Suddenly, one of the henchmen shouted, "Boss, there are horse tracks here!"
The eldest brother and Ted rushed over to check. Ted saw the chaotic hoofbeats stretching into the distance and excitedly ran a dozen steps to observe where the hoofbeats were going.
The eldest brother lowered his head and carefully examined the chaotic hoofprints.
“Something’s not quite right,” the eldest brother muttered to himself.
"What's not right, boss? They must have abandoned the carriage and ridden away. Is there any need to ask?"
The eldest brother shook his head, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
The hoofprints were messy, but you could still see differences in depth. There were five of them in total, plus the carriage that caused the trouble, making six people in total. Six people and three horses—no matter how you combined them, this situation wouldn't have happened.
Then there's only one possibility.
The eldest brother sat up and whispered to Ted, "Quick, go to town and find two decent dogs."
Ted was a little confused. The clues were so obvious, he should just follow them. Why was he still looking for the dog? But he still had to listen to his boss, so Ted mounted his horse and rode back to town to find the dog.
The leader then called over a few more of Ted's cavalry and ordered them to continue the pursuit along the hoofprints.
Then he told a few trusted confidants, who obeyed his orders and rode off in all directions.
After arranging everything, the eldest brother glanced back at the three carriages, then casually walked to a rock and sat down.
Time passed by, and soon Ted arrived in front of the boss with two dogs.
The eldest brother chuckled, let the dog sniff the headscarf they had found earlier, and then gestured for Ted to lead the dog to search for it.
Ted finally understood his boss's thoughts and couldn't help but secretly praise him in his heart.
But just as the two dogs began sniffing around and running off, an arrow flew through the air and killed one of the hunting dogs.
The other dog was terrified and jumped away barking, but before it could run two steps, it was pinned to the ground by a second arrow.
The two riders reacted first, drawing their crossbows and firing at the shadow of the tree from which the arrows came. But as they finished firing one volley and were reloading, they were shot off their horses one by one by two arrows from another tree.
Everything changed unexpectedly, but the Nightfire mercenaries quickly demonstrated their strength, dismounting to find cover, and some even began to retaliate with crossbow bolts.
Arrows and crossbow bolts rained down on each other. The two figures in the trees moved nimbly, even leaping between branches. However, while this prevented them from being hit by the crossbow bolts, it also prevented them from effectively attacking the mercenaries below. Soon, the dense barrage of crossbow bolts forced them to dodge. Sporadic counterattacks only wounded a few, without causing any further significant casualties.
Ted nervously shielded his boss behind him. Their position was somewhat awkward, being the highest and most unprotected spot in the area. Although Ted was reckless, he knew the principle of "capture the leader to catch the thief." He thought that if he and his boss fell here, forget about commissions and status; even their men would probably scatter.
However, a hearty laugh came from behind. The leader drew his long sword, pointed it in the direction from which the two arrows had been shot, and shouted, "Brothers of Nightfire, are you really troubled by two mere wandering swordsmen? Are you intimidated?"
As the eldest brother spoke, he stood on the rock, saying, "Think about it, who is the true master of this land?!"
A chorus of shouts erupted from all around, greatly boosting the morale of the Nightfire mercenaries. The panic and tension from before had vanished, and the mercenaries, in high spirits, rained down crossbow bolts on the two archers as if they were free.
The situation was extremely dangerous. The two were forced to the top of a large tree, with almost no place to stand, let alone organize any effective counterattack.
These two are Ellie and Lorraine.
Two daring mercenaries even took the opportunity to pull out axes from behind them and began chopping down trees. They were enchanted, possessing superb night vision, making it seem as if it were daytime. They had only been ambushed, causing some initial panic, but once they regained their composure, they displayed astonishing fighting prowess.
With the overall situation settled, the leader stood on the rock, looking at the situation before him with great satisfaction.
Ted looked at his boss's retreating figure, his heart filled with admiration and envy. He wondered when he would be able to turn the tide with just a few words, like his boss.
A beam of light emanated from beside the three carriages, a bright white light that illuminated the land as if it were daytime.
The mercenaries were blinded by the intense light and quickly turned to avoid it. The horses, also startled by the light, bolted out of the area.
The magic that grants night vision actually enhances the light sensitivity of the eyes. This is extremely useful on dark nights, but if strong light shines on the eyes, the enhanced light sensitivity can cause temporary blindness, or even permanent blindness in severe cases.
The bright light shone down, and several people who weren't careful covered their eyes with their hands, rolling on the ground in pain. Most others turned away to avoid the light source.
This did give the two men in the tree a chance to catch their breath, as several arrows swarmed towards the leader and Ted. Although Ted and Ted couldn't see them, their warrior instincts were still there, and they both deflected the arrows aimed at them.
Seeing that they had failed to behead the enemy, the two quickly fired downwards, hoping to eliminate as many enemies as possible.
When all the arrows had been fired and more than twenty mercenaries had fallen to the ground, the two seized the opportunity to jump down from the tree, draw their longswords, and hacked their way back towards the source of the light.
The Nightfire Mercenary Group could only scatter and flee. The magical effects on their eyes were still in place, making it impossible for them to open their eyes in the intense light. At this moment, they were like blind lambs to the slaughter, only able to pray to the god of fate that they could avoid the arrows and blades of the two men and leave this place alive.
Standing at a distance, Yun Zhe watched the scene unfold, his heart filled with mixed emotions. It seemed he wouldn't get a chance to appear as a savior. How could he possibly extort money from them now, incurring losses?!
Although he felt a pang of sorrow, he still thought it was good that those people had escaped unscathed. He couldn't help but shake his head and recalculate.
Ellie and Lorraine ran back to the light source, their faces filled with the joy of escaping death. But once they reached the light source, the relaxed expressions on their faces gradually disappeared.
The light source came from a scroll, which had now turned to ashes as its magic had been exhausted.
The little girl frowned, shook the dust off her hands, and wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction, saying, "It's only been such a short time."
The light vanished abruptly. A deathly silence fell over the arena.
After a long while, the lush green light shone again, but this time, it carried a hint of rage and murderous intent.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
