The plot scene was brief, flashing by quickly. After the scene ended, the old woodcutter’s body disappeared amidst the raindrops, leaving only a few pieces of unchopped firewood lying on the ground.

Xiao Hua sighed, carrying the letter, letting the raindrops fall on his face as he walked back to the lakeside.

Upon hearing the news of the old woodcutter’s death, the evil dragon did not show ecstasy; instead, its massive body trembled slightly. Looking at the old woodcutter’s letter, tears streamed down its eyes, which were as large as lanterns.

Xiao Hua had already found the old woodcutter’s words in the plot scene strange, and the evil dragon’s reaction now puzzled him even more.

"Brother Dragon, what exactly is going on?" Xiao Hua couldn’t help but ask.

"This is a long story; do you really want to hear it?" The evil dragon responded with a serene expression, which was surprisingly comforting.

"Of course, if you’re willing to share!"

"Alright, it was many years ago, let me think…"

After saying this, the evil dragon closed its mouth and thought for a moment before continuing, "I was originally human. Over a decade ago, I was cursed by the undead Bone Warlock in the Mysterious Forest, turning me into this dragon snake form. Let me start from when I was a child…"

…

Xiao Hua was heading towards the Mysterious Forest. The task had progressed to the third stage: "Eliminate the Undead Bone Warlock"! The task required eliminating the undead Bone Warlock on the other side of the Mysterious Forest.

This was not an easy task, and Xiao Hua could only sigh. However, he had no choice. According to the evil dragon, if he wanted the Phantom Ring, he had to eliminate the undead Bone Warlock. Otherwise, the ring would never be given to anyone. Of course, the Phantom Ring was currently still a quest item for his use.

The evil dragon’s story was quite lengthy. It took Xiao Hua a while to understand the whole situation. In short, when the evil dragon was still a child, after leaving his impoverished hometown and enduring a despairing journey, he was adopted by the old woodcutter and fell in love with another gentle and beautiful girl who was also adopted by the old woodcutter.

As they approached marriage age, one day, the young man left the village for a while. When he returned, everything had changed dramatically. An undead Bone Warlock had appeared in the village, and only the old woodcutter had escaped. The young man went to find out what happened from the old woodcutter, but the old woodcutter didn’t say a word, simply chasing him away with a woodcutter’s axe.

Feeling lost, the young man recklessly ventured to the other side of the Mysterious Forest to investigate, eventually being cursed by the undead Bone Warlock. He fled back to the lakeside and transformed into a dragon snake upon touching the water.

The young man lived in the lake as a dragon snake for several years. During those boring days in the lake, he gradually developed hatred for the old woodcutter while also often reminiscing about the good old days. One day, thinking he would spend his life in the lake, the young man discovered that he could transform back into human form at night, leaving the lake for up to an hour but not straying too far.

Driven by intense longing and loneliness, the young man secretly returned to the woods outside the wooden house to observe the old woodcutter’s condition. He discovered that the old woodcutter was also cursed by the undead Bone Warlock, acting violently every night. Once, the young man tried to intervene and almost got killed by the old woodcutter.

The old woodcutter knew that the young man had become the evil dragon but never spoke to him during the daytime. Only after Xiao Hua delivered the letter did the evil dragon understand the reason.

In the letter, the old woodcutter mentioned that the undead Bone Warlock had always been sealed in the village’s sacrificial altar. On that day, the old woodcutter and the young girl accidentally triggered the seal, releasing the undead Bone Warlock. Instead of killing them, the warlock cursed them, trapping them nearby. One day, the young girl helped the old woodcutter escape, but feeling ashamed, the old woodcutter never met the young man again.

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The reason the evil dragon wanted Xiao Hua to kill the old woodcutter was that the curse on the old woodcutter was getting stronger. Every night, the old woodcutter suffered an unbearable life. The young man knew the old woodcutter wouldn’t live long and wanted to relieve his suffering but couldn’t bring himself to do it until he met Xiao Hua.

The old woodcutter also mentioned in the letter that if the young girl hadn’t died, killing the undead Bone Warlock would lift the curse on both of them, allowing them to live happily ever after.

The young man couldn’t leave the lakeside, so the responsibility of killing the undead Bone Warlock fell onto Xiao Hua.

What a troublesome story.

Xiao Hua evaluated the story as he walked, approaching the Mysterious Forest.

He wasn’t entirely ignorant about the Mysterious Forest, but what he knew was minimal and not particularly useful. To pass through the Mysterious Forest and reach the altar where the undead Bone Warlock resided, he needed considerable effort.

Standing at the entrance of the six green pathways leading into the Mysterious Forest, Xiao Hua decided to slowly figure out the forest to ensure his safe passage.

At least, he thought, even if he couldn’t kill the seemingly insane undead Bone Warlock, he should try to steal something. After all, he had the sub-artifact ring in hand and should make the most of it.

"Let’s start with the first entrance on the left."

Summoning his illusion, Xiao Hua sent it slowly into the leftmost pathway.

Controlling the illusion to stealthily walk forward, Xiao Hua hoped these sharp thorny vines entangled in the trees wouldn’t detect the stealthed illusion. If they didn’t, it would save him a lot of time passing through the Mysterious Forest!

However, things didn’t go as smoothly as he hoped. His fantasy was quickly shattered. Although he was sure he moved cautiously without touching anything, the vines still detected him.

Several vines sprung out like springs from the forest, wrapping around the illusion from behind. Before Xiao Hua could react, the illusion’s health dropped to zero, and it dissolved into white light.

Damn, even Grandmaster Stealth doesn’t work; this is really troublesome!

Xiao Hua scratched his head in frustration. Now, he had several areas to figure out. First, he needed to determine if the vines attacked people only at fixed locations. If they attacked randomly, it would be impossible to pass through the Mysterious Forest with certainty!

Waiting for the skills to cool down, Xiao Hua controlled the illusion to go forward again.

Illusion!

Still the first pathway on the left, this time, when the illusion reached the spot where the incident occurred previously, Xiao Hua used the Illusion skill. As soon as the illusion appeared, it was destroyed by a shadowy figure that flashed out of the forest.

Xiao Hua breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the vines attacked at fixed locations, which was reassuring. At least with the cooperation of the illusion and the fake image, he had confidence in passing through the vine attacks.

After the illusion was destroyed, the fake image immediately proceeded. As expected, the vines targeted a single entity. Once the target was eliminated, they wouldn’t attack anyone passing by for a certain period.

However, the fake image only took a few steps before Xiao Hua planned to keep a distance to avoid the vines’ attack cooldown ending. Suddenly, several vines appeared around the fake image, killing it again without warning!

The close proximity of two vine attack points taught Xiao Hua a lesson. Using this experience, his subsequent exploration became much easier. The illusion led the way, followed by the fake image. When the illusion was destroyed by the vines, the fake image quickly passed through the attack area, but didn’t proceed more than a couple of steps. Then, he waited for the illusion skill to cool down before sending the illusion forward again.

For the first time, Xiao Hua realized the significant role of the illusion, which had never been useful before. Without the illusion, even with the fake image, he might never have made it through the Mysterious Forest. Even if he did, it would have been a near-death experience requiring ten times the time!

This was an extremely time-consuming and laborious task. Fortunately, Xiao Hua was accustomed to such tasks. Facing the unpredictable vine attacks in the Mysterious Forest, he carefully avoided any mistakes. Still, it took nearly three hours for Xiao Hua to roughly figure out the first pathway on the left.

Following the pathway in, forks appeared soon. These forks sometimes led back to the original location, sometimes to dead ends. The worst part was when an illusion appeared, leading to a space several times wider than the pathway with green monster-like balls resembling algae balls! Upon entering, the exit was immediately sealed off by vines. It seemed impossible to leave without killing the monsters inside.

These green algae ball monsters weren’t easy to handle either. They swayed with hard thorny vines, causing toxin damage anywhere in the space. Unless dealt with quickly, death was the only outcome!

Watching the fake image and illusion being destroyed repeatedly, Xiao Hua broke out in cold sweat yet felt relieved. After spending three hours, he discovered to his dismay that the first pathway on the left led to an endless maze!