Chapter 33: Poisoned

Long Teng looked around the potato walls with novelty, and his eyes were shining at Xie Sen. “This tent is so great, where did you buy it? I want to buy it too.”

Maine looked at Xie Sen, then at Long Teng, closed his eyes and leaned against the trunk of the tree, speechless at underage children. Bai Jiao was also looking at the potato wall. When he heard Long Teng’s words, he laughed lightly and joked, “This is a special sale item. Only this one.”

“Wow, what a pity.” Long Teng looked regretful.

Bai Jiao held his forehead. This person really believed everything.

Xie Sen lost his smile. How Long Teng grew up without being kidnapped was a miracle.

The space enclosed by the potato wall gradually quieted down, there was only the occasional cracking sound of burning branches, but in the forest full of beasts, it seemed strange and cozy.

Not long after, Maine and Long Teng, who were leaning against the trunk of the tree, were the first to open their eyes. Their eyes were bright. Obviously they hadn’t slept. The roar of the beasts, and the shouts of the humans came from the right. It gradually became louder and louder, and even the sound of running footsteps could be heard.

Eventually, the chaotic footsteps stopped a short distance to the right of the potato tent. Even through the potato wall, the sound of heavy panting and chilling wolf howls could be heard.

Xie Sen and Bai Jiao also woke up. The four of them looked at each other, and very tacitly didn’t say anything.

“Damn! How can there be so many beasts all of a sudden?” Julos’ voice came from the right side, his voice full of panic, “What should we do now? You, go up and hold the fort!”

“Master Cox, A’Qi, who just moved to protect you, has been injured!”

“Yes, wounded! They must have been chasing us because of the smell of blood on you. You ran that way alone.”

“Julos!” The voice carried obvious anger. “You think A’Qi left us, and wouldn’t have been caught up by the beasts? This is the wilderness!”

“I told you not to walk around at night. The resting place A’Qi chose was safe and hidden, but you insisted on coming out.” Someone couldn’t hold back his temper.

Julos’ voice rose abruptly. “If I didn’t come out, how could I know if those people had brought the hyena pack to Maine as I instructed? The few of you are masters hand-picked by my dad, but you can’t even handle a pack of jackal beasts?”

“Before we encountered the jackal beasts, we also encountered the long-haired wild boar beasts and the spiked beasts!”

“You don’t have experience, and didn’t listen to A’Qi’s advice. Maine and his team, and the hyena pack will definitely fight. The smell of blood will definitely attract a lot of beasts, but you still prefer to be nearby, aren’t you looking for death?”

Julos was furious. “You guys don’t forget your mission is to protect me, not to accuse me. When I get out I’ll definitely tell my dad that you guys yelled at me.”

A low voice spoke up at this time, “Stop arguing for now. These jackals are going to make a move. Let’s go together. Julos, I know you have a weapon on you. You are an A class contract beast master, so you have to fight too.”

“Hmph, I can fight.” Julos snorted lightly, followed by the sound of a weapon being unsheathed.

A short, high-pitched wolf howl announced the start of the battle, and the next moment, the sounds of fighting replaced the human voices. The hissing of jackals and the clashing of objects mixed together. It sounded extraordinarily ferocious. It didn’t take long for some jackals to be killed, while the wolves’ wails made people’s hearts chill, and the battle was even more tense, with people crying out in alarm from time to time.

“Bang…” The potato wall on the right was hit by a jackal that fell over. The impact was so strong that it directly caused the potato to break away from its root system, and the whole wall collapsed inward.

Maine and Long Teng reacted almost at the same time, as one of them raised his hand to hold the potato wall up and then slowly flattened it.

Xie Sen immediately gave instructions to the potato in his mind, “Shrink the other three potatoes, then recall that potato to the System.”

“It’s you guys!” Without the cover of the wall, the four were exposed to Julos’ squad. Julos was surprised to see them.

Immediately afterwards, a layer of gloom brushed across his face. Compared to his squad, Maine’s four were in such good condition that he had no chance of winning if the game continued like this. He shouted with a twinkle in his eye, as he ran towards Maine, “Come and help!” 

Maine frowned, and pushed Xie Sen back a little. “Stand back.”

Xie Sen took two steps back, and Bai Jiao stepped up beside him, spray in hand, just in case.

Without waiting for Julos to approach. Maine and Long Teng rushed up, kicked away the jackal running towards them, then joined the fight.

Xie Sen and Bai Jiao were both staring at the battlefield when Bai Jiao suddenly said, “He’s got a drug on his knife.”

Xie Sen followed his line of sight, and saw that Julos was holding an exquisite and sharp knife with an eerie blue glow. Julos was the only one in his squad who wasn’t injured. Unlike his creamy image, with the base of an A class contract beast master, he was fast, and with the sharpness of his weapon, the short knife couldn’t easily miss the jackal’s body.

The reactions of the jackal who was stabbed by him quickly slowed down, and he immediately took advantage of the opportunity to strike straight at the door.

“It’s really much easier to fight like that.” Xie Sen looked at the spray bottle in Bai Jiao’s hand. “Will the potion here also work when applied to a weapon?”

“It works, but it’s not as effective as spraying it directly on the face,” Bai Jiao replied. He tapped his chin while he watched the battle. “They don’t need it, and for real warriors, they don’t care to use such means.”

On the battlefield, Maine stomped on the last jackal, then bent down to plunge the dagger in his hand into its neck hard and fast, and ended the battle.

Xie Sen looked at Maine to make sure he was unharmed, and smiled. “I guess it’s okay if you don’t use it against people.”

After Maine finished with the jackal, he pulled out his dagger and wiped the blood-stained dagger directly on the beast’s skin. After he wiped it clean, he straightened up and was about to close the sheath when a sudden stabbing pain came from his left arm. He launched his fist sideways, and hit Julos hard on the side of his face. Julos took two steps back with a cry of pain.

“Julos, what are you doing?!” Julos’ teammates looked at him incredulously.

Xie Sen was shocked, and ran towards Maine. Bai Jiao followed him with a worried look on his face.

Julos covered the left side of his face, and stared at Maine indignantly. He raised the short knife in his hand, and showed a cruel and smug smile. “You’d better send a distress signal now or else. Even if you don’t die, you won’t be able to move. You can’t continue to compete.”

“You’re crazy!” Long Teng’s eyes widened, completely confused by Julos’ reasoning. He and Maine had just saved them!

Maine stared at Julos with a grim look on his face. He moved quickly to cut the hem of his shirt with his dagger. He tore off a long piece of cloth with a strong pull, then tied it above the wound on his left arm.

After Maine tied it, Julos didn’t react in time as he rushed him, squeezed Julos’ right hand that held the short knife, and pressed it hard into Julos’ left arm, so that Julos used his own right hand to cut his own left hand.

“What are you doing?” Julos screamed in panic, as his voice broke.

Maine’s face remained unchanged as he flipped his wrist. Julos’ wrist was twisted, and he cried out in pain again. The short knife fell to the ground, and was kicked away by Maine.

After that, Maine released his hand, and walked away from the road.

“Maine, how dare you! How dare you do this!” Julos panicked. “A’Qi, quick, find a cloth to tie up my wound.”

A’Qi, the S class contract beast master Long Teng had greeted, tore off some cloth from his hem, and tied the wound. “The poison on your weapon. Don’t you have an antidote?”

“How can I have an antidote?! Do I have to treat the beasts when I hurt them?” Julos exclaimed, resigned. “Send a distress message. If he and I both abstain, the giant lion beast will definitely be mine!”

Maine hadn’t taken two steps before Xie Sen came up to him. He looked at his oozing wound, and his heart tightened. Without thinking he took his hand. “You squat down. I’ll suck the poison out for you.”

Maine looked at him. His cold heart suddenly broke open, and warmth poured in.

“No need.” His voice was dry. He took two steps to the side, raised his hand, put his head close and sucked the poisoned blood from the wound himself. He sucked a mouthful and spit out a mouthful.

Xie Sen opened his bracelet. “I’ll send a distress message.”

“No.” Maine spat out a mouthful of blood, his tone firm.

Xie Sen got anxious. “What if something happens?”

“It’s not fatal.” Maine said.

Xie Sen frowned, and looked questioningly at Bai Jiao, who said, “Let’s see.”

Bai Jiao waited for the blood Maine spit out to turn bright red, then took out a bottle of water and a white pill and handed it to Maine. “Antidote pill.”

Maine rinsed his mouth with water several times, and ate the pill.

Julos looked extremely ugly, and shouted towards A’Qi, “Cancel the distress signal, and suck the poisoned blood out of the wound for me!”

A’Qi said in a deep voice, “The signal has been sent. It cannot be withdrawn.”

“Master Cox, don’t go too far, you’re asking for it. Everyone will be ashamed of your actions!”

Julos’ breathing became violent, his lips were turning black, his movements were stiff, his speech was like a cassette tape with a lurch, “No one will say anything!” 

The drug kicked in, and he hurt everywhere. He cried out in pain, and said furiously, “Hurry them up! What are you doing with the food? You’re so slow to call for help, I’ll have my father fire you all when I get back.”

“I wondered who was so loud. It is the young master of the Cox family,” Qi Shao, who had just arrived with four men, snorted. “Really wretched, ah.” He looked at Maine. “What’s going on?”

Long Teng jumped out and spoke very quickly, “He’s breaking the rules!”

Qi Shao kicked Julos. “You’re young, but you have a lot of guts.” He tilted his head and said to his men. “Take him back.” He asked Maine. “Do you want to give up? Hurry up, so we don’t have to make another trip.” 

“No.” Maine’s voice was fainter than usual, but his tone was firm.

Qi Shao waved his hand, and moved away sharply.

Bai Jiao examined Maine. “The poison is almost cleared. It’s not life-threatening, but you’ll have a hard time.”

“It’s okay,” Maine opened his bracelet to look at the map. “Let’s get out of here.”

Long Teng said, “Let me carry you!” Maine shook his head no.

Xie Sen asked Long Teng to carry the collapsed potato wall, and followed Maine to another place where the trees weren’t so dense.

By the time they reached their destination, Maine wasn’t moving as well as usual. Xie Sen took him by the arm, and forced him to sit down, then collected firewood nearby. The firewood collection was thick enough for Xie Sen to exchange another potato and order the potatoes to form a tent as usual.

Long Teng looked at the potato wall he had carried all the way, then at the intact tent, and said in surprise, “Is this a new one? Didn’t they say there was only one?”

Xie Sen said, “It’s fixed.” He sat next to Maine, and noticed that Maine’s body was getting hot. He turned his head, and was about to say something when his hand was held by Maine, who shook his head gently at him.

Long Teng said “oh,” and started to rest next to Bai Jiao.

Xie Sen was unsure of Maine, and kept his hand on him.

The temperature of Maine’s body was getting warmer and warmer. He frowned, slightly annoyed, and pulled his collar down. Xie Sen raised his hand to wake him up and ask him about his condition, but his eyes widened when he saw Maine’s beast pattern.

It had changed!