Chapter 22 - Enemy
The magnificent red sun was setting in the west, dyeing the entire mountain range with a layer of bright red radiance. Under the twilight sun, it was tranquil and auspicious.
They were quickly approaching Stone Village. This area did not have many ferocious beasts, as it was situated within the outskirts of the mountain range. As a result, it was still fairly peaceful.
“We’re finally almost home.” The little guy was finally relieved and let out a long breath.
Peng
However, just at this moment, the Green Scaled Eagle swooped down, its wings tearing apart some of the nearby towering trees. It was becoming more and more exhausted, and its wounds continuously bled out black blood. It could no longer continue.
“Auntie, just hold on a bit more. We are almost home.” The little guy Shi Hao encouraged.
It released a loud cry. The Green Scaled Eagle was too exhausted to continue. Its huge body fell down, causing leaves to fly everywhere in disorder. After colliding into the ancient trees, many of them were destroyed.
Fortunately, it was able to glide down instead of dropping directly from the sky. Otherwise, if it fell from such a high altitude, broken bones and snapped muscles would have been inevitable.
With a loud rumble, the Suan Ni within the Green Scaled Eagle’s claws was the first one to hit the floor, directly causing the enormous rocks in the forest to be split apart. Afterwards, the huge body of the Green Scaled Eagle descended into a grassy field.
The little guy who carried the scarlet horn also tumbled down. Fortunately, his body was light and healthy, and because he abandoned the several meter long horn as he fell, he didn't get injured.
“Auntie, nothing bad happened, right?” Shi Hao quickly got up and ran towards where the Green Scaled Eagle was.
The archaic devil bird descendant’s situation was terrible. From its wounds dripped an inky blood that emitted a fishy smell. Its entire body lacked strength, so getting back on its feet was difficult.
The Green Scaled Eagle cried towards the sky. Its voice was resounding as it penetrated metal and split rocks open. It even shook the little guy Shi Hao so much that his eardrums started hurting, forcing him to quickly cover his ears. The surrounding leaves fell in a disorderly fashion.
“Right, auntie, if you’re in pain, just use all your strength to cry out. We aren't too far from Stone Village already, so Big Peng, Little Green and the others will definitely hear your cries. They will definitely bring the village chief over and rescue us."
The little guy was talking while running towards that fiery red horn. He chopped off a piece of the flesh attached to it and delivered it to the Green Scaled Eagle’s beak “Auntie, I heard that these rhinoceros' horns have the ability to cure poison. This is a horn of an Archaic Descendant, and even though it belonged to a cow, it should still have some effect.
He fed the Green Scaled Eagle and helped it close its beak. Only now did this vicious bird view him with a gentle gaze, as if he was its own child. The archaic devil bird’s descendants had extremely high intelligence.
“Auntie, you must hold on! Grandpa chief and the others will be here soon.”
Time passed by slowly, and the sound of beasts roaring could be heard from afar. The little guy began to worry because he did not know if the people of Stone Village heard the cries of the Green Scaled Eagle.
If he went back by himself, there was a chance that some fierce beast might come. Given the Green Scaled Eagle's current condition, it would undoubtedly die, because there was no way it could retaliate.
“Even if they did not hear it, Grandpa Chief will definitely have sent out people to look for us. Auntie, please wait patiently and hold on. Everything will be okay.” The little guy used his youthful and tender voice to give it encouragement.
The muffled howls of beasts seemed to be gradually getting closer from the distance. The setting sun was about to disappear, and the sky was starting to darken. This part of the forest seemed especially ghastly and terrifying.
“Auntie, drink some precious blood again.” The little guy cupped his hands again, delivering it a piece of the Mythical Flaming Devil Bull's meat.
Suddenly, the hair on the little guy’s back stood up. He quickly stepped to the side, causing an ice cold iron arrow to scrape past his throat. It entered a mountain rock with a boom sound before ringing with a metallic sound.
Only at this moment did the sonic boom pass by. The speed of the iron arrow was too fast, much faster than the speed of sound. Its strength was too shocking! If the little guy reacted even slightly slower, the arrow would have penetrated his throat.
A streak of cold light flashed through, and a second iron arrow was shot. The little guy dodged.
Pu. Blood splashed out. That piece of meat that he originally wanted to feed the Green Scaled Eagle was penetrated.
“Too wasteful. Why are you doing all this for a vicious bird that’s about to die? You might as well give it to me.” A rough male voice sounded.
“It’s you guys?!” The little guy was shocked and angry. After seeing the Wolf Village's people, he noticed that the person who shot the arrows was their hunting squad’s captain. He was extremely tall, with a height of over two meters. His muscles were sturdy as they coiled around him like a snake.
During the last four weeks, there were barely any signs of them. Now, over twenty of them appeared. Each one held a strong bow, and all the arrows were aimed at him.
The little guy was furious. His eyes wide open as he said, “Last time, our Stone Village let you guys go, and you guys even established a blood pledge. Now you want to kill me… you….”
“Truly a cute child, is an oath worth more than that Suan Ni’s rare and precious body? More than that archaic descendant’s precious scarlet horn?” A middle-aged man from the Wolf Village sneered.
Chi
A silver white sheen shot out in all four directions. The little guy no longer exchanged words and moved his hands, forming a dazzling moon. Its radiance scattered down, as if a divine moon had descended from the nine heavens.
With the moon in hand, he rushed towards those people. Since they weren't going to listen to reason, he could only fight. Even though he was still a small child, he often heard the adults talk about the countless cruelties and horrors they experienced while facing vicious beasts in the great wastelands.
Right now, the little guy treated these people like fierce beasts, no longer viewing them as people of the same species. He rapidly advanced with the intention of fighting them and protecting Aunt Green Scaled Eagle.
Because in his heart, this group of people were far from as kind as the ordinarily vicious Green Scaled Eagle. He would never sympathize with them again.
Whoosh Whoosh…
These iron arrows flew towards him as concentrated as rain. Each shot had a thousand jin of force behind it, and they were incomparably frightening. Even huge beasts would die from a single shot.
All of these people simultaneously shot at such a young child in a cold-blooded and ruthless manner. They showed no mercy, only cold and cruel smiles.
Dang
The silver moon rotated, knocking down a row of iron arrows. Gebeng gebeng sounds rang out. Even if they were iron poles, they still wouldn’t be able to bear the attack. They were thoroughly split in half.
“Don’t underestimate him. Even though he’s still a child, he has a precious artifact on him. He is quite strong. Work together to shoot him down!” A sturdy and built man loudly roared.
Wu…
The silver moon whizzed past and rotated around the forest. That man who was just shouting was directly hacked in the shoulders, dismembering his arm. Fresh blood spouted out, and with a blood-curdling scream, he fell onto the floor.
“Such a powerful child! Quickly retreat and throw the iron spears!”
Wolf Village hunting squad’s captain loudly shouted out. He scattered his men and reatreated towards the back. They began to utilize even more force to throw their spears, and their spears were even more fearsome than their arrows.
Wuwu…
One spear pole after another emitted cold light as they ripped through the air. Each pole, roughly two meters long and ten jin in weight, could easily penetrate the skin of a fire rhinoceros as they whistled straight ahead.
Dang, dang…
The little guy used his silver moon to intercept the attacks, snapping one pole after another. An ear-splitting clanking sound was emitted as sparks flew everywhere; the situation was dire.
“Kill!”
Little Shi Hao’s eyes immediately straightened out. Although he was kind-hearted and honest, he was not weak. If others wanted to kill him like this, he naturally had to retaliate and defend himself.
Weng
The silver moon shuddered, and he hurriedly advanced with all his strength. Using his precious moon to block the arrows, he ran ten meters forward before striking with all his might. A snow white light flashed past, and in front of him, blood-curdling screams rang out. Five or six people’s arms were cut off and blood splashed high into the air.
A few iron spears flew passed the little guy’s body, barely scraping him and piercing his clothes. However, he simply ignored it, and with all his might, he activated a second disked silver moon. An ancient tree appeared on it, and it flickered magnificently as it sprinkled down some of its brilliance, making the moon appear even more splendid.
Pu
This time, the silver moon flew over ten meters, almost splitting the Wolf Village’s hunting squad captain as well as a few others in front of him in half. They were all seriously injured, and their captain’s stomach was cut open, causing his intestines to almost spill out.
“Go!”
The captain shouted with all his might. After giving this command, his complexion paled and he started to sweat profusely. A group of people shouted before quickly gathering the injured and retreating into the forest.
“This child is very odd, he’s too strong. However, we already sent a message back. The chief and the others are not too far away, so they should be rushing here quickly!”
“Auntie Green, you’re fine right?” The little guy ran back. After seeing the Green Scaled Eagle pierced by an iron spear and a few iron arrows, he was so heartbroken that tears almost flowed out.
The Green Scaled Eagle had a gentle expression on its face. It lightly shook its head and didn’t let out any sounds. It was very quiet.
“Auntie, I’m really useless aren’t I? After everything they had done, I wasn't able to kill a single person. I was only able to injure their shoulders and arms.” The little guy wept and blamed himself.
He was only a child in the end. Even though he matured early, he could not viciously massacre and spill blood like an adult. Even though he attacked, his heart and hands were still trembling.
However, there were those who were injured to the point of completely losing their fighting strength and could never be considered a threat again. Most of them lost their shoulders and arms and were destined to become crippled for life.
Roughly ten li away, Wolf Village quickly assembled. They charged towards this direction, and among them was a youth on a stretcher who was half sitting and half lying. His expression was pale and his eyes were ice-cold. In his palm was a beast teeth bracelet.
An elderly person lightly spoke. “He is actually this strong, capable of wounding over ten of our clansmen. Don’t fear, this time we’ll use the precious artifacts granted to us by our guardian spirit. Let's see if he can still create trouble then!”
“The Suan Ni’s precious body is right there, and the guardian spirit will personally come,” another elder said.
Several li away, a group of people from Stone Village also moved out like fierce tigers, rushing towards the part of the mountain forest where the little guy was at. Taking the helm of this expedition were the three hatchlings, Purple Cloud, Big Peng and Little Green. They were anxiously fluttering their wings.