Chapter 148: Forest

"Hello, it’s been a while. How have you been?" Leon’s voice, he hadn’t contacted Ethan in some time.

"I’ve been very well, and you?"

"I’ve been well too, I’ll be heading into the forest soon. Is there anything you need?"

This was perfect timing, Ethan was just in need of a few things, Ethan was in need of spices and seasonings, along with a few things Liora needed, he listed everything for Leon.

Leon took notes while replying. "Elara will be coming along as well, do you mind? She says she has some good things she wants to trade with you."

’Elara? That was wonderful.’

Ethan thought of the dragon scale and smiled. "Of course I don’t mind, I have some good things I’d like to trade with her as well."

"I’ve heard about the Great Forest for a long time, to finally see it with my own eyes today — I truly can’t wait." Elara’s voice brimmed with excitement and curiosity, Leon, standing beside her, smiled wryly.

It had been a while since he returned from his last trip to the Great Forest and negotiated the new trade deal with the elves, he had brought other elves to the Great Forest a few times since then, but none had been this thrilled.

"The Great Forest is riddled with danger, are you sure you’re okay?" Leon couldn’t help but confirm again.

"Of course I am, with Mr. Ethan around, what is there to worry about?" Elara answered without a second thought.

"That may be true, but he is, after all... Sigh, anyway, let’s change our clothes first."

The unavoidable path to the Great Forest — the Stormlands, a vicious, bladed wind blew year-round, to pass through safely, one had to wear clothing made from special materials, this was common knowledge.

"From here on out, we enter the Stormlands." Arriving at the edge of the Stormlands, the leading elf raised his hand and signaled the group to stop, to show Elara and her party the terrifying nature of the Stormlands, he had specially brought along a captured magical beast.

"Watch closely." The moment he spoke, he threw the magical beast forward, the next second, it was torn to shreds by the bladed wind, which carried immensely powerful magic.

Witnessing this scene with their own eyes, the elven guards Elara had brought broke out in cold sweats.

Leon and his subordinates, however, skillfully put on the protective suits they had prepared in advance.

"Is there no other way through besides wearing these?" Elara asked.

"Eating the Wind Blade Bananas cultivated by Mr. Ethan also works." Recalling that miraculous fruit, Leon retrieved a bolt of Elven Silk from the carriage, he used it to tightly wrap the sheep and goats on the carriage as well, making all preparations for entering the Great Forest.

"Do we just leave the carriage?"

"The bladed wind only affects living things; the carriage doesn’t need any special treatment," Leon explained.

With that, he took the lead and stepped into the Stormlands.

Passing through the perilous Stormlands, a dense forest appeared before their eyes — they had arrived at the Great Forest.

"Past the edge of the forest is the cursed lands, it used to be quite difficult to travel through," Leon sighed, recalling his past experiences.

Countless undead creatures madly attacking everything that breathed, the slightest misstep, and you’d be grabbed by a zombie or skeleton and torn apart alive, that was the cursed lands.

But things were different now, the place had a new master — a powerful undead.

"His name is Walter, right?" Elara asked.

"Correct." Ever since the vampire Walter, who was on good terms with Ethan, had incorporated the cursed lands into his territory, they no longer had to engage in pointless battles there, this also meant they didn’t need to carry as much anti-undead equipment, allowing them to transport more goods.

"Thanks to Mr. Ethan, trading has become much more convenient," Leon remarked with a sigh.

"I see... it’s really true." Normally, undead creatures harbored intense hatred for all living things and would attack without hesitation, but the undead under Walter’s command merely watched Leon, Elara, and their group with cold indifference, as if looking at weeds by the roadside.

Witnessing a scene so vastly different from her expectations, Elara’s eyes widened in surprise.

"Yo, isn’t this Leon?" Just then, a voice came from ahead, stepping out from the shadows was a slightly gaunt elderly man dressed in formal attire — the vampire, Walter.

Perhaps because of the dense aura of death radiating from him, the elven guards Elara had brought all nervously gripped their weapons.

Leon and his subordinates, however, merely bowed respectfully and greeted him. "Mr. Walter, it’s been a long time."

"Here to see Ethan?"

"Yes, we brought goods for trade."

"Did you bring the Elven Yogurt?"

"Of course, a good amount of it."

"Excellent, I was just heading over to see Ethan myself, let’s go together." Walter turned and walked deeper into the forest.

Elara’s face had gone pale, she whispered, "I-is it okay?"

"What’s wrong?"

"T-that vampire’s aura of death..."

"Don’t worry, Mr. Walter is a gentleman, as long as we don’t attack first, he won’t hurt us."

The first time Leon had seen Walter, he’d been startled too, back then, this vampire possessing immense power had appeared from nowhere and greeted them enthusiastically, Leon had been certain he was dead, but later, not only did Walter not harm them, he even led them straight to Ethan.

Thinking back on it now, he had been far too tense.

"However, this is my first time seeing this young lady, may I ask who you are?" Walter glanced back, seeming to remember something.

"My apologies, I haven’t introduced myself, I am Elara Voss, a merchant from the Elven Kingdom."

"A merchant, here to do business with Ethan?"

"Yes, we made an arrangement previously."

"I’ve heard that merchants will do anything for profit, but I believe keeping one’s promises is just as important."

"I understand, the Voss family has always viewed trustworthiness as our most important virtue."

"Good." Walter nodded in satisfaction.

Watching Walter turn back around, Elara let out a soft sigh of relief, she had never expected Ethan to be friends with such a powerful vampire, it seemed that Mr. Ethan was indeed no ordinary person.

"We probably won’t run into anything else weird from here on out, right?" Elara asked.

"We shouldn’t."

Elara took a deep breath, calmed her nerves, and quickly caught up with the group.

Past the cursed lands was another dense forest.

"Wow, the leaves on those trees are actually purple." Elara pointed into the distance in amazement.

"Best not to take an interest in that place," Leon warned.

"Why?"

"That is the purple forest, where many poisonous plants and herbs grow, its master — the Human-Faced Spider — will mercilessly attack anyone who enters its territory, whether living or undead, once caught by it, your bodily fluids will be sucked dry until you die, there is no cure."

Elara broke out in a cold sweat, if even that powerful vampire was wary of it, how terrifying must the Human-Faced Spider truly be?

She decided right then and there that she would absolutely never go anywhere near that place.