Chapter 65 - 61: Torture
The Earth Wolves of Black Mountain had just experienced a failure. In Black Mountain’s view, the reason for this failure was tough to attribute to any ordinary cause. Their whole team had been all but annihilated in this operation and, to this day, they still had not been able to figure out the fundamental reason for their defeat.
Only a few days had passed since the failure, and already, the Crows and Rats were laughing themselves silly.
The Crows laughed, HEE HEE HEE, ordinarily these arrogant, self-important Earth Wolves could be led astray by mere sweet-talk! This was simply unbelievable; such a rare and comical sight was so ridiculous it had turned the Earth Wolves into utter fools.
The Rats laughed, HAHAHA, the Earth Wolves had it coming! They couldn’t even capture all of the generally acknowledged fools. This was a tremendous joke! They couldn’t help but wonder how these wolves still had the face to leisurely descend Guru Mountain.
The Earth Wolves themselves were also bewildered. Failing to capture all Three Fools without letting a single one slip was, according to legends about them, indeed a disgraceful affair. And if some ill-intentioned onlooker were to recount the bizarre and convoluted details of the whole incident, it would only make them lose even more face.
As it stood, the mission had failed. Their team had been unable to retrieve the Spirit Book, much less capture the "New Fool." Calling them useless wouldn’t be an exaggeration. However, they had at least managed to capture two of the "fools," which somewhat salvaged a shred of their reputation. The "useless" label could be set aside for now, as long as no meddling gossips mentioned the strange incident they encountered just before they all descended the mountain...
The legendary "Two Fools," Liko and Pita, had their hands bound behind their backs and were locked away in a secret "cave" used by Black Mountain—the cellar of an unknown tavern on Guru Mountain.
For the time being, the mouths of these two guides from Guru Mountain were stuffed with strips of torn cloth, muffling their attempts to speak into incoherent mumbles.
An Earth Wolf guard rummaged around in the cellar and, after some effort, found a carrot. He wiped it off and began to munch on it.
The sight prompted the other Earth Wolves to start chatting, their words laced with mocking laughter.
One said, "With so many onions and potatoes around, you choose to chew on a carrot. You really are a rabbit."
Another said, "Good thing I didn’t go up the mountain with you. Look at the pathetic state you’re in now! You don’t look like you’re from Black Mountain at all."