Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Lorna snorted in her mind. ’ Host, if he believes that story, he is officially the most gullible man in the entire beast realm.’

Lysander stared at Ingrid for a long, silent moment. His sharp violet eyes locked onto hers, searching her face for any sign of deception. After a long, agonizing ten seconds, he let out a heavy, defeated sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose through his veil.

"Fine," Lysander grunted. "Which herbs are we looking for, and where are they?"

’Holy Moly, it actually worked!’ Ingrid celebrated internally, pumping a fist in her mind.

"Follow me! I know the spot." Ingrid declared proudly, turning on her heel and taking the lead. Using the transparent 3D map that Lorna was projecting directly into her visual field, Ingrid led Lysander off the main road and turned down a fork at the right hand side. They went deeper and deeper until they could no longer see the main road.

As they walked further and further into the dense, overgrown brush, the air around them grew surprisingly cool and fresh. The dark, foul stench of decay that usually hung over the ravine began to fade away, replaced by the crisp, sweet scent of blooming flowers and wet earth.

Ingrid looked around in curiosity. She had been expecting to get jumped by a rogue zombie or a mutant beast every ten steps, but the area was dead quiet. There wasn’t a single undead creature in sight.

"Hey, Lysander," Ingrid asked, looking over her shoulder as he dragged the cart behind her through the narrow passage. "How come there aren’t any zombies down here? Isn’t this place supposed to be crawling with them?"

"The infection didn’t spread everywhere," Lysander explained, his voice low and calm as he kept his eyes sweeping the high cliffs around them. "There are certain places around that remain completely untouched by the toxic miasma. Zombies are attracted to living flesh and large populations. They naturally wander toward places filled with inhabitants, like towns or camps. In an isolated, empty place like this, you will never find a beast zombie."

He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "However, that doesn’t mean it’s completely safe. In areas untouched by the undead, nature grows unchecked. You might find mutant plants or aggressive wild flowers instead."

"Well, as long as they don’t try to bite my clothes off again, I can handle plants," Ingrid muttered under her breath, turning a sharp corner around a massive moss-covered boulder. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"What did you say?" Lysander asked.

"Nothing! Look, we’re here!" Ingrid shouted, stopping dead in her tracks. Lysander rounded the corner right behind her, and the moment his eyes landed on the scene ahead, he froze entirely.

Spread out before them was a massive, breathtaking valley hidden between two towering stone walls. The land stretched out for miles, completely carpeted in vibrant, glowing flora. Millions of delicate, silver-leafed stalks with brilliant azure flowers swayed gently in the mountain breeze, casting a soft, luminous light across the entire expanse.

Lysander dropped the handles of the cart with a loud thud. He walked forward as if drawn by an invisible thread, his violet eyes wide with absolute disbelief. He slowly knelt down on one knee, reaching out a hand to gently touch the glowing blue petals of a nearby plant.

"This... this is impossible," Lysander whispered, his voice trembling with genuine awe. "Star-Glow Lotus... miles upon miles of it..."

"Star-Glow Lotus?" Ingrid muttered, confused at why they gave plants magical names like these, walking up beside him and leaning over his shoulder to look at the plant. But she acted like she knew about it. "It’s a good one, isn’t it?? I told you I knew some good stuff!"

Lysander snapped his head up to look at her, completely forgetting his earlier shyness. "Ingrid, this is a legendary-grade medicinal herb! It is the core ingredient required to craft High-Tier Purification Elixirs and Advanced Healing Salves! The major cities and royal academies have had a desperate shortage of this plant for over three years because no one could find a wild field that hadn’t been ruined by the plague!"

He looked out over the vast, glowing ocean of flowers, running a hand through his hair. "A single stalk of this herb can sell for over 5 gold coins in the central market. A field of this size... it’s worth a literal fortune!"

Ingrid blinked, "5 gold coins? Is that a lot of money?"

Lysander sighed and shook his head, "Ingrid, in times like this, a single gold coin can feed an entire village for three days. Only people at the Capital use gold coins, it’ll be hard to even get one single gold coin at the market!"

"Wow! That much! But... If it’s that hard, how are we going to be able to sell it?" Ingrid crossed her arms as she stared at the large expanse of land. If one single stalk could give her that amount of money, if she cleared this whole place, how much would she get?

But... She couldn’t just put everything on a cart and take it back to the village. Who knows who’ll steal it from her.

’Ugh... Now is the greatest time to have an inner space like all those female cultivator in novels.’

{DING!}

{ Gathering 10 Stalks of Herbs- COMPLETED! 100 Points awarded!}

{ Gathering 20 Stalks of Herbs- COMPLETED! 200 Points Awarded!}

{ Gathering 400 Stalks of Herbs- COMPLETED! 400 Points Awarded!}

{ Gathering 50 Stalks of Herbs- COMPLETED! 500 Points Awarded!}

{ TOTAL POINTS- 11170 Points.}

{System Vault Opened- Skill- Storage Space Awarded. Level 1 Skill. Storage Space can store up to 100 Kilogramme of Items. Unlock now?}

’I get storage space?!’ Ingrid’s eyes widened, ’I actually get a storage space? Unlock! Unlock now!’

{ Storage Space Level 1 Unlocked. 100kg Items Can Be Stored. Upgrade to Level 3- 500kg items stored- using 500 Points. Unlock Now?}

’Yes, yes! Omg!’

{ Storage Space Level 3 Unlocked.}

{ Total Points Remaining - 10670 Points.}

’ Congratulations host! You have opened a new skill which will be added to your skill vault!’ Lorna’s mechanical voice popped up.

However, at this point, Ingrid was thinking about how she’d transfer all these to her storage space without letting Lysander get suspicious of her. She was excited earlier but how would she do this without explaining herself?

"Ingrid." Lysander’s voice called out from behind her. But it wasn’t his usual tone. It was flat, cold and unnervingly quiet.

Ingrid stopped. A strange, prickling chill ran down her spine. She slowly turned back around to face him.

Lysander had stood up from the ground. He was standing in the middle of the glowing blue field, his tall figure framed by the luminous flowers. His bright purple eyes were locked onto her with an intensity so sharp, so penetrating, it felt like he was staring directly into her very soul. The playful, shy atmosphere from earlier was completely gone, replaced by the dangerous aura of an apex predator.

"You’ve never set foot in the Whispering Ravine before yesterday," Lysander said softly, his voice echoing against the stone walls of the valley. "You’ve also never left the tribe’s borders."

He took a slow, deliberate step toward her, his shadow falling over her feet. "This place is hidden. It cannot be seen from the sky, and it is not marked on any map."

Lysander stopped just two feet away from her, towering over her small frame. His dark, glowing violet eyes searched her face, devoid of any warmth.

"So tell me, Ingrid," he asked, his tone so low and eerie it made the hair on her arms stand up. "How did you know this place was here?"

He leaned in slightly, his dark hair falling forward as his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "Who are you really? Or rather... what are you?"

"Fuck."