"What do you mean?" Quinton frowned in disdain. "Don't liken me to that iceberg—I'm not as cruel and aloof as him.""But you both said the same thing!" Renee smiled tenderly, feeling loved. "I got myself into this mess, but you both keep blaming yourselves. Like him, you look cold and fierce on the outside, but are actually a really warm and sensitive person." Outsiders felt that Renee was miserable because she was blind and poisoned, but she really wasn't because she was loved by so many. They tried their best to cure her, and although the poison had spread to her entire body, she felt happy to be loved so genuinely."If that's the case, I need to change my opinion of him," Quinton muttered as he pulled a chair over and sat beside Renee. Surprisingly, he started complimenting Stefan. "Yes, he constantly has a poker face on, and he seems world-weary and difficult, but he's sincere towards you. Back then, I wouldn't have believed him if he said he would die for you… but now I would. H
Renee couldn't reach Stefan's phone, and he hadn't replied to any of her texts. Although Renee was anxious, she believed that Stefan would be safe and return when he had promised… but now she wasn't so sure. "He was lucky you were there that day to save him, but will someone be there to help him if it happens again? Will he..." Renee bit her lip, too frightened to think about it."Don't worry about him, he's strong. He won't get into accidents that easily." Quinton tried to comfort Renee and told her about their plan. "I discussed it with him—I'm in charge of finding the Western Hills Fruit and Northern Lake Anaconda, and he's in charge of finding the dragon's saliva. His task is more difficult than mine, so naturally, he'll come home later than me."Renee, however, could not stop overthinking. "Is the dragon's saliva even real? I feel like Dr. Wagner is just trying to give me hope, and it doesn't actually exist.""Why not?" Quinton immediately fished out the three items he had plac
The existence of dragons had always been a great controversy, as they only appeared in legends. In Aeos, dragons symbolized power, honor, and luck, but in Benores, they were the incarnation of evil. Stefan had done his research, and found that there were records of dragons appearing in Water City, Srey, Cheville, Tregas, and Reka. The incident of a dragon falling was widespread in Reka, and they even had photos as proof. It indirectly proved that dragons were real, and there were other places where dragons had apparently resided too.Stefan had asked around and finally came to a village called Dragos. It was located in the depths of the mountains, and the villagers lived in groups on the cliff. They led a primitive life away from the world. There weren't many villagers, but they were united and quite unfriendly to visitors. All of them believed in dragons and used dragons as their totems. The walls of their houses were full of pictures of dragons. Stefan sent everyone except Elijah
Elijah tried a few times, but failed to pass through it. When he looked down, he saw a cliff with a huge gap, and it almost gave him a heart attack. "Ah, I... I can't do it. I can't!" Elijah grabbed his chest, feeling dizzy. He couldn't hold on even if he wanted to. "Just wait here if you can't do it. I'll go up and take a look. I won't be long," Stefan said briefly, then bent over and passed through the hole. It was hard for him to pass through that hole because he was tall. If he was careless, or if he slipped, he might fall off the cliff. Luckily, he was strong and agile, and entered the village smoothly. Neil also entered the village skillfully. Elijah had tried several times but failed, so he just waited at the entrance of the village helplessly. After entering the village, Stefan found that Neil was right—one could only move around through the cliffs. There was a palm-sized path that went up to the top of the mountain where only a few houses could be seen."How amazing!" S
Gravel rolled down the cliff, and Neil's body started slipping down the cliff. Just as he thought all hope was lost, a light shone ahead, and a few villagers with torches rushed over. "Great! Someone's coming!" Neil shouted for help in the direction of the light. "Help! Save us!"When the villagers heard his cries for help, they quickly ran over. "Ah, it's Neil! It's Neil!" When the villagers saw Neil and Stefan, they went over to help pull Stefan up. "Whew, how dangerous! If we fell, it would be over for us." Neil lay on the ground, taking deep breaths. He glanced at the bottomless cliff anxiously, realizing just how close he had been to death."Thank you." Stefan dusted himself off. In comparison with the frightened Neil, he looked a lot calmer. It was as if he hadn't almost died. "I'll remember your kindness today and repay you with a big reward one day.""Don't say that. I'm your guide—I'm responsible for your safety. It's what I should do." Neil spoke politely, full of respec
Stefan's eyes brightened and he eagerly asked, "Can you take me there to get some? My wife has been poisoned, and I need it to save her. If you can take me there to get some, I'll satisfy any request you and the villagers have." "We're doing fine as we are. We don't need an outsider like you trying to poke your nose into things." Easton glared at Stefan fiercely. "The dragon's saliva is a treasure belonging to my tribe, so how can we just give some of it to an outsider? If you keep this up, you'll be punished by our tribe's laws. For your information, my tribe doesn't belong to any administrative region, so we don't have to take responsibility if we want to hack you into pieces." Easton wasn't just saying that to scare Stefan—Dragos was a small society with a long history, and they had their own rules unbound by any laws. They were similar to the ancient cannibal tribes of Zambawi. Stefan had entered the village on his own initiative, which had infuriated the villagers. Hence, he was
"Mr. Abdon, don't worry—I'm also a villager of Dragos. I want our village to be safe, I was just a little impulsive today. I'm sorry..." Neil bowed to the villagers politely, then turned and said to Stefan, "Let's go, man. I told you this wouldn't work.""Okay, I understand." Stefan nodded.The both of them turned around and walked out of the village as the villagers watched.Stefan stopped when the torches were almost out of sight and asked Neil seriously, "This show has gone on long enough. Can we go back now?" "It isn't a show. I really do want to take you out of the village." Neil gave Stefan an awkward look and fished out the bank card with the large sum of money that he had accepted. "I'll return the money to you. I don't want you to get hurt by the villagers.""Excuse me?" Stefan frowned, his expression turning icy. He felt like Neil had fooled him. He wouldn't have left if Neil had told him that from the beginning. On the contrary, he would have tried to persuade that eld
"What? You... Are you still going up the mountains?" Neil's eyes widened, and he said in awe, "You're fearless!""I've made myself very clear." Stefan twisted the towel around his head that was drenched in sweat, and after taking a deep breath, he was about to set off again. Neil watched as Stefan walked away, feeling guilty. "Hey, wait!"Stefan stopped and turned around. "What's wrong?""I don't want to be your guide, but I can give you a map." Neil took out a notebook and drew something on a page, then tore it off and gave it to Stefan. "The terrains in Dragos are very complicated. This is a rough map of the village, and I'm guessing the dragon's saliva you want is in the memorial chamber. However, that place is at the highest point of the mountain, and it's also in the most complex cave. Our legends say that the ancestral dragon met his beloved woman there, and that was also where they built their family. That's how Dragos came along." "Really?" Stefan was overjoyed and acc
After that, Amber looked at Liam, who kept silent the whole time. She tried to make Liam say something nice. "See, Liam? I told you, Matt's a great guy. He was just joking with us in the orchard to scare us. I'm sure he'll take our sides and protect us. Don't worry.""Is that so?" Liam glanced at Mateo and faked a smile. "Well, I should thank him properly."The air between them grew awkward, but Liam didn't care. He wanted to make Mateo uneasy and force the latter to expose his true self.Amber was simple, but Liam was no fool. Mateo's acting was smooth, but he couldn't trick Liam.Moreover, Mateo was the one who came up with that scheme. He wouldn't let anyone expose it—he wanted to be the one to do it."Okay, aren't we going to get a drink? Let's go. I'll make the chef cook us something nice." Mateo enthusiastically held Liam's shoulders and dragged him forward. At that moment, he turned icy. "If you're a man, stop involving Gem if you want to fight against me. Stop showing of
Liam was no fool. He immediately understood the profound meaning behind Renee's words and stopped saying too much. "Fine, be good. You guys are just taking a rest. I'll handle this well. Wait for my news."He knew very well that the conclusion would be the same regardless if Renee and Leia had offended Luneth's son or the child of an ordinary villager. Mateo simply wanted to use that method to control him. The only way to solve this was to defeat Mateo. However, based on the current situation, Mateo had a lot of followers in the fort. It would be difficult for Liam to defeat him.Luckily, Liam wasn't an easy target either. He had been winning people over these days. That, and he was close with Benjamin's other foster sons. If both parties were to get into a fight, he still had a chance to win.After confirming that Renee and Leia were fine, Liam left the cell. Mateo was waiting outside, grinning triumphantly. He sneered sarcastically, "What do you think? I was telling the trut
"No, I'm not!" Liam raised his hand to swear. "Trust me. They're just best friends. They're not in that kind of messy relationship. Both of them have a guy they're madly in love with.""I see." Amber watched how Renee and Leia fooled around intimately with each other in the cell. They looked like they were about to kiss! She shook her head and said, "What a pity! They look so lovey-dovey, better than many novels I read about where the women love each other.""You're hopeless!" It was rare for Liam to see such a straightforward and cute side of Amber. Amused, he poked her forehead and sighed. "Stop reading those messy novels! It's harmful."Their actions were loud and finally attracted Renee's attention in the cell."Liam!" Renee, pressed to the chair by Leia, couldn't escape. Finally, she grabbed a chance to leap up and walk to the door.Well… It wasn't a door. Rather, they were iron bars preventing them from escaping.The decoration and facilities in the room weren't bad. Be
Liam tensed up when he heard that voice. He quickened his pace and rushed through the corridor, toward the cell where Renee and Leia were locked up. Suddenly, he became flabbergasted and his face stiffened. For a long time, he couldn't regain his wits."Hey… What are you guys doing?"On a table lay barbecue, jerky, beer, and fruit platters. Meanwhile, both Renee and Leia were playing cards. Leia ran after Renee, then pressed her on the chair and said seriously, "Hey, gorgeous. You can't run away! You got the card for kissing me, so you have to let me kiss you. If not, you're trying to disobey the rules of the game!""Help! Help me…!" Renee kept resisting, amused and befuddled. "Get away from me! I'm a desperate woman who likes men! I can't kiss you! If I kiss you, I'm going to have nightmares… Oh, just kill me! Is there anyone who can save me?" Liam wasn't the only one standing at the door. Amber was also with him since she was following him. Watching Renee and Leia's antics,
"Hurry up and explain to her, then!" Amber said hurriedly. "Matt, you're close to her. You know Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne would never do that on purpose. Try to persuade her to let this go, and then you can immediately set them free.""I don't have a say in this." Mateo shook his head, pretending to be helpless. "You know how much Luneth dotes on her son. Ms. Everheart pinned him to the ground and beat him up. His head got injured and started bleeding. I heard it's a large cut with a lot of stitches. We can't let it go just like that.""But you can't—" Amber wanted to say more, but Liam interrupted her. He looked at Mateo, his eyes cold and fierce. "I know you set them up. Just be frank. Why did you do that?" "See?" Mateo sighed. He pretended to be aggrieved as he looked at Amber. "The guy you like is sinister. I kindly helped him, but he didn't thank me. He even accused me of setting this up… He always sees the worst in people. He criticized me in front of you and sowed di
Liam immediately noticed something wrong. He asked Mateo fiercely, "What do you mean?""Calm down." Mateo put away his gun and placed it back around his waist. "They broke the rules and barged into the orchard. Plus, they hurt Luneth's child. So, I locked them up for the time being."He appeared calm, as if he was discussing what he had eaten for dinner. He didn't feel that he had been over the line. "Go to hell!" Liam finally failed to hold himself back. He rushed over and grabbed Mateo's neck fiercely. "You can harm me, but how dare you harm them!"At the same time, Mateo's subordinates raised their guns and aimed them at Liam. The recently eased atmosphere immediately became tense again."Hey, don't!" Amber, all tensed up, braced herself to try and stop them. Even so, she was mentally exhausted."What? You want to strangle me?" Mateo was fearless. He grinned deviously and teased, "Cool it. I just locked them up, but they didn't suffer. They're fine. If you harm me, though, I
Livid, Mateo pulled the trigger without hesitation. However, he moved the gun less than an inch. The bullet passed by Liam's ear and hit an orange behind him.The fruit immediately blew up, its juices splashing on Liam's face."Aaaah!" Amber, terrified, trembled. Her eyes turned red, and she hurriedly tried to plead with Mateo. "Matt, cool it! Aren't you and Liam friends? You guys drank and chatted together in the past. You were so close to each other. How could you do this to him? Hurry up and put the gun away! If it goes off accidentally, it'll be over!"However, Mateo ignored her. His eyes were red as he glared at Liam. "Did you see the orange behind you? Let go of her now! If not, I'll blow up your head just like I did to that orange!""Is that all you got?" Liam taunted. He refused to let Amber go. He whispered to Amber, "Watch well. If he shoots me today, promise me not to marry such a man. I can use my life to knock some sense into you.""No!" Amber shook her head. Liam
"What bad timing!" Mateo's indifferent voice came from behind Amber.Amber turned around and saw Mateo with a team of armed soldiers. Terrified, she quickly put some distance between her and Liam. She stammered an explanation. "Matt… It's not what you think. Liam and I came here to look for people. Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne are gone. Liam couldn't find them and guessed they might be in the orchard. He wasn't familiar with the orchard and asked me to guide him."Mateo looked livid, but still cracked a gentle smile. "Silly, you don't have to be scared. I know you're prudent. He must have forced you to come here. I don't blame you."He extended his hand and beckoned Amber toward him. "Come here. You're my fiancee. You should stand with me.""I…" Amber bit her lip—Mateo was right. She kept her head low, about to walk to him.But in the next second, Liam firmly grabbed her wrist. "You can't go!" Liam held Amber's wrist tightly and shot Mateo a challenging look."When did Amb
Liam could only see through Amber's true thoughts if she showed her true self to him. "No, I do like you. I love you the most, and I want to marry you. But you neither like me nor want to marry me. You love freedom and Ms. Everheart. You love and yearn for the kind of life ordinary people like. So, I could only choose to give you up and let you get what you want. What else do you want me to do?" Amber was generally shy and reserved, but when Liam drove her anxious, she rambled a lot."Whatever I want is my business. You don't need to sacrifice yourself to grant my wish!" Liam held Amber's shoulders, acting like a kind senior. He tried to persuade her in earnest. "Marriage isn't a joke. Think it through. Do you like and know Mateo well? You won't be happy after marrying him, given the savage culture around here. And can you divorce him easily?""Matt will be nice to me. Even if he changes his mind, he'll still be nice to me because…my father is Benjamin," Amber replied.She chose