"Drip."
A crystal-clear drop fell from the top of the cave, splashing tiny droplets across the slightly damp ground.
The campfire flickered. With the crackle of bursting sparks, pale smoke curled upward and gathered against the rock overhead.
The rain was still falling.
But it no longer had the savage violence from moments ago. Beneath the dark clouds gradually dissolving into dazzling sunlight across the sky, it had turned into a fine, steady drizzle.
Xia Nan stood at the cave entrance, arms folded, his body leaning slantwise against the wall beside him.
His short black hair was damp, and he wore only a dark, close-fitting shirt. The Plate Chain Composite Armor, whose interior bore obvious silver-white traces of corrosion, had already been taken off and set on the ground nearby.
His head tilted slightly to the side, his calm, dark eyes reflecting the dense curtain of rain.
Beside the campfire behind him, his "unlucky" teammates lay or sat scattered about.
The battle had ended. After emergency treatment was administered and it was confirmed that the three surviving members of the escort team were out of mortal danger, at Wood's suggestion, in order to avoid as much as possible being discovered by pursuers from Molten Scale Town, and also to recover more efficiently, Xia Nan brought the others to a sufficiently safe and hidden resting place near the battlefield for a brief respite.
Of course, the spoils on Lawson and Terry William, even including the equipment on the already-dead Dragonborn Sava, had also been recovered in time.
As for the exact harvest, from Xia Nan's perspective, it was hard to say.
Killed by Lawson with a single sword strike, the armor and equipment on the Dragonborn Sava had been preserved intact. The armor itself was of fairly fine workmanship, brand-new first-hand