Frilian: Starting by inheriting the title of the Southern Hero

Chapter 62 Everyone's a Villain

Cromwell arrived at the mountainside, but saw no sign of human presence.

There was only one exposed black rock.

"strangeness."

The old man looked around and soon found some broken bones in the depression in front of him.

It's not animal bones, it's human bones.

The bones bore obvious signs of gnawing, and a rusty broken sword lay half-buried nearby, its hilt's leather long since rotted away.

"It was done by a monster, wasn't it?"

Cromwell tightened his grip on the spiked club.

call!

A foul gust of wind suddenly swept out from the shadows of the leeward slope.

Immediately, a huge white figure descended from the sky, blocking Cromwell's path.

It was a giant wolf over twenty meters long, covered in long, white fur like steel needles, with two fangs protruding outwards, and bits of flesh from an unknown creature hanging on them.

"What a big dog."

Cromwell tilted his head. "Blocking the way isn't a good habit."

Cromwell stepped to the side, swinging his heavy spiked club in a full circle.

"sit down!"

boom!

The spiked club struck the giant wolf's nose, sending its massive body flying backward for over ten meters before crashing heavily into a rock wall and sliding down.

"He's really weak."

Cromwell withdrew his spiked club, then scratched his head in confusion, looking around blankly.

What am I here for again?

Oh, right, kill the robbers.

But all that's here are dead dogs and human bones.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from behind.

"Old man!"

Laofen's voice drifted on the cold wind.

Cromwell turned around and saw three familiar figures coming from down the slope.

Although he couldn't quite remember the name, he knew it was someone he knew.

"You've arrived."

Cromwell pointed to the wolf carcass on the ground. "The villagers said there were bandits in the mountains, but I only saw a dog."

Lynn strode forward, looking at the giant wolf that was still convulsing, and was slightly alarmed.

A single, decisive blow.

Comminuted fracture of the skull.

This monster looks like it could at least take on two Red Mirror Dragons, but it's end up being treated so humiliatingly.

The giant wolf's convulsions quickly stopped, and it vanished into black particles.

"Are you alright?"

Lynn checked Cromwell over. "Are you hurt?"

"No, this dog is too weak to handle."

Cromwell shook his head.

Lynn breathed a sigh of relief and then walked toward the pile of human bones and equipment scattered in the wolf den.

He crouched down, picked up the broken sword, and then examined the half-helmet that had long since weathered over.

An imperial emblem was faintly visible on the helmet.

Looking further away, there are many more similar remains.

"Lynn, what's wrong?"

Laofen leaned closer and asked.

Something's not right.

Lynn stood up and threw the broken sword back onto the snow. "This doesn't look like a bandit camp at all. After all, how could humans live in the same place as monsters like this? Isn't that just asking for death?"

"Little Lynn is right."

Isa said, "This monster is called the Silverback Frostwolf, and it has an extremely strong sense of territory. Since such a monster is entrenched on this mountain, any human who wants to set up camp here will have to kill it first."

"But……"

Laofen was clearly still not quite there. "The old man in that village clearly said the bandits were on this mountain."

"That's the problem."

Lynn walked to the edge of the cliff, looking down at the village at the foot of the mountain, his eyes filled with coldness.

"If there really are bandits on the mountain, why not get rid of this wolf?"

"If the bandits couldn't defeat this wolf, how could they possibly have set up camp on the mountain?"

Lynn turned around and looked at the three of them. "If there are no bandits on the mountain, why would the villagers trick the old man into coming up here?"

Isabella was a smart woman, and her expression changed instantly: "You mean..."

"Using someone else to do the dirty work."

Lynn sneered, "This frost wolf is the knife."

The scene at the village entrance flashed quickly through his mind.

The woman kneeling on the ground weeping, and the old man whose eyes gleamed with anger.

And those two corpses covered with straw mats.

"I found it strange at the time. Although the equipment on the two corpses had been mostly stripped off, the remaining inner lining fabric was of very good quality, something that the poor village could not afford."

Lynn's voice trailed off, "Those two corpses weren't villagers at all, but unlucky passersby, or adventurers like us."

Laofen covered her mouth, incredulous: "You mean, the people in that village... are the real bandits?"

"This area is known as a place of exile among the people of the northern kingdoms. Those people here are probably villains who have committed serious crimes and have been exiled."

Isa said, "The young ones become bandits, and the old ones take advantage of the adventurers' sympathy to lure seemingly tough strongmen up the mountain to feed the wolves. As for those who seem easy to bully, they probably just take action in the village."

"Let's go downstairs and settle the score."

Lynn turned and walked down the mountain.

……

The village at the foot of the mountain remained peaceful.

Several villagers were gathered at the village entrance, occasionally looking up at the mountain.

"That old man's been up there for so long, he must have been eaten by now, right?"

A middle-aged man holding a pitchfork said in a low voice.

"He's definitely dead."

The old man who used to lean on a cane was now backless, and there was no trace of grief or indignation on his face. "Although that old man has great magical power, he is completely powerless against the Silverback Frostwolf."

"Those three young men caught up with us too, hehe, those two women are really hot."

A man nearby rubbed his hands together, a lewd grin on his face, "If one or two of them manage to escape alive..."

"Shut up!"

The old man glared at him. "If they manage to escape, we'll be in big trouble."

As they were talking, four figures appeared on the mountain path.

The villagers' expressions changed instantly.

The old man immediately bent down, his face filled with anxiety and worry, and tremblingly went to greet him. "Gentlemen! You're finally back! There was such a commotion up the mountain just now, we were all so worried! Is that old gentleman alright?"

The other villagers also gathered around, their faces full of concern.

"Thanks to you all, everything's alright."

Lynn stopped five steps away from the old man, his hand slowly resting on the hilt of his sword. "I just have a question that I can't figure out, so I came down here specifically to ask you for advice."

The old man's eyelids twitched, but he still forced a smile: "Sir, please ask. As long as I know the answer, I will tell you everything I know."

"How many years have you been feeding that silverback frost wolf?"

The old man's smile froze on his face instantly.

The noise from the surrounding villagers also stopped abruptly.

"My lord... what joke are you telling? What wolf?"

The old man quietly reached for his belt behind his back.

Stop pretending.

Lynn stepped forward, his murderous intent no longer concealed. "There are no bandits on the mountain, only corpses strewn everywhere. Those bones belong to the adventurers you tricked up there, don't they?"

The old man's face twitched a few times, and his previously hunched back straightened instantly.

"Let's do it!"

The old man roared and drew a short knife from behind his back.

At his command, the villagers, who had previously appeared honest and simple, instantly dropped their pretense.

The woman who had been crying earlier pulled a crossbow from under the straw mat and aimed it at Lynn.

Another man, brandishing a machete, led a dozen or so men to flank them from both sides.

"Now that you've discovered us, you might as well leave us here as fertilizer!"

The old man, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace, swung his knife toward Lynn's throat, shouting, "Blame your bad luck!"