Chapter 152: Setting Out, Encountering a Strange Village on the Road!

"You've worked hard. Just go and get some rest for today."

However, upon hearing Cao Xing tell her to go rest, a hint of unease appeared on Xia Yanni's face. Her fleshy legs tensed, and she appeared somewhat fidgety.

Cao Xing knew that this fragile woman lacked a sense of security.

After pondering for a moment, he continued, "If you don't want to rest, you can follow Elisa and the others to go out and fight those Ice Nest Monsters to get used to the rhythm of combat."

Hearing this, Xia Yanni lifted her head, and the unease on her face gradually dissipated.

Although she was a bit afraid of going out to fight, Xia Yanni also knew that she really needed to adapt.

Xia Yanni nodded slightly, "Mm… alright, My Lord…"

Behind her, Tong Chuchu appeared eager to try.

"Great! Chuchu can go fight too!"

"Watch as Chuchu summons robots and blows all these Ice Nest Monsters to smithereens!"

Cao Xing smiled.

Everything was ready.

Then, he directly issued the order, "Now, set out with me!"

Thump! Thump-thump!

Dabai took a step with its Mammoth hooves and walked toward the outside of the territory.

Andrew and his group followed behind.

When Cao Xing and his group arrived at the territory entrance.

They saw a woman over two meters tall, carrying a giant axe, already waiting there.

Putana said, "I heard that you are going out to fight."

"As we discussed yesterday, take me with you."

As a Tier 2 Elite-grade creature, this half-giant female was quite strong.

Cao Xing pondered for a moment and nodded.

"Sure, you can come along too."

"Muxue, Ilena, Yanni, and Chuchu, give her a round of status buffs."

Hearing Cao Xing's order, the four women walked over and spent about three minutes fully buffing Putana.

Her strength received a terrifying boost.

After feeling the power within her body, Putana, like the others, showed respect to Cao Xing, and her loyalty increased to 78 points.

Cao Xing nodded.

With her joining.

The number of people in Cao Xing's team had reached ten.

Moreover, none of them were below level 15, and apart from Putana, they were all at least Boss-grade creatures—terrifyingly powerful!

"Moo—"

Dabai flicked its trunk and began to sprint, carrying Cao Xing and Liu Muxue.

Thump! Thump-thump!

The heavy footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

The others followed behind.

Soon, they had traveled nearly twenty kilometers.

On the way, Cao Xing sent a message to Qiu Yating.

"I've set out. How far is your territory from that forest?"

A moment later, Qiu Yating replied, "Great Lord Cao Xing, we are quite close to that forest. If we head over now, it will take about an hour or so to arrive."

Cao Xing replied, "Then you can set out now. We should also arrive at the Witch Forest in about an hour or so."

Seemingly not expecting Cao Xing to act so quickly, the person on the other end was somewhat stunned.

A moment later, Qiu Yating sent another message.

"O-okay…"

Both parties hung up the communication.

Cao Xing led his team forward at high speed.

The surrounding scenery flew past them.

They crossed the Light River and passed by the Snow Wolf Valley.

Soon, they arrived at an area they had never been to before.

Checking the map location, they were still about thirty kilometers away from the Witch Forest.

From afar, Cao Xing saw a village.

The scale of this village was quite decent, with hundreds of scattered houses, and an estimated permanent population of over a thousand.

There were several watchtowers at the village entrance, with two militiamen holding bows and arrows standing on each one.

The defensive strength was not weak either.

He turned his head and asked Renice, "Renice, is this the village you investigated yesterday?"

Renice shook her head and said, "No, the village I discovered is in another direction."

Cao Xing nodded.

Then, looking at the watchtowers on both sides of the village, he thought to himself, "This village has quite a lot of archers. Should I go and purchase a batch of arrows or other supplies?"

After all, Harold was currently busy crafting equipment and didn't have time to forge a large number of arrows. Furthermore, crafting arrows required basic iron resources. If he could save some resources by using crowns, that would be good.

Just as Cao Xing was preparing to lead his people closer.

He suddenly saw a human, completely naked and covered in various terrifying scars, rush out from the village.

Behind him, seven or eight militiamen were following.

As he ran, he exclaimed, "Quick… run!"

"Go quickly to Lake Doron City and tell the soldiers that Amu River Village has been occupied by the Church of Light… this place is a trap!"

At this moment, the militiamen patrolling the watchtowers of the village also showed ugly expressions.

"Damn it! How did this guy manage to escape?"

"What are those guys, Kano's group, doing?"

"Quick, we can't let this guy get away."

After speaking, these archers drew their bowstrings.

At the same time, a large number of militiamen rushed out from the village, their eyes filled with anxiety and murderous intent, frantically chasing after the naked human.

Cao Xing also heard his cry for help.

He was just about to have someone save this human.

Just then, several whistling sounds came through the air.

Swish! Swish-swish!

[-733] [-654] [-831]

The arrows struck the man's broken body, piercing straight through him, and killing him on the spot.

On the snowy ground at the village entrance, the man fell down, and blood flowed out, staining the pristine white snow red.

Cao Xing frowned, "Let's go, head over."

He was just preparing to lead his people closer to the corpse.

Just then, the group of militiamen who had rushed out of the village immediately shouted, "What do you want to do? Stop right there!"

Cao Xing ignored these guys and headed straight toward them.

The militiamen quickly rushed over, each raising their weapons to block Cao Xing and his group.

But they didn't act immediately, seemingly sensing that Cao Xing's group was not to be trifled with.

The leading militiaman said, "Gentlemen, this is Amu River Village, one of Baron Kaelor's territories. Unauthorized entry is prohibited."

Cao Xing frowned and asked, "A Baron's territory? What's going on with this person?"

The militia captain explained, "This is a madman from our village. When he was young, he saw with his own eyes a Snow Demon eating his mother's heart."

"After that day, he became mentally deranged, babbling nonsense all day long, and would crazily attack others."

"He was then chained up at home by his father. I don't know what happened today, but he actually managed to escape."

"We are truly sorry for frightening you all."

Cao Xing nodded.

Although the militia captain spoke vividly and it sounded plausible.

But he wouldn't just believe the other party's words.

If he was just a madman from the village, why were they in such a rush to kill him?

Cao Xing silently scanned their attributes.

However, all he got was a bunch of question marks.

He couldn't even detect these people's names or identities.

However, in Cao Xing's perception, these militiamen didn't give him the feeling that they were unbeatable.

This indicated that their levels shouldn't be too far from his own.

"How strange?"

A look of confusion appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

At the same time, he silently opened his backpack and took a peek at the Hunter map.

However, he still didn't find the sun symbol near this village.

Cao Xing thought to himself, "Could what these militiamen said be true? Is this really not a Hunter camp, and was that man just a madman?"

But he was still somewhat suspicious.

Thus, Cao Xing quietly reached out and made a gesture to Sarah, who was in the shadows.

Sarah understood his meaning and silently left the area.

She had already infiltrated the village.

At this moment, Cao Xing also discovered some anomalies in this village.

He saw that, apart from these militiamen, he didn't see a single villager in the village.

Cao Xing got straight to the point.

"I'd like to ask, where have all the villagers in this village gone?"

Hearing this question, the other militiamen's expressions changed slightly, but only the militia captain remained calm and composed.

He unhurriedly explained, "My friend, as I told you before, this is one of Baron Kaelor's territories. All the villagers of Amu River Village go to the nearby Beilai Mountain Mine during the day to mine ore for the Baron."

"By the evening, those villagers will mostly be back."

Cao Xing nodded; this reason was somewhat plausible.

Thus, he changed the question and continued to ask, "Gentlemen, I would like to go into the village to purchase a batch of supplies. Would it be possible for us to enter?"

Of course, Cao Xing didn't necessarily have to go in. His main purpose was to buy time for Sarah. Once she came out, he would know what the situation was inside.

Hearing this, a look of difficulty appeared in the militia captain's eyes.

He shook his head and said, "I am truly sorry, friends. Our Amu River Village is just an ordinary village; we don't have any supplies to trade."

"The villagers are also very simple; apart from working for the Baron every day, they don't do anything else."

Cao Xing asked doubtfully, "A village this big, and you don't even have food or drinks?"

"We are just here for a normal trade, and we will pay the corresponding crowns."

Upon hearing this, the other party's expression became even more troubled.

Just then, everyone suddenly heard the sounds of battle coming from inside the village.

Clang! Clang-clang! Clatter!

Then came a series of exclamations.

"Damn it! An assassin has snuck into the village!"

"It seems she's with those people outside, quickly take her down!"

At this moment, a cold glint appeared in the eyes of the militia captain who was speaking with Cao Xing.

"My friend, it seems your subordinates aren't very well-behaved, huh? Trespassing on the Baron's territory is a serious crime!"

The other militiamen quickly dispersed, seemingly intending to surround Cao Xing and his group.

Even the few archers on the watchtowers aimed their arrows at them.

Seeing this, a smile appeared at the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

Because he had already confirmed that there was something wrong with this village.

Cao Xing slowly raised his right hand and then pressed it down directly.

Andrew, Assam, and the others understood his gesture and instantly made their attack moves.

"Swish!"

A Frost Wolf sword aura swept across.

Andrew also instantly entered [Moonkin Form] and cast Moonfire.

Bang!

Suddenly under attack, a dozen damage numbers popped up over these militiamen's heads.

[-1284!], [-853], [-791], [-843], [-974]

These militiamen were stunned, seemingly not expecting the other side to actually take the initiative to attack.

The next moment, that militia captain reacted.

He shouted: "Damn it! Take them down!"

"Archers, loose arrows!"

Following his command, these militiamen instantly raised their weapons and charged out.

Swish! Swish-swish-swish!

Several arrows flew toward them.

Cao Xing calmly brought Liu Muxue down from Dabai's back.

Then he looked over.

This time, Cao Xing finally saw their attributes.

[Hunter Captain Lv28], [Tier: Tier 3 Elite Creature], [Health: 16112/17020], [Attack: 943~987], [Skills: Thrust, Triple Slash, Sweep], [Talent: None]

[Hunter Warrior Lv18], [Tier: Tier 2 Normal Creature], [Health: 4332/5560], [Attack: 411~425], [Skills: Basic Swordsmanship, Uppercut], [Talent: None]

A curve appeared at the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

"So they really are Hunters?"

"It seems these guys used some method to hide their own aura, which prevented me from detecting them."

"However, after being attacked once, this method became ineffective."

Understanding this, Cao Xing became even more unscrupulous.

He directly ordered: "Kill all these guys."

As he finished speaking, the half-giant Putana raised her great axe and smashed it down fiercely.

"Bang!"

The violent impact sound directly sent one of the Lv18 Hunter warriors flying.

And Hilda immediately hatched a large number of Blood Spiders, which rushed over to explode wildly.

Blot also raised his staff, condensing black smoke to strike the enemies!

Pfft! Pfft-pfft!

The sounds of Blood Spiders exploding came one after another.

Starfire and Moonfire kept exploding!

These dozen or so Tier 2 and 3 Hunters, along with one Tier 3 Elite Hunter Captain, were engaged in battle with Assam and the others.

At this moment, shouts of battle were also coming from inside the village; it should be Sarah fighting the Hunters inside.

Cao Xing trusted Sarah's strength and survivability; there shouldn't be any accidents.

They didn't need to worry on this side either.

The strength of these Hunters wasn't very high; Assam and Braum could block all of their attacks.

Everyone else just needed to be responsible for dealing damage.

However, those archers on the watchtowers in the distance were a bit annoying.

Their arrows shattered the Holy Shields on Cao Xing and his group, and also caused damage to Andrew and Renice.

[-312], [-325], [-358]

These archers' damage was decent; even after being weakened multiple times, they could still deal such high damage.

However, green numbers of +237, +237 immediately appeared over Andrew and Renice's heads.

In the blink of an eye, their health was full again.

Seeing this scene, joy appeared on Cao Xing's face once again.

These archers' attacks couldn't suppress Renice and the others' health at all.

The next moment, Cao Xing directly ordered.

"Dabai, you go too, go destroy their watchtowers first."

"Moo—"

After hearing Cao Xing's command, Dabai activated [Frenzied Charge] and fiercely charged toward the watchtowers at the village entrance.

Seeing Dabai charging over, those archers shifted their fire and began attacking the Mammoth.

Arrows flew out.

Crack! Crack!

After a series of shattering sounds, the three layers of shields on Dabai were all broken.

And it also took advantage of this time to rush over quickly.

Seeing Dabai rushing over, those Hunter archers' pupils shrank.

They exclaimed: "The God of Light is above, this Mammoth's speed is terrifying!"

In their terrified gaze, this Mammoth crashed directly into one of the watchtowers.

Rumble!

The violent impact force made the watchtower sway, and the Hunter archers on top were shaken off balance.

One of them was even shaken off directly.

After landing heavily on the ground, a large falling damage number appeared over his head.

[-1156]

And at this time, Dabai turned into demolition mode and started attacking the watchtower wildly!

Rumble! Rumble!

The first watchtower was directly knocked down by Dabai!

"Damn it!"

"Quick, attack! Kill this Mammoth!"

Swish! Swish-swish!

Arrow after arrow landed on Dabai, sparking a flurry of damage.

[-289], [-312], [-336], [-374]

Just like before, these attacks caused damage numbers of two or three hundred.

However, Dabai had already leveled up to 22, and its health had reached an astonishing 32480!

This bit of damage from them was not worth mentioning to Dabai at all.

And immediately, Ice Healing Art began to restore Dabai's health.

"Moo—"

After being attacked, Dabai began attacking those archers and watchtowers even more violently!

It raised its front hooves and then stomped down heavily.

Rumble!

A Hunter archer's head was stomped into a pulp, instantly killed on the spot!

This scene made a chill run down the backs of this group of archers.

At the same time, Cao Xing also raised his staff, releasing Ice Arrow Rain and Great Ice Spear to attack the Hunters in front of him.

He was at least a Lv18 Frost Mage now.

Plus, with a set of decent quality equipment, his damage was quite good.

A large number of ice cones suddenly appeared over the heads of these Hunters, and a wave of chill emerged.

Then, these ice cones began to fall.

Clatter!

Dense damage numbers appeared.

[-473], [-466], [-412], [-481]

At the same time, the Black Smoke Shaman Blot, upon seeing Cao Xing cast an area-of-effect spell, also instantly released a Black Smoke Storm.

Instantly, seven or eight Hunters were enveloped.

The two area-of-effect spells coordinated with each other, making it impossible for the Hunters inside to move an inch.

Whoosh— Whoosh—

The wild wind howled.

Furthermore, Assam held his Sword of Justice high and slashed toward the Black Smoke Storm area.

Swish! Swish-swish-swish!

That area was enveloped by various attacks, instantly sparking a dense flurry of damage numbers.

At the same time, at least five or six kill notifications appeared in Cao Xing's ears.

[Your territory member: Assam killed Hunter Warrior Lv23, gained EXP: 460]

[Combatants gained EXP: 230]

[You killed Hunter Lv19, gained EXP: 190]

[Combatants gained EXP: 95]

[Your…]

The Hunter Captain, controlled within the Black Smoke Storm, saw his companions dying one after another, and a look of anger appeared in his eyes.

"These damned heretics, the Great God of Light will punish them!"

"We are retreating into the village!"

After knowing that they were no match for Cao Xing and the others.

This Hunter Captain, along with the remaining seven or eight Hunters, was about to rush back into the village.

But Cao Xing laughed and said: "Do you think you can get away?"

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