"Charlotte was taken out? How could that be? He was the strongest of the werewolves this time!"
"Steward, I suspect a demon hunter has infiltrated the crowd. I hope you'll let me go into the island and investigate!"
"Don't worry, Lilith. It's impossible for a demon hunter or someone from the Church to have slipped in. There's a holy-power detector on the island. Charlotte's death could also have been the result of infighting. You should know there are some very cunning characters among the vampires. Goruka is a newborn from the same family as the Council chairman. His strength may not be great, but in every other respect he far surpasses Charlotte. He's the real powerhouse in this qualifying competition. Just watch, Lilith. That fellow Goruka might even take out everyone else!"
"Understood, Steward!"
On the island...
The corpse was slowly disappearing, the sunlight evaporating every part of it. Zhi sat on the grass opposite the body, panting. If Ellis and the others hadn't run over just then, he might have been the one to die. By now, Ellis and the others were no longer as shocked as before.
Just minutes earlier, Ellis had felt that something was wrong, so she and the others ran back. When the four of them saw Zhi fighting the werewolf from a distance, they had no idea how to express what they were feeling. It wasn't until Zhi began to lose ground that Ellis did the only thing she could. And just like that, she saved his life...
"Is this what a werewolf is like?" Ellis asked Zhi, trembling slightly.
Zhi stood and walked toward the corpse, which had already evaporated. "I think it really was a werewolf. Ellis, could you ask Lundes to bring that thing over for me?" Zhi pointed to the heavy crossbow nearby.
Before Ellis could translate, Lundes ran over and hoisted the heavy crossbow onto his shoulder. "This thing is really heavy. I can't believe you can use a weapon like this!"
Zhi took several more deep breaths, then said, "Ellis, tell them to come with me. It's not safe here anymore. I've thought of a lot of things, and I want to talk them over with you."
Half an hour later, the five of them reached the place where Zhi had hidden his things. Besides the heavy crossbow and silver sword, Zhi had three silver daggers, a black bow, three black arrows, more than a dozen crossbow bolts with iron arrowheads, five silver arrows, a golden arrow, and a silver short sword...
Everyone except Zhi was stunned. Speaking for the others, Ellis asked, "Why do you have so many weapons? It's so strange. Are you really a demon hunter?"
Zhi shook his head. "That's why I had to board the plane in Hong Kong. These things were originally supposed to go to Japan for a weapons exhibition, but it looks like that won't be happening now..."
"All right, let me tell you what I've figured out so far."
"First, we've confirmed that there are creatures other than humans on this island—real demons. I don't know how many there are or how many different kinds, but I'm sure there's more than one."
"Charlotte probably went to check the corpse himself to stop his kind from tampering with it. That may not be the full explanation, but we can be sure that they can't recognize one another when they're in human form. After you ran off, Charlotte stayed where he was, saying something. He probably mistook the 'monster' you saw for one of his own kind."
"If that's the case, I think these demons are on the island to complete some kind of mission. They know there are others of their kind here, but they can't tell who they are. Why would that be?"
"Competition. Maybe they're here for some purpose that every demon has to fulfill. So they hide their identities while searching for the others, either to work together or fight. That would explain Charlotte's actions."
"But if that's true, we'll be facing the worst possible situation. Now that we've seen a werewolf, it's entirely possible that vampires are on the island too. Could there be other kinds as well? Witches? Hags? We have no way of figuring out how many enemies there are. So I think we need to put a basic plan into action right away. First, we stop trying to identify the enemy and focus on keeping ourselves safe. We can only take the next step if we stay alive. Until they make a clear move, we shouldn't act either. What do you think? I want to hear your opinions and ideas."
Ellis translated Zhi's words for the others. They kept nodding as they thought it over, which suddenly made Zhi feel at ease. Why? He had always fought alone. He hadn't felt this way in a long time—not since Kuo Zhe and the others left...
Parker and Lundes both nodded but didn't seem inclined to say anything. Freya offered her thoughts, and Ellis immediately translated them: "I might have a way to draw out the other demons, but it's dangerous. I don't know if you'll agree."
"I'll take a silver dagger from here and go among the people. I'll say I found it while diving and claim it's some kind of treasure. I don't think ordinary people would pay much attention, but if the other person is a demon, they'll definitely want to find out more..." Before Ellis could finish translating, Zhi interrupted her. "That's too dangerous. No, we can't do it. And what if someone else gets the weapon? None of us can let our identities be exposed. That's the one rule we must follow, no matter what we do. Only by keeping ourselves hidden can we deal with the other demons lurking in the dark. There's an old Chinese saying: It's easy to dodge an open attack, but hard to guard against a hidden one. If we stay in the dark too, they won't be able to make the first move. That's what happened when we took out Charlotte. He was the one who exposed himself first!"
Without any heated debate, the five of them agreed on their first shared objective. Before they set out, Ellis made a bold suggestion: she wanted every member of the group to be wounded with the silver sword. Silver could inflict enormous damage on demons, but it was no different from any ordinary wound when used on humans.
In the end, all five agreed, and they all got through it safely. A team that had no reservations about one another naturally worked most efficiently. That was the kind of team Zhi wanted...
After packing up their things, the five of them set out. This time, Zhi carried only one dagger, and he hid it well. His reason for the others was that there was no need to carry weapons around in the open before they got into a direct fight...
"From what you've said, this island is huge. If we were just looking for any old place to set up a base, that'd be easy. But we don't know what kind of place you're looking for. Can you explain in more detail?" Ellis asked as they walked.
Zhi walked along as he spoke. "The base has to be underground. The main thing is the surrounding area. To keep the base from being destroyed, we have to choose somewhere not far from people, but where no one will come. We also have to watch out for the wild animals on this island. You already know someone caught a deer. What if one starts jumping all over our base..."
After a full day of searching, they still hadn't found a place that completely satisfied Zhi. The others said one location seemed decent. Since time was short, Zhi had to agree with Ellis's suggestion. They were a team, after all; he couldn't make every decision by himself. Besides, the place wasn't bad. It just barely met his requirements.
When they returned to the beach, some people were already starving. They were down to their last food, and the expedition team still hadn't come back...
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Zhi. Why haven't they come back? Can't they make it back? Or are they unable to? No matter how big this island is, it can't take two days to cross. Could they have been attacked? By other demons? If I were a demon, what would I do after attacking the others?
I'd definitely make up an excuse and say everyone else was dead, then explain how I'd managed to survive. After that, I'd say there might still be survivors and take the others to look for them. Or I might run back alone and say I'd found food or something, then trick the others into going with me.
Either way, if one person comes back alone—or even a few people—then there's definitely more to this than meets the eye!
Zhi found the others on the beach and told them everything he had been thinking...
Before you continue