I'll Remember the Favor

He Zheng did not bring his hammer down immediately.

Chu Heng saw him raise it and had already lifted one foot, leaning toward the slope, ready to use the momentum to leap clear.

But He Zheng twisted at the waist and swept the hammerhead across!

The blow was aimed at the leg that had yet to step out.

Chu Heng's heart jumped. He whipped his thick tail around and knocked the hammer shaft aside. The heavy black hammer grazed his calf and snapped a tree root beside him.

He had barely begun to breathe a sigh of relief when the wind of a sword descended over his head.

Xu Sheng's steel sword came down trailing a crimson gleam, pressing straight toward the side of his neck.

Chu Heng had no choice but to raise his arm.

His thickened scales blocked the blade. He let out a low growl and tried to fling Xu Sheng out of the air, but a sudden chill brushed his right wrist.

Ji Juechen had arrived.

He did not go for the torso protected by thick armor again. Taking advantage of Chu Heng's raised arm, he slipped his blade through the gap exposed as the wrist turned, drawing a streak of blood.

Chu Heng's hand went slack.

Xu Sheng seized on that slight slackening and pressed down with his full weight, forcing him to stagger backward.

At their feet, He Zheng had already pulled his hammer back.

This time, he left Chu Heng no room to regain his footing.

Heavy Mountain!

The black hammer struck the base of the thick tail from the side. Chu Heng grunted, finally lost his balance, and crashed hard onto the slope.

Ji Juechen followed in a single step, stopping his sword tip before the exposed patch of soft flesh beneath Chu Heng's jaw.

Chu Heng tried to move again, but Xu Sheng had already pinned his injured wrist beneath his foot.

"Go on, try moving again."

The man on the ground was breathing hard. He looked at the three of them and finally stopped struggling.

The purple Soul Ring dimmed.

He Zheng stood nearby with his hammer. His left arm hung at an unnatural angle, but his right hand was still clenched around the shaft.

Seeing this, Xu Sheng hurriedly told him to dismiss his Martial Soul.

"Why are you still holding it? Showing off how strong you are?"

He Zheng's mouth twitched as though he wanted to smile, but the pain made him suck in a breath.

"I was afraid he'd get up."

"If he gets up, I'm still here."

Xu Sheng handed Chu Heng over to Du Wenhe, who had rushed over. Green vines tightened around Chu Heng's limbs, and Ji Juechen's sword remained close at hand. Only after Chu Heng withdrew his Martial Soul and two Otherworlders who had retreated from the back slope came over to help guard him did Xu Sheng free his hands to examine He Zheng's shoulder.

When Du Wenhe later hurried north, he first handed Chu Heng back to Ji Juechen. The vines did not immediately unravel, and someone beside them added a length of rope. Ji Juechen stayed where Chu Heng could see him the whole time; whenever Chu Heng moved, his sword moved with him.

He Zheng could move his arm, but raising it hurt, and a large bruise had already spread beneath his sleeve.

Xu Sheng did not force it into place. He tore off strips of cloth and first slung the arm across He Zheng's chest.

"Find a physician when we get back."

He Zheng nodded, then suddenly looked north.

"Where's Leader Shen?"

Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, a deafening collision rang out from that direction.

Xu Sheng looked up, the smile vanishing from his face.

Shen Zhaolin had already driven the thousand-year Steel-Bristled Boar away from the narrow opening.

He did not pursue it to kill it. Instead, he first had the hunting group's employer retreat to a wider area, then pulled several local hunters out from among the scattered rocks.

Shao Rong, however, took advantage of the lull to head toward the back slope.

Halfway there, he saw that Chu Heng was down and Zhuo Yuan was tied up beneath a tree. His expression changed at once.

Shen Zhaolin stepped in front of him.

"Things haven't been cleared up. Where do you think you're going?"

"Chu Heng is my man." Shao Rong stared toward the back slope. "First, have your people untie him. Whatever misunderstanding there is, we can discuss it back in the city."

"He struck first, and everyone here saw it. If you want to go back to the city, fine. We'll go together."

Shao Rong's face darkened.

If he left even his own deputy in someone else's hands like this, and they took him back for questioning, then who had promised the rewards for this trip and who had arranged the escape route would no longer be for him alone to decide.

He abruptly stepped to the side, trying to seize the opening on the slope first. Shen Zhaolin raised an arm to block him, his stone armor colliding with Shao Rong's shoulder and forcing him back where he stood.

"Shen Zhaolin, do you have to burn every bridge?"

"I wasn't the one who hurt someone first."

A vicious gleam flashed in Shao Rong's eyes, and four Soul Rings rose one after another.

The Iron-Armored Tusked Boar possessed him, and his shoulders and back swelled as plates of dark brown armor covered his torso. Two curved tusks emerged from the corners of his mouth. His Third Soul Ring flashed purple, and the stiff bristles standing along his back suddenly shot forward!

Shen Zhaolin raised his arms to shield his head and face.

The bristles struck his stone armor, sending chips flying. He did not retreat, but charged straight through the attack.

Shao Rong's fourth Soul Ring lit up immediately afterward. His eyes reddened, his body grew even bulkier, and he lowered his head and charged!

Boom!

The two massive figures collided at the opening. A small tree beside them shook and snapped in half.

Xu Sheng arrived nearby just in time to see it.

He did not plunge between the two Soul Ancestors. Instead, he first urged Lu Yi and the hunters who no longer had any desire to fight farther away.

"To the right! Don't stand behind that tree!"

Clutching an injured arm, Lu Yi staggered back.

The next instant, Shao Rong slammed into the tree trunk, knocking it askew. Soil tore up around its roots, and it crashed down where Lu Yi had just been standing.

Lu Yi's face went pale at the sight, and he retreated faster.

Xu Sheng escorted him behind a rock and had a hunter who had not joined the fight press down on his wound. Then Xu Sheng turned back toward the opening.

Relying on his hard armor, Shao Rong was still trying to break away from Shen Zhaolin. As long as he could charge down the slope, the forest was so dense that he might well be able to escape.

But whenever he turned toward an opening, Shen Zhaolin would press in first.

The fourth purple Soul Ring lit up, and the stone armor along Shen Zhaolin's shoulders and back grew thicker, making his body look even more massive. He took a charge head-on, abruptly locked his arms around Shao Rong's shoulders and neck, and twisted on his feet, flinging that enormous body toward the slope!

Shao Rong hit the ground and rolled over, trying to get up again.

A Gray Fang hunter saw Shao Rong fall and hesitantly raised the short spear in his hand.

Xu Sheng landed beside him and pressed his sword blade down on the spear shaft.

"You still want to join the fight? Who was it that pulled you out from under the beasts' jaws just now?"

The hunter looked at Lu Yi, who was being supported behind the rock, then at Shen Zhaolin. His hand slowly loosened.

"Take the injured farther away."

Xu Sheng kicked the short spear aside and let him pass.

No one else at the opening stepped forward to help Shao Rong. Shen Zhaolin followed in a single step and pressed a stone palm heavily against his back.

Dirt flew.

Shao Rong tried to struggle again, but the other stone hand had already clamped down on the back of his neck.

Du Wenhe's thick vines arrived soon afterward, wrapping around his legs first, then binding his arms. Working together, the two finally subdued that brute strength.

The few remaining members of the hunting group watched, but none stepped forward again.

Xu Sheng withdrew his wings, his back already soaked with sweat.

Only then did he notice that the knuckles of the hand he had braced against the rock had gone white.

Shen Zhaolin looked over and caught his breath.

"What were you standing so close for?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't be able to find your way."

Shen Zhaolin glared at him, then was the first to laugh.

The thousand-year Steel-Bristled Boar had taken several heavy blows from Shen Zhaolin earlier. Seeing that it could no longer force its way through the narrow opening, it had led two hundred-year boars deeper into the forest. Another, which had been trapped beside the pit, also darted off in the direction the herd had gone after Du Wenhe released the vines binding it.

Mo Yifan flew up to check on them. After confirming that they had not turned back, he landed on the outside to stand guard. Chen Tuo noted down the tracks left by the beasts that had passed through last, intending to tell Jin Yuan when they left the forest, so that people coming later would not blunder in unaware.

They did not pursue the purple ring. While the route was still open, they withdrew everyone from the area first.

Before sunset, both sides finally regrouped.

Those who could walk went on foot, while the injured were treated first. Ji Juechen brought Chu Heng over under guard, and He Gu, Qi Luo, and the others brought Zhuo Yuan from behind the tree. All three were bound again, with Shen Zhaolin watching them personally. At the slightest sign of their Martial Souls gathering, they were ordered to stop. No one expected a few loops of rope to keep Soul Masters obedient all the way.

Not one of Qi Luo's ten people was missing.

Some had scraped their hands, and some had twisted their ankles while running, but the first thing they all asked was how badly He Zheng was hurt.

He Zheng was a little embarrassed to be surrounded. He kept saying he was fine, though he did not dare move his arm around.

Xu Sheng stood nearby and did not stop everyone to make them listen to him.

This was what He Zheng deserved.

He was looking down and wiping his sword when Lu Yi walked over.

Level thirty, with an Iron-Horned Ox Martial Soul, he was the Gray Fang Hunting Group's employer this time.

He had paid for a safe trip to hunt for a ring and knew nothing of how Zhuo Yuan intended to use those Otherworlders. Shen Zhaolin had just rescued him, and his arm was still trembling, but he did his best to speak clearly.

"Thank you for earlier. If you hadn't warned me, that tree..."

"Don't thank me so soon." Xu Sheng looked at his injuries. "First, make sure you're not seriously hurt."

Lu Yi nodded. After catching his breath, he took a wooden token from his robes.

Heaven Dou, Lu Family Carriage Company.

"My family runs a carriage and transport business. I was in Soto on business and came to get a ring along the way. I never expected to hire a group like this."

He did not press the token into Xu Sheng's hand, but set it on a clean rock nearby.

"If you ever need anything while you're on the road, come find me."

Xu Sheng glanced at it and picked it up.

"All right, I'll remember the favor. If I really do come looking for you, don't say you don't know me."

Lu Yi was taken aback, then smiled.

"I won't."

Xu Lizhi came over from behind with a medicine chest in his arms. When he saw Xu Sheng's hand, his brows immediately drew together.

"Where are your wings?"

"I put them away."

"I saw them get burned just now."

Xu Sheng was about to say it was nothing, but the little fatty had already set the medicine chest on the rock and pulled him by the sleeve toward Du Wenhe.

Xu Sheng had no choice but to follow.

After two steps, he suddenly turned back and waved the token at Lu Yi.

He had already accepted the token.

He couldn't let another team recruit this man first!