"If you hold wool in your hand, the Quest Ram will follow you.

Give it a piece of wool of any color, and it will grow longer, releasing particles of the same color as the wool.

"When the Quest Ram collects all sixteen colors of wool,

it will give you one each of the following: Quest Ram Loot, an iron block, a gold block, a lapis lazuli block, a diamond block, an emerald block…

and… the Crumble Horn!"

At those words, everyone immediately perked up.

Even setting aside the Quest Ram itself — a whimsical, fairy-tale-like creature —

The Crumble Horn…

Everyone remembered that this was one of the world's mysterious items,

capable of transforming resources without destroying them.

Hmm…

It sounded a little underwhelming.

But in reality, it was quite handy for locating ores.

Its greatest effect was disintegration.

If its capabilities could be fully studied, it would be a powerful means of internal destruction.

"The Crumble Horn…"

Lisa jotted it down in her notebook.

"So, next, are we heading to the Enchanted Forest to find the Quest Ram?"

Ryen chuckled and teased,

"What's the rush? You haven't even heard what the other area is yet."

Lisa smiled knowingly at him.

"You have to understand — something with so much fairy-tale magic is irresistible for a witch like me.

And little Klee would probably love to see a Quest Ram, wouldn't she?"

Ryen froze for a moment, then his expression softened.

"That may be true… but we didn't bring any wool this time.

Even if we find the Quest Ram, we can't really do anything with it.

Let's wait until next time, when we bring Klee and the others here."

Lisa shrugged.

"So what's the other area?"

Ryen opened the book and read aloud in a low voice:

"The Wraith Forest…

'The dead, deadwood, cobwebs, silence.

Danger Level: High; Resource Value: Low; Exploration Value: High.

A forest where the dead are buried, shrouded in an eerie mist.

Many monsters roam here; more than a few adventurers have met their end within its depths.

The graveyards are filled with countless ghosts.

Deep within the cemetery lies a mysterious treasure.

A chest full of diamonds?

The gear of those who came before?

Or perhaps the ever-moving Moon Dial.

Here, the only ones who survive are monsters… and madmen.'"

Ryen closed the book with a smile.

"So, how does that sound?"

"Exciting! I love that kind of description!"

Tartaglia spoke without hesitation, his excitement barely contained.

"If the only survivors are monsters and madmen — isn't that basically a paradise tailor-made for me?"

"Mm… you really are a madman."

Ying nodded in agreement, then asked,

"So, what's that Moon Dial?"

"That thing's pretty useless."

Ryen waved his hand dismissively and explained,

"The Twilight Forest is a place with no concept of time.

The Moon Dial just tells us how long we've been there.

Compared to that, the treasures inside those chests are far more tempting."

Off to the side, Hu Tao pouted and muttered,

"But doesn't that mean we'd be rifling through the possessions of the dead?"

At those words, Lumine's eyes immediately lit up, and she looked at Ryen with excitement.

"We can do that?!"

"…."

Hu Tao sighed helplessly.

She still wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of looting from the deceased —

though, at least these weren't people from Teyvat.

"So, where are we heading first?"

Ryen spread his hands with a smile.

"In terms of usefulness…the Crumble Horn should be far better than some so-called Moon Dial.

However, the exploration value of the Enchanted Forest is still lower than that of the Wraith Forest."

Lisa shrugged.

"I'm fine with anywhere. You all decide."

Seeing everyone's casual attitude, Ryen pointed toward the Wraith Forest.

"Let's go there.

The Quest Ram may give great rewards, but since we didn't bring any wool, there's no point going now."

The group nodded and followed the direction of his finger, setting off again.

Before long, the ground beneath their feet turned a deep, dusty yellow.

A layer of purple mist rose all around them, obscuring their view.

The sight alone was enough to put anyone slightly on edge.

Their voices dropped as they walked —

the dangers here were worlds apart from the Firefly Forest.

After only about half an hour, they had already encountered over a dozen zombies crawling out from beneath the earth.

Still, with Tartaglia there, none of them had to fight personally.

The moment he spotted a zombie, he charged in like Paimon spotting a feast.

Traveling like this was… surprisingly relaxing.

At some point deeper in, Tartaglia cleaved through another zombie with a single strike, then tossed aside his broken wooden sword.

He looked up — and spotted, in the distance, a tall moss-covered wall.

Puzzled, he scratched his head and called back,

"Mr. Ryen, are there ruins in the Wraith Forest?"

Ryen, who had been chatting with Ningguang and the others, replied casually,

"You mean the cemetery?"

"Cemetery? This place doesn't look like a cemetery at all."

Tartaglia stood with hands on his hips, studying the distant wall.

Ryen froze, turned to look — and his expression instantly changed.

"The… Naga Courtyard?!"