Chapter Five: The Trap

  Grey had just left, and the remaining four old Glee also hurried back to the camp. After Grigio told them what happened again, everyone's face turned gloomy at the same time.

  "Damn monkey... damn beastman... I'll go find him and tear him apart with my own hands..."

  Although he was often ridiculed by Old Baral, this passionate senior took extra care of himself and even taught him the knowledge needed to survive in the rubble wilderness from time to time. At this moment, seeing Old Baral's body, he immediately ignored everyone's obstruction and rushed out wildly, his eyes red with anger and roaring loudly.

  "Damn it, shut up..."

  Like a thunderclap, the roar startled Phil into a daze, his eyes fixed on the white-haired old man, Glei. It was the first time he had seen this kind and ordinary old man speak in such a tone.

  "Damn it... The captain is too impulsive! Why didn't you stop him!"

  After the surroundings were completely quiet, Old Glei finally muttered to himself in anger and then blamed Grigio, saying that he, who was over fifty years old, knew better than anyone how terrifying the night of this gravelly wilderness was. Even if the captain was a powerful mid-level warrior, if he encountered something alone on the wasteland...

  Lao Ge Li can't bear to think about it anymore. They've already lost an old comrade, and if they lose their captain as well, the Mercenary Hounds might really disband.

  Gregory glanced at Old Gregory, not daring to speak. At that moment, he was afraid that if he said one more word, the angry team leader would vent his anger on him first.

  "Damn it... Hunt, Carter, you two come with me to get them back... As for you Little Phil, stay here and keep watch quietly..."

  Looking at the night color with a frown, Old Glei finally made a decision. Little Phil wanted to refute, but when facing Old Glei's eyes, which were completely different from his dull and yellowish gaze in the past, the words that reached his lips unknowingly retreated, and he nodded slightly.

  Dark night, a horse gallops wildly.

  Attracted by Yalik's roar, Oli urged on his sturdy pony with some anxiety; as an old mercenary, he could easily distinguish from the scent of blood in the wind whether it was human or beast.

  A vague black shadow lay on the horizon not far away, Oli looked at it with extreme eyesight and faintly distinguished the owner of the corpse from its body shape.

  "Damn it... Alex..."

  His eyes filled with incredulous expression, Oli let out a loud roar and couldn't even bear the slow speed of the short-legged horse, so he jumped off the horse and ran towards the corpse in large strides.

  As he ran closer, Oli finally saw the appearance of Yalik, whose body was crushed by a boulder and his flesh was blurred with blood, and only vaguely could he make out that it was a human figure.

  "Damn it... damn it... Yalik... Yalik... get up for me... Yalik..."

  Both eyes suddenly turned red, Oli stared straight at the corpse, and his feet rushed to Alyric on the ground in a hurry.

  "Hmm..."

  Suddenly, a faint sound concentrated everyone's attention on Yalik's miserable corpse. As Oli rushed forward rapidly, he felt the ground beneath him give way and his sturdy body involuntarily plummeted downward.

  "Damn monkeys..." Realizing what had happened, he cursed in astonishment. No human would believe that the stupid and barbaric beastmen who worshiped war gods and enjoyed fighting would actually set up traps next to the corpses of their human companions. It was simply a joke that could make people laugh out loud.

  Ollie, who was clearly grief-stricken and out of it, obviously hadn't thought of that either.

  But an old mercenary's instincts kicked in, and Oli quickly snapped out of the pain of his partner's death. He held a two-meter-long steel spear horizontally, propping himself up on either side of the pit.

  The pit wasn't very deep, but Aurelio's limbs were suspended in mid-air on the long spears, and his forehead couldn't help but break out in a few strands of cold sweat as the two broken sword tips standing straight under him glimmered with a faint, eerie light, to the point where he could even feel the icy chill of the blade.

  On the side of Yalik, the giant stone that took his life suddenly flew up again, and Xia Zuo, who was hiding behind the giant stone, once again used the same trick as soon as Oli stepped into the trap, lifting the giant stone to smash it into the pit.

  A column of massive stone fell straight down, and Oli, who was still in a state of shock in the pit, only heard a whistling sound, and a blurry black shadow flashed before his eyes. Then, there was a crisp cracking sound on his chest, and his body was immediately knocked out of the pit. Two broken sword bodies pierced through his body.

  "Despicable... monkey..." A surge of dark blood filled with shattered internal organs gushed out of his mouth, and Oli could only mutter a few words before his head tilted to the side, dead beyond all doubt.

  "Despicable...?" Oli's dying words made Xia Zuo burst out laughing, knowing he was no match but still trying to go head-to-head with him, that's just stupid. "It doesn't matter if it's a black cat or white cat, as long as it can catch mice, it's a good cat..."

  It's just that Olli, who had already died of asphyxiation, obviously didn't have the chance to hear these words. But if someone were to witness this scene, they would likely be shocked to the point of their jaw dropping to the ground. A beastman who worships the war god Kampas, how could he possibly utter such shameless remarks after killing his enemy with despicable means?

  The cloak that was to serve as cover was put back on, and Shaz had a delightful time gathering up the spoils of war. The light armor cloak was ruined, torn and pierced through, but the dry leather pouch containing several silver coins, the half-full water skin, the few flat breads, and lastly, the fine steel spear that had miraculously escaped being crushed by the boulder, were all intact.

  This thing that weighs around sixty or seventy kilograms is now in Xia Zuo's hands, and it's as light as a feather. He swung it a few times with ease, the immense power causing the long spear to curve into an arc shape as it whirled through the air, emitting a sharp whooshing sound. Although it wasn't very handy, it was still better than using stones as knives.

  He walked up to the pony and gave its rump a vicious whack with his long spear, the docile pony, which had been waiting quietly, never expecting such a disaster, let out a mournful cry and took off in a frantic gallop.

  Until the dwarf horse's rapid hoofbeats gradually faded into the distance, Xia Zuo finally let out a low chuckle. The law ancestor rushed in different directions, only to turn back again after not too long, and then rush off in another direction. After repeating this process over a dozen times, it finally disappeared without returning.

  His mind was very simple. Since it's impossible to erase footprints and prevent being tracked, he might as well leave footprints everywhere and let them track him.

  About an hour after Xia Sha left, several urgent figures followed the hoof prints of the short-legged horse and quickly approached the corpse in the dark.

  "Squad leader, look..."

  The sturdy Carter, almost comparable to a Minotaur, pointed at the two corpses in the distance and said in a low voice.

  There he was prompted by him, Grey had already taken a step forward to rush to the side of the corpse, his robust body suddenly stiffened as if struck by lightning, standing still and motionless.

  "Squad leader, who is it?" Old Geli and three others hastily caught up, asking impatiently before they even reached his side.

  "It's Aurelio... and Yurick!!" Although the tone was calm, the two rows of sharp steel teeth and the clenched fists that had turned white revealed the intense fury brewing inside this robust body.

  "Damn it... What has that damned monkey done?" Old Geli's three steps to the side were instantly shocked by two blood-soaked corpses, and his mouth involuntarily let out a startled cry.

  No one would have thought that the weak little monkey picked up would bring such a great disaster to the mercenary group.

  "Burn it..." Unable to bear the sight any longer, Grey forcibly held back his tears and turned his head away, another two old comrades had fallen, not only a huge loss for the mercenary group, but also two brothers with whom he had shared life and death.

  They had no way to bring the bodies back, and in order not to let the beasts wandering in the rubble wilderness desecrate their heroic bodies, the best way was to burn them, and scatter his ashes on this land they fought for.

  The raging flames burned fiercely, crackling and popping loudly, emitting a pungent smell of char.

  "Old Glei, go find that little monkey!" The fiery flames illuminated Glei's gloomy face, flickering on and off.

  "Team leader..." Old Glei hesitated slightly, not following Grey's intention, and only spoke after a moment of hesitation.

  "Go find him!" Grey interrupted Old Glei's words again in a low and heavy tone, he knew what he was going to say, the highest creed of mercenaries is always to preserve their lives and minimize losses.

  Under the current circumstances, the wisest decision would be to turn back, escort those twelve Mongolians back, exchange them for a lot of gold coins, sleep with several women, and forget about what happened here. But Grey absolutely does not allow his partners to die unclearly like this.

  "Ah! Yes, Captain!" Old Geli let out a slight sigh and then turned around to search the surrounding wilderness.

  Old buddies are always the most precious, and this will never change in any industry or world.

  An experienced old Ge Li, after circling around a few times, walked back with a solemn face. "The footprints on the ground are very messy, that little monkey is very clever, seemingly wanting to confuse and cover up the horse's hoof prints."

  "Which direction are we heading?" Grey asked in a low voice, the deaths of several old comrades and the simple traps on the ground clearly told them that this little monkey was completely different from the beastmen they had dealt with before, perhaps this was where high-ranking beastmen and low-ranking beastmen really differed.

  "Two horses, one east and one west, are fundamentally different directions. The footprints on the ground are also chaotic, with all directions present!" Old Ge said casually, completely revealing the direction of the two warhorses and Xia Zuo's half-day deployment.

  "East is the direction of the empire, wherever that little monkey goes it's courting death. West is where that little monkey wants to ride a horse back to Kampas..."

  Grey did the analysis in no time, a fleeing high-ranking beastman would naturally want to find a way back to his own country. However, although his analysis wasn't wrong, how could they know that Xia Zuo had no idea which direction the Kampas Empire was in, and even the horses' directions were left up to them to decide?

  Although Grey and others have elevated Xia Zao to a certain extent, they still apparently underestimated the wisdom of this beastman with only human soul.

  As they chased after the Western Campas Empire, it was clear that they had no idea that Xia Zuo was now walking in a direction that was getting farther and farther away from them.

  PS: New book uploaded, nervous and apprehensive, please give me points, votes, and collections. If the article can pass, don't forget to support your brother, thank you three times on March 3rd!