Apocalypse: Grinding EXP through Hunting

Before long, the slaves gathered hesitantly in the village.

They cautiously gathered in front of the village’s main house, where they got a clear view of the slave master’s hanging corpse.

But what happened next was something Tang Wen hadn’t expected.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Men and women, young and old—their knees gave out, and every one of them knelt before the old slave master’s corpse. They kowtowed, striking their heads against the ground again and again.

Tang Wen, the spectator, grew impatient.

He quietly rose and snuck back into the village.

Bai You Ruo and Bai Xue followed.

"The master was killed by that strange noise! I am the village steward, and now I am the new master! You will all kneel before me! Kneel!"

Tang Wen’s expression was strange as he watched the skinny, dark-skinned old man. He truly couldn’t understand where the man found the audacity to say such a thing.

"By what right? A steward is just a steward," someone retorted.

"You dare defy me? Are you looking to die?! All of you, kill him! Kill him! Whoever kills him gets a reward—a bag of rice! A bag of high-quality Maize!"

A restless stir went through the others.

That was a whole bag of Maize, after all.

Seeing that the crowd was tempted, the man who had opposed the steward quickly shouted, "Kill him? We should kill the steward together! If we kill the steward, we can split all that Maize!"

"Who dares!" the steward shrieked, stamping his feet. "I am the steward! I’ve been to the city with the master! The master may be dead, but he has friends in the city..."

The crowd turned to look at the man who had opposed the steward.

The man tried to flee.

But the people around him tackled him to the ground.

Several people, rocks in hand, closed in around him.

A moment later, blood pooled on the ground. He was dead.

The few who had done the deed approached the steward, the ferocity of the kill still fresh in their eyes.

The steward jumped, startled.

"What? What are you trying to do? Do you want to end up like him?"

"Where’s the Maize? The Maize you promised us!"

"That belongs to the master! How can you touch it!"

"You tricked us!"

"..."

The steward died, too.

The ones who had killed the steward’s opponent now beat the steward to death.

The man with the blood-dripping rock in his hand stepped forward, pointed at those who had fought beside him, and declared, "You, you, and you... the four of us are brothers! Everything here is ours now! These women are ours, too!"

"I’m the leader, you’re number two, you’re number three, and you’re number four!"

"I’ll take five women. You take four, you take three, and you get two!"

"I’ll live in the main house. You guys can live next to it."

Tang Wen was amused. ’What a character,’ he thought.

He didn’t intervene.

Together with the two women, he quietly watched events unfold.

That night, the leader couldn’t wait to have his way with the five women.

A dozen or so minutes later, he fell into a satisfied, deep sleep.

Number Three and Number Four snuck into the room and smothered him to death with the women’s clothing.

The two of them seized the main house and the women. The next day, they announced that the leader had died accidentally, and that his dying wish was for them to lead together.

But Number Two didn’t believe a word of it.

He gathered a few of the younger men and confronted Number Three and Number Four.

One of the youths, unable to contain himself, charged forward with a wooden spear.

Chaos erupted between the two sides.

The killing began anew.

"Quite the eye-opener, isn’t it?" A mocking smile touched Bai You Ruo’s lips, but her eyes were filled with indifference.

This is how slaves are.

The ones she had saved back then were the same. Once they gained freedom and a sliver of power, they didn’t try to build better lives.

The only thing they thought about was how to enslave others, how to become slave masters themselves!

Tang Wen shook his head. "I expected something like this to happen, but I didn’t think they’d be so reckless. They’ll throw their lives away for the tiniest bit of profit."

Bai You Ruo nodded. "Their worldview is limited."

Tang Wen had lost all interest in watching. "I’ve seen enough. Let’s get moving."

"Alright."

As the sun set, Tang Wen packed up the Beast Skin tent above their heads.

The two women gathered their things from the ground, and the three of them set out once more on the road to Ganshan City.

The giant wolf galloped across the wilderness. The further south they went, the higher the temperature climbed.

Traveling at night, they were met with a cool, gentle breeze.

But when they rested during the day, it was so hot that they tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Tang Wen asked the Sand Wolf King for help.

Immediately, a refreshing breeze began to circle around them.

The breeze carried away the oppressive heat, and they were finally able to get some sleep.

A few days later, Tang Wen and his group came across another slave village.

After observing it for a while, Bai You Ruo said, "This one is much larger and more prosperous than the last. We should go around it."

The village had stone houses, a well, and about a hundred households.

But Tang Wen had no intention of going around. "At most, they’ll have a strong Martial Artist. We have the Extraordinary Wolf King. Killing him will be easy."

"Why?" Bai You Ruo’s expression soured.

Bai Xue also looked at Tang Wen.

Tang Wen pulled two silver ingots from his robes. "I only have ten taels of silver on me. What about you two?"

"This..." The two women were taken aback and exchanged a look. They had lost almost everything while being hunted, and now all they had were a few hidden golden leaves.

"Get ready," Tang Wen said.

"Alright." Bai You Ruo shook her head with a wry smile.

’The dignified Miss Bai of the Bai Family... to think she’d one day be raiding a slave village.’

A few dozen seconds later, the Sand Wolves were the first to charge down.

It was evening, and many people were still outside.

Seeing the enormous Sand Wolf, they immediately started screaming.

"Wolves!"

"A giant wolf!"

"Master, save us!"

"Run!"

"Beast!" came a furious roar.

A figure shot out. Tang Wen’s eyes were sharp, and he saw at a glance that the man had burst out of a stone-tiled side room next to the village’s main house.

’A Martial Artist in a side room?’

’Then who’s living in the main house?’

’Could there be others?’

"Be careful! Something’s not right."

Tang Wen reached out and placed his hands on Bai You Ruo’s and Bai Xue’s shoulders.

"We’ll retreat if we have to," Bai You Ruo said, not wanting any more trouble.

Just as they were speaking, two more figures appeared.

One rushed out from the main house.

The other came from another side room.

"They’re all Martial Artists!" Bai You Ruo judged instantly.

Tang Wen immediately looked to the Wolf King. "Let’s attack together!"

WHOOSH!

With a gust of wind, the Wolf King vanished from its spot.

To the three of them, it moved like a phantom, flashing into the village. A claw pierced through a man’s heart, and blood streamed out, dripping steadily!

"It’s an Extraordinary! Run!"

The second Martial Artist to appear cried out in alarm. But then his instincts screamed a warning, and he caught a glimpse of something flying toward him out of the corner of his eye.

He dodged instinctively.

SCHLICK!

Another one was disemboweled.

The Sand Wolf King had been prepared. Its coordination with Tang Wen was seamless.

The Flying Locust Stone had forced the man to dodge right where the Wolf King’s claws were waiting.

In the blink of an eye, two Martial Artists had been dealt with.

Only the first man remained.

He was already fleeing frantically, not even turning his head at the screams behind him.

As long as he was faster than his companions, he had a hope of survival.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t outrun the Wind Element Sand Wolf King.

In a single clash, he was crippled.

When Tang Wen arrived, the man was repeatedly begging for his life.

Tang Wen said, "Start talking."

’There’s definitely a secret in this village.’

’I don’t know what it is, specifically.’

’But a good captive should know how to connect the dots on his own.’

"You... you were sent by the Gang Leader."

’Gang Leader?’

Tang Wen drew his blade and flicked it with a finger. TWANG. The blade vibrated.

"I understand, I understand! It was Vice Gang Leader Qiao and Elder Li who sent us..."

SLAP!

The cold flat of the blade slapped him across the face.

Tang Wen said impatiently, "Did I ask you that? Tell me about this place."

"Yes, yes, yes! There’s an iron mine. The ore purity is very high, but the overall deposits probably aren’t that large..."