Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
A short period of time later, Cessacioun and Reg came back in a hurry with their faces full of excitement. “I would have never expected that we could travel such a long distance in one night! Plus, we are moving in the right direction. Keep walking along this direction for another twenty or so more miles, and we’ll soon be in the West City!”
“The West City… is able to guarantee our safety, isn’t it?” Han Jin asked.
“Yes, it is.” Reg nodded. “Even if all the vampires gathered together, it would be difficult for them to occupy it.”
“Steelberg, tell the villagers that the West City is not far away. Ask them to keep moving.”
“Yes, Young Master.” Steelberg jumped up and ran back straight away.
“Are you okay?” Han Jin looked at Reg.
The sudden question puzzled him, but he immediately understood it. After thinking about it for a moment, Reg said, “Rest assured, I can manage it. They won’t be able to recognize me.”
“I hope so. Everybody get ready!” Han Jin’s eyes swept across all of them. “Sylner, come with me. I need to talk to you.”
They were all surprised, especially Moxinke, who was still half awake. His eyes opened wide and stared at Han Jin.
Sylner didn’t mind it at all and casually followed Han Jin. Suddenly, her face turned red, and she started acting bashfully after hearing what Han Jin had to say.
Moxinke’s eyes protruded, and the veins on his forehead popped. He worriedly scratched his ears and cheeks. He was caught in a huge dilemma. He had an urge to walk over and ask them what they were talking about, but he controlled himself because he trusted them.
Even Sunier became curious. She held her breath and shook her two pointy ears from time to time, trying to get a hint of what was happening over there.
“You know what, Moxinke is being really frantic now… Don’t look back… He is watching us… He really cares about you… If I make any petty actions right now, he will definitely chop me up into pieces with his sword… I am not going to reproach you, but your attitude toward him is really inappropriate. Unless you are trying to drive him away… dealing with a man is like training a horse. You can’t grab onto the reins too tightly and lash at it all the time. Do you know what we put into consideration when judging a woman? Gentleness… A woman may not be pretty, but she must be gentle… Try to do as I say. It will surprise you…”
Sunier almost burst into laughter. She cast a sympathetic glance at Moxinke. This guy was far more emotionally inferior to Han Jin. With Han Jin’s help, Slyner was definitely going to win. Moxinke’s future would definitely be questionable.
When Han Jin and Sylner came back, Moxinke immediately asked, “What were you guys talking about?”
“We were just discussing the mercenary team,” Han Jin replied with a smile. He didn’t dare to tease Moxinke any more. otherwise this guy might really turn against him.
“It’s none of your business!” Sylner gave Moxinke a triumphant look. She chuckled to herself when she saw the worried and anxious expression on Moxinke’s face.
“It is my business!” Moxinke became even more anxious. He had known Sylner for several years, and had never seen such bashful expressions on her. His chest was going to explode.
Han Jin gave a dry cough. What he had said before had become totally useless. He had repeated to her several times just now that a woman must be gentle, gentle, gentle! Had she really listened to him?!
“Ah!” Sylner suddenly realised her mistake. She forced an expression full of affection and looked at Moxinke with a pair of puppy eyes. “There are so many people watching us… I will tell you later. Please don’t be angry…”
The others were all stupefied. They were surprised to see such an expression and hear such a tone from Sylner. Even Moxinke was stunned on the spot. “Are… you alright? Were you been bitten by vampires?” he stammered after a long time.
Sylner was really pissed off. She wanted to punch Moxinke in his face and stomp on him, but Han Jin’s words echoed in her ears. She tried her best to control her emotions and twisted her body, giving Moxinke a push while speaking in a sweet voice, “Meanie…” Unfortunately, she was so strong that Moxinke started swaying.
At the same time, all the villagers started gathering around them as they found out that West City was just about 20 miles further. They had come to thank them, and also to bid farewell. Unlike the nobles, the villagers were all uneducated people with limited vocabularies to express their gratitude. All they could say was a simple ‘thank you’.
Some of the seniors even started raising money to pay this mercenary team as a commission. However, the money was nothing in Han Jin’s eyes. Plus, he didn’t protect the villagers for the money. He turned them down, but the villagers insisted that he should take the money. This state lasted for quite some time until Sunier persuaded them. She told the villagers that it might be hard for them to find suitable jobs after arriving in West City, and that they should rely on their money to make a living. Only then did the villagers finally agree to take their money back.
However, they kept thanking Han Jin for his kindness. There were already droplets of sweat trickling down Han Jin’s forehead. He was not used to these situations, and was a little annoyed. One of them said, “Thank you,” and he replied. “Not at all.” Then another one said, “Thank you,” and he replied the same way again. The thank-you’s kept coming, and Han Jin was already speechless. All he wanted to do was hit them so that they would leave him alone.
Finally, they bid the villagers goodbye. To avoid meeting them again, Han Jin deliberately waited for some time, and didn’t continue travelling until they had a good rest and ate some food in the town.
They were all in a good mood except for Han Jin. A good sleep the night before had refreshed all of them. Now, all of them were having a good time talking and laughing. Moxinke had forgotten the unhappiness from before, and was having a good talk with Sylner. Both of them walked in front of the group while the others silently followed…
If they knew that around thirty miles away, countless vampires were gathering and searching for them, they would have run away as fast as possible.
Vampires generally did not sweat due to their special physical features, but, one of them by the name of Blake was sweating profusely. Both his hands and feet were trembling.
“You still couldn’t find them?” Caroline asked icily. In order to capture the killers and avenge her child, she had personally participated in the hunt. “Why not search somewhere else?”
“They must be nearby, My Lord!” Blake replied firmly. “They have nearly four hundred people altogether without any carriages. Even though we were trapped by that strange magic circle, they couldn’t have gone far. It would be around ten miles or more at most. I’m guessing that… they are hiding in the magic circle!”
“You mean they’re still around here?”
“I am sure, My Lord. I would bet my life on it!”
“Well.” Caroline nodded slightly. She trusted the judgment of her subordinate.
The queue was made up of a mercenary team and hundreds of villagers. If the mercenaries had fled away by themselves, regardless of the safety of those villagers, they might have gone far away, but it was impossible for the villagers to escape or disappear. They must be hiding somewhere.
Han Jin and the others had already reached West City. Since the division within Beitman, the four owners of the acropolises had used up all of their expenses to reinforce their region. The defensive facilities of West City were on the same level of those of Beit City, the capital of Beitman. All the walls were made of special bricks. The corundum was made by alchemists, which possessed extremely strong defensive capabilities in terms of both physical and magical powers. Each gate was arranged with two magic crystal cannons. As for the power, the firing range and the amount of magic crystals consumed by the cannons were a military secret that none of the outsiders would know.
Behind the walls were rows of magic towers and watchtowers. They were all astonished by such a grand spectacle, and even wondered whether the city really had that many magicians inside.
The gate of the city was heavily guarded. Around hundreds of well-armed soldiers were checking each and every passing pedestrian. Outside the gate were hundreds and thousands of people waiting to enter, while inside the city, there weren’t many who wanted to leave. The news about the massive invasion of vampires had already spread. Though West City did not have enough military force to encircle and annihilate the vampires, they were still confident that they would still be able to protect themselves if they were invaded. Unless, if the vampires had great minds to do so.
Finally, it was their turn to enter after waiting for a long time. The guards immediately smiled at them after seeing Moxinke’s badge that was on his chest. They let them in without even checking.
As the saying goes, “If the lips are gone, the teeth will get cold.” All of them knew this. If one day the vampires really decided to invade West City, the mercenaries would no doubt assist them in resisting the invasion. The guards did not like mercenaries in the past because most mercenaries were provocative and unconstrained and would even cause trouble on a regular basis, but now, they wished that all the mercenaries would come. If they had enough mercenaries inside the city to participate in combat, they might even consider sending their regular army out to launch counterattacks.
Han Jin had never been so welcomed in the past six months, though he had been to several places. The commander of the guards had even dispatched four high grade warriors to lead the way. They showed great concerns for them along the way, and when they found out that this mercenary team did not want to live in a hotel but wanted to rent a courtyard by themselves, one of the warriors left and found one for them immediately.
The courtyard was owned by a small merchant who also wanted some professionals to be his neighbors. Thus, the rent was especially cheap; only over one golden coin each month.
Before leaving, the four warriors euphemistically told Han Jin that they wished for the team to report to the City Hall. In case the vampires were to invade, they could join the other mercenary teams for an organized resistance against the vampires. Otherwise, it might turn into a mess. Han Jin agreed without hesitation. He knew how cruel and brutal the vampires were after all those days. If West City were occupied, all the people inside it would be plunged into an abyss of misery. It was their responsibility to make their own contributions toward the defense.
