<h4>Chapter 4: Saving Anderson</h4>


    In the depths of the outer zone of the forbidden forest, Anderson stood surrounded by danger. A man in his early twenties, Anderson had crimson red hair and piercing red eyes. His muscr build hinted at his strength and resilience, despite his current predicament. "Let me go and I will forget about any of this happening," Anderson pleaded, his voice steady but edged with desperation.


    Standing opposite him was Vito, a chubby man of about 5''7 feet, with dirty-blond hair and a scruffy beard. He exuded arrogance, nked by hisckeys. "Give me the treasure you found and I''ll let you go. What do you say?" Vito''s voice wasden with menace and greed.


    One of Vito''sckeys, sneering, echoed his boss''s demands. "You heard what boss Vito said, right? We don''t want problems with you. Just hand over the treasure, and we will say our goodbyes, simple."


    Anderson, gritting his teeth, tried to maintain hisposure. "I don''t have any treasure with me. I just came to hunt some meat to eat, I swear. I don''t know what you are talking about." Inside, he prayed for a miracle to escape this ordeal. His young master, Adams, was poisoned and in dire need of his help.


    Anderson''s mind shed back to the events that led him here. He had been searching for medicinal herbs to cure Adams when he stumbled upon a mysterious cave and found a peak emperor-grade spear. He had hidden it in his storage ring, a gift from Adams''s parents before they died. Unbeknownst to him, Vito and hisckeys had been watching, and now they were demanding he hand over the treasure.


    Vitoughed, a cruel sound that echoed through the forest. "Hahahahahaha, damn, that''s the hardest I''veughed today. You challenging us with your meager cultivation realm? Hahahahaha! Are you even looking? There are three of us and only one of you, and you want to fight us?"


    "Boss Vito here is in the middle of rank 6 and we are peak rank 5, while you are just a boy at peak rank 4," oneckey taunted.


    Anotherckey, observing Anderson''s defiant stance, added, "I say we kill him and just take the treasure. After all, nobody wille looking for him."


    Anderson''s resolve hardened. "Either you kill me now, because if I have the chance of escaping, I will hunt you and kill you when I''m strong enough. Mark my words," he said, hoping to provoke them into making a mistake.


    Vito''s expression darkened. "Boy, you are going to regret ever saying that. I''m going to make you die slowly and painfully, begging for your life." With that, Vito unleashed his middle rank 6 cultivation aura. "[Ice Spear]. You should know when to quit and when to fight in your next life."


    Anderson braced himself, conjuring a [Fire Wall] around him. "Oh, I see you have some skills, but so what? I''m stronger," Vito sneered, preparing another,rger [Ice Spear].


    As Anderson waited for his inevitable end, his mind was filled with thoughts of Adams. He remembered being an ordinary orphan until Adams''s parents took him in, treated him as a friend, and helped him walk the path of cultivation. Now, his only friendy poisoned, and he was about to die without saying goodbye.


    But the deadly attack never came. Instead, the ice spear vanished into thin air.


    "What do we have here? Oh, bullies," a voice said, seemingly from nowhere. Anderson recognized the voice, although it sounded slightly different. His confusion turned to hope.


    "You know, I hate bullies, especially when they target my friend here," the voice continued. Anderson''s heart leaped; it was indeed Adams.


    "Who... are... you? Show yourself!" Vito demanded, his bravado faltering.


    "Me? I''m just the friend of the one you''re bullying. And I''m right here," Adams whispered in Vito''s ear before disappearing again.


    "Ahhhhh!" Vito screamed. "Stop ying tricks and face me like a man."


    Adamsughed, a sound that sent chills down everyone''s spine. "Hahahahaha, this is fun. Wow, I truly am enjoying this. But if you want it to end so badly, who am I to refuse, Vito Cullen?"


    Vito froze, terror etched on his face. "How... how do you know my name?"


    Adams appeared in front of Anderson, a menacing smile on his face. "Expelled from the Cullen family for being a disgrace and troublemaker, always on the run from enemies you''ve offended. You ended up in the forbidden forest and decided to be a thug, bullying the weak while avoiding the strong. Quite a story, isn''t it, Vito?"


    "Wh... who... who are you?" Vito stammered, fear making his voice tremble.


    "Oh, how rude of me. My name is Adams Albert," Adams replied, his smile growing even more terrifying.


    "You''re from the Albert family?" Vito asked, his voice barely a whisper.


    "Yes and no," Adams said.


    "Since you know so much about me, you should also know about my..." He was cut of by Adams


    "About your brother who is helping you behind your family''s back, I know, I deal withter but now how do want to die" Adams said while his smile became terrifying.


    "Please let us go, we didn''t know that he was backed by and we don''t know Vito" said theckeys pleading for their lives.


    "Die" only this word was uttered for theckeys to die.


    Silence, everywhere j was quiet, Vito was terrified seeing this while Anderson was shocked wondering when did his young master be this strong but he was awaken from his thought when he heard Adams voice "why don''t you end him, Anderson".


    " yes young master "Anderson replied and took the spear the found Pierce Vito''s heart while trying to pull the spear out he heard Adams say with a smile " leave it with him, it was his greed that caused his death since he wants it, let him have it, beside I have something much better"