There are two types of Humanoids in the Beichen Empire.
One type can freely transform between beast form and human form. They are the Lowly People class of the Beichen Empire, allowed to enter Mulan City and live in the specially designated southern district.
The other type cannot switch back to a complete human form, like that Humanoid who remained half-human, half-horse until death. They belong to the slave class of the Beichen Empire.
Slaves on Guiyuan Star are not allowed to live inside Mulan City.
From birth, they are sent to Humanoid slave breeding centers outside the city.
Once grown, they are confined to plantations outside the city, strictly managed by the Beichen Empire, unable to leave the plantations for their entire lives.
So how did these Humanoid slaves leave the heavily guarded plantations and come to the Land of the Far North, part of the Exotic Beast Forest, a hundred thousand kilometers away from Mulan City?
With no grievances or animosity, why would they attack her Dark Night Hunter team? Xia Chujian had heard from her aunt that the Humanoids of Mulan City are very similar to animals in their habits, especially the Humanoid slaves outside the city. They do not actively attack humans unless their lives are threatened, in which case they will retaliate.
And even among Humanoids, only a small minority of Humanoid slaves will retaliate.
The vast majority of Humanoid slaves have long been domesticated to be little different from animals.
They have a natural fear of humans, and a weakness that makes them easy to capture.
Xia Chujian had never seen a Humanoid slave who would actively attack humans.
She pursed her lips, her finger tightening on the trigger, aiming at the pig-headed Humanoid.
Just then, through the scope of her sniper rifle, she saw the pig-headed Humanoid suddenly tilt his head, as if listening to something.
Xia Chujian then noticed that the pig-headed Humanoid seemed to have something like an earphone in his ear.
They are being controlled!
Xia Chujian immediately understood.
This was not a simple case of Humanoid slaves attacking humans, but humans behind the scenes driving these Humanoid slaves to attack their team! To be able to get Humanoid slaves from the plantations outside Mulan City, and bring them out to the Land of the Far North in the Exotic Beast Forest, a hundred thousand kilometers away, the person behind this must have considerable power...
Xia Chujian analyzed the situation, gradually feeling that something was not right.
Her finger tightened even more on the trigger.
The pig-headed Humanoid had a bow on his back, and a quiver hanging from the grass rope around his waist, containing several arrows.
As soon as the pig-headed Humanoid drew an arrow and raised his bow, she would act.
With the power of her Judicator No. 7 Sniper Rifle, she could wipe out this pig-headed Humanoid with only ordinary bows and arrows in a matter of minutes.
But just as Xia Chujian's killing intent grew stronger, the pig-headed Humanoid seemed to sense something and looked in Xia Chujian's direction.
His movements froze for a moment.
In that critical moment, a puppy entered Xia Chujian's scope.
It was the same puppy Xia Chujian had seen a few days ago, appearing next to the pig-headed Humanoid!
The pig-headed Humanoid looked down at it, and then his expression changed drastically.
He plopped down on the ground, holding the puppy tightly in his arms with one hand, and with the other hand, he took out something from his ear, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it a few times. Then, he put his hands together, raised them upwards, and bowed towards Xia Chujian's direction.
It was a complete gesture of begging for mercy and surrendering.
Did he realize he was being targeted by a sniper rifle? That's quite the intuition.
And he even knows to protect the puppy.
Xia Chujian did not relax her vigilance because of this.
She remained in her aiming position, staring unblinkingly through the scope of her sniper rifle, waiting for Ye Shijie and the others to retreat back.
She would not give up aiming until she saw them.
Sure enough, not long after, another tall, horse-bodied Humanoid appeared.
This one was female.
Her long hair flowed, and she wore a very tight leather jacket on her upper body, while her lower body was a strong horse body.
She came running from the snowy wilderness, leaving clear hoof prints in the snow.
As soon as she reached behind the pig-headed Humanoid, she suddenly raised her upper body, her two front hooves also raised high.
Then, with a *BOOM*, it descended, aiming to stomp heavily on the pig-headed Humanoid! This horse-bodied Humanoid was estimated to be at least two meters tall, with a horse's body from the waist down, even more formidable than a real horse.
If she landed that hoof, the pig-headed Humanoid would definitely be crushed! The pig-headed Humanoid was one thing, but the little dog protected beneath him would surely not survive either.
Xia Chujian pursed her lips. She wouldn't save the pig-headed Humanoid, but she felt a strange pity for the little dog.
In that instant, her reason told her not to interfere, but her finger, disobedient, had already pulled the trigger!
Kacha!
The Judicator No. 7 Sniper Rifle ejected a spent cartridge, and an armor-piercing sniper bullet silently shot out, like the Grim Reaper descending, reaping life.
Before the tall horse-bodied female Humanoid could bring down her hoof, Xia Chujian's sniper bullet had already pierced her heart, directly blasting her upper body into a cloud of blood mist! The kinetic energy of the sniper bullet was so immense that it sent the horse-bodied Humanoid crashing away with a *BOOM*, her four horse legs sliding backward several meters before she collapsed with a thud.
The pig-headed Humanoid covered his head and lay on the ground, even more terrified, shrinking into a ball and trembling all over.
After a while, feeling no movement, he cautiously peeked backward, still covering his head.
It was a bizarre scene.
Lying on the ground, it was impossible to tell if it was a horse or a person.
Because the upper body of the creature was gone, only the horse's body and four horse legs were visible, along with gushing blood, staining the surrounding snow red.
The pig-headed Humanoid stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly turned his head, looking in Xia Chujian's direction.
He seemed to understand something.
Resolutely, he pulled something from his ragged sack-like clothing, then took an arrow from the quiver on his waist, and tied the object to the arrow.
Then, standing up, he held the shivering little dog in one hand, and raised the arrow in the other, staggering towards Xia Chujian's direction.
Only then did Xia Chujian see clearly.
The pig-headed Humanoid had tied what appeared to be a piece of cloth to the arrow.
It was probably white many years ago, but the color now was better left unsaid.
But judging by the posture, he was raising a white flag, wanting to surrender.
He had already prostrated himself on the ground begging for mercy, and now this...
Should she trust him, or not?
As Xia Chujian hesitated, Ye Shijie suddenly jumped out of the woods, aiming his assault rifle at the pig-headed Humanoid.
With the contrast between the two, Xia Chujian realized that the pig-headed Humanoid was actually not very tall.
Ye Shijie standing in front of him, the pig-headed Humanoid only reached Ye Shijie's chest, about one meter forty-five in height.
Compared to the two-meter-tall horse-bodied Humanoid, this pig-headed Humanoid looked like a child... a little pig child.
Previously, Xia Chujian could only see everything here through the scope, unable to hear any sound.
But now that Ye Shijie was speaking, she could hear him.
Because Ye Shijie had the communication equipment used by their team.
Ye Shijie was saying, "Stop, one more step and I'll shoot."
The pig-headed Humanoid hurriedly put down the little dog, bent his knees, and knelt down, still holding the white flag in a gesture of surrender, his voice trembling as he said, "San Zong, San Zong, San Zong... San Zong was forced... San Zong doesn't want to kill... Please, sir, save San Zong!"
Ye Shijie: "..."
Xia Chujian: "..."
Li Fu, Song Mingqian, and Ping Qiong, who had just emerged from behind the woods, were also speechless.
Li Fu asked curiously, "San... Zong? Your name? Which characters? Write them out and let's see."
The pig-headed Humanoid nodded, knelt on the ground, and used his finger to draw three ones in the snow, arranged from top to bottom.
Then, next to the "three," he drew three vertical lines, and said embarrassedly, "I am San Zong, the 'three' of one, two, three, and the 'zong' of pig bristles. That 'zong' character is too difficult to write, I can't write it."
So those three vertical lines were meant to represent three pig bristles? What was that all about!
Unlike Xia Chujian, Ye Shijie had interacted with Humanoids before, but the Humanoids they had encountered were all very fierce, the kind that could slap a normal human to death with one hand.
They had rarely seen such a cowardly and timid pig-headed Humanoid.
But Ye Shijie was not so easily convinced.
He still pointed his gun at this pig-headed Humanoid, and said coldly, "Tell me exactly what's going on, and speak clearly. If you dare to lie to us, we'll wipe you out in minutes!"
San Zong shook his head frantically: "No, no! I wouldn't dare!"
"San Zong farms in the plantation south of Mulan City! San Zong likes farming! San Zong wants to farm! San Zong doesn't want to fight!"
"It was that human who tricked San Zong! He said he would bring San Zong to the Exotic Beast Forest to find seeds, but after arriving, he turned hostile! If San Zong doesn't help him kill humans, he won't take San Zong back, and he wants San Zong's life!"
Li Fu leaned against a big tree and sneered, "Then why didn't you kill them? Otherwise, you wouldn't survive!"
San Zong's pig face wrinkled into a ball, and he waved the white flag, muttering, "...But, San Zong can't bring himself to do it... and..."
He glanced in Xia Chujian's direction again, and said, "That sir saved San Zong's life... San Zong wanted to surrender anyway, sir, don't kill San Zong! San Zong can do a lot of work! Sir doesn't need to give San Zong food, San Zong can help sir find food! There are many, many good things here! San Zong can smell them!"
Ye Shijie was originally dismissive and wanted to end this pig-headed Humanoid with one shot.
Because he was a very cautious person.
In this kind of place, who knows if this pig-headed Humanoid is genuinely good, or just pretending?
He couldn't afford to gamble, didn't want to gamble, and didn't need to gamble.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Xia Chujian suddenly said in the team channel, "Ask him, what good things can he smell?"
Ye Shijie's eyes flickered slightly, as if he understood Xia Chujian's meaning.
He looked at the pig-headed Humanoid and asked indifferently, "What can you smell?"
This pig-headed Humanoid, who called himself "San Zong," perked up, took a deep breath, twitched his pig nose, closed his eyes, and said, "In the northwest direction, there is a Purple Orchid Bodhi Grass, about five thousand years old, that can move freely."
"In the southeast direction, there are wild Extreme Cold Rice Seeds, which grow specifically in very cold places..."
He sighed, "I came to find this kind of rice seed, but even if I find it, I can't go back... It's too far..."
...
During the new book period, I continue to nag, asking for collections, Hongxiu votes, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, book lists, and spreading the word. (#^.^#
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