frightfiction #514 - Beast Tide
#514 - Beast Tide
Just as those two men were about to touch Zhang Chen, a sound of air being torn apart was heard, and two arrows were seen nailed into the shoes of the two men.
They were nailed precisely in front of the shoes, advancing an inch would have pierced the flesh, retreating an inch would have missed the mark.
"Bullying even the old, weak, women, and children, you really are scum!" Chen Ping was seen standing in the distance, holding arrows in his hand, with a cold light in his eyes: "You even dare to snatch the meat I gave, you are truly lawless."
The two men were startled and cold sweat dripped down their faces when they saw Chen Ping. They didn't dare to pull out the arrows from their shoes. Instead, they simply took off their shoes and knelt barefoot on the ground: "Young master, spare us! We'll never dare to do it again!"
"Get lost! If I catch you again, be careful of your heads." Chen Ping said coldly, but he didn't punish them, because he knew that the refugees heading south were a mixed bag, and he couldn't control them all even if he wanted to.
The two were pardoned, and without even bothering about their shoes, they scurried away into the darkness.
Zhang Chen turned his head to look at Chen Ping in the distance, who had put down his bow and arrows, wondering why this person would appear here, and happen to help him out of a predicament.
"This is your silver, it was mixed in with the rice." Chen Ping held a piece of silver in his hand, threw it at Zhang Chen's feet, and then turned and left.
Zhang Chen was stunned as he looked at the silver. Silver? Isn't this his silver? How could there be silver in the rice?
Moreover, if it was his silver, how could he not know?
Just as he was wondering, Zhang Fei rushed up, grabbed the silver, and looked at Zhang Chen with embarrassment. Zhang Chen frowned slightly after seeing this. He probably knew why the silver appeared in the rice. This kid actually hid the silver in the rice.
"I was just thinking of saving some money to buy some snacks in the future." Zhang Fei was a little embarrassed.
Zhang Chen didn't say anything, but said: "If you need money, just tell me, why hide it? We are not what we used to be, we are not short of money now."
Money is very important when it is important, and not important when it is not important. For those who are capable, money is readily available, but for those who have no way to make money, it is as difficult as climbing the sky.
Zhang Fei smiled and said nothing, but carefully hid the silver. Although this little bit of silver was small, it was saved by himself and belonged to him.
At night, the entire camp was silent. As countless people fell asleep, Zhang Chen silently sat cross-legged on the ground, running his supernatural powers and traversing in his spiritual world. The moonlight was like a tide, absorbed by Zhang Chen using visualization, and within the visualization's Dharma Idol Treasure Bottle, drops of moonlight condensed, constantly restoring Zhang Chen's exhausted spirit.
Until the second half of the night, suddenly a cry pierced the darkness, awakening Zhang Chen who was meditating: "The falcon is warning?"
Zhang Chen raised his head and looked at the sky, and saw the falcon circling in the air, calling out uneasily.
Since the falcon broke through to the second-tier monster, it was no longer afraid of the night, and could still fly freely even in the darkness. This was also the reason why Zhang Chen dared to meditate and practice in the darkness.
Zhang Chen used his Beast Controlling Technique to sense, and saw countless wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards in the mountains, quietly gathering in the jungle at this time.
Accompanied by a sharp roar, countless wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards rushed towards the camp.
"Wild beasts are attacking!" At this time, a roar resounded between the heavens and the earth. The night watchman of the镖局 (镖局, Biāojú, a type of armed escort agency in old China) noticed something was wrong and quickly shouted to warn. The horses in the镖局 were also restless.
"Don't panic! Light the篝火 (gōuhuǒ, bonfire), prepare torches and rockets!" Master Chen Er shouted in the crowd: "Everyone line up, check your weapons and armor!"
Accompanied by Master Chen Er's orders, the镖局's large army instantly quieted down, and piles of篝火 continued to rise, illuminating the night.
The refugees' camp was not in a good situation at this time. After all, the refugees were not well-trained people. Faced with the wild beasts in the dark, they would inevitably be flustered. However, everyone knew that in this vast dark night, everyone was already surrounded by the兽潮 (shòu cháo, beast tide). Anyone who dared to escape alone would definitely be torn to pieces by the gathered beasts. Only by fighting hard could they have a chance to fight.
Master Chen Er said to Chen Ping beside him: "You lead five hundred people to support those refugees. Don't let the refugees be dispersed. The refugees can help us share the pressure. The chances of survival will greatly increase if tens of thousands of people unite. I don't know how many兽潮 are in the darkness. Never let the beasts break through the refugee camp."
Upon hearing this, Chen Ping put on his bow and arrows, held a long knife in his hand, took a torch, and led five hundred armored soldiers to the refugee camp.
At this time, the effect of the镖局 exchanging hot water for firewood during the day was reflected. Piles of篝火 rose up, giving the refugees a trace of comfort.
The darkness was terrible, but as long as there was light to illuminate the darkness, everything would no longer be terrible.
"Everyone listen, wild beasts are afraid of fire. If their fur touches the flames, it will be ignited. If any wild beasts approach, throw torches directly to disperse the wild beast队伍 (duìwǔ, ranks)." Chen Ping constantly commanded the refugees to defend.
While speaking, an earth-shattering roar was heard, and ferocious-looking wild beasts rushed over, including huge wild boars, as well as猛虎 (měnghǔ, fierce tigers), 熊罴 (xióng pí, brown bears), and various other wild beasts, rushing towards the camp like a tide.
"Shoot arrows! Shoot arrows!"
The镖局 warriors continuously released arrows. With the vibration of the bowstrings, the rushing wild beasts fell one after another, like harvesting wheat, becoming亡魂 (wánghún, dead souls).
However, the Dragon Tiger镖局 only had three thousand镖师 (biāoshī, armed escorts). Even with three thousand bows and arrows, it was still a drop in the bucket to protect the tens of thousands of refugees.
"Throw torches!"
Chen Ping commanded the refugees, and men, women, old and young threw the torches in their hands, falling into the wild beast群 (qún, ranks), startling countless wild beasts to flee, causing bursts of骚乱 (sāoluàn, commotion).
The wild beasts were very afraid of fire because their fur would catch fire when it touched the flames.
"Close quarters combat!"
The torches only disrupted the opponent's formation and could not stop the wild beasts from charging. Seeing the wild beasts getting closer and closer, Chen Ping roared, then pulled out the long knife from his waist, abandoned the bow and arrows, took the lead and rushed to the front, fighting with the wild beasts.
"Kill!"
The strong men among the refugees also held knives and forks in their hands, and stabbed at the wild beasts.
Zhang Chen stood behind the crowd, looking at the battle in the dark, and felt a little more at ease: "Humans have an absolute advantage when facing wild beasts. The knives and forks in the hands of humans can directly open a hole in the wild beasts. Even猛虎 have to be very afraid of human's knives and forks."
There were not so many猛虎 in this world, nor were there so many 熊罴. Most of the attacking wild beasts were mainly豺狼 (cháiláng, jackals and wolves) and wild boars, supplemented by various small animals, accompanied by poisonous snakes, poisonous insects, and the flying birds in the sky, attacking everyone overwhelmingly.
Zhang Chen stood quietly in the crowd, protecting his family around him, and did not rush out to fight. He was sensing the妖兽 (yāoshòu, demon beast) behind the兽潮. As long as the妖兽 was killed with one blow, all crises could naturally be resolved. Without the control and deterrence of the妖兽, ordinary wild beasts would only kill each other, and the兽潮 would dissipate.
"Shall we take action? Once those refugees are defeated, we will also be surrounded by wild beasts and fall into great trouble." Cheng Yu was standing beside Zhang Chen at this time, with a murderous look in her eyes.
Cheng Yu had already broken through to the抱丹 (bàodān, Embracing Core) stage. She was never a weakling. If she took action, no one in the field would be her opponent.
"Don't worry! The队伍 (duìwǔ, ranks) can't be defeated for the time being. There are about 20,000 young and strong people here, each with knives, forks, sticks, and other weapons. Our human race is not made of mud." Zhang Chen comforted Cheng Yu, while using the Beast Controlling Technique to sense, but he never found the妖兽 that was controlling it from behind.
The shouts of killing rose everywhere, and the sound resounded for dozens of miles. At this time, the two sides were fighting to the death, and there was no room for maneuver.
Zhang Chen stood quietly behind the crowd. A slingshot appeared in his sleeve at some unknown time. If he noticed the whereabouts of the妖兽, he wouldn't mind trying the power of the slingshot.
It's just that the妖兽 was too cautious, completely hiding in an unknown place, secretly peeping at the formation of the human race.
Time passed little by little, and corpses were constantly piled up on the ground. There were corpses of the human race, and corpses of wild beasts. Compared with the corpses of the human race, there were more corpses of wild beasts. After all, the human race was born with a physical advantage. Except for a few races such as tigers and 熊罴 that were physically stronger than the human race, humans were stronger than most wild beasts in this world.
Moreover, humans could also master knives, forks, sticks, and other weapons. Even when facing wild beasts such as猛虎, as long as they were careful, they were not without a chance.
The women in the rear were not idle at this time. They continued to light篝火, and then threw torches into the wild beast群 from the rear, startling the wild beasts into a panic and winning a lot of opportunities for the human race.
There were also bold women who directly took torches and assisted the men, directly poking at the wild beasts, startling the wild beasts into a panic, and killing many of them in the process.
Three hours later, it was already the second half of the night. At this time, there were corpses everywhere on the ground, and blood wet the soil on the ground. The human race had survived the initial panic, and at this time, they were fighting more and more fiercely. Faced with the wild beasts, they gradually found a way to cooperate. Especially the spears, hoes, and other weapons made the wild beasts suffer unspeakably.
"You beasts, all of you die, my human race is not easy to bully." Chen Ping held a long knife in his hand and stabbed it into the mouth of the tiger opposite him, his eyes full of tyranny.
"Everyone hold on, as long as the big妖 (dà yāo, great demon) doesn't take action, these beasts are not to be feared." Chen Ping continued to shout loudly, leading the镖局's five hundred armored soldiers to fill in the gaps and put out fires everywhere.
The镖局 armored soldiers wore armor, which was like turtle shells. The wild beasts were helpless when facing the armor, and they were at a loss and suffered all the hardships.
Just as the wild beasts were gradually falling into a disadvantage, suddenly a muffled thunder sounded in the dark night, the earth trembled slightly, and a sound of commotion came from a distance, startling the wild beasts that were扑杀 (pū shā, pouncing and killing) on the ground to scatter, revealing a look of horror.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Zhang Chen exclaimed, his eyes full of disbelief: "How could there be cavalry appearing here!"