Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

Chapter 494: Chapter 494: I’m Not, I Didn’t, Don’t Talk Nonsense

Yang Yu pointed his finger, almost without hesitation, toward Nai Xu seated in a meditative pose,

”I find Nai Xu Mushroom to be the most suspicious. And why would I say that? Because a mushroom isn’t even considered a plant.”

Upon hearing Yang Yu’s words, everyone could only feel a wave of dizziness and disbelief. Wasn’t this prejudice a bit too blatant?

Nai Xu sat there with a dumbfounded face, innocently wondering how he suddenly became the insider, and immediately went on the defensive with a ”not me, I did nothing, stop talking nonsense” routine.

Meanwhile, Yang Yu began planting elaborate ”evidence” against him.

This was a necessary diversion tactic.

Yang Yu had considered asking the Plant Clan privately to clarify his doubts, but given how cautious they were, that would likely raise their defenses even more. Eventually, Yang Yu simply decided to act as if he didn’t know any better.

After all, from the perspective of most people, spewing out everything one wants to know, without considering the consequences, is an incredibly foolish act.

Naturally, they would lower their guard around such a person.

Additionally, Yang Yu could tell that the Plant Clan members trusted each other. Putting the possibility of another betrayal on the table might trigger them to rethink.

In case he found himself in conflict with the traitor and the hesitant Plant Clan members refused to join the fight, it could lead to his own death.

Of course, this was the best-case scenario.

If Hans stayed behind to keep an eye on Yang Yu, ensuring his safety, searching for the truth would become a great deal more difficult.

Furthermore, such careless behavior could also drastically decrease the trust he had earned through the use of the resurrection medicine.

As expected,

Yang Yu’s unilateral claims were dismissed by the Plant Clan due to insufficient evidence.

Yang Yu deliberately put on a ”Why won’t you listen to me?” face, but he was secretly relieved inside. It would have been abnormal if the Plant Clan had taken his word for it and made Mushroom Soup out of Nai Xu.

The reaction of the Plant Clan only strengthened Yang Yu’s belief that, without sufficient evidence, they could only continue with baseless accusations, allowing the real culprit to roam free while he was left to face their pleased expressions and disdain.

Yang Yu now only hoped that the evidence to prove his theory wouldn’t be too hard to find.

Seeing that Yang Yu had no further queries, the Plant Clan gathered again and debated over what to do with him, reaching a consensus after half an hour.

Yang Yu silently awaited the verdict. According to his expectations, he was almost certain to be assigned to investigate the theft of the Racial Essence, with no permission to return home until he found the truth, but...

[Task: Recognition from the Plant Clan

Task Description: To continue growing, you used the Racial Essence of the Plant Clan. However, the Plant Clan is skeptical about your explanation and does not accept your actions. To continue your adventure, you must pass the trial set by the Plant Clan.

Task Requirement: Win first place in the martial arts contest at the autumn festival.

Task Reward: Personal freedom. Three lottery draws, 10,000 experience.

Failure Penalty: Since you have used the Racial Essence of the Plant Clan, even if it was unintentional, you must pay a certain moral compensation and guard their territory for three years.]

Ah, what’s going on? This isn’t what I thought it would be. What happened to investigating the thief?

Isn’t this task a bit of a rip-off?

Could this be the consequence of my just blindly pointing fingers everywhere?

The plants think I’m too arbitrary and don’t trust my reasoning at all?

And here I thought I had a good idea, to shout ”I object” when someone else stated their case with confidence, then push up my glasses and smile confidently, saying ”there is only one truth,” and hand the culprit over to the black and white bear to be turned into butter...

And what the hell is this punishment for failure? It’s not my fault that the Racial Essence was stolen, and I understand if there’s no reward, but to guard their territory for three years if I fail?

Yang Yu obviously was unhappy with this task. He clicked ’refuse’ on the task panel, but as soon as the window closed, the same window popped up again. No matter how many times he tried, Yang Yu couldn’t refuse this task.

He tried to communicate and get the Plant Race Council to change the task.

But...

Quan Xiangguo said, ”Since you’ve used it, there’s nothing we can do. But according to the rules of our race, only those who win at the autumn festival are qualified to use the Racial Essence.”

”So you’re saying it’s not my fault at all, blame the one who stole it. I can help you find them.”

”I think we should forget it; your words aren’t reliable at all, and I don’t want you continually slandering me as the insider.”

Nai Xu said indignantly, quite upset at being falsely accused by Yang Yu. Though Mushrooms aren’t technically a type of plant, members of the Plant Clan with the appearance of Mushrooms have not been few in the history of the Plant Clan.

Others from the Plant Clan also agreed, supporting the Council’s decision.

Even if Yang Yu didn’t mean to, the preciousness of the Racial Essence was incomparable, and so they hoped Yang Yu would make compensation.

The Plant Clan basically did not care for the trinkets from the Human World; they had been self-sufficient for thousands of years. Even if Yang Yu brought some things over, it would only be an extra.

What they cared about more was the safety of their race.

Life Forest was far from as safe as it appeared, fraught with dangers. Having a helper who could risk their life at any moment was much more convenient for them.

They also saw that Yang Yu was the kind of person who didn’t want to stay in the village.

If that was the case, to leave the Plant Clan’s territory, he would have to beat all the young people here of similar age and prove his own strength.

Then the Plant Race Council would acknowledge that Yang Yu, with strength that met their requirements, was qualified to use the Racial Essence of the Plant Clan.

Even though this ”Plant Clan member” Yang Yu became a Mixed Species after absorbing the Racial Essence, they considered it an advance on his compensation.

Overall, their argument seemed sound, but Yang Yu knew, and they knew, that there was no way he could come out on top, so they proposed this task of offsetting any responsibility and letting him go if he won because they believed he had no chance at victory.

To be honest, Yang Yu didn’t know the strength of the other Plant Clan members; rashly agreeing might just fall into their trap.

But...

To satisfy them, it seemed the only option was to let them see his strength and shut them up.

With no other choice, Yang Yu ultimately accepted the task and immediately brought up the topic of Bai Jin and the others,

”I have a few companions, and I don’t know what dangers they’ll encounter on their way to find me. If possible, I’d like to bring them here now.”

But as soon as Yang Yu made his request, most of the Plant Clan opposed it. They weren’t afraid of Yang Yu sneaking away because his strength was sufficient; they were afraid of more outsiders entering their village.