Chapter 507 (1/2)

Countless Slaves

Shao Xuan and the rest only wanted to observe the slave masters in Wanshi. If the slave masters would squabble among themselves, or they disagreed with Wanshi, these were all good news to Flaming Horn. As long as they weren’t getting along among themselves, it was a good thing.

The slave masters within Wanshi did not consist of only one group. According to reports, other than White Stone City slave masters, who had the closest ties with Wanshi, there were also people from other cities. When one thought about forcing this mixed group together, then about the slave masters’ personalities, one could imagine that working together would be difficult.

“The Wanshi chief must be having a hard time now,” said Duo Kang.

“No matter what they do, no matter how they react, we will fight this war without question!” said Ta, glaring at the tribe.

“You’re right. Just like what Ah Xuan said, at most, we’ll just fight them all the said,” said Gui He.

Just as Gui He planned to ask him something, he realised Shao Xuan was looking in a direction. He didn’t speak, stopping to observe.

Duo Kang and Ta also fell silent. With their capabilities, they too noticed something was approaching among the bushes.

However, from the movement, they decided that it was not something threatening so they didn’t care.

To their left, the dense grass shook. The sound approached until they saw grass in front shaking. Through the grass, although they only saw a bit of fur, they knew what it was.

It was a common wild rat, fast and small. It was not a fearsome beast, nor did it have much meat. It was at the bottom of the food chain, the tribesmen did not hunt these unless times were difficult. The traps around the fields were only to prevent the rats from destroying their crops. There were many rats in this area.

There were many rats in this area, Duo Kang and the rest did not care about this common rat. Just as they turned away, they saw Shao Xuan pull out a spearhead from his waist pouch then throw it at lightning speed.

The stone spearhead glinted mid-air, violently flying at the rat.

Poof!

There was the sound of stone piercing through meat, then stone lodged in the ground. They smelled blood.

Shao Xuan looked over and held up a grey-brown rat smaller than his fist.

The rat was not dead yet. Shao Xuan studied the struggling rat.

A fierce glare shot across its eyes, then faded until there seemed to be a veil of grey. The rat stopped moving.

“You’re interested in the small ones?” smiled Duo Kang, “they don’t taste good.”

But when he saw Shao Xuan staring at the rate with furrowed brows, Duo Kang’s smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

“The feeling it gives is very familiar,” said Shao Xuan.

He had not seen this rat before but he had a feeling a human had been watching him. An ordinary rat was not like this.

“Have you seen it before?” asked Duo Kang. He didn’t have facial blindness like Guang Yi but all the rats looked the same to him. Did Shao Xuan recognise the rat? Could he distinguish scents like beasts?

Shao Xuan shook his head. “No, but it feels like a type of desert ant I saw at Beast Battle City in the desert.”

When he mentioned ‘Beast Battle City’, the three hunt leaders fell solemn.

“Slave masters?” asked Gui He.

They were cautious against the slave masters. Especially after they heard about the progress on the other side of the ocean, they believed that the slave masters were more powerful than they imagined. While they did not like slave masters, they had to admit that the slave masters had admirable qualities. These people were powerful and influential because of their own capabilities. This was why they had to be careful when dealing with the slave masters, they could be stronger than Wanshi.

“It might be the slave masters who escaped from the desert, but it could also be Wanshi.” Shao Xuan told them about the incident at Beast Battle City. When Shao Xuan, Lei and Tuo went to Beast Battle City with the people of Fallen Leaves City, he once saw several desert ants in his room. Sapphire had chopped them up into pieces and rolled them into its dung ball. Shao Xuan did not look into this matter, merely thought it was odd. Since he hadn’t found the reason, he didn't think about it.

Now, he realised the rat gave him the same feeling as those desert ants. Something was not right.

“Everyone must be cautious these days.” After some thought, Shao Xuan said, “Get the few animals in our tribe to work too.”

Shao Xuan did not know how many of these rats were out there, nor did he know if there were other animals like them. Being cautious during such critical times was always a good thing. If humans cannot distinguish the odd feeling, then their fearsome beasts would.

The three leaders nodded. They had not encountered anything like this before. Without Shao Xuan’s reminder, perhaps Wanshi would have heard any secrets they spoke about.

...

The moment the rat was killed, within a stone house at the center of the Wanshi tribe.

The person sitting on the animal skin with his legs crossed coughed up a mouthful of blood. Blood dripped down his mouth, then unto the skull bone ornaments around his neck. His face was pale, his muscles twitching, his eyes manic with fury. His features were contorted with rage.

“What?!” asked the Wanshi chief, Fei Ji impatiently.

“One was killed!” The young Wanshi shaman panted heavily. Controlling animals like that did not feel good.

He thought about what happened in the desert. To get into the White Stone young master’s good books, he had taken out his precious desert ants for a mission. And not even one returned alive! Not only did he fail to fulfil the young master’s request, but he also suffered major losses himself!

He had not recovered emotionally from that, yet this happened again!