Chapter 202 DongXue Village Part 4

Hajime ran with his right hand supporting his lower abdomen and his left hand reaching into the cross bag, trying to find something to stop the furry men chasing after him. As soon as his hand was caught on a wooden figure, he felt a sharp pain in his left calf and his movements slowed down. Hajime couldn't believe that he would suddenly have cramps in such a dangerous situation. He felt that the muscles in his left calf were tight, and the pain was getting more and more severe. He felt that his right leg could no longer drag his body away as fast as he would like. 

U-ri turned around to see where Hajime was but found that he was already far behind U-ri. "Hajime! What are you doing?" U-ri shouted. "They're right behind you." 

Hajime yelled, "Leave me and continue running." 

At this time, Hajime's right calf began to cramp. His cramped legs could not support his body, and he fell to the ground. When the furry men stopped in front of him, Hajime quickly took out the first wooden figure and threw it to the ground. 

Just when a furry man raised his wooden spear to stab Hajime, the black panther rushed out from the ground, grabbed the wooden spear with his mouth, and dragged the furry man on the ground away from Hajime. The black panther quickly walked around the furry man and grabbed the side of the furry man's neck. The black panther shook the furry man twice, and dropped the furry man to the ground, and aggressively growled at the other furry men who were a few yards away from Hajime. 

Seeing the black panther staring at them with yellow eyes, the furry men didn't dare to get close because they knew how dangerous the black panther was. The furry men knew that they would be approaching Dongxue Village soon, and if the little people saw them, they would attack them, so they looked at each other, did not attack Hajime. They quickly rushed into the woods and disappeared into the woods. 

U-ri quickly rushed to Hajime and helped Hajime up. "Are you okay?" U-ri asked. 

"I'm fine. I'm not hurt, but help me up... Both calves are really cramped," Hajime held out a hand to U-ri. 

U-ri helped Hajime stand up and looked around. "Do you think they will come back?" U-ri asked. 

"I don't think so." Hajime said, looking at the woods and surroundings. "My senses tell me they're still here. We just can't see them." 

U-ri asked, "So, do you think it's safe for us to go get our stuff?" 

Hajime said, "I don't think so, but please help me climb on the black panther's back first." When Hajime saw three people approaching from a distance on horseback, he quickly broke away from U-ri. Hajime knew that the three people must be Yul, Abrafo, and Michio, so he hurried to hide behind a tree. 

"Hajime! What are you doing?" U-ri asked. 

"U-ri... hide," Hajime whispered. 

U-ri looked up and saw Yul riding towards him, followed by Abrafo and Michio. 

Yul stopped his horse in front of U-ri. He looked around and saw the black panther not far from a tree. Yul sighed angrily and jumped off his horse. 

Abrafo looked at U-ri and asked, "U-ri, you old man, what are you doing here?" He looked around. "It seems you are not in much danger." 

U-ri said, "We were a while ago, but the monkey men were driven away by the black panther." 

Michio looked at U-ri and said, "Monkey men? What do you mean?" 

U-ri pointed to the left, pointing to the furry dead man on the ground. "That monkey man," he said. 

Seeing this weird-looking man, Abrafo and Michio quickly dismounted and walked towards the dead furry man. 

Michio looked at the furry man and asked, "This man does look like monkey. You see, his fur is black." 

Abrafo asked, "Could this be what Wen told us?" 

Michio looked at Abrafo and said, "You mean, one of the savage men?" 

Abrafo nodded. "Hey, Yul, come take a look at this," Abrafo said, turning to look at Yul, who was staring at a tree not far away. "Is there another monkey man hiding behind that tree?" 

U-ri sighed and said, "It's Hajime." 

Abrafo's jaw dropped. "What?" He stepped closer to U-ri and grabbed onto U-ri's shoulders. "What are you thinking by bringing Hajime here?" 

"As if I have a choice?" U-ri frowned. "If I don't come with him, he'll come by himself." 

Yul stared at the tree and said angrily, "Are you going to come out by yourself, or do you want me to drag you out?" Yul waited for a while, but Hajime did not answer. "I know you're behind that tree. Just because you don't answer my question doesn't mean you're not there. If you're going to hide yourself, you need to do better next time and don't let your panther guard you." He paused for a moment. "Then, do you want to come out on your own, or do you want me to drag you out?" 

Hajime took a deep breath and said, "Come and drag me out. I can't walk out on my own now." 

Yul walked to the tree and found Hajime sitting on the ground massaging his calves. He looked at Hajime angrily and said, "I already told you, don't follow me." 

"I heard you. I just wanted to get out of the temple and get some fresh air," Hajime said. 

Yul knelt and picked Hajime up. Holding Hajime in his arms, he started walking towards his horse. "There is no fresh air like the air around the temple," Yul said. 

Hajime looked up at Yul's face and found that Yul's eyebrows were tightening up, which meant that Yul was angry. In order to avoid adding fuel to Yul's already angry inner fire, Hajime chose to remain silent. 

At this time, Abrafo and the others were already on their horses. Abrafo looked at Yul and said, "Hey, U-ri said we have to go back and get their stuff." 

"How far?" Yul asked. 

U-ri pointed ahead and said, "About four hundred yards that way." 

Once the five Tanzanies walked back to Hajime and U-ri's original resting place, they discovered that Hajime and U-ri's belongings were still intact on the ground. Michio and U-ri start collecting Hajime and U-ri's belongings, while Yul and Abrafo go to see the dead furry man. 

Yul and Abrafo found the dead furry man lying on the ground with a large gash on its abdomen and neck. 

"Whatever hurt him, it had to have sharp nails," Yul said. 

"According to U-ri, this man was attacked by the mother gorilla," Abrafo said, walking up to the dead furry man's head. "Look at his neck. Look at the artery. It seems like it was pulled out from the neck. This man must have angered the mother badly to ends up looking like this." His expression was ugly, and the left corner of his mouth raised. "What a painful way to die." 

"What type of creature do you think he is?" Yul asked, looking at Abrafo. 

"I don't know. This is a strange-looking dead person," Abrafo said. "If U-ri doesn't know, how do you think I would know." 

"I've never seen any creature like him before," Yul said, then knelt on the ground beside the dead furry man and began to examine the man. He lifted the furry man's hand and turned it back and forth. "Ten fingers. Ten toes." He stood up and looked at Abrafo. "Except for the facial and body hair abnormalities, everything looks exactly like a normal person." 

"Monkeys that look like humans. I've never seen that before," Abrafo said. "So, do you think this is the savage that Wen is talking about, or the savage Wen is talking about are the gorillas?" 

"I'm not sure, but if I had to bet, that dead stranger was one of the savages Wen was talking about. Let's ask Wen when we get back," he said, walking with Abrafo back towards the others. Yul stopped suddenly when he saw a jujube tree. He saw two red berries closest to him, quickly grabbed them and stuffed the two berries into his robe. "Since they were fighting, I don't believe they were the same group." 

"What are we going to do with Hajime? Sending him back will delay our trip. It's not safe for him and U-ri to return on their own. So, what's your decision?" Abrafo asked. 

Yul said, "Let them stay. Hajime and U-ri can stay in the village while we go to rescue the kidnapped children." He took a deep breath. "Master Budi said that the Taka people will not enter the village." 

Abrafo frowned, "I can't believe he really followed us. What happened to the good Hajime who always listens to you?" 

Yul watched as Hajime sat on a small rock and watched as U-ri and Michio tied items to Abrafo's horse. Yul sighed and said, "U-ri told me that he behaved differently because of his hormone change. U-ri said that pregnant women have irrational tempers." Yul turned and looked at the dead furry man. "I think it might not be as easy as we think." 

"You mean fighting is inevitable?" Abrafo asked. 

"I'm worried about how strong our opponent is," Yul said. "I'm worried that Hajime might get hurt if we fight. I prefer no fighting if we can avoid it." 

"That's for the best. I know that if those savage men dare to go against me, they will die by my sword," Abrafo said. As soon as he finished speaking, worry arose in his heart. He knew his friends, the monks and he could fight, but he couldn't say the same for the villagers. He sighed. "I really don't know how effective the villagers will be if a fight breaks out." 

"Hey, you two!" Michio said. "We are ready." 

"We will find out when we get there. Master Budi asked us to make peace, so, if possible, let us avoid fighting," Yul said, the sound of swaying branches approaching them from the distance. "Let's get out of here." 

Abrafo turned to look at the trees. Although they were far away, he could see from the swaying of the branches that the battle between the gorillas and the furry men were still going on. 

"I agree. Let's go before they find us," Abrafo said, rushing towards his sword. "Hey, let's go now." 

Yul quickly rushed to Hajime's side and helped Hajime back on the horse. Yul jumped on the horse sitting in front of Hajime. 

"We heard the same sound when the furry men approached and chased us," U-ri said. 

"Hold on to my robe," Yul said, knowing that Hajime's belly was too big to wrap his arms around Yul's waist. He galloped his horse to follow Abrafo, Michio and U-ri towards Wen and the three monks.