I, Guinevere, am going to crush you, you curry stick, today!

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

The group had just stopped, standing on the edge of light and darkness, watching their companion being dragged away, when, before they could react, the torches in their hands flashed and suddenly went out. In the shattered sunlight, an eerie darkness swept in, and countless grotesque hands waved and twisted, pulling their limbs and dragging them bit by bit into the shadows.

Axes swung and torches were smashed, blood flew and fell, and finally everything returned to darkness, leaving only a few long, dark red trails on the ground...

P.S.: My lords, let's give a thunderous round of applause to your diligent Emperor's return! Wahahaha, wahahaha, wahahahahahahahaha!

P.S.: Long-awaited trading time!

"Mountain and Sea Delicacies Recipe"

Synopsis: "I, Taotie, would rather starve to death, bang my head against a tree, or die outside than eat a single bite of your food!"

Just then, a cook passed by...

Bei Xiaomeng: "It smells so good..."

Explore the ancient mountains and seas, savoring the myriad flavors of countless demons.

"I, Bei Xiaomeng, will eat my way through the entire prehistoric world. Please call me Bei the Eater, or simply: Master Bei!"

"Hey, you nine-tailed fox sister up ahead, you look like my wet nurse. Don't run away, I won't eat you, I only drink milk..."

"Hey, you brute, I need your horns. You'll grow new ones next year, what are you afraid of?"

"Brother White Tiger, please lend me your sword, I'll use it to chop vegetables..."

The gluttonous girl Bei Xiaomeng obtains a cookbook left by her ancestors, which records countless delicacies. From then on, she embarks on a journey to find "food," eating and eating wherever she goes...

(Eats beasts) (Eats demons) (Doesn't eat humanoids, but will eat them if their heads are removed) (Loves drinking milk the most...)

Bei Xiaomeng; Big breasts mean lots of milk!

Chapter 177 Are we from the same hometown?

"This is... bloodstains... and it looks like they were left not long ago. Sure enough, the sound I heard earlier came from this area..."

Muttering to herself, the girl rose from her kneeling position, patted off non-existent dust from her body, and spoke in a muffled, troubled voice from beneath her helmet.

She rushed over as soon as she heard the strange roar, but found nothing. There was no one around, only some marks of sharp weapons and conspicuous drag marks on the ground and the surrounding trees.

This forest was truly bizarre. Since being teleported here, all she had heard was the rustling of the wind. She hadn't seen any wild animals, not even a single bird. The atmosphere was eerily quiet, and even though the girl considered herself quite brave, she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine. Dark, dense forests were classic settings for horror stories. Guinevere looked up; although it was still daytime, the dense foliage limited the sunlight, creating an unreliable, intermittent illumination.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any tools like a flint and steel on hand...

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always feel like there's something watching me from all around... Clausolas, do you feel the same way?"

"Not for now. But the situation is different, so it's best to be cautious." The Sword of Light added a final reminder.

"clear."

Having received a negative answer, Guinevere couldn't help but wonder if she was being too nervous. She had just experienced those eerie events that gave her goosebumps, so it was understandable that she was seeing things from the shadows. But as the Sword of Light had said, this place was very likely the enemy's stronghold, so it was always better to be extra careful.

She looked around for a moment, but still couldn't find any clues. She looked away, ran her fingertip over the still wet bloodstain—the sharp dragon claw was immediately stained with a dark red—and then held it in front of her, sniffing it gently. She didn't smell any strange smells like fish or stench, which proved that it was most likely human blood.

“Someone was attacked here. These must be the marks left from the battle…and then they were injured and dragged away by something…Let’s go over there and take a look.”

"Yes."

Ignoring the inexplicable feeling of being spied on, she first marked several trees along the way with her sword before running towards the direction the bloodstains extended.

Soon after.

A faint light appeared ahead...

……

It's a campfire.

Bright flames shone in the field of vision, and sparks rose up, clearly defining the boundary between light and darkness.

Guinevere stopped a short distance away, staring ahead in near disbelief.

A blue-haired child sat by the campfire, wearing only tattered clothes, tidying up a large pile of things in front of him: a small pot, a detachable iron frame, two folded sleeping bags and a portable tent that was half open, several sets of knives, forks, bowls and chopsticks, and various bottles and jars that looked like seasonings. But what caught Guinevere's attention the most was the backpack next to him.

That wasn't a style from this era. She searched her memory for several seconds before finally finding the relevant information from over a decade-old recollection—next to the child was a dark blue women's hiking backpack.

A bottle of mineral water, about two-thirds full, was tucked into the left side pocket. A price tag, clearly marked, read: ¥15390. The girl's first reaction was to gasp in shock.

So expensive!

But she immediately realized that this was England around 500 AD; how could such a thing exist? Had she traveled through time again? Yet the child's attire was very similar to that of ordinary people at the time, completely out of place with the modern-style hiking backpack. For a moment, Guinevere was in a state of confusion and stood frozen in place. After a while, it was the child who noticed her first.

Noticing the stranger who had appeared beside him at some unknown time, the child froze. He was sitting on the ground, but he was startled and almost jumped up. He then grabbed his backpack in a panic and tried to create some distance.

He sat on the ground and tried to move backward, but the items that were already scattered all around him caused a commotion as he moved in his haste.

The pot flew out first, followed by bowls and chopsticks scattered everywhere, not to mention the bottles and jars. Guinevere dodged the flying pot lid, her raised hand hovering in mid-air. Staring at the horrific scene before her, she remained silent for a long time before bending down to pick up a small bottle that happened to be squatting at her feet, unscrewing it and smelling it.

"Cough...cough cough...it's pepper powder."

She coughed twice unexpectedly, the pungent smell, which she hadn't encountered in a long time, making her even more certain of her suspicions. Watching the child still struggling with a pile of junk, the firelight flickering, Guinevere frowned slightly, tilted her head, and thought for a moment: "Hello, don't worry, I'm not a bad person..." Feeling that this statement sounded suspicious, she changed her words: "...Anyway, don't worry, I won't hurt you."

She initially used the most widely spoken common language in Britain at that time, because thanks to the vigorous promotion by the Roman Empire, basic communication was basically possible in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and even across the sea.

Seeing that the child didn't seem to react, she tentatively repeated herself in her previous life's Chinese. Because she hadn't used it for over ten years, her tone was inevitably quite rusty, sounding somewhat like a foreigner learning to speak. She looked at the child expectantly, but saw that the child's face still showed an expression of surprise and fear.

Not from the same hometown... That makes sense. No matter how much East Asians mix, they probably couldn't produce hair this blue. The problem is, she searched through her memories but couldn't recall any country in her past life where people had blue hair. She didn't know if she was just too ignorant or if it was simply a non-existent phenomenon.

Guinevere tapped her head in frustration, then decided to imitate the police officers in the TV series, raising her hands and taking a tentative step forward: "Don't worry, don't worry, I just want to ask you a question..." She spoke in a coaxing tone, but the child became even more panicked, clutching his backpack tightly to his chest, struggling and falling, about to fall into the nearby fire.

"Danger!"

With a flash, the girl disregarded everything else and rushed forward. The distance between them wasn't far, but in the rush, it was difficult to catch the child before he was burned. Her mind raced, and Guinevere spread her five fingers. With a "boom," the raging wind extinguished the fire in an instant, and the surroundings suddenly darkened. Through the gaps in the sky, the sunlight was dim and about to fall.

"what--"

The child fell heavily onto the extinguished fire. The firewood was still warm, and perhaps burned, he cried out. The sound was more like the howl of a wild animal, not something a human could make. Guinevere rushed forward, his left hand still tightly clutching the backpack, his right hand haphazardly bracing himself against the ground. He scrambled a few steps to the side, then stumbled and fell back.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!" The child lay on the ground, flailing his arms and legs, struggling frantically. Even when facing a fully armed stranger, such hysterical behavior was quite unusual. He hadn't even drawn his sword yet... Just as this thought was beginning to form in his mind, suddenly, a sharp killing intent erupted within inches of him!

Swish!

The next moment, the sword light sliced ​​through the air, cleaving a deformed arm that was reaching for her in two. Guinevere spun around, and with a series of swift movements, the sword light danced around her, forming a large silver net. Countless strange hands reached out from the darkness, but they were all blocked a meter away, unable to advance an inch.

Amidst the splattered blood, she grabbed the seemingly stunned child. He cried out again, struggling instinctively. The girl frowned and tapped his head with her fist: "Quiet—"

"what……"

The child then became obedient, hiding behind her, trembling, but still tightly clutching the backpack, never letting go. Fragmented sunlight slanted down from above, yet an eerie darkness still permeated the surroundings.

Guinevere gripped her sword, shielding the child behind her. She took a step back, narrowing her eyes as she gazed into the darkness at the countless deformed, grotesque hands whose outlines were barely visible. "These arms... have the same characteristics as the monsters those two villagers turned into. But what's with the sheer number..."

If a pair of arms represents a monster, then the densely packed scene before her eyes must have at least hundreds or thousands of arms, flailing desperately like hungry ghosts from hell, trying to grab onto something. Not only in this direction, but the girl could sense that there was also the same dense darkness and the same countless deformed, monstrous hands in the other three directions.

But it seemed that her earlier performance had frightened them, because no matter which direction she looked from, these strange hands that existed in the darkness kept a certain distance from her, creating a delicate stalemate.

If she were alone, Guinevere would most likely choose to confront the enemy head-on. The Sword of Light is the most mysterious weapon in the world, and there are very few things that can stand against it. The Dragon Armor is even more indestructible, combining both spear and shield, which allows her to use her toughness to resolve most crises swiftly or retreat unscathed.

But right now there's a child who seems to have no fighting ability to protect, so the options for fighting are immediately much fewer. She was thinking about what to do next when suddenly, the child behind her rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a small "pistol".

He held the unusually small and exquisite "pistol" but seemed completely bewildered, as if he didn't know how to operate it. Guinevere only glanced at it before recognizing it as a pistol-style lighter.

She'd used this thing to scare her younger sister countless times in her past life. Although she didn't know why the child would bring it out at a time like this, she thought again: since the other party was here, they probably knew the situation better than she did. Just now, there was a campfire burning in broad daylight, and these strange hands appeared only after the fire went out...

"Give me the stuff!"

Before the child could respond, she swung her left hand and took the pistol-shaped lighter. With a snap, a small flame ignited at the "muzzle".

The flames were worlds apart from the campfire from before, but just as the fire ignited, a low growl filled with resentment and unwillingness suddenly rang out in the air. The eerie darkness in front of them receded like a tide, the light and shadow flickered, and everything returned to normal.

Once she confirmed that the darkness and the strange hand from the other three directions had also disappeared, Guinevere breathed a sigh of relief, flicked the lighter a few more times, and turned to look at the child. The child was no longer afraid, tilting his head back, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Ah... ah ah..."

He pointed to the lighter, as if about to speak, but the sound that came out was still that strange howl, rising and falling in pitch. Guinevere tilted her head and handed him the lighter: "Here you go."

The child took a step back and shook his head vigorously, yelling, "Ah, ahhh—"

"Can't you... speak?"

"Ahhhh-"

"Then do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Ahhhh-"

“Well, this is really troublesome…” Guinevere couldn’t help but smile bitterly. The unfamiliar environment, the strange enemy, and the fact that she finally found a human who didn’t seem hostile, but couldn’t even communicate with him… This was really terrible.

The child didn't even know how to turn on a lighter, and these things clearly weren't his own. If we could have talked, I'd have asked where he got the backpack and other things… Suddenly, my thoughts stopped, and a completely different sense of crisis welled up inside me.

The girl raised her head, her gaze passing over the child's head and looking ahead. In the dappled sunlight of the woods, a figure gradually emerged.

"Monster, stay away from that child..."

This is a woman in her early twenties with a pretty face. She has long, light pink hair tied up in a black cloth at the back of her head and wears a strangely styled outfit with blue and red as the main colors.

She had two knives hanging at her waist, one of which was already drawn and held in her hand. The blade, with its unique curves, flashed a cold light in the sunlight.

"...Go further away!"

There was obvious hostility, and Guinevere certainly felt threatened by the woman, but what bothered her more was the language she used. Although the language was unlike any she had ever encountered before, it felt strangely familiar, and she even subconsciously understood what the woman was saying.

It sounded familiar; she was sure she'd heard it somewhere before, but where exactly… Before she could think it through, the pink-haired woman flicked her wrist, hurling the knife at her. The blade flashed a dozen meters away. Guinevere dodged to the side, and a "thud" came from behind—it seemed the thrown blade had pierced a tree trunk. Her eyes narrowed; the pink-haired figure lunged forward, her blue clothes fluttering, and another knife was already drawn, slashing down furiously!

P.S.: Today's chapter is also 4,000 words long~ Did anyone guess who appeared at the end?

Chapter 178 The Wandering Swordsman

In the dark forest, the extinguished fire still lingered on the branches, a faint glow barely flickering. The child, clutching a backpack, looked bewildered. Guinevere took a breath. Before her, a woman with long, pale pink hair threw a knife in her hand and swiftly approached, another knife already raised in the air.

This strike was like a white ribbon soaring into the sky, its momentum astonishing. The slender, thin blade, upon its fall, generated a sound of wind breaking and a sense of oppression, yet it was as violent as a mountain collapsing.

Because of the recent skirmish, the Sword of Light was still sheathed. The girl's figure flashed, the blade slashing upwards—*swish! swish! swish!* Three swift sounds rang out as the cracked sword missed its mark, the blade falling only cleaving the afterimage left behind. Guinevere stepped aside; her previous spot was now occupied by the pink-haired woman. Although she only held a knife, her other hand wasn't idle; she stepped forward and unleashed a powerful punch!

Although the woman was tall, about 1.7 meters, she looked very slender and seemed to be the type who excelled in speed. However, the simple yet powerful punch she threw caused the whistling wind to make the branches of the trees at their feet shake and fly up.

Guinevere didn't use her armor to block the blow. Instead, she retreated again, and the pink-haired woman's fist slammed heavily into a tree. With a crash, the tree, which was as thick as a bowl, was snapped in two, its upper half, along with its crown, slowly toppling over. Leaves flew everywhere. She pulled her fist back, her fingers spread, and she had already pulled out another sword that had been stuck in the tree trunk.

In a flash, the two women moved in and out of each other. Guinevere stood beside the broken tree stump. From the beginning, she had not sensed any killing intent from the pink-haired woman. Her attacks were only meant to force her away from the child. Since she knew the other woman's intentions, she was happy to cooperate and took a few steps back to make way for her.

The pink-haired woman brandished her twin swords, and as expected, she stopped attacking. She shielded the blue-haired child behind her, glanced around, and then looked this way, her expression serious, but even more so, curious.

"Aren't you going to fight back?"

It was still the same language that Guinevere was quite familiar with. However, after noticing the woman's appearance and the two distinctive blades, she already knew the answer in her heart.

This is actually a Japanese person... It's quite a coincidence. In my past life, because my younger sister was very enthusiastic about this kind of entertainment, I was influenced by her and became quite obsessed with it for a while. Later, I even went to learn Japanese for a period of time. Unfortunately, I died before I could actually use it in my life, turning it into a skill for slaying dragons. It's really sad.

But she never expected it would come in handy at this time. Although she had neglected it for more than ten years, she hadn't forgotten everything yet. Guinevere recalled the simple words she could remember in a hurry, and spoke in a "construction site Japanese" that she had never practiced before, saying one word at a time: "I... am not... a monster."

The woman opposite her immediately brightened up: "You understand what I'm saying?" Her tone was quite excited. The girl nodded, then shook her head: "I've learned... a little."

"So it seems you really aren't a monster. None of the dark creatures I've encountered so far can talk, let alone communicate with me. Looks like this fortune isn't too bad after all..."

The pink-haired woman seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but she didn't immediately sheathe her twin swords. She tapped the backs of the swords against her shoulder twice, tilted her head, and muttered something to herself.

The child behind her seemed to finally realize what was happening, and timidly raised his hand to tug at her sleeve: "Ah, ah ah, ah ah ah ah—" When the pink-haired woman turned around, she pointed at Guinevere, then at herself and the extinguished fire at her feet, making "ah ah ya ya" sounds.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm hmm hmm hmm. I see, I see..." The pink-haired woman, looking quite serious, seemed to think she could communicate with the child, when suddenly her shoulders slumped: "I still can't understand what you're saying!"

“Never mind, your voice is so pleasant, you probably aren’t a bad person. It’s rare to finally meet someone I can communicate with…” Sheathing her twin swords, the woman paused, giving Guinevere a strange look: “By the way, excuse me, are you human?”

"I... I should be." Stunned by this strange question, the girl answered helplessly.

“Great, then you should be able to eat these things too. It’s lunchtime, let’s fill our stomachs first… I remember there should be some canned food left, but first we need to light a fire… Hey, you in the dark, can I borrow what you’re holding? I’ll give it back to you in a bit.”

Watching the pink-haired woman rummaging through her backpack, then busily tidying up the scattered firewood, and suddenly looking up to ask for a lighter, the tense atmosphere from before had completely vanished. Guinevere couldn't help but smile and tossed the lighter over. The woman caught it with a "Thanks—" but after fiddling with it for a few moments, no flame appeared.

“This is… it has to be like this…” She crouched down, took the lighter back from the puzzled pink-haired woman, and skillfully lit it with a snap, explaining casually, “For this type… you have to open this… this… what’s it called again… oh, the safety switch, you have to open the safety switch before you can use it. Here you go—”

When it was handed over, the pink-haired woman and the blue-haired child, one big and one small, were squatting side by side, their eyes wide with astonishment, as if they were cut from the same mold: "Wow...so amazing!"

"what--"

"Thank you for the compliment?"

……

Soon, the campfire was lit again. A small iron pot sat on the fire, emitting a fragrant aroma. The warm firelight shone on the two people's profiles, creating a gentle sense of coziness.