The Chief furrowed his brow; the Spirit Jade was precious and was considered a strategic treasure material in the Wood Dynasty, used for refining various powerful standard magical instruments.
Moreover, the Spirit Jade mines in the Wood Dynasty were very scarce, heavily reliant on imports, making it even more valuable.
Cersei Bertram thought for a moment, and said, "If you can bring back the ancient corpse, I'll give you three pieces as a reward. If you can't... only one piece, which I will personally give to your sister."
Owen Bertram revealed a pure and innocent smile, "Alright, it's settled."
Carrying the Howling of the Wolf, he resolutely moved toward the Hunshui River, surrounded by pearl divers.
In Cersei Bertram's mind, the lingering image of that innocent smile seemed to bring up a sense of guilt. She felt as if she had taken advantage of and deceived such a simple and pitiful young man.
She disagreed with her niece's opinion; the young man wasn't foolish, he was just kind-hearted. He wanted to use his own life to give his sister a better life.
...
Along the way, Owen Bertram was desperately trying to calm Little Loach.
Ever since the Howling of the Wolf and the Vajra Talismans had fused, Little Loach was so excited in the river that he was about to jump out! Saliva flowed out from his whiskers.
Delicious! Delicious! Delivered right to the doorstep!
Owen Bertram had no choice but to continuously soothe the creature: "Don't make a scene. Don't let them see through you. Don't worry, I'll definitely feed you..."
He tried coaxing and threatening, and finally managed to get the fellow to calm down somewhat.
Even so, when they arrived at the riverbank of the Hunshui River, they could see the waves churning, whirlpools forming one after another, as if something terrible was hiding in the water.
The Jade Talisman hung above the crowd's heads, faithfully displaying everything happening there to Cersei Bertram and the others.
"Owen..." Uncle was worried, "Shall we forget about it? It's not like we can't survive." The monsters in the river are apparently warning us to be careful.
Owen Bertram stood by the river, apparently observing the water but in reality scolding Little Loach in his mind. The river's surface finally became a bit calmer.
"Uncle, we need to brave the dangers for riches!" Owen Bertram turned around, smiled, and then fell backwards into the river with a splash.
"Ah——" Uncle sighed.
The Jade Talisman showed the scene of the Hunshui River back to the small building at the entrance of the village. Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow saw that the moment Owen Bertram entered the water, the river's surface became calm for a short while. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, followed by huge waves. In an instant, the small Hunshui River became as dangerous as a raging river!
She couldn't help but clench her clothes tightly.
Suddenly, the entire river surface was lifted by a few inches. A thick ray of spiritual light shot up from the river bottom at an angle, flying out of the water and dissipating dozens of miles away.
"He used the Howling of the Wolf!" The Chief shouted out, and everyone involuntarily stood up. In Owen Bertram's hands, the Howling of the Wolf could only be used once.
Owen Bertram must have put everything on the line with the Howling of the Wolf!
Now it all depends on the outcome. If it doesn't hit the target, Owen Bertram's fate is a foregone conclusion!
After this strike, the Hunshui River suddenly became calm. The raised water surface lowered back down and everyone saw that the river water gradually turned red with blood.
The Chief was the first to react, clapping and laughing, "It worked!"
"With such a large amount of blood, it must be a huge creature, not Owen Bertram."
Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow's heart was in her throat. Although she trusted the Chief's judgment, she still couldn't be at ease without seeing Owen Bertram.
The wait was long and agonizing. Finally, a human head emerged from the river with a splash. Everyone looked carefully and recognized Owen Bertram. He was carrying the Howling of the Wolf, dragging something tied to a rope and swimming with great effort.
A smile appeared on the faces of the Horizon Bureau members. On the shore of the Hunshui River, the Pearl Divers rejoiced. Uncle hopped up with both arms raised, excited beyond measure.
Owen Bertram had almost reached the shore, and the thing tied to the rope could now be clearly seen. Floating and sinking in the river, it was a tall corpse.
Cersei Bertram and Chief exchanged glances and nodded their heads in agreement. It was undoubtedly the Ancient Corpse.
Although they failed to intercept the Ancient Corpse on the banks of the river, the authorities had seen its appearance clearly.
Just as Owen Bertram was about to make it to the shore, a huge wave suddenly surged behind him. A massive creature leaped toward him and bit down hard!
In the midst of the gasps, everyone saw that it was a gigantic and terrifying monster's skull, its mouth full of tusks!
Owen Bertram's face paled with fright. In a moment of desperation, he thrust the Howling of the Wolf forcefully into the gaping mouth, then leaped upward with all his strength. His whole body jumped out of the water, landing on the shore with a splash, and then he quickly crawled forward on his hands and feet.
The fearsome monster bit down on the Howling of the Wolf and sank back into the water. It then whipped its tail, sending a tidal wave toward the shore. Owen Bertram and several others nearly got swept back into the river.
However, after this, the monster seemed to have reached the end of its strength and disappeared into the water without resurfacing.
The Pearl Divers helped Owen Bertram, who staggered as they fled in a panic. Owen Bertram clung to the rope in his hand the entire time.
After waiting for quite a while longer, the surface of the river calmed down completely, with no trace of the monster to be seen.
Owen Bertram sat down heavily on the ground, pointing at the Ancient Demon Corpse and said to the Jade Talisman: "Luck."
Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow let out a long breath, and the Chief didn't want to delay any further: "Bring the Ancient Corpse over immediately, so we can avoid any complications!"
The Pearl Divers were resentful, feeling that the Chief's request was unreasonable and inconsiderate, not allowing them to catch their breath. However, they dared not disobey, so some of them assisted Owen Bertram while others dragged the Ancient Corpse toward the village entrance.
After meeting up with the people from the Horizon Bureau, Cersei Bertram personally took out a huge iron coffin, placed the Ancient Corpse inside, and locked it up with six Heavenly Locks before finally relaxing.
"Tell me about the course of the battle."
Owen Bertram looked exhausted: "There's not much to say. I was just gambling with my life. I used my own body to provoke the monster, betting that the Vajra Talisman could block at least one bite."
"Fortunately, the Vajra Talisman did its job and I took the opportunity to use the Howling of the Wolf to wound the monster."
"I thought it was dead, but it hadn't died completely. It followed me back when I was bringing the Ancient Corpse, and we almost failed."
To sum up the key points: the Vajra Talisman, the Howling of the Wolf, and the Heavenly Lock all disappeared.
Where did they go? Of course, in Little Loach's belly.
As for the blood that dyed the river red, it was Little Loach who had captured a few enormous Fierce Fish.
The blood of Little Loach was emerald-colored.
Cersei Bertram smiled and nodded slightly, without doubt: "You did very well." Then, on a whim, she added, "Would you be interested in joining our Horizon Bureau? I'll grant you the position of Military Officer, responsible solely for Extinct Village affairs."
You can't come out anyway, so why not just be in charge of Extinct Village?
It's not likely that anything would happen in Extinct Village in 800 years that would require the Horizon Bureau to take action, so this was essentially providing Owen Bertram with an amulet to protect himself from being harassed by minor officials in the future.
It was Cersei Bertram's way of making up for the slight guilt she had felt earlier.
Owen Bertram was not an ungrateful man. He bowed with a fist: "I thank you for your kindness."