At nightfall, from the time they left Rogel Camp until now.
For more than two hours, that Wood Puppet Monster still hadn't shown up.
It wasn't just George and his team, who were acting as bait, who were upset.
Lex and Matthew, who had been hiding in the shadows, felt the same way.
This was meant to be the last attempt.
If that Wood Puppet Monster didn't appear again, Lex was ready to take Matthew and leave Redwood Ridge.
Thinking about the many benefits of hunting the Wood Puppet Monster, if it continuously failed to appear, they would have to leave empty-handed, making them increasingly anxious.
Just then, Matthew caught wind of some complaints ahead concerning the two of them, and his already troubled mood reached a boiling point.
Max heard a slap and Matthew's subsequent angry curse and immediately realized something was wrong, quickly rushing to the scene.
Seeing Ethan's mouth full of blood from Matthew's slap, Max hurried to his side, helped him up, and apologized to Matthew.
"Please forgive us, sir. Ethan is young and naive, and he spoke out of turn."
After speaking, Max nodded toward Ethan, implying with his eyes that he should quickly apologize to Matthew.
There were 52 people who came out this time, divided into seven groups.
Since there were only five camps involved, the groups weren't split according to camps but rather mixed randomly.
Ethan, the son of Samsung Camp leader Sam, indeed was young, in his early twenties, and had been placed in Max's group.
Max and Sam were acquainted, and their relationship was quite good, so Max treated Ethan as a junior, which explained his eagerness to help.
Even though Matthew's slap left Ethan's face stinging, the physical pain was far overshadowed by his inner shame.
Though Matthew was stronger than him, they were around the same age, and being slapped so heavily in front of seven or eight people ignited Ethan's anger, as one might expect.
The impulsive Ethan instinctively resisted Max's dissuasion, struggling to stand up and retort to Matthew.
But before he could stand, Max's hand firmly held him down.
Seeing Max gently shake his head towards him, a trace of frustration appeared on Ethan's face, and he swallowed back the words already on the tip of his tongue.
As the son of Samsung Camp leader Sam, Ethan naturally understood more than others, and he could read the meaning behind Max shaking his head.
Never mind the Wood Puppet Monster, which they had to rely on Lex and Matthew alone to handle—offending them would put the residents of Redwood Ridge at a disadvantage.
He even thought, quite boldly, that it wouldn't matter if he ignored the Wood Puppet Monster, but what good would it do to have a conflict with Lex and Matthew?
Lex and Matthew were both Earthripper Realm experts, and their strength exceeded that of Redwood Ridge's strongest, George, by a slight margin.
So, considering all of this, even if he was furious, he had to endure!
Even if he felt that what he had just discussed hadn't actually insulted the two of them, he had no choice but to accept the slap as unwarranted.
Ethan suppressed the aggrieved look on his face, nodded at Max, and was about to apologize to Matthew.
But before he could speak, Matthew spoke first.
"Still young? Looking like this, at least in your twenties, only at Axeheart Realm cultivation. It's forgivable to be a useless person, but you can't even control your mouth. Next time, it won't just be a slap!"
Ethan's face instantly turned red with rage.
The anger he had suppressed surged back up, and ignoring Max's restraint, he retorted loudly:
"If you're so strong, how did you let the Wood Puppet Monster escape four times? Was I wrong?
The Wood Puppet Monster's strength is naturally above yours, those four escapes could very well be it toying with us."
Ethan's retort left Matthew momentarily stunned.
He clearly hadn't expected Ethan to speak up so loudly against him.
Once he realized, he became even more enraged:
"You little mutt, daring to bark nonsense!"
While cursing, he lunged forward like an arrow towards Ethan.
"Sir, please have mercy!"
George's plea didn't stop Matthew's actions.
Slap…
This time, his slap was even heavier, so loud that everyone approaching George heard it.
Matthew slapped Ethan across the face, and it wasn't over yet.
While Ethan was still reeling, he kicked him, sending him flying five or six meters.
"My son!"
Sam, who was following George, rushed forward to support his son.
After checking his son's facial and bodily injuries, he turned to look at Matthew, his expression extremely angry, but he did not erupt.
Instead, he solemnly questioned:
"Sir, was it really necessary to be so heavy-handed over a few remarks?"
Sam might have thought he was being very restrained by merely questioning him once.
But in Matthew's eyes, this question plainly constituted serious provocation.
"You insignificant insect, questioning me?"
"Sir, perhaps you could be more virtuous with your words. Although we're mere insects, we're laying our lives on the line to help you hunt the monster. Is it necessary to insult us like this?"
George blocked Matthew, who was advancing towards Sam, with a deep voice and an extremely unpleasant expression.
From the moment the word "insect" slipped out of Matthew's mouth, George knew this ordeal couldn't end easily.
If it were directed at anyone else, he might have asked Sam to show him some face, but the situation involved Ethan, and Matthew's verbal tirade even targeted Sam, leaving him with no options.
Ethan's words hadn't just expressed his personal thoughts; their entire group had been discussing the same things.
With four escapes by the Wood Puppet Monster, everyone already had complaints about Lex and Matthew, himself included.
Considering the current scenario, if he didn't take a firm stance, this temporary alliance might quickly collapse.
He hadn't hoped for Matthew to understand or cooperate in pretending.
Throughout the past few days, his impression of Matthew had worsened.
This person, although strong, was reckless, ill-tempered, and acted without much thought.
And as he expected, Matthew couldn't grasp his intent.
It even seemed as though Matthew felt he was personally insulted, and his anger only grew.
"Alright, Matthew, don't go too far."
Fortunately, Lex appeared and stopped him.
Seeing Lex approach, George finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, deep down, both Lex and Matthew clearly looked down on them.
Whenever they spoke to them, there was always a strong sense of superiority.
But in comparison, Lex seemed to conceal it a bit more, his personality cooler, and he was far more mature and measured than Matthew.
His earlier words were ostensibly directed at Matthew but were truly meant for Lex, knowing that Lex would surely understand the implications, cooperate in putting on a show, and stabilize Sam's group.
Regrettably, while Lex cooperated, George had evidently misjudged the fury pent up in Sam over these past few days.
Looking at his son's injuries, Sam couldn't help but stand up, and with a fist salute to Ruo Ming, he solemnly spoke:
"That's enough, Leader George, no need for further words. We at Samsung Camp are merely useless trash, and staying here might only offend the two lords further. We'll take our leave here."
More troublingly, once Sam spoke up,
Ben, Max, and John all joined in:
"Same for us; we hope you'll forgive us, Leader George."
"That Wood Puppet Monster probably won't appear anymore, and we can't kill it anyways. Staying here is just a waste of time. Leader George, I'll be taking my people to leave as well."
"I feel the same. Leader George, Banana Camp is also taking its leave."
Watching the four camps, which had been so hard to pull together just yesterday, all expressed their intention to leave, George felt his head pounding.
He wanted to persuade everyone to stay but found himself at a loss for words and increasingly troubled by Matthew's conduct.
"Who is it over there, hiding? Come out!"
In the midst of everyone's silent tension, Lex suddenly turned and shouted angrily towards the east side.
The others assumed the Wood Puppet Monster had appeared, and all looked in that direction.
But as they looked, they realized it wasn't so.
A burly young man quickly jumped down from a tree, approached them by over ten meters, looked around, then bowed with his fists together, appearing urgent, and said in a deep voice:
"Leader Bruce from Harper Camp, may I ask which one of you is Leader George? I have urgent information to report to him."
Just as Bruce had previously mentioned, the territory of the Rogel Camp was just within a thousand-meter radius of the outer layer of Redwood Ridge, making it not difficult to find a team of fifty to sixty people within this range.
As Bruce was about to break through the boundary of a thousand meters, he spotted the group.
However, when he discovered the group, Bruce clearly sensed that something was off, so he didn't immediately come down.
Since he was called out, he didn't hesitate to show himself.
After glancing at the group, Bruce quickly judged that the person who called him out, along with the one standing beside him, should be Lex and Matthew.
No other reason; the attire of these two was just too conspicuous.
A brown fur beast skin coat, with a smooth white fur neck scarf, clearly made from the tail of a Cold Beast; and a pair of shiny black beast skin boots on their feet.
Compared to them, everyone else, including Bruce himself, looked like beggars.
Even though Bruce had seen countless luxurious clothes in his memories, seeing the complete outfit on the two of them still made him feel a twinge of envy.
God knows, after wearing beast skin clothes for four months, his desire for a complete outfit was strong.
While Bruce observed the crowd, George also stepped forward, took a moment to ponder as he looked at Bruce, and then asked with some speculation on his face:
"Bruce? Are you the son of Old Thomas?"
Seeing Bruce nod, George immediately showed a smile.
He had previously thought that the Harper Camp had fallen to the Wood Puppet Monster, but unexpectedly, it was still there.
Recalling Bruce's earlier words, he hurriedly continued, "I'm George. What urgent matter do you have to inform me about?"
Even though he sensed the off atmosphere, the urgency of the matter made Bruce not think much but speak directly: "Leader George, during this trip out, did the Wood Puppet Monster fail to show up from start to finish? It is highly likely that the Wood Puppet Monster has already infiltrated your Rogel Camp."