The sun was about to set, and Xiao Chen walked slowly in the camp on the hillside. The camp was very simple, but it stretched out over a large area. At least from where Xiao Chen was, he could barely see the end of the camp. Carts and wooden stakes divided the open space into many pieces, and with some fences and tarpaulins, people had a place to shelter from the wind.
However, today's camp was much better than the previous few days. Xiao Chen at least didn't see any quarrels or fights, nor did he smell the smell of feces and urine. It seemed that the preaching and whipping over the past few days had some effect.
The men gradually emerged from the surrounding woods, bringing firewood and game, while the women had already started to build fires, and thick, choking smoke began to rise from all parts of the camp.
Xiao Chen walked and looked around, seemingly attracted by the scene of life, but he didn't notice that there was a puddle in front of him. Just as he was about to step into it, a clear shout came: "Be careful!"
Xiao Chen retracted his feet in time and looked back. The green-haired girl was holding a black cat, about four or five meters behind him.
"Katerina? You've been following me?"
"Master Xiao." Catalina seemed a little flustered. She tightened her hands and grabbed the cat's fur. The cat cried sharply, broke free from her arms, jumped to the ground, trotted a few steps, came to Xiao Chen's feet, rubbed his trouser legs, and curled up on the instep of his feet.
"Don't call me sir. I told you to just call me Xiao Chen, but you didn't listen." Xiao Chen picked up the cat and held it in his arms. The black cat turned its head and squinted its eyes in satisfaction. Xiao Chen stroked its back and said, "It seems that the little guy likes me a little bit."
Katharina had nothing in her arms and even forgot how to put her hands. She twisted her hands together awkwardly and whispered, "What are you worried about?"
"Worried? No way. What I'm most worried about right now is that this little thing will stick to me."
"That means it likes you. Besides, Xiao Hei is very cute."
Xiao Chen saw that the girl's clear eyes were looking at him in the same way as the black cat's eyes. He was moved and said slowly: "It's not easy to like someone. People are confused about this, let alone cats. Maybe it's just asking me for fish."
"I think liking someone is very simple. It's just a very happy feeling. Just like, I like eating Montenegrin pie."
"Okay." Xiao Chen smiled, "Tell me, why are you following me?"
The girl lowered her head slightly, and her eyes, like that of a cat, kept circling around Xiao Chen's feet. "Roger, Sister Kalanda and the others are out to take care of the slaves. I saw you walking around alone, and I was afraid there might be any danger, so I'll keep an eye on you."
"I'm a magician, who dares?" Xiao Chen said with a smile.
"That's hard to say. These slaves are all money. If you can't get along with other people's money, those bad guys will definitely hate you to death."
"Bad guys? You mean the slave traders?"
Catalina pursed her lips and nodded vigorously: "There are no good people in the slave trade!"
Xiao Chen laughed when he heard this. After all, Katarina was still young and her thinking was a bit naive. But on the other hand, it was Kalanda who protected her very well.
"What are you laughing at? Is there something wrong with what I said? If it wasn't for Sister Kalanda who rescued me, what do you think I would be like now?" As Catalina said this, she habitually lifted her hair. She pushed her thick green hair behind her ears. Although it was a simple action, it also added some charm.
Xiao Chen couldn't help but wonder, if she were still in the hands of those slave traders, she would probably become a valuable toy, right
"Yes, you are right! These guys are the worst of the worst, but we are not afraid of them. If they dare to enter this camp, they will be torn to pieces by the people in the camp."
"But these people are just slaves. You can't expect slaves to protect a master they've only known for three days." Catalina argued, "But I, I will protect you."
As if to prove herself, she drew the dagger at her waist.
"Thank you." Xiao Chen looked at the girl who had just reached his chest and said seriously, "However, they are no longer slaves, and I am not their master. I have said that I will definitely give them the dignity they deserve."
"Will it really be like that?"
"You don't believe it?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" The girl was silent for a while, then said, "Slaves have always been the property of the masters. It is true that one or two slaves have been freed for various reasons. But I have never heard of so many people being freed at once... Besides, those slaves are wealth. Even if you are willing, what about the others with you? Will they be reluctant to let go? I, I know you are very powerful, but even if Sister Kalanda makes a decision in our group, there will be people who oppose her."
Xiao Chen suddenly realized that this girl was much more sensible than he thought. He took a deep breath, looked at the tents in the middle of the camp, and asked, "Don't you believe I can do it?"
The girl shook her head slightly, then lowered it again, "No, no, I believe it."
"Ha, it seems that many people in the team think I am a big-talking liar."
"No! It's just that it's too good to be true. It's like... if one day a stranger suddenly appeared and told me that I was actually a princess. I would definitely think he was a liar."
"So that's how it is..." Xiao Chen felt for the first time that ideas were so stubborn that they could create such a huge obstacle between him and the locals. If it weren't for what Catalina said, he wouldn't have realized that it wasn't just the slaves who didn't believe in him, but also his subordinates and partners.
Seeing that Xiao Chen was a little disappointed, Catalina quickly said, "I'll talk to them and make sure they believe you!"
"Don't worry. Once we settle them down, we will convince them with reality. I discovered a few days ago that pork is more useful than trumpets. Come on, accompany me to take a look around the camp. Let's see what these people are doing and thinking."
At this time, on a big tree near the camp, two people in black cloaks were quietly observing everything in the camp.
"Mars, this is not a good job. There are too many people." The taller of the two men whispered. He held a foot-long crossbow in his hand, which was completely black, like a block of ink, and blended in with the shadow of the leaves along with his clothes.
"Luke, no one can escape from our hands, you know." The shorter one responded in a low voice, "Everyone who deserves to die has died in our hands."
"However, there is not a single magician among those people," Luke said.
Mars shook his head and said, "A magician can't stop your arrows or my sword. We have never killed a magician, simply because there are too few of them."
"Okay, but we have to find him first, then avoid those guards, and finally hit him before he uses magic. Finally, we have to escape from the encirclement of thousands of people... Maybe it would be better for us to wait until they are on the road tomorrow. After all, it is much easier to attack the convoy from both sides than to sneak into the camp to look for people." Luke said.
"There are several good fighters among them. If they attack in the daytime, we won't be able to escape."
"However, the slave-hunting team behind us also hopes that we can act during the day. This way they can capture more people."
Mars snorted coldly: "We just need to kill people first and then withdraw. I don't have time to care whether those slave traders are good at catching people or not."
“But they paid for it.”
"We do as much work as we are paid."
Luke thought for a moment and said, "Yes, I said it's up to you to make the decision. Tell me, what should we do?"
Mars observed for a while and ordered, "When it gets dark, we will sneak into the camp. I will be responsible for setting fire to the car, and you take the opportunity to kill a few guards. As long as they get chaotic, the magician will definitely come out to stabilize the situation. Then, we will have a chance."
Luke nodded, but there was still some hesitation on his face. He leaned close to Mars' ear and muttered as if afraid of being heard: "I heard that people who kill magicians will be cursed, and... the curse will be passed down from generation to generation."
"What curse?"
"Here." Mars pointed to his lower body and frowned, "It will rot."
"Don't talk like you have a son. You're lucky enough to be alive, you idiot." Mars glanced at him.
"But what if?"
"If you were rotten, you wouldn't have to worry about your son." Mars laughed to himself.
Luke was choked and speechless.
"Okay, idiot, shoot him in the throat with your crossbow. Even a magician can't curse someone with a hole in the throat."
Luke's eyes lit up, and he touched the black crossbow in his hand and said, "Hey, that's right. I'm going to use this 'Death Shadow' to shoot through his throat."
The sun had set, and under the cover of darkness, the two men climbed down the tree and slowly approached the camp.
"Damn it, why are there so many people patrolling!" Luke cursed in a low voice, "There are sentries outside, secret sentries, and people patrolling back and forth. The person who arranged the defense of the camp must be an experienced knight."
"You overestimate those knights. They don't have such ability. It's not like you haven't been to a military camp before. No matter whether it is the military camp of the kingdom or the empire, it is always a mess. How can it be compared with this place? It must be that magician who has powerful mercenaries under his command!" Mars said.
The two men did not act rashly. Instead, they changed three or four locations, squatting in the grass and observing for nearly half an hour, until Mars felt he had figured out the pattern of these sentinel posts, and then he began to act.
Mars pointed to a tree not far away and said, "Kill the sentry on the tree, walk along the bushes next to it, and then get under those big cars, and we can get in. Same old rules."
He bent his body and secretly approached the tree from behind. His body was as nimble as a cat catching a mouse. When he was close to the tree trunk and entered the blind spot of the secret sentry, he made a gesture to Luke.
Luke had already aimed the Death Shadow Crossbow at the sentinel, but strangely, the arrow was wrapped in a thick layer of black air. He pulled the trigger, and a black shadow flashed across the crossbow, silently piercing through the back of the sentinel's neck. No blood flowed from the place where the arrow hit, but a coin-sized black spot appeared. With the black spot as the center, his skin began to turn gray. The gray color spread rapidly, and the sentinel's eyes lost their spirit in an instant, and his body fell from the tree like a stiff stone.
Mars leaned forward, took the body steadily in his hands, and put it into the grass.
"Yes, that's it, Luke. Just like that, we'll take out the magician."