Chapter 11: Chapter Eleven: Shocking Discovery of a Tragedy

Outside Beicang Village, the cold black cavalry assembled silently in the woods, not even a horse's snort to be heard; the cavalry commander was listening to his subordinate's report.

"My lord, after investigation, this subordinate has discovered many traces of remnants here; fearing to disrupt my lord's plan, we have been awaiting my lord's arrangements here, not daring to enter the village and startle the snake." The cavalry who had watched Beicang Village for two days now knelt before the cavalry commander, speaking with fear and trepidation. If this operation was not perfectly successful, if complications arose, the superiors would be displeased, and people would certainly die.

"Mm, go. Surround the village first; no one is to slip through." The commander waved his hand, and the cavalry below moved to encircle Beicang Village. The village's tranquility was shattered; the tremendous rumbling from outside made the villagers curious about what had happened, and they streamed out their doors to investigate.

Seeing these ferocious cavalry surrounding the village, plus the flood dragon horses with their bloodthirsty gazes, the villagers sensed something was wrong and dared not act rashly. The respected, doddering village elder ran trembling to the cavalry; just as he was about to ask what was happening, before he could even open his mouth, a black cavalryman thrust his sword straight through him — the elder died on the spot. This scene shocked the villagers, and the next moment, boundless anger rose.

Hunters who lived off the mountain were never lacking in fierce and brave men; the hunters left behind in the village seized weapons and charged straight at them. The black cavalry did not yield; the flood dragon horses charged, leaping up as they neared, blades falling with the raise of a hand — the brave hunters fell one after another, heads hitting the ground. Behind them were hunters preparing to draw bows; before they could nock arrows, crossbow strings twanged, and the hunters' bodies were pierced through by crossbow bolts, dead. In a short while, the village's dozen-odd hunters had been unilaterally slaughtered.

Fear spread across the faces of every villager in Beicang, along with anger they could not conceal. What karma had they created? Why had they encountered such calamity today? The weeping of women and children carried a tremor; a feeling of despair shrouded the villagers' hearts — they did not even know what the enemy wanted. A few who still wanted to fight to the death were secretly stopped; it was not fighting to the death, it was sending themselves to die.

The black cavalry commander rode his flood dragon horse over leisurely; the severed heads rolling on the ground were chewed up by the flood dragon horse like watermelons. "Ah!" The wife of a dead hunter could not bear her husband being treated so; a frenzied scream tore from her throat as she pulled a dagger and lunged at the cavalry commander. Before she could get close, the flood dragon horse kicked out with both hind legs, sending the woman flying into a wall — she went utterly silent.

"I don't want to see resistance. Truly a bunch of ignorant, stubborn commoners." The commander did not take the people before him seriously; he only wanted to catch the remnants as fast as possible — as for methods, the quickest would do. The powerless villagers were herded together; they did not know what fate awaited them. Liu Lü'er's grandfather stepped forward helplessly once more to ask: "My lord, may I ask what brings you to our village? We will certainly cooperate fully; please, my lord, leave us a way to live."

"I like cooperative people. Wait a moment for my subordinates to finish searching." A portion of the black cavalry were searching every corner of the village; the black cavalry commander's aura was very calm.

In the mountains and forests, the eight of them had finally escaped the valley; they had not even caught their breath when distant wolf howls forced them to flee for their lives again. The three wolves that had escaped had been trailing them all along; unfortunately there was no time to deal with them now. On the road they met the people who had come to help; seeing so many, the three wolves finally retreated. Not daring to be careless — wolves remember scents; sooner or later they would track them down in the mountains for revenge. By the time they reached the cave, it was already approaching evening.

"Slap—" A crisp slap rang out; Han Xian's father could no longer suppress the anger in his heart and directly slapped Han Xian across the face. Han Er had already escaped danger, but the man was still unconscious; during the escape the fortune-telling old Daoist had performed emergency treatment, cutting away a large chunk of rotting flesh, and combined with the physical exhaustion from fleeing, he could not hold on and had fainted.

No one could stop Han Xian's father's lesson; everyone knew the reason — Han Xian's recklessness had nearly gotten everyone killed, and it was truly inexcusable. Since returning to the cave, Han Xian had kept his head down without a word, his face full of guilt.

"So you still know shame. I warned you before entering the mountain, yet you still greedily chased merit and advanced rashly. Even if you had won, what of it? As a hunter, you placed your comrades' lives in danger — what face do you have to keep living? If you became captain, all the village's hunters would be ruined by you." The last sentence was practically roared.

Ning Ze felt it necessary to step in and stop it: "Uncle Han, the matter is past, everyone is fine; right now our priority is stabilizing Han Er's condition."

Han Xian's father knew Ning Ze's thoughts; this time he did not intend to let Han Xian off lightly. Usual bickering was one thing, but this time he had nearly gotten everyone killed. He continued shouting at Han Xian: "Ning Ze, you stay out of this. You bastard — what do you have to compare with others? Brains? You can't compare. Temperament? You fall far short. This hunt — Ning Ze didn't even go out hunting; he set traps and caught a black bear, two wild boars, and numerous other game — which of you can compare? Hearing you three were in danger, he didn't hesitate to drag me to the rescue; even the final method of luring away the wolf pack was his idea."

Han Xian looked up at Ning Ze in shock; the others also turned their gazes to Ning Ze. They had thought the gap wasn't large; only now did they realize Ning Ze had pulled ahead of them by who knew how far. Simply hunting that much game wasn't enough to prove anything; but afterward, bearing no grudges and going to save Han Xian and the others — that temperament was what truly convinced everyone. Ning Ze turned a deep red under their stares; although it was the truth, being praised like this in front of so many people still made him embarrassed.

Han Xian's father kicked Han Xian, sending him sprawling before Ning Ze. Han Xian knew he had lost; this time he was convinced heart and soul, and knelt directly before Ning Ze. Seeing this, Han Da also knelt.

"Ning Ze, thank you this time! From now on, I, Han Xian, follow only you."

"Me too, Ning Ze. Thank you for saving our lives this time."

Ning Ze looked at the two youths kneeling on the ground, somewhat at a loss. He knew that the boyhood friendship of old had gained a layer of life-debt. He helped them up: "Don't take it to heart. I'd rather we get along like before; the sparring was just a joke. You two go look after Han Er first."

"Ning Ze, don't feel awkward. A man's word is his bond; the Han family produces no people who go back on their word. Han Xian, Han Da, and Han Er — the three of you, no matter what, Ning Ze is your life-saving benefactor; I hope you understand what you must do."

Han Xian and Han Da nodded very seriously. Han Xian's father also didn't want to drag the matter out further; he ordered everyone to pack up the game and prepare to descend the mountain. Only now did everyone show a hint of smiles. Two days of hunting, the events they had experienced left them feeling physically and mentally exhausted; the village was probably preparing to welcome the returning hunting heroes — thinking of it was beautiful.

At the place where the villagers were concentrated, the black cavalry were clearing away piled corpses. The villagers' corpses were stacked in neat rows. The sharp-tongued but soft-hearted fatty auntie, the henpecked bearded uncle, Liu Lü'er's trembling grandfather and grandmother, the little brat who followed Ning Ze's heels all day… all dead. Fresh blood flowed into a stream.

"These remnants — could they have received word early? They actually left in advance; this operation was a wasted trip. Hmph, damned stubborn commoners, harboring remnants — they all must die." The cavalry commander was very calm, but this was the precursor to his suppressed rage. His subordinates sped up the corpse disposal; these villagers were only part of the commander's venting — these subordinates did not want to become the second part.

"My lord, according to these stubborn commoners' confessions plus this subordinate's investigation, there is still a group of people hunting in the mountains; please instruct us, my lord." That black cavalryman who had scouted Beicang Village knelt and reported.

"Go. Take two men and kill the rest — eradicate them root and branch. These stubborn commoners have no power to resist yet still dare to be angry and hold grudges; I'd like to see what use their anger is now. Hahaha, power is everything; without it, just obediently submit." The cavalry commander vented in a somewhat pathological way.

The kneeling cavalryman dared not listen to the second half; he took the other two partners and went straight into the mountains.

A raging fire burned the whole of Beicang Village; the stacked corpses were burned into thick black smoke, as if narrating Beicang Village's unwillingness to the heavens. The people far in the mountains saw the black smoke; sensing its direction was precisely the village, for some reason everyone felt a heaviness and unease in their hearts.

"Han Ming, Han Yuan — you two go down the mountain first to see what's happening with the village; we'll bring the game and follow." This hunting competition had been considered fairly successful; no one had lost their life. The thick smoke from the village direction was strange to Han Xian's father, but he could only send people to check first.

On the road, someone finally asked how Ning Ze had set the traps. Ning Ze's smug face made the fortune-telling old Daoist want to punch him. Ning Ze played coy first: "Go ask Wang Pangdun and them — the traps were their doing."

Wang Pangdun and Liu Lü'er looked innocent — clearly they had just done as Ning Ze said. Actually, Ning Ze had only had them dig four trap pits; the surrounding trap pits were something they had casually made themselves. Then two pits got honey, two got wild taro. The other secrets they truly didn't know.

Seeing everyone's baffled faces, Ning Ze started posturing: "Last time we hunted, the three of us ran into a young wild boar, so I guessed this area had a pair of large wild boars. As for the black bear, I'd long asked the village hunters — that big black bear often roamed nearby. As for mountain goats and such, if you put out grass dipped in salt water they'll come."

Liu Lü'er was curious: "But why would they fight each other, letting you sit back and reap the fisherman's profit?"

"Because I drugged the honey and wild taro." Ning Ze's eyes flickered — clearly trying to muddle through. The fortune-telling old Daoist was depressed; what drug did this brat use? Wait — could it be… the few days ago when they got the medicine, what they took was…

"Ning kid, you didn't give them aphrodisiacs, did you?" The fortune-telling old Daoist directly exposed Ning Ze's secret. Only then did Ning Ze remember there was someone here who knew medicine, and who had gone to get medicine with him; he hurriedly turned his head away, pretending not to hear. "Still, you brat are ruthless!" Han Xian's father laughed and cursed; Liu Lü'er and Lan Yue spat and walked away; everyone else burst into laughter.

Han Ming and the other were already close to seeing the village; the scene before them made them unable to believe their eyes.