Chapter 207 Dongxue Village Part 7

Yul and Abrafo stood a few feet away watching the horses graze, standing, and enjoying the morning sunshine. This is when nature is at its best, with the golden glow of the soft colors of the morning sunrise illuminating clouds, meadows, and mountains. The sunrise marked another new day as they entered the unforeseen future but enjoying such a beautiful morning had always been in the hearts of the two Tanzanies. As Yul and Abrafo stood admiring the sunrise, they knew they were lucky to see and enjoy so many beautiful sunrises. 

"No matter how you look at it, the morning sunrise here is much more beautiful than the morning sunrise in Tanzang," Abrafo said with his hands on his hips. 

Yul sighed and said, "Of course, with our kingdom coming to an end, everything in Tanzang does look duller." He looked at Abrafo. "But we will change this. We will bring this brilliant morning sun back to Tanzang and give our brothers and sisters a chance to travel far. A chance to see the outside world beyond the banks of the River of Sorrow." 

"Like the Tenth King, we will make our kingdom's existence known to the lands beneath Tanzang. A diverse kingdom with unparalleled fair laws and punishment," Abrafo said with a smile. 

"It's not good to make other countries jealous. Do you really want to fight in a war?" As Yul said, he quickly sheathed his sword, turned around, and split the oncoming wooden spear in half. 

"Savages! Savages!" Wen shouted and rushed to Michio's side. 

"Savages? Humph..." Abrafo sneered and drew his sword from behind. "It seems our conversation is over." Abrafo smiled and turned to face twenty Takas who started to come out of the woods. 

The Taka threw stones and branches at the horse, which frightened the horse and led it to flee from the three Tanzanies and Wen. 

"Our horses!" Wen shouted in fear. "We're going to die!" 

Michio grabbed onto Wen's arms and said, "Calm down. We're still here, there's no way you're going to die today." 

"Without the horses it would have taken us two days to get back to the village. The savages walked faster than us. There was no way we could outrun them," Wen cried. 

Abrafo looked at Wen and said, "You haven't seen us running, so stop predicting things that haven't happened." He grabbed Wen and shook him twice. "Pick yourself up and get ready to run back to camp." 

Wen tried his best to maintain his posture, but the trembling knees prevented him from standing upright. 

Abrafo looked at Wen and shook his head in disappointment. He turned to Yul and whispered, "Don't tell me, everyone in Dongxue Village looks like him when they see the Taka." 

Yul said, "Let's hope not. Let's get back to camp." He looked at the Taka coming towards them. "If they're here, they're in the camp, too." He turned to look at Abrafo and worries escaped from his face.

"Agree," Abrafo said, quickly grabbing Wen's hand and putting Wen's thumb on his sword. 

"What are you doing?" Wen asked tremblingly. 

Abrafo smiled and said, "I need blood. Since you can't contribute strength, you should at least contribute blood." He pressed Wen's thumb on the edge of the sword and held Wen's thumb directly on the flame symbol on the top of the sword. Abrafo stepped forward in front of Yul, Michio, and Wen. "Get ready to run away." 

Yul and Michio rush to the left, Wen following close behind, creating a path for them. Since the twenty Takas was still ten yards away from Abrafo, Abrafo swung his sword forward, the energy light from the sword turned into a line of fire flying towards the first group of running Takas. The flames soon touched the first ten Takas' fur. As the flames began to rise, the charred ten Takas fell to the ground and began rolling on the ground in an attempt to put out the fire. Seeing the burnt ten Takas rolling on the ground, Abrafo quickly chased Yul and the others towards the camp. 

Wen looked back to see if anyone was following them and saw some charred Takas chasing after them. "No! No! The burned savages are chasing us," he shouted. 

Abrafo grabbed onto Wen's hand and said, "Then run faster, you fool." 

Back at the camp, the sound of rustling leaves echoed through the forest. The old forest gives the two Tanzanies a more eerie feeling. The old leaves on the trees slowly fall off, float in the air, and slowly fall to the ground. As the leaves fell, Taka men armed with wooden spears slowly emerged from behind the trees in front of the two Tanzanies and three monks. As the Taka walked towards them, the dry leaves crunched under the Taka's feet, and the crunching sound reached the ears of the two Tanzanies. 

Hajime opened the cross bag and grabbed the three wolves and the black panther. He threw the four wooden figures on the ground, and soon the three gray wolves and the black panther came to life. The three wolves and the black panther quickly surrounded Hajime and U-ri, while the three monks stood beside U-ri. 

"There are too many of them," Hajime said, turning to look at U-ri. "We must protect ourselves and not let them take us hostage. Let's find ourselves weapons." Hajime looked around to see if there was anything that could be used as a weapon but saw nothing.

U-ri looked around and said, "What weapon?" 

Hajime said, "I don't know. Just what we can get our hands on." 

U-ri quickly grabbed a small piece of wood. "I only have one distress signal with me, and I've used it," U-ri said. 

"Bring more next time," Hajime said. He couldn't bend down and grab a piece of wood to defend himself like U-ri, so he could only grab the green scale to block the Taka's attack. "When did they say they would be back?" 

U-ri said, "They didn't say when they would come back." 

Two Takas threw the wooden spears directly at U-ri, but the monks on U-ri's right side quickly released their whips, grabbed the two wooden spears, and pierced the two wooden spears into the ground in front of them. 

Hajime and U-ri each quickly grabbed one wooden spear to protect themselves. Hajime turned to look at U-ri and said, "Remember Wen's words, don't get caught." 

The Taka charged at the two Tanzanies and three monks, from all directions. 

"Get behind me," Hajime said, pushing U-ri back. 

Two Takas rushed towards Hajime and U-ri. Hajime waved his wooden spear to the left, scaring a Taka who came from the left. Hajime raised the wooden spear and blocked another Taka's spear. Hitting the attacker's face with the end of the spear, Hajime quickly kicked the attacker's left and right inner thighs with his right foot, spreading the attacker's legs apart. Hajime moves to his left and blocks the first attacker. U-ri hits the second attacker with the full force of his spear and knocked the second attacker to the ground, but another Taka rushes forward, hitting U-ri in the leg with his spear. The second Taka's attack caused U-ri to fall to the ground. 

The whips of the three monks snaked through the air, knocking away those who tried to get closer. The monk closest to U-ri swung his whip to the left and then to the right, knocking two Takas to the ground. He grabbed U-ri's right shoulder and pulled U-ri up from the ground. The three wolves and the black panther began to attack the Taka. 

At this time, Hajime was far away from U-ri and the others, and when he was trying to defend against the four Takas, a Taka, who was knocked to the ground by one of the monks, took the opportunity to rush towards Hajime with his wooden spear. The charging Taka rushed directly to the side of Hajime's abdomen. 

The black panther jumped over the waist-high tree roots, grabbed the wooden spear, quickly pulled the wooden spear from the Taka's hand, turned around and flicked towards the Taka. As the panther pinned the Taka to the ground, its claws clawed hard and deep at the pinned Taka's flesh. 

Three Takas used their wooden spears to push against Hajime's wooden spear, and Hajime slowly moved back towards the trunk of the tree. Every time Hajime took a step back, Hajime was pushed closer towards the tree trunk. Hajime knew that as soon as his back touched the tree trunk, it would be his end, so even though Hajime felt his arms shaking as he continued to be pushed back, Hajime used his remaining strength to defend himself and refuse to retreat any further. With his hands shaking, Hajime knew that sooner or later he would no longer have the power to defend himself when he needed it most, but deep down, he also knew that now was not the time to surrender. 

As the four continue to test each other's inner strength, Hajime continued to stare at the three Takas' faces, holding on to his position with little strength and refusing to back down. Hajime heard the breaking sound of his wooden spear, and just as he lowered his head to look at his wooden spear, Hajime saw three arrows piercing the chests of the three Takas. Hajime quickly retreated, and the three Takas fell in front of him, dead on the ground. Hajime looked up and saw Yul and the others running towards Hajime and the others. 

Seeing that Hajime was still standing unharmed, Yul quickly rushed towards Hajime with his sword in hand. When he and others approached them, a Taka jumped down from the branch, holding a spear in his right hand, and headed straight for Hajime. 

"Hajime! Run!" Yul shouted.