Chapter 10

Not far away, the cries of young owlbear cubs echoed through the quiet forest, making He Boqiang's back hair stand on end.

He carefully pushed aside a thorny shrub, cautiously circling around the family of owlbears, and only let out a long breath when he could no longer hear the cubs' cries.

Suerdake often complained that it was hard to encounter wild beasts in the forest area during patrols and guard duties, but he never expected to run into such a powerful land predator as soon as he entered the dense forest west of the forest farm.

The family of owlbears was gathered in the forest, dividing a spotted-tailed deer. In the clearly hierarchical owlbear family, the order of eating was determined by one's status. Perhaps the cubs were too impatient during the wait, trying to break the order, but after being severely disciplined by the mother owlbear, their cries gradually subsided.

The forest was densely foliated, and the forest floor never saw sunlight. Many leaves fell and slowly rotted, creating a soft, decaying soil. The decaying soil was filled with buried branches, which resembled zombie arms buried in the rotting leaves, ready to trip anyone who wasn't careful.

On some damp, decaying logs, black wood ears grew densely, and around many tree roots, light brown mosses and various oily yellow mushrooms, as well as light yellow ferns, could be found. If one could identify the edible mushrooms and wild vegetables, it wouldn't take long to fill a large basket.

The forest farm was vast, and even after walking a long distance along the hillside, one could still see huge tree stumps. He Boqiang identified the direction and hurried along, but unfortunately, he couldn't find the supply line passage hidden in the valley. Along the way, he encountered various small forest animals, which were not very afraid of humans. A leopard cat even chased him from a tree, continuously issuing warning calls, as if He Boqiang had invaded its territory.

He Boqiang crossed the forest farm and waded through a shallow stream, finding no forest paths ahead and could only search aimlessly along the riverbank.

In the dense forest, apart from the calls of birds and the rustling of leaves, no other sounds could be heard.

After walking not far, he saw some bloodstains on the rocks of the riverbank. He Boqiang thought they were left by Jialongnan and was about to examine them closely when he suddenly heard a strange "jili gulu" sound. He saw several strange-looking natives, wearing only animal skins and banana leaves, gathered around a large rock by the river, dividing a white-scaled fish.

Several wooden spears were laid on the riverbank, and besides the spears, there were a few wooden bows, though they looked crude and had a limited range. There were no signs of battle, suggesting that Suerdake and Sam had not fought with these natives.

The natives quickly finished the bloody fish and did not leave in a hurry. Instead, they stripped off their animal skin clothes and jumped into the stream with a splash. He Boqiang searched the area but found no trace of the second squad, so he did not disturb the natives and continued deeper into the forest.

Just as He Boqiang was beginning to doubt if he was lost, he finally found a forest path in the dense forest. Although the path was not very wide, it still had some faint wheel tracks, though they were blurred by the rain. However, the footprints beside the path were clearly visible.

It was evident that these footprints were left by the infantry's iron boots. After running so far without finding the second squad, He Boqiang's boiling blood gradually cooled, and he began to think about how many natives he could handle on his own.

He paused for a moment and suddenly felt a blinding light flash in his eyes.

He Boqiang didn't turn to check but quickly hid behind a tree.

As his body hid behind the tree, an arrow silently shot from his right rear and embedded in the tree trunk with a "thud."

If he hadn't been alert and hidden behind the tree in time, the red-tailed arrow would have likely pierced his back. Cold sweat broke out on He Boqiang's forehead.

Following the direction of the arrow, a dark figure quickly disappeared into the forest.

He Boqiang didn't chase the native but carefully pulled the red-tailed arrow from the tree trunk. The arrowhead was made of polished white bone, and the tail feather was a beautiful red plume, though he couldn't identify the bird it came from.

The bone arrowhead was stained, suggesting it had been coated with some poison.

Continuing along the forest path, the native followed He Boqiang, shooting cold arrows whenever there was an opportunity, but never engaging him directly. After each shot, the native quickly fled into the dense forest, giving He Boqiang no chance to counter.

With such a tail following him, He Boqiang had to remain highly alert, which was exhausting.

He carefully observed his surroundings and found a slightly open area along the forest path. In the distance, he saw the native flash through the dense forest again. The native was wearing clothes made of branches, holding a wooden bow, and carrying a quiver of red-tailed arrows, moving with great agility.

He chased after the native, but when he reached the native's hiding place, the native had already fled. However, the sense of danger did not disappear. As He Boqiang paused, three red-tailed arrows shot past him, and he cried out, falling to the ground.

After a while, rustling sounds came from the bushes, and a young native wearing leaf clothes emerged, holding a wooden bow and a red-tailed bone arrow, cautiously approaching He Boqiang.

At a distance of ten meters, the young native stopped, his bow aimed at He Boqiang, ready to shoot another arrow.

As he drew the bow, He Boqiang suddenly jumped up and threw his Roman sword.

The Roman sword whistled through the air and firmly embedded itself in the young native's chest, piercing through his sternum and driving him back three steps before pinning him to a thick tree.

The young native spat blood and clutched the sword's hilt with both hands, but despite his efforts, he couldn't pull it out.

Blood gushed from his chest as He Boqiang, disheveled, walked over, coldly looked at the young native, and pulled the Roman sword out, slicing his throat. The young native collapsed to the ground.