With the wind whistling in their ears, most of the people were still standing still, not knowing what to do for a while. Even the orc troops, under the shock of that big explosion just now, all of them stopped in their tracks, forgetting to continue their attack.
In this situation, whichever side came back to their senses first would take advantage, and I, who stood over there and shouted, would only be taken advantage of by someone else.
“Wow…”
Painful grunt, I was a tiger orc heavy claw hit on the shoulder, immediately half of the body is sore, if it is not the clothes to wear thick enough, the beast king fist internal strength slightly play protective effect, certainly even the bones are broken.
“Fuck you, sneaking up on me!” Hyakki-maru turned back and cut the orc off at the waist, spraying blood all over my head and face in disgust.
Apart from my side, the surrounding area has also resumed its commotion. Luckily, the Feathered Clan’s reaction was relatively quick, and that big explosion just now had created a gap in the orc force that had already been in a closed circle, allowing us to escape by doing so.
In the hearts of the feathered people, they must be wondering why I don’t use beast magic to fight, but only I myself know the difficulties. Water and fire magic spider is certainly powerful, but for me this power is not enough, not enough ability to drive the third-rate magician, use once, after a long time to get back to the air, used in the dueling arena to fight a fight can be, in the number of thousands of enemies in this kind of group fight, even if I use the magic spider to flatten a few hundred enemies, they are also tired even the strength to escape, when the enemy again, I will not only be the part of the knife split into corpses.
I am not Fang Qingshu, if I have to make such a sacrifice, I definitely won’t do it. Just now, I had once criticised Katrina, when it comes to making a decision, now naturally I won’t make this kind of mistake, just that, before pulling my feet out and running wildly, I still couldn’t help but look in the direction of Skyeva Song House City.
Asuka, I hope you’re okay ……
It’s not something I can interfere with anymore. I cared about Asuka and hoped that both she and Violet were safe in that explosion, but to confirm that, I would have to kill them over there, and if I did, I would be dead first, whether I could find them or not.
Concentrating my full strength, I charged towards the west. Under Katrina’s command, the people of the Feather Clan also began to break out, taking advantage of the fact that the enemy’s formation had not yet been made up to grasp the last chance to escape, hoping that after breaking away from the enemy’s encirclement, they would still be able to coalesce again and revitalise the Feather Clan.
Feather tribe female warriors have wings, but escape, do not necessarily take advantage of, because the beasts and they have been fighting for a long time, has long been on their flight advantage of some defence, they fly up, the beasts will use a short crossbow, in the crossbow arrow into the wing of the moment, the reaction to the feathers, the whole crossbow arrow into a green maggot, drilling into the bone marrow of the feathers, so that they fell to the ground in pain and become a captive.
As a result, the first batch of female warriors of the Feather Clan who were able to escape quickly were those who were strong enough to force their way out. In the chaos, everyone was quickly dispersed, each fleeing in a different direction.
I soldiered on, charging straight towards the west, defying all odds, and I don’t know how many times I hovered between life and death in between, and how on earth I managed to kill my way out of there, even I don’t have a memory of it.
If I said that when our situation was critical, I refused to wish for Phineas to come out and help because I was concerned about the cost of making a wish, then now it was because my mind was in such turmoil that I had completely forgotten about the existence of this matter.
At last, when I came to my senses, I was tumbling down a hill, my body stained with blood, and nowhere in pain, and my right hand, which was holding the Hyakki-maru, was so tired that I could scarcely lift it.
It was probably safe for the time being, because apart from the woods around, there was no sign of half of the enemy or our people existing. Up above, the sound of killing still shook the sky, the smoke of beacons rose straight up, and from time to time, one could see the female warriors of the Feather Clan in flight, like kites with broken strings, falling down from the sky.
Looking upwards, my heart was full of emotions. I have nothing to do with the Feather Clan, and would not have come here at all if I hadn’t been commissioned by the Dragon Lady’s sister, but at least in the beginning, I did hope to help the Feather Clan and avoid the calamity this time around, and also kind of believed that we could do it.
However, it turns out that I was too naive. Even though we have experts like Fang Qingshu and Nei Hong on our side, a barrier like the Skaiwa Golou City, and the Feathered Clan is said to be united as one, the overall situation is just too unfavourable for us, we tried and did our best, but in the end, it still came to an end with the city falling apart.
The past ten days or so seem like a dream when I think about it, and no matter how I remember it, it still feels really…
“Forget it, there’s no time to think.”
I shook my head, I don’t want to think about how to explain to the Dragon Lady sister, at the moment I am not out of danger, this whole area is still surrounded by the Zoroastrianism, when the absolute advantage of the war is achieved, they will begin to sweep away the remnants of the enemy in the nearby mountainous areas, at that time, I will definitely have no place to hide.
To stay alive, I have to find a way to escape from their encircled area. Last time I entered this place, I had the help of Neon, Asuka, and Violet, but this time, all I can rely on is my own hands.
Now, I am slowly beginning to appreciate the desolate feeling of a man with a sword and a lonely horse in a heroic novel.
“Which way is the better way to go…”
In the end is the military origin, I did not panic off the hands and feet, calmly choose the way out. After research and judgement, I walked down from the west side of the extended slope, scurrying high and low along the way, in order not to be discovered by others as a major principle.
The escape went well, but halfway there I suddenly heard a grunting groan of pain and, curious, moved over to have a look.
“Uncle? Is that you?”
I never thought that I would run into Mao Yanan in such a situation, I was extremely surprised. He was sitting in the grass, covered in blood, holding his left leg with both hands and grunting as if he was in pain.
“Big nephew, it’s you, ah, aiya, I’m really happy to see you, just now all of a sudden ran too fast, rolled down from the mountain, the left leg seems to be fractured, fortunately met you, otherwise it’s really dead.”
When he saw me, Mao Yan’an seemed to be very happy, and waved his hand again and called, only he dared not make too much noise for fear of being discovered.
I approached and found that the blood stains on his shirt smelled very fishy, but there was no breakage, mostly smeared with blood from the orc corpses, what the intention was was unknown, but his left leg was indeed dripping with blood, and his injury was so severe that it was difficult to move.
“How did you get here? Uncle, I thought you’d already skipped off alone first.”
Ever since we used to tease each other with “In every hero’s adventure story, there must be an uncle beside the protagonist who helps to take the arrows”, I used to call him this way, of course, there is no respect in it, it is just that we are used to each other’s name and find it amusing.
“Aiya, I couldn’t slip away, there were so many beastmen up there, and there were beast devils searching nearby, I couldn’t run out at all. After running in a hurry, I accidentally fell and rolled here, even breaking my leg.”
“I’m curious, you’re a travelling painter and your martial arts are not good, how come you’re the only one who can run here when so many people with higher martial arts than you can’t escape?”
This point is really strange, because even I was killed to the verge of gasping for breath and collapsed to death, only with great difficulty to break out here, although Mao Yanan ran earlier than us, but according to reason, he should also be trapped in the siege, it is impossible to break through the heavy blockade of the beasts, and break away from the battlefield.
Mao Yanan had an expression of not wanting to tell the truth, but under my coercion, he still told the secret.
“Honestly, I’m not good at martial arts and I don’t know magic, so the only reason I’ve been able to fulfil my dangers for so many years is because of this hat.”
Mao Yanan took out a hat from the leather pouch at his waist, the texture is strange, surprisingly, it is made of polished stone, but it is light and soft, and it can also be folded, I have never seen such a strange stone in my life.
“This is an exotic treasure that I acquired by chance when I was a teenager on an island in the Eastern Sea, called the Stone Hat. Wearing this on your head, although you can’t be invisible, those around you who see you will treat you as one of their own kind, or treat you as an inconspicuous thing that ignores you. I have travelled through battlefields and various dangerous places for so many years, relying on this stone hat.”
Mao Yanan explained in a low voice, although this stone hat is very useful, but it is limited in the southern barbarians. The sense of smell of those orcs is extremely smart, even though it can confuse their vision and make them think that people are of the same kind, but when they smell it at close range, it will immediately appear to be broken, so he had to dip some blood from the orc corpses and smear it on his body carelessly to hide the odour.
“But it doesn’t work every time, the blood dries up and has to be reapplied, once I accidentally wiped it on a feathered chick’s, and a bunch of orcs chased after me, it was a close call ……”
There is actually such an exotic treasure for escaping, I can’t help but listen to it with both eyes glowing. In this kind of life and death situation, if I take this treasure for my own use, then am I not ……
“Wait, Uncle, even though this is the first time I’ve seen this, but… why does the name Stone Hat sound familiar to me? What was next to this stone hat when you got it?”
“Oh, when you ask me that, I remember. There’s quite a lot of stuff next to it, but other than this hat, the rest of the stuff is broken, let’s see… there’s a couple of bamboo dragonflies, a magical tablecloth that turns into a gourmet meal, a broken door panel that won’t open, and a broken glass case with the words phone booth written on it that I don’t know what it’s for.”
“So exaggerated? Uncle, who the hell are you?”
“Well, when I first discovered the ruins, the locals honoured me by calling me Doraemon.”
“What do you mean?”
“…… Tinkerbell.”
※※
Mao Yanan is a man who knows the time, even if there is a treasure like the stone hat, he, a man who broke his left leg, cannot run out of the orc encirclement net, so we finally reached an agreement that I will help him to escape from this place, and when it is done, the stone hat will be in my possession.
“Sounds smooth, but there’s one big break.”
Now there are no orcs around, I can’t find any animal blood to smear my whole body, and if I give an orc a sniff and find out that I don’t smell right, what’s the use of taking this stone hat?
“No one else can do it, but you, Young Master Farrell, are a million times better.” Revealing a treacherous smile, Mao Yanan said, “Don’t you know how to use the Beast King Fist? I saw you use it the other day, the authentic Beast King’s Fist, when you use it, not only are your limbs animalistic, but it also emits a strong fishy smell. Combined with this stone hat, it’s just enough to fool those stupid orcs, but I’m curious, where exactly did you learn your Beast King’s Fist from? We travelled all the way together, but I haven’t seen you use it before.”
Asking any further questions would have revealed the truth, I stammered and agreed to run with him on my back. But despite being able to hide from the orcs, it was still quite difficult to escape the encirclement net with someone.
“It is not necessary to run completely out of the encircling net, just run to the bank of the creek at the foot of the mountain to the north, I have found a secret cave beside the three willows over there, it is very private, outsiders can’t find it, the two of us will hide there for a little while, and I have dry rations, so that as soon as the enemy encircling net is slackened, the two of us can escape together.”
“A secret cave? When did you find it? You’ve been with us for the past few days, huh?”
“Do you think it is the first time that the city of Skiva Golgotha has been besieged? I’ve travelled all over the Pile, and I know exactly where there are secret places where I can hide, and if it weren’t for that, how would I have dared to come?”
“Wait, Uncle, if we go with your plan and I put the stone hat on my head and run away with you on my back, I’m safe, but when the beasts see you, then how are we going to explain?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve come up with a brilliant plan.”
Mao Yanan confidently patted his chest, followed by taking out a dagger from the leather pouch on his waist, it was the same telescopic dagger that he had brought with him when Asuka and I first entered Piao Li and reunited with him, as long as the tip is touched, the dagger will shrink back, and the blood bag hidden inside the handle will also spurt out blood, which is very realistic.
“It’s the same guy I use to make a living, besides bluffing, I can also use it as paint when I paint, cool, right?”
“I’m convinced, just tell me how to use it quickly.”
“It’s simple, if we run into orcs, don’t wait for them to get close, just put me down, stab me with this dagger and pretend you’re fighting to kill the enemy, if they ask you if you need help, just say, the strong are against the heavens, and the ones who ask for help are the rats, and they won’t come over.”
“What does stabbing someone with a dagger have to do with being rebellious or not?”
“Don’t you care so much, you’re in a pi, those guys are orcs, it’s useless for you to care about that.”
There was no other way out. I had to follow the plan.
Mao Yanan’s plan is really good, and this stone hat seems to be really effective, I use this method to break through several levels, every time I see the orc patrolmen, I will throw Mao Yanan down, take out that telescopic dagger from his waist, stabbing eighteen times to him, those orcs see me so desperate, and also respect my wugu very much, do not come over to intervene.
In this way we passed several passes in a row, and halfway through the journey, we encountered another group of orcs. This time, we found out too late, until we were alarmed, the other party had already come extremely close to the place, I just dropped Maoyanan to the ground, they also saw us, yelling and running over.
“The dagger…where’s the dagger?”
“You didn’t put it back after you used it just now? It’s broken and I don’t know whether to put it on the left or the right side of the pouch?”
In his busyness, the dagger did not know where to put it, Mao Yan’an urgently looked for it from the left side of the skin bag, but could not find it for a while. I also anxious, to his other side of the skin bag to find, and got the dagger.
“Ha! You bloody human!”
I’ve done it a few times before, so I’m sure I’ll be able to do it this time. I put on a fierce look, the dagger in my hand stabbed and stabbed at Mao Yanan’s body, the fake blood inside sprayed randomly, and Mao Yanan also put on a very painful look, grunting and screaming.
“Wow! Nice work this brother, want us to help?”
“No need! Heroes and heroines, life and death duels, those who want help are dog breeds.”
“Good! Surely a true tough guy, brother you continue, may the heart of the strong be with you.”
That team of orcs together gave me a hugging gesture and turned around to leave, going to look for other targets, and as they walked away, they also praised me, saying how heroic this brother was, slaughtering that human like a pig, and listening to that human’s screams, they knew that their hands must have been very poisonous. And I didn’t dare to stop moving until they had gone far away, and helped Mao Yan’an up.
“Uncle, your acting skills are really something, this time it’s just too much pretence and screaming, those orcs were all bluffed away by you.”
Mao Yan’an didn’t respond to my compliments, but only tightly grasped my lapel, his eyes opened like a pair of dead fish eyes, pale and dead staring at me, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but overflow with blood froth.
“Uncle, what are you doing? The orcs are gone, you don’t have to keep pretending…”
The sound of my words stopped after I saw the other dagger held in Mao Yan’an’s hand. The look of that dagger was clearly that telescopic dagger, so the one I was currently holding in my hand…
“Uncle? Are you alright? The dagger is yours, and you thought of the solution, you wouldn’t be so funny as to just warp away, would you?”
To have no matter is impossible, just now the dozen jabs knife to the flesh, has long poked a bunch of holes in his chest and abdominal area, the berth outflow of a large amount of blood is the evidence.
I threw away the dagger and grabbed Mao Yan’an’s lapel, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say. In the end, it was he who patted me feebly on the shoulder, barely opening the slits in his eyes, and said in an inaudible manner, “I… have been lying to people all my life… never thought… never thought that I would be lying to my own death… hahaha… Hahaha…”
The laughter stopped, and the palm of his hand on my shoulder slid down silently. Uncle just like this closed his eyes, face still maintains that seemingly mocking, seemingly helpless smile, while I was dumbfounded sitting on my knees in front of him, looking at the gradually cold human body in front of me, incredulous that such a strange man, so absurdly died under his own scheme.
※※
Uncle is dead.
Even now, I still find the whole thing surreal.
Ever since we met, I have always admired this uncle in my heart. He moves smoothly between the major powers, no matter who he meets, he seems to be very comfortable, he is flexible in his approach to the world, he smiles at everything, he is not obnoxious, and he is multi-talented, travelling with people like him is really enjoyable.
In a way, it’s hard for me to even believe that there are such interesting middle-aged people in the world, because most of the old middle-aged men I’ve met before have been cold and inhuman like my perverted dad.
Such an older man died!
I stayed for a long time before finally burying my uncle. It was too urgent and too late to help him dig any grave, so I picked up some branches and stones from everywhere and piled them on top of him, bowed to him a few times, and then started to run for my life.
The two leather pouches on his waist, and the dried food inside, I took them by the way, I had wanted to go and feel in his arms to see if there was anything good left, but Uncle is such a sinister person, in case he has put some poisonous insects and poisonous things, wouldn’t it be a good misfortune for me? So I had to give up.
Continue my escape. Less uncle, the footsteps become faster, of course it is much easier to escape, and relying on the cover of the stone hat, as long as the orcs do not get close enough to smell me, it will not be a problem.
It wasn’t long before I found the creek, and I was having a headache about where to find the three willows so that I could find the hidden cave, when suddenly there was a lot of noise in front of me, and it looked as if someone was fighting over there.
It’s certainly not a good idea to be nosy right now, but it suddenly occurred to me that the person who could break into such an outer perimeter must not be weak, could it be Asuka and Violet?
As soon as I thought of this, I crept closer over to make sure who was actually there.
(That’s…)
I was surprised, but not by seeing Asuka and Violet. Rather, it was the sight of a group of orc soldiers chasing two people and beating them hard, and those two people, were Katrina and Featherhong.
Roughly look, two people are sideburns messy hair, covered with blood stains, can imagine before arriving here, exactly what kind of fierce battle experienced. The Neko sisters have always been inseparable from each other, and now that only one of them is visible, I wonder what happened to Fei Neko, I hope she’s not dead…
The battle was quite fierce, more than twenty orcs surrounded the two of them and attacked. The leader of the tiger orcs do not know what identity, the fifth level of power under the use of a pair of tiger claws even more severe, will be Katrina, Fei Ni two people forced not to fight, the rest of the orcs to help swing a hammer to block the way back, or take advantage of the two girls back, in their back smashed a hit, if not because the enemy to catch the live one, the two women would have been killed.
In terms of strength, Fei Hong, Katrina have the strength of the fifth level, but that is the time to summon a beast demon to protect the body, now injured and tired, no time to summon a beast demon, naturally, not a rival, it seems that not long after, the two of them will be defeated and captured.
It’s okay to stand by and watch, but at this time, having one more companion and adding a safety zone is always a bit of an advantage when fleeing for one’s life. What’s more, when a beautiful woman is in distress, it would be a son of a bitch not to take advantage of a bargain…
I put my stone hat back on, activated my Beast King’s Fist, and slowly walked over. When the beasts saw me, they were unimpressed, allowing me to drive by their camp and approach to the back of that Tiger Clan expert.
I don’t know what I look like at the moment in the eyes of Feeney and Katrina, but from the way they’re turning a blind eye, I probably have a good idea in my mind, and without saying a word, I assume a position to make a surprise attack.
“Hurry up and surrender, because you two are pretty, we can fuck you a few times less tonight, but not tomorrow, haha~~”
Too confident, that Tiger Clan expert spoke lightly, only to make Fei Hong and Katrina’s faces pale, but the loud laughter turned sharply into miserable cries.
I use the adamantine ape arm to increase the force, Hyakki-maru a sword to intercept the waist, immediately cut him into two, but this guy is considered awesome, the body is broken into two, the upper half of the body is still on the verge of dying a blow, almost hit my foot with a tiger claw, but fortunately, Feather Rainbow in time with a Thunder Feather Star Yagyu, to break his head.
Once the leader died, the remaining orcs were very flustered, and were swung by my fast sword, taking the opportunity to finish off quite a few of them. Feather Rainbow and Katrina were of course not idle, under the combined efforts of the three of them, none of the nearby orcs were spared, and all of them were wiped out.
I took off the stone hat and told them about the state of affairs, but concealed the part about Mao Yan’an having passed away, saying only that he had been righteous, and had taken the other stone hat and run in the other direction to help us draw away the enemy. Followed, the three of us will be together to find the secret cave location.
As we walked, I asked the girls about why they got into this mess. Feather Rainbow replied to me that after being blasted down by that blazing sub-dragon, she and Feather Nee were surrounded by a large number of orcs, and were soon separated from her sister, trying to kill their way out on their own. While breaking away from the battlefield, they met Katrina and fought alongside her, charging as they flew, and managed to reach this side, but both of them were wounded by the enemy’s arrows on their feathered wings, fortunately they were both able to inhibit the disappearance of the wings on their backs, or else the excruciating pain of the feathered wing wounds alone would have been enough to cause them to break down and be unable to move on the spot.
Katrina was fine, Feather Rainbow’s side was worse, the cut from Ghostly Eve made it almost difficult for her to walk in pain, and she could only rely on Katrina’s support as she hopped along with a limp, and although I tried to help, I was glared back at with a blank stare.
From their mouths, I learnt one more thing. The reason why quite a few of the Feathered Clan members within the city of Skaiwa Golou escaped with their lives this time was still because of Asuka.
When a large number of orcs pushed down the city, the blazing sub-dragon swept in all directions, and the feather tribe was struggling to cope with it, she took the initiative to propose that she go to pull the enemy’s main force to create a chance for everyone to escape. This proposal was rightfully passed, but in order to be able to give the Blazing Aaron a blow, need a certain amount of weaponry, otherwise unusual swords and knives have not yet cut into, melted into scrap metal, Asuka thought to take the big day mirror out of the smash, anyway, originally is a waste of iron things, more than a few times to melt is not afraid of, as for the later will be that kind of explosion, then it is something that everyone did not think of.
In the middle of the conversation, we had already found the three willow trees, and also saw the secret cave, and at a glance, I couldn’t help but cry out in my heart.
That bastard Mao Yan’an, in the first place, must have intended that after tricking me into coming here, he would hide in there all by himself and tell me to continue to run for my life with a stone hat.
This is not a cave at all, but a crypt between three willow trees, the location is really hidden, dark and wet, surrounded by moss and fungus, once covered with some weeds and branches, even if the orc’s nose is smart, it can’t smell anything. However, this crypt has a big problem…only enough for one person to squat and lie on his side.
With one person hiding in the crypt, one escapes with a stone cap, and the other can start praying for the next life. This kind of scene, where one person is bound to be sacrificed, is always a crucial moment in the test of humanity, but when two of the three are on their own, the remaining one feels sad.
Maybe it’s just me, but I really feel that Fei Hong’s eyes seem to be accusing me, why don’t you hurry up and sacrifice yourself voluntarily? It’s really funny, what’s in it for me to voluntarily sacrifice, will you let me fuck you once?
Fires often break out when there is a lack of water, and a leaky house always comes with the rain of the night, just as it is the same when we are at an impasse and we hear a large group of orc footsteps running this way.
“You?”
Just as I was about to make a sneak attack, Feather Rainbow glared angrily in my direction, but before she could even finish a sentence, she fainted and collapsed, revealing the man behind her who had knocked her out with a hand slash.
“You?”
I was puzzled for a moment, but Katrina smiled and shook her hand at me, asking for my help in putting Feather Rainbow in the crypt together.
The unconscious Feather Rainbow was not at all as aggressive as she usually is, instead she was a very delicate and cute young girl like when I first saw her.
“This child is still young…she is the future hope of the Feather Clan, as long as she can get out of danger safely and meet up with the others in the future, she will be able to revive the Feather Clan after all.”
Katrina also let go of her usual majesty, her expression was gentle, as if she was looking at a newborn baby, gently stroking Featherhong’s hair, curling her up and lowering her into the crypt, and covering her closely with weeds to make sure that she wouldn’t be discovered.
“Is that good, Clan Lord?” Probably guessing backwards at Katrina’s thoughts, I was quite a bit taken by surprise.
“There is no need to call me Clan Lord. Lou Cheng has been broken, the Feather Clan has already fallen once again, as to whether or not there will be a day when it will be able to stand up again, it’s not something I can foresee.” Katrina said, “However, no matter what, we must preserve the lifeline for the Feather Clan so that we can put our hopes in the future.”
Before, I saw Katrina as mediocre, her strength was not outstanding, and her insights were not brilliant, so I looked down on her as a bullshit clan leader, but now that I heard her say this, I can’t help but respect her again. But respect to respect, if you want me to give her the chance to escape, that is absolutely not do.
“You’re not a Feather Clan member, I’m already grateful for being able to help out here, and I apologise for the humiliation you and your companions have suffered.” Katrina bowed to me and said, “I will charge to the east, take advantage of the time I draw away the beastmen, you can escape, with Mr Mao’s exotic treasure, I believe you can get out of this safely.”
“The Fire Worshippers are surrounded on all sides, can you run away alone?”
Katrina smiled a little grimly, “Ninety percent of it won’t get away, but since I’m the clan leader, my last task is to sacrifice myself so that the young in the nest will be given a new lease of life, just like my mother did to me when the Feather Clan fell…”
Hearing her say that, an idea suddenly flashed through my mind. At this time, the sound of the orcs’ pace is getting closer and closer, the large group is about to kill, Katrina is also ready to run, I called out to her.
“Clan Lord.”
“What is it?”
Without waiting for her to finish, I struck her in the small of the back with a heavy punch. Due to the force of the blow and her lack of defence, she only let out a muffled grunt before collapsing, her eyes staring over in a mixture of shock and anger.
“Hey! Brothers over there come over quickly! I’ve captured the Feather Clan Chief!”