Chapter 23, Part 1
Dash's Secret
Everyone has secrets.
Dash was human.
So Dash also had a secret.
It was hard to believe that someone like Dash actually had a secret.
He never went anywhere by himself, he rarely even got out of bed.
Swally would never have imagined that Dash would have a secret, even in his wildest dreams.
But Swally was the first person to discover that Dash had a secret.
How did he make such a discovery?
The first time he realized Dash had a secret was when he saw something very strange.
He saw a kite.
There isn't anything strange about kites, but there was indeed something very strange about this kite, something shocking, even perhaps terrifying.
Judging by the calendar it should have been spring, but no matter where you looked, there wasn't a trace of spring in the air.
It was still very cold, with strong winds, and seven or eight inches of snow covering the ground.
There had hardly been any sunny days.
Dash, Swally, Big G, and Forest were all enjoying the sun in the courtyard.
They were like all the other penniless vagrants who would never miss out on free sunshine.
During the cold winter days, enjoying the sun was one of the limited joys for poor people to take advantage of.
Dash had found the most comfortable chair possible, and was slouching lazily under the eaves.
Forest was sitting on the stone steps beside him, holding his head and staring blankly, thinking about who knows what.
Big G had used to wonder about him, but now he already knew what Forest was thinking about.
But what was Swally's secret?
Big G couldn't help but quietly pull Swally off to the side: "Don't you think it's about time you told me that secret of yours?"
Since they had returned, this was already the seventy-eighth time he had asked.
Swally's answer was the same as before.
"Wait!"
Big G: "How long are you going to keep me waiting?"
Swally: "You can wait until I feel like telling you."
"Are you really going to wait until I am about to die?" he said impatiently.
Swally gave him a funny glance, he waited a long time before finally saying, "You really don't know what my secret is?"
Big G: "If I knew why would I keep asking."
Swally looked at him intently before suddenly smiling, "Old Mr. King was right, you can be smart when you need to be, but sure are muddle headed when it comes to certain things," he said shaking his head.
Big G: "It's not like I'm some kind of parasite living on you, how am I supposed to know what your secret is?"
Swally sighed lightly, "Perhaps its better if you don't know."
Big G: "What's better?"
Swally: "What's not better? Aren't we enjoying happy lives at the moment?"
Big G: "Would I somehow suddenly be unhappy if I found out?"
Swally sighed lightly, "Maybe! Or perhaps we would start fighting and arguing every day."
Big G stared at him and stomped his feet loudly, "I really don't get you, you clearly are an easy going person, but sometimes you're more difficult than a women," he said spitefully.
Swally: "You are the one being difficult."
Big G: "What's difficult about me?"
Swally: "Why must you insist on forcing people to do things they don't want to do."
Big G: "What people?"
Swally: "Me."
Big G took a long sigh and grabbed his head in irritation, "You just had to say people when you were clearly talking about yourself, you are sounding more and more like a women, when will this end."
Swally smiled sweetly and intentionally changed the topic, "Why do you think Skinned Alive left all of a sudden?"
Big G didn't want to answer, but he couldn't hold back from saying, "He didn't want to leave, that old women made him leave."
Swally: "Why?"
Big G: "Because that old women was worried that we would look into her background."
Swally: "Sounds like her identity must be a secret, and she must have some kind of special relationship with Skinned Alive."
Big G: "Yeah."
Swally: "Why don't you go and find out where they are hiding?"
Big G: "Why would I want to do that?"
Swally: "To dig up their secret."
Big G: "Why would I want to go and dig up someone else's secret? Some secrets aren't so easy to dig up anyway, when the time is right all things will come to light."
"Since you understand that then why are you always trying to force me?" Swally said smiling.
Big G glared at him, sighing suddenly, "Because I don't care about that old lady, I only care about you."
Swally slowly looked away, as if he was intentionally avoiding Big G's gaze.
As soon as he looked away he saw a kite.
A large, exquisitely designed kite that looked like a moth's larva. It seemed to be dancing in the wind, under the blue skies and white clouds.
Swally clapped his hands smiling, "Look, what's that?"
Big G noticed it as well, finding it very interesting. He intentionally kept a straight face saying, "It's just a kite, what's so strange about that, haven't you seen a kite before?"
Swally: "Why would anybody want to fly a kite in this kind of weather?"
"Whatever makes people happy, why can't they fly a kite whenever they want," Big G said casually.
Big G knew quite well that the actual time for flying kites hadn't arrived. Even if someone did want to fly a kite in this weather, it wouldn't fly very high if at all.
But this kite was flying high and strait, whoever it was must be extremely skilled.
Swally: "Do you know how to make a kite?"
Big G: "Nope, all I know how to do is eat."
Swally blinked his eyes, "Old Mr. King surely knows. Let's make a kite and let it go, what do you think?" he said smiling.
He rushed over to Dash, but he was just standing there in a daze.
Dash hadn't heard anything they said. He was just staring blankly at the kite with a strange expression on his face, his eyes were bulging as if he had never seen a kite before.
His expression looked like he was actually seeing a living, flying creature in the sky.
A creature that could devour people.
Swally was shocked because he knew that Dash wasn't easily frightened.
Even if he saw seventy or eighty live centipedes crawling around in front of him, Dash wouldn't even blink.
But now his face looked like a blank white piece of paper.
The muscles around his eyes suddenly cringed, as if he had been poked by a needle.
Swally looked up and noticed that there were four more kites in the sky.
There was a snake, a scorpion, and an eagle.
The biggest kite was a large yellow square, with inscriptions scribbled everywhere that were impossible to decipher, they appeared to be demonic talismans.
Dash suddenly stood up and rushed inside. It was as if he couldn't take it anymore and was about to faint at any moment.
Big G walked over with an astonished look on his face, "What's wrong with Old Mr. King?"
Swally sighed, "Who knows, after seeing those kites he suddenly changed completely."
Big G was even more perplexed, "Why would seeing kites make him react like that?"
Swally: "Hmm."
"Is there something special about these kites," Big G said frowning.
He looked up to the sky, carefully studying the kites in detail, but after some time he still didn't know what was going on.
It wasn't possible for anybody to tell what was going on.
Kites are kites, there wasn't anything extraordinary about that.
Big G: "Why don't we go in and ask old Mr. King and find out what's going on."
Swally shook his head, "There is no point in asking him, there is no way he is going to tell us," he said with a sigh.
Big G: "But these kites!"
Swally interrupted him, "Has it occurred to you that the problem isn't with these kites!"
Big G: "Then what is the problem?"
Swally: "The people flying the kites."
Big G smacked his hands, "Old Mr. King probably knows who is flying the kites."
Swally: "Maybe they are some kind of bitter enemy from his past."
Forest had been standing there listening the whole time, "I will go have a look, you guys wait here," he suddenly said.
Before he had finished his sentence he was already beyond the walls.
He normally took his time with everything, but when there was a real problem, he moved faster than anyone.
Big G looked at Swally, "Why should we wait here for him?"
Swally was chasing after Forest before Big G could finish talking.
When it came to helping friends, there is no way that they would be left behind.
The kites were flying high and strait.
Swally sized up the distance, "It looks like these kites are flying from the graveyard. When I was young I often went to the graveyard to fly my kite. "
'Prosperity Villa' was near the graveyard and they arrived in no time.
The only person standing there was Forest.
Big G: "Did you see anything?"
Forest: "Not even a shadow."
Then who released the kites?
Five scarecrows.
The scarecrows were dressed in coarse hemp clothes that were worn during mourning, and each one of them was holding a staff in one hand.
The other hands was holding the strings to the five kites.
Scarecrows obviously didn't know how to fly kites.
The scarecrows looked like they were in mourning.
What kind of mystery are these people trying to create?
They all looked at each other, they had already realized that something complicated was going on.
Swally: "The kites haven't been flying very long, maybe they are still close by."
Big G: "Right! Let's have a look around."
Swally: "There is probably five of them let's stick together."
They circled around the graveyard, they could see the small wooden cabin at the bottom of the hill.
This was the little wooden cabin where they had discovered Sour Plum.
"What if the people who had released the kites were also hiding inside?" The three of them all thought at the same time, Big G was the first to charge forward.
"Be careful," Swally gasped.
Big G had already kicked open the door and charged inside.
The wood cabin was still a wood cabin, but it had changed completely.
The pot and stove that Sour Plum had used for cooking were gone. The wooden cabin had been a dirty mess, but now it was spotless, there wasn't even a speck of dust anywhere.
There was just a table sitting in the very centre of the room.
There were five pairs of chopsticks, five cups, and five daggers shining brightly.
The knives were thin and sharp, with a unique curve to them.
Other than that, the cabin was completely empty.
Big G had just picked up one of the knives to have a look when Swally suddenly rushed in, "How could you be so careless! You just came charging in here, what if there were people inside? Have you ever considered that these people could have set a trap for you?" he said stamping his feet.
Big G smiled, "That doesn't scare me."
Swally: "Well it scares me."
As soon as he finished speaking he started blushing, his face went bright red.
Fortunately nobody was paying attention.
Forest had also been studying the knives on the table, "These knives are for skinning flesh," he suddenly said.
Big G: "How do you know?"
Forest: "I have seen them before, the Hu people beyond the great wall like to use this kind of knife for skinning."
Big G: "Do you actually think they are from the Hu tribes beyond the wall?"
Forest was deep in thought, "Perhaps, but the Hu people don't use chopsticks."
Swally suddenly had a frightening thought, "There isn't any meat here, what are they planning on skinning?"
Big G smiled, "They couldn't be planning on skinning Dash's flesh could they?"
Although he was smiling, he was forcing himself to pretend everything was normmal.
A cold shiver went down Swally's spine, "We should get back, I don't think it's a good idea to leave Dash alone by himself."
Big G's facial expression suddenly changed, "You're right! What if they intentionally lured us away."
All three of them rushed out.
They ran past the grave as fast as possible, "Something isn't right," Swally suddenly stopped.
Big G: "What's not right?"
Swally's face turned pale, "What happened to the scarecrows that were just here."
Big G suddenly started to feel a shiver go down his spine as well.
The five scarecrows had just been here, but now they had disappeared.
The weather was exceptionally good, all blue skies and white clouds.
But the kites had also disappeared.
They ran back to the house as fast as they could, and were shocked when they arrived at the entrance.
The five scarecrows were waiting for them at the front door. They were still dressed in mourning clothes, with a staff in each hand, but there was a white piece of paper stuck to one of the scarecrow's chest, and it seemed to have writing on it.
The writing was in small letters making it hard to read.
The piece of paper was rustling in the wind, it appeared to have been stitched into the hemp cloth that the scarecrow was wearing.
Forest was the first person to arrive and reached out to grab the piece of paper.
The piece of paper had been stitched on tightly, and he had to pull down to tear it off.
In that very instant, the staff in the scarecrows hand suddenly shot up, striking toward Forest's abdomen.
Forest didn't have a lot of experience, but fortunately he reacted quickly. He flew backwards, avoiding the blow from the staff.
When the staff struck out, something had shot out from the tip.
Forest had avoided the staff, but the hidden projectile seemed to have pierced him.
All he felt was a tingling on his right hipbone, as if he had been bitten by a mosquito.
By the time he regained his footing, he was no longer able to stand.
In the blink of an eye his entire right leg was paralyzed and he fell to the ground.
"A poisonous needle," Big G grasped, the color draining from his face.
By the time he finished saying needle, Swally had already sprang into action, first he hit all of the pressure points surrounding Forest's right hipbone, and pulled out a knife from his boot using his free hand.
With a flash of his blade, Forest's clothes had been cut open, with another flash, he cut away the poisoned piece of flesh, blood was spilling everywhere.
His blood had turned black.
Big G was staring wide eyed.
He never imaged that Swally could react so fast, with such unbelievable speed.
"I have already died seven times."
Big G had never really believed Swally until this very moment.
Only a person experienced at flirting with death could have such a quick reaction time.
Forest was already sweating from the pain, but he still hadn't forgotten about the note in his hand.
He was biting his teeth, "What is written on this piece of paper?" he asked panting for breath.
The tiny writing was scrunched together, "If you aren't Dash, then you can suffer for his mistakes!"
There was an evening breeze.
The scarecrows were blowing in the wind as if they were challenging them.
Big G suddenly became angry, he instantly struck out with his fist.
Scarecrows clearly didn't know how to dodge.
Just as he started to punch out, Swally grabbed him by the waist. Although his body weight had been pulled back, he fist had still lightly struck the scarecrow.
When his fist came in contact with the scarecrow's chest, it felt as if he had been bitten by a mosquito.
His fist started to itch from a tingling sensation, a black dot had already appeared on the joint of his middle finger.
With a flick of Swally's knife he cut away the black dot, the blood flowing from the wound was black.
There was a rancid smell coming from the poisoned blood.
Swally didn't care about the smell or the dirt, he instantly used his mouth to suck out all of the poisoned blood.
Big G was practically on the verge of tears.
He suddenly realized that Swally's feelings towards him went beyond friendship, there was an intimate affection that went deeper than mere friends.
But he couldn't find the words to describe this kind of affection.
He didn't say a word even after Swally stood up, not a single word of thanks.
The thankfulness that he felt couldn't be expressed using words.
"How do you feel now?" Swally asked gently after taking a sigh of relief.
Big G smiled bitterly, "I feel like an idiot, that was pure foolishness."
Forest had been watching them the whole time, he suddenly sighed deeply, "You definitely are an idiot!"
The color was coming back to his face, but he still couldn't move his right leg.
Swally hadn't helped him suck out the poisoned blood, but it seemed perfectly normal to him, and he didn't blame Swally in the least.
Had he seen something? Had he realized the secret that only Big G was too blind to see?
Swally's face seemed to have turned red slightly, he quickly turned around and started using his knife to cut off the hemp clothes from the scarecrows.
Only then did Big G notice the poisonous needles covering the scarecrow's body. There was a dark glint reflecting from the needles, even an idiot could tell that they were covered in more than enough person to take someone's life.
If Swally hadn't held him back just then, and he hit the scarecrow as hard as he could, even if he didn't die, his hand would have been written off.
Forest had already realized that there was a spring contraption connected to the piece of paper and the staff, as soon as he pulled on the piece of paper it had released the trap.
The scarecrow was basically covered in poisonous needles, as if waiting in ambush to kill someone.
Big G took a deep sigh of relief, "Just one scarecrow was enough to take the two of us out. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it," he said smiling awkwardly.
Forest: "The scarecrows are terrifying enough, but what kind of person would make something like this?"
Big G: "Dash wouldn't be afraid unless these people are seriously scary."
Swally's face turned pale, "Since the scarecrows are here, I wonder where they are?"
"Let's go see Dash, don't worry about me, I can still move my arms," he said with a sense of urgency.
Big G didn't say anything, he just reached out to support him.
"Old Mr. King... Dash!" Swally shouted as he ran inside.
There was no response.
Dash was nowhere to be seen.
The bedding was a mess, but Dash wasn't on the bed or anywhere inside.
They looked everywhere and couldn't find him.
They all understood Dash.
There wasn't much that could make Dash get out of bed, and only something serious could ever compel him to leave the house! What if something had already happened? What if Dash was already...—!
Big G didn't even want to think about it.
Forest was sitting on Dash's bed, his pale face was turning red from anxiety, "I already said don't worry about my leg, go and find Dash," he said loudly.
"Of course, but where are we supposed to start looking for him?" Big G said anxiously.
Forest just sat there dazed.
He looked at Swally, he was also deep in thought.
Two of them were already wounded, but they didn't even know who these people were.
They had no idea what was going on.
All they knew was that these people were Dash's enemies, of the most dreadful kind.
But how did knowing that help them? There simply wasn't much of a difference if they knew that or not.
They suddenly heard footsteps coming from the corridor.
The sound was slow and gentle.
Their hearts practically missed a beat.
It definitely wasn't a scarecrow this time.
Scarecrows didn't know how to walk.
Swally gave Big G a look, they both rushed to hide behind the door.
The steps were getting closer and closer, and finally rested outside the door.
Swally was holding his dagger high.
The door was unlatched, a hand came forward to push the door.
With a flick of his wrist, Swally's knife flashed out towards the main arteries of the hand.
Forest was hiding under the bed, "Stop!" he suddenly yelled.
Swally instantly stopped after hearing Forest yell, the edge of the knife halted less than half an inch from the wrist of the hand.
The hand stayed its course, slowly pushing open the door.
It was as if his nerves were cast of iron.
The door opened, Dash slowly walked inside, he was carrying a jug of alcohol in his other hand.
Swally's knife was flashing in the light.
Forest was lying on the bed now, it was clear to anyone that he was wounded.
But it appeared that Dash hadn't noticed anything, his face was completely free of any expression. His entire body and nervous system seemed to have been made of iron.
He walked inside sluggishly, and placed the jug on the table.
Big G was the first to not hold back, "Where did you go?" he asked loudly.
"To buy some alcohol," he responded casually.
He answered so casually as if it was the most rational thing he could have done.
Big G was staring at him, he didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.
Dash broke off the jug's seal with a smack of his hand, he took a whiff and seemed very satisfied. He finally smiled slightly, "This alcohol isn't bad, everyone come and enjoy a couple glasses."
"I don't feel like drinking right now," Big G couldn't help but say.
Dash: "You must have a drink, even if you don't want to."
Big G: "Why?"
Dash: "Because this is my way of saying farewell."
"Farewell? Why would you be saying farewell?" Big G gasped.
Dash: "Because all of you need to leave soon."
Big G jumped to his feet, "Who said that we are leaving."
Dash: "Me."
"But we don't want to leave," Swally interjected.
Dash's face became sullen, "You all have to leave, do you actually think I'm just going to let you all slouch around here forever," he said coldly.
"Have you guys ever paid rent?" He said, his face was cold as iron.
Big G: "Nope."
"Then why do you all keep hanging around?" He laughed cynically.
"Fine let's go," Swally suddenly said.
He actually turned around and started to leave, but when he passed in front of Big G he gave him a signal with his eyes.
Big G reacted quickly, "That's right! Why would we stick around here anyway."
He got up and left! It was as if he couldn't stand it there any longer.
Forest was shocked, "You two aren't even going to have a drink?"
Big G: "Since we are being kicked out, we're too ashamed to stay for a drink."
Forest looked at Dash.
Dash still had no expression on his face, "Fine don't have a drink, it's not like the alcohol is going to get moldy just sitting here," he said coldly.
Forest: "Can I stay? I can't move."
"If you can't walk than crawl out," Dash said with a straight face.
Forest was momentarily dazed, but he finally let out a sigh and started to hobble out with them.
Dash just stood there staring at them coldly as they left, he didn't even move.
All they heard was a SLAM as somebody shut the main door with a loud bang.
Dash instantly grabbed the jug on the table and started gulping—after seven or eight mouthfuls he finally stopped and wiped his mouth: "Excellent! Such fine drink and they didn't even have any! These people must be stupid."
He looked at the jug of alcohol in his hand, his cold eyes suddenly started to turn red, it looked like he was about to cry at any moment.
Swally walked out the main door without even looking back, then he suddenly stopped.
Big G walked up and suddenly stopped beside him.
Forest had slammed the door and was following behind them, "I never thought you two would just get up and leave," he said glaring at them.
Big G looked at Swally.
Swally didn't say a word, but he sat down on the stone steps beside the main door, facing the scarecrows.
Big G instantly sat down beside him facing the scarecrows as well. "A lot of strange things have happened this year, scarecrows know how to fly kites and kill people, don't you find that strange?" he mumbled.
Forest: "Strange indeed."
He sat down as well, he was pressing tightly against his wound with one hand.
He realized what Big G and Swally were up to now, so he didn't have anything else to say.
After who knows how long, they could hear Dash's quiet footsteps walking slowly. He walked through the courtyard, over to the main door, and dropped the door latch with a loud thud.
Instantly the door latch came off again and the door opened abruptly.
Dash was standing in the entrance staring at them wide eyed.
Swally, Big G, and Forest, the three of them were sitting in a row just outside the door, not one of them turned to look back at him.
"Why are you guys still here? Why are you sitting here?" He couldn't help but ask.
The three of them just ignored him.
Swally glanced at Big G, "Is it against the law for us to sit here?"
Big G: "It's perfectly legal."
Forest: "Even scarecrows are allowed to sit here so why can't we?"
"This is the main entrance to my house, you are blocking my way," Dash said angrily.
Swally glanced sideways at Big G, "Apparently we are blocking somebody's way."
Big G: "Then we can sit somewhere else."
The three of them stood up and sat in a row across from the main door.
Swally: "What about this spot?"
Big G: "There isn't anything wrong with sitting here, it's not somebody's house and we aren't blocking anyone's way."
Forest: "And we can sit here as long as we like."
Dash was still staring at them.
They were looking to the left and right, but wouldn't make eye contact with Dash.
"What the hell are the three of you doing sitting here?" Dash asked loudly.
Big G: "Nothing at all, just having a seat."
Swally: "We can sit wherever we please, and that's nobody else's business."
Forest: "It sure is cool here."
Swally: "Cool and comfortable."
Big G: "And there certainly won't be anybody asking us for rent."
Dash turned around and quickly went inside, latching the door again with a heavy thud.
Swally looked at Big G, he looked at Forest, the three of them started smiling at the same time.
Although they were smiling, their smiles betrayed a hint of sadness.
The sun had already set beyond the mountain.
Spring was arriving late and the days were still short.
When the sun set behind the mountain the sky gradually darkened.
Who knew what was going to happen once darkness came? They had no idea and were scared to even speculate.
Swally quietly grabbed Big G's hand, "How is your hand?"
Big G: "Nothing serious, I can still hit someone."
Swally turned to Forest, "And you?"
Forest: "The pain has been creeping in slowly."
"Then it should be ok," Swally let out a sigh of relief.
When the wound from a poisoned projectile started to hurt it meant that the poison had ran its course.
Big G was still worried, so he asked, "How bad is the pain?"
Forest just smiled, "Although I won't be able to jump over a wall anytime soon, I can still fight."
Swally: "Are you guys hungry?"
Big G: "I am so hungry I could swallow you whole."
Swally laughed, "But you can still fight on an empty stomach, right?"
Big G smiled, "That's right."
Darkness had arrived.
The three of them were starting to look a little nervous.
But they were ready for a fight.
Big G was holding his fist and looking around, "We are ready for anything, now all we need is an eastern wind."
"What is the eastern wind?" Forest had to ask.
Big G: "People that need a beating."
Just at that moment he saw someone.
Someone carrying a jug of alcohol.
The main door suddenly opened, Dash walked out hugging the jug.
This time he ignored them, and sat down on the stone steps beside the main door.
They just sat there looking at each other, nobody said a word.
Obviously Big G was the first one to break the silence.
He sighed before muttering, "I remember that some guy seemed to have wanted us to have a drink with him not too long ago."
Dash didn't reply, he didn't even look at him, but he suddenly threw the jug towards him.
No matter what you threw in Big G's direction, there was a good chance he would drop it, but a jug of fine drink, if you threw some alcohol in his direction, he would catch it even if he was sleeping.
He gulped down several mouthfuls, and then passed it to Swally, he took a few swigs and then passed it to Forest.
"A wounded person getting drunk, that kind of person must have some kind of death wish," Dash said all of a sudden.
Forest: "Who said I was hurt? Some tiny insect just bit me that's all."
"What kind of insect?" Dash couldn't help but ask.
Dash suddenly rushed over to him and grabbed the jug, "How long are you all planning on waiting here for?" He asked, a dark expression had come over his face.
"We are going to sit here until those people come looking for you," Big G couldn't help but to proclaim loudly.
Dash: "Who said anything about people looking for me?"
Big G: "I did."
Dash: "How do you know?"
Big G: "The scarecrows told me so."
He looked at Dash out of the corner of his eye, "These scarecrows not only know how to fly kites, they can talk, isn't that strange?" he said smiling.
The color drained from Dash's face, he slowly sat back down on the stone steps.
Other than the sound of alcohol swishing around inside the jug, there was complete silence.
"Even the alcohol has something to say, can you hear it?" Swally asked.
Big G: "What is it saying?"
Swally: "It said that someone's hand is shaking so much he feels dizzy."
Dash stood up abruptly and glared at him.
He still didn't look at Dash.
The three of them kept looking around, but they wouldn't look at Dash.
A spark suddenly shot through darkness, landing on the midsection of the first scarecrow.
With a burst, it instantly was ablaze.
The flame was a pale blue and wisps of smoke started to circle out.
"Hurry, get inside," Dash urged.
He threw Big G the jug, picked up Forest and rushed inside.
Dash finally moved.
When he moved, he was faster than anyone.
Big G also got moving, the first thing he did was put down the jug.
Because he didn't retreat inside, he actually rushed towards the direction of the flying spark.
Of course Swally followed behind him.
"Hurry get inside, don't go that way," Dash yelled.
Big G didn't hear anything, it was as if he had suddenly gone deaf.
Since Big G didn't hear anything neither did Swally.
Forest sighed, "This guy just loves going where he's not supposed to go, you should know that by now."
For a house to be called a mountain villa, there had to be at least a few basic requirements.
It definitely couldn't be too small.
Even if it wasn't built on a mountain, it should at the very least be situated at the base of a mountain.
And no matter how big the house was, there should always be a little forest outside of the main door.
Although 'Prosperity Villa' wasn't very prosperous, it was at least an authentic mountain villa. So outside of the main door there was a little forest, and just now the small spark was shot from that direction.
"Did that spark shoot out from behind that tree?" Big G said in a low voice.
Swally: "I didn't get a good look."
Big G: "Me neither."
It was already quite dark outside, it was even darker among the trees. It was completely silent and it was too dark to even make out a shadow.
Swally: "I think we should go back and talk to Dash about coming up with a plan."
Big G: "These people are not here to talk, so what the hell will talking do?"
When Big G started swearing it meant that he was angry.
Swally: "Enter dark forests with caution, have you never heard that basic saying from the world of martial arts?"
Big G: "Nope. What do those stupid rules have to do with me, I'm not your typical martial arts expert anyway."
He suddenly dashed forward into the forest.
There seemed to be a chilling light glistening in the dark.
Big G rushed forward before he could even get a good look.
Then he saw a knife.
A curved blade.
A curved blade for flaying flesh.
The knife was sticking into the tree, there was a piece of paper stuck to the tree.
Of course there were tiny little characters written on the piece of paper, it would have been hard to make out even during the day.
He was about to pull out the knife, but Swally had already grabbed his hand.
Swally's face was pale, "Are you falling for the same trick again? You really want to be poisoned again?" he said staring at him.
He was upset and anxious, but Big G was laughing.
Swally: "What's so funny?"
Big G: "You."
"You're an ass," Swally could help but say.
Swally only ever swore when he was furious.
Big G stopped smiling, "Even if they were trying to trick us again shouldn't they at least try something new, do they think we are actually stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice," he said seriously.
Big G sighed, smiling bitterly, "Fine, I won't use my hand because you asked me to, but taking a look should be ok."
He put both his hands behind his back and walked over.
He didn't move his hands, looking with his eyes seemed to be perfectly safe.
But the writing on the paper was too small, he had to look closer.
He could finally make out the small writing on the piece of paper, "Watch your feet."
By the time he could make out the writing the ground beneath him gave way, and he was already falling down.
There had been a trap on the ground.
"Be careful," Swally had gasped.
He rushed over and grabbed Big G's hand.
Big G pulled up and used the momentum to jump out.
His Qinggong wasn't bad, he easily cleared the jump.
Unfortunately jumping out was also a trap.
The tree leaves rustled and a big net suddenly shot out from among the trees.
It was a very large net.
If Big G had wings or even if he was a bird, he wouldn't have been able to avoiding getting caught.
Not to mention when he was jumping through the air it was as if he had jumped right inside of the net. There was no way he could have avoided the net.
Not only Big G couldn't escape, but Swally as well.
They were about to be trapped inside the net for good when all of a sudden a black shadow came flying past. It seemed to be a cannonball flying faster than humanly possible.
The black shadow flew over their heads and reached out a hand, firmly grabbing the net.
The black shadow wasn't a cannonball, it was a person.
It was Forest.
After grabbing the net his body kept flying forward as if shot out by a cannon, after flying for several meters he gradually started to slow down.
Big G and Swally crawled out of the net, but all they could see was Forest hanging from a tree branch with one hand and the net hanging from his other hand, dangling in the air.
Big G's heart was still beating fast, he let out a long sigh of relief, "If it wasn't for you this time I'm afraid I would have gotten myself into a real mess," he smiled awkwardly.
"You don't have to thank me," Forest said smiling.
Big G: "Then who should I thank."
Forest: "The person behind you."
Big G turned around and realized that Dash was standing behind him, his face was cold as iron.
Forest smiled, "I already told you that I couldn't walk or jump."
Big G: "Then just now..."
Forest: "Just now Dash threw me otherwise how could I have flown so fast."
If it wasn't for Dash's momentum nobody on earth could move that fast.
Big G looked at Dash, "Old Mr. King is pretty strong," he said smiling.
Forest: "But you still have his respect."
Big G: "His respect?"
Forest: "He might be strong, but you sure are brave."
Big G stared at him, "Do you really have to talk to us while you're hanging from that tree like a monkey?"
Forest smiled, "I wanted to jump down, but my right leg isn't working."
Dash and Swally had been quiet the whole time.
Both of them were staring at Big G.
"Looks like I can't do or say anything right today," he chuckled bitterly.
Swally finally sighed, "You're at least right about that."