Chapter 060 – The Wrath of the Spirit of the Rainforest
......
Without a doubt, Matthew chose to continue his affinity.
This was the advantage of having a high natural affinity. Wherever he went, there was a chance for a romantic encounter with the local spirit of nature.
The Spirit of the Rainforest was also a spirit of nature. Unlike Ella, it did not have an individual entity or will, but was a collective will formed by the trillions of creatures in the rainforest.
If he could successfully please it, Matthew's future journey in the rainforest would be much easier.
However, the current situation was not optimistic. Ella had told him that the Spirit of the Rainforest was particularly violent and aggressive. Matthew could feel this too. Getting along with such a spirit of nature was not an easy task.
After confirming, a light green progress bar appeared before his eyes.
The communication was very slow.
It wasn't until Old Gitch led the duo to tonight's resting spot - a cave house on a cliff outside the rainforest - that the progress bar barely reached one percent.
"The Spirit of the Rainforest is indeed difficult to deal with. It has a strong defensive mentality towards outsiders. According to the current progress, it will take at least several tens of days to possibly open its heart."
Matthew began to ponder if there was a way to speed up the communication.
At this time, Loran and Old Gitch had already set up their bedding and were arguing about who should keep watch at night.
"Of course I should keep watch! I'm young and strong, energetic, alert, and responsive. Aren't I the best candidate for night watch?"
"With me here, no one can do anything wrong!"
Loran said nonchalantly, "You two can get a good night's sleep, especially you, Old Gitch. You're older, so you should sleep more. Once we enter the rainforest, we'll need you to lead the way with full energy!"
Old Gitch silently took out his dry pipe, fiddled with it a few times, and shook his head:
"I'll watch the second half of the night, Matthew will watch the first half. There's no room for negotiation. Once we're on the road, you'll have to listen to me."
"What about me?" Loran seemed to feel overlooked and said discontentedly, "Old Gitch, are you discriminating against bards? You should let me play a role too!"
Old Gitch thought for a long time, and finally squeezed out a sentence:
"Why don't you play the flute for everyone?"
To his surprise, Loran readily agreed. He took out a dark green flute as if by magic, put it to his lips, and was about to blow.
Old Gitch quickly stopped him:
"Stop! If you play the flute here, do you want to attract the two-legged flying dragons or the Gnoll tribes in the rainforest?"
After saying this, he looked at Loran's bewildered expression and sighed heavily:
"My mistake, I shouldn't have joked with you. I'm sorry, but please rest well tonight."
Loran turned the flute in his hand with a sullen face. He seemed to have a lot to say, but he didn't say anything. In the end, he just nodded silently.
After a while, Matthew approached Old Gitch and suggested:
"Old Gitch, you watch the first half of the night, and my summoned creature will take care of the safety in the second half."
As he spoke, he pointed to Sodie next to him.
At this time, Sodie was wrapped in a huge cloak. This cloak was made of reeds, blending perfectly with the rainforest. It was not expensive, and Matthew had bought it when he found it in the market.
Old Gitch initially wanted to refuse, but after looking at Sodie for a while, he suddenly changed his mind:
"Alright, but be careful and stay alert at all times."
Matthew nodded and went to set up his sleeping bag.
"Hey, Matthew, Old Gitch clearly doesn't trust me, I have to prove it to him!"
Loran, who had been leaning against the stone wall, came over quietly:
"Do you know, when I was hunting sky giants with the cloud elves in Cloud City, I didn't close my eyes for ten days and nights!
On the morning of the eleventh day, I was still full of energy and played a crucial role in the battle to capture the sky giant!
No matter who keeps watch tonight, I won't fall asleep.
I'll show that old man what young energy is!"
Seeing his excited look, Matthew asked calmly:
"Is this your first time camping in the wild?"
Loran thought for a moment:
"Almost, at least I had a luxury carriage before."
Matthew sincerely advised:
"Why don't you sleep for a while first, and wake up in the second half of the night when everyone is most sleepy to show off your young energy?"
Loran yawned:
"You're right, Matthew, I'll take a nap first."
The next morning.
The dawn light shone on the cliff and penetrated into the cave house.
Loran was awakened by a chorus of bird calls. He rubbed his sleepy eyes contentedly, looked around, and found that Matthew and Old Gitch were already awake and fully dressed.
"Did we have a good night?"
Loran greeted them enthusiastically:
"It seems we're lucky, no one came to disturb us. Uh, I was going to keep watch, but the wind last night told me everything was peaceful, so I fell asleep again."
Matthew and Old Gitch looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
At this moment, Loran suddenly noticed several wooden figures behind Matthew.
"Huh, Matthew, why are there four skeletons behind you? Oh, and a skeleton dog!?"
Loran asked curiously:
"Are they your summoned creatures? They sure have a unique style!"
Matthew smiled, "They weren't before last night."
As he spoke, he glanced at the data bar.
......
「Record: Your summoned creature Sodie killed a Plague Messenger (LV10), Plague Domain "Element: Fungus" +1.
"Your summoned creature, Sodie, has killed a Nightcrawler Hellhound, your XP+1.
Your summoned creature, Sodie, is on a killing spree! Your communication speed with the Spirit of the Rainforest has increased!"
...
A series of more than ten kill records were displayed in front of Matthew, the cold text silently showing the cruelty of last night's attack.
In fact, Matthew didn't wake up much earlier than Lorran, because all these enemies were killed by Sodie near the cave house.
So he wasn't woken up.
From the time of the battle records, it's not hard to see that apart from the first two Plague Messengers who were ambushed by Sodie, the rest were killed by the Blade Dancer head-on.
The whole process only lasted three minutes.
Sodie single-handedly wiped out an entire squad composed of Plague Messengers and Nightcrawler Hellhounds!
The key is that the battle process was silent, even the most alert Old Gitch didn't react, showing the strength of the Blade Dancer.
What surprised Matthew even more was.
After Sodie killed a wave of enemies, his communication speed with the Spirit of the Rainforest increased a lot!
"Could it be that killing is the shortcut to gaining the favor of the Spirit of the Rainforest?"
Matthew noted secretly.
At this time, Matthew was also pleased that Sodie did not disappoint his training. The 15th level Blade Dancer in the Shadow Realm not only assassinated well, but also had no inferior combat ability.
In most cases, Sodie is already more useful than the Bone Dragon, and more importantly, it's cheaper!
Every time he thought of the Bone Dragon, Matthew gritted his teeth with hatred. After the last plague war, Little Phi took another three Soul Crystals from him and didn't share his abilities with him!
This can't go on, Matthew decided to have a good talk with Sodie and Little Phi after the upgrade.
Matthew's recent benefits in terms of Soul Crystals are not high. As one of the many lackeys, Little Phi should understand the measure of a pay cut.
If Little Phi can't understand.
He would have to help him understand.
"So, the Plague King's people attacked our camp yesterday, and I knew nothing about it?"
At this time, Lorran, with innocent eyes, finally reacted.
Old Gitch completely ignored Lorran, he frowned for a while, then said to Matthew:
"You guys provoked the Plague King? He's not a big deal, but there's a reason he's still alive. We must enter the rainforest as soon as possible. If you want to return to Zewater City next time, it's best to disguise and hide your breath."
"We should set off immediately!"
...
The rainforest road was muddy and not easy to walk.
This is still the periphery, the group of people wearing Jango's grass shoes, walking on the dirt road where people usually come and go, still stop and go, showing how difficult it will be when they reach the depths of the rainforest.
This is also why Matthew chose to summon skeletons instead of zombies after discovering the bodies of the Plague Messengers and Nightcrawler Hellhounds.
Skeletons are light and can barely keep up with the pace.
If it were zombies, they might get stuck in the mud as they walk, and they are destined to only drag their feet.
Old Gitch is indeed an excellent guide.
Along the way, he sometimes walked in the front to discern the direction and guide the route, and sometimes ran to the back to deal with the traces of the group's passing.
In the meantime, he also took the time to introduce some common knowledge about the rainforest. Matthew and Lorran listened very carefully—
It was clear that after last night's "night watch turmoil", the flamboyant temperament of the poet had receded a lot. He hardly spoke, only nodding obediently when Old Gitch looked at him.
The journey was smooth.
In the evening.
They arrived at a Jango tribe on the outskirts of the rainforest called "Yuka".
According to Old Gitch, the chief of the Yuka tribe married a noblewoman from Zewater City, so they have relatively close contact with the outside world.
Within the Jango tribe, the Yuka tribe is undoubtedly the moderate faction, even considered as traitors by the extremist Headhunter tribe.
However, despite this, Matthew and Lorran still had no chance to enter the tribal settlement full of rainforest style.
The Jango people are very defensive, even the moderates will not allow outsiders to visit on their first meeting.
So only Old Gitch was warmly taken to the settlement by a native named Uka.
Matthew and Lorran, on the other hand, squatted under a huge banana tree outside the village and waited patiently.
Fortunately, Old Gitch was very efficient.
In a quarter of an hour, he brought several young natives out of the settlement.
After calling Matthew and Lorran, they headed east for about two miles, and a wide water area could be vaguely seen ahead.
This is the Rodin River, which runs through half of the rainforest, and is considered the mother river by many Jango people.
There is a dock by the river, some native women are fetching water and washing clothes, and a few children are playing around.
Seeing outsiders coming, they all looked at Matthew and Lorran with curious eyes.
At this moment, Lorran had a sudden inspiration and took out some glass beads and small combs from his snakeskin bag.
His distribution method was very particular, first giving them to those young men, and then approaching the women and children under Old Gitch's approving gaze.
...
"Prompt: Your partner Lorran has distributed gifts to the people of the Yuka tribe, your friendliness with the Yuka tribe +1"
...
Matthew was taken aback, not expecting to get a share of the benefits. Feeling the slightly friendly gaze of the young men, and seeing Lorran quickly getting along with the children, Matthew thought that this rich brother's advantages were indeed outstanding.
However, he soon noticed that when Lorran was playing with the children, his gaze always drifted unintentionally towards the native women.
This made Matthew secretly headache.
Fortunately, Old Jess had been conversing with the young men in their native language, and they hadn't noticed Loran's brazen gaze.
In the end, Old Jess came over and pulled away the reluctant Loran.
"They said you seem like a good person, so they're willing to lend us a small hunting cabin for the night. I originally wanted to keep going, but the Rodin River is indeed less safe at night."
So, the three of them rested in the riverside cabin for another night.
The next morning, the young men arrived as promised. They came to a bush outside the cabin and carried out four dugout canoes of different sizes, one by one, placing them in the river from the dock.
These dugout canoes were made by the Jango people by burning out the heart of a tree. Because they rarely use old trees as materials, the canoes are generally narrow, only accommodating one person.
Matthew and his companions each sat in one, with the remaining larger one carrying Sodie, four Skeleton Soldiers transformed from Plague Messengers, and a few skeleton dogs.
Thanks to the light weight of the skeletons and the fact that the undead remained motionless under Matthew's command, they didn't capsize the boat!
The group bid farewell to the Yukar tribe and followed the current down the Rodin River.
The initial section of the Rodin River was wide with good visibility. It was a sunny day, and the scenery along the way was breathtaking.
Both Matthew and Loran were experiencing the rainforest from the perspective of a dugout canoe for the first time. The latter was even more inspired, unable to resist the urge to play his flute.
However, not long after, the river began to narrow after passing a shallow beach with a gentle current. Large amounts of white reeds appeared on both sides, and the river became more turbulent.
The two of them didn't dare to slack off and balanced the dugout canoe according to Old Jess's instructions.
After that, their speed noticeably increased.
The scenery on both sides seemed to fly by.
Occasionally, they could see a few vigilant Jango people in the reed marshes.
But overall, the journey went smoothly. Except for Loran, who accidentally capsized the boat once while watching Jango women in the reed marshes, the group safely arrived at their destination—Gravel Beach—before nightfall.
According to Old Jess, the Rodin River changes its course to the east from here, heading straight for the Endless Sea.
The area near the estuary is Naga territory, where even the Jango people are reluctant to venture.
They landed on Gravel Beach, and the journey ahead would be a more arduous trek.
It's worth mentioning that there are many short-snouted alligators near Gravel Beach.
These beasts were nerve-wracking, but Old Jess told them not to worry and just drag the dugout canoes ashore.
And indeed, as he said, when they got close, several short-snouted alligators were right next to Matthew's feet, but they never attacked.
After landing, following Old Jess's instructions, they dragged the dugout canoes into the nearby bushes. Old Jess made a few marks and told Matthew that people from the Yukar tribe would come to retrieve them.
"Why don't these alligators attack us? They look hungry."
Loran asked curiously.
"It's a lesson learned over thousands of years."
Old Jess said indifferently:
"The Jango people are brave and good at fighting, and adventurers who can venture deep into the rainforest are all capable. These short-snouted alligators are favored by the Spirit of the Rainforest, so they are particularly smart. They know that creatures that dare to attack humans are all dead, so they choose to continue living, even if they are starving."
"Let's go, lads, the road is long."
After saying this, Old Jess pulled out the short knife stuck in his waist and cut down a bunch of annoying banana leaves.
Ahead, on the humus formed by fallen leaves and small insects, a faint path leading to the depths of the rainforest was visible.
Just as Matthew was about to follow, he suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart.
……
"Warning: The Spirit of the Rainforest is dissatisfied with your cowardly actions. It believes that life is about killing and blooming. It is disappointed with your performance in entering the rainforest, but it is still attracted by the natural affinity in you, so it intends to give you one last chance to prove yourself!
Optional task update: The Wrath of the Spirit of the Rainforest!
Description: In the next ten days, the Spirit of the Rainforest will send the primitive creatures it favors to continuously attack and harass you. Surviving is your only goal.
You can choose to leave the rainforest to appease the wrath of the Spirit of the Rainforest, but you will never be able to gain its approval again;
You can also choose to accept the challenge head-on and defeat all enemies.
Reward: Successful communication & Wilderness Form +1 (you can choose any one from the primitive creatures sent by the Spirit of the Rainforest)"
……
It seems that everyone is curious about how I lost the badge of over ten thousand first orders that I already had. Here's what happened: On the evening of 5.31, I mistakenly published VIP Chapter 056 as a public chapter. Although I quickly deleted it, I restored it from the recycle bin as a draft, and then chose to publish it in the VIP chapter at midnight on 6.1. However, this way, its publication time did not update and stayed at 7 p.m. on 5.31. This directly confused the Qidian and other data statistics systems. I have contacted the editor and am dealing with it. I don't know if I have a chance to get my first ten thousand badge back, ying ying ying! Considering my bad luck, give me some monthly tickets! There are 8500 words today!
(End of the chapter)