Looking from afar at the two children chatting by the stream, listening to the gurgling water, especially the little girl with golden hair and blue eyes—the child he had to kill—the Hunter's heart suddenly tightened.
He remembered his daughter.
"My daughter is about the same age as this girl named Aurora."
"What crime could such a young child commit? She must be innocent!"
The Hunter immediately felt a pang of reluctance and had the thought of abandoning the mission.
He shook his head vigorously again, forcefully suppressing the pity in his heart:
"No, no, I'm too short on money. What do other people's daughters have to do with me? My adoptive father and daughter both need this money!"
He was too poor.
Many years ago, the King of White Kingdom married the current Queen, who had an eccentric personality, and from then on, he only indulged in his new wife and neglected state affairs. This originally prosperous small country gradually declined. Many people became impoverished, homeless, and slept on the streets.
At this moment, Aurora and Rhine had clearly noticed the Hunter and cast their gazes towards him.
"Hello, Uncle. You've been looking at us, is there something you need?"
Aurora waved friendly to the Hunter, elegant yet retaining a child's innocence, appearing well-behaved, cute, and likable.
The Hunter tightly gripped the sharp blade in his hand, his palm covered in sweat.
"It's just for an instant anyway. Close your eyes and stab the knife into this girl's heart!"
His thoughts flashed by, and the Hunter suddenly erupted, letting out a loud roar, shooting out like an arrow from a bowstring, charging towards the golden-haired girl.
"I'm sorry, goodbye!"
The Hunter fiercely plunged the short knife in his hand towards the girl's chest!
The moment the sharp blade pierced towards the girl's chest, the Hunter closed his eyes.
He seemed to already see the hot, crimson blood splashing onto his cheeks; he saw the girl's fallen body when he opened his eyes; he saw the silver-haired boy beside her, panicked and crying over his companion's corpse.
Then, the only thing he had to do was coldly squat down, pull out the girl's heart, ignoring the silver-haired boy's screams beside him.
Clang.
Crimson sparks flew.
The Hunter felt as if he had stabbed a piece of steel; his entire body recoiled a few steps due to the enormous Recoil, and his right hand holding the short knife was completely numb, even his tiger's mouth was bleeding.
"Ah, ah, ah, what's going on?"
The Hunter wondered if he had stabbed a rock and quickly opened his eyes.
He saw the girl standing perfectly in front of him, unharmed.
"What, what is going on?"
The Hunter instantly panicked.
Did he miss the stab just now?
"Is there a reason you suddenly attacked me?" Aurora asked, "I don't think I know you yet, Uncle."
The Hunter took a deep breath, gathered his courage again, and swung the short knife towards Aurora's neck.
Aurora neither dodged nor flinched, allowing the sharp blade to strike her slender, fair neck.
The metallic clanging sound came again, and the short knife in the Hunter's hand was shaken off, a sharp pain shot through his hand, and hot blood flowed from his tiger's mouth.
And Aurora, who had taken the blow head-on, remained motionless, her sharp eyes fixed on the Hunter.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah! Monster, a monster!"
The Hunter nearly fainted from fright, his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.
This time he saw clearly: the knife had not missed at all, yet it could not cause even the slightest harm to this seemingly fragile little girl.
"Tell us, why did you attack us?"
Aurora walked step by step towards the Hunter, her feet exerting force, and with each step, the earthen ground beneath her cracked.
Looking at the beautiful and charming golden-haired girl approaching him step by step, the Hunter felt as if he was seeing the most terrifying beast in the world.
"Yes, tell us, who sent you to attack Aurora?" Rhine also asked.
Given that this place was "Snow White's Kingdom," Rhine could actually roughly guess the Hunter's intention, but he wanted to hear it directly from the Hunter.
The Hunter trembled all over, but he still retained his last shred of sanity.
"This girl's skin is harder than steel, and she can crack the ground with a single step. She's definitely some kind of monster! Oh my god, Her Majesty the Queen didn't tell me I was undertaking such a dangerous mission!"
The Hunter quickly weighed the pros and cons.
"I definitely can't win in a fight. But even if I die, it's just me dying."
"If I reveal that the Queen is the mastermind, my whole family will probably be doomed!"
The Hunter lowered his head, facing Rhine and Aurora's questions, and said nothing.
"Sorry, I can't say anything!"
He closed his eyes tightly, looking righteous and unyielding, as if he would rather die than speak.
"At worst, I'll die. If I say too much, my whole family will suffer."
Rhine smiled, took out a glistening, translucent crystal ball, which immediately emitted a mysterious blue light.
Then, the boy cast a gaze that seemed to penetrate body and soul towards the Hunter, who was trembling on the ground.
After observing the other party for a few seconds, Rhine, as if checking a household register, read out methodically:
"Angus, a Hunter from White Kingdom. He is 43 years old this year, an orphan, and his wife has passed away. His only remaining family members are his elderly carpenter adoptive father and a 10-year-old daughter. Let me see, where do they live…"
Because the divination target was not a powerful figure with extraordinary abilities or noble status, this divination was not greatly interfered with by fate and was exceptionally smooth, yielding unusually clear results.
"Ah, ah, ah!" The Hunter opened his eyes in fright.
What's going on here?
How did they know everything about his family?
"Not only is this golden-haired girl a monster, but the boy next to her is too!"
Having enjoyed the fun of "magical unboxing," Rhine squatted down and stared at the Hunter, who was too panicked to speak:
"Did the Queen send you?"
The Hunter's body trembled: "How did you know?"
"As expected." Rhine's guess was confirmed.
The Hunter finally gave up hiding:
"Yes, yes, yes. Her Majesty the Queen ordered me to kill the girl named Aurora next to you, sir. If I had known you were so powerful, I would never have come! Please let me go. I have an elderly father and young child to care for, as well as my elderly adoptive father and young daughter!"
The Hunter cried profusely, begging for mercy repeatedly.
"Don't worry, we don't intend to do anything to you." Rhine comforted him, "Alright, you can go."
Huh?
The Hunter didn't react.
They're just letting me go?
Hunter Angus thanked them repeatedly, picked up his bent short knife, and ran away in a panic.
"Wait a moment." Rhine suddenly called out to the Hunter.
"What is it?" Hunter Angus turned around in fear, afraid that the two terrifying children had changed their minds.
"Take this," Rhine threw a round, plump pearl to the Hunter, "Sell this pearl, and you, your adoptive father, and your daughter will all live good lives."
The Hunter looked at the priceless pearl in his hand in disbelief.
It was even larger than the pearl on the Queen's crown!
"Thank you so much, my benefactors!" The Hunter cried tears of gratitude, thanking them repeatedly before leaving.
The pearl Rhine had just given naturally came from the Sea King's ocean treasure. Similar pearls were countless in the Sea Kingdom!
Looking at the Hunter's receding back, Rhine suddenly said:
"When you have time, you can go and see his home."
During the divination just now, he discovered that the Hunter's carpenter adoptive father might have something special about him.
This meant that this adoptive father either had a hidden identity, was a person of great importance to the world, or was a child of destiny with a special status in fairy tales.
"Oh my goodness. You two are amazing! We just thought that girl was going to suffer misfortune and were planning to help."
Suddenly, Rhine and Aurora heard a gasp from behind them.
"That girl's skin can withstand a knife." The second gasp sounded.
"And she's incredibly strong, she can crack the ground with one step." The third gasp sounded.
"The crystal ball in that boy's hand glows." The fourth gasp sounded.
"And he knows so, so much." The fifth gasp sounded.
"And he has a kind heart, he gave a super beautiful pearl." The sixth gasp sounded.
"Ah, ah, ah, yes!" The seventh voice racked its brain for a long time, truly not knowing what else to say, and could only follow with "Ah, ah."
"Who's there?"
Aurora turned her head and saw the Seven Dwarfs hiding behind the big tree.
To meet the Seven Dwarfs here… Rhine thought.
"You are so amazing, this is the first time in our lives we've seen such powerful people! And you are all kind-hearted good people." The Dwarfs jumped up excitedly.
"Our cottage is right nearby, come and be our guests. We'll make delicious food for you." The Dwarfs added.
Unlike humans, the Dwarfs' disposition seemed much simpler… Rhine thought. In the original story, it was these kind-hearted Dwarfs who adopted Snow White.
"Alright. We're hungry too, so we'll trouble you to treat us."
Rhine led a bewildered Aurora and followed the Dwarfs.
"No. What exactly are these creatures that look like humans but are especially short?" Aurora's mind was full of confusion.
...
The Hunter returned home, gave the priceless pearl to his elderly father, and then considered how to report back to the Queen.
After thinking for a long time, he simply dug out a wild boar's heart, returned to the Queen, and handed it to her.
Looking at the bloody heart in the box, the Queen smiled contentedly.
But to confirm whether Aurora was truly dead, the Queen still returned to her room and asked the magic mirror again:
"magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, who is the most beautiful person in the world… uh, no, who is the most beautiful person in White Kingdom!"
Unexpectedly, the magic mirror told the Queen:
"Beyond the mountains, beneath the green shade, there is a small house built by seven Dwarfs, and Aurora, more beautiful than you, is hiding there."
The Queen knew the Hunter had deceived her and was immediately filled with rage.
"You dared to deceive me!"
The Queen looked at the trembling Hunter.
"I knew this would happen. You must have remembered your daughter and felt pity, which is why you showed mercy, isn't that right?"
The Hunter was instantly dumbfounded.
He did indeed remember his daughter.
But it was mainly reflected in his fear that his family would also be killed by those two terrifying children!
"I did remember my family, you know I have a family too. But…"
The Hunter was at a loss for words, and just as he was about to say something, he was dragged away by the guards.
"Imprison this Hunter!" the Queen ordered.
She returned to her room and used her not-so-extensive magical knowledge to create three murderous tools imbued with dark magic.
This time, the Queen decided to personally take action!
"Heh heh, that Hunter will feel pity. But I won't!"