Saviors

The slaves continued to gather herbs in the rain. There was mud everywhere. It was difficult to walk and many of the plants were covered in mud. Huan Wei was again trying to quickly fill his quota. The pain in his back slowed him down, but he tried his best.

He threw the herbs he had collected into the bag. Soon he saw someone approaching him. He looked up and saw that it was Yun Ying, the fat woman. He sat up and waited for her to come.

When Yun Ying arrived, she looked at Huan Wei with a frown. The young man waited without saying anything.

"Next time, don't say it in public like an idiot." The other bandits could not hear them, either because of the sound of the rain or because they were far away.

"You didn't have to whip me."

Yun Ying raised her hand to slap him. Huan Wei looked into her eyes without reacting.

After a few seconds of waiting, she lowered her hand. "Watch your words, Huan Wei. Don't let your death be at my hands."

The fat woman turned and walked away. Huan Wei returned to his work. Who knows how valuable that herb was? If he hadn't been a slave, he could have take it for himself. But at the moment he had no means to take or use such things.

The slaves continued to work, helping each other. They were also helping Cao Jingguo because Huan Wei ordered them to. Because if he was whipped, Huan Wei would be whipped too.

Before evening, the quotas were full. The slaves continued to collect in peace. The rain had stopped. The soil was drying out and a beautiful earthy smell filled the forest.

Finally the work was finished and everyone handed in their herbs. As they ate, Huan Wei looked at Cao Jingguo. He was sitting alone again.

"Jingguo." He called out to him. Cao Jingguo looked up at them. "Come to us."

"What?"

The slaves turned to Huan Wei. Why was he calling that asshole? The people began to grumble. Cao Jingguo did not move.

"He's not the same person anymore." Huan Wei spoke. "He wants to be one of us. Can't you see he regrets what he has done? It is our duty to forgive him. Grudges and hatred will get you nowhere."

Lei Lok supported him. "Huan Wei is right. He has already experienced what he did to you. He will not do it again."

But one of the slaves objected. "He has never bullied you, Lei Lok. Ding Enlai has always protected you. You don't know what we have been through."

Another spoke with equal anger. "I lost count of how many nights I was whipped because of him."

"Listen to me." Huan Wei silenced them. "Are you angry? Good. Then let the angriest one of you go and attack him. Let him vent his anger."

The slaves were silent for a while. Then someone said, "Our fists will not hurt him. He has the Oakbody."

Huan Wei laughed. "You are wrong, my friend. Your punches will hurt him more than mine. And I am sure he will not hit you back."

Cao Jingguo heard all this and said nothing. There was a strange helplessness in his eyes. When the slaves looked at him, he looked away.

"What happened?" Huan Wei asked. "Aren't you going to attack?"

No one made a sound. Then the young man called out again. "Come here, Jingguo."

Cao Jingguo slowly got up from his seat and timidly walked over. One more look at the faces of the people and he swallowed in shame.

"Sit down."

He sat on the ground. Other slaves slid aside and moved a little away from him. Huan Wei saw this but said nothing. At least they had agreed. And that was a good thing.

People looked at him with furrowed brows, anger building up inside them. Cao Jingguo could not look at any of them. All his arrogance and courage had been shattered. He had no face to look them in the eye.

They continued their meal. Cao Jingguo seemed to be fighting a battle within himself. When he finally opened his mouth to say something, an arrow struck one of the bandits in the camp in the head.

As all the bandits drew their weapons, large hounds came out of the forest and jumped into the camp. They were as tall as a horse. They salivated as they snarled at the bandits. There were three of them.

The slaves immediately got up and ran to their cages. Were natural monsters attacking the camp?

Yun Ying stretched out her hand towards a hound. Although they were only a few meters apart, she closed her fingers and swung her arm as if she was holding it. It was as if the hound had been thrown into the trees by some unknown force holding it.

At that moment, three people emerged from the trees and jumped onto the battlefield. One of them held out a piece of paper towards the cages. The paper suddenly ignited and disappeared. A light wall appeared, separating the battlefield from the cages. It was translucent. The slaves could still see a little of what was happening.

The girl, holding a bow, reached the branch of one of the trees in one jump. Once in position, she shot arrow after arrow at the bandits. A few of them defended themselves, but not many escaped being hit.

At that moment, all the bandits used their own techniques and the battlefield took on many colors. Lightning, fire, water, nature... They saw many elements at once. The slaves were waiting, hiding behind the cages. A few techniques that hit the wall of light were blocked by it.

Meanwhile, Yun Ying grabbed the girl who had climbed up the tree, using his grasping technique, and pulled her down. As she swung through the air and landed flat on the ground, the girl restrung her bow and fired an arrow at her. The arrow stopped before it reached the fat woman and began to float in the air. Huan Wei was curious about this technique that used no elements.

But that was not what he was really curious about. Someone had attacked the camp, using some kind of talisman to protect the slaves from harm. Were these the people who had come to rescue them?

"They came to save us!" Lei Lok spoke excitedly. He held Jiao Bai by the shoulder, shaking him. "They've come to save us!"

Huan Wei was excited too. Would all that effort be unnecessary? Could he really get out of here?

One of the attacking cultivators rushed into the bandits, daggers in hand. He was moving very fast. Superhumanly fast, in fact.

"It's a movement technique!" said one of the slaves.

The bandits were unable to keep up with his speed. He carefully dodged all the techniques they were using. In the process, he slashed a few of them with his daggers.

But his way was also blocked by Lan Xifeng. The woman's whip was in her hand again. On her free hand was a pointed dagger head shaped out of pure light.

Lan Xifeng attacked first with his whip. His opponent dodged this attack with his speed. Yet it was difficult for him to avoid the dagger of light that suddenly flew at him. There was now a thin scratch on his cheek. At the same time he was dodging the attacks of the bandits. The hounds were still unrestrained.

The last of the trio came to the slaves behind the wall of light. The door to the cages was open. "We will take you away from here. Follow me." The happiness on the slaves' faces was worth seeing.

As they all followed him, the man suddenly stopped and looked at the woman in front of him. All slaves took a few steps back in fear. It was Ou Yu. She was holding her sledgehammer at chest height. Seeing her, the man immediately drew his sword.

The red-haired woman looked at him and then at the battlefield. "You are well paid for attacking my camp."

"It is our job to take down the likes of you," said the man with the sword.

Ou Yu raised her sledgehammer and attacked. His opponent dodged to the right and avoided the attack. Then he attacked with his sword, but Ou Yu was fast. She blocked the attack by holding the handle of the sledgehammer in front of her. She then used her physical strength and pushed her opponent back.

An ominous feeling emanated from Ou Yu, striking fear into the hearts of all the slaves. Huan Wei recognized this feeling. It was the power that Huan Manchu used. The power of Path of the Blood...

Yet at the same time, a feeling of peace and confidence emanated from the man with the sword. His body glowed with a golden aura as he extended his sword towards Ou Yu.

"Back off, you vile creature. I will not leave people in the hands of the likes of you."