Do You Know How To Get To Canard?

'It's been a week already? Time really flies, huh?' Edrick looked at the system notification that popped out of nowhere, telling him that he had successfully completed a quest.

However, whilst the quest was technically completed, no rewards were issued.

*As a sasquatch, instill fear for the woods and cause not a single person to dare venture into the forest for at least an entire week*

'At least…' one week was the basic requirement, but the longer the woods were left untouched, the better the bounty would end up being, though, the nature of this quest made it a bit difficult to guess what those rewards may be, the system was rather generous, but most quests only yielded the basics, and sometimes, even difficult quests would merely grant the basics, but merely in greater quantities.

This one was a mission that did not give any idea what it was going to hand out, so Anoteros would have to wait until someone felt brave enough and set foot into the forest again, which was fine by him.

'There are a few new quests as well…' he took some time to check this out as he casually laid on a bed made of his own fur, Muxing was passed out next to him, tired out by repeated 'breeding' sessions, with how much he had discharged into her deepest parts, even without instincts telling him, it would have been certain that she had been impregnated.

He didn't linger around much longer, after carefully binding his captive again, he focused and undid his transformation, but his clothes and gear back on, and then headed back out into the cold, compared to the small space he used as his cavern, the outside was dreadfully cold, the difference so high probably due to the fact that much heat had permeated the inside due to the rigorous love-making that had taken place.

The cape that hung on his shoulder was flung left and right by the perilous winds, the sun was still up, and the falling snow had painted the coniferous trees white, Edrick's warm breath was clearly visible with his exhale, at least until he pulled a scarf up.

'How could I possibly torment Li and Yi and get them to witness their precious JIngyi getting trounced right in front of their eyes? It needs to be natural, and it would be best if they both found out at the same time and were made to believe that their beloved is actually enjoying it…'

'Li said that Yi had an ability of sorts… A special sight that even while using it, he had been unable to gather any evidence… Must be what made him into such an excellent prosecutor, if I had to guess… But it was useless? Is that why the investigation into Golden Teeth's death is not moving forward at all? His eyes can't pick up on any evidence when I am the perpetrator?'

'Mmh… From what I gathered, that Yi was supposedly set to become a core disciple in the past, so his strength should definitely exceed my own, so a difference in power can not be the reason… Bah, no matter the reason, the fact that I am apparently invisible to his investigative sense or whatever can be used to my advantage…'

Anoteros could feel his blood flow faster as the excitement of putting this new plan into motion greatly stimulated him, the advantage with those two, was that despite being rivals in love, they were so enamored by the frail Jingyi that they did not mind cooperating at all for her sake, so he could get to Li through Yi.

The prosecutor most certainly was easier for him to 'interact' with, the core disciple spent his days at the sect and basically only ever came out to see the white-haired girl, otherwise, he, and the other core disciples, spent their days cultivating and training like nothing else existed in the world.

Edrick hadn't even gotten to meet the few other core disciples for this very reason, and he wasn't curious enough to go and see them directly, although, it certainly would be an honour for them to be visited by a scion of the Elt clan.

Especially since none of them had any surname, meaning that they had no nobility statuses, and did not belong to any refined family.

Honestly, it was surprising that they hadn't even tried to say hello, connections were of dire importance in the cultivation world, so then not even attempting to form any with Edrick came to a surprise, or perhaps they were waiting for a special occasion.

'If Jingyi does decide to come to my residence and accept my job offer, I'll justify it to her two suitors by saying that I am merely aiding them in protecting her' would they believe him? That was uncertain, but they would have nothing to say anyways, they might even think that he is actually a great guy that looks out for others.

Whilst thinking of various, most horrible scenarios and trying to decide which would please him the most, he continued to walk through the snowy woods, taking the same path he always did to go back and forth, it was a rather difficult trek, which was only natural as his 'love den' was not to be found by anyone else.

But some portions actually overlapped with an old, rather wide pathway, the dirt here had been packed densely by what he assumed had once been a steady stream of travellers and carriages, it was desolate and no longer in use, but still, the path was still clearly visible.

Sliding down onto the path, Edrick immediately stopped, and without looking directly, he glanced to both his left and right.

The first direction was empty, and the second featured an unexpected guest.

'What do we have here?' he did not smile, the gears in his brains were quick to assemble every bit of information relevant to the situation into a single place.

Over to his right, there was a person, dressed in robes, a design he would expect a member of the clergy to be garbed in, only that it was made entirely out of burlap, their feet were bare, so were their hands and face, the latter of which Anoteros could not see as the individual had their back turned to him, quietly, and slowly, bringing their forehead against the trunk of a tree.

The strikes were far from powerful, but the bark was visibly used-up, and some frozen blood was stuck on the rough surface, clearly, they had been at it for a long while.

However, Anoteros had passed by here not so long ago, no matter how many rounds it may have been with Muxing, he had only remained with her for an hour at most, and this person had definitely not been there back then.

And to add to the strangeness, the fact that he had been able to complete the quest meant that this person had been in the woods for at least a week and had not come out even once, and since the quest had not issued rewards, they could not have simply stepped in after the one week period passed.

The figure robed in burlap stopped and made a sudden motion, turning around as though frightened by Edrick's presence.

The unknown person seemed to be a man with long, unkempt hair, but no facial hair whatsoever, and they looked human, a human suffering from the cold.

'A madman with no shoes and burlap for clothes surviving in the forest for a whole week? The soles of your feet should have fallen off already'

Anoteros raised one hand and simply waved at the man.

"You seem a bit lost" the stranger looked horrified to be addressed, but his expression quickly fell, and after a few moments, he spoke up in a most average, normal voice.

"Do you know how to get to Canard?"

"Canard? That city is pretty far away, you know? But it's over in that direction" Anoteros pointed behind him.

The man was deathly silent, appearing flabbergasted, as though Edrick had just told him a most egregious thing.

"You… You liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! You dare lie to a poor lost traveller?! You dare?! What is wrong with you?! Do you have no humanity?! No compassion?!"

Contorting his body at most painful angles, the man grabbed at his hair and pulled with enough force to pluck some of it right out.

Edrick just kept staring at him with a mild smile on his face.

"...Oh, I get it… You really do lack them… Why else would you not have your desire to help a fellow member of your species ignited?! Only one who can not comprehend that humans are social creatures could not be bewitched by my hex!"

"Unacceptable! This is unacceptable!"

"Damn, that's crazy, man- You really just started spouting everything the second you encountered a setback, huh? Did you say hex, by the way? That's not supposed to be common in this region, you know? This is cultivation land here, you wouldn't happen to have that hex knowledge written down in a book somewhere? My fourth wife would be very pleased with something like this, if it's in another language than Nimeri, it's even better"

"Silence! Don't you dare think that- That- That! Aaaah! I will tear out your guts and wear them like jewelry!-"

Too busy contorting as though testing the resistance of his bones, he didn't even pay attention to Anoteros at all, and ended up with an arrow lodged in his knee.

The lost wanderer screamed.