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Translator: Ashish
Translation Checker: Silavin
Suppressing his desire for a Level 9 ability, Yu Zi Yu’s gaze slightly narrowed as he focused on the two women nearby, who were slowly regaining consciousness.
“What a pity! “ As his words fell, an inexplicable force enveloped them.
Soon after, their entire body could not help but tremble, as if resisting.
“It’s useless. “ Laughing, Yu Zi Yu gestured with his branch as a Peregrine Falcon descended.
“Don’t let me down, Fal I.” The gentle branch lightly stroked the Peregrine Falcon’s head. Using the power to influence the mind through the mist, it was the first time Yu Zi Yu had given a command to the largest Peregrine Falcon.
[Fal I. Not a bad name. As for the others, they will be called Fal II, Fal III… simple and straightforward. I like it.] Thinking of this, Yu Zi Yu could not help but laugh at himself, wondering if these Peregrine Falcons would blame him once they gain true intelligence in the future.
After all, there was no one with such stupid names.
…
Not long after, at the exit of the canyon…
Accompanied by the faint sound of footsteps, two raggedly dressed girls slowly emerged from the hazy mist.“Sis, what happened? “
With a splitting headache and glimpses of fragmented memories flashing through her mind every now and then, the younger sister, He Ling Er, asked in confusion.
“It looks like we fell off a cliff, and luckily did not die. “ Shaking her head, He Qing Er recalled the memories that flashed through her mind. However, deep down, He Qing Er always had a nagging feeling that something was not right. She felt as if she had witnessed something unimaginable. Only, it was not the time to dwell on such matters.
Grabbing her younger sister’s hand, He Qing Er gently suggested, “let’s go back first. These fragmented memories are not giving me a good feeling. “
“En…” Tightening her clothes that could no longer conceal her beautiful hills and ravines, He Ling Er nodded and followed her sister toward the village at the foot of the mountain.
However at this moment, oblivious to them, a Peregrine Falcon was flying high in the sky, amidst the dense clouds.
*Screech!* The Peregrine Falcon let out a sharp cry, its fierce and piercing eyes were dead fixated on the two girls moving through the forest.
…
Time always passes in the blink of an eye.
In a flash, it was already midnight. At this moment, not too far away from Yu Zi Yu, in a remote village at the foot of the mountain, an aged man was gazing toward the depths of the mountains, his face filled with worries.
“Haaaa!” The village chief put down his smoking pipe and heaved a helpless sigh.
“How many times have I told these girls not to venture deep into the mountains!? Why do they pay no heed to my warnings every time? “
Listening to the Village Chief’s ramblings, the nearby Old Li also slapped his thigh in anger and impatience, rebuking, “I don’t know what to say. Those two are well aware of the recent situation of the mountains. A few days ago, I saw a green snake the size of a millstone. It scared the shit out of me! I’m too afraid to go deep into the mountains now. But they still keep trying to go deeper into the mountains… “
“They still haven’t come back…I’m afraid something might have happened to those two…”
Another worried elderly man chimed in, looking at the crowd, “Should we…call the police!? “
“Call the police!? “
Listening to the villagers’ discussion, the Village Chief took a deep puff from his smoking pipe as a grave and worried look appeared on his face. Finally, as if resigned to fate, he sighed and agreed, “I guess, we…”
But before he could finish the sentence, a pleasantly surprised voice suddenly came from afar,
“Village Chief, those two are back, they’re back!“
“They’re back?” The Village Chief instantly stood up from his chair, filled with excitement. He pushed past the crowd, running toward the entrance of the village.
Soon, at the village entrance…
On a muddy path with overgrown weeds…
Two figures supporting each other slowly emerged from the darkness.
Even before they could reach everyone, everyone could hear their excited voice, “Grandpa, we’re back. “
“That’s great, that’s great.” Setting down his smoking pipe, the Village Chief waved his hand toward the two vague figures in the distance.
But right then…
*Screech!* A barely perceptible sharp cry resounded from the depths of the night sky, followed by a fleeting black shadow on the horizon.
Taking a closer look, it was actually a Peregrine Falcon with a wingspan of about two meters.
At this moment, this raptor happened to be holding a green snake in its talons. The green snake was not that big, but its entire body happened to be black as ink, despite its name.
It was one of the prey captured by Yu Zi Yu, a Mutant Green Snake. Compared to other mutated animals, the most terrifying aspect of this Mutant Green Snake was its potent venom. Its venom was so terrifyingly potent that it made even Yu Zi Yu slightly wary.
And now, this fearsome Mutant Green Snake was in the Peregrine Falcon’s talons.
*Screech!* With a soft cry, the Peregrine Falcon slowly loosened its talon, releasing the Mutant Green Snake that slowly fell into the darkness of the night like a kite with a broken string.
And a short while after this…
“Ahhh~”
“No…”
Two consecutive screams echoed right in the horrified gaze of a dozen or so villagers as the two familiar figures collapsed halfway.
[My angels…] The Village Chief threw his smoking pipe aside and, along with a dozen villagers, ran along the muddy path.
…
“This should be a foolproof plan, right? “
Looking at the night sky, Yu Zi Yu heaved a helpless sigh.
He had gone to great lengths to ensure that these two potential threats would be eliminated without raising any suspicions.
Using his Hallucinogens, he temporarily altered their memories, making them unable to remember anything about him for at least the next few days. This way, even if they encountered the villagers, they would not mention anything about him.
Afterward, he had the Peregrine Falcon, Fal I, grab the Mutant Green Snake, and hover above the two girls.
He had ordered the Peregrine Falcon to release the Green Snake when the two girls had encountered other Humans. By doing this, the Mutant Green Snake would become the true instrument of their death.
At that time, whether the Mutant Green Snake would be killed by the enraged villagers, or manage to escape was irrelevant. After all, everyone saw that it was a Green Snake that bit the two girls to death.
And he, the Willow Tree, could naturally get away with their murders.
After all, the most advantageous witnesses were the villagers.
If nothing unexpected happened, this would become another typical case of ‘mutant beasts attacking Humans.’
It was worth mentioning that in order to make the Mutant Green Snake target the two girls, Yu Zi Yu had sacrificed some of his Life Essence, smearing it on their bodies.
With such temptation, the Mutant Green Snake, which fell not far away from them, naturally saw them as precious prey.
However, there was another small detail worth commending. The Life Essence would gradually dissipate over time, and by the time a night had passed, the Life Essence would have completely dissipated, erasing even the last strand of evidence.
Yu Zi Yu could not help but smile in his heart, a little impressed at his caution. A case like this should be called ‘murder’, and it was even at the level of ‘perfect murder.’
Other then a falcon screaming in the middle of the night.
And a snake being so far from its usual habitats.
And the injuries and mess that was clearly done before the snake hit them.
And any fall damage the snake has suffered showing how it arrived to bite them.
Definitely a perfect plan
Yeahhhhh…. Humans may have a weak affinity for spiritual energy, but you’re underestimating these girls.
They’re reckless but also brave: venturing repeatedly into the mountains despite the danger indicates they are either completely insensate to spiritual power or that their affinity is high enough that they don’t perceive its presence in the atmosphere as a threat. The latter seems more likely, because even dumb people feel fear, and being drawn in instinctively by density of spiritual energy helps explain their behavior.
Then there’s the nature of human awakening. Physical strength and fire indicate this is a special ability oriented genre of evolution story, not something as well rounded as a cultivation system… At least not in the near future. This reflects that humans are generalists. Animals may also have multiple routes of development, but their evolution is determined mostly by their innate nature. Humans don’t show much change in the early stages of world evolution because they are seeds that have not yet determined what they will become. Faced with strong stimulus, they can awaken an ability suitable for themselves and the situation they find themselves in. The girls would have needed to have extremely low talent to not begin awakening after experiencing what they did and being exposed not only to his life essence, but also to the edge of the spiritual vortex caused by his upgrade and the blood mist of thousands of mutant animals. They were also held captive near his spiritually rich roots and inhaled a bunch of spirit infused mist during interrogation. Finally, they have regularly been bathing in spring water, and it turns out there’s an underground river in the area that’s full of spiritual energy that is almost certainly the source of that spring.
I thus think it’s extremely likely that both girls are already in the process of undergoing initial awakening and evolution, and with a very solid foundation at that. It would still be hard for them to survive under the circumstances, but not impossible. It’s very likely that some soldiers have been deployed to help with the evacuation, or they’ve at least been given some guns to defend themselves in the meantime. They are on full alert already because the girls are missing, and those guns would be on hand. The snake is just a tier 0 life form, if it has venom that potent it couldn’t have spared too much energy to strengthen its body. The snake may only have about 10 seconds to hunt the girls before being driven off by gunfire. One of the girls is more bold than the other and has a sense of responsibility. She stands a fighting chance of being able to shield the other girl with her body for long enough.
There is at least a minor chance of one of the girls surviving and becoming an awakened: it’s a fair bet that as she evolves her memory will slowly recover and she will understand what you’ve done and feel enmity toward you. There’s a smaller chance, but one more likely because this is a story, that both will survive. The reason this would be possible is if they are already undergoing awakening. The bolder girl could evolve in the direction of snakes and venom under the pressure to survive. The gentler girl could evolve in the direction of healing out of a combination of exposure to profound life force elixir and desire to save her ailing companion. Yeah, it’s unlikely, but the ingredients are there… And a rapid spurt of evolution will always instinctively favour the path of immediate survival.
It’s not a TERRIBLE plan overall, but nowhere near as perfect as he thinks it is, and the repercussions of failure more severe in that it makes enemies out of them.