Under the tree, the Black Mist Lion wasn't bound, but was restrained by the control of the Star Mark and couldn't move.
It struggled to no avail, glanced at its companion with a broken arm in a pool of blood, and answered these human questions with anger.
"Don't pretend like you're a victim." Liam threw a stone in his hand and hit the Black Mist Lion's head with a thud. "Should you have forgotten it was you who jumped out to attack us first for no apparent reason?"
The Black Mist Lion was dissatisfied. "Blasphemy! It's obvious you guys were the first to break into our territory without permission!"
"What the hell is your territory? Who granted it to you?" Liam threw another stone at it, raised his chin, and asked, "Officials of Mimbo Republic? How many years has it been granted to you? Who signed it? Where do the boundaries come from? Why didn't I see any boundary markers? Can you take out the deed and show me?"
"This is a Professional Hunter from the Hunter Association. Ever heard of Professional Hunters?" Liam pointed at Essi. "V5 license. License to kill. With a Hunter License in hand, let alone this small barren mountain—even any world power can be traveled unimpeded!"
Essi's expression was calm, but he was speechless in his heart. This guy uses other people's identities to scare people. Really doesn't show any concern for others.
The Black Mist Lion was angry in his heart, but could only be angry. His body seemed paralyzed. He had no control over himself. He said impatiently, "Despicable humans. I can't argue with you. If you want to ask, just ask!"
Liam said, "Shizuku, drag that one away. Stay far away. Let's ask separately."
"Oh." Shizuku nodded, walked over, and dragged the other Black Mist Lion with one hand—like carrying a garbage bag. She picked up this guy's broken arm with the other hand and left.
Essi looked at Liam and Shizuku who were leaving to go elsewhere.
Ignoring the anger in the Black Mist Lion's eyes in front of him, Liam tossed the pebbles in his hand and asked, "First of all, first question: What's your name? What was the name of the one who was dragged away just now?"
"Ryan." The Black Mist Lion puffed hot breath from his nose, almost gritting his teeth. "His name is Rand."
Stones fell on him.
"What I said is true!" Black Mist Lion Ryan said angrily.
"Oh, good." Liam said. Through the Moon Mark on his finger, he synchronized the progress of the interrogation with Shizuku. The confessions are consistent. The two Black Mist Lions do have these names.
"I'll take what you said as true, Ryan." Liam leaned down and picked up a stone, then crushed it into many broken pieces.
"What is that thing hanging around your neck?" Liam picked up one of the stones.
"I don't know," Ryan said.
Liam pressed his fingers against the stone and aimed at the Black Mist Lion in front of him.
"I really don't know what this thing is called!" Ryan yelled.
"You call us despicable, but in fact you're also very cunning." Liam shot out the stone with a snap of his fingers. "You know what I'm asking is: what is the ability of this thing? Do all of you Black Mist Lions wear it? Where did this thing come from? Who gave it to you? Don't tell me this thing is a once-in-a-lifetime treasure you Black Mist Lions pulled out of your belly..."
Ryan the Black Mist Lion was stunned. He couldn't move his head, but from the corner of his eye, he could see the stone the human had flicked just now grazed his face and bang—made a crater in the tree trunk behind his head.
Sawdust flying.
Ryan calmed down. "Yes, everyone in our clan has this thing. As for how it came about, I really don't know!"
Is this thing standard equipment for the Black Mist Lion clan?
"What is the temple?" Liam grabbed another stone, this time aiming it at the Black Mist Lion's head.
Ryan broke out in cold sweat all at once.
How did he know about the temple?!
Could it be that bastard Rand slip it out? But how could this human know immediately? Rand was taken somewhere else! Do they have some method of long-distance communication?
Not to mention him—Essi was surprised.
"Perhaps this is the same method Liam can use to locate Kurapika's position from a long distance!" Essi thought secretly. "Liam and his friend have a special way of communication."
Ryan knew he couldn't hide it from the cunning, despicable, shameless, and hateful human boy in front of him. He could only say helplessly, "Since it's called a temple, of course it's a place where gods are enshrined! The only ability of our pendant is it allows us to return to the temple at any time when we encounter a crisis. It's of no other use! As for how it came about..."
After a pause, Ryan said simply, "Every time a tribesman reaches adulthood and completes the hunting test, they receive this pendant as a gift from the Great Elder. It means they've become a warrior who can stand alone. As for how the Great Elder made the pendant, I really don't know! This is true! If you don't believe it, just ask Rand!"
"...If you don't believe it, just ask Ryan!" On the other side, another Black Mist Lion shouted to Shizuku.
What a Town Portal Scroll!
Liam's expression remained unchanged, but he was complaining wildly in his heart. Is this too much?
Essi asked at this time, "Since you said this kind of necklace was a gift from your Great Elder after you passed the test when you were an adult, then... why do humans have it?"
He described the appearance of the cult Leader again. "His pendant is exactly the same as the one hanging around your neck. Not only the shape and material look exactly the same, but even the scene of the ability being activated at the end had no difference. That bastard took our friend away. We came here just to find him and save our friend."
"I hope you'll answer honestly." Essi stared at the Black Mist Lion Ryan. Because his emotions were rising, his aura was also fluctuating.
Ryan was silent for a longer time this time. Just when he was about to answer, Liam suddenly said, "Oh, he's a human raised by a group of lions like you."
How could that bastard Rand spill so neatly?!
Ryan almost wanted to vomit blood. He wanted to go back ten or twenty minutes ago and sincerely advise this human boy: Don't torment me. You can take this idiot Rand away and ask him. He'll just spill everything.
"Ryan, take them to see the Great Elder."
Then Rand came over.
Ryan looked over and was stunned. How come both of Rand's arms are fine? Wasn't one of them cut off by the woman?!
"What my friend here said is correct." Liam stretched out his hand toward Ryan. "We're here to save our people. We're good people. Don't you think so?"
Ryan hesitated a little, looked at the careless Rand over there, looked at the human hand stretched out—and suddenly found he could feel the existence of his body again. Could move independently.
Snap. Ryan slapped Liam's hand away and stood up.
"Follow me." He left first. When he passed by Rand, he punched him away.
Rand rolled to his feet and shouted, "Why are you hitting me? Stop!"
"Let's go." Liam waved and lifted the backpack on the ground with his toes, leading Shizuku to follow the two lion-headed monsters in front who were fighting and scolding each other.
After all, I haven't erased the Star Marks on them yet. If we're following them to Magical Beast territory, it's better to be careful.
As for the Star Mark on the other Lion, it was naturally placed on it by Liam after possessing Shizuku.
Since I don't plan to kill them, and I have to explore their territory later, it's better to sell goodwill. Put a star on it, heal the broken arm, and have multiple "hostages" of my own. Kills two birds with one stone.
Essi looked left and right, always feeling he was redundant. But since he'd followed all the way, he felt uneasy not seeing Kurapika with his own eyes. So he followed.
It was completely dark.
Deep in the Kamavor Mountains, a house was built on the mountainside. Several monsters with lion heads and bodies came in and out. Some of them were yawning at the distant night sky. Some were preparing their prey.
The two Black Mist Lions leading the way ignored these compatriots and continued moving forward with Liam and the others.
"Isn't it them?" Shizuku asked doubtfully.
Liam also looked at the mountainside. The few Black Mist Lions in front of the house—who seemed to him similar—had noticed them passing by. They looked a little confused and wary.
There were similar small jade Buddha pendants hanging around their necks.
Liam and Professional Hunter Essi looked at each other in confusion.
The small jade Buddha prop with special teleportation ability is actually mass-produced and distributed... Although it's not yet clear whether the principle is complicated, even whether the Hunter Association can make such a craft—Essi, a member of the association, it's really hard to say. Of course, it may also be because he's not qualified enough, has no access to the association's true core circle, and has limited knowledge.
Ryan and Rand beat their chests with their fists. The Black Mist Lions halfway up the mountain did the same and nodded to each other.
Ryan said, "Look, you human live only on the street stuck together so closely, but we, this entire mountain range is the territory of our tribe. Of course, the tribesmen are spread out and can live wherever they want."
"Didn't the Great Elder say we should change our way and learn from humans? Try to live together as much as possible?" Rand said aside. "This will also make it easier for him to count the population. Otherwise, it's easy to miss the little ones who haven't receive their pendant"
"You'll die if you don't speak, huh?" Ryan cursed, really wanting to tear this idiot's mouth off with his claws.
It seems the so-called Great Elder of the Black Mist Lions is the type willing to communicate with humans.
Liam secretly nodded. Easy to understand—if the entire clan was as hostile as Ryan, the Leader wouldn't have been raised like a wolf child. He would have been swallowed in one gulp when they picked him up.
Sure enough, when they—led by two Black Mist Lions—found the core residential area of these monsters in a valley plain and met the Great Elder, the other party's attitude was quite kind.
I don't know if he's always like this to humans, or if it's because humans who can come here to see him from the edge of the mountains are basically qualified to let him express a kind attitude.
Of course, it was more likely the result of the Black Mist Lions lying on the ground around Liam and the others.
Even with two guides—Ryan and Rand—these monsters wouldn't easily regard Liam and the three as friends. They'd definitely come up to interrogate them, or even use force to provoke them.
Liam and the others naturally knew at this time they needed to show their strength.
So after demonstrating some power, the old lion elder came out with everyone's attention.
The old lion was thin. It was rare for a monster to be wearing a robe. Under the half-open robe, you could still see the muscles and bones under loose skin. You could imagine his strong body when he was young.
"You're asking about this pendant..."
The Great Elder took out the small jade Buddha he was wearing from under his robe. The material was light gray like stone. The small multi-armed Buddha statue had a blurred face and the appearance of an unskilled sculptor. It was the same as the ones they'd seen before.
"It's just some poor imitations." The old lion said in a hoarse voice. "As for its special abilities, it's not my ability. I just followed the example and did it according to the method that person said. That's all. A poor imitation."
The Black Mist Lions who'd been beaten all around—bruised and swollen, the miserable ones even rolling on the ground unable to get up—this was the first time for them to hear the Great Elder tell the origin of the clan's necklace. They couldn't help but be shocked.
"That person?" Essi grasped the key words in the elder's speech. "Is the other person a human?"
The old lion sighed with emotion. "Yes, a human! Let me think. It was hundreds of years ago, right? At that time, I was still very young..."
Hundreds of years?!
Liam and Essi were both surprised. How can these Black Mist Lion beasts survive this long? Is the natural lifespan so long?
"Back then, our family still lived by the sea. I would always see him standing alone on the seashore, staring blankly into the distance of the endless sea for several days."
"Or he would be alone on the shore and carve the entire reef into many stone statues of different shapes, bit by bit."
The Great Elder smacked his mouth and fell into long-lasting memories.
"Probably because I often hung around him and he got used to my presence. One time I couldn't help but ask him: this sea is endless, boring as hell, and there's nothing. What are you looking at? At this time he spoke for the first time."
"He said he was looking at the past of mankind and also the future of mankind."
"He'd seen the sun rise on the other side, so he came here to watch the sun set."
It's easy to understand just looking at the ocean and witnessing the rise and setting of the sun, but... seeing the past and future of mankind?
Are you just bragging with a bunch of Magical Beasts, or is he really someone awesome?
Liam's mind was filled with thoughts. It couldn't be that old man Netero was taking a walk on the beach with nothing to do.
The old lion shook his head. "Alas, I'm going too far. Talking about rocks... well, rocks. He carved each reef into different shapes. Strange to say—they're obviously ordinary rocks, but after he carved them, each one looked like jewelry. As beautiful as black jade. I boldly wanted one to play with, but he said it was of no use to us Magical Beasts."
"However, in the end he couldn't help me pestering him. He left a statue but didn't allow me to move it. As compensation, he taught me an imitation technique..."
He looked at Liam and the three people who were listening carefully, as well as the Black Mist Lion clan members around them. "The statue he left behind was enshrined in the temple by us. The necklace I made using the method he taught me naturally has the ability to transport us to the temple when we encounter crisis."
Liam said, "So, where is the temple? The Leader you raised and our friends who were kidnapped by him are probably there."