Chapter 6: Rescue

  The raging bonfire crackled with a popping sound, illuminating the small campsite. Scattered sparks flew into the night sky like free spirits, carried by the scorching air currents.

  The five mercenaries who stayed behind sat around the bonfire, their gloomy faces lit up and then darkened by the dancing flames, each tightly gripping their weapons in silence, the atmosphere was heavy with tension.

  Heavy footsteps slowly approached, and five people simultaneously jumped up like wooden stakes, vigilantly staring into the darkness where the sound came from.

  "Cough...cough..."

  A faintly painful, hoarse coughing sound, a figure draped in a cloak gradually became clear in the darkness, with a long spear made of fine steel emitting a faint glow under the dim light.

  "Damn it... Oli you finally came back, we were all worried to death! Did you catch up with that damn monkey?"

  Outside the bonfire, in the darkness, only a vague outline could be seen, but that familiar long spear still allowed Grigori to recognize the person at first glance. This long spear made of fine iron was Ollie's main capital for daily show-off.

  The newcomer didn't answer, but the coughing grew more painful and intense, a weak figure stumbled.

  "What the... Olli, what's going on?"

  Greg's face changed, and Oli's appearance was obviously seriously injured. He hurriedly ran up to support him.

  Without any defense, Grigori reached out to support the powerless Oli. In a flash of lightning, Grigori's face suddenly changed in shock, while Oli's weak and stumbling body quickly jumped back five meters, with his hat slipping off to reveal his slightly pale and thin face, which disappeared into the night in an instant.

  "Damn it... It's that monkey, Grigori." The few people who had already relaxed their vigilance suddenly became alert and rushed towards Grigori.

  There were fist-sized blood blisters on his chest, mouth and feet, gurgling and churning out fresh blood. No matter how hard Grigori pressed down, the blood still spurted out like a fully opened faucet.

  A pale face emerged with a wry smile, mouthfuls of fresh blood gushing out "Be careful... monkey... son..." muttered four words, head tilted and went limp.

  "Greg... Greg..." Phil's eyes were bloodshot, he was yelling frantically, "Damn it... damn it... damn monkey! I'll kill it with my own hands!"

  The fury of witnessing his companion's death in front of him instantly broke through Old Glei's words, and Phil grasped the curved knife, charging towards the darkness like a madman.

  "Phil... come back... Phil, you damn bastard... get back here..." The remaining three mercenaries yelled whatever they could, but Phil, consumed by rage, didn't care and his fleeing figure soon disappeared into the night.

  "Damn it..."

  An old mercenary cursed loudly. Their mission was to guard the cargo, and several people had already died. If they lost the cargo now, the hunting dogs would really be finished.

  But he couldn't just watch his companions die, and wandering alone in the desolate gravel field at night was almost no different from sending himself to death.

  "Karl, go get that son of a bitch back here! If he won't come, knock him out and bring him back!" The old mercenary bellowed in anger, making the final desperate decision.

  "Right!" A sturdy warrior carrying a war hammer responded loudly and quickly chased after the roar in the dark night.

  "What's wrong?"

  The buttocks had just sat down, the crisp sound of iron chain collision was particularly clear in the quiet camp. The sound came from the tent where the Mang Beastman was detained. The remaining two old mercenaries changed color at the same time.

  "Damn monkey..."

  The old mercenary muttered angrily under his breath, a sinister look creeping onto his face. Even though those apes were heavily chained and two men guarded them, their strength was somewhat insufficient. But if those bastards dared to cause trouble, he wouldn't mind sacrificing the gains of this trip, worth over a hundred gold coins.

  The two furious men rushed into the tent at the same time, and before they could stand still, a strong gust of wind came rushing towards them. A blurry black shadow, like a hungry wolf pouncing on its prey, charged straight at their faces.

  "Fluff..."

  Suddenly attacked, although hastily parried, a massive force came, the arm that parried was knocked into the face, a mercenary flew upside down, blood and tears mixed down, the eye socket that was heavily hit couldn't see anything for a moment, but years of experience still made him instinctively wave his curved knife in front of him, parrying the opponent's next attack.

  "Damn it..." The old mercenary saw this, immediately furious, the large sword in his hand made a move to chop towards Xia Zuo, but he obviously forgot that there was more than one beastman in this tent.

  The iron chain clanged, the body struggled to leave the ground, and the thick, black-haired arm was clasped tightly around the neck like a steel hoop.

  A few crisp sounds of "Ka Ka", the struggling body suddenly went limp, and fell from the cold-smiling beastman's arms.

  Natsusa dodged the curved sword while thrusting his long spear wildly, and after making five bloody holes in the mercenary's body, the struggling figure made no more sound.

  With a calm expression, Xia Zuo stepped forward quickly and snatched the curved knife from his hand, cautiously adding another blow to his neck.

  "Kid, you're a true Kampas warrior... Haha... You saved us, from today on, you're my brother, Biko! " A sturdy beastman with a whip scar on his face killed another mercenary and heavily patted Xia Zuo's frail shoulder, his loud voice like thunder.

  The rest of the beastmen in the tent also burst out laughing loudly at the same time.

  The world of the beastmen is simple, when Xia Zuo took action to kill Old Ba Er and escape, they had already changed their opinion of him. Now that he has risked his life to come back and save them, they have come to regard Xia Zuo as a brother, a comrade.

  Brave Kampas warriors would never abandon their comrades and flee, Shazo proved himself to be a true Kampas warrior with his actions.

  "You're also a true Kampas warrior... We can't stay here for long, we need to leave quickly!" Xia Zuo rubbed his shoulder, the slap from earlier made him feel like he was hit by an iron hammer, showing just how terrifying the beastman's strength was!

  Just after Xia Sha finished speaking, a group of beastmen remained silent.

  "My brother, we can't follow you!" Bigu shook his head and looked at Xia Zuo with a puzzled face, then pointed to the two corpses on the ground again.

  "These humans are weak, but among them is a true warrior, a powerful warrior, and only that person has the key to unlock the shackles. With the shackles on us, we will only slow down our journey and can't escape from that warrior's pursuit."

  Bīgǔ pāi zhe xià zuǒ de jiān bǎng shuō dào, tí qǐ gē léi shí, yǎn lǐ jìng rán dōu shì qīn pèi.

  Translation:

  Biggu patted Xiaozuo's shoulder and said, when mentioning Gelei, his eyes were full of admiration.

  "My brother, you are a high-ranking beastman with great potential. You should continue to grow and become the pride of Kampa, not die in this damned gravel desert!"

  Obviously, although he had witnessed Xia Zha's power, Bi Gu still believed that if they encountered Gray, they would absolutely die without a doubt.

  "It's impossible..." Xia Sha shook his head slightly, and the short three words instantly made the Mank Beastmen's attitude towards him upgraded from companions to reverence.

  Of course Xia Sha's meaning was probably more that without the leadership of the Mohawk beastmen, they would not be able to leave this damned wilderness on their own, but apparently none of the beastmen who looked at him with reverence thought so.

  "Good, if we don't die, then you are my sworn brother!" Xia Zuo's firm attitude instantly triggered Bi Gu's loud and crazy laughter.

  "And also Mantas..."

  "And also Tara..."

  One by one, the beastmen surrounded Xia Zuo, loudly shouting out their names. No oath was needed; the recognition of the beastmen was a solid vow. From this day on, Xia Zuo became their brother in life and death.

  Footsteps echoed from afar, accompanied by muffled curses. Without needing to be told, the beastmen who had lived in the desolate rocky plains for years emerged one after another from their tents, silent as ghosts.

  The battle was over quickly, or rather it couldn't be called a battle at all. Even with heavy chains on their bodies, the twelve Mongol beastmen were no match for a human mercenary.

  "Don't kill him... bring him along, he might be of some use!"

  Just as Bikou's large hand was about to twist and break Phil's neck, who was unconscious, Shiaso's eyes suddenly lit up and he hastily shouted to stop him. Although one hostage might not be able to completely prevent something from happening, at least it could prevent some things.

  Natsuya was a high-ranking beastman, and all high-ranking beastmen were intelligent. Moreover, Natsuya had just saved them, so Higou didn't ask any questions and stopped what he was doing, instead picking up the unconscious Fir on his shoulder.

  "Alright, buddies, let's head home before those despicable humans catch up to us!" Xia Zao shouted loudly, and the group of Munk beasts enthusiastically cleaning up the battlefield immediately responded with a chorus of roars.

  The sky is gradually whitening, the raging bonfire has long been extinguished, and under the charred wood ash, there are still faintly buried unextinguished sparks. The ground is completely stained red with fresh blood, and on the solidified blood, there are clear imprints of chaotic wild animal footprints.

  The crushed white bones, scattered pieces of flesh all over the ground, torn strips of cloth and hair stuck together in a mess, emitting a foul stench, a swarm of large green flies buzzing happily flying around.

  Chasing in the direction of the Campas Empire, they found that Gray and his party were not there. After searching for a night without finding them, they decided to return to their camp to rest. But when they returned, what entered their eyes was this scene.

  The four of them stared at the scene in front of them in disbelief, as if struck by lightning, instantly losing all consciousness.

  "Dandelion..."

  A dull thud, Grey's figure suddenly shortened, and in his grief, both feet actually stepped heavily onto the hard ground.

  "Find those beasts..." His face was like a layer of frost, and Grey walked to the campsite not far away, closed his eyes and fell asleep, recovering from the mental exhaustion of the night.

  Lao Ge Li didn't refute anymore, his already old face suddenly seemed to have aged another decade or so. He knew the hunting dogs were finished, even if they caught up with those monkeys and killed them, it wouldn't stop the dispersal of the hunting dogs. Maybe he should retire himself. With a deep sigh, he began to investigate the traces on the ground.

  At this time, I couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Perhaps that day they shouldn't have been greedy and let the little monkey destroy itself in the wilderness. What was delivered to their doorstep wasn't a blessing from God, but rather the gates of hell. However, who can resist the temptation of over a thousand gold coins?

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