Chapter 291

Three days later.

Within the mountain forests shrouded in thin mist, a team of beastmen were clearing the battlefield.

“Tch, and these people call themselves Shaman's Son guards,” a horned beastman warrior who looked to be in his early twenties said boastfully while hoisting a corpse onto his shoulder, “I think they're even less impressive than the Gold-devouring beastmen from a few days ago!”

The young horned beastman's words drew laughter from the surrounding beastmen.

Someone chimed in: “Yeah, they were way too easy to fight. We hadn't even used our full strength yet, and they already abandoned their own Shaman's Son, scrambling desperately into the forest. So useless!”

Everyone chatted and laughed, clearly not exhausted from the battle that had just ended.

“What nonsense are you spouting!” Lang Zhan walked over from behind and smacked the young horned beastman on the back of the head, “We outnumbered their warriors. Are you really proud of winning a fight like that?”

The young beastman made a face at his companions behind Lang Zhan's back. Lang Zhan kicked him in the rear: “Hurry up and throw these corpses into the valley! The food at the temporary camp is already cooking. Don't you want to eat?!”

The beastmen's eyes all lit up at the mention of food. They had been traveling for days with little time to eat and were starving.

“Quick, quick, quick! This is the last trip. After we deliver these, we go back to camp to eat!”

“These beastmen can't fight, but they sure brought a lot of food,” a muscular beastman said while swallowing saliva, “I took a quick look; there's even more food here than in the Gold-devouring camp. Most of it is meat!”

Winter was half over, and everyone was living frugally. It had been a long time since they had seen so much meat.

The group quickly disposed of the corpses. As soon as they neared the temporary camp set up in the forest, the rich aroma of roasted meat wafted towards them.

The men instantly broke into a run, howling and whooping as they charged towards the fires.

“Quick, give me a piece!” “Don't grab! That piece isn't cooked yet!”

Lang Zhan didn't join them for food but walked straight into the large tent in the center of the camp.

In the previous battle, the Silver Moon and Sacred Antelope warriors had not only successfully annihilated the enemy but also captured this temporary camp.

The only slight regret was that Shaman's Son Xun had died in the chaos.

To be fair, this couldn't be blamed on the warriors from the two tribes. Xun's guards had no will to protect their master. Faced with the charging beastman army, their formation immediately collapsed.

The unprotected Shaman's Son Xun could only transform into his beast form to try and escape. Unfortunately, as a sub-beastman, his beast form was too small. By the time Qi Bai and Lang Ze found him, Shaman's Son Xun had already died from being trampled, his body riddled with several large holes.

The tent Lang Zhan entered now was originally Shaman's Son Xun's tent.

Inside, it was equipped with carpets and braziers—clearly, Shaman's Son Xun had not deprived himself of comforts while traveling.

Qi Bai and Ling Ping were sorting out the beast skin cloaks. These were valuable items; wearing them could at least briefly deceive those Blood Bone warriors. As for the fact that these cloaks were stripped from the dead, it wasn't an issue for beastmen who had no such taboos.

The beast skin curtain at the tent entrance was pushed aside as Lang Ze strode in. Behind him followed Lang Zhan, Lang Sheng, and Ling Ta.

Qi Bai and Ling Ping put down what they were holding and went to meet the four newcomers.

Lang Ze and Lang Sheng were both wearing beast skin cloaks. Upon entering the tent, Lang Ze took his off and looked at Ling Ta: “How did it go?”

Besides leaving Lang Zhan to clean up the battlefield, Lang Ze had split the remaining forces into two groups. Ling Ta led several Sacred Antelope warriors to patrol the camp's perimeter and check for any escapees.

Lang Ze and Lang Sheng, meanwhile, went to the essential route leading to Ten Thousand Bones City—which was why they had changed into the Ten Thousand Bones cloaks. If they encountered anyone from the envoy group, these uniforms would provide the best disguise.

Ling Ta replied first: “We circled the camp a few times. Judging by the traces around, they've been stationed here for at least six days.”

Calculating from the time Shaman's Son Xun and his group departed, it could be inferred that they had been camped here ever since leaving Ten Thousand Bones City, never actually completing their patrol mission.

Lang Sheng said: “The adjacent road hasn't been disturbed. The envoy group probably hasn't arrived here yet.”

That made sense. Shaman's Son Xun specifically stationed his team here, likely to make contact with the envoy group *before* they entered Ten Thousand Bones.

If the envoy had already passed through, he wouldn't have been waiting here foolishly.

This situation aligned with what Lang Ze had observed. Lang Ze looked at Ling Ping and Ling Ta: “The two targets we discussed before have been successfully attacked. You can take the supplies from here and return to Mang Huang before the envoy arrives.”

Lang Ze sat on Shaman's Son Xun's stool, one hand supporting his chin. Even though he was seated lower than everyone else, Ling Ping felt an overwhelming, (lofty and commanding) aura from him.

She exchanged a glance with Ling Ta. The previous two battles were something Lang Zhan had discussed with their tribe leader back at the Sacred Antelope village. In principle, having fulfilled their agreement and erased any traces of Sacred Antelope involvement from the battles, the Sacred Antelope tribe could withdraw completely.

But Ling Ping, having tasted success, was unwilling to just return like this: “Ten Thousand Bones' guard teams are weaker than we imagined. We could continue targeting some isolated small teams.”

Qi Bai shook his head: “The envoy from the Upper City will arrive soon. The people in Ten Thousand Bones City are tightening their city defenses. They won't be sending large guard teams out of the city for a while.”

In fact, if not for Shaman's Son Lai wanting to sideline Shaman's Son Xun to monopolize the entry food from the beastmen, a patrol mission this close to the city wouldn't have required such a large team.

Ling Ta asked: “Then will you still stay here?”

The Silver Moon warriors certainly wouldn't stay here. Lang Ze said: “There is a hidden cave near Ten Thousand Bones. I will move the warriors there.”

Ling Ta frowned. During these days of fighting alongside the Silver Moon tribe, he had somewhat realized that Lang Ze and his people were very interested in the arrival of that envoy group.

If nothing else, the fact that Lang Ze personally went to scout the main road showed their level of (importance/attention).

But he didn't understand: since that envoy group was so important, why were Lang Ze and his people planning to leave beforehand?

“Ten Thousand Bones City is about to experience major changes. The Silver Moon warriors will prepare to assault Ten Thousand Bones at any time.”

Lang Ze's expression was calm, but his words caused everyone present except Qi Bai to hold their breath involuntarily.

“You plan to...” Ling Ping stammered, somewhat unable to control herself, “This... how is this possible?”

Ten Thousand Bones City was, after all, a Middle City. How could the Silver Moon tribe, with just these people, possibly win? If nothing else, simply approaching those high city walls would be impossible.

Lang Ze looked at the doubtful Ling Ping and Ling Ta: “I cannot share excessive information with you. But you can believe that Silver Moon's allies are certainly not limited to just the Sacred Antelope. Therefore, I hope the Sacred Antelope, guardians of Mang Huang, will join this battle.”

Ling Ping took a step back towards Ling Ta.

If such a proposal had been made just a few days ago, even the pro-war Ling Ping would have firmly refused.

Ten Thousand Bones City had over ten thousand beastmen. How could the Sacred Antelope tribe possibly be their match?

But now, they couldn't immediately refute it.

The victories in these two battles, especially the fight against the Gold-devouring beastmen who had trapped their tribe for two years, made Ling Ping and Ling Ta acutely aware of Lang Ze and the Silver Moon tribe's combat prowess.

Lang Ze was definitely not boasting now. If he said it, he truly had confidence that he could breach Ten Thousand Bones City.

Ling Ping suddenly understood: “Destroying the Gold-devouring and Shaman's Son Xun's camps... you did all this to cut off Ten Thousand Bones City's reinforcements. You had everything planned out from the very beginning.”

“Correct,” Lang Ze said, “Once danger arises within the city, the Gold-devouring beastmen at the foot of the Mana Mountains would pose the greatest threat to us.”

A full-strength Gold-devouring warrior burning through their lifespan could (burst out/erupt) with combat power rivaling a first-level warrior. Only by eliminating this force in advance could they avoid worrying about an attack from behind.

As for Shaman's Son Xun's guard team, they could be considered one-sixth of Ten Thousand Bones City's guard force. Intercepting and killing them outside the city would also significantly weaken Ten Thousand Bones' defensive capabilities.

These two vulnerabilities were offered up by Ten Thousand Bones City itself; of course, they couldn't let them slip by.

Ling Ping's fists clenched and unclenched: “We need to think about it.”

After the others left, the inside and outside of the tent quickly fell quiet.

The warriors, having marched hard for days, finally had a full meal and warm tents. They soon fell into a deep sleep.

The camp was (completely quiet), only the crackling of the fires near the sentries breaking the silence.

Qi Bai stood inside the tent, gazing out at the silent camp, lost in thought.

Lang Ze walked to his side, looking in the direction Qi Bai was staring: “Thinking about what Ji said again?”

Qi Bai turned his head and buried it in his partner's chest. He rubbed his head against Lang Ze's chin, his voice somewhat muffled: “Do you think he's trustworthy?”

Facing his partner's (sticky, clingy acting cute/sulking), Lang Ze's lips couldn't help but curve upwards slightly: “Even without the Evil Bone tribe, there would be Evil Tiger, Evil Lion, Evil Bear tribes. As long as Gu Jin exists in the Mana Mountains, those with greed will not easily give up.”

“We cannot stay in Ten Thousand Bones forever. If someone must remain here to guard the Mana Mountains, I believe that person is Ji.”

More importantly, by then, Black Glory would have an ally in the south. They could obtain information about the Beast God City and the Upper City through Ji, and even develop trade relations with him.

These were all crucial resources for Black Glory. To achieve this, Hu Ji was the key.

Qi Bai tilted his head: “But we don't know the people of the Blazing Tiger tribe. Do you think they will heed Ji's call?”

“If Ji cannot fulfill his promise, our forces will not enter the city. No need to worry.”

Qi Bai patted his cheeks, perking up: “That's true too.”

When the time comes, he and Lang Ze would be inside the city. If the situation truly turned bad, they could always find a way to escape on their own, without involving the other Silver Moon and Sacred Antelope beastmen.

Early the next morning, the entire team broke camp and departed.

Ling Ping and Ling Ta still hadn't given Qi Bai and Lang Ze a definite answer, but they also didn't immediately start their return journey. Instead, they followed the Silver Moon tribesmen, hiding together within the great mountains.