After the chaos in the cemetery, walking among the Duskwood forest in search of herbs was almost like taking a stroll in a park.
After being chased by ghouls, even the wolves in Eastvale Logging Camp seemed much cuter.
Not much Grave Moss was dug up. After removing the wet soil and the moisture attached to it, the truly effective medicinal part might be less than half a pound.
But both of them tacitly agreed that if they could find Grave Moss in the outside burial ground, they would dig a little if they could. It was impossible to go back to the cemetery.
There were quite a lot of Silverleaf in southern Elwynn Forest. It was just that it was often mixed among various local shrub plants and not very conspicuous, so one needed good eyesight.
After walking for several hours, Jess felt that his eyes were seeing double.
As time passed, he also noticed the changes in the brightness and darkness of the forest and the time. At night, it was pitch-black. In the morning, the dark forest would show a faint blue color. In the afternoon, which was now, it would gradually turn yellowish-brown.
The traps they had set up earlier had no harvest at all, and neither of them was surprised.
Gerred collected the trap and planned to look for a place farther from Raven Hill. But he didn't find a trap setting point comparable to the previous resting place.
They had walked an unknown number of miles. It was time to look for the main road to the south and return to Raven Hill.
They might have to go out again tomorrow because except for Silverleaf and a thorny plant suspected to be Briarthorn, they didn't find any other herbs. One of the most important materials, Kingsblood, was completely nowhere to be found.
Climbing over a hill and looking at the wide downhill slope in front, Jess felt a wave of dizziness. He steadied himself and almost fell.
Gerred looked back at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I'm hungry. I'm so hungry that I feel dizzy." Jess took out a piece of hard bread and said, "I need to fill my stomach."
The hard bread had been left for several days and was already as dry as a piece of cardboard. Gerred sighed and took out a small piece of pale yellow cheese he was carrying and said, "Here's an extra for you."
Looking at this piece of cheese, Jess felt even hungrier. He took it and put it in his mouth, closed his eyes and enjoyed the double fragrance of bread and the salty and fragrant milk block blending with each other under the stirring of saliva, and the milky fragrance spraying into the nasal cavity through the internal openings of the mouth. He felt as if he was about to melt.
"The taste is different from the blue cheese in Stormwind. Is this cheese made with dwarf recipes?"
"Yes. It's not so salty, but the milk flavor is stronger." The dwarf also stuffed a piece into his mouth. The two of them sat together under a tree.
The milky and sticky cheese melted in their mouths, and neither of them wanted to stand up again.
"If we can't find Kingsblood, let's just go back." Jess licked his lips and fingers and said, "Sell what we've collected. I'll just buy enough materials with my share."
Gerred asked, "I wonder if we can sell it for thirty silver coins on this trip?"
Jess opened the bag and took a look and said, "If that Briarthorn is really Briarthorn and we sell the Grave Moss, maybe we can sell it for forty. In the end, it's Silverleaf that does the trick."
"If one person can get twenty silver coins, it's worth it." Gerred said, "Taking such a risk and having a comfortable two months. It's not a wasted trip."
Jess nodded and directly lay down on the ground. A strong sense of tiredness hit him, and he almost couldn't keep his eyes open.
"Don't sleep here, Jess."
Gerred shook his shoulder. In a daze, Jess turned his head sideways and felt as if there was something red in the distance in his vision.
The characteristics of that red thing made him suddenly alert and immediately became energetic.
He narrowed his eyes and observed over there for a while. Could it be a Kingsblood growing on the slope?
"Look over there... Am I hallucinating? I seem to see Kingsblood."
Gerred looked in the direction Jess was pointing and immediately widened his eyes.
"It really is Kingsblood!"
Gerred got up, picked up the trap and sword, and staggered out with a small round shield on his back. Jess also quickly picked up his luggage and followed his speed. The two stumbled and rolled and crawled closer to that red thing.
Jess lay on the grass and touched the raised bunches of ominous pink flower spikes and the leaves darker than the grassland in Duskwood. That's right. It was indeed Kingsblood.
Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded from above and echoed deep into the forest.
Jess looked up and saw a person sitting on a short tree on the high slope.
He was wearing a dark green coat and a dark brown cloak and hood. He almost perfectly blended into the dark forest. So the two of them didn't notice his existence at all.
"That bunch of grass has an owner. You two should go back the same way."
The words came from afar, very softly. The other person was speaking Common, but with a very heavy accent, giving the illusion of a French person speaking English.
"Pointy-eared thief. Damn it." Gerred murmured in a suppressed voice.
An elf?
Jess said, "Put the trap here."
Gerred secretly glanced at Jess and then put down the animal trap. He suppressed the sound he made and tried to set it up carefully, gently covering it with the tall grass and Kingsblood around.
While Gerred was setting the trap in the grass, Jess stood up to attract the elf's attention.
"Be careful with your movements, human."
The creaking sound of a bowstring being drawn was extremely clear in the quiet Duskwood. Jess knew that the other party had raised his hunting bow and aimed it at this side.
"Well, this animal trap can't catch an elf." The dwarf hid behind him and said in an almost inaudible voice, "They are all hunters who have lived for hundreds of years. They won't make such a low-level mistake."
Jess bit his lip and said, "Then let's take a chance."
"Avoid fighting." The dwarf said, "There's no need to fight him for a bunch of grass. Elves are at least members of the Alliance. At least for now. Don't make it a life-and-death struggle."
"An ally pointing an arrow at us?"
"I'm leaving right now! Don't release the string!" Jess shouted and backed away step by step.
The elf jumped down from the tree, lifted his hood. His long golden hair fluttered in the cold evening wind, extremely conspicuous in this pitch-black world.
This was a rather tall man. After lifting his hood, his eyes emitted a faint blue light, like a lone wolf in the deep night.
Jess faced a hostile elf for the first time and deeply felt the terrifying deterrence of this ancient race.
Although somewhat reluctant, one still had to bow one's head when it was time.
"Remember to take your animal trap away, dwarf. Even if you sell it as scrap iron, you can get a good price." The elf said with a smile. "Ah, you wouldn't use that to deal with me, would you? That's too terrifying."
His tone suddenly turned cold. "Learn from your human friend what it means to be sensible, you blind stinker."
Gerred had already grabbed the animal trap and was about to take it away. After hearing those words, he suddenly stopped his movement.
Jess had already felt the killing intent rising at his feet. He knew that this fight was unavoidable now.