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
Quinton and Xavier followed the large group of villagers and climbed up several slopes to reach Dragos, which was on the top of the mountains. The place of their negotiation was a flat ground at the entrance of the village, which stood at the top of a cliff. Both Quinton and Xavier had initially disliked each other, but now, they had become allies."Damn, these people really are cavemen! Be careful, I wouldn't know how to explain it to Renee if you fall and kill yourself." Xavier grumbled as he pulled Quinton away from the edge of the cliff.Quinton glared at Xavier and whispered, "I was just looking for escapes in case they go back on their word and attack us.""I don't think they'd dare to. After all, the village head's daughter is in our hands!""You forget that they don't think like us, and I doubt they'd be merciful considering Stefan has disrespected their God. They worship that dragon, so they might just sacrifice Silas' daughter to take revenge." "What should we do then?
"Okay, Mr. Drago." Although the villagers could not understand Silas, they unconditionally obeyed him."If it weren't for you, I would have thought everyone here were cavemen!" Xavier casually sat on a stool, still looking like a rich CEO despite being in the wilderness.Quinton looked around. He knew that they were being put on the spot, and fighting their way out would be courting death. Hence, he decided to see how things went. He said to Silas politely, "Mr. Drago, I'm sure you see our sincerity. We aren't bad people, and neither is Stefan. It was an urgent matter, and my sister was on the verge of death, which was why he violated your clan's sacred laws.""You don't have to talk to me about your innocence. All those who came looking for the dragon's saliva had an urgent matter, and wanted it either for wealth or health. I've seen many kinds of people at my age, and you both aren't the most innocent ones," Silas remarked casually as he sipped the tea served by his villager.Qui
Finally, Silas revealed his request. Dragos was beyond the reach of society, and had survived on its own with its own clan laws away from the rest of the world. They never caused trouble to anyone… but that didn't mean they could have peace. The dragon's saliva was their clan treasure which blessed their land, but its rarity and value had brought them a lot of danger. Over the years, the number of greedy people that tried to attack the village had increased, each more scheming than the other. It was clear that the dragon's saliva brought them more trouble than blessings, so the villagers of Dragos had to find something to protect them if they wanted to survive. Silas had been worried sick about such things until he met Stefan. Although Stefan was rude, he was different from the others who had come to the village. Silas could tell he was a refined person, and that had given Silas hope. On that day, the guards at the memorial chamber had caught Stefan, tied him up, and left him in the
Hence, the negotiation helped both parties reach a compromise, and they were no longer at odds with each other.Silas fished out a contract, and both Quinton and Xavier put their thumbprints on it. It meant that they would cooperate to protect Dragos and help the ancient village thrive. "Okay, we've agreed to your request. Can you let him go now?" Xavier asked impatiently as he wiped away the red ink on his thumb."Gentlemen, come with me." Silas led Xavier and Quinton to the memorial chamber, the most sacred place in the village. Generally, only men of the village could enter it, and outsiders could not approach it, but an exception was made for Xavier and Quinton since Stefan was locked up in the innermost part of the memorial chamber."Ugh… This place is so strange!" When Xavier entered the memorial chamber, he saw the large stalactite statues using the dim lamp Silas had given them, and marveled at the extraordinary craftsmanship of nature. It amazed Quinton too. "I've seen
"He escaped?" Xavier was initially confused, but when he walked over to where Quinton was standing and looked up, he saw an air vent around seven meters above the ground in the dark room. It was about the size of a well, and though it was quite small, an agile person might be able to escape through it. Additionally, there were some footprints on the wall."Those look like Stefan's!" Xavier observed the footprints, realizing they were from a pair of hiking shoes Stefan had worn before leaving home."He escaped from here?" Silas looked up at the narrow air vent incredulously. "No, it can't be. This air vent is so small, and it'd be hard for someone to crawl out of it. Plus... it's a straight cliff beyond this passage without anything to lean onto. If anyone tried escaping, they'd surely fall to their death!" "What... What did you say?" Xavier's eyes grew wide, and he quickly crawled into the passage and punched open the iron grill on the air vent. Dim light entered the room, making i