CHAPTER 218: A Cry From The Heart

The House of Menlo lay within a small mountain in the Valley of Sunshine. The centre of the mountain had been hollowed out into caves, all interconnected to form a matrix of amazing defences.

Han Shuo arrived from the air and stood on top of a towering tree tens of metres tall, looking towards the source of the sounds.

He saw the caves where the House of Menlo stored their weapons a light, thick smoke rising into the air. Tongues of flame flickered from some of the entrances. It looked as if everything was on fire.

Each of these caves had many stone chambers carved into it. Each was a room with all the necessities of life. Many of them were even more luxurious than some of the shops in the Valley of Sunshine, so it was quite normal for the whole thing to go up in flames as soon as a fire dragon spell was cast inside.

A group of masked people were moving quickly around the entrance to the small mountain. Among them were a number of fire mages, who occasionally chanted fire spells, sending jets of flame towards the mountain's entrance.

Their movements were swift and well coordinated. The fire mages would unleash fire, the wind mages would summon winds to push the fire forward, and several archers would force those of the House of Menlo who dared to stick their heads out back inside.

Nevertheless, the small mountain was actually quite large once it had been hollowed out. With so many caves and stone chambers, this band of marauders could only target one part of the mountain. As soon as the Menlo reinforcements arrived, they immediately split up and covered their movements by hiding in the surrounding bushes. They were obviously very familiar with the surrounding terrain and well versed in these guerrilla tactics. They would quickly retreat if anyone spotted them, then circle back and come in from another side to continue wreaking havoc.

Under normal circumstances, this group of people would undoubtedly be dead if they hadn't retreated after the first wave of attacks.

However, the House of Menlo was completely occupied at the moment. This group of troublemakers wasn't their main target. Their main focus was on a group of heavily armed raiders, around 500 strong. The robbers' motives were unknown, but they had laid siege to the mountain, attacking anyone who ventured out. The two sides were locked in a fierce battle.

Han Shuo stood in the distance and looked out for a while, doubled over with laughter as he saw Trunks' men taking advantage of the chaos and adding to the confusion. He had not thought that Trunks would be so talented. The House of Menlo's mission this time had only been to make the other factions suspicious of that power. Han Shuo was a little surprised at how things had turned out.

More cavalry with shining armour and sharp weapons came galloping from a path in the distance. Their decorations clearly identified them as those of the House of Menlo. There were about six hundred of them, each with an unusual air about them. They were probably the elite of this house.

The direction in which this group was charging happened to be where Trunks and the others were. However, without realising the danger they were about to face, they were planning to cause another round of mischief. Han Shuo finally couldn't sit still any longer and flew to where they were.

The sky was already brightening and the stars had long since disappeared into the depths of the night. It seemed as if daybreak would come soon. Just as Trunks was about to start his last round of mischief, a black shadow landed in front of him with a "whoosh".

He got off to a bad start, but breathed a sigh of relief when he realised it was Han Shuo. "What are you doing here?"

"I happened to be passing by and saw that the Menlo elite are about to return. They'll be passing through here. Shall we hurry and leave?" Han Shuo smiled slightly and explained the situation to Trunks without further ado.

When he heard that the Menlo elite were returning, Trunks shouted in a low voice and gestured to the mercenaries in the distance.

These guys were covered from head to toe and understood Trunks' gesture immediately. They didn't gather to leave in masse, but spread out even more, using the terrain to hide themselves and slowly disappear without a trace.

"Let's go!" The trunk didn't remain idle as he turned his head to smile at Han Shuo and darted into the dense undergrowth.

Snow lay heavily on the branches of the towering trees, blocking out the light from the sky. The densely packed branches made it difficult to travel, but Trunks wasn't bothered in the least. He led Han Shuo down several winding paths, and about half an hour later, they emerged far from the mountain of the House of Menlo on the path to the Valley of Sunshine.

"These were all old Rainbow Sickle mercenaries. Everything in the valley was under our control when the old chief was here, and we are so familiar with the terrain that we can navigate it with our eyes closed, so don't worry about their safety." Trunks said to Han Shuo as they left the mountain.

Han Shuo had observed the group's operations when he was on the mountain earlier. They showed a high level of cooperation and were all quite strong. Most of them were journeyman swordsmen or sergeant knights, with a few adept mages and senior swordsmen mixed in. There were many with unusual bow and arrow skills. It looked like what Trunks had said, they were the old mercenaries of the Rainbow Sickle group.

With such a group of people and Trunks' plans, the Soul Destroyer mercenary group would have an easy time in the future.

"Right, what happened to you, why did robbers come knocking on the doors of the Menlo House?" Han Shuo couldn't help but ask.

Trunks couldn't help but laugh when he heard this question. "We happened to see this band of robbers on our way to the House of Menlo.

They were about to raid a caravan. After fighting with them, we showed them the right way and they attacked the house of Menlo with our guidance.

"When they finally disturbed the people inside, the robbers began to fight them. We took advantage of the chaos to wreak more havoc elsewhere. We had thought that the robbers would be defeated immediately and had made plans for an early retreat, but who would have thought that the elite of the House of Menlo were elsewhere on some unknown business?"

"When the robbers saw that the elites weren't rushing out to attack them, they grew bolder and continued to attack. We stayed a little longer, and you saw the rest!"

"So that was the case. Are there many groups of bandits like those in the mountain ranges around the valley?" Han Shuo nodded and asked with a faint smile.

"Of course. Since the valley is where the borders of three nations meet, many merchants seek to do business in the Valley of Sunshine. Therefore, there are many bands of robbers in the area. Two of them even number in the thousands, and they're made up of wanted fugitives from the three nations.

"The leaders of the two bands are a man and a woman. The man is called Gustav, nicknamed the Butcher, a notorious criminal in the Kasi Empire. He kills without blinking and is extremely brutal. If a merchant caravan encounters his crew, they're out of luck. If his mood is good, all the goods and beauties are taken, but if his mood is bad, no one is left alive".

"Florida conspired with Gustav this year to conspire against our old chief, kill him and make my little sister Annie disappear. I'll kill him sooner or later!"

"There's another woman called Janet. Eh, she basically inherited her father's business. Her father was a bandit, her grandfather was a bandit, and her great-grandfather was a bandit. They're quite a notable robber family in these mountains. She was raised as a robber from birth, and although she's not a nice person, she still has certain principles. As long as the merchants who run afoul of her don't resist, they can usually keep their lives!"

"Aside from these two, there are about a dozen small to medium-sized robber groups in the mountains. Their operations are smaller and they're not as famous as these two." Trunks explained.

Han Shuo listened for a while and then asked more about the strength of the bandits before nodding, "It looks like the bandits and mercenaries in the Valley of Sunshine depend on each other. Whether it's the robbers or the mercenaries, both are vital to the ecosystem of the valley!"

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked.

"The merchants don't need protection if there are no robbers. So the mercenaries can't make any money. Without the mercenaries, the merchants wouldn't dare come here, and the robbers wouldn't have anything to take. So it's only logical that both mercenaries and bandits can be found in the valley.

"With the strength of the four factions in the Valley of Sunshine, they should be able to destroy the bandits. However, perhaps it is because they understand this that they haven't done so and have allowed the bandits to exist." Han Shuo smiled and explained.

Trunks chuckled at his words, "That's right, the old chief understood that back then, to think that you would understand it so quickly!"

Nodding, Han Shuo looked at the sky, "Let's go, it's getting late. We should hurry back to the valley, I want to see some things as well."

Ever since the Rainbow Sickles had left, Han Shuo had felt a voice calling him from afar. At first, he thought it was the little skeleton getting into trouble again, but after some careful probing, he realised that wasn't the case.

Focusing his attention, Han Shuo discovered that the voice was coming from the Dark Forest. They weren't too far from the Dark Forest, and the Cemetery of Death was within it.

When he realised that this call was coming from the Dark Forest, Han Shuo immediately understood that the Earth Elite Zombie had successfully broken out of the Earth. However, it was trapped by the boundary of the cemetery of death and couldn't find Han Shuo. It could only passively send this message to its master.