At noon, the sunshine is bright and beautiful. Just like the longing and yearning in the hearts of the Big Ear Monsters.

  Under the strong sunlight, the entire mountain surface seemed to have a layer of golden flavor. When the Big Ears saw yesterday's wrongly accused person walking towards their mountain stronghold, they all cheered as if celebrating a grand festival.

  The leader stood in front, standing with his legs apart and his hands on his hips. Although he hadn't slept all night, his spirit was now full and overflowing from his eyes, emitting a bright yellow light.

  He has been exhilarated by his own achievements. The total wealth accumulated by this group over the past decade is probably only a dozen gold coins, but just yesterday, he obtained thousands of times more wealth with his sharp diplomatic skills. His achievements are enough to make any great man in history blush.

  Last night, he was thinking about the wealth that was about to fall into his hands. Ten thousand gold coins, how much is that? It's really hard to grasp. One gold coin is equal to one hundred silver coins, one hundred silver coins are equal to one hundred copper coins, so one gold coin is... ten thousand copper coins! But then again, what is ten thousand? ...A handful of copper coins is about thirty or more, so ten thousand would be... three hundred or more handfuls! Three hundred or more handfuls! That's enough to fill this entire mountain stronghold, but you'd still need to add nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine more handfuls of thirty or more on top of that... That's a veritable ocean of money! Even if you closed your eyes and rolled around in it, you wouldn't have to worry about falling out, and with that kind of money, you could eat beef every day for many years... And if you had some beer to go with it, that would be even better...

  However, it seems that there is no horse team carrying a sea of money. The leader looks somewhat strange. "Where's the money?" As soon as the two men approached, he immediately walked up and asked impatiently.

  "It's too much, we can't take it all." This answer immediately matched the leader's imagination of a mountain-like pile of money in his mind, and he was convinced at once. The human who came yesterday looked around left and right. "Where is the person?"

  "It's still locked up over there, no damage done, don't worry." The leader was anxious. "Then you should also bring some over to take a look first. If it's too much for you to carry, we can go move them together."

  "Are people still locked up in their original places?" This person seemed very concerned. The leader nodded hastily.

  "That's great." The person seemed to have a tone of unexpected surprise, turned around and took another person directly towards the direction of the mountain cave.

  "Wait, we need to take them to get the money first." The leader shouted. But these two people not only didn't wait, but instead quickened their pace. Until they were close to the entrance of the cave, the leader realized something was wrong and yelled: "Catch them!"

  The large-eared monsters around them rushed towards the two. However, just as they pounced, a massive explosion sent three or four of the large-eared monsters flying into the air, and the others were also shocked to a great extent. All of the large-eared monsters were frightened by this sudden event and immediately stopped in their tracks.

  "It's just a magician. Don't be afraid, brothers, let's go." The leader, with rich combat experience, knew that a close-range magician was only a target for swords, so he drew out the short knife from his waist and charged forward on horseback.

  He directly rushed towards the person who had just cast a spell with one hand still stretched out. This was the big head who had readily agreed to the huge ransom yesterday, but now his behavior clearly indicated that the promise that had excited him all night was just a scam. Disappointment made the leader's originally inflated self-esteem drop into an abyss, and in anger, he decided to kill this guy first.

  The leader charged forward with a loud roar and stabbed the person with one knife. However, he immediately felt his hand tighten, his eyes daze, and his body suddenly flew up, crashing heavily into the mountain wall before he could react, almost disintegrating his entire body.

  There were only two of them. The big-eared monsters didn't show any fear, those who had weapons with them drew their swords and charged forward, some ran back to their homes to grab their weapons, while others rushed up empty-handed.

  The Big Eared Monsters' carefree Asa arrived, and the terrain was also clear that as long as he guarded the entrance, nothing would happen. The difference in combat power between the Big Eared Monsters and the two of them was not beyond his expectations, but he did not expect his own reaction.

  This was a real life-or-death gamble, and he didn't show any mercy. Just a few knives down, his body was already soaked in the blood of the big-eared monsters. The killing in the battlefield was completely different from hand-to-hand combat. Flying weapons were chopping and slashing everywhere, enemies kept approaching him non-stop, there was no time to think about actions or moves, almost only relying on fighting instincts to dodge and slash at every body that approached him.

  The feeling of the blade tearing through muscle and bone, the sight of the bright red nose with its bloody smell, the sound of screams and wails in his ears all merged together, then coalesced in his mind into a primitive, brutal, bestial frenzy that excluded all reason. And then, incredibly, a thrill of excitement rose up from within him. He was completely absorbed in this mad killing spree, and instead of heading towards the cave as planned, he turned around and charged at the Big Ears, hacking away.

  His body and back had been hit several times by the big-eared monsters, if it weren't for this long gown he would have been injured quite badly. But Asa still didn't care in the slightest, that clear feeling from meditation actually emerged from his body in this situation, making this bloodthirsty desire even more intense, he was completely indulged in the beastly excitement surging within his own body.

  Suddenly, a sensation completely different from the brutal impact of the weapon came from behind him, stable and peaceful with temperature. "Go to the entrance quickly!" A shout sounded behind him, and he was shocked out of that chaotic state and found himself in this situation. Rodhart had already rushed to the entrance, but seeing him rushing back into the group of big ear monsters, he followed him in.

  Asa calmed down, exerted himself and threw out another fireball. After a loud explosion, several big-eared monsters were blown away, opening up a gap in the encirclement. The two of them rushed out from the gap and ran to the entrance of the cave where Chris was being held captive, with their backs against the mountain wall.

  Kris had heard the commotion outside and ran to the wooden fence to take a look, saw two people covered in blood running towards the entrance of the cave, and was so frightened that she shrank back.

  A Sa didn't have time to reason with her, and looked at the big ear monsters slowly closing in. More than thirty of them had already fallen, and now they were very cautious about these two people, only daring to slowly form a circle more than ten steps away.

  "What's going on?" Rodhart was a bit out of breath, the several injuries on his body were not light, and he had just made an extremely risky move by charging into the encirclement.

  Asa licked the corner of his mouth. He had originally planned to have Rodhart guard the entrance, first to prevent the Big Ear monsters from grabbing Chris as a hostage, and secondly, not to worry about being surrounded at the entrance. Then he would rely on this long robe on his body to rush into the midst of the Big Ear monsters, slash and kill them, and put up a few magic spells, which would be enough to completely crush the Big Ear monsters' will to fight, and then it would be easy to solve. But now Rodhart's injuries were not light, and he had to come up with a new plan.

  But what to do? Asa's brain was spinning fast, but he couldn't think of any effective way. Instead, several big-eared monsters had already taken out their bows and arrows from their grass houses, looking like they were going to use them as targets from a distance.

  Suddenly a horseshoe sound came, and a team of horses appeared at the mountain stronghold gate.

  The cavalry, all holding long spears and sabers, charged towards the Big Eared Monsters from a distance. The first Big Eared Monster was immediately knocked to the ground, and the others scattered in all directions upon seeing this formation. Asa saw that the leader was Lord Borukin, who didn't have any weapons or armor, but rode on a tall horse, looking even smaller, yet he commanded the cavalry with skillful tactics.

  Baron Bulgan only ordered the cavalry to drive away and disperse the Big Ear Monster, without pursuing it. Then he rode over on his horse, looked at Asa and said: "Your Excellency, you should have informed me about this. Two people just rushed in like that, isn't it too reckless?"

  "It seems like I've taken a bit of a risk." Asa nodded in acknowledgement.

  "Luckily, I heard yesterday that you almost destroyed the entire city's taverns to find a helper, and I thought you'd probably do something like this. So today, I brought the entire city guard to wait nearby, sending people to monitor this place, and as soon as you two arrived, I rushed over with my men. Indeed, everything is going just as I expected. Is the Duchess's daughter unharmed?" Lord Borukan said with a self-satisfied swing of his large head.

  Asa turned around and cut off the lock on the wooden fence with one knife, and Chris ran out from inside. Seeing that the situation around her was completely under control, she suddenly looked around left and right, and saw the big-eared monster leader lying over there, rushed over and started kicking and trampling, shouting while kicking: "How dare you catch me? And lock me up for so long, do you know who I am?"

  It's just a child's play, nobody paid attention to it.

  Suddenly, the big-eared monster leader jumped up and grabbed Chris, holding a knife to her neck. This move was unexpected by everyone, Asa and Rodhart were too far away and couldn't rush over in time.

  "Give me everything, don't move!" The leader roared. Hearing this shout, the big-eared monsters who had scattered and escaped saw that their leader seemed to have regained the upper hand, and several of the bolder ones slowly ran back.

  And on this side, all humans just stared at each other in dismay, unsure of what to do.

  "You humans actually use such a conspiracy to frame us." The leader was furious, his green skin turning black and purple, making him look even uglier.

  Chris's neck was clutched, unable to shout. Her originally delicate and beautiful face was completely shrouded in a terrified expression, and with the green and pockmarked arm below, she looked like a canary waiting to be dissected.

  "Who's going to go cut off that guy's head for me," the leader bellowed, his already ugly face completely red with rage, like a gourd that had been stewing in a ditch for ages. "I'll send his head back to the duke and tell these humans we won't be looked down on or deceived. Then have him hand-deliver 20,000 gold coins to us, or I'll send him his daughter's head instead."

  A big-eared monster growled and picked up a knife, walking towards Asa.

  Rodhart took a step forward, and the leader immediately bellowed: "Don't move." The knife was pressed against Kriss's neck, and the yellow serrated blade sank slightly into her skin. With just a little more force, it would pierce that delicate white skin. Rodhart froze instantly.

  The big-eared monster walked up to Asa's side, raising the knife in his hand. Asa didn't react at all, still frowning and staring at the leader who was holding Chris hostage. His eyes revealed not a chaotic and disoriented look like others, but another strange and singular flavor.

  "Stop it!" Rodhart shouted. His face was already twisted in a scowl. He had just taken half a step forward when he saw Assa, who had been motionless until now, suddenly stretch out his hand and press it against the big-eared creature's face.

  A deafening boom. A massive fireball burst open, mixed with blood flowers. The air was instantly filled with a strong smell of blood.

  "Bang", the knife fell to the ground, the two severed hands of the Big Ear Monster still grasping it, while its lower body flew out, entrails splattered everywhere. The upper body was blown into a sky full of blood and flesh flying apart. The Big Ear Monsters stuck with their companions' blood and flesh let out pig-like screams, then immediately scattered in all directions. Everyone else at the scene was completely stunned.

  "Now it's our turn to have the upper hand, and you're not allowed to speak."

  The flesh and blood of that big-eared monster had only just slowly fallen to the ground, a lone eye landed at the leader's feet, with some meridians still attached. The leader looked at Asa's eyes staring dead at his face, then looked at the eye under his feet, and his body began to shake. The knife in his hand shook, and Chris also started shaking.

  Asa's voice was cold as a blade of ice that had been frozen for decades. "I'll give you another guess. If you hurt the hostage in your hands, I'll deal with you."

  The leader's voice also started shaking, and he kept shouting: "Don't move, don't move..."

  "I'm giving you two options." Asa said slowly, still staring into the leader's eyes. "You can choose one for yourself. One, you can kill the person in your hand, and then we'll capture you, cut off all the flesh on your body one knife at a time. I'll do it myself, guaranteeing that you can endure over a hundred knives, and you can see with your own eyes how your internal organs are pulled out before you die." Asa pointed to the ground, where the leader saw the internal organs and bloodstains.

  "Two, let the man go and roll away immediately. I'll give you a way out." Asa's gaze was like two red-hot knives that pierced into the leader's eyes and stabbed into his heart, churning everything inside into a bloody mess that was unbearable to look at. The sound from between his teeth crushed what little fighting spirit he had left. "You choose yourself."

  The leader trembled and suddenly dropped his knife and ran down the mountain at full speed.

  Kris suddenly fell soft, saw the eyeball and internal organs on the ground next to him, and was so scared that he jumped up, ran to Rodhart's side, and cried loudly on his chest.

  Asa let out a long sigh and shook his head. Poru, who was on horseback, also let out a long sigh and shook his head, saying: " Envoy sir, you're being too reckless, aren't you?"

  "Because I guess the Duke probably can't take out 20,000 gold coins either, and I won't let him see my head after seeing his daughter's head."

  Most importantly, I don't want to lose my head. Asa said to himself secretly. Just now he wasn't acting, although he also thought that the Big Ear Monster leader wouldn't have the courage to kill Chris in a one-on-one duel, but if it came down to it, he absolutely wouldn't trade his own head for Chris'. He remembered what Sandru taught him very clearly.

  Mr. Borukhan thought for a moment, nodded his head, rode over to pat Asa's shoulder, and with a wrinkled garlic-like nose, said in a duck voice: "I didn't expect you to be so good at handling things like this."