We humbly greet Master

Liam looked around in bewilderment. This was not the time to be confused about things. He started to think more rationally. He focused on the things that were in front of him.

What he needed the most were food and water. Where could he get some?

His eyes widened as he looked through the pile of things he had kicked out before and found his old bag. He pulled out a flask with some water and opened a ration bag he had saved for these kinds of situations. He tossed his pack onto his back and started to move out while eating and drinking. He left everything unnecessary behind. He could always come back. No human would stumble here as the place was far from the usual path humans took, and other creatures moving around won't find anything interesting either. Also, there was no meat to eat.

It took him half an hour to reach the clearing he had been at previously with the kids. He checked if Biff was still there and found his shell still in the river. He frowned as he felt that something was definitely up. The kids wouldn't know where to move, and grandpa must have had a reason. Something was strange.

The campsite had been erased.

"No. The Purple Runners don't seem to be the only problem."

He searched around the clearing and finally found some signs of what might have happened. He found footprints—human footprints, heading to the next city.

Humans who don't cultivate can't feel the demon beast's aura or presence with their senses. In that way, they mainly act like chickens heading to slaughter. But that wouldn't matter at the moment. Biff was basically invisible as he was comprehending the human language of this planet. Demon beast didn't seem to be able to communicate with the human race.

Liam didn't understand that. If demon beasts could gain sentience, then why couldn't they learn the human language of this place. It didn't make sense.

While Biff was invisible, Nio had left to fulfill a request he had made to him. He was probably reaping all the possible benefits he could get from that plant and leaving the kids with only Haru. And he had accidentally brought Haru inside his consciousness, also making her presence disappear. Her body should still be here, but to think he found human footprints and a strong scent of blood.

"FUCK!"

He cursed at the top of his lungs, getting a clear picture of what had happened. They might not have reached a city yet.

"What about that girl?" He asked himself, expecting no answer. He was thinking things over as it was much easier to see a clearer picture when one spoke out his thoughts.

"She is close by, barely half an hour if you run full speed." Pollen had appeared.

"What about Yong-Sun and the others?" he turned to Pollen, who had made his presents known, indicating that he could and would help him. Liam understood why he helped. For a simple reason, both had a natural-born core.

"They are two days away from the city in their pace," Pollen informed him.

Liam understood that the girl was in a difficult situation and needed urgent help. He wanted to go after Haru, Yong-Sun, and the others but prioritized. They had two more days while the girl probably didn't have that kind of time.

He rushed off in the direction of the girl.

While he ran, he understood something. They hid him. The kids and the old man had hidden him on purpose. They may have even had a chance to escape whatever was coming, but they chose to hide him. This is because they had decided to believe in him. This understanding made him feel warm and fussy, but he could also feel a kind of pressure on his heart. A feeling you'd feel when one thought of one's family and the ones one cared about.

'I have not done anything to make them believe in me, so why had they done this?'

Liam focused on his task as he approached. He heard people running through the forest. They weren't taking any measures to hide their tracks, just running and hoping to escape the beast behind them. Or they might have just given up on hiding as the number of creatures chasing after them was huge.

He spotted the girl running in front of the two guards. He recognized them as the twins from Maple City. He was surprised but not that much when he recalled what they had said to him.

Liam pulled out the Snake Tooth Blade and rushed forward. He was very experienced with those beasts by now. Their most vital feature was their legs. Their claws and jaw were their attack power. It was a simple creature. One of the easiest he had come across after knowing what other kinds of creatures lived in the forest. The skin of that beast was the most valuable thing about them.

He rushed passed the girl and the twins, cutting at the creatures' tendons. After all, if they couldn't run, they were basically harmless. But of course, they weren't that fast either. It was just that they were hard to kill by normal human standards.

Thud! Crash!

Thud! Crash!

Thud! Crash!

Many of those could be heard.

The creatures rushed after the three. They didn't even notice that Liam was there. One after another, they fell, letting the others stumble on each other and falling again but getting up if Liam had yet to cut them.

Liam cut one open in a hurry and watched as the others attacked it with gusto. It seemed it didn't matter that the dead one was their own kind and that they were hungry. He cut three more open and watched as the whole group had stopped to devour their own kind.

The three were in such a great panic that they had even yet to see someone had saved them. That the Purple Runners weren't chasing after them any longer. They were heedlessly running forward.

Liam grabbed a few vines hanging from a branch and caught them in a few moments. He knocked the three out and went to the same clearing.

Half an hour later. Liam was back in the same clearing. He untied them and tossed them unceremoniously into the river.

They woke momentarily, shocked to find themselves in the water. It wasn't deep, but only the girl knew how to swim. That wasn't even necessary as the part where he tossed them wasn't that deep. They'd feel the bottom if they could stop panicking and put their legs down.

The girl reached the shore first, but the other two were still panicking in the water.

"Hey, put your legs down!" Liam shouted. He was rather pissed off by the situation, not to mention impatient.

The twins froze when they recognized the voice. They obeyed immediately, finding that the water barely touched their stomach. They felt embarrassed but climbed out of the water.

"We humbly greet Master," they had come in front of him and knelt.

These actions made the woman understand why the twins had been so adamant about doing everything they could to leave Maple City.