Translator: Mukyuu
Editor: Mikyuu
Baal remarked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and watched the tiger swim happily back and forth in the lake, “I keep feeling like something’s wrong.”
“What’s wrong?” He thought it was fine. Though he had found it bizarre at first that the tiger could meow like a cat, he thought it was pretty nice after hearing it a couple of times. Weren’t humans learning each other’s languages? Maybe this was how animal evolution began?
The more Wang Xiaoming looked at the tiger, the more he liked it. He thought that when the tiger came to the shore in a bit, he could try getting over his fear and go up to pet it.
Baal suddenly put down his hand.
Wang Xiaoming looked at his serious expression in incomprehension.
“We’re going to find the other Kindreds.”
“Why?” Wang Xiaoming paused. Hadn’t they agreed that Allan would do the elimination while they worked on getting the approval?
Baal replied, “Do you think the forest has approved us?”
“Probably.” Wang Xiaoming swept his eyes over their surroundings and then pointed at the tiger, saying, “It’s the king of the forest!”
Baal asked with a frown, “That’s how the forest approves?”
“Maybe.” Wang Xiaoming didn’t have any personal experience.
Baal thought for a moment and still felt that it was risky. “I hate uncertainty.”
“Then what do you want to do?”
“Make things certain.” A cold smile broke out on Baal’s face.
Having a map while in a forest was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a convenient thing, especially when it clearly labeled the location of prey.
“Whom should we go find first?” Wang Xiaoming asked quietly. According to Baal’s desires, he’d personally eliminate two candidates, right? So whomever they set out to find would indicate who would be eliminated. After being together for so many days, Wang Xiaoming didn’t doubt Baal’s abilities.
Baal looked at the black dot that indicated their rest area on the map. “Singh.”
Wang Xiaoming said self-consciously, “He’s not here.”
“But his clan member is here.”
Wang Xiaoming thought hard and then remembered that Michelle was from Singh’s clan. He couldn’t help but ask in shock, “You want to kick her out of the competition?” Humans were selfish and divided people based on how close they felt. When it came to Michelle and Singh, Wang Xiaoming counted them among the ranks of friends. So if someone had to be eliminated, he hoped that it’d be people he didn’t know.
“No.” Baal’s answer made him relax instantly.
Without a doubt, it would be Michelle and Andy who were knocked out of the competition.
Especially when Yanuk, who had been lost, got there. The situation became eight against two. At that point, Michelle and Andy could practically pack their own bags and leave since any attempts to fight back would be meaningless.
But the remaining eight contestants made the situation weirder.
There were five Camarilla and three Sabbat. All the neutral clans had been eliminated.
The scales were tilted heavily to one side.
Casro noted the Camarilla’s gazes turning more and more bizarre. He secretly went on the defensive and kept moving back toward Sean and Rosca.
Rosca laughed coldly, “There are two kinds of things that cannot be trusted. One is a werewolf, and the other is a Camarilla.”
Casro continued, “I think that, in comparison to the Camarilla, werewolves are practically benign.”
Allan said with a smile, “I never promised anything.”
Rosca and Casro paused and turned around to look at Sean.
Sean nodded. “That’s right. Eliminating Michelle and Andy was completely my idea.”
Rosca and Casro looked at him in disbelief.
Michelle and Andy had just been their comrades-in-arms. If they hadn’t been eliminated, the scales would have been balanced instead of tilting entirely toward the Camarilla. They really couldn’t tell figure out why Sean, who was usually so clever, was now so stupid.
Sean looked at the irrepressible confidence on the Camarilla’s faces and said calmly, “There are always exceptions in the world. A lot of things will not go according to your plans.”
Allan agreed with a smile, “I wholeheartedly approve of that sentence.”
Sean responded, “You think you’re my opponent?”
Allan answered honestly, “No.” He paused. “But you’re no match for me and Yanuk. And we clearly have two more than you.”
“That is the case,” Sean sighed. “So, I’ll bring along more comrades the next time we play.”
“The next time?” Yanuk said coldly, “You might have a next time, but we won’t be your opponents.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Sean’s smile suggested something else.
Allan frowned. He knew Sean. Sean was not someone who would say words filled with hot air. He had always been straightforward; losing was losing and winning was winning. There must have been a reason for him to say something like that. But… what was the reason?
Yanuk said, “Time’s almost up.”
Sean suddenly smiled. “It’s already up.”
“The human?” Allan turned around.
In that instant—
They immediately felt their bodies being pulled away by a great force and the scene in front of their eyes started to twist.
“A ward?”
They were surprised and baffled.
The time wasn’t up and there were enough slots. The Forest of Shattered Illusions didn’t have any reasons to move them out!
Sean took pleasure in the joy of watching the scenery change in front of him, as if he had already given up.
Allan and the others struggled to break free, but the difference in power ensured that their struggles would be in vain.
…
Wang Xiaoming stared in stunned silence as the Kindred, who had been standing around in a densely-packed group, vanished in an instant.
“You… didn’t you say you were going to let Michelle and Andy go?” Because everything had happened so fast, he didn’t even have the chance to see for himself whether they were in there.
Baal said, “You asked if I wanted to kick her out of the competition.”
“Yea, you said you wouldn’t.” Wang Xiaoming nodded furiously.
“Because I didn’t want to kick her out of the competition; I wanted to kick them all out of the competition,” Baal answered self-righteously.
Wang Xiaoming, “…”
Baal stretched lazily. “Let’s find a place to sit down and eat something.”
If Baal hadn’t said anything, Wang Xiaoming wouldn’t have realized that he was also starting to feel hungry.
Baal looked around in satisfaction. He took out a food container from his space and sighed, “Finally, we don’t have to worry about random people jumping out halfway.”
Just as he finished saying that sentence, a beam of golden light suddenly pierced through the dark gray sky and landed vertically in front of them.
Within the piercing column of light, there seemed to be the subtle outline of a white door.
Baal, “…” If someone walked out from behind the door, he would slap them to death regardless of who it was!
Wang Xiaoming cried excitedly, “Does this mean we’ve passed?”
Baal pressed his lips together. Was passing so unexpected? If he hadn’t passed, that’d be a rare occurrence!
“Baal?” Wang Xiaoming had to call out a reminder when he noticed Baal standing there unmovingly for a very long time.
Baal slowly inhaled and then demanded angrily, “When we see Cain, please remind me to give his face some extra punches!” Damn game, damn rules, and damn door!
The door slowly opened.
From where Wang Xiaoming stood, he could see the delicate murals and pure white walls.
“Let’s go?” He tugged on Baal’s hand.
Baal held his hand back.
“Mew.” Behind him came a longing sound.
Wang Xiaoming suddenly turned around.
The tiger stood about three steps away and looked at him with wide eyes and a hurt expression.
“You belong to the forest.” In the end, Wang Xiaoming couldn’t resist walking up to it, squatting down, and saying, “You should stay here.” He slowly reached out a hand toward its forehead.
“Awooo!”
The tiger suddenly leaned its head back and roared.
The tiger followed behind them, step by the step, and only stopped when they got to the light.
Before Wang Xiaoming stepped across the threshold, he couldn’t help but turn back and say, “I really want to hear a true tiger’s roar again.”
The tiger saw him turn back and happily wagged its tail.
…
Still didn’t understand?
Wang Xiaoming shrugged his shoulders in resignation and turned around to walk into the room.
The door closed slowly behind them. In that instant—
A tiger’s roar capable of moving heaven and earth rang out—it had the imposing manner that only belonged to the king of the forest!
