Chapter 129: Campsite

  As an assassin, Evan is indeed an expert in wilderness survival, leading us through this dangerous region with ease, knowing exactly where to set up camp and where the terrain looks flat but is actually a trap. During our stay, he occasionally goes out for a spin around the surroundings and brings back some special swamp fish and game for us to have as extra dishes.

  We followed Evan and strolled through the desolate world with ease, if we hadn't known about the dangers of Black Flame Swamp beforehand, we would have thought that this was a special camping trip.

  Because Evan led us away from danger, the mood of several people was particularly relaxed, and the journey didn't seem so difficult. With a good mood, we had time to appreciate the scenery of this primitive swamp. We found that this terrifying swamp actually has a great view, with a broad field of vision, lush green grass everywhere, low shrubs occasionally revealing many wild animals, and vines thriving in particular, with various types of vines all over the place. The few rocks were covered with thick moss, and far away, a stream flowed through the entire swamp, with clear water quality, and small fish swimming about.

  I set up camp with Freya and Cielo by the stream, excitedly. Although Evan expressed some concern, telling us that this place couldn't guarantee the absence of ice snakes, hoping we would leave early and choose a safer place to camp. However, we thought that since nothing had happened for so many days and life was easy, it wouldn't be our bad luck to encounter an ice snake here. Freya and Cielo knew about my delicious roasted fish, so they insisted on me catching some fish to roast for them to eat. Evan saw that his persuasion was ineffective, hesitated for a moment, and said: "You must set up camp here, I can't persuade you otherwise, but you must also be vigilant, based on my knowledge, this place is also where ice snakes appear, it's just that the probability of encountering them is low, so don't be careless."

  I thought for a moment and comforted Evan by saying, "Evan, how about this? We'll spread some snake-repelling medicine around the campsite, then dig a small ditch around it and build a simple fence. If we set up multiple traps around the campsite, that should be able to prevent any accidental encounters with ice snakes."

  Evan nodded and said, "It's the only way, hopefully we won't be that unlucky."

  The camp was set up quickly, and with the thought of roasted fish to eat, everyone's morale was high. All safety measures were soon put in place. Aven and Siluo set up many traps around the perimeter of the camp, while I sprinkled a circle of anti-snake powder around the camp and set up several manually triggered flame traps. If an ice snake attack is detected, triggering the trap will ignite a firewall around the camp's perimeter to prevent the ice snakes from entering.

  Frey took out a dark green magic wand, the wand was made of unknown wood, it seemed to be cut directly from an ancient tree branch, with exquisite elven patterns and texts carved on it, faintly visible, there was a green glow flowing on the wand, at the top of the wand was a huge green crystal, even from a distance, one could feel the powerful energy emanating from the crystal.

  I found it strange that I had never seen her with a magic wand, but after taking a closer look at her, I discovered that Fure's fingers had three rings on them. One of the rings was the "Moonlight Ring" that I gave to her. The other two rings were unfamiliar to me, and one of them seemed to have a hint of spatial magic aura, which suggested that it was Fure's storage ring. Another ring had a red gemstone embedded in it, and I could faintly sense the fluctuations of magical power emanating from it, indicating that it was no ordinary item either. I couldn't help but feel impressed, thinking to myself that being the Holy Maiden of the Elf tribe indeed has its perks.

  Frey lightly waved her magic wand, a row of green vines broke through the ground, entwining each other, and soon grew into a green wall around the camp. These vines had many hard thorns, and when the wall was built, it naturally formed a wall full of hard thorns.

  After checking the defense again, Evan finally nodded and indicated that there should be no problem, and we were happy to start preparing dinner.

  I started fishing by the stream, and although the fish here aren't very big, they're easy to catch. Before long, I'd caught twenty or thirty fish about 20cm long. When I thought that was enough, I carried a bucket of fish back to camp, where a bonfire had already been lit. The two girls were busy preparing various seasonings and other food. As soon as they saw me arrive, Xī Lù immediately ran over to take the fish from me, gut them, wash them clean, and then hand them back. I used some seasonings I'd brought with me to marinate the fish, and about an hour later, we strung them up on branches and roasted them over the fire, sprinkling some powdered seasonings on as they cooked. Before long, a strong smell of fish wafted through the campsite, and I could almost hear the sound of their mouths watering.

  I smiled faintly, serving them the golden-roasted fish. The joy of cooking lies in many aspects; the process of carefully preparing a dish is a great pleasure in itself. Watching various ingredients come together under your hands and gradually transform into delicious food is an experience that those who never step into the kitchen cannot appreciate.

  After the food is served, seeing everyone devour it with relish, savoring every bite, and sometimes even forgetting to offer praise, is also a huge delight. This joy stems from having one's labor acknowledged and praised, feeling a tremendous sense of self-worth and satisfaction that cannot be expressed in words unless truly experienced.

  The pleasure of enjoying the food became secondary here, just as Xilu and others were indulging in my cuisine, and I was savoring the joy of cooking. Suddenly, I found that Evan, who was eating with gusto, stopped abruptly, as if listening to something. I saw his face turn somewhat solemn, and asked curiously: "Evan, what's wrong?"

  Evan waved his hand at me to be quiet and listened. After a long time, Evan raised his eyes and looked at me, saying: "It seems that someone ran over from there, with some disordered footsteps, probably injured."

  As I was in a state of bewilderment, I soon heard the sound of footsteps, with a sense of panic, gradually getting closer and closer to our camp. I walked out of the camp and took a look, and from afar, a figure was running towards us. As the figure got closer, I realized that it was actually a green-skinned beastman! The beastman was wearing a sacrificial robe, but the robe was already tattered and covered in wounds, with fresh blood staining half of the torn robe red. The beastman ran towards us with empty hands, shouting frantically: "Run quickly, run quickly, the ice snake is coming!"