TRWSB – Chapter 240 Rescue Mission at Eagle Ridge

“Raymond and Caesar are trapped in Eagle Ridge,” Xin Ya said.

Fred frowned. “What happened? Why did they go to Eagle Ridge?”

“They went to gather herbs requested by the priest. While they did find them, the herbs turned out to be guarded by the eagles of the ridge. The two managed to hide in a cave — its entrance is too narrow for the eagles to enter, so they’re safe for now. But if it drags on, things might change.”

Fred’s expression shifted when he heard Raymond was involved.

After falling ill, Fred had experienced the coldness of people, but Raymond was the one person who had shown kindness to him and his brother. Fred still felt grateful toward him.

“Why would the priest send people to such a dangerous place?” Fred asked with displeasure.

Xin Ya frowned. “The priest must have had his reasons.”

Lowering his head, Xin Ya sighed inwardly.
Ever since the illness in the tribe had been cured with medicine brought by an outsider healer, the priest’s prestige had taken a blow. With Fred’s departure, the tribe, which only had three totem warriors, had lost a crucial power figure. The priest was desperate to turn things around.

Fred clenched his jaw. “Let’s go. Let’s get them out first.”

Xin Ya was full of gratitude. “Thank you so much.”

Fred glanced at the bow Jesse was carrying and asked, confused, “Garda’s heavy bow?”

Xin Ya nodded. “Yes. Garda doesn’t use it, so we borrowed it. There are two eagles guarding the cave. If one gets injured, the other is sure to go berserk. That’s when we’ll need you and Jesse.”

Fred had hunted several eagles lately, and simply nodded. “Got it.”

Xin Ya glanced at Jesse and Fred, sensing the atmosphere was oddly tense. The two had once been close friends, but now something had clearly shifted.

“Let’s go,” Xin Ya said.

Once they left, Zhuang Hao emerged from the jungle. “Your brother left with people from the tribe.”

Xin Duolei scowled. “They’re so annoying! My brother already left the tribe. Now they’re in trouble, and they run to him? What do they take him for?”

Zhuang Hao frowned. “You think your brother might return to the tribe?”

“There’s no way,” Xin Duolei muttered.

He was very satisfied with their current life. Truthfully, he never liked the tribe much. His and Fred’s father had once been a tribal elite, even expected to become the next chief — until a beast attack left him injured.

Xin Duolei had always doubted that injury. It had been minor, but after treatment from the priest, it rapidly worsened.

All these years, Fred had contributed much to the tribe but received very little in return.

Zhuang Hao narrowed his eyes. “Since your brother’s gone, let’s head back early.”

Xin Duolei nodded. “Alright.”

“Back so soon?” Qi Shaorong asked, noticing Zhuang Hao and the others.

Zhuang Hao nodded. “Fred got dragged off by someone, so I came back early.”
Since they still didn’t fully understand this world, Zhuang Hao didn’t want to act recklessly without Fred.

Qi Shaorong looked at Xin Duolei. “Your brother got dragged off? Who dragged him?”

“Jesse and his lot.”

Qi Shaorong looked puzzled. “Jesse? I thought maybe the tribe sent a pretty female to lure him back.”

Xin Duolei gave an embarrassed laugh. “Senior, it’s not what you think.”

Qi Shaorong waved it off. “Alright, alright. Say no more — I get it.”

At the edge of the Eagle Ridge cliff, Fred and the others saw two massive black eagles guarding the cave entrance, issuing piercing screeches. Their talons looked razor-sharp.

Fred watched in shock as one of the eagles dropped a snake into the cave below.

Xin Ya’s expression darkened. “We have to act fast. Damn clever birds — using snakes to flush them out?”

Fred drew his bow. His arrow flew like a beam of light, piercing the larger black eagle.

Although Jesse wasn’t a totem warrior, he’d always wanted to compete with Fred. Seeing Fred draw and shoot, he too pulled his bowstring.

Both arrows flew at nearly the same time. Fred’s struck the larger eagle straight in the throat. Jesse’s, however, was dodged.

It was a clear difference in skill. Jesse fired another shot — and missed again.

Fred hadn’t planned to kill the second eagle, not wanting Jesse to feel upstaged. But as Jesse kept failing and the remaining eagle started showing signs of frenzy, Fred couldn’t hesitate.

He loosed another arrow, tearing through one of the eagle’s wings. A second arrow followed, straight through its chest — finishing the job.

Jesse clenched his teeth, his face burning with embarrassment—his arrows had all missed, while Fredrick’s had struck true every time.

Xinya couldn’t help but praise, “Fredrick, your bow is quite something!”

Hearing this, Jesse felt a little better, convincing himself that the difference in their performance was due to the difference in their bows.

Fredrick nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“Where did you get your bow?” Jesse asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

“It was a gift from the traveling healer,” Fredrick said with reverence.

Jesse frowned in disbelief. “You’re not even related to that healer, and yet he healed you and gave you a bow? Why?”

Fredrick’s brows furrowed at Jesse’s interrogative tone. “Sindorei helped him with something.”

Jesse pressed, “What kind of help?”

Fredrick looked at him coldly. “It has nothing to do with you. Why do you care?”

Jesse was slightly embarrassed by the rebuttal. “I was just curious. Why are you so stingy about it?”

Fredrick snorted and ignored him. “The mountain eagles are dead—go rescue the others now.”

Fredrick stepped forward, extracted the gall bladders from both eagles, and collected their heart blood in jars.

Jesse frowned. “The eagle gall… you took it?”

The eagle’s gall bladder and heart blood were its most valuable parts—about 80% of an eagle’s worth was in those two.

According to tribal custom, all hunted spoils during a joint outing were to be evenly shared. It wasn’t always fair to the warriors, but tradition dictated it. Fredrick had always followed this rule while still part of the tribe.

“These are my kills. I’ll take what I want. If you want eagle gall, go hunt one yourself,” Fredrick said coldly.

“Fredrick, the tribe’s rules—”

Fredrick sneered. “Don’t talk to me about tribal rules. I’m no longer one of you.”

Jesse, unwilling to give in, said, “Fredrick, don’t you want to return to the tribe? Do you really want to be a wanderer forever?”

Exiles from the tribe became “wanders”—solitary nomads who struggled to survive and rarely found partners.

Fredrick laughed indifferently. “Being a wanderer isn’t so bad. At least I don’t have to share my kills with a bunch of freeloaders.”

In the tribe, he always gave more than he got. But with Zhuang Hao and the others, that wasn’t the case. Though outsiders, they were easy to deal with, capable, and highly alert—not the type to drag him down.

…

“You’re back?” Qi Shaorong greeted Fredrick.

Fredrick nodded. “Yes. I brought back eagle gall and blood. They should be useful for you, Healer.”

Qi Shaorong nodded. “Thanks. But let’s talk about this instead—come look at the technique I revised.”

Fredrick frowned. “Revised technique?”

Qi Shaorong nodded. “Yes.”

Fredrick stared at him blankly, disbelief flickering in his eyes.

He took the technique from Qi Shaorong’s hands, and his eyes widened. “Healer… this technique—”

In the tribe, everyone had different versions of the technique. What Fredrick had was a simplified version. The chief’s version was more complete.

When Fredrick became a totem warrior, the chief should’ve granted him access to the improved version—but it had never happened, as if the chief had simply forgotten. Since the chief said nothing, Fredrick had stayed silent as well.

Fredrick looked up. “Healer, how did you come across this technique?”

“Is there something wrong with it?” Qi Shaorong asked.

“No… but you’ve seen the full version of the Flying Tiger Tribe’s technique…”

“Not really. I just figured out that your tribal technique is essentially about absorbing the bloodline power in animal blood to forcefully open up your meridians and acupoints. The issue is that your technique is incomplete—those openings are partial and flawed.”

Fredrick looked puzzled. “Meridians? Acupoints? What are those?”

Qi Shaorong smiled. “It’s a bit complex. You don’t need to understand it—just tell me if the technique works or not.”

“It works. No problems at all,” Fredrick confirmed.

“Good,” Qi Shaorong said with a yawn. “I’m going to sleep.”

Fredrick watched Qi Shaorong’s retreating figure, his fingers trembling slightly. A pale smile appeared on his lips.

Does he even know what he’s holding? Fredrick thought. Even among the major tribes, few have complete inheritances. If this technique spreads, it will shake the entire world.