There was a rustling sound in the woods. Suddenly, a figure walked out in the moonlight. It was tall and thin, and its features were not clearly visible.
"Who goes there?" Ted shouted. When the man did not answer, he immediately swung his double axes and charged forward.
A crossbow bolt came straight at his face. Ted ducked and dodged the arrow, but his brother behind him wasn't so lucky. He cried out and fell to the ground.
Ted's anger surged, and he was about to charge again when he saw two crossbow bolts planted one after the other in front of his feet—a warning and a threat.
Ted was experienced; one person couldn't possibly fire a triple crossbow in such a short time. There was only one possibility: there were two other people aiming at him.
Sweat beaded on Ted's forehead as he glanced back at his boss.
The eldest brother stared at the crossbow bolts on the ground, glanced at Ted, and understood the key to the matter.
Seeing the crossbow bolt, Ellie's eyes filled with tears. She covered her mouth with her hands, trying to suppress her sobs. "It's him, it must be him. No matter what, he's come to save me." Overjoyed at this thought, she completely forgot her surroundings and wished she could rush to his side immediately. As she thought about it, her cheeks flushed, and tears streamed down her face.
Ted heard the man chuckle, then suddenly darted into the nearby woods. The trees and grass swayed, and crossbow bolts shot out incessantly, one after another piercing the mercenaries' bodies.
"We've been ambushed!" That was the leader's first reaction. But within a few miles, which group's movements could escape his ears? The key point was, in this no-man's-land, no mercenary or army had the capability to fire crossbow bolts like they didn't care, just for a warning?
Wait, perhaps there is an army that can, and that army has good reason to only warn them and not kill them.
The leader looked up in the direction of Jialai City, pondering, "Could it be that the situation has changed, or that they've become so impatient? Or perhaps they just want to seize the fruits of victory and renege on the remaining 100 gold coins?"
The branches and leaves rustled in the woods, the wind blew, and the surrounding trees seemed to sway along with them, making a rustling sound that stirred the mind and filled one with a sense of unease and uncertainty.
The sounds coming from the woods ahead were ambiguous, as if someone was there, yet no one was there.
The leader secretly pondered, "The night vision magic is about to expire. When the magic disappears, everyone will experience temporary blindness, and that will truly be disadvantageous for me..."
But the situation behind us is within our grasp. Are we just going to hand it over to them like that?
The leader hesitated, while the other mercenaries looked at each other, all bewildered. Something was wrong with what was happening tonight; the way things were unfolding seemed different from what they had encountered before.
The sound of horses' hooves echoed in the distance, unhurried but soon coming to a halt. The crisp sound of hooves tolled like a death knell in the leader's heart.
"Ted, tell the brothers to take the wounded and the dead and get out of here!"
Ted glanced at the beauty behind him, his eyes filled with resentment, "Big brother, what's already mine..."
The boss smacked him on the head hard. "I'll tell you when we get back!"
Ted understood that the situation had reached a critical point, so critical that even his boss didn't have time to explain things to him. He had only encountered this situation once in the past few years.
He whistled, startling the mercenaries, who then quickly gathered up the wounded and the dead and filed away.
Ted and the leader stayed where they were. Once the mercenaries were far away, they mounted their horses, took one last deep look at the five people who were standing close together, and then sped away.
Of course, Ted was looking at Ellie, while the boss was looking at Serena.
Nightfire was gone just like that. Of the five people, except for Ellie, they all collapsed to the ground as if in a dream.
But they were also puzzled as to what could possibly scare away the Nightfire Mercenary Group.
The sound of hooves rang out as they slowly approached.
The five men tensed up immediately. They could only determine that the Nightfire was not on their side, but whether they were on their side or not was unknown.
Even Ellie was puzzled. When did he get so many men? Could it be that the person who appeared just now wasn't him? Thinking of this, Ellie couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She was even more eager to see if it was Yun Zhe, and even felt a little resentful towards that man.
A group of people appeared on the road, leading their horses slowly forward. Suddenly, torches were lit, illuminating the surroundings.
"An elf?!" Everyone was astonished.
Yes, this is an elf caravan, led by an old elf.
As the elves approached, everyone bowed in greeting. Although they didn't know how an elven caravan had defeated the Nightfire Mercenary Group, it was clear that the elves had saved them.
The old elf saw the group bowing and couldn't help but smile awkwardly. He hurriedly said, "We don't deserve it, we don't deserve it. Someone else saved you. We were just doing what he said. Him? He's in the woods over there."
Ellie's eyes lit up. It was him! It really was him! He really did come.
The old elf glanced around, then suddenly frowned, as if he wanted to say something, but didn't.
But Ellie understood perfectly and quickly grasped the old elf's thoughts.
"They're so poor. They told us to ask them for payment, but they probably can't afford to pay... It's definitely better to ask them for the money directly..."
Ellie was furious. How could this elf be so mercenary? Then it suddenly occurred to her that the man might not have returned because of her slim waist, long legs, and good looks, but because she had caused him to lose a thousand silver coins... He was just here to collect a debt.
Thinking of this, Ellie's eyes reddened, and tears welled up uncontrollably again. She muttered under her breath, "Damn miser!"
"What?" Serena asked in confusion. After that night, her hearing was unusually sharp, probably because she was too nervous tonight.
"It's nothing," Ellie rubbed her eyes and turned her head away, deliberately avoiding looking at the grove of trees the old elf was pointing to.
“Sir, could you please take me to see the person you mentioned? I would like to express my gratitude in person,” Serena said softly, giving an elegant bow.
Seeing Serena's respectful bow, the old elf knew the girl was undoubtedly a noble. He didn't want to get involved any further, but considering he hadn't received his payment yet, and the girl's politeness, so different from other nobles, he nodded in agreement.
"Lorraine, come with me."
Ellie was still wondering whether she should go if she was asked to go with them, but when she heard Serena's words, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but then felt a little disappointed that her expectations had been dashed.
Ellie, carrying a pebble at her feet, watched longingly as the three disappeared into the woods. As if she heard the man's mockery, Ellie snorted and turned her head away.
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