Night Raid

"Deal with this bird, and then we'll go find Mr. York to eat."

Looking at the clumsy bird that fell from the sky, Perkin made a decision. "Without Mr. York, we can't even think about finding the place. We can't even go back safely if we wanted to right now."

Everyone knew how important Mr. York was. They had only argued before because they didn't want to go out in the middle of the night to look for someone. Now that Perkin had made a request, they naturally had no objections.

The guide Lai was preparing the bird for food in the quickest way possible, while the swordsman and the female dart thrower sat back down. They could already tell that while they would be "looking for someone together" later, the actual task would fall on them. If they didn't rest properly now, they wouldn't even have a chance to fight back when things happened.

While waiting, Perkin kept looking up in the direction Mr. York had left. He already had a bad feeling, but he was still unwilling to believe his instincts.

He knew how dangerous the place they were going to was. Without the protection of a jungle survival expert, none of them would make it there alive.

Thinking of this, Perkin's expression turned grim again. He pressed his hand to his chest, took a deep breath, and seemed to want to stand up.

Just then, the guide Lai, who had been muttering softly, seemed to sense something. He looked around and found that everyone, except Perkin, was staring behind him with shocked expressions.

Lai lowered his head, looking at the bird he hadn't finished preparing, then glanced up at the others. He felt something brushing against his neck behind him, and tears welled up in his eyes. He kept muttering, "No, it's okay, it's not real..."

Before Lai could finish speaking, a huge snake's mouth bit into his upper body, dragging him into the forest.

After the giant snake disappeared, everyone stared at the bird lying on the ground, looking utterly bewildered, wondering who they were, where they were, and what had just happened.

Perkin finally looked up, confused by the situation. He blinked. How did he lose track of time and suddenly have one fewer person? Where did the guide go?

Before Perkin could ask, the dazed group finally reacted. Lloyd, regardless of being in the jungle, screamed.

As soon as Lloyd screamed, the swordsman rushed over and covered his mouth. "Stop screaming! Do you want to die here? Mr. Perkin, you've seen the situation. We might not be able to go forward. If you still trust us, we can protect you as you go back and leave this damn jungle."

Perkin understood the attitude of the remaining two Mercenaries, but he pressed his hand to his chest. "No, it's too late. I have to go there."

"Why, Mr. Perkin? We have no guide, no survival expert. It's too dangerous to keep going like this," the swordsman tried to persuade Perkin.

"I said no, I don't have time anymore. That's my only hope of survival. So, now, immediately, I'm saying we depart now."

Seeing Perkin's insistence, the swordsman was helpless. He released his hand from Lloyd's mouth. "Fine, but it's just the two of us. I'm really not confident we can get you there."

"You just need to protect us. I'll figure out the way."

Since Perkin had said that, if the swordsman objected again, he would truly be disrespecting their patron.

He could only agree reluctantly. The female dart thrower stood aside, silently staring blankly at the bird on the ground.

"Stop looking. Let's pack up and eat before we set off," the swordsman said, feeling a bit awkward at his companion's gaze. Although everyone was hungry, there was no need to stare at it like that.

Unexpectedly, the female dart thrower shook her head. "No, I was thinking, did someone set a trap for us when this bird suddenly flew over?"

"..."

The other three thought about it and simultaneously moved further away from the half-prepared bird.

Finally, Lloyd chuckled. "Who would set a trap for us in a place like this? You're overthinking it. Let's pluck this bird and take the meat for the road."

Although Lloyd said that, he had no intention of going to prepare the bird.

The swordsman and the female dart thrower had even less intention of doing so.

Finally, Perkin shook his head and put down his backpack. "Forget it. It's just a bird, not even two bites of meat. It's fine if we don't eat it. We'll find something to eat ourselves when we get to a safe place."

After speaking, Perkin took out something dark and sticky from his backpack. This was the food he had been eating earlier. It was a local specialty with very high calories and sweetness, but it didn't fill you up.

Perkin had originally intended to use this to replenish his energy, but now that everyone hadn't eaten, he had to share it.

After eating some of this food, which the locals called 'Bitter Water', the swordsman and the female dart thrower finally regained some energy. They looked up at the sky, and the swordsman asked, "Shall we leave now?"

"Let's leave now. We can't stay here any longer. I'll release something for navigation, but the dangers along the way will be up to you."

As Perkin spoke, he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a jar filled with fireflies. The jar was clearly a good item, decorated with various strange patterns painted with different pigments.

After taking out the jar, Perkin sighed. "This was originally for me to pinpoint the target, but now there's no choice. I have to use it here. You two be careful. These things are almost impossible to find once daylight comes, so we have to keep following them."

After speaking, Perkin opened the jar and released the firefly-like things inside.

As they flew out, they headed in one direction, forming an arrow-like ribbon of light in the air.

Perkin slung his backpack over his shoulder and pointed in the direction the light ribbon was flying. "Quick, follow it."

The swordsman and the others quickly followed. The female dart thrower was at the front, while the swordsman covered the rear.

Watching their hurried pace, Liu Zhi, who had been hiding in the treetops nearby, was also somewhat dumbfounded.

He hadn't expected Perkin's backpack to contain so many good things. Without a guide or a jungle survival expert, he had actually come up with such a method to proceed.

However, they had still underestimated the danger of this forest. Venturing deep into the jungle in the middle of the night, they wouldn't even know how they died.

Chuckling inwardly, Liu Zhi followed them from a distance.