Chapter 292: Coercion

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Before them was a giant spider covered with colorless, velvety, fine hair with a height of over four meters, with both length and a width of five meters. On top of that, it also had four heads on both sides. Standing in the water, the river flowed through its limbs and merely covered its first section of the limb.

After exchanging glances with the fierce and indifferent eyes of the giant spider, Hawk noticed that the three beautiful girls his companion had been chasing had sat firmly on its back. He commanded the doll to raise its hands to indicate that it would not do any malicious actions. At the same time, he whispered to Drizzt, “The Asian boy must have transformed that spider. Drizzt, since he is an ‘Ent’ like you, can you estimate his strength based on your experience?”

The leopard stood up and transformed back to Drizzt who was wearing a suit. Smiling wryly, he replied, “I can’t see through him! I can only ascertain that his strength is no weaker than mine. Plus, there must be a secret mage prowling about who can cover the traces of casting among these four Darkwalkers. Our situation is not too…”

Just as he was speaking halfway, his body suddenly tilted forward, as a few stinger-like giant scorpions spurred that appeared out of nowhere from behind him suddenly pierced his body.

“Hawk, be careful! There are five of them…” The sudden heavy assault made Drizzt stiffen right away. Horrified, he looked down at his chest and shouted in a shrill voice. All of a sudden, the spurs that suddenly turned into a fan and turned into a splattering fresh pile of meat sliced him.

That pile of meat splattered everywhere but did not land on the ground. Instead, they transformed to become countless red tiny ants with transparent wings under the sun, forming a mist of insect that rose to the sky.

After flying about 100 meter high, the group of ants transformed into drip wax oil that condensed with each other. Wriggling, they turned to become an eagle and cried in a sharp shriek, before proceeding to soar high into the sky.

At this moment, a gush of huge billowing wave suddenly rose from the river below Drizzt and drowned him till he disappeared without a trace.

The sudden scorpion tail also penetrated the possessed ‘doll’. This had already torn Hawk apart and was about to shatter completely when he witnessed another enemy ambush from the small river, setting off a storm-like wave that killed his heavily injured companion in one fell swoop. At this moment, he no longer had much will to survive left in his heart.

However, finding a glimpse of life in desperate circumstances was the innate instinct of all creatures. This applied to a sorcerer who had brutally killed countless living things too.

“Stop, foreign Darkwalker! Don’t tell me you really plan to kill Lord’s men for no reason just like that?” Hawk shrieked through the doll. To his surprise, his one simple sentence actually turned out to have a great effort.

A slender human figure that covered entirely with a constantly color-changing diamond-shaped scales appeared in the air.

The nine scorpion tails that extended out from the spine behind no longer continued to attack the Witch Doctor. Instead, it fluttered gracefully in the air, and the slender human figure asked, “You’re Lord’s man so you’re indeed the subordinate of a great personage as well. However, you cannot use this as a reason for you and your companions to chase an unfamiliar Darkwalker! This is a blatant provocation!”

“I admit that, oh powerful Darkwalker! It was indeed our fault just now!” Now that the pressure had lifted off slightly, living through this was no longer an extravagant luxury. A lifelike wry expression appeared on the doll’s face right away, “However, we didn’t know that you all are Darkwalkers too! The reason we chased you is ridiculous. It’s because my damn companion, Drizzt, has the quirks of collecting rare bodies. Among your companions, that red-haired girl just so happens to have a rare Aryan lineage.”

“So it’s actually a coincidence!” Zhang Lisheng actually wanted to swindle the enemy’s purpose of chasing the four of them, but it had never crossed his mind that everything was only a misunderstanding. With a stunned expression, he pondered over it for a moment before giving a ferocious smile. Bringing into play on the spot, he asked, “What is the purpose of you two coming to the Shrimp B1 Island, then? I think two Darkwalkers under the care of the Lord will not just appear on this foreign world’s island for no reason, right?”

After Hawk remained silent for a while, he reckoned with a tough facade, “Sir, the Shrimp B1 Island is near New York, so it may be better for some things to remain unspoken…”

The instant his words left his mouth, a rain cloud in the sky suddenly condensed into a huge wave, descending from the sky and pouring down onto his head. A green wyrmdragon that was over 20 meters in length in the midst of the wave as it continued to spiral downward wrapped itself around the doll that the Witch Doctor possessed.

“Listen, doll! I don’t want to talk anymore nonsense. Five seconds later, you may either tell me the purpose of your visit to the Shrimp B1 Island or die!” an irrefutable expression appeared on Zhang Lisheng’s face as he began the countdown, “One, two…”

The moment he reached ‘two’, Hawk, who realized that the long-eared python entangling the doll was not a living thing at all. He suddenly saw the light and exclaimed out loud, “You’re not an Ent but a Witch Doctor! You’re actually the same as me, a Witch Doctor! No! No! You’re an Ent! Y-You’re both an Ent and a Witch Doctor… Oh sweet Hades, you’re a Legender! You’re actually a Legender who broke through the occupation barrier, just like the Lord!”

What he heard baffled Zhang Lisheng. Even though he did not understand what this rag doll meant, he played along with it and continued, “That’s right! I’m indeed a Legender who is both an Ent and a Witch Doctor! You should know how to make your choice now, right?”

A struggling expression appeared on the face of the puppet. In the end, a faint gush of smog finally oozed out of its tattered body and a short Indian appeared beside it.

“As a Witch Doctor, of course I know how to choose now. Oh, powerful Darkwalker! I can tell you the Lord’s secret, but you must also swear to the Cocytus that you’ll never kill me today, let alone toy with my soul!”

“I swear by the Cocytus that as long as you tell the truth, I won’t kill you, nor will I toy with your soul!” Zhang Lisheng answered without hesitation.

“An ant like me believes that a Legender will never break his oath!” Hawk muttered and scoffed his large nose. Taking off his suit, he revealed his chest so thin that it showed the outline of his ribs. Then, he touched the fourth rib of his right chest and used the nail of his thumb to slice the skin coating it before tearing it by force, revealing pieces of muscles and organs that looked like cotton wool.

The three girls riding on the wizard gu in the distance almost threw up when they saw this. Fortunately, the Witch Doctor did not pay any attention to them, so he did not notice this give-away at all.

He reached his hand into his chest through the wound and carefully fumbled for a while, before taking out an ugly doll made from straw that was dripping with smelly black blood. Gripping it tightly, he looked at Zhang Lisheng nervously and said, “This replacement doll has already resonated with my soul, so it’ll have no use anymore even if it falls to the hands of the others.”

Zhang Lisheng did not know the value of this so-called replacement doll, so he replied nonchalantly, “As long as you speak the truth, no one will take your replacement doll away.”

When Hawk saw the young man’s attitude, he breathed a sigh of relief, “Since you’re sincere in letting me live on, I’ll definitely tell you everything I know.”

While he was speaking, the Witch Doctor sat on the mud cross-legged and gripped the wrinkled overgrown skin around the wound on his chest. Muttering, he squeezed the flesh into a ball.

Then, he placed the doll made from the straw on his chest and began to say, “Oh, powerful Darkwalker, the reason the Lord sent us to the island is to find the secret of the aborigine’s faith. I think you must have also come to the Shrimp B1 Island for the same reason. The difference between you and the Lord is that he is more cautious, so he only sent his retinues to explore the island first. As for the secret of the faith, as a Legender, I’m sure you’d know much better than I do. The only valuable information I can tell you is that the Lord thinks the key to breaking the secrets of the natives’ beliefs should be another magical item, besides the totem pole. Only then did the Trinity e…”

When Hawk reached this part of his statement, his body began to shake violently. At the same time, a round scar that looked like a natural mole on his neck that was originally stale suddenly changed to become red. Countless blood streaks suddenly spread out from it and continued to extend.

Right now, the Witch Doctor no longer bothered talking to the powerful Legender in exchange for his life. He began to be filled with a pain so intense that his facial features distorted as he rolled on the ground, wailing in pain. As the red streaks spread, his vitality gradually weakened.

However, when the red line was about to spread across his right chest to the left half of his body, the straw doll on his chest suddenly gave off a cloud of thick black smoke and attracted the red line to it.

Being invaded by the curse, the replacement doll immediately cried out loud, sounding like a baby. Hawk’s expression also gradually calmed down as the cries became louder.

After panting heavily for a few times, he said weakly, “Oh powerful Darkwalker, I’ve finished telling you all that I know. You have also seen that the punishment from the mark has already arrived. If I don’t bury it in the soil now, the replacement doll will not be able to survive. M-may I leave now?”

Zhang Lisheng frowned. When he finally realized that he couldn’t gather any more information from him, he nodded, “You may leave now. Remember, never show your face in front of me again!”

“I only have one replacement doll and I have already used it. You don’t have to tell me that. I hope that I’ll never come across you and the Lord in my next life too!” With a wry smile, Hawk commanded the doll beside him to pick him up by the neck to be placed on its shoulder. Then, in a wobbly manner, it walked into the depths of the jungle.

Staring at the disappearing image of the Witch Doctor’s back, Zhang Lisheng also sighed in relief. Even though these two enemies seemed to be easy to deal with, luck had composed a major part of it.

If it was not for Drizzt and Hawk who had been misled by their own false guesses from the very beginning, he would have long retreated under this situation where he had to bring the three weak girls, Tina, Trish, and Sheila with him if a face-to-face conflict arose.