Chapter 179: Chapter 175: Trap

At the bottom of Cragfall, by the edge of the Umbraflow, a cool breeze blew gently.

Corbin Crowley stood on a jutting rock, his silver eyes slightly narrowed, overlooking the dark river below.

The river meandered and twisted, with numerous branches crisscrossing like a massive spider web, dissecting the entire canyon floor into a complex maze.

He turned his head to glance at Rhys Blackwood, Kian Sterling, Zeke Veridian, Malachi Arcanus, and the others, speaking in a low voice, “The terrain of the Umbraflow is most suitable for ambushes. I’ve already ordered the Beastmen to set trap whirlpools at every branch of the dark river, enough to give them a tough time.”

Rhys Blackwood concentrated pitch-black venom at his fingertips, dripping it into a branch of the Umbraflow, “The venom will disperse to each entrance with the flow of the water.”

Zeke Veridian leaned against the rock wall, sneering coldly, “If Nolan Sterling is foolish enough to drink the water directly, it saves us the trouble.”

“He won’t.”

Kian Sterling’s fox-like eyes narrowed slightly, the usual gentleness on his face replaced with rare coldness, “But the group of fools under my brother could be hard to predict.”

“It would be best if those fools die from the poison. But we ourselves can’t avoid drinking water, right?”

Malachi Arcanus suddenly leapt down from the treetops, exuding wildness all over, and spoke faintly.

Corbin Crowley glanced at him, his voice icy, “Don’t worry, there’s a mountain spring deep in the forest near The Salt Lake. The water flows down from the mountain top, more than enough for us to drink. Tell the Beastmen from The Wolf Tribe to fetch water there during this period.”

“Got it, I’ll pass it on later to avoid any fool poisoning themselves by accident.”

Malachi Arcanus nodded, rubbing his chin as he took out a wild fruit from somewhere to munch on.

Corbin Crowley’s fingertips tapped the rock wall, emitting a crisp echo, his silver eyes scanning the dark river’s branches, “In less than three days, the venom will flow through all the branches of the Umbraflow, enough to rot the guts of those fools.”

Kian Sterling chuckled lightly, the Nine-Tails casting a distorted reflection on the dark river’s surface, “My brother will undoubtedly lead elite forces this time, and he has no shortage of Sixth-rank Beastmen under his command. He might even ask my father for additional manpower.”

His fingertip flickered with a strand of purple-gold fire, illuminating his gender-ambiguous face, “Just this amount of venom isn’t enough. There’s an old fellow in my dear brother’s escort team at the Seventh Rank, an Iron-armored Rhino. Not only is he powerful, but also particularly resistant to beating.”

Suddenly, Rhys Blackwood tore open the animal hide jacket, revealing the vicious python patterns on his chest.

Zeke Veridian saw this scene and snorted lightly, “Luna Sutton isn’t here, no one’s interested in your eight-pack abs. Go show off in the river if you must.”

“When you’re dumb, you should speak less.”

Rhys Blackwood’s face was cold as he smeared venom on the python patterns on his chest, the entire patch of skin suddenly cracking open into scales, “My blood can mutate the venom.”

The pitch-black liquid turned fluorescent green when it dripped into the river.

Malachi Arcanus munched on the wild fruit in his hand, juice dripping down through his fingers, “Rhys, what happens if someone comes in contact with this venom?”

“First, their toenails fall off.”

Rhys Blackwood’s lips curled into a sinister, cold smile, “Then it starts from the internal organs…”

“Stop!”

Zeke Veridian quickly stopped him from continuing, covering his mouth and nose with a banana leaf, “Hearing it sounds a bit disgusting. Save your breath.”

Malachi Arcanus, however, looked excited, finishing the last bite of the wild fruit and casually tossing the pit into the dark river, “Sounds fun. If Nolan’s people really fall for this poison, at least half of their team will be lost. The rest we can take down one by one.”

Kian Sterling’s nine fox tails spread fan-like under the moonlight, “Rhys’s mutated poison is indeed ruthless, but just relying on that isn’t enough. My brother isn’t dumb enough to drink the water. If he finds the water source problematic, he’ll definitely take a detour.”

“A detour?”

Zeke Veridian raised his eyebrow, his emerald eyes filled with disdain, “Where can they detour to? Unless they can fly.”

Kian Sterling’s fox tail glimmered coldly under the moonlight, “They really can fly. My brother has both Eagle Beastmen and Winged Tigers under his command.”

Corbin Crowley’s silver eyes narrowed, the rhythm of his knuckles tapping the rock wall suddenly quickened, “How about blowing Rhys’s poison mist into the sky?”

“Huh?”

Malachi Arcanus brushed off the fruit stains from his palms, his eyebrows arching high, “You think your ability is wind…”

Before he finished, realizing something, his voice froze instantly.

He shifted his tone, “It’s not impossible. Let Finn Arcanus handle it. His ability is indeed wind-based.”

“But we need to breathe too. What if we get poisoned?”

Zeke Veridian frowned at Rhys Blackwood, continuing to ask, “Does your poison require contact to be effective, or does smelling it also cause poisoning?”

Rhys Blackwood shot him a cold glance, his voice indifferent, “It requires contact to be poisonous. Smelling it wouldn’t cause poisoning. However, prolonged inhalation can cause slight damage to internal organs.”

Zeke Veridian breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good, as long as smelling it doesn’t cause poisoning, we can manage.”

Kian Sterling’s fox eyes flashed with cold light, but his mouth wore a light smile, “If that’s the case, then let Finn handle it. His wind ability can be put to good use, blowing the poison mist into the sky, catching Nolan’s people off guard.”

Rhys Blackwood suddenly immersed his entire arm into the venom-laden river, the pale skin revealing scale patterns, “After another two hours, the poison concentration will be enough to make birds foam at the mouth.”

After speaking, he glanced at the few people beside him and said, “I’ll find some herbs later, everyone chew and swallow them to avoid accidental poisoning.”

“That would be for the best.”

Zeke Veridian’s emerald eyes swept over the vines hanging from a rock wall in Umbraflow, “Coating both sides of Umbraflow with the juice of the Ghost Cry Vine, those fools, even if they manage to struggle ashore, will burst into mad laughter, and combined with the rolling boulders from above, the bodies will surely pile up like mountains.”

Kian Sterling looked at Zeke and burst out laughing, “That’s a good plan. Back then, you added Ghost Cry Vine juice to my barbecue, causing me to laugh uncontrollably, and everyone thought I’d gone mad. I haven’t settled that score yet.”

“Shut up, Fox.”

Zeke flicked a pebble into a crevice in the rock wall and said coldly, “You used your Enchanting Eyes to trick me into eating the aphrodisiac fruit first. If it weren’t for me soaking in the river all night, I might have been ruined.”

Kian smiled innocently, “It was all a misunderstanding, besides, I didn’t force you to eat it.”

Zeke snorted coldly, too lazy to deal with him, turned around to set up the Ghost Cry Vine trap, and checked if the boulders on the cliff were enough.

Thinking about the events of that year still made him angry; he could still remember the unbearable, explosive sensation, but fortunately, he’d already gotten his revenge.

Malachi Arcanus naturally knew about this incident, and remembering Zeke’s appearance from back then made him laugh uncontrollably.

“Hahaha…”

Upon hearing Malachi’s laughter, Zeke’s forehead veins throbbed, and he turned with an angry face, saying coldly, “Laugh again, and I’ll toss you into Umbraflow for a bath.”

“Ahem…”

Malachi’s laughter instantly froze, and he awkwardly touched his nose, “I’ll go inform everyone not to touch the water in Umbraflow, and also go find that kid, Finn.”

Kian shook his head in amusement, “I’ll go check as well to see if there’s anything amiss.”

As he finished speaking, he disappeared into the moonlight.

Rhys Blackwood confirmed the poison in Umbraflow was thick enough before pulling back his arm.

He slowly stood up, looked down at the skin that had been saturated with poison, watched as the scale patterns gradually faded away, and the poison absorbed completely.

He cast a cold glance around, ensuring nothing was overlooked, then turned to leave.

…

Over here, Luna Sutton, with the infant-form Caleb Manning, rode Jago back to The Wolf Tribe.

She instructed the little one and Jago to stay in the cave and not to wander about, then hurried off to find Lyle Sutton.

With The Salt Lake’s secret exposed, Nolan Sterling, magistrate of the Beast King City, was about to launch an attack with his Beastmen; such a big issue needed to be reported to Lyle, the leader.

She rushed all the way into Lyle Sutton’s stone hut, breathlessly shouting, “Dad, come out quickly, something big has happened at The Salt Lake.”

Lyle, who was busy crafting arrows with a Bone Knife, trembled at the sound of the shout, nicking his palm with a bloodstained arrowhead.

“What’s the panic?”

He frowned, casually tossing the arrow aside, and looked at his breathless daughter, “What’s happened at The Salt Lake?”

Luna caught her breath and quickly relayed the essentials: “Kian’s elder brother, the magistrate of Beast King City, somehow discovered Kian is still alive and sent men to assassinate us. Although we narrowly escaped with our lives, the secret of The Salt Lake likely can’t be contained anymore, and he might already be on his way with troops.”

Upon hearing this, Lyle’s face darkened slightly, but he remained calm.

He had saved a gravely injured Kian during a journey between Beast King City and the tribe and was somewhat aware of Kian’s true identity.

However, he wasn’t clear on the grievances between Kian and his brother.

But regardless of any grievances, seizing The Salt Lake was not an option.

He glanced at the blood on his palm and casually wiped it off with a piece of beast hide, replying calmly, “You go back first, stay away from The Salt Lake for now. I’ll handle this.”

Luna nodded and started to leave but suddenly turned back, saying, “Dad, even though Corbin and the others have set traps ahead of time at The Salt Lake, the strength of Beast King City is formidable. With many high-level Beastmen at their disposal, they might even have Seventh and Eighth Rank Beasts, so you must be careful.”

Lyle frowned slightly but maintained a calm demeanor, waving her off, “Don’t worry, your father isn’t someone to be underestimated. I was able to rescue Kian from Beast King City’s clutches back then, I naturally have my skills.”

She pursed her lips, quietly thinking to herself: Dad, where does your confidence come from? You were only lucky to have saved Kian when he was severely injured and unconscious, merely taking advantage of the situation.

But she dared not say this out loud.

She could only put on an obedient front and nodded, “Dad is the best! I’ll head back now, but please be careful.”

Lyle grunted in acknowledgment and turned to consult with the Priest next door.

It seemed that this time, he would need the Priest’s help to deal with the current crisis.

Considering the Priest’s mysterious and unpredictable methods gave him some semblance of reassurance.

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