Expert Group

"Sizzle~~~"

The succulent lamb skewers sizzled over the charcoal, golden grease dripping down and filling the air with a rich, savory aroma.

"Captain!"

Mad Dog, lounging in a beach chair, tilted his head back and flashed a smile at his teammates as they waved at him.

"Captain, hurry up! We finished the mission, it's time to celebrate properly."

Two teammates stepped forward, grabbed his arms, and hauled him up from the chair toward the grill.

A fragrant skewer was thrust into his hand. Just as Mad Dog opened his mouth to take a bite, a pungent, metallic scent of blood hit his nose. He took a closer look at the skewer and froze.

The skewers in his hand were actually dripping, bloody eyeballs.

"Eat, hurry up and eat!! Taste my handiwork."

As his teammates urged him on with fervent enthusiasm, Mad Dog felt his scalp tingle. He tossed the skewers aside and looked up in anger, only to be met with a sea of bloody, severed heads. Everyone's eyes had been gouged out, their hollow sockets staring at him like bottomless abysses.

"Eat! It was our own blindness that made us choose you as captain. Eat, hurry up and eat!!"

"Ah!!"

Watching his teammates close in, Mad Dog finally snapped and let out a scream. His tightly shut eyes flew open, but instead of the beach, he saw a ceiling draped with dried fish.

"Whew! It was just a dream."

Realizing he had been having a nightmare, Mad Dog let out a long, shaky breath.

"You're awake!!"

A familiar voice sounded by his ear. He turned to see Xu Tong sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a book and watching him with a faint smile.

"It's you!"

Seeing Xu Tong, Mad Dog finally relaxed. But then, remembering something, he reached down to touch his lower abdomen. The wound that should have been run through was now tightly wrapped in gauze.

"Did you save me?"

His heart skipped a beat as he asked Xu Tong.

"No, we were just lucky. Officer Wang and his men arrived in time. Any later, and it would've been a different story."

Xu Tong gave a brief summary of what happened yesterday. Mad Dog's injuries had been severe, and there was no doctor at the Forest Farm.

Yang Guanjin, the only one with any medical knowledge, had been so rattled by the sight of his wounds that she was at a loss. She only knew basic nursing, bandaging, and applying medicine; she had no idea how to handle such a grave injury.

At the critical moment, Xu Tong had been forced to step up and stitch the wound himself, or else the person lying on the bed would likely be a corpse.

"Whew!!"

Hearing this, Mad Dog finally let out a long breath. He sat up straight and grinned. "Heh, didn't realize you were such a reliable vet."

Xu Tong didn't respond, his gaze lingering on the wound on his abdomen as he frowned slightly.

Seeming to know what he was thinking, Mad Dog gave a mysterious smile and produced a medicine bottle. "Don't worry. With this, as long as I'm not dead, any injury can heal rapidly."

He downed half the bottle and tossed the rest to Xu Tong. "Here, take it as payment. It might save your life when things get critical."

Xu Tong caught it and took a look; the glass bottle contained a bright red liquid. He tossed it into his Prop Catalog.

[Prop: Muscle Recovery Potion (Basic)]
[Usage: Rapidly restores muscle tissue and treats physical injuries.]
(Note: Cannot restore severed limbs, disabilities, or missing functions. Effectiveness is halved if the wound is over two days old, and useless after five days.)

"With this much medicine, I think you look more like a doctor than I do."

Xu Tong looked at the medicine Mad Dog had given him and couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

Mad Dog chuckled, looking smug. "Heh, this potion is the real deal. You can't even buy it at the Exhibition Hall. Only I can purchase it through special channels using script points."

"Exhibition Hall??" Xu Tong raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it happens about once every Sunday. You can enter the Exhibition Hall through the Script Hall. It's a place specifically for players to trade. Besides medicine, there are all sorts of props you wouldn't even imagine."

As Mad Dog explained, he began to unwrap the gauze from his abdomen.

However, as the bandages fell away, the smile on his face stiffened. He stared wide-eyed at the stitched-up wound on his stomach.

"Don't tell me... you were the one who stitched this for me!!" He bolted upright, lunging forward to grab Xu Tong by the collar!

Xu Tong looked genuinely regretful. "My apologies. The Forest Farm... no, I don't think this era even has absorbable sutures, so I had to use regular cotton thread to stitch you up."

"You bastard!! I'm not asking about that! What the hell is up with this Peppa Pig??"

Mad Dog pointed at his lower abdomen. On his lean stomach, the cotton thread had been used to embroider the distinct shape of Peppa Pig.

As a self-proclaimed "hardcore man," Mad Dog nearly choked the life out of the bastard in front of him.

"Take these stitches out right now!!"

He roared, pointing at his stomach.

Xu Tong once again expressed his regret. "The Muscle Recovery Potion is too effective. The thread and your flesh have already grown together. If you want them out, you'll need a knife to cut the wound open again. Are you sure you want to do that??"

Mad Dog looked down at his stomach and hesitated. "For real??"

"Really!"

Xu Tong placed his hand over his left chest, assuring Mad Dog, "I swear on my conscience!!"

"The devil would believe your conscience."

Mad Dog cursed under his breath, but he still let go and reached for a piece of clothing to pull over himself.

"Last night, when I broke in, I was ambushed. The opponent seemed to be skilled in mental attacks; we've run into a tough nut this time."

Mad Dog recounted his experience from the previous night. After breaking into the house, he had intended to engage in hand-to-hand combat, but the opponent was not only far superior in strength but also possessed some form of mental attack. The most troublesome part was that his own attacks had proven completely ineffective.

Whether it was his blade strikes or his abilities, the opponent seemed to have deflected them all using some special means.

"Did you see what the person looked like?"

Xu Tong pressed.

"A man, probably in his early forties, about one meter seventy-five tall!"

Mad Dog struggled to recall the details. As for the man's face, he hadn't seen it clearly; it was as if something was covering it, making it impossible to discern.

Xu Tong rubbed his chin. In his mind, he had already sketched a vague outline based on Mad Dog's words, but no one at the Forest Farm fit this profile.

In other words, the person who took the Golden Dagger last night was not from the Forest Farm.

"No! There must have been another person!"

He remembered the monkeys. It was impossible for the opponent to have been fighting Mad Dog while simultaneously controlling the monkeys to attack him.

This meant there was someone else at the scene, and this person had been targeting him specifically.

Thinking of this, Xu Tong tossed out the corpse of the monkey he had killed yesterday.

Seeing such a large monkey, Mad Dog couldn't help but gape in surprise. After carefully inspecting the carcass, he pondered, "Could it be that there were two people last night—one to steal the dagger, and one to kill you?"

Having said that, he couldn't help but scrutinize Xu Tong. "But I don't understand, why would they want to kill you? You're just a poor student; what kind of threat could you possibly pose that would make them try to kill you again and again??"

Xu Tong didn't have the answer to that question either. Just as he was about to ask Mad Dog if the Golden Dagger had any special properties, Mad Dog suddenly waved his hand to signal that someone was coming. Footsteps approached from outside the door.

"Uncle Li!"

A moment later, Yang Guanjin's voice rang out from outside. As the door was gently pushed open, she walked in carrying a basket of eggs.

Seeing Mad Dog standing up from the floor, her small face immediately filled with panic. "Uncle Li, why are you up? Quick, lie back down! Your injuries are so severe—what if the wounds tear open?"

She didn't forget to complain to Xu Tong, who was standing to the side: "And you! Why weren't you keeping an eye on him!"

As Yang Guanjin moved to check Mad Dog's wounds, he was so startled that he scrambled back into his bedding. "No need, no need! My injuries are no longer an issue, really!"

Mad Dog didn't want Yang Guanjin to discover that his wounds had already completely healed, and he certainly didn't want her to see the Peppa Pig on his belly.

Seeing Mad Dog so insistent, Yang Guanjin had no choice but to indulge him. She placed the eggs on the table and instructed:

"Uncle Li, Captain Wang didn't expect things to turn so dangerous this time. He originally wanted to come and check on you, but he received a call from above saying that a team of experts was coming. He left before dawn to pick them up, and these eggs are a special gift from Captain Wang to comfort you."

"A team of experts!!"

Xu Tong and Mad Dog exchanged glances, both struck by a bad premonition.

Yang Guanjin nodded and continued, "Yes, I heard it's a big expert from the capital who happened to be surveying in our county. I don't know who leaked the news about the Golden Dagger being unearthed here, so they rushed over with their people. They should be back any minute now."

No sooner had Yang Guanjin finished speaking than the three of them heard the sound of car horns in the distance outside the Forest Farm.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. I'll go take a look. Uncle Li, get some more rest."

Yang Guanjin left the room, leaving Xu Tong and Mad Dog staring at each other.

"Let's go out and see!"

Mad Dog tried to head outside, but Xu Tong blocked him. "You were just stabbed last night and nearly lost half your life. You're going to run out there now? Isn't that just asking to be exposed?"

"Then what do we do?"

Mad Dog frowned. He wanted to confirm as soon as possible whether this group of "experts" was the same team he was worried about.

If they were, the two of them would be in an even more passive position; they would inevitably be sidelined or perhaps even used as cannon fodder.

Xu Tong slowly turned around, his gaze fixed on Mad Dog. "Actually, I have another way."

"What... Pfft!!"

Mad Dog's brow twitched. Just as he opened his mouth, his eyes suddenly widened. He looked down to see a silver dagger plunged into his lower abdomen...

Xu Tong leaned in close, his lips moving as he whispered in a very soft voice: "Being a dead man is the best way!"

Apologies, my stomach condition flared up again today. It was agonizing, so I went to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor said it was acute gastritis. After all the trouble, I lost a lot of time. I can only manage one chapter today. I'm going to rest now and will continue updating tomorrow.