After such a strange conversation with Se Lei, I returned to the barracks and, packing everything necessary into my portfolio, took two daggers that lay on the nightstand next to the bed. These were the very daggers I had spent a whole week carving from the fangs of three-eyed wolves. Of course, I spent a lot of time on them, as they are much stronger than the fangs of alligators. I wrapped the handles with cloth, which I secured with glue; the previous ones didn't have this and sometimes slipped out of my hands. No one had seen them yet, as I only applied the final touches with a whetstone yesterday, after returning from Xiamen, but I was proud of my work; they would definitely serve me for a long time.
When we approached the gates, a large part of our squad had gathered there, and Jiaxing Xia's team was just passing through the gates, leaving the base. Xiao Hou and He Yu were also standing there. Did they decide to see us off? Damn, what kind of care is this?
"Hi, guys, ready to go chop wolves?" Xiao Hou asked, approaching.
"Of course, why didn't you volunteer for this mission?" Zhao Ting asked cheerfully.
"Yeah, it just so happened that I refused," Xiao Hou immediately became sad. "Last time I was completely useless. I heard from Se Lei how Jiaxing Yun used initial-level wind magic, so I decided that until I learn to kill wolves like him, or at least break through to the middle level, I'll only go on patrol," he finished his speech confidently. Damn, what is this misunderstanding? It needs to be corrected.
"Calm down, Xiao Hou, if you want to learn to fight like me, then here are my old daggers. They are a bit dull, of course, but if you sharpen them with a whetstone after each battle, they can last a couple more months," I said, taking out old daggers made from alligator teeth from my backpack. Originally, the plan was to keep them as a souvenir, but I'm not stingy about giving them to Xiao Hou either. Of course, I'm more likely to change the canon this way, but he'll become stronger, and as I said, I need the main characters to be as strong as in the original, but it's better if they are even stronger.
"Oh, thank you very much," Xiao Hou accepted my gift, carefully taking the daggers by the handle.
"Yeah, you're welcome, just make sure to go on raids to wolf lairs," I said, looking at his happy face. "Only practice will help you kill monsters like I do, it's really not easy." In response, he nodded vigorously, examining and trying to hold the daggers. "He Yu, why did you refuse?"
"I didn't refuse, it's just that I broke through to the third stage yesterday, and the list was already approved. Initially, only mages of the third stage or higher were taken," she replied in a slightly sad voice. "So you fight there for us, and be sure to come back. We couldn't find a place for ourselves when you stayed to fight the leaders."
"Yes, of course," Xu Zhao Ting smiled, scratching the back of his head.
"Thank you. Let's go, Xiao Hou, we have a lot to do..." He Yu began to lead away the monkey who was staring at the daggers. I don't think the canon will change much because of this. It might change more because He Yu survived.
However, I didn't have much time to think, as almost everyone had gathered and we were supposed to leave any minute. We set out again at ten in the morning and continued our journey until seven in the evening. Since I wasn't on reconnaissance all day, I didn't have much opportunity to do anything interesting. Of course, with a ninety percent probability, I will have a fun conversation with Jiaxing Xia and his team tomorrow, but today was extremely boring.
In the evening, I was the first on watch with Zhao Ting, so that I could sleep well for tomorrow. However, instead of vigilantly observing the sleeping comrades, I immersed myself in cultivation, hoping to subdue the third star of space, which I almost succeeded in doing. For the entire hour of duty, I felt like someone was watching me. You know that feeling, you don't even see that you're constantly being watched, but you feel it with your whole body. I was almost one hundred percent sure it was Yu Qi, but going to catch him would be foolish. Who would I blame for his death? Tomorrow, at least, I can scatter bait for the wolves, which, by the way, absorbs into the ground after an hour and is almost impossible to find.
The next day, after a short breakfast, I went ahead, saying that for better safety, I would walk a couple of kilometers first, and then contact them and walk through the same area again. Fortunately, Luo Dong doesn't particularly suppress self-activity. Besides, we still have about twenty kilometers to go to the assembly point, and the attack on the lair is planned only for tomorrow. However, I was doing this walk not for safety, but so that I wouldn't be prevented from dealing with Bao Qing Che's squad.
When I had walked about a kilometer away from everyone, nothing happened. I walked calmly, looking for beasts on my way, trying to behave as naturally as possible. But after two kilometers, there were no signs of an ambush. I was already starting to think that I had misjudged them. However, as the third kilometer was coming to an end, and I came out onto a rather wide clearing and reached its center, Yu Qi stood in my way.
"Hello, Jiaxing Yun," he said, smiling slyly. "I see you still have the dragon's tooth? Why did you take it off during our first meeting?"
"Yeah, it was rubbing my neck, I put it in my portfolio to rest," I shrugged. "It's my tooth, I do whatever I want with it. Although thanks for calling it a dragon's tooth." I said completely carefree, even slightly dismissively. "Has your team reached the meeting point? Were you sent to escort us along a safe road?"
"Hahahaha!" he burst out laughing. "I'm only here because this tooth is needed by our elders. If it weren't for them, I personally wouldn't chase this useless ancient relic."
"Shut up, you just don't understand its value!" Jiaxing Xia came out from behind the trees and, approaching Yu Qi, gave him a smack on the back of the head. "So, Jiaxing Yun, we have two options: either you give us the tooth without a fight, and we'll turn a blind eye to your parents' crimes, or we'll kill you and take what belongs to us by force."
"Oh, and can you tell me more about my parents? I lost my memory at seven," I said, with a slightly feigned mockery.
"What, you really don't know what happened eleven years ago?" Jiaxing Xia asked, his eyes wide with surprise. "Do you even remember your real name?"
"No, I don't remember, can you enlighten me?" I asked with disdain in my voice. They clearly know a lot that I don't know about my body's past and about my tooth, and they are definitely working or are guardians.
"Eh, just tell him, let him know what he's dying for before he dies," Jiaxing Zhu sighed, coming out from behind the trees to my left.
"Alright, your name is Moskvin Vitold Evdokimovich..." Jiaxing Xia began to say.
"Ugh, what kind of nonsense is that? Couldn't they give me a normal name, like Ivan or Vadim? Or at least Maxim?" I interrupted him, indignant about the name. I really didn't like it. "Yeah, whatever, what did my parents do that you've been chasing me for eleven years?"
"Hu..." Jiaxing Xia exhaled, then added in a stern voice, "If you interrupt again, I'll kill you on the spot!"
"Okay, okay, I'll shut up, I'm really curious, at least I'll know what I'm dying for," I waved my hands, after all, I shouldn't overdo it and anger him prematurely.
"So. Your parents stole the dragon's tooth, an ancient relic of the keepers of covenants. Your father was the direct heir of the clan head, but he chose to marry a Chinese woman, for which he was persecuted. When you were about five years old, they stole the tooth and fled abroad. The clan searched for them for a long time and found them two years later in China. A detachment was sent to bring them back, but no one returned. Another one was sent, and it didn't return. As a result, the deputy head went, but there was no news from him either. The last known point of their location was Hong Kong, after which their trail was lost. Many ordinary people, followers, and servants of the keeper clan moved to China, and old members who had lived here for a long time were also activated, but the search was unsuccessful," Jiaxing Xia recounted. His story clarified why they hadn't come for me all this time; they had simply lost my trail, and finding a small boy in a remote town in the jungles of China is not an easy task.
"I see, and how did you find me now? And where did my parents go if you didn't find them?" I asked perfectly reasonable questions.
"Why answer his meaningless questions? We'll kill him anyway," Jiaxing Yan asked, coming out from behind the trees to my right.
"Hey, wait, I'm curious, I lost my memory, maybe if I listen to you, I'll understand that I shouldn't argue with you, huh?" I said, waving my hands with fear in my voice. "Guys, answer my questions, please."
"Yeah, who are you listening to? Kill him and that's it! Jiaxing Xia, kill him and be done with it," Yu Qi said confidently.
"Wait, maybe he'll give us the dragon's tooth himself. Be patient, Pyotr," Jiaxing Xia said good-naturedly in slightly broken Russian. So Yu Qi's name is Pyotr. Wait, why does he have a normal name, and mine is some kind of incomprehensible one? "If we have to kill him, we'll have a whole cartload of problems later."
"Yeah? What the hell difference does it make! Jiaxing Yan, did you scatter bait on the main team's route? Will they definitely go there and run into monsters?" Pyotr asked impatiently, also in Russian, but almost without an accent.
"Yes, everything is ready, all that's left is for them to go that way, and they're guaranteed to encounter monsters," Jiaxing Yan replied with a shrug in Russian. So, it turns out they've also concocted an alibi for me, just perfect!
"See, kill him and return this tooth. I can't stand crawling through these Chinese jungles!" Pyotr continued to stir up trouble. At this moment, a signal came to the radio I had. I deliberately activated and deactivated it before, so that Luo Dong would try to contact me.
"Ah, the radio? Great!" Jiaxing Xia began to rejoice, who was about to give up under Pyotr's pressure. "Take it, say the path is clear, and I'll answer your questions, and then we'll decide what to do."
"Okay," I shrugged indifferently, taking out the radio.
"Is everything alright? What was that interrupted signal?" Luo Dong's worried voice came from the radio.
"Everything is excellent, the path is clear, start moving," I replied in an indifferent voice.
"Okay, continue reconnaissance," Luo Dong ordered and ended the communication.
"There, you heard everything you wanted. Now, answers to my questions," I said confidently, putting the radio back in place.
"Alright," Jiaxing Xia said, and sighing, continued, "Your parents disappeared without a trace. We don't know what happened after the deputy head went; he didn't return. Now, one of the old servants of the clan, a Chinese by birth, gave us information about you. He saw the dragon's tooth, well-known to all of us, on your neck and informed us about two and a half months ago. But we only knew your name, and your whereabouts were unknown. Just before the report in this city of Bo, where the informant lived, a tragedy occurred, and the city was captured by monsters for a short time. We received information that you became a hunter in Shanghai only about three weeks ago," Jiaxing Xia said calmly. This clarifies a lot, and also provides an important clue as to who betrayed me. It can only be someone with whom I had contact literally a couple of days before the tragedy, or during it, or immediately after. I have one possible idea about this, but now I need to deal with them, and then confirm it.
"I see, and then you started looking for the hunter Jiaxing Yun in Shanghai, found out that I was at Lake Taihu, and then what?" I asked another question.