"We happen to be heading back to Stellan Kingdom right now," Cole suggested enthusiastically. "Would you like to catch a ride with us? Once we return to the city, the reward will surely be presented in full."
"Very well." Hyacine nodded succinctly.
"Great!" A sincere smile broke out on Cole's face. "Then please, the two of you may enter the carriage first to rest. We will pack up and set off immediately."
After speaking, he stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation.
Seeing this, Hyacine and Hong Guoguo boarded the carriage as instructed.
Accompanied by the shouts of the driver and the sound of wheels grinding against the ground, the carriage began to move slowly once more, heading north.
...
About an hour later, the originally steady carriage suddenly jolted violently and then came to a complete stop.
"The carriage stopped? What happened?"
Hong Guoguo was somewhat puzzled and subsequently asked a guard sitting not far away.
"I will go down and take a look."
Hearing her question, the soldier replied with this single sentence and then walked off the carriage expressionlessly.
However, after a while, it was not the guard who came up, but Cole, who was supposed to be driving at the front.
With an apologetic look on his face, he lifted the carriage curtain and poked his head in.
"I am truly sorry, ladies. For some reason, a lot of white fog has suddenly appeared in Emerald Forest. Combined with the fact that it is now night, we probably cannot leave for the time being."
"White fog?" Hong Guoguo knitted her delicate brows upon hearing this. "Frosty white fog is a type of natural phenomena only common deep within the forest. We are clearly in the peripheral area near the edge; how could such a thick fog arise? This is irrational."
"I am not sure either." Cole was also full of confusion as he spread his hands. "We have traveled in and out of Emerald Forest quite a few times, but encountering such thick fog in the periphery is a first."
"This kind of weather... there might be danger..."
Hearing this, Hong Guoguo's frown deepened, and her cat ears twitched somewhat uneasily.
"Yes, for safety's sake, we plan to set up camp and rest for the night right here," Cole explained. "The space in the carriage is quite spacious. Miss Hyacinthia, Miss Hong Guoguo, please rest assured in the carriage tonight."
After speaking, he turned around to leave.
"Mr. Cole, please wait a moment."
But before Cole could leave, Hyacine's voice rang out, calling him back.
Cole's footsteps paused, and he looked back in confusion.
"Miss Hyacinthia, is there something else?"
"Just give us a tent," Hyacine said in a calm tone. "Hong Guoguo and I will set up camp and rest outside."
"How can we do that!" Cole waved his hands repeatedly, his expression earnest. "You two are our saviors! If you had not stepped in, my group of brothers would likely have seen blood today. Therefore, this carriage should rightfully be yielded to you. No one will have any objections!"
"No need." Hyacine shook her head slightly, her attitude remaining insistent. "The carriage is large enough to accommodate more people for rest. It would be too wasteful for just the two of us to stay there. Besides, we are already hitching a ride with you, and you have agreed to provide a reward upon our return, so there is no need for any extra special treatment."
"This..." Seeing Hyacine's firm expression and knowing that further persuasion would be useless, Cole could only sigh. "Alright, since you insist... I will go get a tent right now."
After speaking, he turned and left the carriage.
Not long after, Cole returned again, holding a roll of bundled tent cloth in his hand.
"Miss Hyacinthia, here is the tent you asked for."
"Thank you for the trouble."
Hyacine reached out to take it and offered a polite word of thanks.
"It is only right, only right."
After Cole finished speaking, he exited the carriage again.
Immediately, Hyacine turned to Hong Guoguo and said:
"Hong Guoguo, let us get off the carriage."
"Mm." Hong Guoguo responded and followed Hyacine off the carriage.
The two deliberately chose a spot slightly further away from the carriage and the rest of the caravan's campsite before briskly setting up the tent.
Inside the tent, Hong Guoguo closed her eyes to concentrate her mind and quiet her breath. Her pointed cat ears twitched slightly as she listened carefully to the surrounding movements.
After confirming there was no one nearby, she finally opened her eyes and looked at Hyacine with a bit of incomprehension, asking:
"Sister Hyacine, why do I feel... ever since we met this caravan, you have been a bit strange?"
"Oh? Where is the strangeness?"
Hearing Hong Guoguo's question, Hyacine did not answer directly. Instead, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared on her face as she asked back.
"Um..." Hong Guoguo tilted her head in recollection, counting on her fingers. "For example, Sister Hyacine, you usually always carry a very gentle smile, but just now toward Cole and the others, your smile was much fainter. It felt a bit... distant?"
Then, she paused, seemingly thinking of more strange points.
"And also, I heard Gang Leader Song and the others say that Sister Hyacine, you are the most kind-hearted. If you see someone injured, as long as the other party is not a bad person, you will step in to help treat them. But just now, there were clearly injured people in the caravan, yet you did not..."
"Did you not also state the prerequisite?" Hyacine interrupted Hong Guoguo's words, and then her smile deepened a few points. "'As long as the other party is not a bad person'."
"Eh?!"
After hearing this sentence, Hong Guoguo reacted immediately. Her eyes widened, and she said with some suspicion:
"Sister Hyacine, you mean to say... there is something wrong with this caravan? They are bad people?"
"I am not certain, but they are worth being wary of." Hyacine's tone was calm.
"Why do you say that?" Hong Guoguo followed up with some urgency.
"First, it is their injuries." Hyacine's gaze became sharp, as if it could pierce through the tent to see the caravan's side. "As a doctor, my judgment of injuries is quite accurate. Although they appeared to be besieged by the wolf pack and many of them bore scratch marks, looking quite miserable..."
Then, her tone shifted, carrying a hint of coldness:
"But those wounds were too 'shallow'. Rather than saying they were caused by those Shadowclaw Wolf scratching and biting with all their strength, it is more like... the force was deliberately controlled, only resulting in superficial skin injuries."
"The wounds were very shallow... not like a beast scratching with full strength..." Hong Guoguo murmured, repeating the words. A flash of insight struck her mind, and she suddenly looked up, her voice carrying disbelief. "Could it be... those injuries were disguises made by their own people?"
"It was not a disguise." Hyacine shook her head slightly, confirming the reality of the wounds. "I secretly observed and compared those wound characteristics with the claws on the wolf corpses. Those injuries were indeed caused by Shadowclaw Wolf."
"Beast Tamer!" At this moment, Hong Guoguo blurted out, instantly connecting all the clues. "Those wolves were simply domesticated by them! This entire attack incident was a play directed and acted out by themselves?!"
After figuring this point out, it dawned on Hong Guoguo, and all the places she had felt were awkward previously had answers:
"No wonder! After I killed those wolves, instead of having the relief of surviving a disaster, their people were all long-faced with dark gazes, looking as if we owed them a huge sum of money! It turns out it was because I slaughtered their tamed beasts!"