Inside the Whispering Woods, the one-eyed leader was grandly recounting his glorious deeds while basking in the adoring gazes of his underlings.
This group of Treasure Hoarders was completely unaware that their arrogant behavior had attracted a dangerous monster from the depths of the forest.
The name Whispering Woods referred to the necessity of keeping one's voice low while traveling within the forest, lest one attract the dangerous monsters lurking in the deep woods.
And this group had already violated the law of survival in the Whispering Woods.
Blue~~~Lu~~~Lu~~~
A furry black shadow flashed through the grass in the forest.
The one-eyed leader cautiously opened the treasure chest, buried his head inside, and carefully searched for a long time before finally pulling out a carrot as thick as a little finger.
He then cautiously locked the chest, the key hanging around his neck.
The one-eyed leader held up the little-finger-thick carrot high in the air and boasted loudly, "Look! This is the Magical carrot!"
The other members of the Treasure Hoarders exchanged glances, their heads filled with question marks.
Blue Hood smiled cautiously, "Boss, you know we're uncultured, we can't tell the difference between this Magical carrot and the ones we usually eat."
"Boss, why don't you tell us about it?"
"Yeah, Boss, just tell us." x n
The one-eyed leader already intended to show off, and with his subordinates encouraging him along, he smoothly displayed the carrot.
"Don't look at how small it is, the concentrated part is the essence!"
He held out both hands, gently pinching the carrot between his thumb and forefinger, looking like a burly man attempting embroidery—it was truly difficult for him to manage this gesture.
The one-eyed leader gently applied force with both hands.
With a crisp snap, the carrot broke.
A strange fragrance drifted out from where the carrot had broken.
This aroma diffused into the air, causing everyone who smelled it to feel refreshed and mentally clear, as if their souls had been cleansed, and even the sins upon their bodies felt somewhat lessened.
"So fragrant!"
"Damn it!"
"Boss, can we have a taste?"
As soon as this last sentence was uttered, everyone instantly perked up, looking at the one-eyed leader with anticipation.
Even Noelle, who was hiding behind the Treasure Hoarders, constantly monitoring their loot, couldn't help but swallow when she smelled the carrot's fragrance.
Gulp.
The one-eyed leader swallowed, and with so many eyes fixed on him, even he became somewhat flustered.
Normally, he would exploit and bully these underlings however he pleased. After all, since they were already Treasure Hoarders, why should he worry about them reporting him to the Knights of Favonius?
Therefore, he was well aware that many of his subordinates held rebellious intentions toward him. The reason he wanted to kill Red Hood just now was because he feared the young man was rallying the others to betray him.
The brothers Red Hood and Blue Hood had only been here for a few days, yet they had already won over many of his underlings, and even his favorite pet favored these two. If the one-eyed leader hadn't known Blue Hood was trouble, and given that these two indeed possessed ability, the one-eyed leader would have long since left them as corpses in the wilderness.
However, he was, after all, an experienced bandit leader, and he showed no weakness.
The one-eyed leader feigned a hearty laugh, then drew the short blade at his waist, laughing loudly:
"Fine! Today, I will share this Magical carrot among everyone so the brothers can have a taste of the delicacy!"
Immediately, he pulled out a wooden board, placed the thumb-sized carrot on it in front of everyone, and then, with exquisite knife skills, sliced the carrot into thin pieces and distributed them to everyone present.
Watching the one-eyed leader's display of masterful knife work, those who had been stirring restlessly moments before quieted down again.
"Brothers, taste this delicious, magical carrot!"
"I have an idea!"
"As long as we transport these Magical carrots to Liyue and sell them to those wealthy Liyue people, every one of us will get chests full of Mora, enough to spend for the next lifetime!"
"Then we'll all be millionaires! Eating well and living luxuriously together!"
The members of the Treasure Hoarders cheered in unison, celebrating their bright future.
"Boss, this carrot is truly magical; it even has night vision capabilities."
"Of course. Did you forget who snatched it?"
The trees in the Whispering Woods grew exceptionally dense, and even in broad daylight, the sunlight was blocked by the thick canopy of leaves, making the environment inside the Whispering Woods unusually dim.
This was also why Noelle's tracking skills weren't exceptional, yet these cunning and vigilant Treasure Hoarders had never discovered her.
Because of the dim environment within the Whispering Woods, the Treasure Hoarders members discovered the carrot's night vision ability.
However, since a thumb-sized carrot was divided among so many people, each person only received a tiny sliver, so the carrot's night vision ability quickly faded.
Everyone couldn't help but sigh, thinking how much easier it would have been for them to steal and retreat at night if they had possessed this Magical carrot earlier.
Savoring the faint residual taste of the thin slice of carrot in their mouths, the Treasure Hoarders members didn't doubt that these carrots could fetch a high price in Liyue. What they doubted was whether their boss, who had been exploiting them for so long, would actually share the money with them?
Furthermore! Since this box of carrots was so magical and precious, why would he share it with these brutes? Wouldn't it be better to keep it all for himself!
In an instant, almost everyone in the Treasure Hoarders group had greedy light flashing in their eyes.
The atmosphere within the entire Treasure Hoarders group suddenly became strange, yet simultaneously very harmonious and friendly, with everyone vying to work hard and show off.
Noelle, hiding in the bushes behind the Treasure Hoarders, watched the suddenly harmonious and friendly Treasure Hoarders members, who acted like true brothers, and felt dizzy, suspecting she was hallucinating.
Were these people, who were now respectful and harmonious, really the same Treasure Hoarders who had just moments ago fought viciously over a single gulp of wine, acting brutally and disregarding human life?
Noelle felt her brain starting to short-circuit.
Not far from Noelle, in another patch of bushes, a Water Abyss Mage was laughing eerily while observing the scene.
"Blue~~~Lu~~~Lu~~~"
"The power of the Abyss influences the human mind."
"No one understands how to leverage the greed in people's hearts better than I do. Let this group of Treasure Hoarders perish by their own greed."
"Jie jie jie..."
Noelle saw the Water Abyss Mage suddenly poke its head out and quickly covered her mouth, hiding back in the bushes.
She was greatly alarmed and thought, "How did this Abyss Mage appear? Judging by its appearance, it doesn't seem to have spotted me."
"An Abyss Mage plus Treasure Hoarders—now I absolutely cannot let them go!"
"Noelle, keep it up!"
At this moment, Acting Grand Master Jean was still on her way in a carriage.
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