Xi Xi remained still.

"What's wrong?" Yun Zhe asked anxiously, looking at the Nightfire mercenaries getting closer and closer. "Do you want me to swear an oath?"

"Hmph, I didn't bring any..."

Yun Zhe was taken aback. Then he was amused by the girl's words, "Why didn't you say so earlier? What are we going to do now? I can manage on my own, but carrying two of you as burdens..."

"Who's a burden?!" This time, Xixi reacted quickly and stopped stuttering.

Yun Zhe ignored her; the girl in her arms was still asleep. He gestured for Xi Xi to pull him along, and they ran deeper into the woods. "Did you bring any scrolls or other items that could be used to send signals?"

"I didn't! I didn't bring anything. Who told you to run off with the young lady like that? How could I have had time to go back and get the scroll!"

Yun Zhe was at his wit's end. "You're an ice magic user, right? You could shoot a few ice bullets into the sky, that would be fine."

This time, Xixi remained silent, clutching Serena's clothes without uttering a word.

Yun Zhe stopped abruptly. Running like this wouldn't work; it would only put him in more danger. Splitting up didn't seem like a good idea either; there wasn't even a place to hide here.

Yun Zhe took out a crossbow and handed it to Xi Xi, "Do you know how to use it?"

Xi Xi nodded and took the crossbow bolt.

Yun Zhe drew his longsword. "We have no choice but to fight our way back. You need to stick close to me; I can't carry both of you." With that, he was about to hoist Serena onto his shoulder. After a moment of movement, Serena seemed to wake up, looking around groggily. Then, suddenly realizing that Yun Zhe was about to come closer, she snapped awake. "What are you doing!"

"This place is dangerous, we need to leave quickly!"

"Where is this? How did I get here? Wait..." Serena saw Xixi and felt much more at ease. Suddenly, she remembered how she got here.

But precious time had been wasted; the night flames had already surrounded the three. Yun Zhe flashed forward, blocking the two girls, then stared at the surrounding green eyes, hoping to find the leader and kill him in one blow. Perhaps, there was still a glimmer of hope.

A desperate situation, a death trap. With Yun Zhe's intelligence, at this moment, he could only think of one way out: to fight head-on.

The people around them slowly approached, and the weapons in their hands could be vaguely seen, gleaming coldly white in the moonlight.

Yun Zhe held a crossbow in one hand and a sword in the other, thinking that the time had come to test his swordsmanship skills, and he hoped that he could perform well this time.

However, there were too many of them, and it would be difficult for Yun Zhe to escape unscathed, let alone with two girls following behind him.

Serena breathed heavily, pulling a dagger from her shoe—the very same dagger she had used to force Nightfire to stop when she tried to commit suicide last time.

The atmosphere was incredibly tense. Suddenly, a scream came from behind Yun Zhe: "Help!!! We're here!!!"

A cry for help startled countless birds perched in the trees. The shrill cry carried far through the silent forest. Yun Zhe stared at Xi Xi in astonishment, never expecting such a small girl to have such a loud voice. Xi Xi blushed and glared back fiercely.

The Nightfire members seemed startled by the noise, but they quickly realized they had to capture these people as soon as possible, otherwise the soldiers would find their way here.

The first group of more than ten people rushed forward. Yun Zhe fired his crossbow bolts and Xi Xi pushed out her ice spikes, but they only managed to knock down two people. With the enemy closing in, they had no choice but to fight in close combat.

Yun Zhe's first time using swordsmanship in actual combat wasn't very effective. Fortunately, he possessed great strength, and the Elf King's Sword was incredibly tough, which allowed him to finally knock down several opponents. Just as Yun Zhe was considering whether to reveal his vampire agility and unleash a full-force attack, his opponent suddenly shouted, "Stop!"

Yun Zhe was surprised. He immediately looked at Serena, and both Xi Xi and Serena were alright. Yun Zhe looked around and saw that the Nightfire mercenaries who had rushed up in the first wave were also puzzled by their leader's order.

A bead of sweat appeared on the forehead of Nightfire's leader. He never expected that an elf wielding the Elf King's Sword would be standing here.

Yes, it was dark at night, and he mistook Yun Zhe, who was holding the Elf King's Sword, for an elf.

From the moment he saw the sword, he sensed something was amiss. Then, seeing the swordsmanship used, which was the kind commonly used by elves, he instantly became 80% certain. He naturally didn't know how a mere earl could persuade an elven king, but in this unclaimed land bordering the elves, they absolutely could not afford to offend the elves, not even Sind. On one hand, he didn't want to become the spark that ignited a war between humans and elves; on the other hand, this region was home to a terrifying force: the border guards of the elven kingdom, the White Tiger Knights known as the Jungle Runners.

Before he became the leader of the Nightfire, he had followed a cavalry unit and plotted against an elven caravan. They succeeded, reaping a rich harvest and unexpectedly acquiring an elven woman. However, their nightmare began. They were chased for three days and three nights by an elven archer riding a white tiger. In the end, only he survived by feigning death after being shot by an arrow. The others either died of exhaustion or were killed by the archer's arrow.

The matter was not over. After that incident, Nightfire went to seek revenge on the archer, only to find that Nightfire was almost completely wiped out, while the opponent was merely an elf.

From then on, Nightfire never dared to provoke the elves again.

As if to accommodate the Nightfire leader's idea, a tiger's roar came from afar.

Yun Zhe's ears twitched. He recognized the voice; he had heard the tiger's roar just over ten days ago.

The leader of Nightfire suddenly realized that this deal was really impossible to complete.

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