Published at 1st of October 2020 7:06 am

Volume 3, Chapter 7: Misfortune

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Translated by lucathia (proofread by Mangomochi & Xuan)

“Let’s go. Take me flying. Let’s go and find Alan together.”

Shooting Star commanded the king without any qualms. This guy Saimi was his starseer after all, who was even depending on Shooting Star to fight his war… All right, so it was Dan that Saimi depended on, but in any case, Dan was Xiao Bai’s, and Xiao Bai was Shooting Star’s, so that meant His Majesty was his!

Whether or not it was logical, Shooting Star already considered the king with fair fingers among the ranks of his pets.

However, a solemn expression actually appeared on Saiximili’s face. He shook his head in refusal. “No, you must not leave to seek the blue star. He must find his own path. Only then will he discover the path back to your side!”

Shooting Star frowned, feeling that something was off. He took measure of the king who was sitting properly and narrowed his eyes. “You’re lying!”

“…I am clearly not,” the king responded mildly.

“You definitely are!” Shooting Star claimed with great certainty, “Every time you tell a prophecy, you always appear like your soul has left your body, yet you have a serious expression this time. You’re definitely lying to me! You just can’t be bothered with searching for Alan, right?”

The king was greatly taken aback at the discovery that his guide could actually make such an acute analysis. He had thought that Shooting Star was just a willful child who liked to cause trouble. He actually had another side to him—But why isn’t he using this analytical ability to decipher actual prophecies?

Shooting Star lifted his eyebrows and threatened, “Don’t forget who is helping you fight this war.”

It’s Dan!

“In the future when you’re traveling with us, as a king and starseer who has never traveled far before, who do you think will be taking care of you?”

It should be Bai Saya. Saiximili was not going to deny that he had never traveled far before, nor that he would need to be taken care of.

Shooting Star concluded as if it were a matter of fact, “That’s why it’s very reasonable for you to do as I say right now, yes?”

No, it’s not reasonable at all…

“Right, should we take Yaya with us? If Alan refuses to come back with me, we can use the fact that Yaya is young and needs someone to take care of her to influence his decision. But we’d have to take care of Yaya along the way, and that’s troublesome. Forget it. If Alan refuses to come back, then we’ll just knock him out and drag him back!”

The king was speechless. Why can’t you apply your craftiness to more important matters? Such as saving the world?

“Come on!” Shooting Star urged impatiently, “You’re just flying me to find Alan. You can divine where we should head while you’re at it. I promise to only search nearby. We won’t go far and will return within the day. That’s fine, right?”

“No, I cannot take you flying.”

“Why not? I’m very light. Adult avians should at least be able to take one person flying, right?”

Shooting Star had inquired all about avians earlier, all for Yaya’s sake. Although he was usually impertinent, when it came to matters relating to his important pets, he would of course make careful inquiries. He did not want to raise his pet wrong.

“Adult avians can indeed take a person flying, but my problem isn’t that…” The avian king’s face reddened as he lowered his head and said in a small voice, “I-I’m afraid of heights.”

“…” Shooting Star was silent for a long while before he asked uncertainly, “What did you just say? Please say it again. I was out of it for a moment. I seem to have heard wrong.”

Saiximili repeated in a voice as quiet as a mouse, “I’m afraid of heights.”

There was complete silence for a long time. The king resembled a kid who had done something wrong. He sat on the throne, twisting the bottom of his shirt. Shooting Star resembled a father who was about to reproach him, his face full of frustration and his hands trembling in fury.

In the end, the furious father Shooting Star flipped a table and growled, “You’re an avian, a race that can fly! Why in the world are you afraid of heights? The fact that you’re afraid of heights is like a demon opening an orphanage, a human staying faithful unto death, or an elf deserting someone after fooling around with them—they’re all impossible!”

“In any case, I have been afraid of heights since I was a child. I can’t fly!”

The king’s sad embarrassment transformed into anger, and he used his snow-white wings to wrap himself up. He even tucked his legs in, hiding on the throne without moving, appearing just like a large, white egg that even had its own pedestal.

Gazing at this large, white, feathered egg, Shooting Star suddenly felt the exasperation of a parent watching their child throw a fit. Are you kidding me? I’m the child, okay?

Shooting Star knocked on the egg… No, the wings.

“Fine, fine! It’s fine if we don’t fly, right? Just come with me. We won’t use your wings but our legs. That’s fine, right?”

“No!” Saiximili wanted to wrap his wings shut.

Shooting Star said frankly, “You said you’d direct my way. How would you do that without coming with me? This concerns the blue star. If you won’t lend me your hand as a starseer, then what use will I have for you?”

At that, Saiximili stopped trying to wrap his wings shut. He even asked doubtfully, “You really want that star? You’re not sneaking out to play?”

Shooting Star snapped, “Play my ass! Alan is my important pet. I can’t lose him!”

This time, the king stood up swiftly and said, “Since that is the case, let us depart. The crossroad was triggered too late. I do not know if we were able to detain your star. It would be best for us to personally head over to find out.”

Shooting Star thought the same, only it had nothing to do with the crossroad. Earlier, he had thought that Alan would be like Dan and mistakenly believe that Bai Saya had not asked him to stay and had let him leave due to danger. With Alan’s personality, he would definitely have rushed back to accompany them through this predicament the moment he realized it.

However, many days had already passed, yet Alan had not caught up with them. Shooting Star was truly worried. Could my elf possibly be the super dumb type who hasn’t given this much thought?

He had been growing more and more worried. Now, Saimi had even told him that he did not know if he had activated the crossroad in time. Shooting Star decided on the spot that they needed to go and search for him to see if they could directly haul the elf back.

However, he also knew that unless Alan was currently heading their way, there was no way he would find Alan. That was why he had thought to drag Saiximili with him. At the very least, this fellow claimed to be a starseer and that he could see paths or something. He should be of some use?

Shooting Star grabbed the king’s hand. The feeble king could not shake him off and could only allow himself to be dragged out of the palace.

As they entered a corridor, they ran right into Bai Saya. Bai Saya was overwhelmingly busy, his hands full of weapon inventories Dan had instructed him to inspect. However, when Bai Saya saw Shooting Star tightly gripping the king’s hand, with the king clearly being dragged along, he halted immediately out of nervousness and spluttered, “Shooting Star, you can’t grab the king’s hand and refuse to let go! No matter how much you like his hands, you can’t be so impolite! Saimi is a king!”

Saiximili believed that the problem was not that he was a king. Besides, if you feel this is impolite, then why are you shortening my name to two syllables?

“We’re off to find Alan.” Shooting Star continued on and blamed Saiximili despite being in the wrong. He gestured at Saimi and said, “Just now, this guy cast some hocus pocus on Alan and failed at it. We have to hurry over and see if anything happened to Alan.”

Saiximili turned and stared at Shooting Star in disbelief. This guy who was misrepresenting the facts was actually pushing the blame on him? Besides, if the activation of the crossroad had failed, at most it would mean that the blue star would be unable to become Doom’s companion. Nothing would happen to him. Now that Saiximili thought about it, perhaps it was a stroke of good fortune for the blue star to be unable to become Doom’s companion!

Bai Saya also grew worried. As a swordsman, he really did not understand things like magic. Hearing that something could have happened to Alan, he could not help but blurt, “Wait for me. I’ll hand these papers over to Dan and accompany the two of you.”

Saiximili’s expression immediately changed. The dignity of a king that had almost vanished earlier surfaced once again. He declared, “The most important matter at hand is aiding my nation in winning the war. If you are unable to achieve this, leaving White Feather one after another, reneging on the promise you have made, then it is not necessary for me to help you either!”

Bai Saya stilled. He quickly explained, “I am not very familiar with warfare. Dan will be here. He is the one who actually knows how to fight a war.”

“You are unfamiliar, but you are a powerful sinner.” Saiximili stubbornly said, “None of you understand how powerful the strength of the sinners are…”

“We understand.” Shooting Star pouted. Xiao Bai’s great explosion had been super scary. How could we not understand? With that kind of power, he really would be useful in a war. It was no wonder that Saiximili himself had not cared about being dragged off, but once he heard that Bai Saya wanted to leave White Feather, he had immediately grown furious.

“Xiao Bai, stay here. I’ll go out with Saimi to take a look.” Shooting Star saw that his pet was still worried. He could only add on, “We won’t go far. We’ll just take a look nearby. Alan is probably fine. Saimi only said earlier that if it failed, Alan just wouldn’t come back for us. In that case, he would probably go home.”

Hearing that, Bai Saya was finally able to relax. He then felt that he had been too willful about abandoning the battle. He was clearly in the wrong. He immediately gave a sincere apology, “Saimi, don’t worry. Before the battle ends, I won’t leave White Feather. I will do everything I can to win!”

Only then did Saiximili’s expression turn gentle. The dignity of a king once again disappeared without a trace. The thought of needing to step outside made him unable to muster any energy. He was reluctant as Shooting Star dragged him away.

At that time, Barna led a squad of avian guards into the corridor. Upon spotting Bai Saya, he shouted, “Bai Saya, Dan asked me to help you take stock of the weapons—Your Majesty!”

Halfway through his shouting, he abruptly realized that the king was present, too. The guard captain quickly saluted the king.

As an avian who possessed two large wings, Saiximili felt that he should be a lot more conspicuous than Bai Saya.

“Dan asked you to come?” Bai Saya heaved a sigh of relief and smilingly said, “That’s wonderful. I was just worrying over how I don’t even know where the armory was and wouldn’t be able to finish the inventory!”

Barna nodded. “The armory is this way. I brought help so it should take no time at all to finish the inventory.”

Saiximili regarded his guard captain in surprise. Didn’t he hold Bai Saya in great enmity? How is it that they seem to have become great friends after only a few days?

Shooting Star was not surprised. He shrugged and said, “My Xiao Bai has always been loved by everyone who meets him. That’s why it was a great shock to Xiao Bai when you avians treated him like a bad guy. These past few days, he’s been representing the humans while socializing with the avians. He has helped Dan make preparations for the battle, trained with your guards, and accompanied them during dinner with small talk. He has helped drunk guards cross the road and coaxed babies (Yaya) to sleep. He pretty much turns no one down!”

Come to think of it, Xiao Bai had been so busy that he had had very little sleep, yet he seemed to be more energetic than ever. Shooting Star was beginning to suspect whether this was one of the powers of the Stone of Sin. It had given his Xiao Bai explosive power—did it also have the effect of energizing him? This stone was way too powerful. No wonder so many people wanted to steal it!

After following Barna halfway, Bai Saya suddenly halted and turned to shout, “Saimi, remember to help me look after Shooting Star. Don’t let him wander too far. Shooting Star, don’t you be too impolite to Saimi either. He’s a king! If you aren’t obedient, be wary of Alan electrocuting you the moment he returns!”

Shooting Star puffed his cheeks out and reluctantly responded, “Fine!”

The two of them actually left just like that. Saiximili blankly stared at his own guard captain and suddenly felt as if he had been poached away… But if the person being poached was Barna, then so be it!

Shooting Star gleefully said, “I really don’t know what use you have as a king. Even your guard captain has run off and forgotten your existence.”

Saiximili was actually not bothered and replied, “A king has always acted more as a spiritual symbol than as a practical one. Besides, being a king is only a hobby of mine. My true job is that of a starseer!”

Hey hey! Aren’t you getting it backwards? Shooting Star thought helplessly. Saiximili had even dared to claim that he would jump ship. This kind of truant starseer who had wings but could not fly, and who would even turn into an egg while throwing a tantrum, was not a starseer that Shooting Star could see the other guide accepting.

“Let’s go find Alan.”

Shooting Star pulled along the spiritually symbolic king. On the eve of the war, the truant Guide of Doom and the truant starseer left the nation together to embark on a journey to seek their companion who had defected from the team. The time limit was one day.

Bang!

The moment Shooting Star heard that sound, he knew that things weren’t good. He turned and was spot on. That noble king, that mysterious seer, that angelic avian, had smashed his wings into a branch again. This time, his embarrassment had even turned into fury, and he directly used his wings to wrap himself into an egg. Then, he huddled underneath the shadow of the tree.

Xiao Bai wanted this guy to look after me?! For the first time, Shooting Star felt that it wasn’t someone else who had to look after him, but that he had to look after someone. That someone was an adult avian and was even the “starseer” who was supposed to illuminate his path!

Shooting Star could not help but to roll his eyes and complain, “And he claims to be a starseer! All he can do is turn into an egg!”

He walked over and extended his hand into the egg, dragging out his starseer. Then, he pulled him along. If it wasn’t for the fact that he could take this chance to grab those fair hands in broad daylight, Shooting Star would have long since lost his patience and left behind this troublesome egg under some tree.

“Why must we walk among the forest instead of taking the roads?”

Saiximili was very unsatisfied. The forest was dense. Not only did it cause his wings to keep bumping into branches, but his white clothes had also been dirtied. Even the exquisitely made boots he wore on his feet had pretty much transformed into two lumps of mud.

“Alan is an elf. He would have chosen the forest. He wouldn’t take normal roads.”

Shooting Star carefully took stock of the magic around him. If Alan were nearby, Shooting Star would most definitely be able to sense an abnormal occurrence of lightning element. That kind of element rarely appeared in forests, unless it was a thunderous day. Therefore, if it was present, then there was a high chance that it was Alan!

Saiximili was still very dissatisfied. He stomped across the mud under his feet in displeasure, but it only got him muddier.

Shooting Star unhappily added, “We’re on the verge of battle so it’s very dangerous around White Feather Nation. Did you want to walk on the main road in those extravagant clothes with your wings on full display, declaring to the opposing army that you’re an important person from White Feather Nation?”

Saiximili fell silent. He looked at the Guide of Doom in confusion. No matter how he looked at him, he could not figure out just what sort of person he was.

“You sure are full of surprises. You normally appear like a child who doesn’t know better, one who loves to play around and gorge on food. But you often suddenly turn wise. Could it be that you possess two completely different people inside you?”

“How can you say that about me, when you’re both a king and starseer who likes to be difficult!” Shooting Star rolled his eyes and could not help throwing this back at him.

“I…”

Saiximili wanted to clarify that he was a starseer and king. The order is very important! He had not originally planned on succession because he knew that he would have the even more important role of a starseer in the future. However, none of the avians had believed him, nor did they even understand what a starseer was. All they had known was that he was the current prince, the future king.

The other prince, his own younger brother, had stolen ahead of him and run off with his wife after marrying her. Saiximili had no choice but to succeed as king. What other choice did I have?

“Shh!” Shooting Star extended his hand to stop him from speaking. He even made a shushing motion. He hesitated for a moment before quietly saying, “Don’t move. I’m going to hide.”

Saiximili’s gigantic, snow-white wings were even larger than the average avian’s. Even if he tucked them in, they would be two meters wide. Only someone blind would miss the wings, so Shooting Star could only hide on his own to observe the situation.

Saiximili froze. He stared at Shooting Star, who was hiding in the tree.

“Don’t look at me!” Shooting Star clenched his teeth and whispered, “Pretend you’re picking mushrooms under the tree.”

The king could only go and pick mushrooms. But he was at a loss for words upon seeing the rainbow colored mushrooms all across the ground. My hand will rot from touching those! He could only squat down and count just how many colors there were among the mushrooms.

Soon after, three fully equipped beast soldiers walked over from among the trees. They had not thought they would run into anyone, let alone an avian. First, they stared at the wings in a stupor. Then, they got lost in Saiximili’s appearance. The appearance of an avian king was not one to be underestimated.

They’re actually so close already? Shooting Star’s gaze hardened. They had to hurry back to warn Dan. There was no time to leisurely take stock of the weapons. They had to immediately raise their spears and get on their horses… Er, raise their spears and open their wings, and get ready for the battle to start!

But the first order of business is to shut these beasts up! Shooting Star pulled out his whip and inwardly called out to Bones. He planned to deal with two of them, leaving the last one to Bones.

In an instant, the blood red whip wrapped around the neck of the beast on the left. Pulling it taut, Shooting Star planned to directly snap the beast’s neck, and then instantly dispatch the other beast as well. Only then could he keep the commotion at a minimum. He was worried that there might be other beasts around.

However, things did not go as planned. Even though the beast was being choked to the point of his eyes bulging out, his neck had still not snapped. He did not appear like he would die. The beast’s neck was much sturdier than Shooting Star had imagined, so much so that he could not snap it.

With this turn of events, Shooting Star could only extend his claws to at least get rid of the beast who was being choked.

At the same time, Bones leaped from Shooting Star’s body, using its small but deadly skeletal hand to stab into the other beast’s neck. It ran into the same problem as Shooting Star, unable to rupture the opponent’s blood vessel to cause a great loss of blood. The beast hollered in pain and tried to grab Bones. However Bones was slippery, slipping back and forth on the beast’s shoulders without forgetting to stab the beast now and then.

Shooting Star looked over and rolled his eyes at Bones. Seems like it is currently idiot time for Bones. If he was operating under intelligent conditions, he would have definitely avoided this huge mess by going for the throat instead of a blood vessel.

After Shooting Star and Bones each got rid of an opponent, they pounced on the third beast simultaneously. The last beast saw that things were looking bad. He made a prompt decision and stormed toward the only one who had not struck, the avian, planning on taking him hostage.

Oh no! Shooting Star’s heart lurched. Saimi…

Snap!

The beast weakly collapsed to the ground with wide eyes. His eyes were fixed on the person before him even in death, as if in disbelief that the person in front of him had actually possessed the strength to kill him, and that it was even by directly snapping his neck.

Saiximili took out a snow-white handkerchief and wiped his hands. Then, he glared in disgust at the handkerchief with beast fur stuck on it. He offhandedly tossed the handkerchief on the ground, no longer wishing to keep it.

Shooting Star stared with a dropped jaw at the dead beast on the ground. The neck was in a strange, distorted condition. The neck bone must’ve snapped! He could not help but touch his own neck and gulp. Xiao Bai was right. It was best not to bully Saimi.

Likely due to seeing Shooting Star’s disbelief, Saiximili lifted an eyebrow and explained, “In order to utilize the wings on our backs for flight, we avians have strong upper body muscles, especially in the upper back to the arms. Therefore, a small matter such as snapping a neck is nothing.”

But, just where in the world are your strong upper body muscles? Shooting Star stared in disbelief at Saiximili’s figure. You’re even skinnier than Xiao Bai! Where are these muscles you speak of? Have they all gone to Barna instead?

Saiximili honestly divulged, “We avian royalty all have this sort of figure. It is extremely easy to tell us apart. However, there are very few avians around who possess royal blood now.”

Shooting Star now understood. This is why the entire city is full of buff angels! What a pity!

“Let’s go. These three beasts were probably scouts and were here to investigate.” Shooting Star said in frustration, “I can’t believe the army is already so close. We can’t keep searching for Alan. We’d better head back and warn Dan.”

Saiximili nodded. The two of them turned to retrace their steps. Among the forest, only the three corpses of the beasts remained, like a gong that had been sounded, signaling the start of the war.

Only a few minutes had passed since Shooting Star and Saiximili left when a hand suddenly reached out from the pile of grass by the side. It pulled apart the bundle of vines and grass, wildly patting around. After grabbing a hold of the fur on one of the beast corpses, it pulled and tugged. After confirming that its hold was stable enough, the hand tightened and grabbed it firmly, using the leverage to slowly climb up.

“Phew! I’m finally back.”

Alan breathed heavily as he climbed up. He turned to glance back at where he had crawled up from and mumbled, “There are so many vines and weeds covering it up. No wonder I had not noticed the deep chasm below me while I was pondering on the tree.”

He glanced toward the ground, wondering what he had grabbed. The sensation had been peculiar…

“Ah!”

Without warning, the corpse of a beast with bulging eyes came into view, shocking Alan so much that he nearly fell back into the valley. Fortunately, his foot merely slipped and he did not actually fall.

Alan stood back up. He looked at the three corpses around him in confusion. The blood of these corpses was still squirting. It was obvious that they had only just been killed.

The elf who loved all life could not help but wonder, If I had climbed back up earlier, could these beasts have escaped death?

However, this thought did not remain for long. The beasts wore a familiar outfit. It was exactly the same as the outfits of the soldiers he had seen in the village. The regret he had felt immediately disappeared without a trace.

Elves loved all life. Therefore, they detested war. He knew that even if these soldiers had not died here, they would probably have died on the battlefield. If they did not die on the battlefield, then that meant enemy soldiers had died instead.

In regard to the battlefield, where loss of life was unavoidable, the elf would not pity anyone. Once someone steps foot onto the battlefield and dons the garb of war, then they must have the resolve to put their life on the line. They do not need to be pitied, nor should they be pitied. This was the pride a soldier should have!

Is this what pride is?

Alan froze. He glanced back reflexively.

A magic staff was firmly fastened to his back with vines. The staff’s appearance was plain. The wooden body of the staff pretty much resembled intertwined branches that extended all the way to the top where it separated into many branches and formed the shape of a leaf. The leaf held a green gemstone on top of it. Light shimmered from the translucent gemstone, like a bud glimmering with dew in the early morning. It was just much larger than a bud. The stone was as large as a fist. If it were real, then it was probably priceless.

“I really don’t know if bringing you up with me was the right or wrong thing to do.”

Alan could not help but to feel some misgivings. Even though this was a staff without an owner, and he had fallen in love with the staff at first sight, the elf did not like taking things that were not his. It was just that the cave was completely dark, and if not for the series of coincidences, no one would have been able to discover the staff.

Is this why I was able to hear it calling out to me? Alan felt that this matter was mysterious. Other than the staff, he really had not discovered anyone, and when he picked up the staff, the voice calling out to him had stopped.

Alan did not have time to ponder over it. He really had to find Shooting Star and the others. He had only been delayed for a moment, yet the army had already come so far. The battle was about to break out. I must meet back up with them, the sooner the better.

He removed the staff from his back and held it in his hands since he did not know what would occur next. With the misfortune that had plagued him for several days, no amount of vigilance was enough. I’d better hold onto the staff tightly so that I can attack at any time.

Swish… swish…

He suddenly heard the sound of grass swishing. The elf lifted his head and saw a blond haired knight staring right at him.

What a coincidence. Isn’t this exactly the knight from that village whom I thought looked familiar?

The knight’s gaze slowly moved downward. Alan’s gaze could not help but follow his, landing on the three silent corpses that gazed back at them.

The knight once more lifted his gaze, fixing it on Alan.

Alan stared back at the knight expressionlessly. Borrowing an idiom from the humans, would this situation be wrongly considered “caught red-handed”?

Alan’s grip tightened on the staff. Even though he did not know the element of the staff, it was still better than having nothing. Even if he could not actually cast with it, he could at least use it to block a sword.

When the knight saw the other person’s hand tighten on the staff, he frowned and took a few steps forward. The knight opened his mouth, wanting to explain.

However, Alan nervously raised the staff. If the knight approached any closer, he would be ready to attack with magic at any moment.

As a mage with a weak constitution, letting someone approach too closely was the biggest taboo. The naïve elf merely wished to stop the other person’s approach. He could tell that the other person did not bear him much ill will, so Alan did not intend to attack first. However, he had not considered that to an outsider, by pointing the staff at the knight, with three corpses at his feet, he would look exactly like a wild mage who had just murdered three people and was about to continue his spree by attacking the knight.

“Philo, watch out!”

A slim man who resembled a rogue burst out. He used a piercing voice to warn the knight as he threw two daggers at the mage that was “currently attacking” his companion.

“Wait, Pisce, stop!” The knight cried out.

The first dagger knocked away the staff in Alan’s hand. The second one nicked his hand. As the staff landed on the ground, Alan’s blood also dripped down at the same time. In midair, the crimson blood and the emerald bud finally met. The crimson drop of blood stood out conspicuously on the green of the gem.

The emerald bud suddenly glowed oddly. Alan’s eyes abruptly darkened for a moment, and a thought flashed across his mind—If I had known that the path back to Shooting Star and the others would be so perilous, I would never have chosen to leave in the first place. I would definitely have chosen to obediently stay with the team. I wouldn’t have left even if Shooting Star made my blood boil!

Philo anxiously checked Bai Lan’s condition.

“Pisce, how could you be so reckless? Have you forgotten who he is? He is Bai Saya’s little brother, Bai Lan.”

Pisce yelped, “I’m reckless? Don’t tell me these corpses all over the ground aren’t his handiwork?”

Philo glared at him and said, “Perhaps the beasts attacked him first. Haven’t you almost gotten into plenty of fights with the beasts yourself? These beasts are impulsive and easily angered. I wouldn’t be surprised no matter how the fight broke out.”

Pisce scratched his face and apologetically remarked, “That’s true. Those beasts in the army are always looking for a good fight. I wouldn’t put it past them to be the ones who stirred up trouble with Bai Lan in the first place.”

“Strange, only his hand got injured. Why has he fainted?”

Philo had finished looking over Bai Lan’s injuries. No matter how he searched, he could only find the cut on Bai Lan’s hand. It was not an injury that would cause him to faint. Even though Pisce indeed had poisonous projectiles, it was clear that this was not one of those. Pisce had taught his teammates how to determine which projectiles were poisonous by their shape. The dagger could not have caused Bai Lan to faint.

“Maybe he fought too hard with the beasts earlier and exhausted his magic. Then, after receiving this fright, he fainted right then and there,” Pisce said as if it were a matter of fact. He did not even forget to comment mockingly, “These mages are all so feeble. Even a gust of wind can topple them. There’s nothing strange about this.”

Philo thought it over and believed this really could be possible. After all, three beasts could not have been easy to deal with, especially when the mage had been by himself. Without a warrior on the frontlines, it could not have been easy to singlehandedly deal with the enemy.

“Hehehe.” Pisce suddenly laughed lewdly. “Since Bai Lan is here, then Bai Saya must be nearby, too. This must make you happy!”

Philo reddened and chided, “What nonsense are you spouting? I don’t wish for her to be here at all. War is about to break out. It’s very dangerous.”

Pisce waggled his eyebrows. “Oh~, war is about to break out. It’s so dangerous! But don’t worry, our big bro Philo will protect you, cute little Saya.”

“Pisce!” Philo growled, but his blushing face wasn’t persuasive at all.

“Shh, shh!” Pisce made a shushing motion and whispered, “Lower your voice. What if we attract the attention of other beasts? If they see these corpses, your brother-in-law will be dead meat!”

That made Philo shake his head. The first part of Pisce’s words were pretty reasonable, but the last part turned into nonsense again. Pisce really had no filter between his brain and his mouth.

However, it was true that they should not dally here. If other beasts chanced upon this sight, then they would be in deep trouble.

Philo picked Bai Lan up and indicated for Pisce to grab the staff. They hurried away from the scene of the crime.

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