Chapter Seven: Wild Horse Valley

  Day breaks and day falls, the biting chill is like a ghost lurking underground, emerging suddenly without warning as the sun disappears.

  Xia Sha tightened his cloak, and his body, which had been sweating profusely, couldn't help but shiver slightly in the suddenly plummeting temperature.

  A day and night of arduous trekking, with scarce food and water sources, made Xia Zhaoyu somewhat unbearable, not to mention the heavy shackles on his body and the inconvenient movement of the Mang Beastman.

  The young captive had woken up before dawn, and naturally couldn't help but let out a furious roar, but after Xia Zuo's several lashes, he was now walking obediently at the front of the procession.

  Every single Mank beastman in the desolate wasteland was a top-notch hunter, and under their guidance, Xia Zuo absorbed the knowledge that had been passed down through countless generations of these beastmen, allowing them to thrive here, like a dry sponge soaking up water.

  And similarly, they processed the traces left behind by their passage. Although it was difficult to clean up the large footprints of more than a dozen beastmen perfectly, under Shasaku's increasingly refined technique, at least they could slow down Gurei and his group's pursuit speed.

  Things went far smoother than Xia Zuo had imagined, perhaps it was indeed the blessing of the Kampas god, and without encountering any beasts in the wilderness, after a day and night of trekking, when the darkness gradually fell again, a riverbed that spanned across the rocky wasteland finally appeared before everyone's eyes.

  Including Xia Sha, all the beastmen let out a deep breath of relief in their hearts.

  "Let's take a rest here and prepare to cross the Buffalo River Valley." Xia Zhaodan ran ahead to scout out the situation, then looked back at the exhausted beastmen behind him, sighed inwardly, and made his decision.

  Every year during the rainy season, water left over from the Campo de Kampas highlands gathers together and flows towards the rocky wasteland at the edge of the highlands.

  The years of washing have left a riverbed that divides the gravel plain in two, named after the herds of wild cattle that often come to drink and run here.

  It's not yet the dry season, and the Wild Cattle River under the ravine is only about two meters wide. The gentle river water is almost four or five meters wide, even a child who knows how to swim can easily cross it.

  But every year during the rainy season, the water volume increases manifold and overflows from the riverbeds, spreading to the surroundings, nourishing every living thing on the gravelly barren land, and that is also the short period when the gravelly barren land has an abundance of water.

  After the centaurs were driven back to the Kampas Highlands by the human alliance, this ravine also became a natural boundary, dividing the gravel wasteland in two. Beyond here was the territory of the Kampas Empire.

  The cliffs on both sides of the river are as if they were cut off by a sharp sword, with a height of over 10 meters. The river valley is narrow, only about 6-7 meters wide, and almost forms a right angle of 90 degrees. There are only a small number of attached objects on both sides.

  Forcing them to cross with the exhausted bodies of the Mongolians and the heavy, cumbersome shackles would likely result in unnecessary losses.

  Agilely jumping down the cliff, Xia Zha poured the icy river water into several cowhide water bags, filling them up. Only then did Xia Zha climb back up.

  "Hiko, after crossing the Buffalo River Valley, how much longer can you walk back to the tribe?" Chasa asked, handing Hiko his water bag and wiping away the water stain from the corner of her mouth.

  On the way, he already knew that these twelve beastmen all belonged to the same Mang tribe on the Shattered Stone Wastes and encountered the Hound Mercenary Corps while hunting outside.

  In the words of Bi Gu, these humans are also considered warriors, but they are not a match for the powerful Kampas beastmen. In the same number, humans cannot be a match for the strong beastmen, and even beastman warriors can fight against four or five warriors of the same rank, but the problem lies with Glay.

  To put it in Bickslow's words, Gray is a true warrior who has grasped the power to the point where even if all twelve of them were to gang up on him, they still wouldn't be his match, and that's why they ended up as his shameful prisoners.

  As for what kind of power it was, even the lowest-ranking ordinary beastman on the outskirts of the Kampas Empire couldn't give Xia Zuo an answer, but it had already made Xia Zuo secretly sigh in amazement - how much power did twelve Mank Beastmen have?

  Can't even surpass an ordinary and unremarkable team leader?

  What kind of power does he have?

  "In another half day, we'll be able to return to the tribe..." He took a big gulp of the precious clear water and handed the waterskin back to the beastman behind him, and even Ke's rough face couldn't help but reveal a hint of tenderness when talking about going home."

  "Filthy monkeys, you'll never be able to return to the tribe. You filthy monkeys, especially you...you despicable monkey...." Phil's voice cut in inopportunely, a pair of eyes filled with hatred staring straight at Xia Zuo.

  "Colonel Grey will catch up with you, kill all of you monkeys... flay your filthy hides to make coats... feed your stinking carcasses to the wolves on the prairie... Heh heh..." With a gritted-teeth tone, Phil let out a sinister laugh, as if he had already seen the tragic deaths of everyone.

  "Despicable and greedy humans, what are you saying...". The vicious curse, especially the part that touched on the beastman's most taboo fur, made Bik instantly furious and roar with anger. His hands were inconvenient, but he still punched Phil in the face with one fist.

  Clothing made from beastman fur is the rarest luxury of the human empire, and also the most taboo thing for beastmen. Any intelligent being would not allow such a thing to happen.

  It's a good thing that Phil is a Monger, if he were a Wolfman or a Bearman, the most popular among humans, he would have been torn to pieces or smashed into meat paste.

  A crisp crack, Phil's handsome face instantly deformed, half of his cheek sank down and his chin drooped weakly, apparently the ancient fist had smashed both his forehead and jawbone.

  "Wooo... Hehe..." Although Phil was punched by Bigo, his forehead shattered, and saliva, blood, and fragmented teeth flowed from the corner of his mouth, he seemed to be completely unaware of the pain, grinning and muttering a curse that only he knew.

  "Damn humanity..."

  Bei Gu made a move again to hit, Xia Su naturally couldn't allow the last person who might have become a lifesaver to die so valuelessly, and hurriedly stretched out his hand to block.

  "That's enough, Begone..."

  Slender palms firmly grasped the enormous fist of Biggo, and slender arms didn't even tremble under Biggo's immense strength.

  Bei Gu knew how powerful this punch was, but the delicate palm on his fist made him feel like he had hit an iron wall, numbing his arm and stunning him so much that he even forgot his anger for a moment.

  Natsu didn't notice Gajeel's shock, he had already discovered his own difference, and in just a few short days, his strength had surpassed that of these adult strong beastmen.

  As the object of the curse, he naturally couldn't stand Phil's mocking smile, and walked up to him, casually pulling off his leather boots and stuffing them into his weak mouth.

  As for the smell of those shoes, which were full of mud, sweat, foot odor, and who-knows-what-else, it had nothing to do with Xia Zuo. However, judging from Phil's nauseated expression and pained eyes, that smell was apparently quite terrible.

  "Alright guys, are you ready to head home?" After resting for about a quarter of an hour, Xia Zuo stood up and shouted loudly as the crowd of revived beastmen began to converse in low voices.

  "Ready..."

  "Going home..."

  Campus...

  Twelve recovered Munk beasts shook off the shackles on their bodies, making a rattling sound, and pounded their chests to let out a wild roar unique to beastmen.

  "Are you base beasts ready to meet Kampas?" A furious roar approached rapidly from a distance, and Phil's face, which had been filled with discomfort, suddenly showed a look of surprise, and his mouth let out a vague "Woo woo" cry.

  "What the f**k is this thing?!" Xia Zuo's eyes widened in shock, and he subconsciously looked around to locate the source of the voice. But what he saw made his understanding of the world completely overturned, and he involuntarily blurted out a curse.

  Gurren, shining like a large light bulb in the darkness, flew rapidly towards him with a trail of silver light.

  Originally, Xia Sha thought that the power Bikou spoke of was a technique for exerting force or like those crazy people from his past life who ground themselves to a pulp, after all, although there were beastmen standing in front of him that only existed in books, apart from their great strength, Bikou and the others didn't show any other strange aspects.

  But the scene before him completely overturned Xia Zuo's understanding, the light wrapped around Gurei emitted a dangerous aura, making Xia Zuo's hairs stand on end, it was clear that thing was absolutely not used for lighting the way.

  Dou Qi. As a soul of the Earth in the Information Age, Xia Zuo's mind flashed with these two words almost subconsciously, and he quickly picked up Fei'er beside him to block in front of himself.

  The team member he thought was dead appeared before his eyes once again, and this surprise caused Grey to involuntarily come to a stop.

  Natsu's actions made Gray's eyes widen in shock for a moment, his face frozen in stunned bewilderment.

  He really couldn't imagine that the beastmen, who came with bravery and fairness as their creed, would resort to such tactics as taking hostages and making threats. Even if he went back and told them about it, he was afraid no one would believe him.

  "Despicable monkey, how can Kampas have a disciple like you? You're not even worthy of being a warrior. If you still consider yourself a brave Munk Beastman, then let him go and settle this with me in a fair duel, as warriors should."

  The brilliance on his body faded, and the armor on Gray's body was quite disheveled, with even patches of bloodstains and scratches visible. Apparently, as a human being in pursuit, he had not received the same protection from the god Kampas as Shasa and the others did.

  "Xia Sha..." hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up, this despicable tactic has always been used by humans only, if Xia Sha hadn't already risen to a revered status in their hearts, he would have been despised by everyone long ago!

  "Shut up... Bighu..." He let out a low growl at the foolish beastman, and Xia Zuo sneered at Grey, "A fair fight? A warrior who has grasped Dou Qi fighting an underage beastman is called a fair fight? Humans are indeed despicable creatures!"

  Scoffing in derision, Xia Zuo apparently forgot that he himself was once a member of the despicable creatures he spoke of just a short while ago.

  "Do you know about Chi?" Grey's eyes widened slightly in surprise, then turned into a cold smile "Of course, with your high-ranking beastman status, you must have an extraordinary background, how could you not know about Chi..."

  "Trouble!!" Xia Sha didn't want to guess correctly at all, but Gurei's words had obviously proven his conjecture, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly with a bitter smile.

  "Colonel Grey, we just want to go home. If you don't want your poor soldiers to return to the Lord's bosom at such a young age, then please stand still and don't move. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I'll do when I get nervous!"

  "What if I don't?" So many old buddies, all dead because of this despicable monkey in front of him, how could Gray possibly let the other party leave so easily.

  "Waaaahhh..." Phil's face was resolute as he shouted something loudly, but the broken jaw and shoe in his mouth turned his cries into a jumbled mess that only he could understand.

  "You can try..." Suppressing Phil's struggles, Xia Zuo only applied a slight force, and Phil immediately became breathless, his face flushed red, and his neck transmitted a faint humming sound.

  "Captain..." Three equally disheveled figures shouted as they rapidly caught up from the darkness, and it was this sound that stopped Grey's advancing footsteps.

  If it were just him alone, he could still ignore Phil's life and death, but if he did so in front of the remaining few partners, even if they didn't say anything out loud, it would pierce their hearts.

  "Alright, I'll agree to it!" Grey said in a cold and low tone.

  "Little Phil... you're still alive..?!" The three of them let out a surprised shout as soon as they saw the Phil in Xia Zuo's hand, but immediately understood what had happened. Amidst their shock and astonishment at Xia Zuo, this strange beastman, they loudly shouted "Captain, no way, absolutely can't let them go..."

  "You're really a kind-hearted captain, this kid is so lucky!" Xia Zuo smiled slightly and relaxed his grip on Phil's wrist, while saying in a low voice to the others beside him, "You guys go ahead first, I'll stay behind and catch up with you later!"

  "No way..." Guri's stern refusal was echoed by the firm headshakes of all the beastmen. From the moment they were saved by Shasa, they had become brothers bound together in life and death, warriors of Kampa who would never abandon their own on the battlefield.

  "Listen to me, you guys go first. Only when you escape can I escape too. Believe me... otherwise no one will be able to leave!" The beastman's firm attitude instantly warmed Xia Zuo's heart, reminding him of the camaraderie and loyalty he had experienced in his past life, which he had long forgotten amidst the gold-worshipping coldness of this world!

  Looking into Higu's eyes, Shiyas said sincerely.

  Hiko also knew that staying here would be inconvenient for them to act, and they would only become a burden to Shasa. The iron-like powerful palm just now also made him somewhat believe in what Shasa said.

  With a face full of humiliation, Bi Gu clenched his teeth tightly and didn't say another word. He just shouted loudly, "Brothers, listen to Xia Zuo, let's cross the river..."

  "Brother Bīgǔ..."

  "Shut up... cross the river..." Just then, a beastman retorted, but before he could speak, he was blocked by Bigou's furious roar. The silent beastman, with the same humiliated face, slowly walked down the river valley.

  For the warriors of Kampas, abandoning a brother on the battlefield is to abandon their honor as warriors, which is far more shameful than dying gloriously.

  Smiling Xia Zhe and cold-faced Ge Lei confronted each other in the evening wind, the crisp sound of iron chains colliding grew distant. To Ge Lei, those monkeys were valuable, but he didn't care about them.

  He now only cares about the despicable monkey in front of him, he has vowed to God to personally skin him and make his skin into boots to wear on his feet, he wants to let him be humiliated forever, to avenge the dead old partners.

  When the sound of the iron chain stopped on the opposite bank, Xia Zuo didn't turn back, but looked at Glei's loud shout "Keep walking, don't look back..."

  The sound was transmitted far away to the opposite side, and it was silent for a whole minute. The crisp sound of the iron chain started again, gradually disappearing into the dark night on the other side.

  "Now, you clever beastman, how do you plan to escape from me?" After the Mank Beastmen gradually disappeared into the distance on the opposite bank, a cold smile was drawn on Grey's gloomy face.

  This was also the first time he didn't refer to Xia Zuo as an animal. In his eyes, although Xia Zuo was despicable, he had sacrificed himself for his companions, and just this point alone was enough to earn some of his respect, but it would never be a reason for him to go easy on him.

  "What about me?" Xia Zha shrugged, a helpless smile spreading across his face. "As you said, as a brave Kampas beastman, I'm ready to duel with you fairly!"

  This was something that Gray would never believe, but just as he sneered with a cold smile, Xia Zuo suddenly made a move, his slender but powerful arm swung out and threw the tall and heavy Phil, who weighed around 170 kilograms, like a sandbag.

  That arc far from the ground, no one suspected that if it was smashed to the ground, even a strong orc would be smashed into a bloody mess.

  As he flung Phil aside, Xia Zuo's legs suddenly kicked out, his lean body shooting out like a bullet, flying towards the Wild Bull Gorge. While in mid-air, he drew out the curved knife at his waist that belonged to Phil and threw it out like a boomerang.

  It was just that the direction of the slash wasn't Gray or Phil, but towards Old Grie who had been quietly standing by their side.

  Grey was not surprised that this despicable monkey would resort to such a petty trick, and even after all he had been through, if the despicable monkey were to engage him in a fair duel, he would find it strange.

  The whistling curved blade blocked the path of Old Glei and his men who came to rescue, even if he knew that Xia Zha was going to take advantage of the situation to escape, Grey couldn't bear to abandon Phil.

  A silver aura burst forth from his body as Grey ultimately chose to charge towards Phil, who was drawing a perfect parabolic arc in the air.

  Xia Sha's mouth corner floated a smile, his body rapidly fell into the Wild Cow River, by the time Gray saved Phil, he had already fallen into the water.

  Although the water level of the Wild Bull River is not high now, it is enough for him who has not grown up to hide his body and leave with the help of the current.

  Natsu estimated Gray's resentment towards himself incorrectly, and also greatly miscalculated the strength of his fighting spirit. In the blink of an eye, Natsu's body hadn't even fallen into the water yet.

  Like a flash of lightning, Phil's Gray had already descended rapidly from the valley with a dazzling silver glow, and even under the action of Dou Qi, its speed was far faster than Xia Zuo's falling speed.

  "Damn it..." Xia Zuo cursed under his breath, quickly curling up his body and shrinking his volume as he rushed into the water. If he could get in first, he wouldn't need much time to put some distance between himself and that damn light bulb behind him.

  It seems that Xia Zuo has simply forgotten his non-human identity, with a fluffy tail following behind him as he moves, sticking straight out from under the cloak that covers his shiny buttocks.

  Grey's eyes flashed with a cold smile as he swiftly descended, his powerful palm suddenly reaching out to grab the nearest opening.

  "...!" The fluffy tail suddenly stiffened.

  "Ahh..." Xia Zuo's rapid descent came to an abrupt halt, the intense pain of his tail almost being torn off radiating up his spine and reaching the top of his head, a pained cry escaping his mouth unconsciously.

  Kyuuin wanted to break free, but he didn't know what method Gurei used. His tail was caught and Shiasu's whole body felt numb and weak, unable to exert any strength, and even his consciousness began to blur.

  The corners of his mouth curled up into a cruel smile, as he grabbed Xia Zuo and plummeted to the bottom of the river with Grey. A burst of energy suddenly erupted from under his feet, propelling his robust body upwards like a cannonball, shooting up the river valley.

  "You damned monkey... get ready to pay for your despicable crimes..." Gripping Xia Zuo's tail, Grey slammed him to the ground, a muddy leather boot making intimate contact with Xia Zuo's cheek.

  "Waaaah..." His eyes were bloodshot, and even if he pulled out the shoes from his mouth, Phil's shattered jaw made it impossible for him to speak clearly. The furious roar in his mouth, he quickly rushed forward, raised his whip and frantically lashed at Xia Zuo's body.

  The cloak was torn apart, and streaks of sinister bloodstains appeared on the frail body.

  "Alright, Phil..." Grey looked at Phil's condition with a slight frown, the latter's severe injuries not allowing him to get so agitated.

  After being flogged a dozen times or so by Little Phil, Grey was pulled away by Old Grog and several others.

  "You despicable little monkey, I'll let you leave a last statement since you dared to sacrifice yourself for your companions!" Xia Zuo was flipped over onto his back, and Grey stepped on his neck.

  At this position, as long as Xia Zha has a slight movement, the Dou Qi in his body will explode and crush his entire neck bone into powder.

  Kai did not wait for the answer he wanted, Xia Zuo lay on his back, staring blankly at the sky, as if seeing something extremely beautiful, even life and death were put aside.

  At the same time, his face suddenly changed, and a terrifying aura of cruelty burst out rapidly from his thin body underfoot.

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