Chapter Eleven: Night Ride

  The night is dark and obscure, the village is shrouded in mist, wailing sounds shake the sky.

  In a single battle during the day, nearly two thousand barbarians were killed, and at least half of the young men from three barbarian tribes were lost. However, the losses suffered by the village of Meng were also extremely severe. Although they were assisted by some lucky hunters who happened to be in the village for supplies, more than 700 villagers were still killed, with roughly equal numbers of men and women among them.

  Almost every household in Mengcun Village has someone killed by the wild man. Every family is mourning, and every household is crying. Tonight's Mengcun Village makes people feel chills all over their body.

  He sat on a branch of a big tree that slanted down to the river, his hands clasped together, gazing at the suspension bridge not far away. Several hunters were chopping wood with large axes, helping the villagers of Mengcun repair the arrow tower and suspension bridge that had been destroyed by bombing. They worked very efficiently, and the arrow tower that was bombed during the day had already been repaired to some extent.

  Meng Village is the only supply point for people entering and leaving the mountains within a radius of thousands of miles in Xiaoming Mountain. Whether it's to collect medicine, hunt, or like this team of professional hunters, who specialize in finding wild mountain men, they will all rest in Meng Village when entering or leaving the mountains, replenishing various supplies.

  So Mengcun got along extremely well with those medicine collectors, hunters and the like, while his relationship with those savage aborigines was strained to the extreme.

  In ordinary times, Meng Village would be harassed by those barbarians several times a year, but never once like today, three barbarian tribes joined forces to attack Meng Village. Especially that Bird Barbarian tribe, their tribe is at least 700 or 800 miles away from Meng Village, no one knows what madness they have caught, running so far to make things difficult for Meng Village.

  In short, the losses of Mangcun this time were too great. Even Doggie's father, who had brought back the sturdy man from the mountains and forests to Mangcun, died in the strange fireball launched by the leader of the wild people.

  She let out a soft sigh, raised her head to gaze at the starry sky, and murmured to herself: "Living isn't easy. But I have to keep trying to survive!"

  A strange, eerie laughter echoed from afar. Zhang Hu, the leader of the hunting savages, holding a massive nine-ring battle-axe, strode towards them with large steps, carrying a wine sack as big as two cow heads. He tossed it over to Wu Qi and said with a grin: "Brother Wu Qi is right, life is tough! But we're all big brothers, we've got to make a living somehow!"

  He caught a wineskin and, without asking, scrunched up his face and gulped down two mouthfuls of strong liquor.

  Spicy and pungent, the liquor has a very high degree of alcohol, but its taste is extremely bad. The liquor also contains unknown herbal extracts that have the effects of promoting blood circulation, dispelling coldness, and removing trace amounts of toxins, making it taste even more like poison.

  He took two mouthfuls of wine, and then tossed the wineskin back to Zhang Hu, who was standing under the tree. With a bitter smile, he asked: "Brother Zhang Hu, where are you from?"

  He picked up the wine pouch and took a swig, belched contentedly, and said with satisfaction: "Just came out of the mountain, ready to go back to Xiaomeng City for a carefree life. Brothers have been working hard in the mountains for half a year, this harvest is not bad."

  Heaving a sigh, Zhang Hu gazed at the distant Mong Village with its swaying lanterns and said with a bitter smile: "It's just that this time in Mong Village..."

  Don't beg or make a sound, just hold your arms and quietly listen to Zhang Hu's monologue.

  "But fortunately, the young whippersnappers are growing up quickly. Mong Village won't decline all at once. Alas, a few years ago we petitioned the City Guard to send a contingent of city guards to be stationed in Mong Village, but the City Guard refused!"

  Don't lower your head, quickly analyzing various intelligence information from Zhang Hu's words.

  In the distance, faint footsteps suddenly came, and Wú Qǐ sat in a high place, just in time to see a woman from the village, pulling a sturdy hunter's man secretly out of the village, into a thicket of weeds at the edge of the village. Before long, that patch of weeds began to sway rhythmically.

  Zhang Hu lowered his voice and burst out laughing.

  "Let's keep our voices down, brothers, so we don't disturb them."

  He gazed at the clump of grass, nodding thoughtfully. The woman he had seen earlier that day, her husband had died in the daytime battle, leaving behind a young daughter. Now she was sneaking out at midnight to collude with the hunting savages, probably for 'borrowing a womb'.

  These hunters are all robust and good men, their physical strength is much stronger than the villagers. If they can borrow a seed from them and give birth to a boy, they can also support the family and continue the incense of this family. The mountain people respect the strong, borrowing seeds from the hunters is better than finding targets in the village.

  He nodded slightly, and quietly slipped down from the tree branch to the ground, and sat down beside Zhang Hu, leaning against the trunk.

  "Zhang Hu big brother, I followed Master to learn the art for ten years. Now that I'm out on my first trip, I've encountered an unexpected event. I don't know how the world outside these mountains has changed?"

  Zhang Kou fabricated a false identity for himself and began to investigate the information outside the mountain forest. Meng Cun, he was not prepared to stay, the sky and earth here were too small, and there was no benefit to Wu Qi at all.

  Stealing the inner skills, taking the surplus of heaven and earth to make up for one's own deficiency. In this place of Mengcun, how many benefits can be given to Wuqiu? Even if all the underwear of men, women, old and young in Mengcun were taken away, it would not bring any benefit to Wuqiu. Only by leaving this mountain forest and going out into the outside world can there be more opportunities, and only then can Wuqiu become stronger.

  But what does the outside world look like? The people of Mong Village rarely go out, and when they do, they just take a stroll around Small Mong City and come back. They don't have any urgent need for various information from there.

  He gulped down two mouthfuls of strong liquor and smacked his lips.

  "What else can it be like? The great Yan dynasty, the overlord of all vassals, does not care about things below. Each vassal state beats each other, beating to a joyful frenzy. The big families and aristocratic clans of each vassal state scheme against each other, scheming to the point of life and death. The young masters in the family harm each other, mutually harming each other until it's chaotic!"

  With a disdainful curl of his lip, Zhang Hu sneered, "However, Xiaomeng City is located in a remote area, and there's still a steady income to be had!"

  He patted Wu Qi's shoulder and sighed, "Wu Qi brother, listen to my advice. Outside the mountain and inside the mountain are completely different. I was also ambitious in the past, striving for a prosperous future with all my heart, but after twenty years of hard work, I finally achieved something, only to be forced to flee to Xiaomeng City three years ago."

  "Alright, I'll listen to Big Brother Zhang Hu. If I can't make a living outside, I'll come back and follow you to hunt and live a savage life!"

  He snorted, shook his head in disbelief. Zhang Hu thought that Wu Qi was a rookie who had just come out of the mountain, eager to spread his wings and fly high, but he never considered whether he had the strength to fly in the outside world.

  This rookie was nothing new to Zhang Hu, who had seen many like him before.

  Shaking his head, Zhang Hu asked hesitantly: "Then I'll congratulate you in advance for everything going smoothly. However, Brother Wu Xie, today during the day I saw you kill so many Bird Barbarians, your cultivation is quite high, isn't it? You and your master, as well as your fellow disciples, how did you all get... Ah?"

  He didn't beg with his hands heavily hitting the ground. After a long time, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice: "I also didn't see clearly what it was, we were walking, just saw a flash of lightning, and fainted."

  Zhang Hu seemed to have thought of something and suddenly took a sharp breath.

  After a moment of silence, Zhang Hu sighed and said: "That was an unexpected disaster. All I can say is that you brothers have bad luck, running into the most unreasonable cultivator. You must have disturbed him, so he used his skills to kill you."

  Mo Qi nodded silently and didn't make a sound. He snatched Zhang Hu's wine pouch, and in one breath, he gulped down half of the strong liquor.

  Zhang Hu opened his mouth, wanting to persuade him a few words, but only shook his head and let out a heavy sigh.

  Two of us, one mouthful each, and in the blink of an eye, we finished off the strong liquor in the wine pouch. Fortunately, I had the protection of the Heavenly Water Spirit Orb on me, so when the liquor entered my belly, it was broken down into warm energy that circulated throughout my body, and I didn't feel even a bit drunk. On the other hand, Zhang Hu had already gotten seven or eight parts drunk, and he fell to the ground with his four limbs splayed out in all directions, suddenly bursting out laughing 'hahaha'.

  "Three years ago, I was General Zhang Hu, at the peak of my cultivation. But I unintentionally offended a cultivator from a wealthy family and was forced to abandon everything and flee to this desolate place, Xiaoming City, to eke out a living. Alas, fate is cruel, those cultivators, how did they become so powerful?"

  Don't beg him to concentrate and listen to Zhang Hu's self-pity, trying to get some more valuable information from his mouth. Suddenly, a dense hoofbeat came from the mountain forest on the other side of the river, and a row of torches formed a long snake that was slowly moving towards this side.

  The hunters at the bridgehead repairing the suspension bridge sounded an urgent alarm, and a large group of villagers with sorrowful faces rushed out from the village.

  Before long, a large cavalry appeared on the opposite bank. They were all dressed in black, with horses that seemed to be both horse and deer, but not quite either, their bodies covered in gold and blue patterns, majestic beyond compare. These mounts restlessly pawed at the ground with their hooves, striking sparks off the rocks as they did so.

  A low and powerful voice came from the other side of the river.

  "Where is Old He of the Mongolian village? We are the entire battalion of the Small Mong Castle Garrison, Tianzi Camp, and we have been ordered to station here in the Mongolian village!"

  Zhang Hu, who was slightly drunk, exclaimed in surprise: "Ah? That stingy city guardian, how can he afford to station the city guard army in Meng Village? Didn't he say that taxes were insufficient and couldn't bear the extra military expenses?"

  Shaking his head, Zhang Hu frowned and said: "Even if they want to station soldiers in Meng Village, can't they come during the day? Little Meng City is only 500 miles away from here, and swift cavalry can travel 2,000 miles a day. They could arrive at Meng Village within two hours, why rush overnight? It's as if... hmm!"

  Wu Qi asked in a low voice: "What's going on? Brother Zhang Hu?"

  Zhang Hu said in a low voice with a crooked mouth: "It seems like there is an official coming, and the city defense will send troops to make a show of it!"

  As the two of them whispered to each other, the suspension bridge slowly descended.

  The Xiaomeng City Garrison's third battalion had a full five hundred elite soldiers, each one of them over eight feet tall, with more robust and heroic spirit than the villagers of Meng Village. Moreover, their armor and military equipment were exceptionally fine, making Zhang Hu look at them with envy.

  A team of elite soldiers rode slowly into the village, and the villagers couldn't help but cheer, dissipating a lot of the sorrowful atmosphere that had originally shrouded the village.

  With the elite city guards of these 500 small Mongol cities stationed here, relying on the natural geographical advantages of Meng Village, unless more than 4,000 barbarians sacrifice their lives to launch a strong attack, Meng Village will be safe from now on.

  He nodded involuntarily, and with this cavalry troop stationed here, he could also leave Mengcun Village at ease.

  It's time to really enter this world.

  Comrades, vote! Wú Qǐ has finally officially entered this world! Uh, let's vote! Let the votes accompany Wú Qǐ in happy growth in this world!