The Natives of This World Are Fierce

To some extent, the warped theory Magson had been spreading—that the Thorn Child was a bit of a coward—wasn’t complete nonsense.

At least, Qin Xiaoxia was getting the inexplicable feeling that this thing on the ground was developing a kind of "helpless victim" aura, though he wasn’t sure if he was just imagining it.

After staring at the Thorn Child with an icy gaze for a moment, as if to confirm it wouldn’t suddenly retaliate, Qin Xiaoxia scooped Doudou off his leg and lifted him to eye level.

"Doudou, it took us a long time living together to build the trust we have."

Seeing Doudou’s limbs dangling in the air, Qin Xiaoxia set him back down.

Then, without turning his head, he pointed a hand at the Tree Shepherd, making it shudder.

"But this thing is a dangerous element. Our world will be full of danger sooner or later, but until then, every one we eliminate is one less to worry about!"

The two of them were speaking Mandarin, without any trace of Magic Power, so the Tree Shepherd couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

But even without understanding the words, it could sense that things were once again taking a turn for the worse. It grew anxious, unsure of what to do.

Doudou was practically hopping with anxiety.

"Big Bro! Dawn is a wreck right now; we’re short-staffed! It takes forever to train new talent, too. The Tree Shepherd is an Elf who reveres the natural order. If it’s willing to pledge allegiance to us, why kill it?"

"Heh," Qin Xiaoxia sneered, looking at the Thorn Child.

"I don’t think it will. So it can just die."

A bad feeling had just begun to surface in the Tree Shepherd when it sensed that dangerous Magic Power appearing once more.

It knew, without a doubt, that the conversation between that Saroba and this dangerous Weaver had gone wrong.

’I’ve had a mental breakdown so many times today, and it still ends with me dying?’

This time, it was truly powerless to resist. Its last act of defiance had mobilized and expended all the Magic Power in its body. During the ensuing stalemate, it had been unable to recover its Magic Power, which was being stripped away bit by bit by the power of the Secret Realm. Worse, it hadn’t dared to resist the drain for fear of provoking Qin Xiaoxia, and as a result, it could barely even keep its wounds stabilized now.

Seeing that his persuasion was failing, Doudou turned to the Tree Shepherd with a dejected look.

"It’s no use. I can’t convince my Big Bro. He doesn’t think you can be trusted. You’re probably going to die..."

Though these words weren’t spoken in the Magic Language, they were carried on vibrations of Magic Power, allowing some of the meaning to get through.

’FUCK, YOU SHOULD’VE SAID SO SOONER!’

’Are you trying to get me killed with all these riddles?!’

The Tree Shepherd immediately used the last of its strength to choke out a hoarse phrase in the Magic Language.

"Kado yi fenli man!"

It was a plea for mercy—and an extremely subservient one. Both Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou understood the words, but they were confused by what it did next.

If he hadn’t already seen that this thing wouldn’t dare try any funny business, Qin Xiaoxia might have bolted.

The thickets of Thorns covering the Tree Shepherd’s body began to automatically break apart and dissipate, like wooden hydralisks, dissolving into countless thin, thorny branches that fell scattered on the ground.

It was as if it were actively dismantling its own body.

After its core trunk had completely vanished, a green Gem was revealed within, pierced by numerous fine, white rootlets.

The Gem was dull in color, radiating a faint green glow.

Qin Xiaoxia gave Doudou a baffled look.

His eyes clearly asked, ’What is this?’

Doudou looked just as clueless and lost, his eyes sending back the same message: ’Never seen it, never heard of it. I have no idea.’

The Tree Shepherd wished it could sprout an organ just to have a good cry.

’I’ve already revealed my Heart of Nature, and that terrifying being over there is acting completely unimpressed.’

’Looks like he has no intention of sparing me at all.’

In a fit of desperation, one of the thorny branches suddenly shot up and lashed violently at the green Gem.

"CRACK~"

It was followed by the sound of splintering wood and a pained, hissing roar.

Qin Xiaoxia saw that after the green Gem was cracked by the blow, more than half of the thorny branches on the ground instantly disintegrated, turning to dust to be absorbed by the Secret Realm’s power.

The remaining Thorns, too, looked as if they might crumble at any second.

Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou instantly understood what it was!

’A pleasant surprise! A very pleasant surprise!’

’I was just planning to run my mouth a bit, use the old carrot-and-stick routine to rope it in, and then figure out how to deal with it later. I never expected there’d be such a convenient solution!’

One of the Tree Shepherd’s branches, trembling as if enduring immense pain, carefully curled around half of the green Gem and slowly extended it toward Qin Xiaoxia.

"Kado, kado yi, fen... li man..."

This time, the voice wasn’t just hoarse; it was nearly inaudible.

It was a tragic sight; the branch was slowly disintegrating as it reached forward.

Qin Xiaoxia felt it would be inhumane to tease it any further.

After a moment’s hesitation, he reached out and gently accepted the larger half of the green Gem. He gave the pile of Thorns that was the Tree Shepherd a nod, his expression complicated, a clear signal of his acceptance.

He didn’t ask why it hadn’t offered the entire ’green Gem.’ It didn’t take a genius to know that if he took the remaining piece, the Tree Shepherd would kick the bucket on the spot.

"Get some rest."

Beyond that, Qin Xiaoxia didn’t know what else to say to the creature that saw him as a dangerous predator. Nor was there time.

Because all of the Tree Shepherd’s thorny branches had gone still.

After a few minutes, there was still no response. Even the remaining half of the ’green Gem’ had gone completely dim, and the piece in Qin Xiaoxia’s hand dimmed in perfect sync with it.

’Hm, so the function of this "green Gem" is becoming clearer,’ he thought. ’But...’

"Doudou, we didn’t... play it to death, did we...?"

Qin Xiaoxia asked worriedly. This thing was his property now!

"Probably not... Tree Shepherds are supposed to be hard to kill... I think..."

Doudou sounded uncertain, hedging his answer. After all, his Big Bro’s Magic Power could be just as terrifying as his trash talk. Who was to say it hadn’t just died from the brief contact?

They waited a bit longer and even sprinkled some mineral water on the remains, but there was still no reaction.

The two had no choice but to silently gather the scattered thorny branches into a pile. Fortunately, as they did, a few of the branches automatically coiled around the smaller, remaining half of the green Gem.

Seeing this, Qin Xiaoxia breathed a sigh of relief. ’Looks like it’s not dead yet.’

Relieved, Qin Xiaoxia looked at the temporary Secret Realm around them. Well, that solved the problem of how to get back.

’Using up all my Magic Power—which will take who knows how long to recover—just for a return trip is too extravagant,’ Qin Xiaoxia thought. ’Good thing I got a Tree Shepherd out of it, otherwise this would have been a terrible deal.’

With a mere thought, the small, temporarily summoned Secret Realm began to contract. The Shadow of the Red Demoness grew larger, stretching its delicate form until, after a moment, it merged with the shrinking realm.

It stretched out its arms, embracing Gou Junbao’s Audi within the Secret Realm. Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou were already seated back inside, while the Tree Shepherd had been placed in the trunk.

WHOOSH~

With a flash of faint red light, the car and the Secret Realm vanished.

Outside the now-vanished Secret Realm, a gentle breeze stirred the rice seedlings. Everything was calm again.

Well, not entirely calm.

Though it had been brief, the commotion from Qin Xiaoxia’s Weaving Flame Reaction Technique had not been subtle. The pillar of fire, dozens of meters high, had been short-lived, but it had been seen.

Not to mention, the police and military had heavy troop deployments miles away; it hadn’t gone completely unnoticed.

While they were meticulously searching the deep, missile-bombarded crater, the "supernatural disturbance" not far off immediately set off alarm bells for Tao Xingzhi and his team.

The road beside the field was cordoned off just half an hour later.

...

Tao Xingzhi and his team stared grimly at the "primary scene," an area of land barely a quarter of an acre in size.

He and Jiutian now stood in a field that was bizarrely arid.

The ground beneath their feet was hard as iron, as if it had suffered a long drought, yet the only slightly wilted rice shoots seemed to be lamenting their sudden, terrible fate.

In the center of this "hardened ground" was a large, scorched-black patch. They believed the "pillar of heavenly fire" that had been witnessed earlier had erupted from this very spot.

"Chief, judging by the tunnel tracks here and comparing them to the ones back at the shed area, it looks like something tunneled its way here from underground."

On the tablet handed to him, a simulated map clearly marked the Tree Shepherd’s likely escape route.

Tao Xingzhi nodded, left the edge of the field, and climbed onto the concrete road.

Huang Jiutian had been standing there motionless for some time.

"Well, Jiutian? Do you sense anything?"

’Sense anything? You think I can just tell you I can fucking smell Qin Xiaoxia’s lingering presence?!’

"A very powerful force... I hope they’re friend, not foe..."

Jiutian answered, choosing his words carefully.

Tao Xingzhi took out his cigarette case again, pulling out the last one and lighting it. His gaze, like Huang Jiutian’s, fell upon the group of team members who were busy taking photographs.

A massive pattern, so complex it was dazzling—one that could even induce vertigo if stared at for too long—was carved deep into the concrete road.

’Was it you again?’

Unfortunately, there were no surveillance cameras here at all. The nearest one was a red-light camera ten kilometers away on the main road, and it couldn’t even capture the entrance to this smaller road. The conditions were even worse than during the "Winding Loach River Incident."

The good news, however, was that just like last time, "they" had shown up and dealt with the anomalous creature.