Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 509 - 502: Legend of the Weird Talk Forest

Chapter 509: Chapter 502: Legend of the Weird Talk Forest

The two moved in a rather peculiar formation, one after the other to the check post at the town entrance. As Luo’er was carrying weapons, he needed to present relevant documentation. Upon presenting the emblem of the Northern Adventurers Guild, Theron, the patrolling officer, became wary. Furrowing his brows, he looked at Luo’er and asked, "You’re a northern adventurer, why are you coming to Ancient States?"

"Religious Persecution!", Luo’er curtly replied, flicking back his hair to reveal his double sets of Wood Elf ears.

"Oh!", upon seeing his appearance, Theron relaxed his furrowed brows significantly.

Half-elves have always been discriminated against in the north. Although they can join the Adventurers Guild, many of them still move to the southern region due to ongoing persecution. Theron didn’t strictly have an issue with the northern adventurers, but rather the spies from the Church Court. Luo’er being half-elf meant that traditionally, in their eyes, he was unlikely to be a spy for the Church Court. This was because the Church Court wouldn’t ever deploy a half-elf as one.

But they had only guessed half the story right. Although Luo’er was a half-elf, because of his human identity from Earth, the Church Court had no choice but to work with him. While the Church Court indeed wouldn’t let half-elves work for them, Luo’er was an exception.

"Enter, but don’t cause trouble in the town!" Theron returned the emblem and issued a stern warning.

The guards all had firearms slung over their shoulders and there was a machine gun mounted on some sandbags nearby. Luo’er didn’t dare to create any sort of disturbance here.

"And you?" After letting Luo’er pass, Theron stopped Luoya next.

"I’m from the Ancient States!", Luoya exclaimed, and removing her hood, revealed the Wood Elf ears she shared.

"Go on, go on!", as soon as Theron saw Luoya’s half-elf features and heard her distinctive southern accent, he stopped being suspicious.

Both of them were able to safely enter the town. The town wasn’t large, and since it was a transportation hub, most of the shops on the street were taverns and inns. But, perhaps due to martial law, even during the day, there weren’t many people in the streets.

Turning his gaze to Luoya, Luo’er saw she had put her hood back on and was adjusting her eye patch. Luoya seemed to notice Luo’er’s gaze, so she stopped her actions and looked at him.

"Constantly wearing an eye patch can make your vision unbalanced," Luo’er pointed out.

"Vision... unbalanced... what does that mean?", Luoya frowned and asked.

"Why are you hiding your left eye? Aren’t heterochromia eyes quite striking as well?" Luo’er sighed and asked.

"They’re not striking at all, you haven’t seen how I’m being discriminated against," mumbled Luoya, averting her gaze.

"By the way," Luo’er suddenly recalled something and turned to her asking, "Do you still have the Kroel pendant I gave you?"

"Why, do you want it back?", Luoya quickly glanced at him.

"Definitely not," Luo’er waved his hand dismissively, replying, "If we want to infiltrate Theron, we can use this pendant to get in."

"I haven’t agreed to help you deal with Theron yet!" Luoya retorted while frowning.

"Why are you always defending them if you aren’t Theron?" Luo’er got frustrated by her response.

"And I’m not one of your people!" Shot back Luoya coldly.

However, she realized she’d misspoken as soon as she said that. Luo’er was her biological elder brother, and her statement could be construed as breaking ties with him. Confronted by Luo’er’s surprised gaze, she bit her lip and chose to stay silent.

"Let’s go, if you don’t want to then fine." Luo’er sighed, it seemed like he had no choice but to turn away. He didn’t want to scold Luoya, partly because he couldn’t bear to, but also because he was afraid she might create a fuss in the town.

They walked along the street and entered a tavern at a street corner. From experience, Luo’er knew it was the best place to gather information in a town.

Unlike the gloomy atmosphere outside, the tavern was very lively, with nearly all the seats occupied. Adventurers were drinking and gossiping loudly over there, the air filled with sour smell of alcohol.

Upon arriving at such a place, Luoya could not help but knit her eyebrows, subsequently covering her nose. The space inside was relatively small, so people were packed quite closely together. As soon as they entered the tavern, Luo’er instinctively moved closer to Luoya, guarding her in front of him, preventing any of these drunks from taking advantage of her.

Luoya, her nose covered, frowned hard at these drunks, who were giving off a sour, unpleasant smell, causing her to want to back off. Therefore, when Luo’er drew closer to her, she not only didn’t retreat, but moved in behind him instead.

The pair struggled their way from the doorway to the bar. Luo’er hesitated for a moment and then ordered two cups of juice. Although Luoya was in her twenties, he instinctively still viewed her as a little sister and didn’t dare let her drink alcohol.

In the Ancient States, there was also fruit wine, what Luo’er had ordered was pretty much unfermented fruit wine. However, the most popular drink here was sweet wine made from glutinous rice.

The Ancient States were located in the south of the continent, an abundant producer of rice. Even though Earth people had hardly any contact with the people of the Ancient States, rice seeds and related planting techniques were disseminated to the Ancient States by the Blaiqi traders.

The high-quality rice varieties from Earth sustained the people of the Ancient States, and also made them fall in love with this rice wine. The obsession of the Ancient States people with rice wine was so profound that even wine from the north and the beer from Earth had no market here.

Having taken a sip, Luo’er couldn’t help but furrow his brow. Officially it was juice, but it had undergone some fermentation, transforming it into fruit vinegar. He turned his head and glanced at Luoya, only to find that she didn’t seem to find it distasteful- rather, she was enjoying it, perhaps it was her first time drinking it.

At this moment, Luo’er heard three adventurers in the adjacent seat passionately discussing something. He pricked up his ears, then leaned in closer to listen to their conversation.

"It seems like something happened in the Weird Talk Forest again yesterday," said an adventurer with a serious face.

"What happened?" his companion asked.

"Apparently someone broke in again, and was scared to death. Theron just sent someone over to carry the corpse out," stated the adventurer.

"Why is anyone still daring to go to such a place?" his companion asked in surprise.

"Who knows? They are all outsiders, unknowing of the forest’s peril," the adventurer sighed, shaking his head.

After hearing their conversation, Luo’er hesitated for a moment, deciding that there was a need to find out more. He turned his head to find Luoya, who was nervously holding her cup, her eyes wide open and looking around, clearly uneasy.

"Sit here at the bar, I am going to gather some information." Luo’er said, whilst taking out a coin to buy a pot of sticky sweet wine.

"Are you going alone?" Luoya looked at him nervously. In such an environment, she finally began to feel fear and insecurity.

"It’s okay, I’m just going a few steps away," Luo’er reassured her.

Saying so, he carried the pot of wine to the adventurers, sat down casually with them, and then lifted up the wine pot.

"Want some?" Luo’er swung the pot in the middle of the table, and the three adventurers hurriedly finished the wine in their cups, vying with each other to hand in their empty cups.

This sweet wine was similar to the glutinous rice wine on Earth, with a low alcohol content. The wine was relatively thick and viscous, and the fermented glutinous rice hadn’t been removed, instead it was consumed as part of the wine itself.

"You are..." After a sip of sweet wine, one adventurer looked at Luo’er skeptically.

"Oh, I come from the North. Just now I overheard you guys mentioning the Weird Talk Forest. What kind of place is it?" Luo’er asked them.

"The North..." The three glanced at each other. After noticing Luo’er’s half-elf features, they finally relaxed.

One adventurer gravely said to him, "If you are from the North, always remember never to approach the Weird Talk Forest, it’s too terrifying a place."

"Weird Talk Forest..." Luo’er expressed his confusion at the term.

"It’s also known as the Cunning Speech Forest," said the adventurer, his face betraying a lingering fear. He took a sip of the wine, glanced around, and then whispered to Luo’er with a furrowed brow, "That place... it is haunted by ghosts!"