16: Chapter 16: Commentary on the Witchcraft Text?

Nie Ning gathered the books on the ground.

There were twelve books in total, but Nie Ning only recognized the characters on three of them.

Looking at the title of one of the books, Nie Ning suddenly widened his eyes.

"Witchcraft Script Annotations? Witchcraft Script?"

"Could it be the script of the wizards?"

Wizards were people with strange behaviors, yet they were exceptionally powerful.

Even the mainstream knight profession nowadays was actually just a profession created by wizards.

Moreover, wizards could control elemental power, and in terms of strength, they were far beyond what the knights of that time could compare to.

However, with the changing of eras, wizards gradually began to decline; at least, in the past two years, Nie Ning had only heard others mention them while boasting or chatting.

Just as Nie Ning wanted to examine them carefully, slight footsteps suddenly came from the cave entrance.

After a brief thought, fearing that Borton would discover something unusual, Nie Ning only took the three books he could recognize and buried the other books in a pit on the spot.

Tucking the three books into his chest, Nie Ning went to the cave entrance and jumped up.

Standing behind the rock, Nie Ning looked at the Crimson Fire Ape; at this moment, a dark shadow was cutting something.

"Where did you go?"

Seeing Nie Ning walk out from behind the rock, Borton looked up and asked with some curiosity.

"To pee."

Nie Ning did not mention the matter of the cave, just casually finding an excuse to brush it off.

Although he didn't mind sharing his discoveries with others, it didn't mean others would think the same way; everything needed to be based on the premise of his own safety.

Just like how he kept the Human-Faced Balloon in a deep sleep, some things had to be guarded against.

"Then hurry up and help process the Crimson Fire Ape's corpse, lest it attracts other wild beasts later."

Hearing this, Borton didn't say much more; his attention was entirely on the Crimson Fire Ape, and he just urged Nie Ning to come over and help quickly.

Nie Ning didn't dither and quickly stepped forward to help.

Wealth stirs the heart; they needed to finish before dawn to minimize the chance of being discovered and thus avoid unnecessary trouble.

...

The two of them worked together and quickly dismembered the Crimson Fire Ape.

Apart from its meat being able to nourish blood energy, almost every part of the Crimson Fire Ape was good stuff.

Its fur could be made into armor, its heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys could be used as medicine, and even its bones had non-negligible uses.

For Nie Ning, meat was naturally what he needed most, so according to their agreement, Nie Ning only took the majority of the meat.

Seeing that Nie Ning only took the meat, Borton's eyes flickered, and in the end, he sighed slightly and took out a fingernail-sized fire-red crystal from his bosom.

"This is for you."

Nie Ning took the red crystal and examined it with some confusion: "What is this?"

"This is the crystal core of the Crimson Fire Ape, the source of an exotic beast's power, and it is by this that it can release flames."

Borton explained patiently.

He had taken it out earlier when he saw Nie Ning wasn't around.

If Nie Ning had taken other things just now, he might have pocketed this priceless crystal core.

But now...

He was getting old; some opportunities should be left to the young.

"So that's how it is."

Hearing this, Nie Ning's eyes immediately lit up.

The reason he wanted to hunt the Crimson Fire Ape was precisely because he wanted to obtain its fire-control power.

Although he didn't know what use this crystal core had for now, looking at Borton's pained expression, it must not be too bad.

After dividing the spoils, the two walked with light steps, each carrying their share of the spoils and heading towards the city.

...

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

Nie Ning carefully avoided the early-rising servants, and after returning to the woodshed, he immediately pushed aside the firewood in the corner and lifted a wooden board.

Beneath it was a small pit, where some weapons and other spoils were piled up.

"It's a bit small."

Looking at the pit in front of him and then at the large cloth bag he was carrying, Nie Ning immediately started digging deeper.

After all, he had taken the majority of the meat; it would be bad if a servant entering the woodshed saw it.

Relying on his knight's physical fitness, Nie Ning quickly dug the pit and threw all the Crimson Fire Ape meat down into it.

With his current appetite, it shouldn't spoil in three to five days.

After throwing the excavated soil outside the courtyard wall, Nie Ning glanced at the brightening sky outside the window, then, without even bothering to eat meat, picked up a hoe and headed towards Lilith's garden.

Lilith would tend to the garden every so often, and this was precisely Nie Ning's job.

In this kind of family environment, even if Lilith was kind-hearted, she couldn't keep an idler; otherwise, it would inevitably lead to unnecessary trouble.

...

Lilith's garden was about two acres, with a small pond in the middle, and surrounded by rockeries and lush flowers.

Nie Ning didn't delay and skillfully began clearing weeds, then re-cultivated the area where Lilith wanted to plant flowers.

Lilith had no requirements for working hours; he just needed to complete the tasks that needed to be done before he could rest.

As the place of the eldest young lady of the Hervis Family, not many people came here, only a few maids passed by from time to time, so Nie Ning was quite relaxed and comfortable.

It only took him a little over an hour, and Nie Ning had already cultivated most of the land that needed to be farmed.

However, Nie Ning left a small patch of land untouched, mainly because working too fast would easily attract others' attention; after all, he was just an 'ordinary person' now.

Nie Ning didn't idle about because of this, but instead found a corner to hide in, then took out the books he had obtained from Wantai Forest from his bosom.

Perhaps because of 'Supernatural Adaptability', Nie Ning was much better at recognizing characters than before he transmigrated, which allowed him to quickly learn the characters of this world.

Nie Ning flipped through the three books; they didn't contain much information about wizards.

Two of them were mainly some kind of experimental notes, and the other was 'Witchcraft Script Annotations'.

"I wonder what the remaining books record."

Nie Ning thought of the books left in Wantai Forest.

If there really were records about wizards, they would likely be in the remaining books.

But the most important thing now was to learn to read, as there was no great use in bringing them back if he couldn't understand them.

Immediately, Nie Ning immersed himself in the books and began to learn the content in 'Witchcraft Script Annotations'.

...

After a while.

Nie Ning frowned and rubbed his temples.

"Why are these characters so hard to learn?"

For some reason, the Witchcraft Script was obscure and difficult to understand; often a single character had several meanings, and watching it for a long time would also cause symptoms like headaches and nausea.

Just at this moment, slight footsteps reached Nie Ning's ears.

Knowing someone was coming, Nie Ning looked at the sky, then tucked the book into his bosom and picked up the hoe to start tilling the land again.

In just a few breaths' time, a smiling Lilith walked into the garden, chatting and laughing with Norma.

Nie Ning pretended not to know anyone had arrived and continued to till the land diligently.

To show he hadn't been slacking off, Nie Ning also secretly got a little pond water on his face, making it look as if he were sweating.