Upon seeing Young Master Hustace lying motionless on the ground, Qi Liu was overwhelmed with a flood of emotions: surprise, excitement, anger, loss, fear, sympathy…
A myriad of jumbled feelings finally converged into a single, heartfelt call.
"Master! Young Master Hustace!"
This call carried far more information than its literal meaning. It was complex.
Within this call lay Qi Liu's worry and longing for his master over the past days, along with the relief and reassurance of finding him again.
However, Hustace, lying prone on the ground, did not feel the same way. At that moment, he was still panic-stricken and disoriented. Even upon seeing his most loyal coachman, he remained indifferent.
As this call echoed through the mountains, Vister was gingerly caressing the potion in his breast pocket, his face filled with worry. He wished he could drink the potion right then to give his opponent a taste of true power, but the elders' orders could not be disobeyed. Unless he heard the sound of fireworks, he absolutely could not uncork that potion.
This call provided Vister with another opportunity to avoid direct confrontation. He turned his head to see a familiar face—the face that had destroyed one of his Summoned Beasts and dislocated his jaw...
Truly, misfortunes never come singly, and old enemies are bound to meet on a narrow path. Unfortunately, now he was caught between enemies, attacked from both front and back. Vister really wished he could just find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
At that moment, Igor was struggling to free his foot from under a burly man. Hearing the call, he turned his head and said, "Huh, Qi Liu, you're here too."
As Qi Liu had previously been Young Master Hustace's dedicated coachman and food deliverer, he'd had some contact with Igor. Seeing both Igor and Young Master Hustace with their hands bound, and under attack by so many people, he instantly realized the situation was serious. He hastily assumed a battle stance. Even though he possessed no combat skills whatsoever, he couldn't just stand idly by while his master was in danger.
Qi Liu's actions startled the few people with him. After all, they had been following this 'leader who wasn't a leader,' wandering the mountain for quite some time. Now that they had finally found their target, they hadn't expected things to be so complicated—someone had beaten them to it and captured him.
Axia, an Alchemy Servant from the Alchemy Workshop, had been bumping along with Qi Liu for a long time and was thoroughly impatient. Though Axia had indulged in plenty of boasts and complaints along the way, he still felt uneasy. Now, seeing success was within reach, yet a large group of people blocked their path. Those snarling individuals didn't look like good news.
Could it be that Lord Milo and the others failed to stop these people from coming up the mountain? Or have these people been on the mountain all along and never came down? Unlikely. They look too lively to have stayed on this damn mountain for several days… Axia's mind raced, and he quickly recalled Lord Milo's instructions: open the porcelain bottle when the target was located.
Axia quickly took out the porcelain bottle he had been keeping warm in his clothes for some time and, with a POP, uncorked it. Soon, several ants crawled out.
"Which one is your master?" Axia asked the nervous Qi Liu.
"The one lying motionless on the ground," Qi Liu replied, his gaze fixed on the burly men before them, his expression grim.
"No matter how many of them there are, kill them all, or I won't be able to face the elders!" Vister heard one of his fellow leaders shout. He felt a pang of shame. If he kept cowering at a time , how could he face the elders and the high chieftains when the main Black Crow forces arrived? He gritted his teeth, preparing to charge. But when he saw the Fighter who had defeated his Summoned Beast, his legs went soft again. He could only force himself to bellow, "For the elders! Everyone, put your backs into it!"
He had wanted to yell "Charge!" but the thought that charging forward meant heading down the mountain—a path that might make his comrades think he was fleeing—made him swallow the word. He changed it to "Put your backs into it!"
However, the comrades still standing around him were now few and far between. Most were lying on the ground, groaning incessantly. Vister glanced back; it seemed only a few of them, the leader-ranked ones, were still on their feet. Everyone else was down…
And two more of their leaders were entangled by that wicked fire…
Which meant only three of them, including himself, had the spare energy to be shouting.
Their opponents, on the other hand… three of them were bound, yet still astonishingly agile and powerful. And now, four new helpers of unpredictable strength had arrived. This time, the Black Crow's reputation was going to be utterly ruined by this group.
There was nothing to be done; they were simply outmatched.
"Don't worry, Young Master. I'll definitely get you off this mountain safely. After all, I'm from the Alchemy Workshop!" Axia started boasting again. After his boast, he released the ants from the porcelain bottle onto the ground, twisted a thread at the bottle's lip, and the ants crawled towards Young Master Hustace.
"What's the use of these ants?" Qi Liu frowned as he watched.
"Tch! Commoners like you could never understand the creations from the Golden Seats of the Alchemy Workshop," Axia sneered at Qi Liu, seemingly oblivious to any danger.
This was blatant disregard! Vister and his men were already seething with rage, yet they dared not act rashly.
Meanwhile, in the distance, the duel between the giant rabbit and Stan Sol had reached a turning point. Just as Axia was mocking Qi Liu, the giant rabbit seemed momentarily distracted. The scimitar in his hand faltered, and Stan Sol seized the opening, his sword lashing out, nearly slicing off one of his long ears. Finding himself at a disadvantage, the rabbit leaped down and scrambled back into his hole.
Stan Sol, however, sheathed his sword. He seemed confident the giant rabbit wouldn't bother him again.
Kadi watched this, slightly dumbfounded. He felt the duel between Stan Sol and the giant rabbit shouldn't have ended so quickly…
"Oh! Isn't this the young man who came for a Divination in my shop?" the Great Witch Biggs, who had been standing by for a while, finally spoke up.
"Uh, Senior Great Witch, you've come up the mountain too?" Igor, having finished his "busy" work, began to carefully observe his surroundings.
The Great Witch then said, "Hmm, isn't that the Dark Wizard who rode the centipede? What brings you here again?"
Upon hearing Igor call out to him, Vister's legs nearly gave out. He didn't know how to respond. The sun was already high in the sky, and his skin was starting to redden and burn… Soon, they would have to endure the sun's torment once more.
"HEHEHE, so many people appearing all at once! I'm hardly used to it," Baharo began to chatter idly again.
Clearly, the tables had turned. Those mysterious assailants were now isolated, while their own side had gained formidable new allies, like a tiger growing wings. How the situation would unfold was now plain to see.
At this moment, Vister was so panic-stricken he nearly fell to his knees. He glanced around; his few remaining comrades weren't faring any better—they were either trembling with fear or cowering. As for the men lying on the ground, they could do nothing but roll around and moan. They had completely lost the towering ambition they'd possessed just last night.
This small patch of ground on the mountainside could barely contain everyone.
Just as Vister felt it was all over, a sound suddenly reached them.
BOOM—CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
It was the sound of fireworks! Vister and his men's eyes suddenly lit up…