It's so painful! So hard! So difficult!

The village chief didn't show much surprise at this answer, which would shock ordinary people. He trembled as he put the cup of water back on the table and reached into the cabinet beside him, looking for something while saying,

"Since the Holy Son also has this intention, then I am relieved." The village chief took out two parchment scrolls with red stamps and pushed them in front of the two people.

"Ah? Do you agree to let me go just like that?" Bai Lin seemed more surprised.

Bai Lin thought that most people would not agree with his departure as a tool who only provided food and shelter and could do anything he wanted. After all, if he left, the village might return to the days when anyone could invade.

The village chief narrowed his eyes slightly, his old skin obscuring his sharp vision. "Sir Saint, you should know why our village is named."

Bai Lin scratched his head embarrassedly, "I really don't know."

"Then, I hope that after you take her away from the village, you will one day remember this land where you once stayed temporarily. It's called Dragon Blood Village."

"What a sinister name!" Bai Lin sighed inwardly, but she didn't interrupt the village chief. She glanced at Katie next to her and saw that she was also looking at the village chief intently, listening attentively, obviously anticipating some important information.

The village chief opened his mouth and slowly told the story:

Hundreds of years ago, their village was a place dedicated to dragon training and harnessing. Every healthy, adult male in the village had the potential to become a dragon rider. Even if they lacked the skills, they still had a deep understanding of dragons and were on good terms with them.

But the demonic catastrophe also brought upon them the most hellish punishment. A large number of dragons, led by Chronosthea, suddenly rebelled. Although a few dragons still supported the humans, it was a scene of immense tragedy. The sacrifice of an old friend to save the lives of the people, everyone faced the most unbearable scene with pain.

From that moment on, the once reclusive tribe, known to the outside world as "the Dragon People Embraced by the Green Mountains," was completely ignited by the flames of hatred. This flame burned fiercely, yet quickly, perhaps extinguished by the snow amidst the growing dangers. Just like this ice forest, just like this icy mountain, the entire village was mired in the snowstorm known as the calamity of hardship.

Even survival is no longer guaranteed, so how can revenge be pursued? Hundreds of years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the cultural heritage has become increasingly weak, but only a certain unnecessary pride has remained unchanged.

"And you have done us the greatest help by killing Klonostia, Holy Son." The village chief opened his dazed eyes, which contained vicissitudes of life, but also reflected the flames from the candlesticks, and was immersed in the warmth called comfort.

In his youth, like everyone else, he wasn't particularly interested in his ancestors' affairs. It wasn't until decades later, when the village was struck by a dragon, that he finally experienced the bitterness of their hatred. Sadly, by then, he was already middle-aged and no longer had the energy to fight fate. Bai Lin's arrival undoubtedly fulfilled his long-cherished wish.

"Uh..." The atmosphere suddenly became so heavy that Bai Lin didn't know how to respond. "Anyway, the village has helped me a lot, and this is what I should do..."

The village chief sighed. "For over a month now, aside from arranging accommodation for you, Katie has provided all of your living needs. I'm truly ashamed of myself. After all, although I believed in your abilities, I still didn't fully understand you."

"Don't be so serious." Katie, who had been silent for a long time, interrupted, "The village has raised me for so long, this is what I should do. It was also my own decision to move forward with Bai Lin."

When the village chief heard what Katie said, he didn't say much and pointed to the parchment scroll on his right.

"I'm sure you've all heard the story from decades ago. The truth is, no one came to rescue the noblewoman who had wandered into our village for so long because the Snow Dragon Tribe was at war with humans at the time. The fighting was ongoing, so our village went to offer assistance."

"This was one of the rewards back then. It was a certificate of admission to the magic academy."

Katie's eyes were filled with shock. "Could it be the academy in Camelan Severance City? This is too expensive. I can't accept it."

The village chief pushed both scrolls into Bai Lin's arms, then looked at Katie. "No matter how valuable something is, it can only be effective in the right hands. Although I'm not sure of your magical level, I know for sure that you have a talent."

"And today, the Holy Son personally acknowledged your strength. You deserve this admission certificate. There is no need to refuse."

Katie was silent for a moment, then looked at the village chief with a complicated expression for two seconds before nodding. Seeing this, Bai Lin put away the two parchments.

"The other volume is a letter of recommendation from the Knights' Guild. I believe that with Lord Saint Son's strength, you are more than qualified for this position. I hope you can shine in humanity's last fortress. Of course, it would be even better if you could remember to come back and visit this village."

Bai Lin nodded firmly, "I will definitely come back."

How could he not come back to visit Klein's grave?

The village chief also nodded slightly, "If you want to leave this matter, it is better to do it secretly to prevent people with ulterior motives from causing trouble again."

"Don't worry, we'll set off early tomorrow morning," Katie replied calmly.

The village chief glanced at the two of them one last time and said, "Take care on your journey."

-

Bai Lin had originally planned to leave, but he didn't expect Katie to accept it so quickly. Katie's response was,

"Wherever you go, I will go."

Aside from Klein, she didn't have much to hold on to this village. The man she'd wronged had died on the battlefield, and even his wife had died with him. She hadn't had much interaction with the remaining people.

On the way back, Katie, for some reason, triggered a switch and kept lecturing Bai Lin, telling her to be more open in such conversations in the future, to show her composure, and not to be like those impetuous young men in the escort team. Bai Lin could only smile bitterly at this; she was indeed a young woman too.

On the street nearing home, the two saw Leidenhal coming towards them. He was a rare sight here. Today, Leiden was only wearing a crisp white linen shirt and linen trousers, not his usual armored attire. His tall and steady figure was even more conspicuous. When he saw Bai Lin, he waved and smiled, and made a three-word invitation.

"drink wine?"

Bai Lin looked at Katie, and Katie smiled slightly, "Go." Then she walked into the tent.

The "men" smiled at each other, raised their hands like crazy, said "Long live" and walked towards the tavern.

Chapter 121 Happy Birthday

The next morning, Bai Lin was half-awake after being dragged out of the tavern by Katie. Although Bai Lin's alcohol tolerance was quite good, he couldn't resist the constant bartending of Leydenhal and the other guards, so he experienced a rare hangover.

The most painful thing about being hungover wasn't the hangover; the most painful thing was having to get up early afterward. Of course, Bai Lin had no temper with Katie. Fortunately, Bai Lin's alcohol tolerance was exceptional. Although her feet were a little shaky, she still had a clear mind and packed up the bags they were going to prepare.

"The amount of water and food we brought should last at least five days. Based on your walking speed, it will take about three days to reach Camitlan. But as you are now..."

Katie closed her eyes helplessly and sighed, "I can only hope to wake up soon."

"It's not a big deal, I can do it." Bai Lin said as he put his arm on Katie's shoulder.

"Come on, I have to watch you next time you drink," Katie said unhappily.

In fact, there was another person leaving the village today: the goblin craftsman. However, he had just left after a slightly tipsy farewell last night. He had repaid his debt and was returning to his people.

During these ten days, it also devoted itself to teaching Bai Lin some forging skills. After all, the so-called fiery iron forging method was a skill that even blacksmiths had to master. Otherwise, relying solely on trained muscles and just hammering iron would still be insufficient.

Of course, Bai Lin hadn't learned anything she was supposed to. She didn't have the benefit of a hundred martial arts skills when it came to forging. The goblin master understood this, saying forging wasn't something that could be learned in a day or two. But at least, Bai Lin had become quite proficient in weapon maintenance and had learned a few tricks of the trade.

Furthermore, as Bai Lin was placing the dragon's corpse into her backpack, she was suddenly crushed to the ground by a tremendous weight. This made her realize that the so-called backpack was merely a convenient, invisible storage pouch; the actual weight still rested on her shoulders. However, the dagger inside the bag had never felt heavy, suggesting there might be some mystery worth exploring.

But according to the old craftsman, the dragon's body is full of treasures, so what should we do? Naturally,

Let Cress take some and keep it for safekeeping. The Elf Queen was quite interested in studying the dragon's corpse. She also agreed to this for Bai Lin's sake.

So in the end, the spoils Bai Lin got were the treasures buried under the castle and on the ground that were bombed to the point of being almost gone. But no matter how little the spoils were, it didn't matter, after all, the main purpose was to save Katie.

The two of them came to Chris's pool. Although Katie and her had a relationship like a rival, Katie was not such a rigid person. Chris could be said to have saved her in disguise and had never killed her without reason. Befriending her would only benefit Bai Lin, and making things too awkward would not benefit anyone.

Chris was still floating on the water. From the looks of it, her physical condition had almost recovered in the past half month. Seeing Katie walking over with Bai Lin, she immediately asked with a smile,

"That's right, you still remembered to come see me on this day. You guys should be leaving soon, right?"

Unlike Katie, Chris treated her well simply because she could spy on her every day, even watching her grow up. Because she was truly a lovely child, yet also had a very difficult life, Chris had simply given up on competing... probably.

"Hmm? Is today special?" Katie was a little confused for a moment. Chris shook her head and waved her hand. A stream of spring water wet Bai Lin's face. The effect of the spiritual spring made her sober immediately. Bai Lin coughed twice after choking for a while, and then raised her head. She must have heard the conversation between the two. At the instruction of Chris's eyes, she walked around to Katie and looked at her.

"Of course today is special. It's your eighteenth birthday. Happy birthday!" Bai Lin said.

Katie was stunned for a moment, then revealed a faint smile and nodded gently, "You knew my birthday was a happy day, so you dared to go drinking, right?"

"No, no, of course not." Bai Lin, sensing a hint of danger, scratched her head awkwardly. Her strong desire to survive made her quickly reject the other party's speculation. Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she raised her hands in front of her and said, "By the way, here's a birthday present for you."

Bai Lin pulled out an intricately carved ice box from her control panel. She slowly opened it, revealing the item inside. It was a ring entirely of dark wood, with translucent silver interspersed throughout. Upon closer inspection, it seemed as if streams of light were flowing through it. The silver material formed an arch, like the shape of an eye, and within it was a white gemstone emitting a rich, white light.

Katie's cheeks immediately flushed and she turned away. "No... No. This is too sudden. I should do it..."

Bai Lin, who had never seen Katie talk nonsense, was also confused. However, she quickly guessed that she had misunderstood and said, "This is the ring that Chris made for you. Although I don't understand it very well, it will help you cast spells. Please accept it."

Claire, who was laughing at the side, also explained, "That's right, but the style was also decided by Bai Lin, so there is no doubt that her love is also in it."

Bai Lin was speechless. She would have liked to call Christina the King of Fanning the Flames. Fortunately, Katie recovered quickly. She turned around with a calm expression, coughed slightly, and fiercely snatched the box from Bai Lin's hand. She put it behind her back and bowed slightly to Christina with a smile.

"Thank you."

"Don't be so polite. It was Bai Lin who sent it to me anyway. I was just doing it on his behalf." Chris smiled and waved her hand. Seeing the harmonious atmosphere between the two, Bai Lin could only smile apologetically. MD, why don't you thank me?

However, Bai Lin, who was a few years older, could understand Katie. Although the journey home was extremely long, Bai Lin still considered himself a family man, so it would be better to explain things to Katie after arriving in the city.

"Don't you want to try it?" Bai Lin asked when he saw that Katie had no intention of trying it on.

Katie took a breath and stretched out her hand holding the box to Bai Lin, "Will you put it on me?"

"this…"

Chapter 122: Teach a Lesson

Seeing Bai Lin's embarrassed and hesitant look, Katie stopped fooling around and put on the ring herself. Suddenly, a cool feeling spread from her fingertips to her whole body, and the gem in the center of the ring glowed faintly. On the surface, there seemed to be no change, but Katie's surprised expression said it all.

"The core array of this ring evolved from Tiamat's dragon heart, and its shape is inspired by her eyes," Bai Lin explained. "That's why I call it Tiamat's Protection."

"Infusing magic power into it can generate up to three ice shields. Even after they shatter, they can still be used to delay the enemy." Chris added.

Katie nodded slightly, putting her inexplicable temper behind her, and said softly, "This is a really great birthday present. Thank you."

Aside from the changing of the year, the villagers didn't even bother to keep track of dates; after all, they didn't have many holidays to celebrate. Even Katie couldn't remember her own birthday; it was always Klein who celebrated it, and naturally, she only remembered Klein.

In order not to disrupt the relaxed and joyful atmosphere, she did not mention the incident, but simply immersed herself in this brief celebration and farewell.

"Well, let's go, Chris." Seeing that Katie was fine, Bai Lin waved at Chris.

"Well, have a nice trip."

-

The morning sun hadn't even reached its zenith when the two of them, following Katie's instructions, arrived at the edge of the snowfield. Bai Lin, carrying Katie on his back as usual, witnessed a scene unseen in the original world.

Bordering the snowfield, there was a small plain with sparse greenery, followed by a series of raised peaks covered with dense trees. From the outside, one could feel the denseness that prevented sunlight from penetrating. Although the path Katie chose was already a relatively low peak, Bai Lin still couldn't see the peaks that were like the sky at a glance.

The beacon towers proved that there were indeed people living here. Bai Lin calmed down his surprise at this spectacle and took a step forward.

"Our next plan is to advance until night time to rest. Don't be impatient, just walk slowly. I will remind you if there is anything abnormal." Katie, who was already a little tired, said on Bai Lin's shoulder.

Bai Lin nodded, walked out of the world of ice and snow, and began to head towards the vibrant forest. Honestly, after looking at the snow for so long, even a southerner who had only seen snow a few times in his life would be a little tired of it. Seeing such a rare and vibrant green made Bai Lin feel a sense of familiarity.

Bai Lin had walked such a long distance, but his energy consumption was not very great. He didn't even look red in the face or out of breath, and he kept a steady pace. When climbing, the most important thing is rhythm. Running too fast will only waste energy.

In the original world, Bai Lin was used to listening to some music when climbing mountains to make herself less anxious. But now she has no music player, what should she do? Naturally, she hums to herself.

After all, she was once one of the top ten singers on campus, so her singing skills were certainly good. However, Bai Lin had already discovered one of the few downsides of her female transformation: many of the songs she used to listen to no longer had the same flavor when she sang them.

You know, although Bai Lin is young, her song preferences are between Jacky Cheung and Eason Chan. Their songs are mostly characterized by strong male singing voices. With her current voice, even if she lowers the pitch by an octave, it won't taste good. However -

For an "ancient person" like Katie who has never heard of modern songs, it is naturally a rare thing.

"Bai Lin's singing is so beautiful."

"Ah, thank you." Bai Lin said politely and continued humming.

(Women only affect my pitch)

Although Bai Lin was unusually unenthusiastic towards Katie, she didn't mind at all and continued, "I've only heard village nursery rhymes and lullabies before. I don't even understand the song Bai Lin is singing. Is it the language of some advanced creature?"

"Not really. It's just that the pronunciation is different from the language we use today. The grammar and meaning are essentially similar."

Seeing that Katie was so interested in Cantonese songs, she stopped singing for a while and enthusiastically introduced her favorite music.

"This song is called 'Allure'. The line just now means that the fireworks will fade and the music will stop, which makes the ending of the story even more touching. What do you think? Does it sound similar now that I put it that way?"

Katie nodded. "Indeed. Even though I don't understand it, I can clearly sense the sadness in the melody. Could this also be a form of magic?"

Bai Lin was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "If you think so, it is true. Music is magical."

Even though the languages ​​are not mutually intelligible, there are still people who like songs from other countries, because music has no borders.

Katie nodded thoughtfully and hugged Bai Lin tightly, "Can I learn it too?"

"Of course, let's start by learning the language we use for communication."

In this way, Bai Lin and the others walked through the forest shrouded in haze, singing and dancing. The rugged muddy road, with its occasional rocky climbs, became like a stroll in their own backyard amidst the cheerful music.

"Try to open your throat as much as possible and use your abdomen to strengthen your singing voice..."

Bai Lin had a rare opportunity to teach Katie, and it was also the first time he experienced the benefits of this body that didn't tire easily. Compared to the breathing exercises he'd done in the original world by singing while doing sit-ups, it was incredibly convenient. In the past, doing a hundred or so would have been exhausting, but now, climbing while singing was no problem at all.

However, the happy times were short-lived. After entering the mountains for a while, Katie sensed something was amiss. Nothing had happened during the entire journey, and that was the biggest problem. She hadn't even sensed a single monster, not even a mosquito.

After she reported this to Bai Lin, his expression froze. Indeed, according to Katie's original statement, the continent should be teeming with monsters, excluding the cities and villages. Especially in a forest with a livable climate like this, how could there not be a single monster? It was truly bizarre.

"I think I've found the reason," Katie said gravely, her face stern. "About a kilometer away from us, there are several large footprints. And throughout the forest, there are also traces of wild animals that once lived there..."

"That is to say, they were driven away recently by even more powerful monsters, and the strongest one is very likely to remain in this mountain range."

Chapter 123 Encountering Another Team

Hearing that there was a strong opponent, and that he had driven away the monsters of an entire mountain by himself, Bai Lin felt a chill down her spine. She couldn't use the Dragon Spear Gungnir now, so if she really wanted to fight, it would be quite difficult. Thinking of this, she stopped and asked

"So we're going to avoid it?"

Katie shook her head. "In fact, this powerful creature is more or less able to sense the world. It's not usually the case that I discovered it but it didn't notice me. So we still have to move on and make plans after we are discovered."

"That's too dangerous. How could we encounter such a thing by chance? We are so unlucky." Bai Lin lowered his head dejectedly, and accidentally caught a glimpse of a moonflower. He immediately cheered up, carried Katie to the front, greeted Katie, asked her to stand down first, and then squatted down to touch the flower.

That's right, how could there be no save files for the new map? This time, Bai Lin saw a giant, earthy-yellow hand reaching out from between the mountains, slowly revealing a towering statue several times taller than the mountains themselves. It was a massive, human-like clay statue, its eyes gleaming with golden light. On its shoulders was a large mass of soil and vegetation, its entire body composed of rock and mudstone.

It struck the densely packed black spots at the foot of the mountain with one hand. Although it couldn't see clearly, Bai Lin was sure that they were not human. Her intuition told her that this was a scene to stop the invasion.