Chapter 759: The Peeping Person

Knowing the origin of this lake, everyone understood that they had not gone the wrong way, so they continued onto the oxen, moved forward, bypassed the lake, and set off in the established direction.

Of course, considering that water sources were quite difficult to find along this route, they filled all the water-carrying utensils they had at a relatively low-lying spot, as it was necessary to carry enough water.

Although this water looked extremely clear, it was stagnant water after all, and no one knew what was inside it, so everyone strictly followed the rules and dared not drink raw water directly.

According to what Xi and the others said, quite a few people had died in the lake back then while fighting for the water here, and perhaps their remains were already submerged under the silt now, but once one thought about the fact that this was, after all, corpse water, the people of Huaxia still found it somewhat difficult to accept psychologically.

Xi and the others, who were already accustomed to the rules of the wilderness, had no psychological pressure at all; as long as they didn't eat human flesh or drink human blood, it was nothing, though it was likely that those refugees back then had truly eaten human flesh in secret.

After everyone finished collecting water, Xiong lifted a large stone high up and threw it toward the lake surface; the stone stirred up a huge splash and then slowly sank toward the bottom of the lake. Sure enough, the depth of the lake was not nearly as shallow as it appeared to their eyes; the stone still took a little time to reach the bottom and then stirred up some silt that dispersed.

Xiong doing this was not out of boredom, but simply to verify the depth of the lake and see how much longer it could persist before drying up, or rather, whether it would become a permanent lake right here.

Judging by the height and thickness of the dam, it was almost impossible for it to be breached by flash floods and accumulated rainwater; the rainwater that could be collected in this valley was limited, and without a constant supply of living water, this lake would likely dry up completely if there were no rain for half a year.

Just as Xiong was observing the speed at which the stone sank to the bottom, the gazes of several Soldiers locked onto a bush not far away, because the moment the stone hit the water surface, the bushes in that place suddenly twitched; if it wasn't a wild beast that had been startled, then it was possible that someone was peeking.

The Soldiers stared fixedly at that spot, and their hands slowly reached to their waists, drew an Arrow, and then nocked it onto a bow.

Xiong noticed their movements, so he did not turn his head, but instead maintained his original posture and said in as low a tone as possible: "What is it, a person or a wild beast?"

The bow in the Soldier's hand slowly moved over the ox's back, ready to be drawn to full tension at any time: "Not clear yet, just saw some movement."

Xiong then said: "Then let's fire a volley first to see."

Hearing the order, those few Soldiers no longer hesitated; they immediately and quickly raised their bows, drew them to full tension aimed at the bushes, and fired directly. As they drew their bows, there was suddenly greater movement in the bushes, and they could all see human silhouettes.

The others were also startled by the sudden commotion, but by the time they turned their heads to look, a scream had already come from the location of the bushes.

Xiong immediately arranged the vanguard: "Quick, go up and check! Everyone else, stay on guard where you are!"

Because the situation was unclear, none of the horses were dispatched, and that location was not suitable for any livestock to pass through, so they could only go on foot.

Thirty vanguard Soldiers holding Crossbows and Knives immediately rushed toward the place where the enemy situation was; one could still see people moving in that location, and judging by the movement, it looked like three or four people, possibly scouts.

Because of the distance and a lack of familiarity with the terrain, Xiong and the others had not yet heard any sounds of fighting; they only saw the silhouettes of the Soldiers rush over, and then, after a few loud shouts, everything returned to calm.

Although they could not see what had happened, judging by the movement, those Soldiers had not met with any accidents. Xiong did not believe there could be any terrifying tribe here capable of instantly killing thirty strong and well-trained Soldiers; otherwise, even if only one person remained, they would have been able to shout and make a sound in time.

Sure enough, after a while, those people of his dragged a savage who looked like mud out of the mountains; just by looking at his appearance, one knew that the tribe he belonged to was very weak.

Dark and thin, he didn't even have decent clothes, his body was extremely filthy, and coupled with an Arrow piercing his shoulder and the blood flowing from the wound, he appeared even more disheveled.

Xiong drew his own belt Knife and strode toward the captive. The captive, whether out of fear or pain, was now trembling so violently that he could not walk; he was like a heap of mud, but because his left shoulder had been hit by an Arrow, the pain made him unable to support himself with his left hand, and he could only barely prop himself up with his right hand to keep from falling down.

Xiong stuck the Knife into the ground in front of the captive with the blade facing him; the cold-glinting Knife clearly terrified the captive completely. He didn't even have the heart to take another look at such a treasure and hurriedly lowered his head; Xiong could even hear the sound of his teeth chattering.

"Who are you, and why were you peeking at us?" Xiong asked him in a resonant voice.

But what he didn't expect was that although the captive was very afraid, he didn't say a word, and even pulled his legs back a little.

Killing a captive had no benefit for him; keeping him, bringing him along the way, and raising him as a Slave to take back to Huaxia could even generate more value.

So Xiong still patiently asked again: "Speak, I don't intend to kill you. I captured you because we want to know who you are. We are not here to attack you; we are people of Huaxia, just passing through this land to attend a gathering."

But unexpectedly, the captive still didn't say a word and even let out a cold snort, indicating that he didn't care about or believe what Xiong said.

Xiong was not angry, but called Xi over: "Try asking him and see if he can understand us; is it possible that there is a language barrier?"

Xi immediately nodded and stepped forward, first observing the captive's appearance and clothing features to see if he could recognize what tribe the person belonged to. Xiong didn't know if he was confident, but after Xi asked in a tone that was very strange but which Xiong could basically understand, the captive actually spoke.

"Don't bother asking, just kill me; I won't let my tribesmen be harmed."

The tone was also very strange and different from what Xi spoke, but Xiong could understand it just the same.

Seeing that there was no problem with language communication, Xiong replaced Xi and continued: "As long as you can understand me, that's fine. Just tell me your purpose for coming here. I won't necessarily kill you; if your reason is reasonable, I can even have our people treat your wounds before letting you go."