Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
War is like a game of chess. Some one said.
But in fact, war is much more complicated than a game of chess in terms of the numerous changes.
Zaganide intended to delay the time of Beitman’s counterattack and to distract its plans by sending the guards of vampires to the rear of Beitman. But neither the owner of Beitman, nor Zaganide himself, had expected the changesof situation later.
If Zaganide was considered the most notorious territory owner on this mainland, then his guards of vampires were the most notorious troops. Even crimes such as raping and looting were too gentle for them.
Soldiers in a war eat the meat of their enemies when hungry, and drink their blood when thirsty. This was a line from a poem written by a Chinese poet to describe and vent his in-depth hatred to the enemies. While the guards of vampires had turned into reality all these incredible things.
They were like mad dogs in the past, but the chains on their necks were always grabbed in hand of Zaganide. They would bite as he ordered, and lie down on the feet of him obediently again when the bite had been done. But now, they were totally out of control. Not to mention being controlled by Zaganide who was still far away in the underground city, even their direct commanders could not constrain them, and sometimes even couldn’t find them.
The brutality and madness of the vampires suppressed by Zaganide in the past were all vented when they were released. They had forgotten their tasks and missions, and were indulged in slaughtering. Both inside and outside the mountains, and on the field, as well by the riversides, there were all corpses and streams of blood.
Even their master Zaganide was caught off guard, let alone the others like Han Jin. The way northward was especially hard. The first day, Han Jin and the others would still summarize their experience and discuss the layout and tackling scheme for the next day. But on the second day, they had felt extremely tired and had no energy to plan for the third day at all. When the third day was gone, they had already become numb to it.
Small-scaled attacks occurred everywhere at any time. Sometimes even one vampire alone dared to attack them with hideous grin on its face. Of course it would flee away as soon as it found the situation wasat a disadvantage. As for whether they could kill it or not, it would rely on the cooperation among them.
The most annoying problem was, a heavy burden was gradually crept on their shoulders. During the slaughter carried out by the vampires, there would be, more or less, some survivals, who would disperse the news to other villages, and run away together with the villagers. Roads were scattered with fugitives. While the energy of vampires waslimited.They needed rest too. This provided time and opportunity for villagers to run away in the cracks.
Most intelligent animals, including human beings, were sociable creatures. They liked to gather together spontaneously, especially in crisis. Behind the team of Han Jin was such a tail of refugees. About four or five hundred villagers were following them closely.
The situation was turning severer and severer, and the attacks against the team became more and more frequent. They all knew that this tail had brought great trouble for them. The guards of vampires could find them more easily even far away due to this long tail. This distracted them.
They had thought to drive all the villagers away by using violence. But as soon as this idea came to their mind, they would deny it themselves before speaking it out. None of them could harden their hearts when seeing those faces and eyes longing for survival, which had become a luxury demand. This cruel reality itself was infectious enough to touch those kind-hearted people.
They accepted this tail finally, though the acceptance had gone through a long process from distraction to helplessness. It’s the instinct of human beings to avoid impending trouble and seek good luck. To march with such a long tail was quite a reluctant decision.
It was already noon of the fifth day. The teamstopped to have lunch. The villagers also sat down for rest. The whole morning was disquieting, making them too tired to say anything during lunch.
“Damn! Where have the troops from Beitman gone?” Cursed Moxinke suddenly, breaking the silence.
“I am doubting whether Beitman has prepared for the war or not? Why it made no reaction at all in the past days?” Sunier said with a bitter smile.
“But they do have made preparation for the whole winter, haven’t they?” Cessacioun asked slowly.
They all kept silent again. No one could answer him. Reg was going to say something, but he swallowed his words back immediately.
A little girl about five or six years oldtrotted to them. She stopped at a distance of several meters in front of them, nibbling her own finger, and looking at them quietly.
“May I help you, little girl?” Cessacioun asked smilingly.
The girl nodded. She ran to Cessacioun, took out a handful of beans from her pocket, and passed them to him.
Cessacioun was stunned. He reached out his right hand. The girl put the beans into his palm, and put her hand into pocket again. But this time, there were only few beans in her hand. Her pocket had already been emptied. The girl giggled, running back with small steps.
A young couple came to them and pulled the little girl aside, their faces full of ingratiating smile. They had never had the chance before to talk tostrong professionals directly,thus the expression on their faces were very stiff.
“Naughty girl, I have told you not to disturb the lords, why don’t you listen to me!” They scolded. The girl felt wronged, tears shedding down from her eyes.
“Don’t blame her.” Little Joseph said in a loud voice, showing sympathy for the girl.
The couple was surprised. They apologized to little Joseph immediately. Though he was just a boy, he must be someone marvelous in the eyes of the couple since he could stay with those ‘lords’.
“Ha! Little boy, you should know how to care for girls!” Moxinke laughed.
Little Joseph blushed suddenly and lowered down his head.
“Ha ha… Look at him. The boy blushes. He really knows…” Moxinke shouted excitedly as if he had found some treasures.
“Know what?” Sylner gave him a ferocious look, “Do you think every one is like you? You never know how to care for a girl!”
“Me… What does this have to do with me?”
“Think it by yourself!”
“Well, well. We are all listening.” Han Jin said in a low voice, considering to have a talk with Sylner someday later. Her behaviors toward Moxinke was too unacceptable. But… would she listen to him? Han Jin was not sure.
Cessacioun was playing with the beans in his hand. He picked one up and was going to throw it into his mouth. “Think clearly before eating. This is not an ordinary bean, but the bean exchanged by your life.” Sunier said abruptly.
Cessacioun was stunned. He soon understood her. “Exchanged by my life? So what?” This said, the bean had been thrown into his mouth.
Han Jin let out a sigh in his heart. They should try to get rid of these villagers, if they don’t want to be encumbered by them. The longer tail they had, the more likely they would be attacked by the vampires. However, none of them would approve this, including Han Jin himself.
If they really came across hundreds of vampires, they would absolutely not risk their own lives to save the villagers. But now, all the risks were potential. So their vigilance was relaxed.
“Are you gonna eat or not?” Cessacioun asked smilingly.
“Beans exchanged by life? Let me have a try.” Moxinke grabbed some, and threw them into mouth.
“What about you, Raphael?” Cessacioun reached his hand to Han Jin.
Han Jin showed a smile. Since he could test others, they could test him too. He took away all the remaining beans from Cessacioun’s palm. “I have never eaten such kind of things in the past. They are all mine.” He said in a low voice.
Sunier did not say anything more. She just sat there quietly, looking at them. No one was more sophisticated than her in terms of personal experience. The difficulties and bloodiness to fight and survive a war was unimaginable to them all. That was also why she always acted so independently all the time.
“I wish we won’t come across large group of vampires.” She said slowly.
“Our luck is not that bad. And the guards of vampires had already scattered themselves.” Cessacioun said, shaking his head.
Inspired by the little girl, the other villagers found a good way to communicate with the ‘lords’. The kids of them came one after another, bringingthem all kinds of food and even copper coins or silver coins. The camp was a bit messed up.
“Clean these things up, Steelberg. Take the food, and give back the money.” Han Jin said.
Steelberg jumped up without delay. He called the children to take the money away. They were all rich people now,such money countednothing for them, but much for the villagers.
The villagers didn’t gave up. They elected several elders to talk to Steelberg on behalf of them all. They claimed it was just a little token of their appreciation and wished Steelberg to accept it. Steelberg wouldn’tof course. He tried every mean to refuse them, but the villagers still insisted. Their faces flushed due to arguing. It might bethe first time that Steelberg had received such respect since he was born, he was extremely excited and even desperate.
Just then, a harsh sound came from afar. Their expression all changed. In the sky there were several black dots flying closer and closer to them. A moment later, the dotshad already reached above the crowd, hovering.
“Damn!The pesky monsters! Why can’t they leave us alone!” Moxinke cursed, standing up after taking his giant sword.
Thevillagers were all scared and rushed to Han Jin, carrying their kids. The experience these days had taught them that the closer they stood beside the lords, the safer they would be.
Sunier bent her long bow instantly and shot out anaimless arrow. A streak of faint dark light streaked across the vast sky. The vampire being targeted flickered its wings fiercely and dived down in a diagonal direction to dodge the arrow. Then it folded its wings and dropped down into the crowd heavily like a stone.
“Make way!” Moxinke roared and rushed forward. But the crowd was still flooded to him crazily, making him unable to move his body quickly.
