Chapter 395
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Chapter 395: Deep into the North
At the same time, deep within the northern forests, the wolfman troop led by Li Ke moved swiftly.
The difficult terrain underfoot barely affected them.
After venturing deeper, Li Ke, walking at the front, suddenly sniffed, his voice noticeably lower.
“The smell of blood, and it’s quite strong.”
Hearing this, Zhou Yi, who had received Luo Ji’s orders to support Li Ke, immediately frowned and turned to glance at Jie Zichuan, who was leading the way.
“Further ahead should be the tribal camp you mentioned, right?”
“Yes.”
Jie Zichuan nodded with a solemn expression.
Human noses were far less acute than a wolfman’s.
Although he smelled nothing, if Li Ke was right, then the tribe ahead was probably doomed.
“Continue forward?”
Li Ke cast an inquiring glance at Zhou Yi.
After a few days together, he knew this human was quite intelligent.
Before departing, Luo Ji had also instructed him to consult Zhou Yi if they encountered any problems.
“Of course we must continue forward, but we’ll go around from the other side.”
Zhou Yi decided after a moment’s thought.
He was somewhat worried about directly clashing with the Hyenamen if they went straight.
Their primary objective on this trip was to incorporate barbarian tribes, not to clear out Hyenamen. Under this premise, it was better to be cautious.
As thoughts raced through his mind, Zhou Yi spoke again.
“Just in case, all crossbowmen, double-check that your crossbow strings are properly loaded.”
On this expedition, besides the main wolfman troop, the human force consisted of 150 sword-shield soldiers and 50 crossbowmen, led by General Zhou Yi.
Given that they still needed to defend the city, it was impossible to send too many troops at once.
However, the 50 strong crossbowman squad alone indicated that this unit was highly valuable.
Luo Ji had also carefully considered this, hand crossbows would undoubtedly be very effective against the thick-skinned Hyenamen, and so he immediately deployed his newly assembled 50-man crossbow unit.
This showed that he was determined to win this engagement; even if they encountered Hyenamen, he would force them to retreat!
Just as Zhou Yi was about to lead his men to flank, Jie Zichuan, who had been quietly following behind, suddenly ran two steps forward and called out to him.
“Wait a moment.”
“What is it?”
Zhou Yi looked surprised.
“Those monsters have very keen noses, and they can probably smell us from far away.”
As he spoke, Jie Zichuan licked his finger, and after checking the wind direction, said.
“The wind is blowing downwards now. We should walk against the wind, letting the wind carry our scent away. That way, the chance of being discovered will be smaller.”
What Jie Zichuan demonstrated at this moment was valuable experience only possessed by those who had survived in the wild.
While Zhou Yi was intelligent, he had been a ‘city person’ since birth, and his experience in this area was undoubtedly lacking.
A hint of surprise flashed in Zhou Yi’s eyes upon hearing this, then he nodded decisively.
“We’ll do as you say. We’ll walk against the wind.”
Everyone carefully suppressed their movements, checking the wind direction while circling around to approach the tribal camp.
Although this was time-consuming and demanding, wilderness expeditions emphasized caution and safety.
“The smell of blood is getting stronger.” Li Ke whispered, sniffing. Clearly, after circling, they must be close to the tribal camp.
Li Ke and Zhou Yi simultaneously signaled their soldiers to raise their bronze shields and cautiously approach.
Pushing aside the bushes, their eyes quickly surveyed the unfamiliar camp outside.
What they saw was nothing but flowing blood.
No one could imagine the slaughter this tribe had endured.
“The Hyenamen who attacked this tribe seem to have left.”
Li Ke sniffed again, as if trying to discern scents.
However, this tribe, which had just suffered a massacre, was filled with the smell of blood and the stench of hyenas.
No matter how keen a wolfman’s nose was, it was useless in such a situation.
“Let’s go out and see.”
Zhou Yi, from behind, slowly spoke after checking the sky.
“It’s getting late. If those Hyenamen have already left, then we’ll rest here in this existing tribal camp for the night and continue deeper tomorrow.”
Venturing deep into the northern forests, caution was good, but it didn’t mean they were afraid of the wild Hyenamen.
Given their weapons, equipment, and troop strength, if a real fight broke out, no one felt they would lose.
Zhou Yi’s choice was approved by Li Ke.
The group slowly emerged from the cover of the bushes.
Upon entering the tribal camp, the strong smell of blood almost assaulted them, constantly irritating their sense of smell.
It was not a pleasant sensation.
However, when campaigning in the wilderness, having an existing camp was already good fortune; there wasn’t much room for pickiness.
With this mindset, Zhou Yi’s gaze continuously scanned the tribal camp, as if looking for a relatively clean place where they could rest for the night.
Just then, Jie Zichuan, who was walking behind, suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.
His eyelids keep twitching, as if foretelling something bad was about to happen.
“Danger! Everyone, be careful!”
At his shout, the soldiers, who hadn’t fully relaxed, instinctively tensed their nerves to the extreme.
Then, scanning their surroundings, both Li Ke and Zhou Yi looked bewildered.
There wasn’t a shadow of an enemy in sight. Where was the danger?
Everyone was already quite tired after marching through the forest.
Plus, Jie Zichuan was a newcomer, so his sudden alarm inevitably caused some displeasure among many.
Who knew that at this very moment, a rustling sound came from the surrounding bushes.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen dark figures darted out!
“It’s Hyenamen! These guys found us and intentionally hid nearby to ambush us!”
Li Ke, quick-eyed and quick-handed, immediately identified the attackers and simultaneously drew the two swords from his waist.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
On the other side, Zhou Yi also reacted quickly.
While rapidly directing the sword-shield soldiers to form a defensive formation, he also ordered the crossbowmen to open fire directly.
50 hand crossbows delivered a devastating blow to the charging Hyenamen.
No matter how tough their hide and thick their flesh, could these Hyena-men truly withstand crossbow bolts?
The first few Hyenamen charging forward were instantly shot dead.
The powerful lethality of the hand crossbows made Li Ke and Jie Zichuan’s eyelids twitch.
Jie Zichuan, of course, had never seen a hand crossbow before.
Li Ke’s feelings were even more complex.
In the previous campaign, Myriad World Civilization’s army hadn’t used these.
He only thought that Luo Ji still held cards and hadn’t gone all out.
For a moment, Li Ke’s reverence for Luo Ji deepened.
