The Strange Adventures of Hearn the Believer

“Aran”.

"What are your orders, Miss Salome?"

“I call you Alan, why do you call me Miss Salome?”

"Because... there is a distinction between the noble and the lowly."

"..."

"I am the child of a shepherd, and my family has been shepherds for generations. I will likely take over my father's position when I grow up and become a shepherd, tending sheep for the adults in the Heavenly Palace and Jade Purity City. As for Miss Salome, she is an immortal residing in the Heavenly Palace..."

"No, that's not true. My sister inherited the responsibility of being an immortal. I, like Alan, am just a mortal with a lifespan of about a hundred years."

"Is there such a distinction even in the Heavenly Palace?"

“My sister is different. She was chosen from a young age to inherit the legacy of Elijah from the previous generation. Never mind, why am I telling you all this... Aran, didn’t you say you didn’t want to be a shepherd when you grew up?”

"Indeed, I do not wish to follow in my father's footsteps. My younger brother can also take over my father's position. I wish to travel to as many places as possible in my lifetime and see what this world looks like."

"Then let's work hard from now on! Next time I will bring some books on cultivation techniques from the palace. Actually, I've been keeping an eye on things—Alan, your wind element affinity is actually very good, you just lack the opportunity to get started."

"Salome, little..."

"Are you still yelling?"

"...Salome, are you planning to have me practice magic and then take the imperial examination?"

"How could that be? Yalan, you should stop going to the restaurants in Yuqing City to listen to those storytellers and operas. If a poor boy like you from a shepherd family tries to take the imperial examinations and become an official, he'll probably be kicked out by the powerful Gezan clan as soon as he steps through the door, let alone make a name for himself and come to see me in Tianque."

"Oh, that's terrible... So Salome, what you mean is..."

"Eight years. I'll only give you eight years. After eight years, my sister and I will lead a fleet westward to the ancestral land of the Son of Earth... In short, you must diligently cultivate wind-attribute magic. At that time, the fleet will recruit a large number of wind riders for the needs of the voyage. You can join the fleet and travel westward with me back to our homeland. Haven't you always wanted to go far away and see the outside world?"

"I see! I will certainly do my utmost!"

……

“Sasha… It’s been a long time, Miss Olivia.”

"It's been a long time, Alan. Salome won't be coming back."

"Wh...what happened? Salome is still..."

"It's alright. She's just been exposed and placed under house arrest. I brought you some medicinal herbs and books to exchange for the water jade she gave you back then."

"How could I be the kind of person who covets such material possessions?!"

"If you don't hand it over to me, I won't be the one coming next time. Besides, have you forgotten your agreement?"

“…I see. I understand now. Miss Olivia, please return this water jewel to Salome and tell her that I will not disappoint her. Eight years from now, I will definitely travel west with the fleet.”

"That's for the best. You don't have much time, so go do what you need to do."

"You will definitely live up to your destiny!"

"Wait, besides the elixir book, there are two sentences that Salome asked me to pass on to you."

"What is it you wish to say? I am all ears!"

"First, Salome said your choice of words was really strange. She told you to think about returning to your ancestral land in the future and to change your Gozan accent back as soon as possible."

"Uh... I... I will do my best."

"Secondly, Salome asked me to ask what your full name is. It seems that you two only know each other by name and not by surname. She is afraid that she will not recognize you in eight years. Our surname is Reinhardt, and her full name is Salome Reinhardt."

“Noah, my full name is Aran Noah.”

"Noah, I've got it. I'll go back and tell Salome. Now, you should focus on your cultivation. If you dare to break your promise in eight years, I, as a dead spirit, will not let you go."

"Making ghosts? Miss Olivia, what makes you say such things? Such ominous remarks should be avoided."

"..."

"..."

“I have no future, but Salome does, Alan Noah, don’t let my sister down.”

thump.

"..."

thump.

"!"

Boom!

"My butt...it hurts so much..."

Yonglin awoke from her daze to find herself bound upside down in the dim light by unknown vines.

The sound of water droplets falling could be heard from time to time. The humidity in the air was not low, and the surroundings were dim, with the only light coming from bioluminescent fungi.

Amidst a ghostly blue glow, the druid, traversing the natural world, quickly determined that he was in a cave deep underground, filled with stalactites.

As for the one who kept tapping on itself in the dream, making "thump" "thump" "thump" sounds from time to time...

Yonglin turned her head and saw a handsome young man, who was tied up like a dumpling just like her, with hair that was either blond or silver and had very little pigment, twisting his body with all his might and constantly pulling the vines in a swaying arc as he crashed into Yonglin's direction.

Having failed to get through to the other party after calling for a long time, they had no choice but to resort to physical impact.

That guy's thinking is correct. Eirin is a druid who communicates with nature. Once he wakes up, the predicament will be easily resolved.

Yonglin felt that the swaying face looked familiar, but her head was spinning for a moment, and she couldn't remember who it was...

Seeing Yonglin awaken from her deep sleep, the young man, who was also dizzy from being shaken, suddenly had a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Dr. Yonglin, Dr. Yonglin, I am Alan, the Alan who assisted you on the night of the shipwreck. Do you remember me?"

Oh, it's that effeminate younger brother who doesn't know medicine but is very diligent, efficient, and enthusiastic in running errands.

Mr. Yonglin, a male fox spirit with a gentle and delicate appearance and naturally alluring charm, quickly matched the somewhat familiar name with the somewhat familiar face in front of him.

"Alright, alright, stop bumping into me. I'm fully awake now, little brother Alan. What's going on here?"

Yonglin twisted her body to avoid the final impact.

"After the teleportation from the Emerald Dream ended, we all fell into a coma. The destination we were supposed to reach was also wrong; it was underground instead of on the surface. Based on my observations over the past two days, it seems we've been captured by a group of elves."

Aran, who had been awake for two days, began to describe what he had seen and heard.

“We hang here with some other species. Every day, the elves feed us a kind of berry that only requires one to fill our stomachs. They have never mistreated us. But yesterday, they took away about ten tree cocoons with living creatures tied up. Those ‘people’ have never come back.”

"That should be a product of the Druid's divine spell, [Divine Berry]. That means there are also followers of the Nature Cult among these elves living underground, and maybe even followers of [Lady Rosetta]. When they come next time, I'll try to communicate with them. Although elves are proud, most of them are reasonable. If they are also Druids, it should be easier to talk to them... Wait, you said those 'people' never came back?"

Eirin, being a druid, quickly grasped the true nature of the fruit. Based on Alan's description, he analyzed it in a way that wasn't too pessimistic, until he noticed a certain detail.

"Yes, there used to be about thirty tree cocoons, but now there are only about ten left."

Aran nodded in agreement.

"...What do those elves look like? What color is their skin?"

"Amber eyes and silver hair, and skin in various shades of gray."

"..."

Grass (a type of natural plant)!

Even with her excellent self-control, Yonglin couldn't help but curse inwardly at this moment.

Gray skin and silver hair... they are the gray elves from the Dark Ages who sacrificed their fellow human beings and other divinely created species to the non-existent evil god underground, and were eventually driven to the depths of the underground by the forest spirits and Rosetta foxes!

It's been almost two hundred years since the start of the Fourth Age, and these lunatics who hold small sacrifices every three days and large sacrifices every seven days are still alive?!

In an instant, Yonglin connected with the vines binding her body, and the serpentine green vines soon no longer bound them.

Alan noticed the falling trend and quickly cast a Feather Fall spell on himself and Eirin.

The two landed safely.

After landing, Eirin communicated with the energy of the natural world and cast the second-circle druid spell [Impact], keeping their movements at a very low level.

"Alan, the situation is terrible..."

Yonglin briefly explained the Grey Elf blood sacrifice ritual to the young man who was quite adept at using wind magic, and as expected, the man's face turned pale with fright.

"So that means those 'people' from yesterday were all dragged away and sacrificed to the evil god! What should we do then?"

The thought that he and the "person" next door had almost been chosen as sacrifices yesterday made Alan tremble with fear.

“I just took a look, and none of the remaining ‘people’ hanging are people we know. They’re all unconscious, and the two of us can’t carry that many away on our own. We’ll have to sneak out and find those two guys first. They must have woken up before us, and they probably weren’t even captured by the Grey Elves. Once we find them, our lives will be safe. Then we can discuss things further…”

Yonglin, the dog, crept into the shadows on one side of the cave exit, peering outside. Once he was sure no one was around, he called for Yalan to follow.

"Who are those two?"

Alan followed a step behind Yonglin, equally alert to his surroundings. Upon hearing this, he subconsciously asked.

“Mr. Hern and Mr. Joshua, in this desperate situation, it’s not enough for just the two of us to be there. We need to cling to the legs of those two sharp knives—the sorcerer and the paladin.”

Yonglin recalled how Hearn had defined the team's roles during their previous trip, and to ease his anxiety, he subconsciously used Hearn's terminology to explain.

"???"

Alan was completely confused.

……

Chapter 167 The Three Musketeers (Part 2)

"I deeply admire those brave souls who turn a blind eye to the beauty of green plums..."

"Your Excellency, what are you saying?"

"It's nothing, just a spontaneous thought. By the way, how is your health recovering, Your Highness Salome?"

"It's no longer a problem."

"Then I'm relieved."

A moment later, Salome Reinhardt slowly awoke from her dream, and upon opening her eyes, she found herself inside a light gauze curtain.

Outside the sheer curtains, twilight was faintly visible. The bed was warm and inviting, the clothes were dry and soft, the humidity was just right, and a subtle fragrance wafted in the air…

What awakened her was a continuous, light tapping sensation on the palm of her left hand, like a curtain of rain.

Looking in that direction, she saw a young man in black sitting in front of the bed, his delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, one hand supporting his chin, seemingly taking her pulse, inside the light gauze curtain.

Salome had read extensively in her family's ancient books during her childhood, gaining knowledge of many aspects of the culture before the fall of Yale in the Upper Ages.

The young man before her was dressed in the attire of Yale University at its peak, and for a moment, Salome forgot what year it was.

The boy wore a fluffy black robe that resembled both a trench coat and a cape, with the collar revealing his left shoulder. Underneath, he wore a plain white shirt, a black vest, and tight pants, which accentuated his excellent physique.

He wore a twisted silver star earring on his left ear, with a small, pale silver key hanging from the hollowed-out five-pointed star. A gentle breeze blew outside the beaded curtain, evoking a clear, melodious sound like silver bells.

Salome's gaze met his, and she saw a pair of unforgettable blue eyes, as pure as the distant sea with ice floes in the far north, or as deep and enchanting as the night sky under the pale moon.

Seeing the princess, shrouded in light gauze, slowly awaken, the young man taking her pulse seemed to have let go of his worries, his delicate eyebrows relaxing and a faint smile appearing on his face.

He casually lifted his slightly messy right temple, which partially obscured his face, and then casually placed his dark hair, which was tied into a bunch, over his left shoulder, with a hint of dark red at the end.

Having just experienced a fleeting dream, and now witnessing such a scene, even the princess, who had been admired by many young talents in the Far East since childhood, could not help but feel her heart flutter...

"Uh... Lord Righteous Man?"

Salome couldn't immediately reconcile the black swallowtail butterfly before her with the dashing young man who roamed the world with a sword in the Cloud Inn, and couldn't help but ask.

"Is Your Highness perhaps still half asleep? Didn't I say before that Your Highness no longer needs to address me with such a formal title?"

The believer nodded with a smile, easing the girl's last trace of unease.

Seeing him nod in acknowledgment, Salome breathed a sigh of relief, then gave a wry smile.

"It's not that Salome has forgotten what you look like, it's just that your demeanor... is slightly different from before."

After careful consideration, she chose a relatively polite word.

"Oh, is that so?" the believer asked in surprise.

"Hmm." Salome simply nodded slightly.

Her voice was barely audible, but her heart was already in turmoil.

Could it be that the Jade Dream caused Your Excellency to develop a split personality?!

Apart from Joshua, everyone could see that the righteous man who used to harass Jiang Xue in the clouds was nothing more than a kind-hearted young man with the desire to steal but not the courage to do so…