Chapter 1896: Chapter 1896 Leader of the Troops
Ye Liuyun discovered that the practitioners didn’t use words as a means of communication.
As an alternative, people communicated by mimicking bird cries. The messages they sent, though, were incomprehensible to him.
Ye Liuyun took Zhao Mingcheng to a safe house near the martial practitioners, asked her to wait there, and then took her spear and crawled towards a martial practitioner on the ground.
There were no trees around the safe house, so Ye Liuyun could only approach stealthily by crawling.
Ye Liuyun’s Golden Phantom Eyes could see where the martial practitioner was looking. If the martial practitioner was not looking in his direction, he would crawl a little faster.
When the martial practitioner looked in his direction, Ye Liuyun would stop moving and lay still on the ground.
Once he got close enough, he suddenly stood up, rushed toward the safe house, and quickly thrust the spear into one of the lookout holes.
The martial practitioner heard the movement and was gazing out of the lookout hole when Ye Liuyun’s spear thrust into his eye, piercing through his head.
Before the martial practitioner died, he did manage to let out a soft cry, but no one else heard it.
Then, Ye Liuyun immediately removed the stones from the roof of the safe house, collected the Elixirs andInterspatial Ring from the martial practitioner’s body, extracted his virtuoso, and then quickly made his way back to Zhao Mingcheng. Together they headed toward another group of hidden martial practitioners.
"We need to hurry! Otherwise, they will communicate through bird calls and we will be exposed."
Ye Liuyun grasped Zhao Mingcheng’s hand as they sprinted into the village.
Then, he pushed his hands on Zhao Mingcheng’s shoulders to make her crouch as he held the spear in his hands, heading towards a broken wall.
With a couple of dull thud sounds, Ye Liuyun had presumably defeated two more people.
Soon, Ye Liuyun ran back to her and pulled her hand to hide behind the broken wall. There, she saw a man with his neck impaled with her spear.
Ye Liuyun pulled out the spear and handed it to Zhao Mingcheng.
"Stay here. If I come back to find you, I will give you a heads-up. If you don’t hear me, just thrust your spear toward the incoming person." Ye Liuyun whispered his instructions to Zhao Mingcheng.
After Ye Liuyun left, Zhao Mingcheng examined the two corpses and noticed that the Interspatial Rings and Elixirs had been taken by Ye Liuyun.
This time, Ye Liuyun picked up two long swords as well. He carried the swords on his back and headed toward the other martial practitioners’ hiding spots.
First, he took out some of the martial practitioners who were exposed, killing them all, and then dealt with other three hidden sentries scattered around the village.
His long sword was his go-to weapon, and he would oftentimes hurl it directly at his opponents, piercing their necks or through their skulls.
Then, out of the village came the sound of bird chirps that sounded rather urgent.
Ye Liuyun estimated that these martial practitioners must have sensed something unusual, so he hid outside a house.
Soon, all the remaining martial practitioners rushed out, gathering in the middle of the centre.
From the house that Ye Liuyun was guarding, two martial practitioners also dashed out. One of them was hit in the throat by Ye Liuyun’s thrown sword. The other one was more alert and dodged his incoming swords and shouted to his members.
"There’s an ambush!"
But right after he yelled, his head was chopped off by Ye Liuyun’s sword.
The martial practitioners heard his warning and charged toward Ye Liuyun.
Ye Liuyun did not have time to stay and take their Interpsatial rings and Elixirs, he picked up a long spear and withdrew immediately, disappearing into the darkness.
By the time the other martial practitioners started checking out the situation, Ye Liuyun was observing them from the shadow.
"Eight left, two of them are physically strong," he assessed them in silence.
However, the leader of the troop was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man.
"Light the torches. You two, each bring two men to check the area. The rest of you follow me to check the sentinels," the middle-aged man ordered the two strong-looking members, each with two subordinates, to go around and inspect. He took one follower to check on the sentinels.
Ye Liuyun contemplated that the middle-aged man must have some skills that were tough to handle, so he chose to follow one of the strong-looking martial practitioners.
As they entered a house, Ye Liuyun hurled his spear and pierced the martial practitioner who was waiting outside. Then he rushed towards the door.
The two inside the house heard the commotion and dashed out. The strong one who’d held the torch came out first, and as Ye Liuyun made his approach, he swung his blade.
The martial practitioner, in panic, used the torch to block the attack. But Ye Liuyun split the torch instantly, and the blade swept through it at his throat.
The other martial practitioner shouted and retreated into the house.
Ye Liuyun didn’t chase after him. He took the Interspatial Rings and Elixirs from the two bodies and immediately ran towards the outskirts of the village.
Meanwhile, the other five martial practitioners followed suit.
The middle-aged man flung his torch towards Ye Liuyun’s direction and saw his figure.
"Who are you?" he shouted, and along with the others, he began to chase along.
Ye Liuyun didn’t respond. He slowed his pace slightly and seeing one martial practitioner getting close, he turned and threw a long sword, knocking him down.
"Stop!" the middle-aged man halted the others.
He noticed Ye Liuyun didn’t need a torch and wasn’t running at full speed, clearly possessing a special skill to navigate in the darkness.
If they keep chasing him, they’re bound to suffer a loss.
After Ye Liuyun stabbed the martial practitioner, he retrieved the resources and long sword from the victim and led his remaining team to the previous room.
Now, they were only four of them left.
The middle-aged man relocated the others to a larger house and took refuge inside.
They weren’t being stationed separately like before for fear of being ambushed.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun returned to the village and dug out the virtuoso that he hadn’t managed to extract in time earlier.
Then he called Zhao Mingcheng to scout for opportunities to attack outside their shelter house.
"The leader, a middle-aged guy, may possess unique skills. One of the three martial practitioners has an exceptionally sturdy build. We would be foolish to go head-to-head with them. It would put us at a disadvantage. Before taking any action, we should eliminate one or two more of them."
Ye Liuyun detailed to Zhao Mingcheng.
"We’ll keep watch from the outside then. If they step out, we’ll throw our long spears and kill them." Zhao Mingcheng suggested.
Through his Golden Phantom Eyes, Ye Liuyun could see that each of them held a shield made of vines or wooden planks, standing by the entrance.
This large room was probably their base, stocked with plenty of water and food supply.
Even if they stayed inside for a month, they would still survive.
Ye Liuyun contemplated for a moment and then said, "There’s no rush. Let’s find a comfortable spot and get some rest first."
Ye Liuyun knew that they wouldn’t dare to go out at night, so he found a sturdy house and took Zhao Mingcheng inside. Along the way, they collected three long swords, one long spear, and one dagger.
Those corpses were then moved by Ye Liuyun near their base, hoping to attract the feral beasts.
Sure enough, not long after they hid inside the house, the surrounding feral beasts began to smell the scent of blood and were attracted to the spot.
Then an influx of feral beasts went on, with some even engaging in territorial disputes over prey.
