Quarry

There was actually a more important reason why Zhang Yang was in a hurry to get the iron wall battle mark.

He wanted to start the hero trial with Wu Yuan.

But the hero trial would be dangerous. In order to ensure his own safety, having a means of saving his life was a must.

For instance, a Spear of Imprisonment of a better quality, a shield enhanced with the iron wall battle mark, and dharmic powers. He still couldn't forget how magical the dharmic powers were.

"Village Chief, good news. We have found a quarry."

Just as Zhang Yang stood in front of the Tree Demon Tower, ready to refine demon blood again, a soldier ran back and reported with excitement.

"What? In which direction? How far away is it?"

Zhang Yang couldn't care less about refining the demon blood already. A quarry was crucial because its materials would be needed to build a strong castle and city walls, unlike the current fortress constructed from clay and giant wood.

"Village Chief, it's in a valley toward the southeast direction, about 16 or 17 miles away. Extraction marks were also found inside. Captain Wu Yuan asked me to report this matter to you because he guessed that it might have been mined by the deer lord."

Upon hearing his words, Zhang Yang immediately understood the situation. At the same time, a basic topographical map quickly surfaced in his mind.

Ten days ago, his first appearance in the forest was about five kilometers due south of the village. He then turned northwest about two kilometers to encounter the spider lord, where he spent the night and then encountered the earthbound tree demon.

The earthbound tree demon came from either the northwest or north.

His men fought with the earthbound tree demon and killed it at a position about three kilometers southwest of the village. It was also where they encountered the deer lord and fled all the way to this place to build the village.

And now, six or seven kilometers southeast of the village, they found its quarry. Did this mean that the deer lord's village was either east, southeast, and south?

Would the jackal's village also be within no more than 50 kilometers?

I have to go and see for myself. This matter isn't trivial. Although the deer lord's village has long been plundered by the jackals, there may still be something to be gained.

At this thought, Zhang Yang immediately transferred over four captain bowmen and four captain shield soldiers and instructed Qin Yidao to lead the remaining 15 captain bowmen to guard the fortress.

Outside the fortress, he also instructed the commander of the wood-chopping squad, Liang Duantui, to lead several captain shield soldiers.

In addition, a dozen captains also guarded the training ground and residential houses. With such a force, as long as they didn't encounter a strong enemy like the deer lord or jackal village chief, there was no need to worry about anything.

Later, Zhang Yang ran all the way with nine soldiers. This time, he wasn't worried about encountering any lesser demons. For one thing, most of the lesser demons in this vicinity had long been wiped out. Secondly, with a powerful village established, many of them simply didn't dare come close.

Of course, nothing was absolute. For instance, on more than one occasion Zhang Yang witnessed a level 4 black panther appearing above the tall canopy. However, it turned around and fled after spotting him, and he lost sight of it in a flash.

If all the demons in this forest are deserters who survived the obliteration of their village chief or descendants of those deserters, this is going to be fun.

Half an hour later, Zhang Yang and his party arrived at the valley, where the vegetation was unexpectedly sparse. One side was a stone mountain, while the other was a dirt mountain. The so-called quarry was built on the stone mountain, where one could see obvious excavation marks and dozens of one-meter square boulders which had been excavated but not transported out.

Following these excavation traces, one could see a rough, dusty road extending beyond the valley.

"Village Chief."

Wu Yuan went up and welcomed Zhang Yang, looking thrilled. "I brought my men to explore this road leading beyond the valley. Heading south from here, there is a large area of open flat land around a hillock after three to four miles. Three miles wide toward the east and west, and 10 miles long to the north and south. That deer lord's village is there. But as that place is too huge, I didn't dare risk going forward.

"As for this quarry, I've also investigated. I think the miners here are hill demons, though it isn't yet known how that deer lord controls them. Also, according to the traces we determined, the hill demons that mined the stones should still have been around the day before yesterday. But later, they left and there is no trace of battle. So I guess that they have all been recruited by that jackal."

After hearing Wu Yuan's analysis, Zhang Yang nodded and said, "Let's go and check out the heritage left behind by the deer lord."

Following the path toward the south, there was indeed a trampled-out road. Judging from the traces, it was at least a year old.

Ten minutes later, after bypassing a small hillock, they witnessed a good-sized piece of flat open space.

It was wide and spacious, close to 10 square kilometers. But this clearing was apparently opened up by humans because one could clearly see the fresh presence of newly-chopped trees at the edge of the forest.

And in the middle of this flat open space, the first thing one saw was a peculiar castle that hadn't yet finished construction, which was a completely different concept from human castles.

Human castles were meant for defense, so overall, they had tall, mighty walls.

But this deer lord's castle was unlike that. In the middle were three tall towers, surrounded by a dozen stone walls like radioactive rays. If one were to gaze from above and ignore the three tall towers, it would very much look like a pattern of light emitted from the sun.

There was no defensive capability at all.

But considering the size of the deer lord and its combat style, this design seemed suitable. Without any blockage, the heavy deer cavalry could rush out like a tidal wave, especially on such a large plain. Whoever came to find trouble with them would be seeking death!

Zhang Yang observed very carefully for a few minutes and gently ground his teeth. From a human point of view, this village made him twice as insecure, where he didn't even have the courage to walk over and check it out.

"Wu Yuan, what do you think?"

"Village Chief, this place is dangerous for the soldiers." The cautious Wu Yuan shook his head.

"In that case, withdraw!"

Zhang Yang made a quick decision, but just as they turned to leave, they suddenly heard rumbling from a few miles away in the forest. It sounded like an earthquake. The men turned around, stared, and were spooked out of their minds.

They witnessed two to three hundred heavy deer cavalry rushing out of the dense forest. They were like a terrifying tidal wave as smoke and dust violently rolled in the air.

"Run!"

Zhang Yang shouted. He was glad that he didn't give in to his curiosity earlier. If he and his men were to suddenly face this army of heavy deer cavalry charging toward them on this flat, open space, perhaps they would have knelt weakly on the ground, trembling in fear. There were only a dozen of them right now. Even if more than a hundred captains were here, nothing would change.

We can't afford to mess with them! Not at all!

Hundreds of heavy deer cavalry rumbled all the way to the edge of the forest, finally came to a halt, letting out proud echoing calls.

They weren't stupid. They knew that as soon as they entered the forest, Zhang Yang and his men might gain the upper hand over them.

It seems that the jackal village chief didn't get much benefit here. Also, that deer lord died a rather regretful death. A moment of its carelessness turned its strong base and troops into a nest of wild demons.

What a valuable lesson! I've learned from its mistakes!

Zhang Yang couldn't help but remind himself.