Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 222 - 76: Laying the Cards on the Table_1

Chapter 222: Chapter 76: Laying the Cards on the Table_1

(263 ... 084 ... 458 ... Readers group where you can join if you want. PS Friends who pass by, please add to your collections and recommend, your support is my greatest motivation. Also, could you please give me your suggestions? Thanks. PS2: The title of the book has been changed, please check out the related work)

"Big Sister, what happened to you?" Lina and Vivian were at a considerable distance from the start of the Tempest Corridor, but they could clearly hear the howling wind from the corridor getting lower and lower, and the wind that could be felt across several bends was gradually disappearing. Knowing that this signified the trap had been broken, the two girls’ worries for Catherine and Pannis’s safety lessened. They hurriedly walked towards the direction the wind was blowing from. After they had not walked far, they heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction. Catherine and Pannis, covered in blood, came back one after another. The two of them were shocked by Catherine’s terrible condition. Lina immediately rushed to hug Catherine, frantically scanning her body: "Why is there so much blood, let me see where you’re hurt."

"You silly Lina." Vivian, jumping behind Lina, hit Lina on the head. "Big sister came back all by herself. She definitely doesn’t have any major problems. You should just hurry and heal her instead of panicking. You’re such a big fool."

"I warn you, Vivian, you idiot." Lina forcefully pushed Catherine to the ground, slowly and cautiously unwinding the bandages, and retorting, "I don’t have time to settle this with you now, but just you wait. Once I’m done with the important matters, you’re finished, completely finished."

"Ah." As soon as the bandage was unwrapped, Vivian immediately saw two dangerous wounds, and couldn’t help but let out a short surprised scream: "This is too dangerous."

"What exactly happened?" Lina, her face serious, gently touched Catherine’s neck wound with her index finger. Although the wound had stopped bleeding, the torn wound was turned outward, looking like a gaping mouth, recounting the danger at that time, "Catherine, you almost died. Three millimeters more, and your artery would have been cut. You wouldn’t have made it in time for me to heal you."

"Hmm, I know. But it’s nothing, I’m okay now, right?" Catherine said with a smile, "Don’t worry. I just hit a linked trap. Just need to be more careful next time."

"This is too much. It’s really too much." Vivian grimaced, her face turning very ugly. She abruptly looked up at Pannis and said, "Pannis, I can’t stand it anymore."

"Well, it’s about time to lay our cards on the table. The treasure room should be just ahead." Pannis gave a slight nod to Vivian, "If you can’t stand it, then stop standing it."

"Alright." Vivian abruptly turned around, coldly looking at Elrad who was standing behind everyone without making his presence felt, she shouted angrily, "Mr. Elrad, you really have gone too far."

"Ah? Me? What did I do?" Elrad pointed at himself in surprise, "What does this have to do with me?"

"You hide your expression well, not displaying any flaws. But sadly, I can sense your emotions." Vivian said with a cold smile, "When big sister went, you were filled with excitement and expectation, much more than us. That’s not a big deal, but when you saw big sister and Pannis coming back safe and sound, your mood immediately shifted to regret and disappointment. What are you regretful about? What are you disappointed about? Combined with your previous expectation, did you know about the existence of these traps? Were you hoping they’d die up ahead?"

"What, what nonsense are you talking." Elrad looked baffled, "The things you’re saying are too ridiculous. How could I possibly hope for their deaths? I see, you’re about to finish your journey, so you want to find an excuse not to pay me my reward, and you also want to swallow my five percent share, that’s it. Do you still call yourselves adventurers?"

"Hmph." Vivian snorted coldly, crossing her arms and spoke in a mocking tone, "Did you think I just found out about your suspicious behavior now? Wrong, I noticed it a long time ago. If it wasn’t for Pannis stopping me, I would have already called you out."

"Ha, what nonsense." Elrad, laughed out of fury, "Have you gone mad? If it wasn’t for me leading the way, you couldn’t have made it here at all. And now you’re saying that I’ve been suspicious from the start? If I were suspicious, could I have led you here?"

Lina and Catherine both didn’t interrupt, their faces wearing the same surprised expression. Clearly, they were not aware of everything Vivian was saying. But Pannis knew, Pannis sighed lightly, shaking his head and saying, "Elrad, we actually felt something was wrong a long time ago."

"Actually, in the beginning, everything was normal," Pannis said calmly. "You were perfectly acting according to a guide’s behavior. But when did it start for the first time? Hehe, when we encountered a large group of Hunter Frogs in the Misty Forest, everyone was held back, causing us to not leave the Misty Forest in time, it started from that time, right?"

"You continue talking, I want to see what kind of excuse you guys can come up with," Elrad stared at Pannis dismissively with anger.

"You hid it very well, when we were surrounded by a large group of Hunter Frogs, you adequately displayed the panic and fear a normal person would have. Although it was a bit lacking, at least in that environment, your emotions were within reason," Pannis said, half-seriously, half-jokingly as he was stroking his chin. "But, when the mist rose, everyone was actually very panicked. It was only the professionalism that kept everyone calm, but you were different. At that time, psychologically speaking, you didn’t have the reactions a normal person should have, quite the opposite. When the mist rose, and everyone had a high chance of not being able to escape at all, you were looking forward and excited. Perhaps, you possessed some secret technique, allowing you to safely escape from the misty forest enveloped in fog. When Vivian unintentionally spoke about it to me at that time, we didn’t initially understand why you would act in such a way, but used some later information and eventually figured it out. Before we entered the Misty Forest, we talked about treasure hunting and possibly from that moment, you started acting strange."

"From that time on, there were contradictions in every move you made," Vivian continued, "On the Broken Skull Hills, those Mountain Apes were also attracted over by you using some hidden method, right? What was it? Was it the talisman you accidentally smashed? Or was it the fruit you inadvertently stepped on and smeared on the soles of your shoes? After failing, the Mountain Apes submitted, and everyone was surprised and curious, while also feeling relieved. But you? Hehe, why were you angry? Why were you irate?"

"Then, we encountered the Mud Monster." Pannis was counting on his fingers. "That was the third trap, right? In order to avoid involvement, you specifically left ahead of time, didn’t you? That time, the trap successfully caused one death and one injury, and what were your feelings? Hehe, seeing that the number of people finally started to reduce, though you acted very grave, your mood was actually ecstatic, why? Later, I understood, you wanted to lead everyone into a dead end multiple times, you wanted all of us to die on this journey. No, pardon me, I got it wrong, before the Mud Monster, your actions were more moderate, not necessarily intending to kill everyone, just wanting to create a crisis to make everyone feel fearful and retreat. But when it came to the Mud Monster, your actions suddenly became more radical, why? I’m afraid it’s because we told you our exact destination. Before that, you only suspected that our target was here, but did not confirm it, so there was still some leeway. But, upon confirmation, you left no room for doubt, and at that time, I deliberately showed distrust in you, that caused you to feel stressed, leading to a series of actions afterwards."

"Marrow Eater, that kind of magical beast, has a very vengeful trait, a secret you knew before, right?" Vivian continued her attack. "But you not only didn’t remind everyone, but also repeatedly emphasized how safe it was here, that no magical beasts would enter, you wanted everyone to completely let their guard down. Unfortunately, if it wasn’t for Pannis and I previously being suspicious of you, you would have almost succeeded, you were just one step away, truly regrettable."

"Then, we came in here," Pannis let out a long sigh. "Fortunately, I was the one who entered the portal first, otherwise, who knows, you might have succeeded again, that trap was too cruel. Finally, we arrived here, this should be the most dangerous one, right? Even a legendary rank professional would probably lose their life unknowingly being trapped, right? This is the last gate, also your last chance to stop us, so you were so angry at your failure that you couldn’t even hide your disappointment, is that right?"

"So, that’s what happened," said Catherine, who had just finished administering treatment, looking at Vivian and Pannis with doubt. "Why didn’t you tell us beforehand?"

"Before we entered here, we were not completely sure yet," Vivian explained. "This is a serious accusation, so I didn’t plan to tell you until I was completely sure. As for Pannis, he discovered it himself, or rather, he discovered it earlier than I did. And he also tends to keep it under wraps first, to prevent Elrad from doing anything more excessive."

"Alright," Catherine seemed to have completely accepted Pannis and Vivian’s views, and asked Elrad, looking him square in the eye: "Mr. Elrad, don’t you want to explain?"

"Explain what?" Elrad said angrily, "Since all of you have already worked it out, do I still need to explain? That’s right, I wanted to kill all of you, and so what? All the dangers along the way were avoided by your luck, even luck is on your side, it’s just my bad luck."

"Why would you do something like that?" Catherine frowned, and asked discontentedly: "I think the compensation I gave you is quite generous. I didn’t wrong you in any way, why do you want to kill us?"

"You didn’t wrong me? Yes, you even promised to give me five percent of the share, what generous treatment." Elrad suddenly broke out into a bout of laughter, with a twisted face, he said, "Hypocrites, you people are trying to take my treasure away, and yet hypocritically offering me a five percent share, should I even thank you?"