Chapter 71 - Danger Cnt.

Everyone stayed inside the tunnel. Kuo had sealed up the other end with a mid-grade shield formation which would provide some actual protection, unlike the illusion formation Hao Xuan had put up.

It was still raining heavily outside and the weather was extremely cold. The siblings had to stay close to the campfire throughout the night. Fortunately, the others were high level enough that it didn't bother them that much.

They all rested up during the night. Hao Xuan woke up a few hours later and took some medicine of his own and most of his injuries were healed by the time the sun rose up.

Hao Xuan explained what happened when he was separated from the saints and they explained their sides as well.

"Hmm, so we have to leave as soon as possible. We can't stay here for too long. Every beast in thousands of miles around has probably woken up by now," he commented.

"Alright, let's go. Half will stay here and half will come with me to their camp. I think I know where it is now. No need to take everyone. It will only draw more attention to us," everyone agreed with him and of course only the strongest were allowed to go with them to the camp. Rest stayed in the tunnel with the siblings.

The rain hadn't ceased for even a second but still, it was like the jungle had come alive. There were beast roars and sounds of fighting coming from everywhere.

They ran into quite a few beasts themselves, with three being low-level demonic beasts.

After about two hours they reached the same spot where Hao Xuan was confronted by the Jia soldiers the day before.

"Anything?" Kuo turned towards Maddy and asked in a hushed voice. Maddy closed his eyes and opened them 20 seconds later.

"I can't say for sure but there seems to be something about 10 miles to the north," he pointed in front.

They followed the directions and finally found the camp. There were monster and human corpses all over the place. Apparently, quite a few beasts had attacked the place since it was right out in the open. It looked abandoned.

They stayed a few meters back and observed for a good 30 minutes before Hao Xuan got impatient, jumped down and walked straight in.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he shouted nonchalantly.

"What the hell is the captain thinking??!" Maddy asked with a slightly angry face.

"Its the fastest way. No need to waste time," said Jin Wang with his usual expressionless face and followed after Hao Xuan.

The others all looked at each other and Kuo finally nodded with a sigh and everyone followed after them.

The dead bodies seemed to be both from the caravan prisoners and bandits. It seemed like they were freed at the end and fought together against the monsters but to no avail. Everyone perished.

"Tsk Tsk, what a shame," Jin Wang shook his head but none could tell if he was being serious or making of fun the dead. His face held absolutely no expressions.

"Oi, someone still alive? We're here to help!" Hao Xuan shouted once again but got no response.

He walked back to Kuo and whispered something in his ear but Kuo negatively shook his head, "Damn it."

They looked everywhere but there was no sign of anyone escaping alive, that is until Hashirama checked one of the destroyed tents at the back.

"Captain! Luitenent!" he shouted and everyone ran up to him.

"What happened?" Asked Kuo.

"This..." he handed him an almost invisible string. It was leading deep into the jungle further back.

"What is that?" Hao Xuan inquired since he had no idea what that meant.

"One of the local tribes of this place, this is their signature," Kuo replied with furrowed brows.

"Tribes? People LIVE here? In the jungle?" Hao Xuan was speechless. Why the hell would anyone choose to live in such a place?

"Yes. But they're not exactly 'normal' people. They have been here since before the kingdom was formed. They live away from everyone. The military generals had an agreement with them. They wouldn't go against the Mei kingdom if the poison quarry and other such places were not disturbed," Kuo replied with a nod.

"Oh, so what's so special about these people?" Hao Xuan asked.

"Their abilities, physical appearances, and customs differ significantly from the norm. There is a tribe here whose people have abilities like spiders, and appearances. They aren't exactly beasts but not completely human either."

"So this was is a spider web? Was it left by one of them on purpose?"

"Most probably. Their webs are like extensions of themselves. They don't just leave them behind like this. It can be turned softer than silk and stronger than diamonds. I think the owner of this string wanted us to follow them for some reason," Kuo explained, still examining the string.

"Alright, let's go then." Hao Xuan said without any hesitation and started following it.

"But what if its a trap?" Shouted Kuo from behind.

"Then let's spring it. I got shit to do, been here way too long. If they wanna play like this then so be it," he shouted back without turning his head and disappeared in the foliage.

"I think he has a few screws loose," Maddy whispered to Hashirama but everyone still heard him.

"I know right? It's so awesome," Jin Wang said with a grin and followed after Hao Xuan.

"Was he always like this?" Maddy asked after a few seconds of silence. Hashirama shook his head in response and along with everyone else started following after them as well.