Chapter 116: Only One Left

Monica, chewing on a half-eaten fishbone, mumbled, “Little Anna, could it be that she’s scared of the lizard? I saw your hands didn’t even tremble when you shot it!”

She deliberately poked the fist-sized lizard head on the grill with her wooden chopsticks, and two shriveled eyeballs “popped” as her chopsticks pierced into the lizard’s head.

Anna’s body recoiled half an inch as if electrocuted, and ripples formed in the egg soup in her bowl.

On the other hand, Little Mu, who was by the bonfire, suddenly sprang up from her side, her pink tentacles wrapping around the tip of the lizard’s tail and with a “smack” sound, she flung it into her mouth. A happy expression immediately bloomed on her pale pink face.

What was a life like before Mu! Eating prey raw was nowhere near as delicious as roasted!

“You little rascal!”

Mark, chuckling helplessly, picked up the plump slime and shook it. A few drops of oil landed on Anna’s hand.

The warm touch startled her so much that, as if possessed, she picked up a cold-dressed slime from the plate in front of her and stuffed it into her mouth.

Well, if she ate this, Mr. Mark probably wouldn’t ask her to eat roasted lizard anymore!

Today, no matter what, she absolutely would not eat lizard!

“Crack——”

The moment the cold-dressed slime skin entered her mouth, Anna’s pale green pupils widened.

The gelatinous layer, chilled by the stream water, was as crisp as tender lotus root. The ginger, garlic, and vinegar sauce that had permeated it burst between her teeth, surprisingly reminding her of the berry bushes in the Elven Forest before the morning dew had lifted.

Although she had never eaten spicy berries, this fresh taste was indeed a flavor she liked.

Monica watched the elf girl’s pointed ears twitch slightly as she propped her chin on her hand, deliberately pushing the roasted lizard head over. “Want to try this? It’s much tastier than slime skin!”

Mark watched Monica’s actions, struggling to suppress his twitching lips.

He had originally intended to chop off the lizard head and throw it into the river.

But while Anna and Mu went to catch water slimes, Monica specifically asked him to stay behind, saying she wanted to try the taste.

Now it seemed this woman was truly, immensely wicked.

She had clearly seen that Anna was somewhat repulsed by roasted lizard and wanted to play a prank on this little sister!

Mark was about to mediate, asking Monica to stop teasing Anna.

To his surprise, Anna, her body slightly stiff, dodged Monica’s gaze and looked at him, pleading, “Mr. Mark, please give me a piece of roasted lizard rib!”

“Ah!? Really?”

Mark had no intention of forcing her. He felt that if Anna didn’t want to eat it, she didn’t have to.

“Really!” Facing the bobbing lizard head and the unrecognizable ribs, Anna decisively made her choice.

Taking the roasted ribs Mark handed over, Anna closed her eyes and took a bite!

Half a piece of lizard meat entered her mouth, and the fresh, sweet flavor, mixed with salt and pepper, exploded on her tongue.

This wasn’t lizard!

Delicious!

Anna chewed quickly, and a piece of roasted lizard rib was swallowed into her belly in an instant.

After finishing it, she opened her eyes and looked at Mark, a little embarrassed. “Um, Mr. Mark… could I have another piece?”

“Ah… okay!”

“And please pass me that… seasoning bottle with minced garlic.”

Anna’s ear tips turned red as she avoided Monica’s stifled laughter. She could accept roasted lizard ribs, but she really couldn’t accept the roasted lizard head.

Lunch ended in a pleasant atmosphere.

Until the reflection of Little Mu’s tentacles brushing empty bowls in the stream appeared, Anna hadn’t noticed that Monica had already quietly thrown the three lizard heads into the stream.

Of course, it wasn’t just the innocent elf girl who couldn’t accept the lizard head; Monica and Mark felt the same way.

Even fish heads were handled by Little Mu.

After assigning the task of cleaning the camp to the tool slimes, the three of them returned to their mission of finding unplucked Moonshadow Flowers.

By the time the scorching sun began to set in the west, the three of them had advanced more than five miles along the cliff faces on both sides of the creek valley.

Perhaps it was due to being especially favored by the Holy Light today.

Mark found over twenty Moonshadow Flowers, but they had either been visited by other adventurers or magical beasts, or they were still young seedlings.

Moonshadow Flowers that hadn’t even formed buds wouldn’t be able to bloom tonight.

The only consolation for Mark was that he had been completely useless in searching for Moonshadow Flowers, but he had found dozens of Evening Primroses on the cliff face.

He had collected a large batch of materials for making Holy Water.

As for Anna and Monica, their progress was much better than Mark’s.

By the time they returned to the camp, Anna had found 26 picked Moonshadow Flowers and 3 intact Moonshadow Flowers.

Monica, on the other hand, found 33 picked Moonshadow Flowers and finally found 4 intact Moonshadow Flowers simultaneously in a hidden corner.

It was a pity that by the time the sun had set, no matter how hard Mark and the other two searched, they couldn’t find any new Moonshadow Flowers.

As night permeated the creek valley and the poison ivy vines on the cliff face began to stir, revealing their spikes, the Moonshadow Flower buds they had counted still numbered only nine.

Anna frowned, looking at the crab-shell blue hue appearing on the horizon.

“Based on the information I’ve collected, the demand for Moonshadow Flowers in Osborn Town shouldn’t be this high. The Adventurer’s Guild’s Moonshadow Flower gathering quests were mostly posted in other towns. Why is the consumption of Moonshadow Flowers in this valley so large?”

“Someone probably came a few days before us,” Mark said, wiping poison ivy sap from his cross as he sat cross-legged at their temporary camp. “Looking at the cuts on many of the Moonshadow Flowers, they are recent wounds from the past few days. It was likely one Adventurer Group that did it within a few days.”

“But I’ve been keeping an eye on related gathering quests for Moonshadow Flowers at the Adventurer’s Guild for the past two weeks. The quest you just accepted should be the latest gathering quest for Osborn Town. The last quest was two weeks ago, and it was only for collecting 10 Moonshadow Flowers.”

Anna had always valued intelligence gathering. Her collection of various essential adventuring information after arriving in Osborn Town was probably more detailed than some information brokers.

“Then perhaps adventurers from other towns took on related adventure quests and couldn’t find enough materials locally, so they came here,” Mark guessed. “Or perhaps there are pharmacists or similar professions who come into the mountains themselves to gather materials.”

Although Mark felt a little displeased by this situation, the Moonlight Creek Valley wasn’t their private property.

If others arrived first and picked them, as long as they didn’t damage the Moonshadow Flower plants in the valley, there was no reason to blame them.

Anna, however, still frowned slightly. “Although Moonshadow Flower is a first-rank magical spice, it seems to be used only in incense for religious ceremonies. No pharmacist would use this material to refine potions to improve their professional experience.”

“Moreover, when the Adventurer’s Guild posts related quests, they consider staggered releases. If similar quests are posted in neighboring towns, other towns will avoid posting similar gathering quests. The preservation period for Moonshadow Flowers is also limited…”