An Understated Dominance Novel (Dahlia & Dustin) by Marina Vittori updated 2025-26 - An Understated Dominance Chapter 2664

Chapter 2664

After leaving the devastated lakeside, Logan, Grace, and the rest of the group moved even more cautiously, threading their way through the dense and treacherous jungle.

Fairyharbor Island’s strangeness defied imagination. Seemingly quiet shrubs would sprout thorny vines without warning. Brightly colored flowers could spray paralyzing powder. Even the ground itself might turn into devouring quicksand at a single misstep.

Fortunately, with Logan leading—calm, unfathomable, and powerful—he sensed danger in advance or dissolved each crisis with understated ease, keeping the team safe.

After a full day and night of walking, the scenery suddenly opened up.

Before them rose a lush green bamboo forest. Tall, straight poles swayed gently, mist curled between the stalks, and the air carried the clean fragrance of bamboo. Compared with the perilous jungle behind them, it felt like a hidden paradise.

“This place… it’s so quiet,” one of the female guards whispered, her tense shoulders loosening.

Grace nodded slightly, but her eyes stayed wary.
“Anything unusual must be demonic. On Fairyharbor Island, the quieter the place, the more likely it hides unknown dangers.”

Logan’s gaze swept the bamboo forest. Something flickered across his expression, but he said nothing—just signaled the team to continue forward.

Deep within the forest they found a small clearing and a simple bamboo courtyard.

Inside, a child of about five or six, hair in a ponytail and wearing a red bellyband, sat on a swing. He drifted back and forth, humming a tuneless nursery rhyme with an innocent face.

Grace hesitated, then stepped forward. Through the fence she tried to make her voice gentle.
“Little friend, where are your parents? We’re just passing by. Could we come in and ask for a bowl of water?”

The child on the swing didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at her, simply swinging and humming.

Grace raised her voice.
“Little friend, we have no ill intentions. We only want to ask for directions.”

The child still ignored her, swinging higher, the creak of bamboo loud and sharp—as if expressing displeasure.

Grace frowned. Something felt wrong, but she still reached for the fragile-looking gate to step closer.

Just as her fingers brushed the fence—

Snort!

The child suddenly snorted coldly, a stern look flashing across his young face—utterly at odds with his age. Without turning his head, he flicked his sleeve.

Whoosh!

A stream of condensed green energy shot out like an arrow, sharp enough to pierce metal, straight at Grace’s chest.

The guards cried out. The female guard blanched, lunging forward but too late to intervene.

In that instant Logan moved. He didn’t draw his sword; he simply brought his right index and middle fingers together and pointed forward.

Pop.

The fierce green energy struck an invisible barrier before reaching Grace, crumbling into harmless wisps that dissipated into the air.

Grace staggered back to Logan’s side, a cold sweat on her brow.

The child stopped swinging and turned. His small face burned with surprise and anger.

He stared at Logan with wide black eyes, sizing him up.
“Huh? You’re quite capable for an outsider. You actually blocked my casual attack?”

Logan’s face stayed calm. He lowered his hand.
“Little kid, why so cruel? If you have something to say, speak it.”

“Cruel? Hmph! You barge into my quiet place, disturb my meditation, and even dare lecture me?” The child’s tone sharpened.

He stomped on the ground and shot upward like a cannonball, hands forming claws wreathed in green light. With a sharp whistle the claws slashed at Logan’s head, the air rippling, bamboo bending and breaking under the force.

Logan only shook his head, almost helpless.

He still didn’t dodge. Instead he raised his right hand, palm up, and gently supported.

A soft yet overwhelming power bloomed, like a spring breeze, dissolving the child’s claws instantly.

The child felt himself caught by an irresistible force. No matter how he urged his internal energy, he couldn’t break free—suspended in midair.

“You—!” His face flushed with shock and anger, energy surging wildly as if to unleash something even stronger.

“Tonge, stop!”

A clear shout cut through the courtyard.

A green figure floated down like a falling leaf—an old Taoist priest with a scruffy face, disheveled hair and beard, and a faded robe.

He glared sternly at the child named Tonge.
“Don’t be rude!”

Tonge clearly feared the old man. He withdrew his energy, landed with a pout, and stood aside, still glaring at Logan in defiance.

The old priest turned to Logan, Grace, and the others, bowed slightly, and spoke apologetically.
“I have been lax in my teaching. My disciple offended you. Please forgive him.”

Sensing the old man’s gentle aura, Grace quickly returned the greeting.
“Senior, please excuse us. We were the ones who disturbed you first.”

She hesitated, then spoke earnestly.
“Senior, we risked our lives to reach the island for an elixir that can save my father’s life. Could you please tell us where to find it?”

The old man studied Grace carefully, then looked deeply at Logan. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. He sighed and shook his head.

“Your filial piety is commendable, little girl. But take my advice. This place is no ground for seekers of medicine or immortals. Those so-called elixirs are bound to great cause and danger. Leave now, while you still can.”

Grace’s eyes were resolute. She bowed again.
“My father is critically ill. As long as there’s a glimmer of hope, I won’t give up. I beg for your guidance—even if it means mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead.”

The old man hesitated, then sighed once more.
“Alas… fate.”

He pointed into the bamboo.
“Head southeast through this forest to a deep canyon. At the canyon’s end you may find clues to what you seek. But the closer you get, the greater the danger. Be careful.”

Grace’s face lit with joy. She bowed deeply.
“Thank you very much for your guidance, Senior!”

The old man waved his hand, saying nothing more.

Grace and the others dared not linger. After thanking him again, they hurried off in the direction he had given.

When Logan’s group had vanished into the bamboo, the child whispered,
“Master, why tell them? They’re obviously ‘blood-eating’ people.”

The old priest did not answer. He only gazed toward where Logan had disappeared, his brows furrowed, a glimmer of light in his cloudy eyes. He muttered under his breath, barely audible:

“That man’s aura was restrained—deep as the ocean. Even I couldn’t gauge his depth. For such a person to arrive here… could he be the dragon-slayer spoken of in ancient texts?”

A mountain breeze stirred. Bamboo leaves rustled, as if echoing his earth-shaking whisper.