Mr. A's physique couldn't be called that of a king of soldiers, but he was certainly far beyond ordinary people.
After all, on such a bizarre and chaotic deserted island, anyone who could venture deep into a wild tribe was no pushover.
However, everything is relative. It's like a middle school student who is very good at playing basketball at school; there's still a gap compared to Yao Ming.
Mr. A shouted and charged into the forest, but when he reached me, I grabbed his shoulder with my arm.
He tried to struggle, but he couldn't move his body an inch.
"Let go of me! Let go of me!"
What exactly had this guy been thinking? He was completely out of his mind now.
Annoyed by Mr. A's clamor, I simply picked him up from the ground with a forceful grip, like I was grabbing a chick.
"Snap out of it!"
I shook Mr. A vigorously a few times, almost flinging him away.
Only when he was dizzy and disoriented did I put him down and deliver a decisive slap to his face.
"Can you talk properly now?"
Mr. A looked at me with fear, as if he had seen a devil. He nodded tremulously, and the crazy look was gone from his face.
"Now, I ask, you answer!"
"If you act like that again, next time it won't be just a slap."
I paused, looked at Mr. A, and after he nodded, I continued.
"I ask you, why is the High Priest suddenly trying to kill you?"
Upon hearing my question, Mr. A's eyes darted away, as if he had something he couldn't easily speak of. However, when he saw my raised arm again, he was so scared that he blurted out the reason.
"Perhaps I accidentally discovered his secret yesterday..."
Hmm?
Mr. A's words instantly piqued my interest. So, it was the classic trope of stumbling upon a secret and being silenced, wasn't it?
"And then? What secret?"
"Yesterday, in the temple, I was looking for the Saintess, but halfway there, I saw the High Priest heading towards the depths of the temple. The High Priest has been elusive these past few days, not even seeing me, so I followed out of curiosity and eventually arrived at a mysterious room."
"Normally, important places in the temple are guarded by the High Priest and those divine representatives, but for some reason, this room had no guards at all. I watched the High Priest enter and followed him to the doorway, peeking inside."
At this point, Mr. A sighed, as if regretting his inability to control his curiosity.
A small room?
A thought stirred in my mind, and I immediately thought of the Wood God who had sent me a plea for help. However, I didn't reveal anything and continued to listen to Mr. A.
"I saw that the arrangement in that mysterious room was very strange. In the four corners of the room were objects that looked like human skulls. In the center of the room was a wooden platform, and on the platform was a locked box bound by chains."
"And the High Priest, with a crazed expression, was saying something to that box."
Mr. A showed a bitter smile as he said this, and in the end, he even slapped himself.
"It's all my fault for not restraining my legs. I originally thought the High Priest didn't know about this, but I didn't expect him to find out."
Regarding Mr. A's account, my evaluation was just two words: "Heh heh."
Setting aside how terrifying the High Priest's control over the temple was, his excuse of coincidentally encountering the High Priest and then following him made me disbelieve him a thousand times over.
We're both old foxes who have cultivated for millennia; what kind of strange tales are you trying to tell me?
I knew that the information Mr. A was providing was generally correct, but there were definitely many details he had concealed. However, this was not the time to interrogate him; I still had many questions to ask.
"So, you're reaping what you sow? But now I'm a bit curious, who exactly are you, and how did you get involved with the High Priest?"
Upon hearing my question, Mr. A naturally blurted out.
"Since it's come to this, I'll be honest with you. I'm actually from a world outside this island. I'm an archaeologist; you can think of me as someone who seeks history."
"I discovered this island by chance, so I brought people here to excavate. Unexpectedly, we encountered a natural disaster, and all my people died. Later, through a fortunate coincidence, I met the High Priest and formed a partnership with him to decipher historical secrets for him."
Mr. A's words, translated through my ears, meant: I'm from an organization called a company. My team encountered a natural disaster and was wiped out. My objective for coming to this island was to contact the High Priest of the Du'an tribe and reach certain secret collaborations.
Historian?
Exploration team?
The people from companies all use the same template for their cover identities. If I were an island native, I might have already been fooled by his composed demeanor.
"You're from a world outside the island, so can you tell me what your world is like?"
Although I didn't believe much of what Mr. A said, we still had to make small talk.
As soon as this topic came up, it seemed like Mr. A was in his element. He talked volubly about many things concerning the outside world.
During this time, I subtly probed for information about Mr. A's organization, but he evaded all my questions vaguely.
Seeing that we had talked enough, I asked Mr. A one last question.
"The High Priest is hunting you now, what do you plan to do?"