Hu Tou's face was pale, his whole body trembling involuntarily. He raised a finger, his hand shaking, intending to utter a harsh threat, but his finger finally dropped down powerlessly.
"Commander, I surrender."
Under my undisguised killing intent, with me holding the knife and him being the fish, Hu Tou ultimately chose to submit.
As soon as these words left his mouth, Hu Tou seemed to age ten years, his once upright spine slumping slightly. He didn't even dare to meet my gaze, lowering his head and collapsing at my feet like a dying old dog.
Hmph, a dog that only knows how to be tough when it has the upper hand. If I hadn't been pointing a knife at him, this Hu Tou would have been plotting against me behind my back.
There was no trace of pity in my eyes as I slowly lowered myself and squatted in front of Hu Tou.
"Hu Tou, don't say I didn't give you a chance. If I ever find you plotting against me again, you will only face my endless wrath!"
I patted Hu Tou's head heavily a few times, as a master would pet a pet.
"Yes..."
Seeing that Hu Tou had completely submitted to me, I chuckled coldly and plunged the knife straight into the ground before him, then turned and walked away with long strides.
My objective had been achieved. There were no more troublemakers among the temple guards who could scheme against me behind my back.
Although I knew that Hu Tou was only submitting to me temporarily due to the circumstances, and to truly win him over would require a combination of the carrot and the stick, or both leniency and severity, this was enough for now.
I wasn't genuinely planning to join the Du An tribe, so there was no need to cultivate subordinates who were truly loyal to me.
After subduing Hu Tou, I returned to my tent.
The sky was already dark, and the forest outside was unusually quiet.
I lay down on the bed and drifted into a deep sleep.
In my dreams, I saw that scene again.
Dark, dense fog enveloped me from all directions, with only a small area of light within a meter of me.
The greedy gaze from within the fog stared at me without concealment, making my scalp tingle. I had no doubt that if the entity within the fog appeared before me, I would be utterly defenseless.
"Mother of All Creation, your servant is about to welcome your rebirth..."
A crisp female voice echoed faintly from the fog, her voice filled with incomprehensible fervor. The song praised the Mother of All Creation and contained chilling prayers.
Damn it, this thing is getting closer to me!
Even though I knew I was dreaming, I had no way to escape it. So, I had to suppress my fear and carefully observe my surroundings.
I looked down. The dim light was gradually being swallowed as the eerie female voice chanted its prayer. Although it was slow, my senses, amplified in the dream, allowed me to perceive this clearly.
I had a premonition that once the light beneath my feet was completely consumed, I would face an end worse than death.
*Hoo... hoo...*
I took a few deep breaths, forcing myself to shift my gaze from my feet to the black fog around me.
The blackness before me wasn't a pure, all-absorbing black. Instead, it felt incredibly foul, as if it were alive.
Hmm?
Fighting nausea, I forced myself to look into the fog, searching for clues.
Whether it was my imagination or reality, in a daze, I thought I saw a colossal ancient tree hidden within the fog?!
This was a fleeting moment, so fast it was as if I had blinked.
Just as I was about to look more closely, to confirm, my brain could no longer bear the impact. My vision went black, and I lost consciousness...
"Ha... ha..."
I suddenly sat up in bed. Sunlight streamed into the tent through the tent flap, indicating it was already the next day.
I gasped for breath, my back soaked with sweat. Only fragmented memories of the dream from last night remained in my mind, but the ancient tree hidden within the fog lingered in my thoughts.
If the black fog symbolized the power of the Mother of All Creation, why was there an ancient tree that seemed completely unrelated within it?
I rubbed my temples hard, trying to alleviate the throbbing pain in my head.
Gradually, a bold guess surfaced in my mind.
Perhaps the ancient tree hidden within the black fog was a guardian, or a seal, responsible for watching over the Mother of All Creation!
At that moment, I suddenly remembered the anime *Naruto* that I followed in high school. In it, the Nine-Tails was sealed within Naruto's body by the Fourth Hokage, and it was behind a gate that required Naruto to open it to be freed.
However, the situation with the Mother of All Creation seemed far more potent than the Nine-Tails. If no other complications arose, it might be able to break free using its own power!
And if the Mother of All Creation were to break free, my fate would likely be to be reduced to ashes.
Time was running out for me now...