Journey to hell

Duoli village was surrounded by tall wooden walls. Anyone outside would not be able to see anything inside. Taking in this sight, Wu Zhengyi followed with his head, looking back as if he couldn't bear to leave the village.

Bai Ming and Li Tian had their attention in front of them. Ahead of them was the forest that led into the mountains.

Li Tian grabbed a hold of the axe that had been hanging at his back and walked ahead of the other two looking vigilant. Just as Lian Tian equipped his axe, so did Bai Ming.

Wu Zhengyi didn't seem to take anything seriously as he happily followed behind Bai Ming. The village head and a couple of other warriors and hunters were walking up ahead.

There were divisions in the village. The warriors were the protectors who were directly under the village head. Many of them had been hunters at one time but had been specially chosen by the combat chief to be trained as warriors.

Although their numbers were small, they were still a force not to be reckoned with.

There were even some women among them who looked especially fierce. As they paved the path for the people following behind.

At this point, only twelve members of the warrior unit had come to this hunt.

The rest had remained at the village. After all, if the protectors were to all leave, then who would maintain the peace and order in the village chief's absence?

Who would protect the elderly, women, and children?

Wouldn't the bandits get to have an early payday?

Under normal circumstances, the village head and the warrior unit would never have participated in the hunts, but today's hunt seemed to be special.

Many of the people who followed in this hunt were now seasoned hunters with at least one year's worth of experience. Only a couple few had never been to any hunt before.

Cui Bei, Li Tian, and Wu Zhengyi were among these individuals, but even Bai Ming, who had once joined the hunt, had a confused expression on his face as he thought to himself.

This year's hunt is different.

Not only are the warrior units joining, but even the location of the hunt is different.

Li Tian could see the confusion on Bai Ming's face and looked ahead with a thoughtful gaze, then back at Bai Ming. At this point, he spoke silently.

"The cold will be upon us soon…"

Hearing this, Bai Ming and Wu Zhengyi perked their ears and cocked their heads in confusion.

Li Tian simply ignored these gestures and continued.

"You're wondering why we are going to the western mountains and not the eastern mountains, right?"

Wu Zhengyi heard this and jumped at these words without thinking too much.

"Could it be that we're not going on a hunt but a celestial festival?"

Bai Ming immediately pushed Zhengyi aside and straightened his appearance, showing a serious look.

Li Tian continued.

"I'm sure you two have heard of the frigid wrath, right?"

Wu Zhengyi seemed to react first.

"Eh,"

"Isn't that just a story our parents told us just to warn us not to venture far into the lands away from the village?"

Li Tian gave Wu Zhengyi a deep look and continued.

"I haven't lived that long yet, so i'm not too sure of it myself, but I heard that it's real."

Wu Zhengyi retorted almost immediately.

"How is that possible? If such a disaster was real, wouldn't all the lands be uninhabitable?"

At this point, Li Tian looked at Wu Zhengyi with a baffled expression.

"See, even you yourself don't understand it, so could it be real?"

Li Tian looked at him as if he had just discovered a new side of the world.

"Hehe, this is new information to me…"

Li Tian said with a faint smile.

"Brother Tian, this sort of thing is not your fort. Leave the jokes to us,"

Wu Zhengyi spoke as if all knowledge of the world was at his disposal. Li tian looked at him and responded.

"Haha, that's not it at all, I'm just surprised that you of all people actually have the capacity to think…"

"I believe this discovery is something that might make the Great Immortal blush with envy."

Li tian said with a burst of laughter.

Wu Zhengyi face immediately blushed as he blurted.

"You…"

Bai Ming shook his head as he returned his focus back to the front, following the rest of the group. Without realizing it, a whole day passed and then another.

Two whole days had passed. This was the third day during the journey to the unknown destination. Wu Zhengyi's enthusiasm had dissolved completely now he was regretting having joined this year's hunt. He kept muttering the same question over and over along the journey.

Bai Ming and Li Tian had already lost much of their drive as they wondered to themselves.

Could it be that the village chief has decided to have us all die of exhaustion?

Death by…

The next thought did not finish when Wu Zhengyi interrupted once more.

"Are we there yet?"

No response came.

Li Tian and Bai Ming didn't even have the strength to utter a single word. It was a mystery where Zhengyi was getting his strength from.

If one were to look from afar. The entire group looked like a bunch of hunched over elderly people struggling to move their bodies. Only the warriors at the front kept their posture and seemed to just be warming up.

Wu Zhengyi's eyes were now red looking at them as if he had seen something inconceivable. A word appeared in everyone's mind when they looked at them.

Monsters!!!

They had taken some short hunts in the mountains they passed accompanied with some occasional breaks to eat. None could complain about hunger, but no matter how bloated their bellies were, it could not erase the thought that kept ringing in their heads.

We are still not there yet!

Just where exactly is the chief taking us to?

Hell???

I think so!

Could it be that the chief struck a deal with the king of hell?

I think so, too!

Probably!!

Definitely!!!

They seemed to have asked many questions along the way and provided the answers themselves.

Another day passed, and on the fifth day, they could now see up ahead in the distance and appeared a magnificent mountain looking tall and strong. Everyone seemed to have forgotten their exhaustion.

It's not that it had miraculously disappeared. On the contrary, it was a surge of adrenaline that had burst out to give them the energy they needed to reach their destination.

It was unknown who pushed through first. All the village chief saw was a blur indicating that something had passed by him so fast. As if that wasn't the end of it, many more blur passed by him.

In the next instance, all that was left was the village chief and the warriors who had joined. The warriors seemed to look at each other in mutual understanding. They seemed to silently sympathize with the hunters. After all, this journey was also a part of their training once.

The village chief silently shook his head and followed along.

A while later, everyone was lying down on the ground, taking pleasure in having reached their destination. To them, it seemed they had finally reached heaven and thought themselves to be embraced by the Great Immortal. However, good things don't last too long, as an arrow landed right in between the legs of one of the hunters. His face paled as cold sweat poured down.

Mama, my ten billion descendants were nearly ended.

Immediately, everyone who was around got into formations they had trained and assumed a defensive position.

Everyone just stared deep in the woods of the mountain. They couldn't see anything but were sure the arrow had come from there.

In the next moment, a faint sound of foot steps echoed from within the woods, followed by vague outlines of people walking. Those who had their bows immediately loaded their arrows, then pulled the string and aimed them at the approaching figures.

In a short moment, the figures seem to notice this and stop. The situation became tense as a dead silence ensued. One of the hunters seemed ready to let loose at any moment, especially the one who had nearly gotten his bloodline ended in that previous instance.

At this time, the village head's voice came a moment too soon from behind, stopping them from shooting.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to kill your comrades?"

"Lower your weapons"

Everyone heard this, but none lowered their weapons. It couldn't be helped after all. They were the ones who had been attacked first and hadn't even seen the identity of their shooter.

Seeing their unwillingness to back down, the warriors seemed about to act at any moment.

It was at this point that the figures who had stopped continued to walk and in a short while appeared in clear view. It was five people, two women and three men who seemed to have been a hint of arrogance etched into them as they stared at the group of hunters.