Chapter 16 Starting the Performance

This person is actually Will's brother!

Griff, Dag, and Melson were dumbfounded.

"You don't believe me?" Zhou Jing raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, it's not that... it's just Will never mentioned it to us..."

Griff suppressed the shock in his heart, his tone stammering.

He really didn't expect that Will still had relatives, and that his relatives had come looking for him!

In fact, 'Will Wood' had always been quite mysterious, possessing a surname, seemingly from a tribal bloodline, but he had never mentioned his family or relatives. They didn't know this guy even had a brother.

However, after all, they had only known each other for a few days. Although Will had left a deep impression on them, it was normal not to reveal his background.

"Um... how did you find this place?"

Griff was full of confusion, the thing he understood least was this matter.

The news of Will's death here was temporarily only known to the people of Frostwood Village. Where did outsiders learn of it?

Zhou Jing's expression remained unchanged:

"Brothers have a connection, plus a little bit of intuition."

"Is... is that so."

Griff was stunned.

He always felt that something was wrong, but it seemed like he couldn't refute it.

Griff was more inclined to believe that the person in front of him had been searching for his brother's whereabouts and had finally found him now, but he just hadn't said it explicitly.

After all, the person had already come, so he could only believe it for the time being.

As for doubting whether this person was really Will's brother... he couldn't judge at all. He couldn't possibly go down now to ask Will for confirmation, could he?

Seeing Griff's hesitation, Zhou Jing smiled inwardly, but on the surface, he spoke solemnly:

"I can see that you doubt me."

"Uh, it's not that..." Griff didn't quite know how to express himself.

"It's okay, I understand your concerns." Zhou Jing said in an indifferent tone, rolled up his sleeves, revealed the bird-shaped tattoo he had deliberately added, and slowly said, "Will has the same tattoo as me. It's our brother's mark."

"I've seen this before!"

Griff was shocked.

When taking care of the seriously injured Will, he had discovered that Will had this tattoo.

Unless you were a close person, it would be impossible to know such a private thing!

With this, Griff's suspicion dissipated a lot. If he only believed half of Zhou Jing's words just now, then he now believed eight or nine tenths of them.

This Jason Wood, he was probably really Will's brother...

A wave of guilt suddenly surged in Griff's heart. He was a little at a loss and didn't know how to face Zhou Jing.

The other person's relative came looking for him, only to find that their brother had unfortunately died. It was a bit difficult to explain this to the relative...

If it was a stranger, it would be fine, but Will had indirectly saved the lives of the hunters, but in the end, he himself had died. Griff had always felt uneasy about this.

It wasn't that their friendship was deeper than other companions just because they had only spent a few days together, but because Will was not a hunter companion and had volunteered to help at a critical moment, reducing their casualties, which put them in his debt.

Griff originally thought he had helped a lost person, but he didn't expect that he was the one who had been saved, and the other person had died because of it. This kind of psychological gap had always made him feel guilty.

Now, facing "Will's brother," Griff felt even more guilty.

He was a little afraid to look Zhou Jing in the eye, and said dejectedly:

"My name is Griff, and I'm a hunter in this village. Your brother saved our lives, but we couldn't save him... I'm very sorry."

Zhou Jing waved his hand and slowly said:

"This is not your responsibility. I can see that you are a good person. You said that Will was lost and asked you for help, then it's fortunate that you helped him, otherwise he would have died in the forest as well. Will owed you a favor first, so you don't need to apologize to me at all."

Hearing this, Griff was stunned, and then a warm current surged in his heart.

"As for my brother's death..." Zhou Jing paused, acting as if he was very gratified: "He chose to fight like a man and save your lives, then his death was worthwhile. He didn't waste his life in vain. I'm proud of him!"

Griff was immediately moved.

They had only met today, and he didn't know what kind of person "Will's brother" was, but now, hearing these words, Zhou Jing's image instantly became tall in his heart.

He was so open-minded!

Griff felt a sense of respect in his heart. He felt that he definitely couldn't have this kind of mentality.

Zhou Jing smacked his lips, enjoying the performance, and added powerfully:

"Our family motto is to die in the right place! As long as life is burned with value, then there will be no regrets! Will carried out our family motto. He did a great job!"

Griff immediately stood in awe.

This sounded like a firm and noble family!

Seeing that they were fooled, Zhou Jing held back his expression, maintained a calm appearance, and secretly complained in his heart.

They're both me, how can I not be open-minded...

Pretending to be 'Will Wood's' brother was a plan he had thought out. In this way, he could use it as a starting point to get to know Griff and others, and obtain benefits from the influence left by the previous apostle.

——Let the new Star Realm Apostle be connected with the previous persona, so as to inherit a part of the network that the previous apostle had made... This was an action plan that he thought was very feasible after thinking about it.

For this reason, Zhou Jing deliberately put a tattoo on his body when he was creating the character, the same style as 'Will Wood'.

With this tattoo, coupled with his understanding of Griff and others, and the simplicity of this era that made it easy to believe others... there was no need to test back and forth and pay attention to too many details. It was enough to just come up and state his identity directly.

He was still thinking about whether to dig Will out to confirm, but fortunately, Griff saw Will's tattoo when he was taking care of the wounded, so he didn't have to make this "outrageous" suggestion.

Now it seemed that the effect of this plan was not only good, it was simply wonderful!

While he was secretly happy, Griff looked at the tombstone, his expression a little embarrassed:

"In terms of emotion and reason, I should let you take Will's remains away, and I'm willing to help, but after all, he's been buried for almost thirty days, so it might be a little..."

"No need, let my brother rest here." Zhou Jing shook his head.

"Okay... then what are you planning to do next?"

Griff was a little curious.

Zhou Jing immediately perked up.

The words he said before were all for this moment. Now that the time was right, it was finally time to reveal his intentions.

Zhou Jing turned his head to look at the tombstone, trying to make a sighing and sad expression, and lowered his voice:

"I want to stay in the village for a while to accompany my brother..."

"No problem!" Griff immediately agreed. "These days, you can stay at my house."

Zhou Jing waved his hand to refuse, and slowly said, "I plan to stay for a long time. I don't have the habit of being supported by others. I can contribute labor as rent for staying in this village."

"You plan to stay for a long time?"

Griff was taken aback and secretly sighed.

Although this person was strong and open-minded, his feelings for his brother were really good.

——Maybe this was the tenderness of a tough guy.

Griff sighed secretly, then asked curiously, "How long do you want to stay in Frostwood Village?"

"I don't know, maybe a long time... Is your village not welcome to outsiders?" Zhou Jing raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that, it's just that Frostwood Village is very remote, and there are usually no outsiders, and this is something that only the village chief can decide. I can't make the decision."

Griff paused and said sincerely, "I can take you to see the village chief. Will has been kind to our village, and you are Will's brother. The village chief will definitely agree."

Zhou Jing had no objections and nodded.

The few people walked out of the cemetery. The villagers who were watching from the outside saw that Zhou Jing was not dangerous and immediately dispersed. With the size of the village, the news would soon spread to everyone.

……

The village chief's longhouse was in the center of the village. Griff took Zhou Jing over, talking as they walked.

"Speaking of which, which tribe's bloodline is your surname, Wood?"

Griff asked curiously.

Good question, I also want to know... but I want to know what "tribal bloodline" is even more.

Zhou Jing coughed and said vaguely, "Those are things of the past, no need to mention them again."

Griff was stunned, thinking that Zhou Jing didn't want to say, so he didn't force him.

However, thinking that Will had entered the mountains alone, and his brother had chosen to stay in this remote village... Griff only felt that they had an unbearable past.

With the identity of "Will's brother," Griff didn't suspect anything. After thinking about it, he asked again:

"Then how many siblings are there in your family?"

"It depends..."

"What?"

"Cough, I mean it's uncertain. Our siblings are scattered all over the place, and many have lost contact."

Zhou Jing didn't blink an eye and made up a bunch of lies.

How many brothers are there in the family? That depends on how many times I die...

Griff nodded as if he understood, then suddenly pointed to Ross.

"Is he also your family's brother?"

He wanted to ask just now, but this person didn't say a word and silently followed Zhou Jing. What was his story?

Zhou Jing had already prepared his explanation, "He is my companion. He follows me everywhere. If I stay, he will stay with me."

"I see, so you're very good friends!"

Griff suddenly realized and reached out to Ross enthusiastically. "Hello, what's your name?"

Ross lowered his head and glanced at his hand, without responding.

Griff's expression stiffened, a little embarrassed: "Your friend doesn't seem to like to talk."

The corner of Zhou Jing's mouth twitched imperceptibly.

"Uh, don't mind him. His name is Ross. He's a mute and his brain is broken. He can only understand my words, so I take him wherever I go."

Ross: ...

Griff was stunned, as if he understood something.

He shook his head, patted Zhou Jing on the shoulder, and sighed, "It seems like it's not easy for you either."

Ross: ...