Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 267 The Axe-Beaked Bird and the Brass Candlestick
Grey Valley, as the name suggests, is a grey valley.

The wind howled through the empty valley, and fine stone dust drifted in the air.

The ground, the stone walls, and even the dust-shrouded sky—everywhere the eye could see was gray and black.

The undulating hills, like solidified waves, surged in layer upon layer from the edge of the horizon at the end of the line of sight, turning into a hard, lifeless mass of gray that devoured life, and fell solidly in front of me.

Xia Nan reached out and gently rubbed the gray rock wall beside him, feeling the cold, rough texture on his fingertips.

He couldn't help but compare the ashes in the valley with the rocks in the goblin's lair and the lime stains on the "Flaming Coin".

It is indeed a color.

Are you familiar with this valley?

He casually asked Lyon, who was standing next to him.

"This is my first time here too." The boy looked extremely nervous, his body was almost stiff, and he gripped his old iron sword tightly with both hands. "Mr. Xia Nan, please be careful."

"I've heard that a group of dangerous monsters inhabit this place. Ever since I can remember, I've been warned that 'Grey Valley' is a forbidden zone that is not allowed to be entered. Even the naughtiest children in the village dare not go near it."

Upon hearing this, Xia Nan nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly noticed a very faint mist floating in the air and frowned.

Have you ever heard the adults in the village mention this kind of mist in the valley?

The white mist was so thin that Lyon only noticed it after Xia Nan pointed it out.

He simply shook his head, indicating that he had no relevant information.

The description of the [Fallen Old Coin] on the attribute panel caught Xia Nan's attention. He had also been staying in Gray Valley Village for several days and had no idea what kind of help Violet might offer him.

But now, some thoughts have begun to stir within me.

Recalling the information Leon had given about the monsters living in the valley, she waved to the boy beside her:
"Stay close, let's go a little further in."

The two continued to go deeper.

The environment in Ash Valley was not much different from what Xia Nan had imagined.

There was hardly any vegetation to be seen; gray rocks filled every part of the field of vision.

They hadn't seen a single living creature; only the sharp, whistling wind echoed eerily between the stone walls.

It is worth noting that as the two walked deeper into the valley, the originally light mist in the air gradually became thicker.

Xia Nan did not detect any unusual amounts of magical particles in it, clearly indicating that this mist was fundamentally different from those in the air of the Misty Forest.

It is not a manifestation of highly concentrated magical particles, but rather a "natural phenomenon" in the valley.

"Is it really natural?" He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but since he hadn't made any special discoveries yet, he couldn't rush to conclusions.

Suddenly, in a vision filled with deathly gray, an unusual brownish-white color came into view.

It was a broken stone pillar, half of which pointed straight to the gray sky and should have supported the magnificent dome above it.

At this moment, it suddenly landed deep in the valley, appearing and disappearing in the thick fog, revealing a blurry outline.

It was the ruins of a large building.

Centered around that solitary stone pillar, there is a cluster of collapsed and weathered ruins of building materials: bricks, wooden planks, and drapery... They may have once possessed vibrant colors, but now they have been stained by a layer of indelible pale grayness in this valley.

Only a few specimens are sturdy enough to withstand the erosion of time and retain some of their original appearance.

A broken, enormous stone hand that could cover a normal person's head. The little finger is missing, and only half of the ring finger remains. But you can still catch the despair that the sculptor wanted to express through his superb skills from the remaining three convulsing, twisted fingers that are helplessly stretched towards the sky.
Not far away, there was half a broken plaster face, leaning against the broken wall. The only remaining empty eye stared into the valley. The gentle smile that should have been mesmerizing appeared empty and eerie against the backdrop of cracks and ashen skin.

Xia Nan frowned, his gaze sweeping across the ruins.

Have you heard the adults in the village mention these things before?

“No, Mr. Xia Nan, there’s nothing.” Lyon followed closely behind him, his face growing even paler under the fog.

After all, he was just a fifteen-year-old boy who had lived in a remote rural area since childhood, and his experience in the goblin's lair had already caused him a huge shock.

Now, in this dangerous environment that his elders had warned him against entering since childhood, and encountering such a bizarre scene, it was already his limit that Leon could still think normally and answer Xia Nan's questions.

Seeing the other person's expression, Xia Nan didn't press the matter. He thought to himself that he would ask the village elders for more detailed information about the ruins when he got back.

His gaze paused involuntarily.

He took two steps forward and lifted a small stone slab covering the ground to the side.

Lean down.

The next second, he picked up an old, dilapidated candlestick, also covered in lime, from the ground.

Take the water bag off your waist again and rinse it with clean water from top to bottom.

The candlestick was much larger than the half coin, and Xia Nan only had so much drinking water with him that he could barely rinse off some of the stone dust on the surface of the candlestick, allowing some of its details to be revealed.

Its base is a six-petaled twisted copper leaf, and the bowl-shaped wax pool above is melted and deformed due to long-term high temperature burning, resembling withered petals curling inward.
The main body is made of three copper strips twisted together in a spiral shape, with obvious twisted and sunken marks in the middle, as if it had been deformed by a heavy object; the top candle holder is an outward-expanding serrated ring, and under the cover of ash, the traces of wax dripping are no longer visible.

Xia Nan carefully examined this exquisite creation, which was completely different in style from Ash Valley and Ash Valley Village, and deliberately focused his attention.

Then, just as expected, the translucent characters once again burst forth from the void:
……

Antique Brass Candlestick

Type: Candlestick

grade:/
Introduction:

An old brass candlestick once briefly dispelled the darkness of a corner, illuminated the face of a weary traveler, and a long-forgotten book.

Remarks:

"Great and merciful Lord, the fire is dying down..."

—Anonymous nun from the Church of Ashes

……

"Is it this 'Church of Ashes' again?"

Xia Nan's gaze swept quickly across the attribute panel, and he murmured to himself.

He had seen the same words before on the [Fade Old Coin], and now their reappearance on the candlestick in the Ashenvale ruins clearly proved that Leon's conjecture was correct.

The half coin was indeed looted from Ashenvale by the goblins; the coin and the candlestick came from the same source.

Can……

Xia Nan carefully recalled the information on the attribute panels of the two items, pondering their unique and exotic design patterns, trying to compare the information he had captured with the knowledge in his mind. He found no inspiration whatsoever.

His predecessor was a country boy, so being able to read and write the common language fluently was already quite an achievement, and he had almost no knowledge of anything related to supernatural powers.

Xia Nan only learned the name of the previous king of the Kingdom of Servia after he transmigrated.

Having been in this world for over a year, I've learned quite a bit of knowledge in various fields during my spare time, but I'm still only at the level of an ordinary person.

If he hadn't happened to read the relevant records, he wouldn't have been able to determine the origin of these things based solely on the appearance of one or two objects, or a few ambiguous words.

He had no choice but to put the candlestick back in his backpack, while keeping those suspicious words firmly in mind, planning to ask the villagers about them when he returned to the village to see if he could find out anything.

Furthermore, the current situation gave Xia Nan a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen it before.

The same remote environment, far from any crowds; the same dilapidated building that seems to have appeared out of nowhere and seems out of place; the same drastically different types of objects...

"Could it be another secret realm?"

He couldn't help but recall the dark cave where the giant snake's body was coiled, and the drop of dew from the gourd that had given him valuable attributes.

Xia Nan felt a slight unease in his heart.

His dark eyes glanced deeper into the Grey Valley, trying to glimpse the hidden truth through the increasingly thick fog.

"Crack."

Suddenly, a very faint sound was detected by him, whose senses were extremely sharp.

Concentrate your mind and instantly determine the direction from which the sound is coming.

His eyes shifted slightly, and several tall figures, well hidden in the mist, came into view.

"Be on high alert."

Xia Nan suddenly spoke, causing Leon, who was in a state of high tension in the dead silence beside him, to shudder violently.

His eyes widened in shock, and his lips parted but he hadn't yet spoken.

The next second, the high-pitched and long wolf howl that had once echoed throughout the goblin lair swallowed his consciousness.

In an unfamiliar environment, if you discover that an enemy is lying in ambush nearby, and you have a "burden" with you, what should you do?
Typically, one might mentally prepare for battle while discreetly retreating with the "burden" until both reach a safe area, or until the enemy can no longer restrain themselves and launches an attack.

But for Xia Nan, there was no need to think so much.

His keen senses allowed him to determine the approximate number and strength of the enemies lying in ambush around him almost instantly. Furthermore, the exaggerated mobility granted by [Fang Hunt] meant that if he wanted, he could instantly overturn the situation where the enemy was in the dark and he was in the light.

There's no need to feign compliance with the enemy, to test any acting skills, or to seek other options.

Now that we've determined that the number and strength of the enemy are within our capabilities, we might as well wipe them all out.

Then, the ferocious, pitch-black, fierce winter wolf transformed into a chilling wind as if from the high plateau, tearing through the mist with a high-pitched howl.

Death and fear descended amidst blood and shadow.

Who is the enemy?

Five chocobos, each about two meters tall, that walk upright.

It's like a living, moving gray boulder.

The fine, rough, scale-like feathers, layered like gray stone slabs, gradually darken from light gray, mimicking the color of wind-eroded rock layers, allowing them to blend perfectly with the rugged, gray mountain walls.
Its legs, covered with thick, grayish-black skin, are exceptionally robust, and a pair of enormous, hook-like claws help it find a foothold in the crevices of the steep rocky slope.

In contrast, the two pairs of wings close together on its sides look small and ridiculous, clearly not supporting them to soar through the sky, but only serving to maintain their balance.

The most conspicuous part of its body, which even Xia Nan could recognize at a glance, was its heavy and huge beak at the front of its head.

Unlike other birds whose beaks are gracefully curved, the beak is like a primitive giant axe roughly carved from a single piece of rock. The upper edge of the beak has a cold, hard curve that extends abruptly from the base to the tip, forming an axe blade, while the lower edge is thick and blunt, transforming into an anvil that bears enormous force.

—Hawkbeak, Challenge Level 1/4.

The five birds that Xia Nan encountered should be a subspecies of the Axebeak, which have evolved to adapt to the rocky environment of Gray Valley.

Compared to those domesticated into mounts on the grasslands, their color and size have changed considerably.

Perhaps their fighting ability is stronger, and their personality is much more violent?
It doesn't matter.

If Xia Nan were an expert professor engaged in biological research, he might be interested in the evolutionary process of this organism.

In reality, he was just an ordinary adventurer who suddenly found himself ambushed by enemies in an unfamiliar environment and sensed their greed and malice.

What happened next was only natural.

First, almost at the same time that the wolf howls echoed through the stone walls.

The axe-beaked bird that was closest to the two had its neck bitten off by the black wolf.

Crimson blood gushed from the severed mouth, and before it could even hit the ground, the remaining four axe-beaked birds were instantly gripped by fear under the effect of the [Fang Hunt] feat [Night Mother's Gaze].

The bird's greed and bloodlust for its prey vanished, replaced by a look of panic and helplessness as if it had encountered a natural enemy.

The enormous body, capable of easily pecking and killing humans, now resembled four free-range chickens flapping their wings, scattering and fleeing in a panicked and ridiculous manner.

Xia Nan didn't let any of them go.

The iron-gray sword light stirred the mist, flashing four times in the Gray Valley, and the sound of a bird's beak hitting the ground echoed back and forth.

The four "Axe-Beaked Goblins" were killed one by one.

He waved to Leon, who was standing motionless and stunned not far away.

Xia Nan looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was setting and night was approaching.

He looked ahead into the depths of the Gray Valley, shrouded in thick fog, and thought that it was getting late. The Gray Valley seemed to hold some secrets, and who knew what changes might occur at night? He also had a boy with him, so he couldn't act freely.

It's not too late to come and explore again tomorrow when it's light.

Having made up my mind, I wasn't in a hurry to leave.

Instead, he turned his head, staring thoughtfully at the several carcasses of the axe-beaked bird on the ground, and asked Leon, who was standing beside him in a daze:

"You tell me... which parts of these free-range chickens taste the best?"

"Hmm, the thigh meat must be good, and the wings and breast should be alright too."

"By the way, are you used to eating offal and the like here?"

(End of this chapter)