Xiao Chen felt like his face was being caressed by willow branches in the spring breeze. When he opened his eyes slightly, he found that it was green hair, and the scent it exuded was like a grassland full of wild flowers. He rested his chin on the back of the man's shoulder and his head against his ear.
There was the rumbling of horse hooves all around, and then Xiao Chen found himself in the middle of a horse team, and he was tied to a rider. He felt sore all over, which was the sequelae of extremely tense muscles and fatigue. When those painful images invaded his soul, his body was also tested. He tried to straighten up, and instantly felt that the muscles in his waist and abdomen seemed to be torn apart, and he couldn't help but scream.
The rider turned around and found that he was tied to the little girl Katarina. He was half a head taller than Katarina, and lying on her all the way must have exhausted her.
"Ah, Xiao, Lord Xiao, you're awake." For some reason, Catalina became so nervous that she stuttered when she found out that Xiao Chen had woken up.
"How long have you been carrying me?"
"No, not long, just a little while."
Xiao Chen felt his clothes on his chest and abdomen and found them a little damp. It seemed that he had been sticking to her for a long time. He looked at the sky and said, "Since we left Phoenix Village, you have been carrying me on your back, right?"
"They all wanted to carry you, but they were too heavy. Two people would affect the horsepower. I'm lighter and my riding skills are better than theirs."
Xiao Chen patted the other person's shoulder gently and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
But he found that the other party's body trembled, and instead of answering, he whipped the horse twice with the whip.
Xiao Chen said, "It seems like you are quite afraid of me. Actually, I am a very friendly person. What happened last time was really a misunderstanding. I apologize to you."
Catalina held the reins tightly and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "It's all my fault."
Xiao Chen looked at her from behind and found that her ears were red and her cheeks were like tomatoes, which made her look a little more adorable. However, he would not have any other thoughts about such a little girl.
"Don't worry about it. We have an old saying here: when you are in the world, you have no choice. I didn't use that magic against you."
"Stop talking. You..." Catalina exclaimed, her hand slipped, and even the whip fell. Her face became redder and the reins in her hand became tighter and tighter. The black horse under her shook its head unhappily.
"We didn't know each other until we fought..."
Katarina suddenly turned around and looked at Xiao Chen. There seemed to be... murderous intent in her green eyes
Xiao Chen suddenly realized how stupid he was, actually mentioning the little girl's peeing in front of her. He laughed dryly and asked, "Where are we going?"
Catalina did not answer, she whistled, and a white horse came up from behind, she pulled out a dagger from her boot, cut the rope tied around their waists, pushed herself up with her hands and kicked her feet, and jumped onto the white horse. She looked so agile, completely different from the stammering and embarrassed state just now.
In the blink of an eye, the person in front of Xiao Chen disappeared. Xiao Chen lost his balance and fell on the horse's back. His nose came into close contact with the horse's neck, and he cried out in pain.
The mercenaries on the surrounding horses all burst into laughter. Catalina also giggled, "You're awake. I have to report to the boss."
She squeezed the horse's belly, and the white horse started running, leaping out in the blink of an eye.
When Xiao Chen rode to the front of the team, Katarina had disappeared. Kalanda said that she had taken the initiative to serve as a scout again. Chen Hansheng and others were very happy to see Xiao Chen wake up.
"Lao Xiao, are you guys nice enough? Does it feel good to let a big loli carry you on her back?" Cai Long asked in a narrow voice.
Xiao Chen raised a hand and said, "Do you want me to scare you to death so that you can have some fun?" Cai Long immediately shut his mouth.
"Or do you want to come?" He looked at Li Tianrui, who shook his head and said, "But she'll cry and beg to carry you, maybe, hehe..."
"Don't talk nonsense, the girl wants a reputation." After saying this, he ignored the people who were laughing and asked about Kalanda's current situation.
Kalanda said, "We are chasing the bandits. Judging from the traces, this bandit group has about 160 to 170 people. Judging from the number of people, we guess that they are several bandits acting together, and they are half a day away from us. Lord Chen finally decided to chase them and annihilate this bandit group in the wild."
"The leader is a man with blue hair." Xiao Chen said with his eyes slightly narrowed.
As soon as Xiao Chen said this, the people around him suddenly fell silent. They looked at each other, wondering why Xiao Chen made such a statement.
"Did you use the magic of prophecy?" Kalanda asked carefully.
"I saw the scene at that time." Xiao Chen said, "The man was very cruel. He used a machete. He always swung the knife from bottom to top. He killed many people in the village, even children. The other bandit was a bald strong man with a long-handled axe. He liked to chop people in half. There was also a woman with a bow and arrow. She liked to kill people like hunting, and every arrow shot at the person's head."
"Mais! It must be 'Blue Wolf' Mais. This guy has always been ruthless. Going from his territory to Frollo, we must pass through Phoenix Village." Kalanda said, looking at his companions around him. Their eyes turned red. "Finally, we met him."
"Mays, damn Mays, that bald guy must be Russ, these two bastards killed Edo, I'm going to smash them to pieces!" The giant Gameiro slapped his thigh.
"That bitch must be Monica 'Falcon Eyes'. Bastian died in her hands. Boss, we didn't even see her face clearly last time, this time we must avenge Bastian!" Adams and several of Karanda's teammates shouted. Some even drew their weapons.
"These guys are all the fierce bandit leaders in the surrounding area. Not only Blue Flame has a grudge against them, but several of our groups also owe them a blood debt!" said Osa, the leader of the Iron Axe Group. The bandit group and the mercenary group are like a pair of spears and shields. In previous missions, they have clashed countless times.
Kalanda looked at Xiao Chen, "Sir."
"I understand." Xiao Chen said, "I am just like you, I have revenge to take!"
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In the dark night, Xiao Chen lurked in the woods, looking far ahead at the bandit camp on the small slope. The bandits had set up tents and simple fences around a bonfire on the slope. The bonfire was very obvious in the night, and the flames made the shadows of people walking in the camp look very large, and reflected on the trees like giants dancing. Singing and frolicking sounds were faintly heard from the camp, and it really looked like people from another world were camping in the wild. However, thinking that there was a group of bloodthirsty butchers hidden in this quiet joy, Xiao Chen wanted to turn this camp into a sea of fire.
After traveling, looting, and venting their anger during the day, most of the bandits seemed to be exhausted. Soon, there were few people walking around in the open space outside the tents. Many of them simply fell drunk beside the campfire and slept soundly in the open air.
"Lord Xiao, can your magic knock down that bonfire? If that kind of terrifying power can erupt from the middle of the camp, it will be much easier to act." Kalanda knelt on one knee beside him and asked in a low voice.
Xiao Chen closed his eyes, sensed for a while without making any expression, and shook his head: "It's too far. My fear magic can't reach that far. Maybe I can go with you and release it at a closer place."
"It's too dangerous. Since you hired us, we can't let you take risks while we are still standing. Since there is no magic, we should rely on our swords." Kalanda flatly rejected Xiao Chen's proposal.
There are thousands of variations of the act of robbing a camp in stories and novels, but in the real world, it is nothing more than removing sentries, setting fire to the camp, killing people in chaos, and blocking escape routes.
Xiao Chen and his men secretly followed the bandits here, and surrounded the enemy camp in the dark with a slightly superior force. They had taken advantage of the time, place and people. If they still couldn't defeat the bandits, Kalanda and his men could just kill themselves. The key tonight was actually how to minimize the losses.
After Xiao Chen and the other mercenary leaders including Kalanda discussed, they simply divided the team into four groups. Half-elf archer Cole led thirty archers to remove sentinels and set fires, while Katarina led a small team to seize war horses. Kalanda and Chen Hansheng led a team of nearly a hundred people to raid the camp, while Xiao Chen and Li Tianrui each led a team of about fifty people to guard the two passages leading out of the camp.
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Xiao Chen led the team trudging through the woods. The road he was responsible for blocking was on the other side of the camp. In order to prevent the horse thieves from discovering their movements, they had to make a big detour.
He walked a little slowly, afraid of making too much noise. He was followed by Kalanda's deputy, another warrior with fighting spirit, Adams. For some reason, he was wearing mail, but he still made much less noise than Xiao Chen when he walked. The same was true for the mercenaries behind him. A large group of people walked in the forest full of fallen leaves, making only a slight rustling sound.
Xiao Chen was a little nervous. Everyone knew that war was the most unpredictable thing. Perhaps a small thing would lead to an outcome that was completely different from what people expected. However, in order to maintain the calmness of a leader, he had to be patient and try to be very calm. He kept looking for various reasons in his mind to tell himself that the goddess of victory must be on their side today.
He secretly observed Adams who was walking in front of him. The young soldier looked confident.
Xiao Chen couldn't help but ask him: "Adams, you seem very confident."
Adams' face was a little red, and the excitement on his face had not subsided: "Sir, today is the day when Max will die. I promised Leo that I would bring Max's head to his bedside, and I will definitely do it."
"You have such a good relationship. It's so different from other people. It's like..."
"Like a family. Yes, thanks to the boss. Many of us were brought up by her. For example, she taught me how to fight. She is my sister, Leo is my brother, and we are a family." Adams said with a smile.
Suddenly, a wolf howled from a distance, but the sound stopped abruptly halfway through the howl. Soon, shouts and screams were heard from the forest again.
"Oh no, sir, they launched the attack prematurely." Adams suddenly looked at the sky that was burning with fire and said, "The action must have been discovered."
Xiao Chen's forehead was covered with sweat in the cold wind. He thought for a moment and said, "We must speed up and reach the ambush point."
Adams nodded and urged the other mercenaries to speed up. At this time, they didn't care about hiding their whereabouts and all ran fast. Xiao Chen ran, but he was a little worried. Kalanda and Lao Chen didn't make a surprise attack in secret. Will they have to face the prepared enemy directly this time? Those shrill screams reminded him of the crazy killing figures of the bandits in the memory fragments, and he always unconsciously matched these sounds with the faces of Lao Chen and others.
Can Kalanda and the others really deal with these lunatics
Xiao Chen said to Adams hesitantly, "When we reach the intersection, do we need to rush back in and give some support to Kalanda and the others? Will the attacking team be unable to hold on?"
Adams looked at him strangely and said, "The chief and several leaders are all very powerful warriors. The number of masters in their team alone exceeds that of the horse thieves. You can rest assured that even if we set up a fair battle, we are not afraid of them."
"Besides, the horse thieves are now at a disadvantage."
"How do you know?"
"In battle, nothing is more deadly than chaos. From what I've heard from the horse thieves, they haven't been organized yet and are fighting hastily. They will definitely be defeated by our people." Adams said affirmatively.