Chapter 298: Unexpected Change

The tigerman stared at them, showing no intention of answering.

“This is just between you and us right now,” Wu Qingsong said, breaking the silence. “Don’t force us to involve the others from your village.”

He was bluffing, of course. The villagers likely had no idea who they were, and if the tigerman refused to talk, Wu Qingsong had already decided to knock him unconscious and leave him in a tree to fend for himself. But the threat was enough to make Sertans falter. 

After a moment of hesitation, he said, “This has nothing to do with them!”

“Then tell us why you were following us.”

“You’re with the insectoids!” Sertans blurted out, his voice full of accusation.

“What?” Wu Qingsong was momentarily speechless. “What makes you think that?”

“The insectoids disappeared, but they left tracks,” Sertans explained, his tone intense. “Others might not recognize their tracks, but I’ve fought them. I’ll never forget the marks those demons leave behind. And your tracks were mixed in with theirs, yet there’s no sign of a fight.”

Wu Qingsong raised an eyebrow. “That proves nothing.”

“You appeared in the same forest as them, almost at the same time. You had to have seen them,” Sertans pressed. “But you didn’t mention a single word about the insectoids. How else am I supposed to explain that?”

Wu Qingsong sighed softly.

In a way, Sertans’ deductions weren’t wrong. But they neither had the obligation nor any good reason to explain themselves.

What could they say? That Wu Qingsong was a necromancer who had just climbed out of the underground with a few hundred insectoid undead under his control? That those insectoids were actually his minions?

He glanced at Nina, who shook her head slightly.

There was no need to kill Sertans.

This place was far from Sentalus, and as a simple hunter, Sertans clearly didn’t know Nina’s identity—let alone Wu Qingsong’s. There was no risk of him leaking any secrets.

More importantly, Nina felt no hostility toward Sertans. On the contrary, his dedication to protecting his village earned her respect and admiration.

“We have nothing to do with the insectoids,” Nina said firmly. “In fact, we’ve killed far more of them than you can imagine. Believe us or not, but if you follow us again, we won’t show mercy.”

She planted Sertans’ spear into the ground, glanced at Wu Qingsong, who chuckled and shook his head, and together they left the cave.

Sertans stared in disbelief as they disappeared through the cave’s entrance.

He had thought his death was certain, yet…

‘Could I have been wrong?’

Climbing to his feet, he was even more astonished to realize that all his injuries were healed—not just the wounds from his fight with the silver-haired wolfgirl, but even old injuries he had accumulated over decades.

What… happened?

Gripping his spear tightly, he quickly ran out of the cave.

“What now?” Wu Qingsong asked, his patience beginning to wear thin. 

If Sertans insisted on being obstinate, Wu Qingsong was more than willing to make him suffer further.

“Apologies,” Sertans said. “Perhaps I misunderstood you, but…” 

He trailed off, uncertain how to reconcile his suspicions with the evidence he had seen. Wu Qingsong and Nina might not have wanted to kill him, but the tracks and other signs still strongly implicated them.

What’s going on?

“Go back,” Nina said firmly. “Not everything is as it seems. Often, what you see is just fragments, it doesn’t represent the whole truth.”

Sertans had no response. After a long pause, he nodded. “Thank you… for healing my wounds. I promise—”

“Just protect your people well,” Nina interrupted before walking away with Wu Qingsong.

Sertans stood frozen, unable to piece together what had just happened. In the end, he sighed and turned back toward his village, following Nina’s advice.

“That guy is strong,” Wu Qingsong said after ensuring Sertans had truly left. 

The two continued along the road, heading northeast.

For an ordinary beastfolk, Sertans was exceptionally powerful. He was likely a magic warrior—a type of magical beastfolk. Wu Qingsong couldn’t fathom how Sertans had survived the empire’s purges.

The earlier fight had surely drawn the town’s attention. To avoid trouble, their best option was to leave the area before word spread.

“Were you thinking of recruiting him?” Nina asked.

Wu Qingsong shook his head. 

“He’s male and too old.”

Nina paused, then burst into laughter. Wu Qingsong only realized the implications of his words a moment later. His actual point had been that Sertans, being older, would be difficult to persuade into loyalty, and as a male, he lacked the potential for a unique transformation like Feya’s. But the phrasing… certainly invited misinterpretation.

“Well, who knows? Maybe he has a young, beautiful daughter,” Nina teased.

“Oh, you dare make fun of me!” Wu Qingsong exclaimed, mock-outraged as he lunged at her.

Though they joked, both were deeply concerned about the people of Esola. They pressed on without delay.

With no valuables to their name, they encountered no bandits or thieves. Instead, they sought out an elven noble’s nearby estate, stole some money, and used it to buy clothes, weapons, and horses. Nina dyed her silver hair back to gold, and the two set off once again.

Traveling without rest, selling and buying horses along the way, they finally reached familiar territory two days later and continued heading north.

At last, they arrived in Riniconia. If nothing had happened to Orgrimmar, they could obtain the latest updates about it from the trading post Ram had established there.

Both were filled with a mix of tension and hope as they approached the street where the trading post was located. But what greeted them was an unsettling sight—the post’s doors were tightly shut and seemed to have been unused for months.

“What happened here?” Wu Qingsong’s heart sank like a stone. 

He grabbed a passing pedestrian and demanded, “What happened?”

The startled passerby panicked, struggling to free himself. “I don’t know! I really don’t know!”

“Wu…” Nina gently stepped in, urging Wu Qingsong to release the man. She apologized to him on Wu’s behalf.

Realizing his loss of composure, Wu Qingsong muttered an apology to Nina.

Nina hugged him briefly and offered a strained smile. 

“Whatever happened, it’s already in the past,” she said softly.

They crossed the street to another trading company to ask about the situation. The staff there didn’t know the specifics, only that the post had ceased operations about three or four months ago.

“We need to move quickly,” Wu Qingsong said.

Less than 300 miles remained—a single day’s journey. By tomorrow, they would finally know the truth.