Chapter 632 Betrayal in the Dark
After a night of getting along, the people in the settlement were no longer so repulsive to the new family of five. Later, when Sura proposed to take them in again, Guy remained silent.
With the addition of new members, the settlement in the valley became obviously more lively, especially the children, who ran around and played, and occasionally helped the adults with their work.
This morning, Tilan went to visit the moose boss deep in the cave. Although she was not yet an official member of the settlement, she was already trusted by the people here. Even the taciturn Marula would greet her.
After checking the wound, Tilan found that the injury of the moose boss had finally stabilized and had not deteriorated further. From now on, he would slowly recuperate and gradually recover after a period of time.
Seeing this result, she was also very happy. After all, everyone became familiar with each other during this period of time, and it would always be better to see a friend escape from danger.
After fetching water for the moose boss' room, Tilan came out carrying an empty bucket. Now she was dressed very simply and neatly. If she wasn't familiar with someone, she might not recognize her.
At noon, after lunch, several people discussed things at the entrance of the cave.
"It's autumn now, and the weather is getting colder. Should we prepare some firewood?" The sturdy man said.
"It's time to prepare now." Guy looked at the slightly gloomy sky. Even on a sunny day, the sky was not as blue as in summer, and the color was gray.
So, after discussing for a while, the sturdy man took the initiative to ask Ying to go outside to find trees and firewood.
"Let's go together. I'm familiar with this land." Guy thought about it and decided so.
So in the next two days, several people went out together to find trees and gradually withered shrubs, transported them back for storage, and occasionally a few children would go out with them.
"I feel it's almost done." That afternoon, Fran talked about his situation when chatting with the girl.
"The previous gunshot wound is almost healed. If I stay here, it will be winter, and I won't be able to leave then." He said he would leave in about 2-3 days. "I need
to prepare some dry food and things for a long journey these two days. Can Miss Heshia help me?"
"How can I help you?" Heshia has not been very busy recently. She has spent a lot of her free time teaching Orles some common sense and life skills.
"I need a backpack, about five days of dry food, and some herbs and the like."
"I saw Miss Heshia making clothes before, so she should be able to sew a backpack."
"It's really not difficult, but what is Mr. Fran going to pay for it?" Tilan tilted her head slightly. In fact, she was not short of money, but she didn't want to agree to the other party just for nothing.
"Well..." Fran didn't have much to exchange. He would definitely be reluctant to give up the gun, but other things were also useful.
"I heard that Miss Heshia wanted to go to a big city to find out her background. How about this, I will give you a rough map of the nearby terrain and power distribution, in exchange?" His ability to collect intelligence is indeed good, and he even remembers the things that the girl occasionally mentioned clearly.
"Is that so? Deal then." Tilan nodded.
"Good~" Fran whistled.
At night, the people in the settlement gathered around the campfire again. Today, it was Marula who cooked. Although he had difficulty walking, as long as he was supported to the stove, with the help of the new woman, the two of them could basically finish the job.
It was still oatmeal porridge, but there were relatively fewer vegetables because there were not many of these things stored.
After dinner, everyone chatted by the fire. Tilan was also sitting by the side, sewing a backpack with needle and thread by the firelight. Seeing her concentration and her dexterous fingers, Orles watched curiously by the side, without blinking.
"Tilan, amazing, beautiful." Orles said simple and plain words.
"Oh, Miss Heshia has really delicate fingers." The blue-skinned woman also grinned and praised. Their tribe was similar to humans when they were young, but they would be much thicker when they grew up. The thinnest little finger was as thick as Tilan's two fingers, and they could not do delicate work such as holding a needle and threading a thread.
It is said that the 'blue-skinned' have always lived in a tribal way because their skin is too thick, which makes them insensitive and unable to do handicrafts and write carefully, resulting in a slow inheritance of knowledge and skills.
Sura, who was talking happily with several other people, occasionally turned his head and saw Tilan sewing a backpack by the fire opposite, and gave a thumbs up.
"Heshia is the trump card of our settlement~"
As the night deepened, the fire gradually became smaller, and everyone gradually dispersed and went back to their rooms to sleep. Because everyone is getting familiar with each other now, the night watch is no longer limited to Guy and Sura. In addition, the blue-skinned couple has joined, and the four people take turns.
In this way, Guy and Sura, as the main force of the settlement, can finally sleep well.
Late at night.
Heshia and Ores slept in the room. Their beds were covered with clean double-layer thick cloth, and there was a straw mat underneath. Such beds in this land can only be had by the middle and upper classes.
Because it was just the beginning of autumn, the weather was not too cold. They only covered themselves with a thin layer of cloth. Orlesi slept on her side beside Tilan, her slow breathing falling on Tilan's arm. If she was not used to it at the beginning, she would be able to fall asleep gradually in the past few days, if tonight was the same as usual.
I don't know what time it was in the middle of the night. A dark shadow rustled and walked through the cave corridor with slow steps. He tried to go deep into the cave, but was unfortunately blocked by the locked door. The key to the inside was currently only owned by Guy and Sura, but Sura would occasionally give it to Tilan.
After groping for a while, he found that he could not open the lock and door. The dark shadow hesitated for a while, slowly left, and then carefully groped to the cave exit.
This is usually where the night watchman sleeps. At night, the passage at the entrance of the cave will close the fence gates at both ends. If someone wants to pass through, it will inevitably alarm the person sleeping inside the fence gate.
After approaching the gate, the shadow blew slowly and carefully. The slightly heavy breathing was just enough to wake up the person sleeping inside, but the sound was not too loud.
Slowly, the night watchman sat up in the darkness and looked at the shadow outside the gate. He did not speak at this time.
In this way, the two slowly opened the door.
...
"Bang"
Tilan was awakened by a gunshot.
Then there was the sound of heavy objects hitting each other, strange voices, and finally roars and screams.
"Wake up, Orles." Tilan immediately sat up and woke up the silly ice elf who was still asleep beside her.
"Woo." Orles rubbed her eyes and propped herself up. Although she didn't know why, she still managed to cheer up.
"Let's go outside and take a look. Be careful to protect yourself." Tilan pressed her finger lightly on Orles's forehead. A cold touch instantly spread throughout her body, making Orles wake up.
"Yeah." She nodded repeatedly, and then Tilan took her hand and pulled her behind her.
There were two corpses lying in the aisle. One of them was a blue-skinned species that had never been seen before. At this moment, his head had been shot. The other was Marula. He was lying on the ground, out of breath, with blood all over his body. On the other side, Fran was injured and there was a lot of blood on his face.
The fire spread at the entrance of the cave. There seemed to be people outside shouting sharply. There were quite a few people, at least more than ten. After Tilan came out, Guy also rushed out of the room quickly. When he saw Marula lying dead on the ground, he was furious. He glanced at Faran and prepared to rush out of the cave, but was forced back by the flames.
The flames continued to spread inside as the people outside instigated them. The suffocating waves of fire came towards them, making people retreat and avoid them.
"What is this?" Tilan was about to speak when Sura rushed out of the room dragging a hammer, without even putting on his shoes.
"I think the settlement encountered some common betrayals." Faran wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve and reloaded his pistol.
"Marula went to the toilet at night. He went out with a cane. I woke up a little, but soon I heard a fight, so I rushed out. But when I arrived, Marula was already dead. I couldn't see who killed him, but I had to shoot to protect myself."
"The one on guard tonight is..." Sura remembered something and immediately turned his eyes to a room.
"Don't look, there's no one there." Guy frowned and looked at the oncoming fire, feeling uncomfortable breathing.
"If we don't rush out, we will all die here."
"But... this fire." Sura looked at the group of people outside who were talking nonsense, cheering, and dancing, and felt worried.
"I'll go call the moose boss." Guy made a decision immediately.
"Who is the moose boss?" Fran still didn't know there was such a person in the settlement.
But he soon found out. Less than half a minute later, a sturdy and tall figure opened the door from the depths of the cave and walked out. Then his steps became faster and faster. The heavy and rapid steps were like a chariot, and he rushed to the fire at the cave gate without stopping.
The fire was knocked open by the body covered with brown and yellow fur, and burning wood and charcoal splashed everywhere, and violent sparks flew in the sky.
Looking at this scene, Fran opened his mouth wide, and was so surprised that he couldn't make a sound. Then, a heavy cow mooing sound came from outside the cave, and a fierce battle started directly.
The moose's thick fingers directly grasped the still burning trees, swept and waved, sweeping away the people who had originally gathered outside the cave. The countless sparks also illuminated the open space in the valley, revealing the true faces of the figures inside.
These guys are all "blue-skinned" with gray-blue skin. Most of them are wearing simple leather armor, holding hammers and sticks in their hands, and some of them have tooth necklaces around their necks.
"He is injured, focus fire!" An impatient voice shouted in the dark, and then three blue-skinned people raised their automatic rifles and aimed at the moose, pulling the wooden strip stuck on the trigger.
Bullets were fired continuously, and the sound of "tut-tut-tut" rang out in the firelight. A series of blood flowers also bloomed on the moose boss. Although he was thick-skinned and tough, he could not withstand the close-range rifle fire.
"Quick, let's go up and help." Sura shouted, and then rushed out with a rifle, followed by Guy and Fran.
Tilan took a look at the situation outside, pulled Orles back to the bedroom, and then quickly picked up the sword box under the bed.
"Orles, stay here, don't let outsiders in, understand?" She explained solemnly.
"I know, Tilan." The ice elf nodded. She could still clearly distinguish the atmosphere and situation. Even though she had lost a lot of memories, her foundation as a singer was still there.
"Wait for me to come back." Tilan took out the sword, said to Orlesi, and then rushed out.
Outside the cave, there was a melee. The moose boss was still waving the flaming stick despite the bullets, and kept sweeping and chasing. The three blue-skinned people with guns were also under the command of the other leader, constantly roaming around, and letting others throw flames to stop the moose, as if teasing him.
"Hahahaha, you, injured, weak, I'm strong!" A particularly vicious blue-skinned man stood in the open space in the valley. He held an automatic rifle in his hand and fired from time to time. Although the shooting was not accurate at all, he didn't care about it.
"Kill him, here, we!" He continued to encourage his men.
The more than 30 blue-skinned people present laughed strangely, and some of them were even close to madness, not like normal people. Moreover, they had black veins on their bodies, which was very different from the blue-skinned people who had been taken in a few days ago.
During the battle, except for a few of them who had guns, the others still used bows and arrows and sticks, and occasionally made strange screams, disturbing the spirit of the moose in the battle and making it more and more impatient.
On the other side, Guy wandered on the mountain wall, avoiding the sparse arrows shot at him, and also fought back with bows and arrows, shooting several enemies in the dark night. Although Sura also raised his gun to shoot, he was soon suppressed by the many bows and
arrows. He dared not show his head and could only hide behind the rocks and worry. Fran was much smarter. Even in such a chaotic scene, he still observed and remembered the rhythm of the opponent's shooting, and found gaps to fight back from time to time, shooting and killing several moose holding sticks who tried to bypass the midfield and attack the blue-skinned species behind.
At this time, Tilan came out quickly with a dark red stone-like broken sword. Seeing that she was also ready to fight, Fran wanted to stop and remind her, but it was just like a gust of wind. The girl passed by him and disappeared.
The dark red broken sword quickly became alive with the infusion of magic power, and then began to absorb the Aigeka particles in the air. When Tilan rushed out of the cave, countless sparks were swept by the night wind, and together with the particles of glimmering light, they gathered into the broken sword.
"Buzz--" The sword blade began to tremble, and the strange red light spread and covered.
[Resonance link successful, combat mode turned on]
There were no extra words, no patient persuasion, no useless mercy. Wherever this red-light sword blade went, blood splashed. Because of the high-speed movement, the hair scarf that originally covered the head fell off, and the fluttering hair and blood together reflected a light golden luster in the firelight.
Like dancing in the sparks and the night, the dark red sword arc and blood splashed, and lives passed away one by one. Even the seemingly heavy and solid stone stick was broken and cut off under the sword arc.
The third...
the ninth...
the sixteenth...
the blue-skinned people who tried to attack with stone hammers, clubs and bows and arrows fell under the dark red sword blade, and the bullets fired by the rifles never hit the girl in the firelight. They were always dodged by the opponent with great ease, and only hit the mountain wall, which was decorated with broken firelight. In
less than a minute, almost all the night attack enemies present were wiped out.
There was no time to call for a stop. When the blue-skinned leader was terrified and ready to escape, the broken sword with a buzzing sound had already swept in front of him, smoothly cut the rifle in his hand, and then crossed his chest.
With his toes gripping the grass with all his strength, he stopped his steps forward in fear, and his body collapsed on the ground and slid half a meter, finally stopping in front of the sword blade, but even so, his chest was cut by the sharp and buzzing sword blade, and bleeding.
"Artifact, legend, artifact." He shouted in panic, turned his head and crawled on the ground, trying to get away, but because he was too scared, he didn't dare to stand up and run away.
Looking at this blue-skinned man who was slightly taller than her even when sitting, Tilan was a little surprised. She thought he would be more bold and presumptuous.
But it was understandable. After all, so many companions died. She turned her eyes and looked at the corpses lying in the open space in the valley, most of which were her contribution.
Shaking her head, the girl slowly put down the sword, and the light emitted from it dissipated, and the red light that gave people fear and weirdness also slowly disappeared.
At this time, the other companions present slowly recovered from their shock.
Half an hour later, Tilan cast a spell, and faint green light particles floated, healing the cracked wounds. On the ground next to the fire, there were bloody bullets that she took out with pliers.
"In this case, he should be able to recover after a period of recuperation, but the previous half a month of recuperation has been wasted." She shook her head and said that this was the best result. If it weren't for her, the moose would have died under the concentrated fire of rifles tonight.
"You saved me again." The moose was sitting on the ground at this moment, answering in a muffled voice.
"It was right to give you that sword." After saying that, he looked at the dead enemies in the field, and his voice fell silent again, perhaps recalling something.
The released Orles was also walking in the open space in the col at this moment. She squatted from time to time and looked at the dead enemies on the ground. From her appearance, she seemed to be not afraid, but fresh and curious.
In the corner of the col, Sura, Guy and Fran looked at the cooled body of Marula on the ground, and they were a little quiet.
"I should have listened to you." Sura squatted down slowly.
"Alas..." Guy shook his head and said nothing more.
Fran's eyes were rarely filled with nostalgia and sadness, and he wrote a few words in the diary in his hand.
"But their leader is still alive, and we should be able to learn what happened from him." He remembered something.
Late at night, several people who were still awake took the tied up blue-skinned leader to the center of the open space for questioning.
"The gun was bought by a passing merchant for seven slaves in exchange." He was forced to speak under the questioning of several people.
"With the gun, we are strong, defeat the tribe, and get more slaves."
"Not enough to eat, trafficking, exile, intelligence..." His oral expression ability is relatively weak, and it often takes a long time for everyone to ask before they can piece together the truth.
Slowly, the whole process also surfaced.
Most of what the five wandering blue-skinned people said before was true, but they also concealed the key part. He did not escape directly, but was caught and released because he was smart and articulate.
"Why is he so loyal to the enemy tribe?" Sura was still puzzled.
"You don't understand their habits." Fran shook his head.
"For these tribal races, although he was captured, abandoned, and the lowest-ranking person, as long as he brings back the information about your settlement, he will be rewarded and become the leader of the tribe."
"What about his relatives who were killed in his original tribe?" Sura still didn't understand.
"Relatives? For them, dead relatives are not as important as their own lives. As long as you defeat their tribe, you can recruit them. Of course, their loyalty is to maintain your position as the strongest in this area. If not, they will betray you in a minute." "
That's what being uneducated is like. It's very stupid and short-sighted. I only saw such descriptions in books before, but I didn't expect it to be true in reality." Fran sighed.
"No wonder these guys can only live in remote areas and never see civilization." At this point, he glanced at the tall and strong blue-skinned man in front of him with a little contempt.
"Where are those guys now?" Sura was eager to know where the family of five had escaped to.
"East, north, big tree, camp..." According to the leader's description, there should be a small camp there, and there are still a few people left inside to guard the luggage and packages. After all, they came from dozens of miles away and need to rest on the way.
"Let me and Guy go this time, Heshia and Faran stay here." Sura stood up and clenched the gun beside him.
"Aren't you afraid that there are many people ambushing over there?" Tilan was still a little worried.
"No, they can't bring so many people." Sura and Guy are still familiar with this barren land. It is the limit for so many enemies to appear in the settlement tonight. The largest settlement nearby has only hundreds of people, and it is impossible to send all of them out.
"Well, be careful on the way." Heshia watched them walk into the dark night.
In the early morning, Sura and Guy returned with blood and injuries. Sura was holding the tall blue-skinned man with his wrists tied with iron chains. He was injured at the moment.
Returning to the settlement, looking at the corpses on the ground, he was a little scared and panicked, and the slight luck he had originally held disappeared instantly.
"Go over there." He pointed the gun at Marula and led him to the body of Marula.
"Do you remember how many servings of his food you ate?" Sura pulled the bolt and loaded the bullet.
"I don't remember." He really didn't remember. After all, the blue-skinned people had a low level of education and basically couldn't count.
"That's a pity." Sura pointed the muzzle of the gun at the other's back.
"Maybe your sun has already gone out, but you still pray that he will make you smarter and more rational in the future." "
Bang--"
The crisp sound of the gun shot into the dull flesh and blood. With a painful expression, the blue-skinned man fell to the ground and slowly died.
After doing all this, Sura didn't make her much happier. She just held the gun and looked blankly at the gray sky above her head.
She once thought that in this barren land far away from disputes, she would have a quiet and leisurely life, watching the sunset with her companions, occasionally studying her favorite inventions, bringing laughter to everyone, and gaining achievements and satisfaction.
But now it seems that she is disappointed after all. This is a world abandoned by the gods.
Without those burning great suns, these new races are like children who have lost their parents. They can only wander around in the land in a daze, following their instincts to survive.
Without goals and meaning, the sense of emptiness in their minds tortures them. They were born to serve the great gods, but now the gods are dead, and the emptiness in their hearts can never be filled.
Maybe they should belong to something, but it is definitely not those barbaric and primitive tribes, but a place with a big family and a warm collective. It was
also from this point that settlements and strongholds of different sizes were born on this land.
(End of this chapter)
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