Chapter 101: Couch Potato Wendigo
As Chris and the others got out of the truck, several mountain dwellers who were eating curiously looked toward the door.
"Go... go see... who... arrived."
The one-eyed mountain dweller spoke to his two brothers, stammering through his words.
The mountain dweller with only three fingers and the relatively intact one cautiously approached the entrance, then peered outside.
Then the three-fingered mountain dweller exclaimed, "People I've never seen before, and a dog!"
"Do they need help? Did they bring weapons?" The one-eyed man asked nervously.
The relatively intact mountain dweller glanced out, shook his head, and said, "No, they didn't bring anything, but that guy is really strong—stronger than me."
The three-fingered man turned to look at the one-eyed man, nervously saying, "Maybe we should hide? I'm afraid they've come to arrest us."
Just as the one-eyed man hesitated, Chris shouted loudly, "You three listen up! We're from the Forest Service. We've discovered your illegal poaching operation. Surrender now!"
Brian looked at Chris, who maintained a completely straight face, in surprise, thinking to himself that this guy was really good at bluffing.
Stewie, on the other hand, was fascinated. He'd discovered that these mountain dwellers were genuinely different from humans corrupted by the wendigo—these guys had actually never eaten human flesh.
Upon hearing Chris's warning, the one-eyed man, who'd been deep in thought, immediately rushed out of the wooden shack in a fit of rage and loudly protested, "That's bullshit! We're not savages! Why would we hunt so many animals?"
The two mountain dwellers who followed him also chimed in, "Yeah, yeah! We survive on money we get from valuables found in wrecked cars, then we go to town to buy food."
"That's right! With awesome stuff like fries and burgers available, who would eat that sour and gamey wild meat!"
Hearing these guys essentially confess, coupled with Chris's mental perception confirming their story, he was now certain that these guys weren't ogres.
"Alright, then perhaps my colleague made an error in their records, mistakenly counting roadkill as poaching victims."
Seeing Chris change his tune so easily, the originally furious mountain dwellers were dumbfounded. The three of them looked at each other, completely confused.
The humans they'd encountered in the past weren't nearly this reasonable!
When they used to try rescuing stranded travelers, those people would act absolutely insane upon seeing them.
At best, they'd kick and punch to drive them away. At worst, they'd grab weapons and try to kill them.
It made them seem like they were cannibals or something.
The disabilities of the one-eyed man and the three-fingered man had been caused during that period.
Fortunately, after being maliciously attacked multiple times, they'd grown wiser.
Whenever they found stranded travelers now, they would conduct rescues at night while wearing masks, then demand compensation.
If they encountered victims who'd already died, they would search the vehicles for valuables and then bury the bodies properly.
It was by running this kind of operation that the three brothers could not only purchase supplies and food in town but also make offerings to the deity they worshipped.
However, Chris's arrival this time left them extremely puzzled. Were there really such rational humans out there?
But Chris didn't have time to explain much to them. Once he'd confirmed that these three were simply simple-minded guys with deformed appearances, he prepared to investigate the wendigo situation behind them.
Stewie, however, became curious about their condition. He stepped forward and, without ceremony, said, "Give me some tissue samples from your bodies."
Seeing that this human child was completely unafraid of them, the limited intelligence they possessed wasn't used to wonder why a kid would be with a Forest Service worker. Instead, they honestly asked, "What kind of tissue do you need? Will hair work? Cutting flesh would hurt a lot."
Stewie looked at these three simpletons asking ridiculous questions and didn't bother explaining further. He simply jumped up, yanked out some leg hair from the three mountain dwellers, and then turned to leave.
As Chris departed, he handed these three guys a case of dragon's blood supplement. This was both their payment and his way of testing whether they could become normal people like Ruby had.
The three mountain dwellers stared blankly as Chris and the others left, not understanding what this so-called Forest Service employee was all about.
However, after Chris and the others had gone, they noticed the dragon's blood supplement Chris had left behind. They cautiously approached and opened it, then discovered something incredible.
"Oh, oh, oh! This stuff is amazing!"
"Delicious! Delicious!"
The excited reactions of the two brothers didn't affect the one-eyed man. As the one most deeply traumatized by humans, he tasted it with extreme caution.
Then his eyes lit up, and he said urgently, "This... this stuff... we... we need to... ration it!"
Seeing the smartest among them—the one-eyed man—say this, the three-fingered man and the largest mountain dweller didn't listen this time. They hastily divided the dragon's blood supplement into three portions, then spoke in unison, "This is your share. How we drink ours is none of your business."
While the three mountain dwellers were arguing over the dragon's blood supplement Chris had generously left, Brian had already driven the truck to a cave entrance, following Chris's directions.
"So? Is it similar to that other wendigo's lair?"
Chris looked down at Stewie, noticing a delighted expression on his face, clearly indicating he'd obtained new data.
"It's different—it's fascinating. I need more information to confirm my hypothesis."
Hearing Stewie's cryptic words, Brian looked at Chris in confusion, hoping he'd explain.
Chris, however, returned a helpless look and walked into the cave, saying, "Let's go in and see first. I have no idea what he's talking about either."
Seeing this, Brian had no choice but to give up and obediently follow the two brothers.
As Brian stepped into the cave, he immediately felt a damp, cold presence appear, constantly draining his energy.
However, within this aura, there was also an emotional influence that made him not want to do anything at all.
But before Brian could be completely affected by this power, Chris unleashed his own aura, directly blocking the corrupting presence.
Brian, now clear-headed, asked in confusion, "What was that just now? Some kind of psychic radiation?"
Then, before Chris could answer, he figured out some of the reasons himself.
As the passage opened up ahead, Brian saw an unusually obese deer-headed humanoid lying on a giant beanbag chair, drinking what appeared to be cola while watching a soap opera.
This rotund creature was the wendigo monster that Chris had killed five times before in other dimensions.
However, compared to those other worlds, this particular wendigo seemed exceptionally docile.
Even with Chris invading the heart of its territory, this creature was still peacefully watching television, seemingly completely oblivious to the outsiders' presence.
It wasn't until the episode on TV ended that it stretched, then rolled over on the beanbag to look at Chris and the others.
"Ugh! Who are you people? Have you come to me for blessings? Did you bring offerings?"
As it spoke, the creature also reached its hand into a metal bucket in front of it, then pulled out a fried fish stick and stuffed it into its mouth.
Chris looked at Stewie, his eyes full of confusion.
No matter how he looked at it, this wendigo in front of him resembled a lazy couch potato, not the brutal monster he'd once killed multiple times.