Chapter 94

A gust of wind blew, and a few leaves slowly drifted down.

The warriors of the second squad in the clearing of the forest had no time to deal with the bodies of the twelve heavily armored infantry soldiers. They could only temporarily cover their faces with huge banana leaves, then quickly packed up and withdrew from the third outpost.

Sulidak led the second squad back along the mountain path. The dense forest, which was originally filled with the sounds of insects and birds, had become abnormally quiet. The warriors moved cautiously along the mountain path, trying to quickly pass through this eerily silent mountain ridge.

As they approached the mountain ridge, He Boqiang inexplicably felt his heart rate accelerate.

He stopped, checking the dense forest on both sides, but found nothing unusual.

Sulidak didn't notice that He Boqiang had stopped. He was at the front of the squad, ordering all the warriors to march quickly to pass through the mountain ridge as soon as possible.

Another seventy to eighty meters ahead was the highest point of the mountain ridge, from where they could clearly see the distant camp.

Sulidak felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned his head and saw that He Boqiang had caught up from behind.

Seeing the serious expression on He Boqiang's face, Sulidak realized something was wrong and quickly signaled for all the warriors of the second squad to stop.

"Xiao Dak, what's wrong?"

He Boqiang patted the linen bag hanging from Sulidak's waist and pointed to the path ahead.

Inside the linen bag on Sulidak's waist was a demon's head. After seeing He Boqiang's actions, he thought for a moment and understood what He Boqiang was trying to convey:

"You mean we can't go any further, there are demons lying in ambush ahead?"

He Boqiang nodded, his expression serious.

Sulidak hesitated as he looked at the mountain ridge ahead. Once they reached the top of the ridge, they would be within the sight range of the camp's watchtower.

He had to decide whether to lead the second squad to charge through or to change the plan and take a detour around the mountain ridge. Sulidak found it difficult to make a decision.

Ahead was a pass that was easy to traverse. If they abandoned this pass, they would have to walk at least another ten kilometers of mountain paths to return to the camp, and no one knew what dangers lay along those ten kilometers.

The warriors of the second squad did not argue. They gathered around Sulidak, quietly waiting for him to make a decision.

The warriors placed the utmost trust in Sulidak.

For Sulidak, this trust was both an honor and a great responsibility.

The dense forest ahead was silent, and the bearded Kegel also sensed a hint of danger. He had a small round shield on his back, which he now held in his hand.

"We'll go around to the left..."

After some thought, Sulidak decided that regardless of whether there were demons lying in ambush ahead, they would take a detour.

There were no paths on either side of the mountain ridge, only overgrown grass and shrubs.

The squad plunged into the shrubs beside the path, forcing their way through with their long leather boots.

The shrubs in the forest were covered with thorns and vines. To pass through this area of thorny shrubs, the warriors at the front had to use machetes to cut the obstructing vines, sometimes driving away venomous snakes hidden in the grass.

The second squad walked about two kilometers along the north slope of the mountain ridge to the west. On the other side of the mountain was a deep valley that could not be crossed. The camp was on a hill opposite the valley. To return to the camp from this side, they would have to either take the pass they had just abandoned or walk another seven to eight kilometers along the mountain ridge to another pass.

The heavily armored infantry soldiers were not suited for long-distance travel. In the overgrown shrubs, they had to cut through the vines to move forward.

The shrubs were infested with mosquitoes and small black insects that landed on their armor and crawled through the gaps into their clothes, causing pain and itching.

He Boqiang wore a set of magic beast leather armor, which gave him a significant advantage. Perhaps the leather armor still retained some of the beast's aura, as the insects dared not approach him. Wherever he went, the flying insects would scatter with a buzz.

When the second squad reached a higher ridge, Sulidak ordered the warriors to rest on the spot, with the lookout duty assigned to Augustus.

Augustus climbed onto a large rock and looked back at the pass hidden in the dense forest. At first, he didn't notice anything unusual.

But as he looked again, he was shocked.

A group of demons emerged from the dense forest at the pass, running through the mountain ridge.

They were tall, and as they moved through the forest, the gaps between the trees sometimes revealed their purplish-red bodies. A flock of green-beaked mountain birds flew up from the forest and scattered to the opposite side, apparently frightened by the demons. No one knew how many demons were hiding in that forest, and they had not noticed any abnormalities when they passed through earlier.

Augustus pointed to the distant mountain ridge and said in a hoarse voice, "I... They were really lying in ambush at the pass. It's a good thing we didn't go that way, or we would have been in big trouble."

The bearded Kegel said to Augustus, who was standing on the large rock:

"Let's go quickly. They seem to be looking for us. Don't let them see us."

Sulidak looked at the dense forest around them and, after a long pause, frowned and said:

"There are no cinnamon trees nearby to mask our scent. Moreover, we've left a trail in the overgrown grass, and they will likely discover it soon. They run much faster than we do, and it won't take long for them to catch up. We need to leave this place quickly."

The warriors of the second squad immediately gathered in the forest upon hearing Sulidak's words.

The bearded Kegel stepped out of the squad and said to Sulidak, "Please wait, Captain. I plan to set a trap here, a little surprise for them..."

He then cut two vines from the forest and dragged them out, starting to set up a pit trap based on the existing environment.

Sulidak frowned but did not stop him. Instead, he urged the bearded Kegel, "Do it quickly, we don't have much time!"

Seeing that Sulidak agreed, the bearded Kegel patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, Captain."

...

Not long after the second squad left the mountain ridge, a group of demons followed the trail they had left. They plowed through the overgrown grass, leaving seven tracks of their passage.

Each step was large, and they seemed agitated.

The leader of the demons carried a large axe with barbs, and the black magic patterns on his body were clearly more numerous than those on the other demons.

As soon as he emerged from the overgrown grass, this demon saw an unextinguished campfire in the forest. He strode toward the campfire, not paying attention to the vine on the ground. He tripped over it, and according to the demons' experience, he could simply use brute force to break the annoying vine, which he did.

However, the vine seemed to have no strength. As soon as his foot touched it, the vine quickly slipped away like a snake...

Before the demon could react, he felt a dizzying sensation. His feet were entangled by the vine, and his body lost balance due to the strong pulling force, hanging upside down in the air...

The demons following him were stunned by the scene before them...