Chapter 46: Pearl Is Dead!

After Mo Lin pulled the heart out of the Black Eagle’s body, the Black Eagle naturally no longer had any power to resist.

Although the Black Eagle was massive in size, its heart was only a small one, and Mo Lin swallowed it in a single bite.

A warm current flowed from his stomach to his whole body, and Mo Lin felt that the injuries caused by the Black Eagle had eased a great deal.

After devouring the Black Eagle’s heart, Mo Lin glanced toward Western Zhou.

In the night, countless flames were flickering.

Mo Lin sneered coldly:

“If I’m not mistaken, that stinking bear must be watching me from somewhere right now. I wonder if my performance satisfies it.”

Mo Lin and that Bear Demon had originally considered each other troublesome opponents, and since there was no deep hatred between them, they had made peace.

But that gluttonous Bear Demon clearly still had thoughts about him.

After discovering that he was eyeing the Bandit Den, it took advantage of the situation and lured him to the Black Wind Stronghold, where the Black Eagle was, using the Black Eagle to test his methods and trump cards.

After his clash with the Black Eagle, Mo Lin was certain that tonight’s exposure was no coincidence.

It must have been the doing of that vanished Bear Demon.

Perhaps it was hiding right now in some corner nearby, waiting for him and the Black Eagle to both suffer, so it could reap the benefits.

If he encountered that Bear Demon later, he would certainly have to listen to its excuses.

What a pity...

Mo Lin regretfully looked at his python body, and at the wounds across it:

“Could it be that I don’t look tragic enough tonight? That bear actually saw me take such heavy injuries and still wasn’t tempted.”

“If it had taken this chance to ambush me, perhaps it would have been a good opportunity to let it underestimate me, then turn the tables and kill it.”

Though Mo Lin’s battle with Pearl had seemed fierce, in truth a good portion of it had been an act.

Because he still had to guard against whether that Bear Demon might secretly ambush him.

From the very beginning, Mo Lin had never trusted that fellow.

If the Bear Demon had truly attacked him during his fight with Pearl, then he naturally would not have shown mercy either.

Besides, apart from holding back part of his strength, cards such as the Mouth-coin or the Jiangshi Gong Yang, he had not yet used.

Even if he could not deal with the Bear Demon, at least Mo Lin’s own life would not be in danger.

Unfortunately, whether that Mountain God Temple’s master was too far away, or simply too cautious, he had not taken action against him.

Mo Lin shook his head and decided not to think about the Bear Demon for now.

What mattered most at the moment was right before his eyes.

The Black Eagle was dead, the Bear Demon was nowhere to be seen, Lotus with a Handle had fled, and the stronghold was in chaos.

None of that mattered as much to Mo Lin as the Chief’s treasure vault before him.

Mo Lin cleared away the bushes covering the underground vault, then twisted his body and burrowed inside.

Outside the vault, only the stench of the Black Eagle’s blood spread further and further.

Calm lasted for a while, until finally a bandit carrying a large red lantern walked nearby.

“Hm? Why is there a smell of blood?”

The bandit carrying the lantern suddenly thought, could it be another one of their companions had died?

The bandit lowered his gaze, and when his eyes fell upon a massive form lying on the ground, he could no longer move his eyes away.

The lantern in the bandit’s hand began to tremble, his body began to tremble, his lips began to tremble.

At last, he spun around and started running for his life, crying out loudly:

“Pearl is dead! Pearl is dead!”

Another bandit saw this fellow run past him and sneered softly:

“What’s this? Did he get scared out of his wits by that python that broke into Black Wind Stronghold? Just a mere python, how could Pearl possibly...”

Before the bandit could finish, he too saw the enormous corpse lying motionless not far away.

This bandit had slightly more courage.

He rubbed his eyes, trembling as he lifted his lantern and approached the corpse:

“No way...”

As he came closer, he saw clearly.

The corpse’s chest had been pierced through by something smooth, and where its heart should have been, there was only emptiness.

And this corpse was none other than the Black Eagle Pearl, the one whom the Chief most cherished and trusted.

It could even be said that many in the stronghold had joined the Black Wind Stronghold and gathered under the Chief’s banner entirely because of Pearl.

A single Black Eagle was enough to allow them to live safely in this chaotic world for a good while.

Even government soldiers, if they wanted to come up the mountain to wipe out the bandits, might not come away unscathed from Pearl’s claws.

And now, this eagle demon who had made the entire stronghold bow their heads, had died so quietly.

The second bandit no longer had time to mock the first, because he too turned and ran, shouting as he went:

“Pearl is dead! Pearl is dead!”

One stone stirred a thousand waves.

The bandits in the stronghold went from denial, to confusion, to doubt, and finally to utter panic when they saw Pearl’s corpse.

“Pearl is dead! Pearl is dead!”

Those four words were like a curse, spreading through the entire stronghold with astonishing speed.

Some of the cleverer ones ignored the Chief’s orders and hurried back to their huts to gather their valuables and flee under cover of night.

Pearl had been the Black Wind Stronghold’s talisman.

With Pearl, they could avoid beast attacks and government suppression.

Now that Pearl was dead, all those who had designs on the Black Wind Stronghold would surely be on the move.

If they didn’t leave now, then when?

Thus the Black Wind Stronghold, which was already in chaos, became a pot of complete disorder.

......

“Pearl is dead! Pearl is dead!”

The Chief, who had been leisurely using his bow to wear down Xu Jiaren’s stamina like a cat playing with a mouse, suddenly heard those words.

His fully drawn arrow instantly lost aim and flew into the grass dozens of meters away from Xu Jiaren.

“What are you saying!”

At this moment, the Chief no longer cared about his “Beauty”.

He grabbed the one who had “spread the rumor” and, face twisted in fury, shouted:

“Are you a spy sent by the court? How dare you spread rumors in my Black Wind Stronghold! Believe it or not, I’ll kill you with one slap!”

The bandit who had been shouting loudly saw that it was the Chief of the Black Wind Stronghold who had grabbed him.

He immediately panicked and cried out:

“Chief, it’s true, Pearl is really dead! We all saw Pearl’s corpse! Its heart was dug out and eaten!”

When the Chief heard this, his vision went black, and the strength in his hand slackened.

The bandit, freed from the Chief’s grasp, seeing him in a daze, dared not make another sound, and quietly turned to slip out of the Black Wind Stronghold.

He had only come here upon hearing that the Chief of the Black Wind Stronghold kept a powerful eagle demon.

Now that the Chief had lost his arm’s support, there was no reason to stay any longer.

The Chief ignored the bandit who sneaked away, his body staggering:

“Pearl is dead? My Pearl is dead?”

Coming back to his senses, the Chief gritted his teeth:

“This can’t be true!”

With that, the Chief immediately charged in the direction of Pearl, leaving even Xu Jiaren, who had already been at a loss, behind.