“Giving up a decent life to become a bandit… what a joke.”
A’Gu muttered through clenched teeth as he stuffed more dried wolf meat into his sack—
meat the camp leader had been hoarding for himself
.
Eventually, he
paused
and looked at the half-filled bag.
“Maybe I took too much.”
The sack was
half his height
, easily weighing over a hundred pounds.
Just then—
The
storage room door
silently
creaked open.
A
shadow approached from behind
.
Before A’Gu could react,
a hand clamped over his mouth
and a
cold blade pressed against his throat
.
“Mmmph—!”
His first instinct was to struggle, but the
icy touch
on his neck
froze him in place
.
A
low, raspy voice
whispered in his ear.
“Stay still, unless you want your throat slit.”
“…!”
A’Gu immediately raised both hands, signaling that he
wouldn’t resist
.
“Smart choice.”
Mu Liang’s voice remained indifferent.
“Listen well, and you might survive.”
A’Gu
nodded frantically
.
“Good. As a reward for cooperating, I’ll give you a little information.”
Mu Liang’s
calm tone
sent a
chill down A’Gu’s spine
.
“The camp leader is dead. I snapped his neck the moment you left the hall.”
“…!!!”
A’Gu’s
eyes widened in horror
, his whole body breaking into a
cold sweat
.
The
chilling realization hit him like a hammer
If the
leader died right after he left
…
That meant the
mysterious man behind him had been in the hall all along
!
“That’s right. I was watching you the entire time.”
Mu Liang’s hoarse voice
confirmed A’Gu’s worst fear
.
His interrogation methods, learned from
his days as a special forces soldier
, were now proving useful.
“Mmmph! Mmmph!!”
A’Gu let out
muffled noises
, his breathing erratic.
“You’re a clever man. Don’t turn around. And don’t make a sound.”
Mu Liang
slowly released his grip
, withdrawing his knife.
A’Gu barely
dared to breathe
.
In a
low voice
, he asked,
“What… do you want me to do?”
If the
mysterious man hadn’t killed him yet
, it meant he had
a use for him
.
But—
“Nothing.”
Mu Liang’s
emotionless
response made A’Gu freeze in confusion.
“…Huh?”
A’Gu was
completely caught off guard
.
“Oh, and one more thing—
Bloodbeard’s scouts? I killed them too.”
Mu Liang spoke
lightly
, as if mentioning the
weather
.
“Since the scouts didn’t report back today, new ones will come tomorrow.
When they find your camp leader dead… what do you think Bloodbeard will do?”
“Gulp.”
A’Gu swallowed hard, his face going pale.
There was only
one possible outcome
Bloodbeard would bring his men and slaughter the entire camp, turning its people into spoils of war.
“Consider this information a trade for your cooperation.”
Mu Liang
casually grabbed the sack of dried meat
, slinging it over his shoulder.
When he reached the door, he
paused and turned his head slightly
.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you, clever man.”
“…”
A’Gu
stiffened
, his
face almost turning blue
.
Damn it! Can’t you pick someone else?!
He wanted to
protest
, to
deny
that he was “clever”—
But he
didn’t dare speak
.
Mu Liang
ignored him
.
If A’Gu
wasn’t smart enough
to play his role, then…
The
Three-Colored Lizard
would simply
pay him a visit
later—leaving a
deep claw mark
somewhere visible.
A silent reminder:
“I’m watching you.”
As for the
plan itself
?
It was just
a rough idea Mu Liang had come up with on the spot
.
He was still refining the details.
Securing the Last Resource
“Food secured. Now for water.”
Mu Liang slipped into an
empty room
, waiting for the
Three-Colored Lizard
to retrieve the sack of dried meat.
“Hisss~~”
The
lizard arrived quickly
, crawling in through the
window
.
Mu Liang smirked.
“Mino’s going to be shocked when she sees this haul.”
Tying the sack onto the
lizard’s back
, he sent it on its way.
He hadn’t
planned
to take this much—
But somehow, he had
ended up looting half the camp leader’s supplies
.
With the
lizard gone
, Mu Liang made his way toward
the water storage room
.
The
guard at the door
?
No problem.
With
Mimetic Invisibility
, sneaking past was
too easy
.
He
tossed a small stone
down the corridor, making a
soft clatter
.
The
guard turned
, distracted.
That was all Mu Liang needed.
Silent as a shadow
, he approached from behind and
struck the guard’s neck
with a
karate chop
.
Thud.
The man
collapsed unconscious
.
Pushing open the door
, Mu Liang quickly
dragged the body inside
and shut it behind him.
Inside,
torches flickered
, illuminating the
layout
of the room.
“So this is where the underground well is.”
At the
center
was a
two-meter-wide well
, its
mouth covered by wooden planks
.
A
wooden bucket
hung beside it, used for drawing water.
Mu Liang
removed the planks
and peered inside.
Darkness.
No telling if there was
any water left
.
He
dropped the bucket down
, listening to the
splash
.
Pulling it up—
“Murky.”
The
water was filthy
, and
mud clung to the bucket’s edges
.
“As expected… it’s nearly dried up.”
Mu Liang
replaced the planks
and turned to the
stacked barrels in the corner
.
Each was
about a meter tall
, large enough for an
adult to wrap their arms around
.
Giving one a
shake
, he heard
sloshing inside
.
“Still got some left.”
With his
enhanced strength
, Mu Liang
hoisted a barrel onto each shoulder
.
To him, they
weighed no more than two loaves of bread
.
“This should last us a while if we ration carefully.”
Carrying the
two full barrels
, Mu Liang left
without a trace
.
A’Gu’s Awakening
Meanwhile,
A’Gu hadn’t moved an inch
.
He was still
frozen in fear
.
Then—
“Tap, tap, tap!”
Hurried footsteps.
“Bang!”
The
door burst open
as the servant girl
rushed in, panicked
.
“A’Gu! The camp leader is dead!”
“He’s really dead?!”
A’Gu felt his
entire body relax
, his
tense nerves unraveling
.
His
legs nearly gave out
as he grabbed the
table for support
.
“Where? How?”
“In the hall. His neck was snapped.”
The
servant girl shivered
, recalling the
gruesome sight
.
A’Gu’s
expression darkened
.
“So… he wasn’t lying.”
Everything the
mysterious stranger
had said was
true
.
Which meant—
Bloodbeard’s scouts really were dead.
Escape. I have to escape.
That was the
only thought
in his mind.
He
grabbed another sack
, stuffing it with
more dried meat
.
The
servant girl
hesitated.
“A’Gu… should we still run? The leader is dead now.”
A’Gu’s
body stiffened.
“Wait… the leader is already dead.”
Did he
really need
to flee?
A new thought struck him.
Why did the mysterious stranger go out of his way to tell me about the dead scouts?
Unless…
He wants me to do something.
His
mind raced
through his entire
encounter with the stranger
.
And then—
He
remembered
the last thing the man had said.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you, clever man.”
A’Gu’s
face turned pale
.
“If I try to escape alone… will he kill me?”
Understanding dawned.
He turned to the
servant girl
.
“Go gather the hunting squad captains. Now. This is about the survival of everyone in the camp.”
“O-Okay!”
As she ran off, A’Gu muttered to himself.
“Clever man, huh…?”
Then he clenched his fists.
“That stranger… Who the hell is he?”