Oops!
I had been so preoccupied cleaning my hands that I had let my guard down around me.
Carlos picked up Micaela in his arms and turned around, and on the other side of the rows of tea trees, there was a man in a gray suit, with a couple of tall men in black suits who looked like bodyguards at his side.
Something about this guy looks familiar….
Micaela looked at the man in the gray suit and remembered with a start that she had sat next to Nilson in the Assembly Hall yesterday.
Wait…
The silhouette of this man, with Carlos, bore a slight resemblance to the Nicolas in the photo Carlos had shown her yesterday!
It dawned on Micaela, astonished and sure that he was the boss the mountain searchers were talking about.
Nicolas’ son!
He had a shadow under his eyelids and his hair was a bit disheveled, and his whole body was a bit disheveled, presumably as a consequence of a night spent wandering around the mountain, and at that moment he was looking at Carlos, carefully, with a gleam of hatred in his eyes.
Carlos also looked at the man and, like Micaela, confirmed the suspicions he had in his mind, frowned a little and looking at him said:
-You are from Ciudad de los Dragones, the Obregon family. Not a question, but an affirmative phrase.
The man’s mouth adopted a slight curve as he slowly approached them.
-That’s right, I am Efraim.
He pulled a pistol from his pocket and loaded it.
Micaela’s heart suddenly clenched and she took a step forward, in front of Carlos, took a deep breath and said in her calmest voice:
-Mr. Efraim, if there is something to talk about, what is your purpose in going to so much trouble to kill us? What interests of yours are hindering us, why don’t you say it and we’ll talk about it?
Carlos looked at the girl in front of him and felt warmth in his heart. The girl was protecting him, she was saying -we- as if she was one with him, which was very comforting to his ears…..
Efraim grimaced and looked at Micaela.
-There is nothing to negotiate, Lord of Echave City, I will spare your life if you leave, but Carlos’ life, I will have it! As he said this, the four bodyguards he led also slowly bowed, some drawing pistols, others knives, with murderous intent in their eyes….
Micaela opened her arms wide in front of Carlos, like a hedgehog with its spines up.
-Her life is mine! Lord Efraim, this is Echave City, you dare to cause trouble in my territory and hurt her and I will never let you go!
Efraim looked at Micaela’s unwavering aura with a glint of gratitude in his eyes.
-Lord of the City of Echave City, I know your intentions, try to buy time until Nilson comes, right? I’ll help you, they’ll get here faster when my gun goes off. With that, he raised the pistol in his hand and pointed it at Carlos, with an even colder tone.
-Carlos, with a woman like that, you can die without remorse. The corners of Carlos’ mouth turned up in a warm, cold smile, and his deep-set eyes were undaunted.
-No remorse is true, and as for death, I haven’t loved her enough, how can I die. Quickly, he pulled out his pocket pistol and pointed it at Efraim, and several shots rang out simultaneously, startling countless birds in the bamboo forest…..
Carlos continued firing in the direction of Efraim and his men as he dodged with the person in front of him, his eyes flashing with an icy, merciless aura of slaughter….
Efraim fought back as he quickly rolled and ducked behind the tea tree, seeing his men also ducking one by one, he was left in a haze of rage.
-All of you, I’ll kill you if I don’t kill Carlos today!
The four men rose shakily and cautiously as the gunfire in the bamboo grove ceased…..
Efraim also rose slowly, with only the quiet bamboo forest in front of him, and tea trees over a meter high, and the two men disappeared….
His fists clenched fiercely as he ordered:
-They are definitely hiding behind the tea trees, search them!
He would never allow Carlos to disappear under his watch!
Next, he pulled out his walkie-talkie and called for more people to come and support him…..
He should have shot him without saying a word!
Efraim’s guts are turning blue, he was too gullible!
The longer we delay the worse it gets, Carlos wasn’t lying, just an hour ago he had a weak signal on his own phone for a dozen minutes, it turned out that Carlos had hooked up the network receiver and did communicate with Nilson….
Right now, it’s all about getting Nilson here, but I’m afraid my father’s people will come….
Putting away the walkie-talkie, he raised his gun and cautiously approached the place where Carlos had just disappeared, with flashes of Carlos’ appearance a moment ago constantly in his mind….
He had a very overwhelming aura of oppression, obviously he also had a gun in his hand and had the advantage in numbers, but seeing the compelling aura emanating from him, taking the lead in the one-on-five gunfight, still made him feel…
Efraim scratched his heart in rage, he would never admit that Charles was better than him, his father had delayed the announcement that he was the next lord of Dragon City in the hope that the better son, who could never inherit the lordship again, would never admit it!
He had to kill the bastard who was out of his father’s sight, but who was still hogging all his attention!
Efraim’s eyes burst with intense murderous intent, when we caught up with him later, absolutely not a word of nonsense….
-Ah! There’s a snake!
One of the men suddenly lost his voice and cried out with great fear in his voice…..
-My God! How many snakes!
-It’s ‘King Toxic’, ah, help!
The panicked screams were incessant and there was no sign of a stationary bodyguard throughout….
Efraim turned and saw one of the bodyguards fall, screaming for help, and the other three running frantically as if there were poisonous snakes and beasts chasing them from behind….
Toxic King?
Is it the tiny little green snake that looks so tiny?
His suspicions were soon confirmed when a small green snake, about 60 centimeters long, appeared in front of him, its head raised, spitting out its red letters and emitting a “hissing” sound, its sharp little eyes apparently filled with disgust at having its hibernation disturbed….
Efraim’s heart skipped a beat, this snake is highly venomous, the most vicious poisonous creature in the bamboo forest, if it bites you, you will die of poisoning if you don’t inject the serum within an hour….
He remembered the first time he saw Carlos, crouched on the ground with Ciudad Echave, the Lord of the City, his arm still tied with a tie….
Before he could think any more, the snake suddenly jumped up and pounced on him….
Not far away, Carlos and Micaela, hiding under a tea tree, were also looking at the three snakes about twenty centimeters away from them, with their whole body unable to move….
The snake stares at them….
It must be the sound of the gunshot from a moment ago that woke up the snakes that started to hibernate, there must be a nest of snakes around here….
Carlos tried to contain the sudden rush of vertigo, gun in hand, if he shot this snake, he feared he would attract more snakes, he had to pick up the stick behind the snake as fast as he could….
Micaela felt real fear because of the snake at her feet and because she heard the man say that the snake was called “King Toxic” and that Carlos had been bitten by it….
The snakes are not going to “sit still” and two of them have their heads up, ready to attack their “prey”….
-Bang!
Not far away a shot sounded, it was Efraim who shot the snake attacking it in front of him, a superb head shot, his shot, managed to attract the three snakes in front of Carlos and Micaela, they turned around and swam quickly towards the place where the sound was heard….
Micaela felt slightly relieved and turned to look at Carlos with worried eyes, her face was a little pale and her thin lips a little blue, making Micaela’s heart sink hard….
Carlos reached out his hand and rubbed her head, trying to fight the dizziness he felt.
-Don’t be afraid, girl, let’s go towards the road, Nilson should be here soon….
Micaela looked away, seeing him like that was breaking her heart….
The moment her eyes averted, she saw a snake swimming behind him, opening its mouth, showing small sharp looking fangs with slime hanging from its teeth, and jumping towards Carlos….
No, no…
Without hesitation, Micaela reached out and wrapped her arms around Carlos, not knowing where she got the strength to wrap her arms around him and turn around, with her own body in the way…