Not A Small-Town Girl

----

Orion carefully stored the three "Soul Venoms" away

and responded happily, "Your parents were cursed

through food—probably something they drank."

Danielle immediately connected the dots. Judy had

been particularly attentive, always serving her parents

with bird’s nest soup. It was likely how the poison had

entered their bodies.

Joseph, seeing that his parents were still

unconscious, asked anxiously, "When will they wake

up? Do they need any medicine?"

Orion waved him off. "No need. Let them sleep. Once

they’re rested, they’ll wake up on their own."

"Got it.”

After solving the issue for them, Orion was treated

with the utmost hospitality. He didn’t ask for payment,

though; instead, he had someone send him back to

Blackpool Village.

----

At Bane Springs, dozens of off-road vehicles were

parked at the base of the Bane Springs mountain.

“Patrick, we can only drive this far. We’ll need to hike

up from here."

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror and spoke.

"Got it. Everyone, out of the vehicles," Patrick

instructed, his long legs swiftly moving out of the car.

Looking at thesurrounding

mountains, Patrick couldn’t help but

feel that something about this place.

was strafige. Danielle’s master lived

here, ad from the looks of it, this

wasqo ordinary location—it felt like

theshome of some reclusive-expert.

----

He wasn’t sure which mountain they were on, though.

The locals he’d asked on the way had been vague

and warned them against going up, saying it was too

dangerous.

“Patrick, which mountain are we headed to?" one of

the mercenaries asked, eyes scanning the

surroundings.

“Which one?" Patrick was equally unsure, but from

the description of their boss, he figured it had to be

the tallest mountain. It couldn’t be wrong.

----

The group began their hike, moving

quickly andconfidently. They

expectedva forest of trees like the oO

ones the “d seen from below, but

once they entered, they were .

greeted by a massive bamboo forest

shrouded in mist.

“Patrick, I gotta admit, the air here is amazing. When I

retire, I might just build a house here and live out my

days."

----

Patrick shot bi a look of

D

exasperati on’t plan too far

ahead. You’d better be thinking

about hdw we’re going to find this

guy. We’ve been walking around in

circles for an hour, haven’t younoveldrama

ed?"

The group stopped, realizing they had been

wandering aimlessly. Patrick checked his watch—an

hour had passed, and they’d barely made any

progress.

This was bad. It felt like they were stuck in a maze.

“I’m starting to think we’ve walked into some kind of

trap," one of the mercenaries muttered, looking over

his shoulder nervously.

----

Patrick wanted to kick him. "This isn’t some ghost

story. This is clearly a formation—a maze. It’s

probably something designed by Danielle’s master.

She’s too skilled for it not to be.”

“Just stop whining and focus. We need to find the way

out."

Patrick started marking their path with his knife. Half

an hour later, they were still stuck in the same spot.

None of their past missions had been like this. They

had always navigated through dense forests without a

hitch, yet this small mountain was getting the best of

them.

"This is ridiculous. What do we do now, Patrick?"

Patrick didn’t answer right away. He climbed up a

bamboo stalk with ease, like a monkey, scanning the

area.

There had to be something more to this. What was

the trick? Were the bamboo stalks the key?