Chapter 209 Dongxue Village Part 11

The cries of the children finally made Hajime open his eyes. He found himself staring at the dirt ceiling only a few feet away from his face. Knowing that the earthen ceiling was too low for him to stand up, Hajime felt the pain in his neck, grunting in pain, and slowly sat up. Hajime gently rubbed the back of his neck and realized that he was in an underground dungeon with nine other pregnant women. 

Hajime hesitated for a moment, wondering why he was locked up with other women and not with the men. Hajime stared at the women and noticed that the women were shorter than the average women. Only then did he realize that these prisoners must be villagers from Dongxue Village. 

Hajime approached the villagers and asked, "Are you villagers from Dongxue Village?" 

One of the women replied, "We are?" 

Hajime asked, "So, how many of you are here?" 

The woman looked at Hajime sadly and said, "We used to have forty-two adults, but now there are only thirty-one adults, four children and six babies." She thought for a moment, and then corrected herself. "Seven babies, the youngest was born last night." 

Hajime asked, "Where's the mother?" 

The woman said, "She was taken away last night when she was in labor." 

Hajime asked, "What about the others?" 

The woman replied, "Some people were killed by the Taka while they were escaping. Others were locked up like us." 

Hajime asked, "Do you know a man named Wen?" 

The woman replied, "Yes...he is the son of our leader." She stared at Hajime. "Why ask?" 

Hajime lowered his voice and said, "Wen asked us to come help rescue you." 

Although the news that someone was coming to save them was the news they had been waiting for, there was no look of joy on the women's faces. 

Hajime asked, "What's wrong?" 

The woman said sadly, "Your rescue came too late." 

Hajime asked, "Why do you think so?" 

The woman said, "Tonight... we will be sacrifice to their moon god." 

Another woman added, "When they capture us, they will keep us alive until the first halfmoon of the new year and then sacrifice us to their moon god." She burst into tears. "Tonight is the first halfmoon of the new year." 

Hajime looked back and saw that although there was a door, it was not locked. Six Takas were sitting around a small campfire out front, passing food to each other, but the villagers seemed to refuse to step outside and try to escape. 

Hajime turned to the pregnant women and asked, "The door is unlocked, why don't you sneak away while they are not paying attention?" 

The woman replied, "Those who tried to escape were executed in public. No one dared to escape for fear of being killed." 

Hajime said, "But waiting will also kill you." 

The woman replied sadly, "One more day to live is also one more day of hope to be rescue." 

"You're right," Hajime said, looking at the six Takas. "So, how do we escape from here..." He turned to the women. "Do any of you know the way out?" 

The women shook their heads, but after a long silence. One woman said, "We don't know, but maybe someone else might." 

Hajime asked, "How far away are the others from us?" 

"They're right next to us," the woman said. 

Hajime looked at the women and said, "No matter what you see next, you must remain quiet." 

Hajime quickly searched his cross bag and found that his wooden figures were still in his cross bag. He pulled out four wooden figures and placed the black panther on the ground. After a while, the black panther came to life, and the women fearfully move away from the black panther and crawled into a place away from Hajime and the black panther. 

"Kill them quietly." Hajime stroked the black panther's head and whispered to the black panther. 

The black panther lowered his body, growled softly, and stared with bright yellow eyes at the six Takas who were still eating and passing food around the campfire. The black panther lunged forward and grabbed a Taka, who was sitting across from Hajime and the women, by the neck. The black panther quickly dragged the Taka into the left underground passage and disappeared into the darkness. 

This sneak attack caught the five Taka people who were still sitting by the campfire by surprise. They turned around to look for the perpetrator, but they found nothing. At this time, the remaining five Takas also stood up, grabbing their wooden spear. 

Just as the Taka were looking around, the black panther jumped out of the dark tunnel again, grabbed another Taka by the neck, and dragged him into another dark tunnel. Even when the black panther was moving extremely fast, the three Takas had already seen the black panther, and quickly put their backs together. 

Seeing the three Takas leaning against each other, defending against the black panther's attack, Hajime put the three wolves' wooden figures on the ground. The wolves growled as they walked through the unlocked door, surrounding the three Takas. 

Hajime turned to the pregnant women and said, "Go and release the others." 

Hajime pushed open the unlocked wooden gate and took the pregnant woman out. Hajime stood there watching the black panther and the three wolves circle around the three Takas, while the women quickly rushed to the other four wooden fence doors, and soon other villagers came out. Four villagers began to lead the group away, leaving Hajime behind. When Hajime saw that most of the villagers were gone, he started to follow the villagers out of the tunnel on the left. 

"Is this the way that will lead us out of here?" Hajime asked one of the women that walking beside him. 

The woman nodded and said, "The man that leading us still remembers the way in and out." The woman looked back and saw that the three wolves and the black panther were still guarding the three Takas. "What about them?" 

Hajime said, "As long as I tell them to leave, they will leave." Hajime looked around and found that the villagers were walking too slowly. "Everyone, we have to walk faster, or even run. Soon, they will notice that we are gone and will catch up." 

Hearing Hajime express his concerns, the villagers began to walk faster, but as the others walked quickly, the nine very pregnant women began to fall behind. Although Hajime who was two years pregnant, he walked faster than the women who followed him who were seven or eight months pregnant. 

Hajime turned around and said, "Hey fellow sisters, we have to hurry up." 

The woman walking behind Hajime said, "We walked as fast as we can." 

Hajime sometimes wanted to summon his wolves and panther and have them take the pregnant woman away from here, but he knew that once the wolves and panther made changes, the three Takas would sound the alarm to others. Therefore, after weighing the risks, he could only take the opportunity to encourage everyone to speed up. 

Suddenly, the people in front of Hajime and the nine pregnant women began to run towards a light that shown from the tunnel roof. A young man turned around and said, "Hey, hurry up." He pointed to the light ahead. "Our escape point is over there." 

As soon as the young villager finished speaking, four men were thrown towards the villagers, causing the villagers in front to fall to the ground. 

"Oh, tonight, these chickens are so brave, they have the courage to escape." Xun's cold voice came from the darkness. 

As soon as Hajime heard Xun's voice, he knew that the person speaking now was his kidnapper. 

The fallen villagers and those still standing quickly walked towards Hajime and the nine pregnant women. 

"Oh heaven," one pregnant woman cried. "They will kill us..." 

Hajime looked at the panicked women and said, "No matter what, they will kill us." Hajime looked at the villagers who had completely succumbed to Xun's voice, and he felt a little annoyed with the villagers. Then he raised his voice. "Would you rather be a coward and be their sacrifice to their moon god tonight or die with dignity!" 

Xun slowly approached the light and pointed his spear at Hajime, who was taller than the other villagers. "White-haired woman." Xun gritted his teeth. "So, it was you who encouraged these chickens to escape from the coop." Xun approached the group of frightened villagers. "I originally wanted to spare your life and make you my queen, but your disobedience tonight makes me no longer want to spare your life." 

Hajime looked at Xun and said indifferently, "Who told you that I am a woman and I want to be your queen." He stared at Xun. "I'd rather be a gorilla companion than your queen." 

Xun chuckled, "If you are not a woman, what is in your belly? He approached the villagers without any fear. "How can a man be pregnant? Maybe...maybe I should cut you open and see how a human man can be pregnant." 

Hajime opened his right palm and ignored Xun's arrogance. When his wooden figures returned to his hand, Xun was only a few feet away from him. The villagers were afraid of Xun and stepped aside one after another to make room for Xun to continue approaching Hajime. 

"If you want to know, come closer," Hajime said, as he threw the four wooden figures directly in front of him. The three wolves and the black panther suddenly came to life and leapt directly at Xun.