Chapter 19

At this moment, the situation was somewhat sticky and bizarre.

Although Huaihe was just an ordinary person, he could raise dozens or even hundreds of fierce mountain guard dogs, and even the dominant Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger in the mountains had to avoid his sharp edge. This showed that despite his seemingly simple and dull appearance, he was actually strong-willed and resolute, with a kind of intimidating presence that could even make beasts hesitate. In fact, being able to avoid the sudden attack of the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger already spoke volumes.

At this moment, he was slightly bent at the knees, holding a short dagger made from the canine of a Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger in his right hand. What was terrifying was that the dagger, which should have been yellow, was now emitting a faint blue glow. As soon as he pulled it out, the air was immediately filled with a sweet yet putrid smell.

Whether it was the most powerful Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger or Xu Dong, who was slightly more skilled than Huaihe, when they smelled this intense odor, they both felt their breathing constrict, and their hearts were filled with intense fear and dread, making their scalps tingle.

This was clearly a deadly poison that could kill with a single drop of blood! And this kind of deadly poison was obviously so terrifying that even a fierce beast like the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger was very wary of it.

The Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger knew that to kill Huaihe, it would inevitably suffer a counterattack, which was a great risk. Its yellow eyes narrowed slightly, then suddenly turned fiercely and coldly to Xu Dong, fixing on him.

In an instant, Xu Dong felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, his body shivering with cold, and a chill ran up his spine. However, to be honest, after experiencing various intense battles, especially after just slaughtering a monster dog that was on par with the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger, Xu Dong was now exuding a dominant aura. Facing the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger's seemingly casual but actually scrutinizing gaze, he pursed his lips and glared back.

In the eyes of the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger, either of the two humans could be killed one-on-one, but if they worked together, even if it won, it would likely be a Pyrrhic victory. Although it was just a beast without full intelligence, it instinctively felt that these two humans were not truly united.

For a moment, the three of them stared at each other in an increasingly tense atmosphere. It seemed that both humans and the beast knew that any movement could trigger a chain reaction, and once they acted, the consequences would be far-reaching.

Just as the two humans and the beast were in a standoff, a person suddenly appeared near the place where the Power Fruit tree was located, a person no one had expected.

This person was completely wrapped in a faded old leather armor. He looked slender but not frail. He moved swiftly and gracefully, like a cheetah. The wide cloak outside the leather armor even covered his head, and this cloak had many uses: it could shield from the sun, keep warm, and obscure most of the body to make identification difficult. This kind of cloak was generally a must-have for adventurers.

As expected, this person was an adventurer.

The adventurer lifted his hood, revealing a very handsome face drenched in sweat. If her hair had not been cut short and she had been slightly adorned, she would have been a stunning beauty that no one could forget. Now, with her short hair, she gave off a gender-neutral vibe, lacking the gentleness of a woman but exuding a strong sense of vigor.

Seeing the withered Power Fruit tree, the adventurer's brows furrowed, and she thought to herself, "Although this Power Fruit tree is only a first-stage tree, if handled properly, a living tree would be worth at least 20,000 gold coins. What a pity..."

She sighed for a moment, then her expression returned to calm, "If the clue is correct, I should be close. What's the name of the nearby village? Right, Beijiao Village! Although I don't know why I had to come to such a remote place, his words are always right!"

The silence and standoff among the three made the air seem thick. As time passed, the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger became increasingly impatient. It began to emit low, powerful growls from its throat, and its large eyes kept shifting between the two humans. Eventually, the threat from the poison on the tiger-tooth dagger became too severe, and its gaze settled on Xu Dong.

Noticing this, Huaihe became even more calm and couldn't help but sneer, "You should be able to tell the situation without me saying it. If we keep this up, you will be the one who suffers in the end. If I were you, I would run immediately. The Power Fruit is just a dream. But if you're not lucky, your final fate will be to become this yellow-furred beast's excrement."

Xu Dong pursed his lips. In fact, he also realized that the situation was starting to turn against him. It might be a minute, or even less, before the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger would lose patience and pounce on him, the one with the weakest deterrent. At that moment, Huaihe could simply pick up the two fruits and quickly escape to Huaihe River, and everything would go according to his plan. After all, as the old saying goes, I don't need to run faster than the bear; I just need to run faster than you.

However, in Huaihe's eyes, Xu Dong's tense face was gradually relaxing, and he even showed a confident smile. This smile sent a wave of unease through Huaihe.

At this moment, Xu Dong suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Although I don't know the exact value of a Power Fruit, I can guess that it can give you at least ten years of a peaceful life."

Huaihe, with a cold face, didn't want to respond, but a vague sense of dread lingered in his heart, like a sharp knife pressing against his throat. He forced a cold laugh, "At the brink of death, what else do you want to say?"

Xu Dong smiled slightly and said, "Do you know, from the beginning, I had three questions: who was the instigator of this incident, how did they do it, and why did they do it? Later, I realized that Stone could command the guard dogs through a flute, so the first question was easily solved."

Hearing this, Huaihe's whole body trembled involuntarily, and he almost dropped the dagger. His reaction made him look at Xu Dong as if he had seen a ghost, but he tried to appear fierce and said, "The Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger is losing patience! If you want to leave, do it now. Otherwise, you won't even have a chance to escape!"

Xu Dong just shook his head and smiled, "I'm not done yet. What are you afraid of?"

He then raised two fingers and said, "As for the second question, how did you do it, there are two aspects. First, how did you command the guard dogs to attack the village, which I have already figured out; second, how did you hide it from your mother..."

At this point, Xu Dong's eyes showed a mocking glint, "Huaihe, you schemed for the Power Fruit, even spending two years and killing hundreds of ordinary villagers. Why couldn't you keep your cool and tamper with the map? Otherwise, I might not have guessed this hidden truth!"

Huaihe drew a sharp breath, and the sound of his breathing was so intense that it made a gurgling sound in his throat. He pointed at Xu Dong, stammering, "You, you!"

The Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger was becoming restless, and its eyes, looking at Xu Dong, were filled with increasing coldness and bloodlust.

Even at this moment, Xu Dong continued, "This Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger has probably been living here for more than a couple of years. As the dominant beast in the mountains, it wouldn't easily give up its territory, even in the face of a large number of guard dogs! In fact, the range of the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger shown on the map has been reduced by a quarter."

"You seemed to think I was too much of a threat, so you hoped I would be attacked by some fierce beast on the way up the mountain. So you secretly went down the mountain to modify the map and instructed someone to give it to me. But you didn't expect that I was lucky enough to avoid the attack and discover the secret of the map," Xu Dong continued, "I wondered from the beginning, how could a mother not recognize her son's body? As a famous filial son, how could you ignore your mother's safety unless..."

Xu Dong coldly glanced at Huaihe, "Unless she already knew that her son Huaihe was still alive! Unless your mother also knew how to use the flute!"

Xu Dong slowly raised his third finger, his smile as bright as a thousand blooming cherry blossoms, "The last question, why did you do this, what was your ultimate goal? You wanted to use the life force of the Power Fruit to cure your mother's lung disease, and the other fruit, you planned to exchange for a peaceful future! Am I right?"

At this point, the truth was revealed. Even if there were still some details that needed clarification, the source of the danger in Beijiao Village was now clear.

Huaihe gritted his teeth and forced out, "What do you want?"

Xu Dong didn't answer, but turned to the Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger, "The strength of that monster dog was on par with this Yellow-striped Saber-toothed Tiger. Do you think that someone who could kill the monster dog would definitely die in its jaws? Have you considered that if I manage to escape and return to Beijiao Village before you, would the two years of effort you've put in still be worth it?"

Although Huaihe didn't say it, he had to admit that the young man's words made sense. And the last sentence struck a chord in Huaihe's heart, like the last straw that broke the camel's back. He almost immediately asked in a hoarse voice, "What do you want?!"

Hearing this, Xu Dong finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the content of the two sentences was the same, the tone and meaning were vastly different. He pursed his lips and said a cold, indifferent sentence...

These few words, when they entered Huaihe's ears, carried a meaning that went far beyond their few characters, something that could only be understood intuitively. Huaihe's face turned completely pale.

"Please die."

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