Chapter 193 | This Healer Is Built Different

Bai Xuan gripped his staff tightly and stood in place.

He expanded his mental perception, carefully scanning the outskirts of the dense forest, and confirmed that she had indeed left without leaving a single trace.

Once he was sure it was safe, he slowly loosened his grip on the staff and exhaled a long breath.

Behind him, the Chocobo lowered its head to peck at the wild grass by the roadside, acting as if the monster riot that had just ravaged the entire area had never happened.

Bai Xuan turned to glance at the Chocobo, only to find a dry leaf stuck in its beak, which it was chewing on lazily.

He didn't rush it. Carrying his staff, he turned and began walking toward Calais Town. After just a few steps, the heavy thud of the Chocobo's hooves followed closely behind him.

At the base of the ruined walls outside the town, in the shadows of the eaves, and behind the piles of rubble, the surviving residents were all watching him from the shadows.

The monster tide had completely receded, and everyone had survived, but there was no cheering or celebration. No one even dared to step forward to speak to him.

They all kept their distance, their eyes a mix of wariness, confusion, and fear as they stared intently at the white-robed traveler.

Spotless in his white robe, he strolled forward with his staff in hand, looking completely out of place amidst the ruins littered with shattered masonry and severed monster limbs.

As Bai Xuan's boots ground against the gravel, the faint crunching sound carried clearly through the air, plucking at everyone's highly strung nerves.

A veteran-looking adventurer stood by the base of a wall, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist, his entire body tense. He narrowed his eyes to size up Bai Xuan, his messy stubble showing gray in the twilight, his expression cold.

The female adventurer beside him had several gashes torn into her outer robe by monster claws, and she held only a broken half-spear in her hand.

She looked back and forth between Bai Xuan and the dense forest behind him, her lips parting and closing without making a sound. Finally, she could only nudge the adventurer beside her with her elbow.

Without even turning his head, the man merely let out a cold snort.

Under the eaves, a mother crouched in a corner, holding her sleeping toddler. Two dried tear tracks still stained the child's cheeks.

The woman rested her chin on her child's head, her gaze fixed on Bai Xuan, her eyes vacant and terrified.

Beside her crouched an elderly man with a hunched back. His cloudy eyes darted back and forth between Bai Xuan and the forest as he mumbled incomprehensible prayers under his breath, his voice so faint it drifted away in the wind.

Finally, a hoarse male voice broke the silence. It was a middle-aged laborer with a makeshift bandage wrapped around his right arm. “Just a moment ago, both sides were fighting to the death with bodies everywhere. How did they suddenly stop and make peace?”

A youth beside him chimed in, sounding puzzled. “I saw it just now. That big sister gave him something.”

The laborer immediately turned to press him, his brow furrowing. “Did you see clearly? She really gave him something?”

The youth nodded. “It was a reflective gemstone. It looked pretty valuable.”

“After he got the gemstone, they parted ways. What on earth is their relationship?” someone else in the crowd whispered.

No one could offer an answer, leaving only a long, helpless sigh to ripple through the crowd.

Throughout it all, only the dog-eared demi-human remained completely silent.

As Bai Xuan drew closer, the dog-eared youth's knuckles tightened around the hilt of his blade. His ears flattened completely against his head, the fine fur on them trembling constantly. His wariness had reached its absolute limit.

Sensing her companion's extreme agitation, the cat-eared archer reached out to gently press down on his wrist, signaling him to calm down. But the dog-eared youth did not relax his grip in the slightest, remaining tense and ready to draw his blade at any second.

Bai Xuan stopped three meters away from the crowd, making no further attempt to approach.

Sensing that these people seemed somewhat afraid of him, he planted his staff vertically into the damp soil to show he meant no harm.

Behind him, the Chocobo also stopped, craneing its neck to curiously eye the tense crowd of humans and demi-humans before it.

“Can you tell me the current state of Calais Town?” Bai Xuan asked slowly, his clear words reaching everyone's ears.

The scene fell into a dead silence; no one responded. An oppressive atmosphere hung over the area, and the only sound was the faint clatter of loose bricks and stones rolling down from the distant ruins.

The dog-eared youth's throat bobbed, but the cat-eared girl kept her hand firmly on his wrist, urging him not to act rashly.

Bai Xuan waited quietly for a moment. “I am merely a traveler journeying across borders. I happened to pass by and run into the monster tide, so I lent a hand to stop it.”

He swept his gaze over the monster corpses scattered across the ground, their dark-red blood already dried and crusted, firmly clinging to the cracks in the gravel.

“I can see that you are all wary of me.”

The silence stretched for another moment.

The cat-eared archer stepped out from beside the dog-eared youth. He instinctively reached out to pull her back, but she slipped past him, turning to give him a reassuring nod.

Then, she stepped forward two paces alone. Her bow was still slung at her side, but she had removed the arrow from the string and held it tightly in her hand.

“Forgive me for asking,” the cat-eared girl said cautiously, with tentative politeness, “but are you a cleric sent by the Church?”

Bai Xuan shook his head slightly in response. “No. I come from a neighboring country to the west of the continent. I am just traveling alone and happened to pass through Calais Town.”

Hearing his answer, the tension in the cat-eared girl's eyes visibly relaxed. Her fingers clutching the arrow slowly loosened, and the dog-eared youth beside her relaxed slightly as well, his ears lifting slightly from his scalp.

“That's a relief.” The cat-eared girl sighed in obvious relief, then began to explain the root of everyone's wariness.

“Two months ago, the White family purged the church inside the town and fell out with the Church.” She paused, her gaze shifting away from Bai Xuan's face. “And on that very same day, the Cross family worked from the inside out with the church... and wiped out the White family.”

Bai Xuan's expression didn't flicker in the slightest, but his fingers hanging at his side clenched tightly.

“So when we saw you, our first reaction was to assume you were a cleric sent by the Church headquarters to investigate and purge us. Please forgive our rudeness just now.”

The cat-eared girl had dropped most of her guard, but she still didn't let go of the arrow in her palm.

“It's fine. I understand your concerns. I've heard quite a few rumors about the White family's downfall in the towns along the way.”

Bai Xuan did not delve into past grudges, returning to the core question. “What is the exact situation inside the town right now?”

“This town exists only in name now,” the cat-eared girl said in a low, somber tone, her eyes dimming.

“Currently, the entire town's defense has been taken over by the Cross family's private soldiers. These troops are poorly equipped and loosely trained, completely unable to withstand the monster incursions.”

She turned to look toward the center of the town. The silhouette of the Inner Town's walls was faintly visible, and the family banner fluttered weakly in the evening wind.

“The original Church branch was built at the heart of the Inner Town. Ever since the White family fell, the Inner Town has been completely locked down. Those on the outside have absolutely no idea what the situation is like inside.”

Bai Xuan swept his gaze over the crowd. The survivors before him were either in tattered clothes and malnourished, or bearing claw marks and blade wounds from monsters. Everyone was in a state of exhaustion from injury and illness.