Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 37 Courtyard
"This is it!"

Larry's originally heavy breathing had evened out, and he spoke excitedly.

At this moment, the team has walked deeper into the forest.

As the buildings in the roadside grass became increasingly dense, they finally arrived at their destination.

"That adventurer was the one who found the wooden sign here?"

The half-elf Hai'an held a longbow in his hand, and his silver-gray eyes carefully examined the surrounding scene, with a look of deep curiosity on his face.

This is a vast courtyard.

Unlike the ruins encountered on the road before, the courtyard itself is quite intact and most of the building structures remain in good condition.

This also allowed Xia Nan to compare the knowledge from his previous life in his mind while carefully observing everything about the building.

The whole is symmetrical with the central axis where the courtyard gate is located, and the houses on both sides are neatly arranged, orderly and beautiful;
The house has classic black tiles and white walls, and the eaves of the roof are as agile and light as a flying bird. The surfaces of the beams and columns are painted black and decorated with exquisite cloud carvings. The doors and windows mostly adopt complex and exquisite hollow structures, but the window paper originally pasted on them is already badly damaged, with only a few pieces of paper remaining at the corners.

“It’s exactly the same.”

Xia Nan muttered to himself in his heart.

At the same time, his eyes, scanning the courtyard, seemed to have noticed something strange and paused.

In his impression, the mansions where the ancient dignitaries lived often had lotus ponds of varying sizes.

Whenever someone walked by, the koi fish in the pond would swim around and beg for food.

This courtyard is naturally no exception.

There are high-arched double-sided aerial bridges, winding small corridors, and even a classical stone pavilion that extends straight to the center of the lake.

Everything seems normal.

The premise is that you can ignore the lush shrubs and long grass under the pavilions and corridors.

Forget lakes or ponds, there isn't even a small pond in the entire courtyard!

Although it took only a few months to build, there is no trace of water left under the arch bridges and pavilions.

It seems as if it was originally built on the meadow.

Seeing this strange scene, Xia Nan couldn't help but become more certain of his previous thoughts -

These buildings are definitely not from this world!

"what?"

Larry's voice of surprise came to my ears.

When I looked in that direction, I saw the other person standing in front of a rockery, his slightly plump face full of surprise.

Following the other person's gaze, Xia Nan couldn't help but reveal a bit of strangeness on his face.

"Did it wear out of the mold?"

On the upper left side of the rockery, the rugged, pale stones were strangely integrated with the branches of the oak tree next to it.

The grey and rough stones are interspersed with the emerald green branches and leaves, intertwining with each other in the stacking, contrasting yet perfectly fitting, as if they were born this way.

It’s just like the bugs caused by the collision and friction between models in those shoddy games in the past.

But now it seems more natural in the real world.

It's like something from another world was forcibly moved to this space without any regard, creating a strange sight.

At the same time, the half-elf and Wood on the other side did not pay attention to these.

They are finally confirming the objectives of this mission.

"Master..."

He withdrew his eyes from the architectural carvings, which he had compared countless times.

Wood slowly shook his head towards the half-elf beside him.

"It's confirmed. It's not the style of the Matriarch Tribe."

Although the elves are influenced by many factors such as living environment, different subspecies, living habits, etc., each clan has its own unique style that is different from others.

But there is one thing that is universal and unchanging in common:

Integration with nature.

Whether it is green leaves and thorns or firefly algae and mushrooms, the elves' buildings are often closely integrated with the natural environment around them.

The houses in front of you are of different styles, but they all use various types of wood and bricks and tiles to perfection.

But there is still an essential difference in the painting style compared to the elves.

Hearing this, one could clearly see a look of disappointment on Hai'an's face.

But, that's all. I've already prepared myself mentally.

After getting confirmation from Wood, the half-elf breathed a sigh of relief as if a burden had been lifted from his heart.

He called Shanan, Larry and others who were not far away and said sincerely:

"The mission is over."

“I’ve got the results.”

"We have been in the forest for so many days. If there is no objection, we can return now."

Larry and Doris grew up in a small town. They were not spoiled, but they certainly didn't have to suffer any hardship.

After so many days in the Misty Forest, having met adventurers and encountered monsters, the two were already satisfied.

At present, there is naturally no reason to object to Hai'an's proposal to return.

However, Xia Nan did not respond immediately, and there was some hesitation on his face.

The reason why he joined Hai'an's team was not only because of the reward given by the other party, but the most important reason was to find out the origin of the wooden sign in the half-elf's hand.

Now, as they go deeper, familiar buildings keep appearing and the truth seems to be right before their eyes.

Returning at this time...

Noticing the hesitation on Xia Nan's face, Hai An mistakenly thought it was because of the remuneration, and immediately added:

"Don't worry, although the result of the mission is different from what I thought before I set out, your 100 gold will definitely not be reduced."

As soon as he finished speaking, Larry patted his chest and said proudly:
"I'll pay for it!"

"If it weren't for you, I would have died in the mouths of those rust monsters last night."

"100 gold is nothing, I'm willing to take 500 gold!"

As it concerns the biggest secret of "traveling through" Xia Nan, he is not in a position to explain in detail.

He glanced outside the courtyard, towards the depths of the forest.

Thinking in my mind:

Although they were still on the outskirts of the misty forest, they were already close to the border.

Going further in, even if there are professionals in the team, it would be difficult to guarantee safety.

Judging from the pattern of buildings along the way, if you want to find out the origin of the wooden sign, you have to go deep into the misty forest.

With his current strength, it is too dangerous.

"Maybe, come back later?"

Thoughts last only a moment.

Faced with the enthusiasm of several people, Xia Nan no longer hesitated. He nodded to Hai'an, Larry and others and agreed to return.

Just like the tourists in various scenic spots in the previous life, no matter how uninterested they were in the surrounding attractions, they would often buy some local souvenirs to show that they had been here.

At least I'll take a few photos.

After experiencing the "Misty Forest Trip" that might only happen once in a lifetime, Larry and Doris certainly would not go back empty-handed.

Seeing that the return trip was decided, I subconsciously searched the surrounding area for souvenirs that were easy to carry.

"Wow! This stone statue is really well made, much more delicate than the craftsmen in the city!"

Pulling his hair out in surprise, he found a stone statue of a poisonous snake from some unknown corner.

As thick as an arm, each scale is carved in great detail. The snake's body is curled up, with its fangs slightly exposed, as if it is about to attack.

lifelike.

But Xia Nan couldn't help but frown.

The stone statue in front of him did not resemble the style of Eastern civilization in his impression.

"Hey! Come here, everyone!"

"There's another rust monster statue here! It's exactly the same as the one we encountered yesterday!"

Hearing this, he seemed to think of something.

Wood, who was originally standing behind Hai'an, suddenly looked gloomy.

The figure blurred, and the next second he had the half-elf protected behind him.

growled:
"alert!!!"

(End of this chapter)