Chapter 7 The Officer Fainted

  Xiao Qiu ran extremely fast, her two legs moving so quickly they seemed to belong to someone else. The giant snake head appeared to be right behind her, its long body tightly pressed against her back.

  He was a brave young man, but he had never seen such a scene. Ye Lin Town was a remote and peaceful place, where demons were only absurd legends. The first time they appeared in reality, how could it not make people's souls fly away?

  Flexible branches whipped across his face, the ground was full of tangled obstacles, but none of these could stop Xiao Qiu. He ran desperately forward, regardless of east, south, west or north, without caring if there was a road ahead, and it wasn't until much later that he suddenly realized there was someone behind him.

  Fang Fang ran alongside him, her speed so fast that she didn't look like the daughter of a strict family at all. She had no other choice, as their right wrists were still tied together with a long rope trailing behind them, miraculously not getting tangled in the trees.

  Xiao Qiu turned her head, and the two of them exchanged a glance. Neither of them slowed down, because they were too shocked, their eyes didn't show any emotion, as if they were just strangers who happened to run into each other.

  Under their feet was empty space, and before they could understand what had happened, both of them were already rolling down the mountain slope.

  This is a long, shaded slope, piled high with years of accumulated old and new leaves, emitting the unique rotten fragrance of the forest, and rolling around on it is quite soft.

  At last, Xia Qiu and Fang Fang sat on the ground one in front of the other, dazed and disoriented, their bodies covered with mud and fallen leaves. The two panted heavily, looking at each other, neither able to get up.

  Fortunately, there were no giant snakes chasing after her. Xia Qiu plucked up the courage to turn around and look back, only to see a thick layer of withered branches and dead leaves, and above her head was eerily quiet. She let out a slight sigh of relief, but the panic in her heart did not decrease much.

  Fang was shocked, her eyes fixed on Xiao Qiu. When she finally caught her breath, she suddenly asked: "Did you really dream of me?"

  "Ah?" Xia Qiu was momentarily confused by Fang Fang's meaning, and only remembered after a while that Da Liang had revealed last night that he had dreamed of Fang Fang asking for help, but he didn't understand why Fang Fang would ask this at a critical moment, "Is... my dream..."

  Before the words had fallen, a rustling sound came from above, and Xia Qiu somehow summoned up a burst of energy, hugged Fang Fang, rolled with her several times, and hid behind the nearest large tree.

  The two clung tightly together, gazing down at the slope in terror.

  With a thud, someone fell to the bottom of the slope. It was Er Bao, dazed and confused, just like Xiao Qiu and Fang Fang earlier, unable to stand up and only able to sit there.

  Thud thud... one after another, people rolled down from above, the young men of Yelin Town fell like ripe fruit.

  Xiao Qiu felt slightly relieved and was able to stand up. She pulled Fang Fang out from behind the tree and asked, "The big snake didn't chase after us, did it?"

  It was just a simple sentence, but it almost drove the young men mad, half of them jumped up, and the other half fell to the ground with their heads in their hands, trembling, as if they wanted to bury their heads in the rotten leaves.

  When they found out that the speaker was Xia Qiu, the young men softened again, fell to the ground, and lay down with their limbs stretched out.

  "You two are really running fast," Er Miao said, half in doubt and half in admiration.

  "What about the big snake?" Xia Qiu asked again.

  "I don't know, I just kept running and didn't look back," Dalang said breathlessly, his face pale.

  Xiao Qiu checked the names on the list, "Da Liang, Er Liang, Er Shuang, Leng Zi, Xiao Gou, Xiao Shun, Zhu Zi are all here, just missing... Tu Zi."

  Daliang Yisheng said: "Baldy, baldy won't be killed by a big snake, will he?"

  "He was clearly laughing at us from behind the tree, he shouldn't be dead, right?" Er Mian said uncertainly, Tu Zi's smile was really too eerie, a bad omen.

  "The Xuanfu Army is still behind, they can defeat the giant snake." Xia Qiu was also uncertain, recalling that the snake was really too big, it seemed to swallow the entire Wild Forest Town.

  The young men nodded, and it would be more accurate to say that they were giving themselves some confidence rather than agreeing with Xia Qiu's guess. They would rather be prisoners of the Xuanfu Army than become a snake's lunch.

  "We can't stop here, we have to run a bit further." Xia Qiu said, even if Xuanfu Army defeats the giant snake, they will still need to capture people and ask for their crimes, he hopes to never see those black armored soldiers again.

  The boys only wanted to get away from the big snake, so they helped each other up and stood up with difficulty. They didn't know where they were in the forest, nor did they recognize the path. Just as they were discussing what to do next, another sound came from the slope.

  A horse soared high in the air, and after landing, it didn't stand firm. With a stumble, a rider was thrown off its back, letting out a miserable cry as he rolled all the way to land in front of some young men. The horse paid no heed to its owner and ran away on its own.

  It was that stern military officer, still wrapped in his black armor, lying face down, dead or alive.

  The boys stood still and stared at him, unsure of how to deal with this unexpected situation.

  The officer moved slightly and a voice came from under his helmet.

  Xiao Qiu was the first to react, and he lunged forward, but as he raised his arm, he realized that he was still holding Fang Fang's hand. The two were tied together at the right arm, with Fang Fang standing behind him. Xiao Qiu opened his mouth to bite the knot, but it was tightly tied by the Xuanfu soldiers, and a teenager like him couldn't loosen it no matter how hard he tried.

  Daliang and Erlang, the two brothers, rushed up first, followed closely by Erzhuan and others. Several people worked together to subdue the officer, with some holding his legs and others pressing down on his body. Erlang quickly removed the officer's helmet.

  "Huh, it turns out you're also a half-grown kid."

  The last bit of awe for the officer had disappeared from the young men in the village, and they hastily stripped off the officer's black armor.

  With a loud whoop, he swiftly snatched the long sword from the officer's waist and pulled it out, admiring it carefully in the sunlight, showing off to his companions, and forgetting half of his fear of the snake demon.

  The young men gathered around to watch, the sword was three feet long, the blade was snow-white, and the body of the sword was black, forming a very striking contrast.

  "There's an inscription on top." said Da Liang Yan Xiao.

  As expected, there was a row of strange characters engraved on the black sword. The strokes were extremely fine and could hardly be seen unless they were exposed to sunlight. However, no one could recognize the specific content of the text.

  "Fang Fang is literate, let her take a look at what's written." Da Liang said.

  Two fists grasping swords, held horizontally in front of the waist.

  Fang Fang walked out from behind Autumn, looked down for a while and said softly: "I don't recognize it either, this might be a Fu Lu."

  The young men nodded as if they had realized something, "Then this sword must be very valuable." Er Bing's face lit up, "I've heard that even the most ordinary talismans written on paper can sell for over a dozen taels of silver. This sword is worth at least hundreds of taels."

  Over a hundred taels of silver is a huge fortune in the eyes of the young people in Yelin Town, almost enough to spend for a lifetime, so they praised and admired it, without even caring what the symbol was.

  "Move aside, I want to try out this sword. Xia Qiu, Fang Fang, you two stand back a bit, I'll cut the rope."

  The crowd immediately dispersed, and Xia Qiu and Fang Fang were still one in front of the other, pulling the rope that connected them as taut as possible.

  He raised his long sword high with both hands, and with a mighty slash, the rope snapped in two. He took a step forward, almost falling over, but he didn't care at all. "What a great sword! I didn't even feel any resistance from the rope."

  "There might be some good stuff on him." Da Liang pointed at the officer on the ground, this time he was the first to rush up and start searching carefully.

  Xiao Qiu regained his freedom and joined the other boys in searching for more loot, while Fang Fang stayed behind, patiently untying the knots on her wrists. Er Shuang didn't move, he was too busy admiring the long sword he had just obtained, nothing else mattered to him.

  In no time, the young men divided up the officer's equipment, helmets, black armor components, silk belts, leather pouches, and some small items hidden in their jackets, all of which had new owners.

  Erlang let out a cheer and found a set of fire starting equipment, delicate and compact, much better than what he had brought with him.

  Xiao Qiu was a step late, but her eyes were sharp and she actually found a dagger. The dagger looked very ordinary, with a wooden handle, but when it was pulled out of its scabbard, it dazzled everyone's eyes. On the blade, an oval-shaped red gemstone was inlaid, radiating light. Even someone who knew nothing about jewelry could tell that it was extremely valuable.

  Xiao Qiu opened the rope on her right wrist, then helped Fang Fang get rid of the rope. She was very happy because this dagger not only looked good but also very sharp.

  Bao'er was the only one who wasn't satisfied, he had only snatched a helmet and put it on his head, but ended up not being able to see anything. "The Xuán Fú army wears them just fine, why did I become blind?"

  Daliang held a stack of papers in his hand, about ten or more pages, flipping through them, "Is this a talisman? How much is it worth?"

  "Look at the strokes above, crooked and twisted, one glance and it's worthless, keep it to wipe your butt."

  It's a pity to give up something good, so I carefully hide it in my bosom.

  Everyone was admiring the good things they had grabbed, except for Fangfang, so she was the first to see the officer sit up.

  The officer was also a young man, looking not much older than Xia Qiu and the others. He had clear eyebrows and bright eyes, and his close-fitting clothes were finely woven and soft, something that even the wealthiest Shen family in Ye Lin Town could hardly afford a few sets of.

  His expression was no longer stern, but full of bewilderment. He looked down at his unarmored body with a furrowed brow, and suddenly sprang up and took off running.

  Fang Fang shouted out, the young men rushed up again, Xiao Qiu ran in the front, and pounced on the military officer, pressing him to the ground, shouting: "Bring the rope."

  The rope was still quite long, and Xia Qiu tied the officer's hands behind his back.

  The officer turned around, spat out the dry leaves in his mouth, and finally realized that he had not been swallowed into the belly of a snake demon, but had fallen into the hands of a group of poor kids. "Let me go," he commanded.

  Without the cover of his black armor, his voice immediately sounded childish and couldn't intimidate the young men of Wild Forest Town.

  "I declare that from now on you are our prisoner." Xia Qiu waved the dagger, "Tell me, what is a demon species? Why did that big snake come to the vicinity of Wild Forest Town?"

  "Do you know who I am?" The officer shook his body with force, his voice full of contempt and threat, without answering Xia Qiu's question.

  "You're an idiot." Xia Qiu grabbed the officer's collar, "And a coward, what about the other Xuanfu soldiers? The big snake? You're an officer, and you ran away with your tail between your legs?"

  The young officer's face changed suddenly, "Snake demon! The snake demon is right behind us, return my things quickly!"

  No one is willing to return the treasure they have obtained to its original owner. The people of Yelin Town are simple and honest, and in a few years, under the influence and teaching of their elders, the young people will also become law-abiding citizens. For now, they only follow the simplest rule: whoever grabs it first gets to keep it.

  "The Devil's Seed... The Devil's Seed is a terrible thing." The officer said, hoping to persuade the group of savage boys with fear, "As soon as you touch even a little bit of the Devil's Seed, beasts will immediately turn into monsters, humans... will lose their nature, become unfeeling, unable to feel pain, and can devour themselves..."

  The officer made an exaggerated expression, and the young men of Ye Lin Town were really frightened. As if to verify his words, a sound came from the top of the slope again. Soon, an empty black helmet rolled down, covered in blood inside and out.