Chapter Eighty-Three Burden

  Some people liken war to a game of chess.

  In fact, compared with all sorts of changes on a chessboard, war is much more complicated!

  Zaguné threw the Vampire Guard into the rear of the Vitezi League, intending to delay the Vitezi League's counterattack and disrupt their plans, but no one, including Zaguné himself, anticipated the subsequent changes.

  If Zha'thik is the most notorious lord in this region, then the Vampire Guard is the most notorious army. Plundering and pillaging are far too civilized for the Vampire Guard.

  Mighty warriors feast on barbarian meat, laughing and drinking the blood of the Xiongnu. These two lines of poetry express a deep-seated hatred, but the Bloodsucking Guard has turned all unimaginable, unthinkable things into reality.

  In the past, the Vampire Guard was a mad dog, but the chain was always held in Zaganed's hand. Zaganed would let them bite people and they would move, after biting people, they would lie down obediently at Zaganed's feet. Now, the Vampire Guard has completely lost control, not to mention Zaganed who is far away in the underground city, even the leader of the Vampire Guard cannot restrain his subordinates, and can't even find his own subordinates.

  The brutal violence that had been suppressed by Zha Gu Nei De was thoroughly released, and the Vampire Guard went completely crazy. They had forgotten their goals and tasks, and were killing for the sake of killing. The mountains, fields, and riverbanks were all filled with rivers of blood, a true hell on earth.

  Even the master, Zha Gu Nede, was caught off guard, let alone Han Jin and others. The journey northward can be said to be arduous. On the first day, they could still summarize their experience, consider tomorrow's deployment and response plan. On the second day, they felt very tired. By the third day, they had become numb.

  Small-scale ambushes were everywhere, at all times. Sometimes, one or two vampires would even dare to launch a surprise attack on them with a sneer. Of course, upon discovering the situation was not in their favor, the vampires would flee at top speed. As for whether they could keep the vampires from escaping, that depended on the skills of Han Jin and his team, as well as their coordination with each other.

  What's most painful is that they shouldered a heavy burden, in the Vampire Guards' massacre, there would be a few survivors who would spread the news to the rest of the villages, and then the villagers started fleeing en masse. On the road, everywhere was filled with such refugees. The vampires' energy was also limited, unable to vent all day long, which gave people a chance to survive.

  Intelligent life is mostly group-based, especially in times of crisis. They always spontaneously gather together, and behind Han Jin and the others, a tail of nearly four or five hundred villagers followed closely behind them.

  Needless to say. Everyone is well aware of the gravity of the situation. They've been attacked more and more times. Dragging such a big tail behind them. Vampires can spot them from afar. It's unbearable.

  Should violence be used? Should all the villagers be driven away? It must be acknowledged. Everyone has had this thought. But before it was even spoken, it was vetoed by oneself. Facing those faces and eyes that yearn for survival, who can bear to do so? When survival has become a luxury, this reality itself has a kind of infectious power, enough to move the majority of people.

  Of course. From the initial annoyance to the later helplessness, and now to resignation. There is a process of change in attitude. It's impossible to achieve overnight. Because everyone has an instinct to avoid evil and seek good fortune. Now that it has come to this point, it's really helpless.

  It was noon on the fifth day. Han Jin and others stopped to prepare lunch. The villagers behind also took a break to rest after another frustrating morning. Throughout the entire lunch, no one said a word. They were just too tired.

  "Motherland! Where on earth did the Byterian army run off to?" Mo Xing Ke suddenly cursed viciously.

  "I'm very skeptical. Did Baiter Alliance really make good war preparations? It's been several days already, how come there's no reaction at all?" Xanier said with a bitter smile.

  "They've been preparing for an entire winter! Should... be about it?" Sasori said slowly.

  Everyone fell silent and no one could answer Sasou's question. Lai Zhe opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed his words back again.

  At this moment, a little girl about five or six years old ran over with small steps and stood still several meters away, holding her own fingers and quietly watching everyone.

  "Hey little guy, what's up?" Sasou asked with a smile.

  "Uh-huh." The little girl nodded vigorously and then ran to Sasori, pulled out a handful of beans from her pocket and handed them to him.

  Sasou was stunned, stretched out his right hand, and the little girl put the beans in Sasou's palm. Then she dug into her pocket again, but her small pouch had limited capacity, and this time only a few grains came out. The little girl giggled and ran back with small steps.

  A young couple came forward, holding the little girl, their faces filled with a flattering smile, but this world was very harsh to them, never giving them the opportunity to come into contact with the strong, so their expressions were extremely stiff.

  "Tell you not to disturb the adults' rest, why don't you listen!" The young couple's scolding voice came over, and the little girl looked very wronged, with big eyes full of tears.

  "Don't talk about her like that!" Little Joseph shouted loudly.

  The couple was startled and hastily nodded and smiled at little Joseph, although he was young, but being able to be with the adults naturally made him a remarkable young man.

  "Hey, kiddo, you're already learning how to sympathize with girls at this age?" Mo Xinkai said with a strange smile.

  Little Joseph's face turned red and he lowered his head without saying a word.

  "Haha... did you see that? This little guy's face turned red, looks like he really knows..." Mo Xinkai exclaimed as if he had discovered a treasure.

  "What do you know?" Xue Lina said viciously: "Do you think everyone is like you? Never knowing how to care for others!"

  "What...what's wrong with me?"

  "What do you think?"

  "Alright, alright, people are watching." Han Jin said in a low voice, it seems that he should find an opportunity to talk to Xilina, this way is not good for men, only... I don't know if Xilina can accept his opinion.

  Sasou was playing with the beans in his hand, picked one up and was about to put it in his mouth when Xian Ni'er suddenly said: "Think carefully before eating, this is not an ordinary bean, it's a life-selling bean."

  Sasori was taken aback for a moment before he understood Sennelier's meaning: "What about the life fruit? What does that have to do with anything?" By the time he finished speaking, he had already put the bean fruit in his mouth.

  Han Jin sighed inwardly, from a purely self-interested perspective, they should think of ways to drive these villagers away, because the more people gathered, the higher the chances of encountering vampires. But his idea was not feasible, and he couldn't bear it himself.

  If they encountered over a hundred vampires attacking humans, they would definitely not go to rescue people, that's purely asking for death. Now the crisis is latent and invisible, so everyone's guard is very relaxed.

  "Are you going to eat?" Sasou asked with a smile.

  "Is it worth risking one's life? I'll try some too." Moshenke casually grabbed a small handful and put them all in his mouth. "Raphael, how about you?" Sasou handed the hand to Han Jin.

  Han Jin smiled, he had tried to probe others with various methods, and naturally others would also try to probe him, this was normal. Han Jin picked up the remaining bean fruits and said softly: "I haven't eaten such things before, don't fight with me for them."

  Xian Ni'er wasn't in a hurry to express anything, she just sat there quietly, talking about her personal experiences. Perhaps no one here is qualified to compare with her, the hardships and bloodshed of fighting for thousands of miles and narrowly escaping death nine times are unimaginable to ordinary people, and this has cultivated her independent personality.

  "I just hope we don't run into a large group of vampires," Xanthe said slowly.

  "Our luck can't be that bad, besides, hasn't the Vampire Guard been dispersed already?" Sasori said.

  Under the guidance of that little girl, the villagers suddenly found a good way to communicate with adults. One by one, children ran over and placed all kinds of food next to everyone, some even throwing down copper coins or silver coins. The temporary camp was in a bit of disarray.

  "Stilberg, collect your things, we've finished eating, and return the money." Han Jin said.

  Stillberg hastily jumped up and beckoned the children to take away the coins, Han Jin and others were all rich people, this little money was just a drop in the bucket for them, but for the villagers it was a not small expenditure.

  The villagers temporarily elected several elderly people to come forward and talk to Stillberg, saying that it was a small intention of everyone, asking Stillberg to accept it. Stillberg would not accept it, and the two sides argued with red faces. In these decades, Stillberg has probably never been respected like this before, and he didn't know whether he was excited or anxious, his face was completely red.

  Just then, a faint whistling sound came from afar, and everyone's face changed slightly as they looked up at the sky together. Several black dots flew closer and closer, and in an instant, they had arrived above the crowd, circling ceaselessly.

  "Damn it, these annoying monsters won't let people have a moment's peace!" Mo Xinko cursed and then grabbed the giant sword and stood up.

  The crowd was in a state of great disorder, and the villagers, carrying their children, rushed towards Han Jin and others, as the experiences of the past few days had clearly told them that the closer they were to the adults, the safer they would be.

  Xian Ni Er swiftly drew her longbow and shot an arrow without aiming, a faint dark light streaked across the sky, the vampire who was the target flapped its wings wildly and dived down at an angle, avoiding Xian Ni Er's arrow, then retracted its wings and plunged into the crowd like a stone.

  "Get out of the way!" Mo Xinko roared as he charged forward, but the crowd surged towards him like a madman, and he couldn't even move his body.