Just as the two men were about to touch Zhang Chen, suddenly there was the sound of something piercing through the air, and then two arrows were seen nailed to the shoes of the two men.
Perfectly placed, they were fixed just at the front of the shoes, moving forward an inch would have pierced the flesh, retreating an inch would have missed the mark entirely.
"Even bullying the elderly, women, and children, truly scum!" Chen Ping was seen standing in the distance, holding arrows in his hand, his eyes revealing a cold light: "You even dare to rob the meat I bestowed, truly lawless."
Seeing Chen Ping, the two men broke out in a cold sweat, not daring to remove the arrows from their shoes and instead took off their shoes, kneeling on the ground barefoot: "Young master, spare us, we won’t dare again!"
"Get lost! If you cross my path again, beware of your heads." Chen Ping said coldly, but didn’t punish them, knowing that the refugees moving south were a mixed crowd, even if he wanted to manage, he couldn’t manage them all.
The two, as if receiving a pardon, didn’t even bother with their shoes, disappearing into the darkness in a hurry.
Zhang Chen turned to look at Chen Ping who had put down his bow and arrows in the distance, wondering how this person happened to be here and help him out.
"Here’s your silver, mixed with the rice." Chen Ping held a piece of silver, throwing it at Zhang Chen’s feet, then turned and left.
Zhang Chen stared at the silver, puzzled. Silver? This isn’t my silver? How could there be silver in the rice?
Besides, if it was his silver, how could he not know?
While he was still puzzled, Zhang Fei quickly went over, grabbed the silver, and looked at Zhang Chen with embarrassment. Zhang Chen frowned slightly, realizing why the silver appeared in the rice; the boy had hidden it there.
"I just thought of saving some money to buy snacks later." Zhang Fei said somewhat embarrassed.
Zhang Chen didn’t say much, only remarked: "If you need money, just tell me, why hide it? We’re not as we were before, we are not lacking money now."
Money can be very important or insignificant. For those with skills, it’s easy to obtain, while for those without means, making money is as hard as ascending to the skies.
Zhang Fei laughed sheepishly without a word, attentively stashing the silver away. Though little, it was what he had saved for himself.
The camp was deathly silent at night, with countless people asleep, Zhang Chen quietly sat cross-legged on the ground, meditating in his Spiritual World. Moonlight, like a tide, was absorbed through the Visualization Technique, gathering drop by drop in the Treasure Vase of the Dharma Image, continuously recovering Zhang Chen’s exhausted Divine Soul.
Until the middle of the night, suddenly a cry shattered the darkness, awakening Zhang Chen from his meditation: "Is the Hunting Falcon warning?"
Zhang Chen looked up at the sky, seeing the Hunting Falcon circling anxiously.
Since the Hunting Falcon broke through to a second-tier Demon Beast, it no longer feared the night, freely soaring even in the dark, which was why Zhang Chen dared to sit and cultivate at night.
Zhang Chen used the Beast Taming Technique to sense, noticing countless wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards quietly gathering in the mountains and forests.
With a sharp cry, countless wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards charged toward the camp.
"Wild beast attack!" A shout echoed in the Heaven and Earth, as the Night Watcher of the escort agency sensed something was wrong, raising an alarm, while the horses in the agency were restlessly stirred.
"Don’t panic! Light the bonfires, prepare torches and fire arrows!" Second Master Chen called out standing amongst the crowd: "Everyone line up, check your weapons and armor!"
With Second Master Chen’s orders echoing, the large group of the escort agency quickly settled, bonfires were raised one after another, illuminating the night.
The refugee camp on the other hand was in dire straits, since refugees were not trained individuals, they inevitably panicked facing wild beasts in the night. However, everyone knew that in this vast night, they were surrounded by a beast tide, anyone attempting to escape alone would surely be torn to shreds by the encircling beasts; only by a desperate fight could they seize the slightest chance.
Second Master Chen said to Chen Ping beside him: "Lead five hundred men to support those refugees, don’t let them be scattered; refugees can help alleviate our pressure, the chance for survival greatly increases with tens of thousands united. We don’t know how many beasts are in this dark beast tide, we must not let them overrun the refugee camp."
Hearing this, Chen Ping slung his bow and arrows across his waist, holding a long knife with a torch in hand, took five hundred Armored Warriors toward the refugee camp.
At this time, the use of the hot water exchanged for dry wood by the escort agency during the day was apparent, as seen in the bonfires lit one after another, offering some comfort to the refugees.
Darkness is terrifying, but as long as there is light piercing the darkness, all this is no longer frightening.
"Listen, everyone, wild beasts fear fire, their fur burns when it touches the flame and will ignite. If any beast approaches, throw the torch directly, scatter the beast pack." Chen Ping continually commanded the refugees in defense.
As they were speaking, a thunderous roar echoed, and fierce-looking beasts charged forward. Huge wild boars, tigers, bears, and various other beasts surged like a tide towards the camp.
"Release the arrows! Release the arrows!"
The samurai of the Escort Agency relentlessly unleashed arrows, their bows vibrating, causing batches of beasts to fall as if they were reaping wheat, becoming wandering souls.
However, with merely three thousand escort masters at the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency, even three thousand bows were but a drop in the bucket compared to the tens of thousands of refugees, trying to guard them was still futile.
"Throw the torches!"
Chen Ping instructed the refugees, and the men, women, old and young alike threw their torches into the beast hordes, scaring countless beasts into fleeing in chaos.
Their pelts caught fire easily, making them dread the flames deeply.
"Close combat!"
The torches only disrupted their formation but couldn’t stop the beast charge. Watching as the beasts came closer, Chen Ping roared furiously, drew his long knife from his waist, tossed aside his bow, and charged to the front to battle alongside the beasts.
"Kill!"
Strong men among the refugees also wielded knives and forks, stabbing at the beasts.
Zhang Chen stood at the back of the crowd, watching the struggle in the dark night, his heart slightly reassured: "Humans have a definite advantage over beasts. The knives and forks in human hands can directly stab holes in the beasts, even the mighty tigers must dread human weapons."
In this world, there aren’t many tigers or bears; among the attacking beasts, the majority are wolves, wild boars, and various small animals accompanied by snakes, venomous insects, and birds from the sky, attacking en masse.
Zhang Chen stood quietly among the crowd, protecting his family beside him, refraining from joining the fight. He was sensing the demon beast driving the beast tide from behind. If he could kill that demon beast, it could resolve all crises naturally. Without the control and intimidation of demon beasts, ordinary beasts would fight amongst themselves, causing the beast tide to scatter.
"Should we make a move? If those refugees get overwhelmed, we’ll be surrounded by beasts too, getting into big trouble." Ying stood beside Zhang Chen, a hint of deadly intent in her eyes.
Ying was already sitting cross-legged and embracing the core, never a weakling. If she struck, no one there could match her.
"No hurry! The team isn’t defeated yet. There are about twenty thousand able-bodied men here, each armed with knives, forks, and clubs. We, humans, are not to be trifled with." Zhang Chen reassured Ying, while trying to sense using the Beast Taming Technique, but still couldn’t detect the demon beast manipulating from behind.
The cries of battle resounded across dozens of miles, both sides in a life-and-death struggle without any room for retreat.
Zhang Chen stood quietly at the rear of the crowd, his sleeve somehow concealing a slingshot, and if he spotted the demon beast’s whereabouts, he wouldn’t hesitate to test the power of the slingshot.
But the demon beast was too cunning, completely hidden in an unknown place, secretly watching the human formation.
Time ticked away, bodies piled on the ground continuously, humans and beasts alike laying dead. Comparing human corpses, beast bodies were more numerous, for humans naturally possess a physical advantage, except for a few like tigers and bears who could physically surpass humans, humans were stronger than most beasts.
Moreover, humans wielded knives, forks, and clubs. Even facing beasts like tigers, cautious handling gave a chance.
The women at the rear were not idle either, constantly igniting bonfires, wielding torches to throw into the beast hordes, causing them chaos, giving humans numerous opportunities.
Some courageous women boldly wielded torches, assisting the men upfront, stabbing directly into the beasts, causing chaos among them, with many being stabbed to death.
Three hours later, after midnight, the ground was littered with bodies, blood soaking into the mud. Humans had overcome initial panic, now fighting fiercely and gradually coordinating against the beasts. Especially weapons like long spears and pick heads were causing beasts much distress.
"You damned beasts, all of you die! Our human race is not easily bullied." Chen Ping held the long knife, stabbing it into a tiger’s mouth, his gaze filled with ferocity.
"Everyone hang in there. As long as the Great Demon doesn’t strike, these beasts are nothing to fear." Chen Ping continuously shouted, leading the five hundred armored warriors of the Escort Agency to address gaps and rescue.
The armored warriors wore armor like turtle shells, leaving the beasts helpless against it, suffering greatly.
As the beasts gradually fell to a disadvantage, suddenly a muffled thunder rang out in the dark night, the ground gently trembled, a commotion sounded from afar, scaring the beasts slaughtering on the ground to scatter, showing horror.
"Impossible! Impossible!" Zhang Chen exclaimed in disbelief: "How could there be cavalry here!"