Chapter 597: The True Face of Earth Pig?
Earth Horse’s expression dimmed a little, uncertain how to respond.
At that moment, Earth Pig raised his head and looked at her. “Just go along with it for now. Go get your injuries treated. If you keep dragging it out, your leg will be ruined.”
Earth Horse looked around the room at everyone, seemingly pondering something. After a moment, she said, “I understand.”
This time, when she left, no one stepped forward to stop her. After all, what needed to be done was already done.
For now, Earth Horse likely wouldn’t do anything outrageous again. She could only wait until she figured things out and came back on her own.
The only unstable element left in the room was Earth Pig. Since the group had been enemies just moments ago, no one knew how to settle things now.
Earth Pig took a few steps toward Pencil Tiger, then bent down and rolled up his pant leg, revealing his delicate knee. He pointed at it.
“What?” Pencil Tiger asked.
“Kick me,” Earth Pig said.
“What the fuck?!”
Earth Pig sighed. “Let’s keep things separate. Back then, I didn’t know the situation and I ambushed you. Now you kick me back, and we’re even.”
“Damn…” Earth Tiger scratched his head, looking confused. “I was right to say you’re like a kid. You hit me, so what? You didn’t beat me to death. Why the hell is there a ‘kick me back’?”
“I wasn’t even thirteen yet when I became an ‘Earth Rank,’” Earth Pig said. “It’s not wrong to call me a child. It’s just that I’ve been living here for decades now.”
Earth Pig’s words plunged the room into silence. If they didn’t find a way to do something, they would only end up living here longer than Earth Pig had.
“No wonder you’ve got that arrogant attitude, just like when I was young. You really are just a kid, huh?” Earth Tiger’s tone softened, becoming less harsh. “If you’re a kid, I won’t bother fussing with you. Let’s just drop it.”
He waved his hand, limping to one side and sitting down. “I’m old. I don’t like arguing with children.”
Earth Pig thought for a moment, then rolled his pant leg back down. “I don’t want to owe you anything. As repayment, I’ll do something for you. What do you want? Anything within my ability, I’ll help you with.”
Pencil Tiger looked at Earth Pig, thought for a moment, then laughed. “Fuck, someone just kicked me when I was down. Go kill that black sheep for me. I can’t take it anymore.”
“Fine.” Earth Pig nodded seriously. “I’ll go now.”
“Hey?” Black Sheep was startled. “Damn it, Pencil Tiger, you really don’t know what’s good for you. That was just my delaying tactic, wasn’t it?”
Before the words faded, Earth Pig was already ready to charge. Pencil Tiger hurriedly lunged forward to stop him.
“Hey, forget it, forget it! I was just joking!”
Everyone felt like another problem child had just joined the room.
“Didn’t you tell me to kill him?” Earth Pig asked.
“I fully believe you’re a kid now.” Pencil Tiger shook his head helplessly. “Seeing how much you love acting like a big shot and your lack of manners, I really used to think you were some scheming little dwarf…”
“Either way, I’m never going to grow any taller.” Earth Pig said. “If you don’t need me to do anything else, I’ll leave now.”
“Leave…?” Earth Tiger was taken aback. “Aren’t you going to interfere with our rebellion anymore?”
“You all just explained it, didn’t you?” Earth Pig replied. “Your goal is simply the ‘Heaven.’ Kill ‘Heaven’ and you can advance. I don’t have any particular thoughts about this. Until I find the true path to advancement, I won’t act rashly.”
“The true path to advancement?”
“Yes. At least I don’t want to become the second Aries.” Earth Pig sighed. “Even if I really do have to vanish into thin air here, I can’t die without knowing why.”
Black Sheep frowned. “I think I kind of get what you mean… You thought we gathered here to rebel just to avenge Brother Goat? No wonder you thought Pencil Tiger was our leader.”
“Wasn’t that the case?” Earth Pig was also puzzled. “Because you all guessed Aries was probably dead, you wanted to demand an explanation from the ‘Heaven’ here.”
Everyone exchanged glances, and Earth Tiger wiped the blood off his face, limping over. “Little Pig, what if I told you that Brother Goat isn’t dead at all, and in fact, he’s currently in the ‘Land of Finality’ preparing to fight ‘Heavenly Dragon’?”
“What…?”
“It’s true.” Everyone nodded in agreement, and Earth Rat added, “Chief Pig, every ‘Zodiac’ in this room today has seen Aries earlier today.”
They told Earth Pig about their respective encounters during the day, and Earth Pig tried to recall.
He really hadn’t seen anyone suspicious. There was only a team wearing leather jackets that was very strong—he had almost been outfoxed by them.
As for the “stern-faced young man” or the “annoyingly talkative young man” that everyone mentioned, he had never seen them.
“So you aren’t carrying Aries’s will forward with heavy burdens? You’re just directly following his instructions?” Earth Pig murmured to himself.
“Can you stop being so chuunibyou?” Slacking Dog, who hadn’t spoken in a while, finally chimed in. “One moment you’re saying ‘I need a promise from an Earth Rank,’ the next you’re saying ‘carrying Aries’s will forward.’ I’ve held back long enough, I really can’t take it. Can you watch fewer cartoons?”
“Hey, he’s just a kid.” Earth Tiger called out. “It’s good that kids like watching cartoons. Keeps their minds flexible.”
“You motherfucker…” Black Sheep was also getting annoyed. “How come the moment someone’s a kid, you change your attitude? I sure didn’t see you go easy when you two were beating each other up.”
“I was just playing around with Little Pig.” Earth Tiger rubbed his knee, clearly in pain. “If he had told me earlier that he was younger than me, I wouldn’t have hit so hard. Right, Little Pig?”
Earth Pig ignored Earth Tiger, muttering to himself, “But it is really cool… a pact between a man and a beast… a cross-species alliance rebellion…”
“Who the fuck is ‘cross-species’?” Black Sheep felt a bit offended. “If you don’t think you’re human, don’t drag us into it.”
“We are ‘Beastmen,’ and they are ‘Humans’…” Earth Pig asked seriously, “Doesn’t that count as crossing species?”
Everyone fell silent, just staring at him like he was a child spouting nonsense.
“Okay, okay, I get it. Go play now.” Slacking Dog waved his hand expressionlessly.
“Wait!” Earth Pig’s eyes lit up with interest. “Tell me, what’s your actual plan?”
(Hey everyone, I heard that some of you have started school or work again, so I finally have a chance to rest. I’m here to ask for leave. I won’t stop the update tomorrow, but there will only be one chapter. I hope you understand.)