101 Hei Gou (2/2)

His heart was in turmoil. Although he was feeling grateful for the fact that someone was trying to save him, he could not help but also feel that something was wrong. This was a human! Why would a human ever try to save a Primordial Beast? Why would a human ever say the things this one had said? Not to mention, why did he not feel any animosity towards the person in front of him?

Xue Wei was walking slowly to ensure that Hei Gou could follow him. ”You know we won't make it away in time! The others will return soon, so why are you not running away yet?!” Hei Gou sneered, but Xue Wei just smiled.

At that point, a group of experts appeared in front of Hei Gou and Xue Wei, blocking their way. Xue Wei had sensed them from before, but their movement speed had been truly superior to his and he had almost no time to prepare.

”Halt!” one of the people in this group called out, and Xue Wei stopped in his tracks. He felt how Hei Gou's body tensed up. He was grinding his teeth and his eyes were showing unwillingness.

”Where are you going?” the person who had asked them to stop started questioning Xue Wei and Hei Gou.

”We are brothers in arms,” Xue Wei said with a sigh, his face looking devastated as he shook his head. ”We have been given a short break from the army to visit our families, so we decided to pass through this area in the hopes of capturing some Fierce Beasts on the way home to help our families economically.”

Xue Wei continued his explanation, and Hei Gou, who was by his side, had a completely expressionless face, yet he was at heart more and more confused about what was going on.

”We haven't encountered any Fierce Beasts so far, but when we reached a clearing not too far from here, there was this big black dog,” Xue Wei continued. His eyes suddenly lit with excitement, but it went away as fast as it came, replaced by sadness.

”We thought we could take it down. It was severely wounded, you see. It seemed as if it had fought desperately against a group of experts and narrowly won the fight, only to be so injured, so we thought that we could easily pick up the spoils of war.”

Xue Wei spoke with a bit of a rushed voice as if he was excited, but a slight hint of fear had also crept into it, which the person in charge of the group instantly picked up.

None of the people in the group interrupted Xue Wei as he spoke. Instead, they continued to listen intently. Any and all information would be beneficial to them.

”Anyway, we tried to attack this dog, but it was simply too strong. I was standing further away and used my ranged Qi martial art while my brother here took care of the upfront melee.”

”Unfortunately, we underestimated the beast's capability while injured. It was so strong! I wish we could have killed it, but in fact we only just narrowly managed to escape with our little lives intact.”

Xue Wei's face was filled with horror as if he had relived something horrifying, and moments after he shook his head once more.

”When we fled, the beast did nothing to follow us, so I think we are safe. I don't know whether or not the beast is still in the clearing or if it managed to sneak away. my brother and I are simply too weak to confront such a monster!”

Xue Wei's body was shaking slightly as if he had been scared to death, and the person in charge of the group nodded his head time and time again.

”Okay, kids, I understand that it must have been terrifying for you to encounter such a beast. We have no time to chat with you, as we need to capture it as soon as possible, so please excuse us!”

Having said this, the leader of the group rushed away and the others followed close by.

Had this been any other time, they would not have hesitated to instantly kill Xue Wei and Hei Gou to take their things, but Xue Wei had already said that he wanted to hunt beasts for the sake of helping his family, revealing that he did not come from a rich family. He had also said that they had not encountered any beasts on their way, which meant that they had yet to find anything worthwhile.

And last but not least, the group knew the value of the black dog - although they did not know that it was a Celestial Dog, a Primordial Beast, they knew that it was a powerful, unique Fierce Beast with incredible value. As such, they had no time to waste on Xue Wei or Hei Gou.

As the group vanished, Xue Wei started moving forward again at a slow speed, completely ignoring the strange gaze that Hei Gou was giving him.

”Why?” He could finally no longer remain quiet and asked Xue Wei. ”Why are you helping me? We don't know one another; we aren't even the same species. You should hate me by nature, but you are saving me instead! This makes no sense!”

Hei Gou was agitated. His voice was low so that no one could hear it other than Xue Wei, and Xue Wei just shrugged his shoulders as he continued to drag Hei Gou further and further away from the location where they had been fighting earlier.

He kept watch of their surroundings by spreading his spiritual energy to the limit, spreading it like a blanket around them to avoid crossing paths with someone.

”It is really very simple,” Xue Wei said, sighing. ”I am neither the friend of beasts nor the friend of humans, I am just all alone against the entire world. Seeing you struggle for your life reminded me of myself. I wish that, one day, when I am struggling like this, someone will come and save me. Not only that, most of the beasts I have encountered so far have treated me with kindness, so I guess I would lose nothing by returning the favor.”

Hei Gou frowned but said no more. His body, however, was less tense and he tried his best to move as fast as he could together with Xue Wei.