’Where are these people trying to take ?’
They dared to risk their lives kidnapping a "cub" from the Royal City, and they specifically chose the two days Ze Sheng was away. They must have planned this for a long ti. This couldn’t be a simple kidnapping for the sake of selling off.
There had to be a powerful and wealthy benefactor behind them.
Wamiya wasn’t in a hurry to escape. She wanted to see who this so-called "benefactor" was.
’Could it be... an enemy of Ze Sheng’s, trying to use to threaten him?’
...
The new group they had joined appeared to be a rchant caravan from so city.
Many Beastn carried packs of all sizes on their shoulders, followed by a dozen fully-loaded pushcarts. The procession of several hundred people filed out of Rose City in a grand column, heading toward the dense, primordial Anor Forest before them.
The rainy season had just ended, so the ground was still damp. A pleasant scent of moist earth and fresh vegetation filled the air.
Puddles of various sizes reflected the passing crowd, churned into mud by countless feet. Every so often, fat droplets of water would roll off the leaves overhead and splash down.
About halfway through their journey, a leopard cat Beastman with keen hearing suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Did you guys hear sothing?" he asked, his voice urgent.
"Hear what? You must be hearing things," a Beastman beside him said, clapping him on the shoulder with a reassuring smile. "We have two Eighth Rank Beastn in our group. Even the fiercest wild beasts would take a detour if they saw us."
"You’re right."
The leopard cat Beastman nodded and said no more.
He had only taken two more steps when a deafening RUMBLE shook the very ground. Many of the weaker Beastn stumbled and fell in a panic, and the carts and their cargo toppled over in disarray.
A terrifying aura silently spread through the surroundings.
Countless pairs of crimson eyes erged from the gloomy forest. They had been following, lying in ambush, for a long ti.
"It’s Demon Beasts!"
Soone in the crowd yelled.
Demon Beasts were the most dangerous existence in this world, bar none. In the past decade, they had attacked tribes and cities countless tis, causing tens of thousands of Beastman casualties and bringing imnse hardship to their lives.
They were especially fond of attacking Beastman rchant caravans that had left the protection of the cities.
"Demon Beasts... they’re really Demon Beasts... Why did it have to be us?!"
Many of the Beastn were seeing Demon Beasts for the first ti. Their legs gave out, and they collapsed to the ground, their voices trembling with a mixture of grief, indignation, and uncontrollable panic.
"ROAR!" The mid- and High Rank Beastn in the crowd transford into their beast forms and clashed with the lunging Demon Beasts. The scene beca a grueso churn of flesh and blood, unsettling to watch.
So of the weaker Beastn didn’t even get a chance to run before they were pounced upon and devoured by the Demon Beasts, leaving behind only a few severed arms.
A few who kept their wits about them tried to run back, not forgetting to grab so valuable goods to stuff in their clothes before fleeing. However, all escape routes had already been cut off by the encircling Demon Beasts. No lucky fish could slip through the net and escape with their lives.
The once-tranquil forest instantly descended into chaos.
Countless screams and roars filled the air as leaves and splintered wood flew about. The rapidly spreading stench of blood completely obliterated the forest’s forr peace and serenity.
The Marmot Beastman who had been carrying the sack was attacked by a High Rank Magical Beast. Blood splattered everywhere in an instant, and the sack went ROLLING into a nearby bush.
COUGH, COUGH... The little white fox-wolf scrambled miserably out of the sack.
The chaotic slaughter, the likes of which she had never seen before, was reflected in her trembling purple eyes. Her breathing grew tight and her legs felt weak. She lowered her head and timidly began to back away.
Until her back bumped into sothing as hard as a stone wall.
Her body stiffened. She slowly turned her head.
A massive, stinking, bloody maw slowly lowered itself before her eyes.
Then, the two beasts locked eyes.
Wamiya’s heart sank. ’...I’m done for.’
The Demon Ape, however, was ecstatic. ’!!! An unexpected delight! A little cub! Cub at is the most tender and fresh!’
The nearly five-ter-tall Demon Ape snapped its mouth shut, about to snatch the little cub—barely a mouthful—and chew it slowly. But in that instant, a searing white light blinded its eyes.
"AWOOO!!!" ’My eyes! My eyes!’
Wamiya seized the opportunity to slide between its legs and run, dodging left and right.
The mountain-sized Demon Ape possessed imnse strength. Blinded and enraged, it flailed its long, thick arms, smashing violently into the surrounding trees.
Swathes of trees were snapped in half, crashing to the ground with a trendous RUMBLE.
Several tis, Wamiya was nearly crushed into a pulp, narrowly cheating death. Suddenly, she glimpsed a direction in the distance that wasn’t surrounded by Demon Beasts.
’Huh?’
Without a second thought, she took off running in that direction.
But in the next second, a striking and familiar black-and-red figure flashed into her view. A huge, coiling snake tail glided leisurely over countless severed limbs and corpses as if taking a stroll in a garden.
The mont the snake-tailed man appeared, the Demon Beasts, which had been locked in a bloody slaughter, all ceased their movents. They prostrated themselves respectfully on the ground to welco the arrival of their King.
Mi Yin sauntered over to the cargo, circled it twice, then casually tore open a bundle and examined the cloth inside.
After a mont.
"Crude and poorly made. A far cry from the old days."
That was his critique, delivered with a cold and unreadable expression.
The Demon Beasts prostrated by his tail cowered, not daring to even breathe, while the surviving Beastn stood stunned, unable to comprehend this sudden turn of events.
He glanced sideways at the tense Beastn, the corner of his crimson lips curling up. "Where are you from?" he asked in a lazy drawl.
"Sheng... Sheng’an Royal City," one of the Beastn answered instinctively, his voice trembling.
The smile on the man’s face faded slightly. With a flick of his wrist, the Beastman collapsed heavily to the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices as he died.
In the blink of an eye, only one Beastman was left alive amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Terrified by the scene, the last Beastman fell to the ground, his body limp and his face pale.
Mi Yin ca to stand before him.
"I’ll spare your life. Go and tell your current City Lord..."
His voice grew progressively colder, like frost. "...if he can’t even manage this city she left behind, then in a few days, I won’t mind taking his place myself."
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