlier.

The woman noticed this too. After retracting the thorns into her sleeve, she approached Lance and sprinkled some green powder from her pocket onto the wound.

A cool sensation soon relieved the numbness, rapidly stopped the bleeding, and caused the wound to scab over.

"Miraculous herbs," Lance couldn't help but praise, even though he could heal himself directly.

Only then did he notice Grendel was at least 1.8 meters tall, not much shorter than himself, and she carried a refreshing floral fragrance.

"Is that white wolf your pet? Such a breed is extremely rare. How did you find it?"

Her offhand remark made Lance suddenly alert. That matter had just been smoothed over; why would she bring it up now, out of the blue?

Lance's thoughts spun. Others might not know, but from studying the White Wolf Scroll and extracting information from Boudica, he had some understanding of matters in the Mountains. Wang Cai was a trophy from defeating the pack leader of a wolf pack from the Fang Wolf Tribe. Since the Fang Wolf Tribe had been rampantly attacking throughout the Mountains, other Barbarian Tribes would naturally associate any white wolf with them. It was clear the woman before him had also been attacked, which explained her instinctive reaction upon seeing Wang Cai.

As for why she appeared here...

Lance's gaze inadvertently reassessed the woman. He quickly discerned the distinctive deer antler design on her mask and Magic Wand. Could it be the Deerhead Tribe that Boudica mentioned—the one rumored to have been slaughtered by the Fang Wolf Tribe? As for why she was here, he could probably infer it from their earlier conversation—perhaps the Witch originated from the same tribe. He just didn't understand why the two sides had fought...

Lance's silence caused the easing atmosphere to grow tense once more. Even the woman couldn't help but grip her Magic Wand tightly, her other hand hidden in her sleeve, its movements concealed.

But at that moment, Lance actually smiled. A lone survivor from a slaughtered tribe—wasn't she at his mercy?

"Wang Cai is a cub we found when we defeated a Mercenary Corps that attacked the town. He was newly born, and we didn't have the heart to kill him, so we decided to raise him."

As he spoke, Lance didn't forget to add, "By the way, that Mercenary Corps didn't seem to be Imperial People, and they had many white wolves with them."

Just as expected, upon hearing this, Grendel's demeanor changed, and she asked hastily, "What happened to that Mercenary Corps afterward?"

Her attempt to extract information only further confirmed her identity for Lance; ordinary people wouldn't care about the fate of a Mercenary Corps.

"We'll talk specifics when we get back. Hamlet is the only town nearby, and no matter where you want to go, you'll need to pass through there first," Lance replied without giving a direct answer. The implication of his words was clear, and Grendel hesitated briefly before agreeing.

Seemingly confident in his assessment of Grendel, Lance didn't bother to hide his intentions. He went to the monster's corpse, collected some samples, and then invoked the "Sacrifice" Ability.

The gigantic corpse was devoured by the Void, but instead of returning Spiritual Essence directly, this Spiritual Essence flowed into the hatchet embedded in the monster's body.

In the next second, the corpse vanished completely, leaving only the hatchet falling to the ground.

Lance, observing this, showed no sign of regret but rather a spark of excitement.

Finally, some equipment dropped! I have no idea how many small fries I killed on my way here, and I even had to take down five or six Elite monsters before I saw something decent—the drop rate is just incredible!

Picking up the hatchet, Lance understood when he saw its glowing green edge.

[Banshee Hatchet]: Infused with a banshee's Curse, it causes corrosive damage when attacking enemies and has a certain chance of triggering a banshee's wail to stun the target.

Without a word, he tucked it away and turned to look at Grendel, seeming to sense her surprise.

But Lance had no intention of explaining. Instead, he ran over to the Witch's side. The huge corpse was sacrificed, but no equipment dropped. Instead, the Spiritual Essence gathered into a symbol of verdant green branches, invisible to others, and burrowed into Lance's body.

A strange sensation washed over him. Lance pondered carefully, as if he understood something, then opened his panel.

The level column had advanced from [Elite] to [Master]—the last time was on the ship back to Hamlet. What took ordinary people a bitter decade or more to achieve, he accomplished in just ten days to half a month. Of course, along his journey, he had encountered more demons and monsters than most would in a lifetime, each possessing unique and extraordinary skills.

If the advancement in level meant a comprehensive upgrade, then the following change completely altered the desperate situation he had just faced with the Witch.

[Removing the Source of Corruption granted you nature's favor]

After this prompt in his panel, an extra trait appeared in the trait section.

[Natural Purification]: Nature will purify all things.

A very mystical description. Once Lance understood its specific effects, an uncontrollable ecstasy spread across his face.

This trait instantly maxed out his poison resistance and also came with powerful resistances to debuffs. In game terms, it meant immunity to most corrosion and diseases. Even if not entirely immune, it could still withstand much of the damage before gradually purifying it. This meant his final weakness was addressed. The only regret was that this was a trait, a passive, and not an Ability he could cast on others. With [Sanctuary] for the soul, [Flesh Reconstruction] for external injuries, and [Natural Purification] for internal ones. Unstoppable in this world! Damn it! If this keeps up, even my ancestors will have to call me their ancestor!

Thankfully, Lance had his back turned to the others. Otherwise, seeing his silly grin, they might have thought the Lord was still delirious from the poison.

And the rewards for killing the Witch were not limited to these. Lance activated his Spiritual Vision and quickly picked out a few Extraordinary items from the Witch's remains: a ladle, a hammer, and the large cauldron, now empty of its eerie, thick soup.

The shattered bone armor, a straw doll cut in half and still oozing blood, a cloak made of human skin... There were also many other scattered materials and incomprehensible Potions.

And that was just the basics, not to mention the room that had not yet been entered.

"You guys rest for a bit. I'm going to have a look inside."

"I'm coming too," Grendel said, following him without hesitation.

Lance didn't stop her. Lighting a torch, he pushed open the door and went inside. He was initially on guard for possible mushroom traps but soon realized he was overthinking it.

How big could a small, broken-down house be? He could see everything at a glance with the torch held high.

It was very simple, almost unbelievably so: just a bed and a set of table and chairs.

However, the equipment laid out on the table was clearly high-quality—simple where it could be, but no expense spared where it mattered.

On a shelf nearby were various odd herbal ingredients, many unidentifiable creatures' organs preserved in jars and bottles, and a large amount of nameless Potions.

Lance wasn't an expert on these, but his attention was drawn to a pile of manuscripts, and even more so to an eerie-looking book bound in human skin.

So that's where all the human skin from the Witch's victims had gone.

He took it and flipped it open without any hesitation. The next second, a thick yellow-green fog rose from between the pages...