A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

Chapter 79 Werewolf and Tree Heart

The next morning, Li De packed his bags early, changed into his cleaned demon hunter armor, and put on his twin swords and crossbow pouch.

When Elena saw this, she realized he was leaving. She grabbed his sleeve, her face full of reluctance, her eyes red, and she tried hard not to let her tears fall.

How long are you going to walk this far?

Li De gently hugged her and soothed her softly, "Wait for me. I will definitely come back to find you before winter. I will never break my promise."

Elena nestled in his arms, nodding gently, repeatedly reminding him to be careful and watch out for danger. She watched the figure of the man and the horse disappear around the street corner, reluctant to turn back for a long time.

The coal ball was quite happy, its hooves pawing the ground and neighing incessantly.

During this period, apart from Li De riding it out for a stroll every afternoon, he had to stay in the stable the rest of the time, and the horseshoes were almost rusting.

What's the difference between a happy pony being unhappy and being a human being?

Traveling alone, with fewer concerns, allowed me to travel much faster.

He sped along, avoiding crowds and taking shortcuts, and in just a few days, he once again entered the Velen region.

Returning to this desolate, dilapidated land, fraught with danger, Li De felt a sense of nostalgia, as if he were revisiting an old haunt.

The location of the Heart of the Oak is too remote and deserted, with no direct road leading to it.

He took out a map, marked it, and followed the rugged path to the vicinity. Then he abandoned his horse and walked on foot, passing through dense forests and climbing steep hillsides. After several twists and turns, he finally found the hidden cave.

However, as soon as he approached the cave entrance, he smelled a strong, fishy stench, like the scent of some wild beast, but several times stronger.

Li De frowned imperceptibly and immediately activated his Witcher Senses to observe his surroundings.

Soon, he found a pile of dried feces not far from the cave entrance.

"The feces are long and thin, and they belong to some kind of large carnivorous creature. They also contain undigested hair and bone fragments. Ugh—it stinks so bad. I'd rather clean the pigsty than smell this."

He stood up, searching for more clues.

In the blink of an eye, several scratch marks carved into the stone wall came into view.

"The claws are very sharp and powerful. There are only a few scratch marks, which are not from sharpening the claws, but from marking territory."

"Furthermore, there were no food scraps nearby, indicating that this monster does not have the habit of bringing food back to its nest. It seems that it is very confident in its hunting skills."

"There's also a tuft of hair here, rough and uneven, without any downy hair. Is it a shapeshifting creature—a werewolf?"

Why make this guess? The reason is simple: the fur of ordinary wild animals consists of guard hairs and underfur; the former is for wind protection, while the latter is for warmth.

Logically, downy fur should fall off more easily, but there are only rough bristles nearby, which clearly indicates that it is some kind of cursed creature that has undergone secondary transformation, the most representative of which is the werewolf.

As if to confirm his guess, a low growl, characteristic of canines, came from deep within the cave, warning him not to approach.

Li De turned to the side and his gaze met a pair of eerie green beast eyes.

He slowly took a few steps back, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword, but instead of drawing it immediately, he shouted into the cave.

"Hey! Can we communicate? I mean no harm."

His response was a hostile wolf howl.

"Fine, if we can't communicate, then don't blame me."

Li De's eyes turned cold, and he drew his silver sword with a backhand motion. The long blade drew an arc in the air, signaling the start of the battle.

"Come."

"Awooo!!"

With a wolf howl, the deep light in the beast's eyes left two afterimages.

Its massive, gray-black body, exuding primal wildness, burst forth from the depths of the cave, its claws outstretched, lunging straight at your face.

Li De nimbly spun around, his movements swift and decisive as he dodged the werewolf's frontal attack.

At the same time, he swung his silver sword horizontally, precisely slashing at the werewolf's soft chest and abdomen.

The sword blade sliced ​​through, producing only a low, grinding sound; no blood flowed.

The monster was wearing a simple suit of armor woven from bones and animal sinews. It was crudely made, but surprisingly sturdy.

However, the irrational monsters have limited attack methods, consisting of nothing more than clawing, pouncing, and biting, and their frequent attacks often miss their mark.

Enraged, the werewolf roared and spat out foul-smelling saliva from its wolfish mouth.

"Wow, a biological attack? If you're going to throw shit at me, I'm turning around and leaving."

Li De sneered and mocked.

Unfortunately, the werewolf didn't understand his sense of humor. Its powerful hind leg muscles propelled it forward, and it repeatedly lunged.

Seemingly fierce, but actually full of flaws, Li De turned around and circled behind the werewolf. Before it could turn around, he slammed out an Alder.

A pale blue shockwave erupted, striking the werewolf precisely in the back. The monster, which had just landed, lost its balance and was knocked to the ground.

Li De gave the monster no chance to catch its breath, leaping forward and landing his knee on its lower back. He then thrust his silver sword deep into the gaps in the bone armor, the tip of the sword precisely wedged into the spine, and twisted it forcefully.

"Aww!"

Amidst the deafening howls, the monster felt a sharp pain in its waist, and its lower body instantly went numb. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't move its two hind legs even an inch.

It — is paralyzed.

Its upper body, which it could still control, continued to struggle wildly. It flailed its claws wildly, trying to fight back, but Li De cruelly held its head down.

"Igni".

Two seconds later, a pure white flame flowed silently from his palm, like a clear spring flowing gently in the mountains, silent yet terrifyingly powerful.

The werewolf's ferocious howl abruptly ceased the moment the flames erupted.

In just a few seconds, the pure white flames struck the back of the head, burning a hole in it. The brain matter evaporated instantly, and the tiny bone fragments were burned until they became hard and brittle, shattering completely at the slightest touch.

It was the improved Igni Mudra that allowed Li De to complete the double-layered Mudra nesting within two seconds after half a month of repeated practice.

Although a two-second delay is extremely risky in high-intensity combat and requires more practice, high risk brings high reward.

Once the Dharma Seal is formed, its power is vastly different from before.

A single layer of Igni can at most burn the surface of a werewolf's skin, hardly causing fatal damage. Unlike now, it directly evaporates the brain matter, killing the werewolf in one blow.

The werewolf fell completely silent. Its massive body stopped struggling and began to shrink rapidly. Its fur fell out, and its muscles withered. In just a few seconds, it turned back into a thin human corpse.

Li De stood up, dusted himself off, and cast an Alder sign into the cave to test for any other dangers inside.

"There's no movement. It seems there's only one werewolf."

He then gripped the silver sword tightly and slowly walked into the cave, his golden cat eyes gleaming in the dim light.

He walked a few meters through the narrow passage, turned a corner, and finally found his target.

It was a huge lump of flesh curled up in the roots of an oak tree, made of twisted flesh, and its shape resembled a giant heart covered with redundant lumps.

A black wooden stick was inserted into the center of his heart, and streams of dark red blood slowly flowed from the wound, pooling on his face.

The flesh around the wooden stick writhed and twisted, as if trying to push the foreign object out.

Li De stepped forward and tapped the tree roots with his silver sword.

"Tree heartwood?"

The flesh and blood heart beat slowly twice, and its surface glowed red, as if it had just awakened from a deep sleep.

"Witcher, get me out of here, please—"

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