Chapter 1111: The Abandoned Village
Older Brother Jayad and the Demon Hunter party didn’t mention the confrontation between us, which almost led to a shootout, as if that conflict had never existed.
We didn’t want to cause any more trouble, and they were wary of Older Brother Jayad’s strength. It seemed Older Brother Jayad’s display of solo pursuit of the Flying Ape Fiend had left a deep impression on them.
Soon, the people below brought up the spoils of war. Besides the three fallen eggs, there was also a batch of leftover beast skins and bones. Those that were relatively intact could be kept, but the rest were discarded. At least Safah didn’t care about this small amount of money.
Unexpectedly, they also brought up some equipment and weapons found in the lair. Looking at the blood-stained, twisted, and tattered appearance of the equipment, it was clear that their owners had met a tragic end at the hands of the Flying Ape Fiends.
Although some of the equipment was completely ruined, some peripheral parts like armguards, gauntlets, and helmets were undamaged and showed no signs of rust or wear. Most of them were excellent pieces, incorporating special spiritual metal.
Buck would certainly not want this scavenged equipment, and Safah wouldn’t be interested either, so it became the target of contention among their subordinates. After some minor squabbles, it was all divided up.
Clad in armor that didn’t quite match their original gear, they proudly showed off to their teammates.
While this equipment was nothing to the important figures, for these low-level grunts, it was equivalent to several years of salary. Naturally, they were overjoyed to get it for free.
In total, they collected eleven eggs. Of course, it would require significant investment to raise these young Flying Ape Fiends, and it would be difficult for them to become as strong as the two they had. These two Flying Ape Fiends had become so powerful by consuming large quantities of other monsters during the Corrosive Period.
Even so, such a Flying Beast egg could be sold for at least three thousand gold coins on the market, and this was for a clutch of identical eggs. In the future, Flying Ape Fiends could be formed into squads and fight together, further increasing their price.
When the headcount was taken, it was discovered that two people had died, both from that unfortunate team. One was a gunman killed during the surprise attack, and the other was clubbed to death by a claw while trying to steal an egg.
Considering the dangerous monsters like the Flying Ape Fiends, only two deaths was considered very fortunate, but everyone still felt a somber mood for the two fallen companions. No one knew if they would be next.
Another gunman was seriously injured during the surprise attack. His teammate had died directly, but this gunman had luckily only suffered serious injuries and had just managed to escape on his own.
His arm was fractured, and he had internal bleeding. He had likely been flung by the Flying Ape Fiend’s wings, crashing into a wall and losing consciousness.
While the injury wasn’t fatal, it rendered him incapable of combat. The gang subordinates treated him in a very primitive manner, applying some mysterious herbs and even performing bloodletting. One even suggested amputation.
“Make way, make way! What terrible ideas are these? You’re going to get a perfectly healthy person killed! Get out of the way and let the professionals handle it!” I couldn’t stand it any longer; their haphazard actions were giving me OCD.
Seeing me fiddling with the medicine chest, Elena asked, “Are you a doctor?”
“I just know a little, better than them,” I replied noncommittally, having already found the necessary medicines and supplies in the medical kit.
Safah had made ample preparations for this adventure, stocking up on everything from detoxification medicine and hemostatic agents to fever-reducing pills and bandages. It was a shame the crude thugs wouldn’t know how to use them.
“Quiet, don’t move. It might hurt, but if you don’t want your hand to be useless for the rest of your life, you’ll have to bear it. Of course, if you can’t stand it, I can have someone knock you out,” I told the injured gunman.
He was already sweating profusely from the pain and couldn’t imagine it getting any worse, so he gritted his teeth and nodded. I immediately set about resetting his bones.
“Ah!!!” Even with psychological preparation, the gunman cried out in pain, but I held him down and reiterated, “Don’t move!”
“Hiss!” The gunman bit down on a piece of cloth, enduring the pain. However, the worst was the moment of bone setting; the rest was just lingering pain.
I then applied hemostatic medicine to his abrasions, bandaged him up, and then used a wooden board to immobilize his right arm, also securing it tightly with bandages.
Afterward, I applied liniments to the internal injuries, administered oral medication to stop the bleeding, and used hot compresses to expel the bruising. I used supplies from the medical box for the entire process and did not resort to using my Life Elixir.
My actions were smooth and efficient, and he quickly felt much better, a stark contrast to the haphazard treatment by the subordinates previously.
“Amazing! I didn’t expect our team to have such hidden talents, a professional doctor like you. If we have any injured in the future, we might have to trouble you,” Elena said, while Buck also looked on with surprise and admiration.
Compared to their reactions, the Demon Hunters and mercenaries were quite indifferent. Those who adventured frequently likely knew some simple ways to treat injuries, but they didn’t step forward to treat the wounded because it wasn’t within the scope of their contracts.
Next, Buck fell into a dilemma. He was contemplating whether to send a portion of the eggs back with some people or if everyone should proceed to the next location together.
After some thought, he decided to load the eggs into the carriage and set off for the next point together. Splitting forces now would reduce their numbers, making it difficult to engage in fierce battles if necessary. Moreover, the journey back was not guaranteed to be smooth.
So, we mounted our horses again and set off for the next point. As we rode, Buck provided us with intelligence on the monsters at the next location from the carriage.
The intelligence for the next location was no longer provided by the Fire Lizard Squad but was purchased by Safah from the Adventurer’s Guild.
The monsters in that area were called Night Birds, and as the name suggested, they were also nocturnal. Adventurers had witnessed Night Birds appearing, but they couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of their nests, only a general area.
Just then, we suddenly saw a dwelling in front of us. It was surprising to see man-made buildings here.
Furthermore, it wasn’t a single building but a village. Soon, we saw more buildings, all of which were simple dwellings, with signs of cultivated wheat fields nearby.
“This used to be a village, right? But with such severe corruption, the people in the villages outside must have been evacuated. Those who refused to leave probably became food for monsters. We should… huh?”
Buck was about to suggest that we didn’t need to approach and could just detour around it, but he noticed smoke rising from the village.
Older Brother Jayad quietly said to me, “This village is very strange. There’s a very ominous aura emanating from within. It’s best not to get close.”
