Chapter 18: Fangs (Part 1)

A fireplace built with merely four stones was struggling to provide heat for the entire wooden hut; but inside that extremely crude fireplace, the flame supported by a few logs was burning with difficulty, and the swaying fire could not provide enough temperature for the whole room at all, especially after another heavy snow yesterday, the plummeting temperature made the cold completely surround the room.

Dean, who had just woken up from a short sleep, squatted in front of the fireplace with a prepared blanket draped over him; he casually placed a piece of firewood into the fireplace, and immediately, the flame fueled by new fuel instantly grew stronger, and after that, the addition of several logs drove away the cold in the entire room, placing it in a comfortable warmth.

In this warmth, Dean looked through an observation opening he had specially left, feeling the biting cold wind and watching everything outside the room—this was the sentry post that Dean least wanted to recall; the former Dean had experienced life and death and humiliation here several times, especially the latter, which made his heart feel as uncomfortable as if it were being gnawed by snakes and rats.

However, now…

Dean was actually glad that he could come here again!

“Fall, keep falling!”

Looking at the heavy snow outside the room, the first heavy snow since winter began in the Northland of the Emerald Kingdom, Dean muttered in a low voice, while the look in his eyes became increasingly cold, even surpassing that biting cold wind.

It had been three days since Dean left the Ferrchelen Knight Order station, and during these three days, Dean certainly could not have done nothing; in addition to the prepared food and warm cotton clothes and blankets, Dean also perfected and reinforced the traps that had not been completed in the three days saved from traveling before.

Even because of this extra time, he added a few more things to make his entire plan more secure.

Of course, what reassured Dean the most was the heavy snow that started last night.

The heavy snow that had lasted all night showed no sign of stopping by now, and this would inevitably become the best cover for the traps he had laid.

Was there anything more seamless than the cover provided by nature?

And now, what Dean needed to do was wait for the arrival of the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander and his men—the situation in his memory must have changed because of his ‘performance’ that day, but Dean was still confident that the other party would come.

That look of deliberately suppressed greed and killing intent, Dean could not misread it.

Three days was definitely an agonizing limit for the other party—he did not think that Regiment Commander Potts had any more patience!

Dean could even guess that the reason the other party did not kill him immediately but waited for these three days was simply to make his ‘death’ seem natural—Barbarians attacked the sentry post during a shift change, and the Knight Order Regiment Commander immediately came to support upon receiving the news, but unfortunately the Apprentice Knight died, while the Knight Order Regiment Commander gained quite a harvest after a brave pursuit.

As for anything else, did that Regiment Commander Potts have any other thoughts?

There definitely were; in Dean’s speculation, Potts, the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander, was certainly very eager to see him shivering and terrified in the cold wind.

In this regard, if it made the whole plan go smoothly, Dean did not mind ‘cooperating’; he would not even hesitate to sacrifice something.

Taking a deep breath, Dean’s eyes did not leave the observation opening; he looked outside, standing inside the wooden hut and waiting quietly.

He believed that the time he needed to wait would certainly not be too long!

…

And in fact, just as Dean had guessed, this morning, Potts, the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander, brought his own Knight guards—twelve formal members belonging to the Ferrchelen Knight Order—and left the Ferrchelen Knight Order station.

However, the heavy snow that had fallen all night showed no sign of stopping, which was somewhat unexpected to the Knight Order Regiment Commander; for this, he and his guards had to abandon their Warhorses and proceed on foot, and because of the accumulated snow, they slowed their pace again.

Therefore, when they appeared in front of the planned sentry post, it was already sunset.

Although it took several times longer, Potts and his group did not complain at all; every one of them wore a burning greed on their faces, which even the continuous heavy snow could not cool; on the contrary, they became even more impatient—after all, that was a Noble, although a minor one, he must be worth a fortune; even after setting aside the others’ share, one’s own share would be enough for them to live freely for quite a long time, just like the last job they did!

It was even simpler than that job; after all, the minor Noble from the last job had two guards, but what about this so-called Knight Dean?

He was a commander with no followers, and more importantly, his Strength was not very good—

Knights were undoubtedly respectable, if only for their Strength far surpassing ordinary people.

But an Apprentice Knight?

Although it also had the word Knight in it, the prefix ‘Apprentice’ had long explained everything.

In fact, the members of the Ferrchelen Knight Order all possessed the so-called ‘Apprentice’ Title; and in a small local Knight Order, the appearance of such Titles in batches was enough to prove how worthless ‘Apprentice’ Knights were—in some places, one only needed enough Gold Pulton to obtain such a Title.

Therefore, Dean, who held the Title of Apprentice Knight, was already a lamb to the slaughter in the eyes of these Ferrchelen Knight Order members!

Not to mention his Strength, which they had already witnessed!

“Regiment Commander, we have arrived!”

The Knight Order member who had once mocked Dean stopped, looked at Potts, and then said again: “I hope our Knight Dean has enough blankets; otherwise, he might have frozen to death in last night’s heavy snow!”

Immediately, the people around him let out malicious laughter again.

“Whether he froze to death or not, I must kill him!”

With words that whistled through his teeth, Ryder, who was beaten up by Dean on an excuse three days ago, walked out of the line, looking viciously in the direction of the sentry post; the resentment in his eyes was comparable to that of a venomous snake, and the swelling and gauze on his face proved that the injuries he suffered at Dean’s hands had not fully healed; however, after learning of his uncle’s plan, Ryder could no longer wait.

He must repay that beating from that day tenfold or a hundredfold.

“You little bastard from the Capital of Emerald, I must kill you!”

Ryder said as he looked at his uncle—the Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander.

“Go, you two follow him!”

Potts readily agreed to his nephew’s request, then pointed to two guards beside him; immediately, the two followed up.

However, their grinning appearance showed that they did not care at all.

Not only did these two not care, but everyone in Potts’s group did not care either; they did not think there was any difficulty in taking down a minor Noble who was all show and no substance, even Ryder, who had been beaten by Dean, thought so—he always believed that if he hadn’t been drinking and the other party hadn’t launched a sneak attack, he could have easily killed the other party.

He was just a minor Noble, what was there to care about?

They were a battle-hardened ‘Knight Order’!

With such thoughts, Ryder and the two Knight guards walked quickly toward the sentry post—without Ryder signaling, one of the Knight guards raised his leg and kicked the wooden door open.

They were prepared to face the fruits of victory they deserved with a condescending attitude.

As for failure?

They simply had not thought about it, so when the unexpected happened, they were always caught off guard.

Bang!

The loose, rotten wooden door, modified by Dean, almost flew away under the boot, clearing the path for the arrow.

Thud, thud!

The slightly thin leather armor could not stop the two powerful Crossbow arrows; with two sounds of flesh being pierced, the hearts of the two Knight guards were pierced by the arrows—one came from a Crossbow set as a trap behind the door, and the other came from the Crossbow in Dean’s hand.

Scalding blood splashed directly onto Ryder’s face; he subconsciously wiped his face, looking at the redness on his palm, this man who had sworn revenge just a moment ago obviously had not figured out what was happening—until Dean appeared in front of him and knocked him out with a hand chop, Ryder’s face still held a look of bewilderment.

Grabbing Ryder and slinging the Crossbow onto his back, Dean sneered as he looked at Potts’s group twenty yards away, directly raised his right hand, stuck out his thumb, and made a throat-slitting gesture, then disappeared from the doorway with Ryder—having Ryder, Potts’s nephew, in his hands, Dean was not worried that the other party would not follow.

After all, with two guards dead and Ryder captured by him, even if there was no deep hatred, Potts would never let him go; moreover, with the letter from the Vice Regiment Commander of the Central Knight Order, even if it was just for the sake of a promotion and wealth, Potts would definitely go all out.

Of course, apart from Regiment Commander Potts, with the advantage of numbers, the other members of the Ferrchelen Knight Order were always quite heroic.

“Dean!”

Potts looked at the empty wooden door and roared loudly.