Martial Peak
chapter-2804

Chapter 2804, The Return of the Hero

At dawn, Ah Hu appeared outside the village with a pale face. He had yet to recover from the bloody battle yesterday, especially the effects of the Bloodlust Spell’s backlash. Even if he was one of the best warriors in the village, he would be weakened for several days at least; therefore, he couldn’t fight again within the next few days.

Still, he held his head high as he glanced at the large tree at the entrance of the village, and asked, “Do you see anything?”

A head popped out from among the foliage of the large tree. It was the young boy who was in charge of logistics on top of the wall from before. He replied, “I don’t see anything, Brother Ah Hu.”

Ah Hu frowned at those words with an anxious expression on his face. Ah Niu had gone after the Barbarian Beast yesterday and failed to return last night. Hence, the villagers were very worried about him. The young boy had hidden in the canopy of that tree for two reasons. One reason was that he was keeping watch; the other reason was that he wanted to look out for signs of Ah Niu’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, the young boy’s reply disappointed Ah Hu greatly.

“Didn’t the Village Chief mention that Ah Niu has been blessed by the Barbarian Gods? Why are you still so worried about him?” Ah Hua appeared behind Ah Hu with a longbow on her back.

“Ah Niu received the blessing of the Bloodlust Spell, but now that one night has passed, the effects must have faded, and you know what consequences that will bring.”

Even if Ah Niu had been blessed by the Barbarian Gods, allowing him to shed his former self and be reborn, the backlash of the Bloodlust Spell could not be ignored by any of the Ancient Barbarians. If they were surrounded by the herd of beasts in that weakened state, they would undoubtedly end up as food.

“There’s no point worrying about him anyway. Just believe in the Barbarian Gods and in Ah Niu.” Ah Hua patted Ah Hu on the shoulder and turned to return to the village. Although the battle yesterday had not damaged the village, there were still many things to take care of.

“Brother Ah Hu… I see someone…” The young boy suddenly shouted at that moment.

“Who is it?!” Ah Hu raised his head and asked anxiously.

“I can’t see clearly!” The young boy replied.

“Then open your eyes wider!” Ah Hu roared.

The young boy felt speechless and thought to himself. [It’s not like opening my eyes wider will make me see things clearer!] However, he soon called out in alarm, “It’s a Barbarian Beast!”

He clearly saw the body of a Barbarian Beast approaching this direction at an extremely fast speed.

“What?!” Ah Hu and Ah Hua paled in shock and horror. Looking at each other, a terrifying thought involuntarily emerged in their minds. [The village is done for!]

The Barbarian Beast had returned to attack again. Thus, it was obvious what kind of fate had befallen Ah Niu, who left in pursuit of it. Besides, yesterday’s bloody battle had caused most of the warriors in the village to lose a lot of their fighting power. Who could stand up to the Barbarian Beast now that it was attacking at this time?

“No… wait…” The young boy corrected himself, his voice trembling in delight, “It’s Brother Ah Niu! It’s Brother Ah Niu!”

At this point, Ah Hu was about to lose his mind in frustration as he roared, “Why don’t you look carefully!? Is it Ah Niu or the Barbarian Beast?”

One was a person while the other was a beast, they couldn’t look more different! How poor was this boy’s eyesight to confuse the two of them?! Without saying anything, Ah Hua immediately rushed forward and quickly scaled the tree. Standing atop the canopy, she peered into the distance. As a Spirit Archer, her eyesight was incredibly sharp. Just because the young boy couldn’t see clearly did not mean that she couldn’t.

On the other hand, Ah Hu anxiously stood in place and waited while looking up at them. A moment later, Ah Hua lowered her head and smilingly announced, “It’s Ah Niu! Ah Niu brought the Barbarian Beast back with him!”

Ah Hu was stunned. He asked incredulously, “Ah Niu… killed the Barbarian Beast?”

Ah Hua climbed down from the tree, tossed her long braid behind her back, and nodded in affirmation, “That’s right! Ah Niu killed the Barbarian Beast!”

Ah Hu let out a long sigh of relief before immediately laughing wildly. Turning around, he yelled in the direction of the village, “Everyone! Come out! Ah Niu is returning after killing the Barbarian Beast! He killed the Barbarian Beast!”

All the villagers that were busy working were taken aback by this shout and could barely believe what they heard. Even so, they quickly put down their work and gathered at the entrance of the village, murmuring questioningly among themselves

“Did Ah Niu really kill the Barbarian Beast?”

“Who witnessed it?”

“Ah Hu, are you lying to us?”

“Is that good-for-nothing, Ah Niu, really that capable?”

“He is no longer a good-for-nothing now. It’s all thanks to him that we managed to repel the Beast Tide yesterday!”

“Wasn’t he too weak to even draw a bow before? How did he change so suddenly? It’s like he is a completely different person!”

“The Village Chief said that Ah Niu was blessed by the Barbarian Gods.”

…..

Yang Kai carried the dead Monster Beast over his shoulder, and before he arrived at the village’s entrance, he saw from afar that a large group of people had gathered there. Moreover, they were pointing in his direction.

Standing at the forefront of the group, Ah Hu beckoned and shouted at Yang Kai with a huge smile on his pale face.

[According to Ah Hua, Ah Hu used to share his food with me in the past. That’s the only reason I didn’t starve to death.] Yang Kai might not have personally experienced that, but this body belonging to this era had been graced by Ah Hu’s kindness. Therefore, he was aware of the concern that this young man of the Ancient Barbarian Race had shown him.

He responded to Ah Hu by lifting the Barbarian Beast from his shoulders, holding it up high in the air, and displaying it to the villagers from a distance. Immediately following that, the villagers shouted and cheered, rushing over to welcome the hero’s return.

In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was surrounded by hundreds of villagers, each of them patting him on the shoulder cordially and enthusiastically with looks of admiration and gratitude. Then, they cleared the way and let him continue forward. Even though he did not understand what kind of custom this was, Yang Kai could feel their respect with every pat on the shoulder that he received.

The old Village Chief appeared leisurely at the entrance of the village with a cane in his hand. His entire stooped figure was trembling as if he was about to drop dead.

Yang Kai was followed by countless villagers as he walked over to the Village Chief and placed the Monster Beast on the ground, grinning as he said, “Village Chief, I killed the Barbarian Beast.”

The Village Chief studied the Barbarian Beast seriously and nodded, “Good!”

He didn’t give many praises, but it sounded even more honest and kind as a result. Thus, Yang Kai continued smiling in response.

By now, many young boys and young girls of the Ancient Barbarian Race had gathered around. They were staring at the Barbarian Beast on the ground as if it was their first time seeing something so ferocious. Their eyes were brimming with curiosity while some of the more daring ones even reached out their hands to touch it, but they retracted their hands upon receiving death glares from their parents.

At that moment, a young girl walked over from the back of the crowd while carrying a bowl filled with an opaque liquid in her hands. The faint fragrance of wine filled the air. The young girl walked over to Yang Kai and stared at him shyly. Even though she was blushing furiously, she did not shift her gaze away, her fiery gaze making him slightly uncomfortable and at a loss for what to do.

Strictly speaking, the women of the Ancient Barbarian Race did not fit Yang Kai’s sense of aesthetics; however, this young girl was a little different from the rest of the women here. Even though she was still very tall, she was quite a stunning beauty in his eyes.

Tilting his head, he looked at the Village Chief curiously.

In response, the Village Chief explained, “Only the best warriors in the village are eligible to drink this bowl of Sacred Wine. Go ahead and drink it.”

[It really is wine…] Despite smelling the fragrance of wine, Yang Kai couldn’t be sure that that bowl of opaque unknown liquid was really wine before the Village Chief explained.

Accepting the stone bowl from the young girl, Yang Kai downed the contents in one go. The burning sensation in his throat flowed all the way down to his abdomen and a strange power spread out from his stomach, causing his meridians to tremble slightly. He lifted an eyebrow in response. Before he had the time to observe the feeling carefully, the villagers around him picked him up and lifted him into the air. The villagers chanted the name ‘Ah Niu’, throwing him up and catching him before throwing him again…

Yang Kai lost count of how many young girls took advantage of the situation and unscrupulously molest his body with their hands, stroking his bare muscles and private parts. The women of the Ancient Barbarian Race were so unrestrained and straightforward that it made him furiously blush. It was bad enough that the young and immature girls were taking advantage of him, but why are there some elderly women joining them too!?

The whole village was filled with joy, making it as lively as the new year celebration. A long while later, the villagers finally put the dizzy Yang Kai down.

Yang Kai staggered slightly as he was struck by a feeling that was even stronger than the backlash of the Bloodlust Spell.

The Village Chief smiled and stretched out his hand to the side. The young boy, who had been keeping watch on the tree before, immediately took off the stone dagger around his waist and handed it to the Village Chief. Then, the Village Chief bent over and cut into the Barbarian Beast. It could be seen that he was very knowledgeable and skillful in this aspect and it did not take long for him to take out a round, fingernail-sized object from the body of the Barbarian Beast and hand it to Yang Kai, “Dissolve this with wine and drink it. You will become stronger after!”

Many of the villagers looked envious as their gazes were fixed on the round ball stained red with blood.

[Isn’t this a Monster Core? Moreover, it’s an extremely low-grade Monster Core.] Yang Kai accepted it as he realized the Ancient Barbarian Race consumed Monster Cores directly. This was reasonable as the Martial Dao wasn’t very well developed at this point in time, while Alchemy was essentially unheard of. How could they possibly refine pills or elixirs in such a state?

Although consuming Monster Cores directly could increase one’s strength, there were hidden dangers to doing so; after all, Monster Cores were the essence of Monster Beasts. Not only did it contain the Monster Beasts’ strength, but also their residual natures. Therefore, there was a high chance a person would have their mentality distorted by the wild nature of Monster Beasts if they consumed cores directly.

“This Barbarian Beast is your war trophy. Take it back with you. Eating its meat for a long time will also make you stronger,” the Village Chief said, pointing to the Barbarian Beast brought back by Yang Kai.

“En!” Yang Kai did not decline the offer. He had only been here for a day, so there was no time for him to get a better understanding of the ancient culture; but even so, he could tell from the straightforward attitudes of these villagers that they were all very sincere and simple people.

Yang Kai then paused for a moment before saying, “By the way, Village Chief, there are more than three hundred dead beasts in the valley where I killed this Barbarian Beast. Do you want to bring them back? If so, I can lead the way.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, many villagers looked overjoyed. The Village Chief replied, “Naturally, we cannot let any precious food source go to waste. Still, let’s wait for a few days so that everybody can get some rest. Everyone is still too tired.”

Ah Hu smiled and said, “Village Chief, Ah Niu is back now, and we also have enough food for the winter. Shouldn’t we celebrate today?”

His saliva nearly flowed out of his mouth as he spoke. Likewise, the other villagers stared at the Village Chief with eyes full of expectations even though none of them said anything.

“Do you only think about eating!?” The Village Chief raised his cane and smacked Ah Hu’s head lightly. Ah Hu didn’t evade and received the blow before rubbing his head with an embarrassed chuckle. He had a brazen expression on his face.

Seeing the looks on everyone’s faces, the Village Chief eventually relented, “Fine then. We shall feast today!”

All the villagers suddenly cheered aloud.