Chapter 11: Poison Stingers

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Facing such a sudden, fierce attack, the unarmored barbarians suffered heavy casualties. Other than a lucky few, all of them were blasted into pieces by the light beams of the Evil Eyes.

Seeing the barren land before them and the giant rocks blasted to smithereens, the people who were saved were dumbfounded. No one would have expected the merciless barbarians to be reduced to nothing in just the blink of an eye.

“Thank you sir, for saving us!” After realizing that he was not dreaming, the surprised Casey knelt before Yang Ling. Quickly, under his lead, the rest of the people knelt as well.

“Stand up, it was nothing, you need not pay too much heed to it!” After sending a group of Horned Bee Beasts to patrol the surroundings, Yang Ling returned the rest of his Magical Beast army.

“Thank you for saving us!”

“You will definitely have good karma for having such a good heart!”

…

After repeatedly thanking Yang Ling, the group of people stood up and cried tears of joy. They were incredibly excited, having successfully escaped with their lives. Only a skinny girl continued kneeling in grief. She cried and pleaded, “Sir, please save Alice’s grandfather, he is going to be pushed into the abyss by the barbarians!”

The young girl cried as she crawled toward Yang Ling. Her eyes were red, swollen and filled with tears. Her knees seemed to be injured, perhaps scraped by the rocks on the ground. She left behind a trail of blood wherever she passed.

“Sir, please save Alice’s grandfather, Alice is willing to become your servant until death, sir…”

Alice cried as she lifted her head, her tears falling on her long eyelashes. Her large bright eyes were filled with boundless grief. Her skinny shoulders and slender waist made her look even more pitiful.

Yang Ling had wanted to leave after saving this group of people, but he was unable to decline after seeing the pitiful Alice.

At the same time, as they saw the grieving Alice, the rest of the group also wanted to kneel and plead for Yang Ling’s help. But when they recalled how heavily guarded the barbarian tribe was, as well as the brave warriors within the tribe, they began to hesitate. Even though Yang Ling was powerful, he was but one person. How could they allow their benefactor to risk his life?

“Sir, we still have dozens of family members in the hands of the barbarians. Do you have any followers or partners around?”

As a wandering troop for many years, Casey understood that a powerful Summoner like Yang Ling would have several powerful followers around him. If Yang Ling was willing to help, then saving the people from the barbarian tribe was not a hopeless situation.

Followers?

Yang Ling gave a bitter smile. He was alone, and the only reinforcements he had nearby were the elf tribe. But the elves were preparing for Ymir’s attack, so it wasn’t feasible to ask them for an army.

After conversing for a few minutes, Yang Ling got the general idea of what happened. It turned out that the barbarians had captured a large number of risk takers who entered Terras Forest. They kept the humans captive, and they would drag one of them out once every couple of days and push them into a deep hole as a sacrifice.

A few hours ago, Casey and the group had risked their lives and escaped their cells. But the barbarians reacted quickly. Most of the people did not have the opportunity to escape. And that included Alice’s elderly grandfather.

“They’re using living humans as sacrifices?” Yang Ling shook his head. He recalled the African tribes back on Earth that roasted humans as if they were wild boars. He hesitated for a moment before clenching his teeth. “Since that is the case, then I guess I’ll have to make a trip there!”

Even though the barbarians were powerful and had the numbers advantage, Yang Ling believed that even if he could not save everyone with his Magical Beast army, his abilities would be enough for him to escape to safety if he needed to. Heading to the barbarian tribe could not only allow him to save the captured humans, it would also reinforce his understanding of the local tribes of the area, a win-win situation.

After Yang Ling agreed, the group once again knelt in thanks. Many of them still had relatives trapped within the tribe. Tears flowed when they remembered their faces and the sound of their voices.

Without waiting, Yang Ling rejected the group’s request to follow, only bringing along Casey toward the barbarian tribe. Before he left, he released a Horned Bee Beast to guide the group to shelter at the nearby elf tribe. Even though the elves did not like humans very much, he thought that the elf elder would give him a little respect and allow the humans in.

“Sir, wait for me, I want to go with you!” The little girl Alice followed, determined, after they had advanced a distance. Yang Ling and Casey had to let her follow despite advising her against it, seeing how persistent she was.

The forest around the barbarian tribe was lined with ancient, sinister trees. The three of them would come across patrolling barbarian warriors or laughter from time to time, but under the guidance of the Horned Bee Beasts, they did not have to engage in any battles.

Scratch, scratch, scratch…

Suddenly, Alice missed her footing and screamed. Her scream jolted awake a sleeping Eber Eagle. Yang Ling saw the beast screech as it flapped its wings. In order to avoid getting the attention of the barbarians, Yang Ling let out a cold grunt and commanded the Horned Bee Beasts around him to swarm over, instantly shutting the mouth of the eagle.

Alice was shocked when she saw the speed of the Horned Bee Beasts, and how they devoured the unlucky Eber Eagle in the air in an instant. Luckily, Yang Ling had fast reactions. He held her waist with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. “Shhh, careful. Don’t make a sound, or we will alert the barbarian scouts!”

Hugging the petite Alice, brushing against her gentle, elastic skin, Yang Ling unintentionally caught a whiff of her faint fragrance. He instinctively looked downward. Her breasts were not large, but they were very perky. His heart was moved.

At the same time, being embraced tightly by Yang Ling and smelling the scent of an unfamiliar man, Alice felt flustered, and her face turned red. But seeing a group of patrolling barbarians make their way past them, all she could do was quietly lean into Yang Ling’s embrace.

After waiting for the barbarian scouts to pass them, the three of them once again continued on their journey. Along the way, they avoided the barbarians, finally arriving at the pine forest the tribe was situated in.

The area was surrounded by mountains and a river, and the only way in or out was a three-meter wide road. It was easy to defend, but hard to attack. Even Yang Ling was not confident that he could make it in without alerting anyone, much less the injured Casey and the inexperienced Alice.

“Sir, what are we going to do?” Casey was more and more impressed by Yang Ling after they managed to avoid the barbarian scouts under his lead. As for Alice, she would follow anything Yang Ling said. Yang Ling was now her only hope of saving her grandfather.

Yang Ling quickly gained the necessary intelligence after sending out a few more agile Horned Bee Beasts, but the information was rather depressing. There were many barbarian warriors guarding both ends of the road. There were also many guards patrolling the waters, making it impossible for them to infiltrate using the river. In that moment, Yang Ling could not think of any ideas other than fight their way in.

“Sir, what are we going to do? The sun is setting. If we don’t act soon, the barbarians are going to start their sacrificial ritual!” It was Alice’s grandfather’s turn to be sacrificed today. Alice was worried.

Seeing a thick black smoke rising from the barbarian tribe, as well as waves of wolf-like howls, Casey also became worried. The black smoke was the nightmare of the captured humans. Every time the black smoke rose, it meant that there would be one person thrown into the deep hole near the sacrificial altar of the barbarians.

“Sir, what are we going to do? Sir…” Alice’s eyes were red and swollen. She was worried out of her mind. If not for Casey grabbing tightly on her right hand, she might have charged forward without any deliberation.

What about a decoy?

Yang Ling suddenly had an idea as he looked at the narrow road and the barbarians guarding it. He came up with a bold plan. “Casey, charge out and pretend to attack, remember not to run up to them; Alice, get us some of the wild vines that are growing around the area, the more the better. You are in charge of tying the barbarians up.”

Even though he did not quite understand Yang Ling’s reasoning, Casey charged out without hesitation. Alice also quickly sprang into action. At the same time, Yang Ling jumped into the treetops and concealed himself.

“Die!” Casey lifted a barbarian’s giant axe he had picked up and charged toward a barbarian.

“Haha, trying to invade a tribe alone, you sure are dumber than a Sharo Boar!”

“Ha! You’re asking for death!”

…

The barbarians guarding the road laughed heartily when they saw Casey returning alone to invade the camp, not thinking too highly of him. But just as they were certain that the barbarians in front were going to split Casey in half, they suddenly heard them let out pathetic cries before slumping onto the ground.

“D*mn it, you’re asking for it!”

In their surprise, the barbarians charged forward, planning to turn Casey into mincemeat. Unexpectedly, they had just seen a Horned Bee Beast charging over when they felt their chests turn numb. They then felt as though they had lost their strength, and they could only watch helplessly as Casey kicked them away. Then Alice tied them up tightly.

At the critical moment, Yang Ling had thought to use the hundred Horned Bee Beasts that evolved to the second level. They could shoot out three poisonous stingers a day. Even though the poison was not enough to kill, it could make his enemies numb and render them incapable of movement or battle.

Even though the barbarians were powerful, they had almost no armor, making it hard for them to avoid the stealthy Horned Bee Beasts’ poisonous stingers. Yang Ling believed that as long as he was able to capture a batch of barbarian warriors, he could naturally do a hostage exchange with the leader of the barbarians. He might even be able to extort them.