Chapter 218: A cry from the heart (1/2)

Chapter 218: A cry from the heart

The House of Menlo was located within a small mountain in the Valley of Sunshine. The center of the mountain had been hollowed out into caves, all interconnected to form a matrix of astonishing defense.

Han Shuo came in from the air and stood on a towering tree tens of meters tall, looking towards the source of the noises.

He saw the caves where the House of Menlo stored their weapons on fire, with thick smoke rising into the air. Tongues of flame flicked out from some of the entrances. It looked like everything was on fire.

These caves each had many stone chambers hewn into them. Each was a room, with all the necessities of life inside. Many of them were even more luxurious than some of the shops within the Valley of Sunshine, so it was very normal for the whole thing to go up in flames once a fire dragon spell was lobbed inside.

A group of masked people were moving swiftly around the entrance to the small mountain. There were some fire mages amongst them who occasionally chanted fire spells, sending gouts of flame towards the mountain entrance.

Their movements were swift and highly coordinated. The fire mages would release fire, the wind mages call up winds to push the fire along, and several archers would force those of the House of Menlo who dared poke their heads out back inside again.

Nevertheless, the small mountain was actually quite large after it had been hollowed out. With so many caves and stone chambers, this band of marauders could only target a section of the mountain. Once Menlo reinforcements arrived, they would immediately split up and conceal their movements, hiding into the surrounding shrubbery for cover. They were obviously very familiar with the surrounding terrain and well versed in these guerrilla tactics. They would quickly retreat whenever someone discovered them and then circle around, coming in from another side to continue wreaking havoc.

Under normal circumstances, this group of people would’ve been dead without a doubt if they hadn’t retreated after the first wave of attacks.

However, the House of Menlo was completely preoccupied at the moment. This group of troublemakers wasn’t the main target. Their main focus was on a group of heavily equipped robbers around 500 strong. The robbers’ motives were unknown, but they were besieging the mountain and attacking anyone who walked out of it. These two sides were locked in heated battle.

Han Shuo stood in the distance and looked out for a bit, doubled over in laughter as he saw Trunks’ men taking advantage of the chaos and adding further confusion. He hadn’t thought Trunks would be talented in this regard. The House of Menlo mission this time had only been to make this power suspect the other factions. Han Shuo was a bit surprised at how things had developed.

Even more cavalry with gleaming armor, wielding sharp weapons, came galloping from a path in the distance. Their adornments clearly identified them as those of the House of Menlo. There were roughly six hundred of them, each with an uncommon air to them. They were likely the elites of this house.

The direction that this group was charging in happened to be where Trunks and the others were. Yet to detect the danger they were about to encounter, they were currently planning on causing another round of mischief. Han Shuo finally couldn’t sit still any longer and flew to where they were.

The sky was already lightening, and the stars had hidden behind the depths of the night at some point. It seemed like daybreak would come soon. Just as Trunks was about to start on his final round of mischief, a black shadow landed with a “whoosh” in front of him.

He started badly, but breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered that it was Han Shuo. “What are you doing here?”

“I happened to be passing by and saw that the elites of Menlo are about to return. They’re going to pass through here. Let’s hurry and leave?” Han Shuo smiled slightly and explained the situation to Trunks without further ado.

When he heard that the elites of Menlo were returning, Trunks shouted lowly and gestured at the mercenaries off in the distance.

These fellows were covered from head to toe and immediately understood Trunks’ hand gesture. They didn’t gather together to leave en masse, but actually spread out even further and made use of the terrain to conceal themselves, slowly vanishing without a trace.

“Let’s go!” Trunks didn’t remain idle as he turned his head to smile at Han Shuo, darting into the thick undergrowth.

Snow lay heavily on the branches of the towering trees, blocking the sky’s light. The densely packed branches made it hard to trave, but Trunks wasn’t the least bit bothered. He took Han Shuo down several twisted paths, emerging far away from the House of Menlo’s mountain roughly half an hour later on the path to the Valley of Sunshine.

“Those were all old Rainbow Sickle mercenaries. Everything within the valley was under our control when the old chief was still here, and we’re so familiar with the terrain that we can navigate it with our eyes closed, so don’t worry about their safety.” Trunks said to Han Shuo when they’d left the mountain.