"I'm not, but you are!" Leia snapped furiously. "You're wrong—I'm the smart one who calls out lovestruck fools!" Xavier sneered.Both Owen and Quinton automatically took a step back and watched their fight. Honestly, it looked like a lovers' quarrel… and it was rather sweet.At that moment, a servant hurried into the room. "They're back! They're home!""They're back?" Both Leia and Xavier immediately stopped arguing, then childishly rushed to the door, each trying to outrun each other."I knew Stefan could do it! He could even find a mythical item… What a guy!" As Stefan's first fan, Xavier easily outran Leia and was the first to reach the door to welcome them.However, to his confusion, only Elijah and a stranger were walking towards them slowly. "Mr. Stuart!" When Elijah saw Xavier, his eyes glistened with unshed tears. He looked exhausted, and anyone looking at him could tell that things had not gone smoothly for them. "Where's Stefan? I don't… see him." Xavier looked aro
Leia could tell that something had happened to Stefan, but their priority right now was to detoxify Renee. "That's enough! Let go!" Leia pulled Xavier's hands off Elijah's collar, then told Neil and Elijah, "Go give the dragon's saliva to Dr. Wagner.""Okay!" Elijah turned around and gave Xavier a look, then sighed and rushed into the manor with Neil.When Owen saw the dragon's saliva, he was in disbelief. It was practically an elixir in medical textbooks and was rumoured to bring people back to life, and Stefan had actually found it. "Great! We have the items—Ms. Everheart can be saved!" Owen didn't waste any time and immediately went to his laboratory to make the antidote for Renee.After a day of research, he finally came up with the antidote and gave it to Renee. After a while, Renee felt much better. Her pain had lessened, and she didn't feel so weak anymore. "It's magical... I feel like I've come alive!" Renee leaned against the head of the bed, her eyes bright. Before this,
Thankfully, they had managed to fool Renee.After Renee chatted with them for a while, Owen suggested that they let Renee rest. "There are three courses of treatment that she'll take over a span of two weeks. She'll get better with each treatment, but she also needs to rest. Let's not disturb her." "Okay, let's go then." Leia immediately stood up and asked everyone to leave Renee's room.When they reached downstairs and confirmed that Renee was asleep, everyone called Neil and Elijah over and asked them to explain what had happened.Neil had wanted to set off for Dragos immediately with the remainder of the dragon's saliva, but decided he owed them an explanation. Taking a deep breath, he said to everyone, "In order to get the dragon's saliva, Mr. Hunt climbed our dragon statue, the most sacred thing in my clan. What he did infuriated the villagers, and if they're going to punish him by clan laws… They'll cook and eat him, sacrificing him to the ancestors to pacify the dragon's wr
Neil lowered his head, trembling in fear. He glanced at Elijah pleadingly. "Mr. Young, please help me. I did what you all told me; I didn't do anything wrong." "Mr. Stuart, it was my decision, not Neil's. Punish me if you want, but leave him out of this." Elijah closed his eyes, preparing for Xavier's attack. He had expected such a reaction when he made that choice. Stefan and Renee had both been on the verge of death, and Elijah had chosen to save Renee because he knew that was what Stefan would do. If he chose to save Stefan and lost the dragon's saliva, he would have lost the chance to save Renee, and Stefan would have suffered even more. Elijah didn't want to see Stefan have such regrets."Elijah, you're Stefan's most trusted subordinate. How could you betray him? Why?" Xavier's fury turned into confusion. He knew Elijah's loyalty towards Stefan was stronger than Xavier's friendship with Stefan; Even if everyone had abandoned Stefan, Elijah would never do such a thing. "I did
Quinton and Xavier rushed to Dragos with their men, and soon surrounded the tiny village from all directions. They came in large groups of professionals and elites, and had weapons aimed at the village from the sea, land, and sky. It looked like they would annihilate the village if the villagers refused to let Stefan go. Dragos' villagers regarded themselves as the descendants of the dragon, so all of them, regardless of age, stubbornly protected their village.Just as both parties were about to fight, Neil cried and got down on his knees between them. "Everyone just calm down, okay? We don't have to do this. Please don't fight!"Silas Drago, the head of the clan, led the villagers. All of them held spears, and they waved their weapons as they shouted, "Kill! Kill! Kill!""Dad, you're the head of the clan and the most rational person here. Please listen to me… We can't afford to offend them. Just let Mr. Hunt go. They'll also put the dragon's saliva back, so just forget about all
Silas angrily looked ahead. "Not only do they have guns, but they also have cannons and other terrible weapons. I know our village will be doomed if they aim even one of those at us… but we've always been living on top of the mountains away from the world. We never start conflicts, but there are always wicked people coveting our village treasures. If we compromise this time, they'll push their luck next time, and then our village will really be doomed. We're the descendants of dragons, so we must protect it. They've disrespected our dragon, so we have to fight to the death. We won't let them step into the village unless they kill all of us!" At that point, Silas turned and ordered his villagers, "Get ready to fight! Attack!" The hundreds of villagers yelled and roared, shooting arrows with fire towards Quinton and Xavier.Chase quickly blocked Quinton from the onslaught and said desperately, "Mr. Everheart, they're crazy! We can't reason with them. Just go back first, and let us han
Chase and Elijah objected to Silas' suggestion."It's too risky for Mr. Everheart and Mr. Stuart to go into the village. The villagers might even hold them hostage. It's too dangerous!" "Yeah, we'll lose our advantage once they enter the village. We can't even fight back if anything happens. I think we'd better not take the risk..."Xavier frowned and wondered if he should agree. Their concerns were valid—the villagers were barbarians beyond the reach of the law, so promises and morality would mean nothing to them. If he impulsively went with them, he would be at their mercy. It was a great risk. "I'll go with you," Quinton said to Silas calmly. He bypassed the crowd and approached Silas."Are you willing to?" Silas was taken aback, not expecting them to be that trusting and sincere. "I've got nothing to fear—I believe that the descendants of dragons aren't cunning people who would go back on their word," Quinton remarked. He had escaped death many times and was not afraid of
Silas was still angry, but remained silent because Xavier had intimidated him.Seeing that, Neil continued, "You're right, Mr. Stuart. We have our differences, and I think the best course of action right now is for everyone to calm down and take a step back." Everyone remained silent, in agreement with Neil.Then, Neil added, "We ask that Mr. Stuart and Mr. Everheart come into the village to talk to us alone. I know you both are concerned, and it's normal for you to be. Mr. Stuart, please tell us what your condition is, and we'll try our best to fulfill it if we can." Then, he carefully looked at Silas. "Dad, what do you think?"Silas didn't want to make a scene. If these men destroyed the village, Dragos' centuries-old legacy would end because of him, and it would be a great sin. Hence, he finally yielded. "Fine. What's your condition?""I can go into your village with you, but your daughter has to be kept as a hostage on our side until we reach a successful negotiation," Xavier