The force of each cut showed that Susu was using all her strength. One cut was deep enough to expose bone, and blood gushed from Haru's neck.

I didn't say much. Su Su, who usually seems like a nice girl, must have her reasons for doing this to the point of being ruthless.

Susu knew that we were running out of time, so she acted swiftly and decisively. None of the Haru who were still lying on the ground were still breathing.

Susu walked over to me, forcing a smile, and handed me the knife she had already cleaned with the body of Haru on the ground. She then said something.

Dante, who was standing beside me, said...

"Su Su is very grateful that you lent her the knife."

I simply smiled and nodded, without saying anything more. I put the knife Su Su handed me back into the leather scabbard at my waist.

I then had everyone check themselves for injuries. After checking, everyone found that they were not injured, except that there were several small holes in our baskets from arrows.

The hole was merely a small puncture caused by the arrows shot by the Haru. Although their bows and arrows were bows and arrows, they were even more rudimentary than those used by the Mira natives.

Therefore, the killing power of this kind of bow and arrow is very limited. It is already quite difficult to make a small hole in a resin-treated basket on the ground.

There were also many arrows that couldn't even break through the outermost bamboo baskets, being bounced off by the baskets' own elasticity.

Looking at the damaged bamboo baskets, I felt a little heartbroken, but seeing that everyone was alright, I was relieved.

Now everyone's baskets are in similar condition; it's impossible to carry salt water back like before. But we can't believe that all our hard work for a day has gone to waste.

In the end, everyone had to use broken baskets, carrying as much as they could. We eventually discovered that our baskets probably only contained about 5 liters of brine.

These are indeed fewer than expected, but there's nothing we can do about it. After all, something is better than nothing, and it's not like we made a wasted trip.

We carried the salt water and didn't dare to linger for a moment. We jogged back the way we came.

We are not sure where the Haru's lair is, but seeing so many Haru moving together proves that their lair is probably not too far from here.

Along the way, I noticed that everyone's expressions had become somewhat heavy. Even Dante, who usually loved to talk, didn't say a word more at this moment, and just kept his head down and continued on his way with everyone else.

I knew it wasn't the right time to ask these questions, so I wisely kept quiet and jogged with everyone toward the tribe.

Since we weren't carrying much on our backs today, we were able to move much faster through the mountains than before.

After everyone returned to the tribe, the first thing Dante did was close the gate and find a crossbeam to prop it up, wedging it into the prepared wooden trough. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.

The next few days were spent in fear and trepidation for everyone except me, as they worried that the Haru would track us down.

This is just Dante's idea; I personally think that people are exaggerating the abilities of these animals.

The road we were on was frequented by at least three or four different kinds of animals every day to obtain salt.

Even if we leave footprints, they are covered by animal tracks. The simplest and most intuitive example is that every time we go to the brine spring, the footprints we left on the ground yesterday will be trampled by other animals.

In addition, our accommodation and the location of that brine spring were not on a straight line, but rather after going through at least three forks in the road.

With such a complex route, even if I were to search for these traces myself, I might not be able to find the tribe's location without someone guiding me.

More importantly, if they were to be found, we would have already met, and it's impossible for us to still be safe and sound several days later.

Unfortunately, we can no longer visit the brine spring area for the time being. As long as we stay near the tribe, we can still ensure a certain level of safety.

Afterwards, Dante and his companions seemed to realize this as well, and their guard gradually relaxed.

I can't help but marvel at how such a profound sense of fear has been instilled in humanity by just one animal.

In the days that followed, I also learned some specific information about Haru from Dante, mostly about the conflicts between the Mila tribe and Haru.

These events, recounted by Dante, were like bolts of lightning, shocking my worldview.

This includes some questions about Susu's background. Because Susu and Dante were both very young when the accident happened, they learned these things later from the tribe's chief.

I heard that Susu's parents died in a conflict with Haru, and the situation was similar to what we experienced a few days ago.

At that time, Susu's parents were carrying out their daily gathering and hunting activities under the leader's orders. However, on their way to do their work, they encountered a group of tall beasts with red fur on their bodies, which are now known as the demons Haru.

This was the first conflict between the Mira tribe and the Haru. During that hunting and gathering trip, all six members of the team were surrounded by a large number of Haru.

Unsurprisingly, the six fought back fiercely, trying to break free from the encirclement of these wild beasts. However, the indigenous people of the Mira tribe completely underestimated the intelligence of these Haru.

They slowly exhausted all the arrows and stamina of the six men before they were captured and eaten alive by these ferocious Haru.

At this point, the veins on Dante's neck were bulging, and the killing intent in his eyes was almost tangible. This is why the tribesmen would fight to the death with Haru.

However, the six people were hunting independently at the time, and the tribe was unaware that they had been eaten; they simply assumed that the six people had gone missing.

As for the conclusion that Haru and his ilk have a habit of cannibalism, it all started with something the leader witnessed firsthand.

Dante choked up several times as he spoke, but in the end he told me everything he knew about the incident.

Two or three months have passed since the last time Haru attacked their tribe.

This time, the tribal chief led the team, and there were more of them this time, a total of eight people.

They believe that Su Su's parents disappeared because they were attacked by a large pack of wild animals in the mountains.

Therefore, they carried a large number of bows and arrows with them when they went out as weapons for defense.

Perhaps it was fate, but this time they went to the very place where Su Su's parents were murdered.