"Didn't I tell you to stay in the carriage with them?" the captain spoke toward Mi Lan.
She was in a bad state. Although she wasn't physically injured, her partner, Shan Yu, had his stomach torn open, his intestines spilling out, and he collapsed dead.
"We went out to provide support, but what did you do? You left us in the middle and went to retrieve some deaf stranger! Does this outsider mean more to you than your entire squad?" Mi Lan spoke angrily, no longer caring about the matter—her fate was sealed anyway.
The captain did not respond to her. He understood her feelings—she had lost her partner, which meant her life would change, and all the opportunities she had been waiting for in the future had now vanished.
Besides, he knew that even if they had stayed in the carriage, both of them would have been easily killed by Liu Jian.
In fact, they themselves had realized that, which was why they left the carriage. Since their target was Hinako and Kogan, the one coming to take them would undoubtedly be the strongest. What was the point of facing him for a single second only to die?
Besides, they truly wanted to get rid of them. If there was no reward for looking after them, why would they bother? There was no such thing as free work.
And after they left, they wanted to hide and distance themselves from the area. They had no intention of fighting for nothing. But the group that attacked them wasn't only after Kogan and Hinako—that was merely their leader Liu Jian's goal. The rest wanted to take the essence from them.
The essence was everything.
********
"We just need to hold out until they're taken away," Shan Yu whispered.
They moved toward the forest, seeking refuge among the trees. But before they could reach it, a young girl appeared before them—she hadn't even reached her mid-twenties yet. The upper part of her black hair was tied back, while the rest fell loosely around her neck. She wore a black outfit designed for movement and combat.
"Mi Lan, get out of here!" Shan Yu raised his hand and pushed Mi Lan back, his focus locked onto the girl in front of him.
"They're in the carriage over there, you can take them," Mi Lan gestured toward the carriage's direction. She couldn't see it from this distance due to the pitch-black darkness.
The girl grabbed a sword and lunged at them with force, without a word.
Shan Yu gasped, raising his dagger to block her strike.
At that very moment, he screamed in pain, clutching his severed hand as bright red blood sprayed from his wrist like a fountain.
"Shan Yu!" Mi Lan screamed in terror, gripping her small dagger with trembling hands.
She had never fought anyone seriously in her life—her work had always been smooth and relatively safe.
"Mi Lan, run! You'll die!" Shan Yu shouted in fury as he stood up, clutching his dagger.
"N-No... Impossible. I won't leave you here!" she trembled in fear.
He turned toward her with lifeless eyes, his face pale.
Seeing him in that state, she hesitated. But she forced herself to move, steeling her resolve as she started running in the opposite direction, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Hmph."
The girl pulled out a gleaming silver blade—sharp, pointed, and curved like a crescent moon. She tilted her hand back before hurling it forward in a swift, horizontal motion.
The blade whirled through the air at high speed, forming a perfect arc. Just as it was about to cleave Mi Lan's back in two, Shan Yu threw himself in front of it, trying to stop it with his dagger using every ounce of his strength.
But it wasn't enough. His dagger shattered, and the blade pierced his stomach, sending his intestines flying through the air.
"Agh..." He collapsed to the ground, drowning in his own blood.
Blocking that strike in his condition was nothing short of impressive. Even more so, the blade didn't pass through his body—it remained lodged in the center of his stomach.
Had the blade gone through him and reached Mi Lan, it would have been a disgrace to him.
The young girl arrived before him, extended her hand to retrieve the blade, wiped it on his clothes, then returned it to her waist.
"Hehe." The girl smiled at Shan Yu's corpse.
His eyes had lost their shine, and his jaw went slack.
She didn't extract any essence from him—he had used everything he had in the last moment, refining it into his abdominal muscles to lessen the blade's impact.
She didn't chase after Mi Lan, assuming she either had very little essence or none at all. Killing her would be a waste of time.
The moment she appeared before them, Shan Yu knew she was stronger than both of them. She hadn't reached the first rank yet, but in the entire squad, only the captain could defeat her—perhaps one or two others could fight her on equal footing.
The girl left immediately after Liu Jian contacted her, informing her that he had obtained them.
***********
The squad gathered together; there were no wounded, only the dead.
They recovered four goats that had fled in fear of the battle.
They lit a fire to illuminate the area around them.
Six dead horses, either beheaded or sliced in half.
Half-destroyed wagons, almost unusable.
The captain placed Kogan on the ground and advanced toward the least damaged wagon.
Its roof and sides were shattered, and the rear wheels were broken.
He placed his hand on the first broken wheel, and a bright white light shone. The wood began to expand and reconnect.
After a few minutes, the wheel was restored to its original shape.
He continued repairing the rest of the parts until the wagon was fully restored.
The entire process took about half an hour and consumed a significant amount of essence.
Sweat dripped down the captain's face—restoring the other wagons would take too much time and effort. That's why he chose to repair the least damaged one to conserve both energy and essence.
They secured the wagon with two goats.
Kogan opened his eyes, and upon seeing the scene, his face turned pale.
He stood up in a panic and began screaming, but the captain grabbed his hand.
"Calm down," he gestured with his hand.
Kogan stopped his frantic movements.
"Those who cannot walk, get on the wagon. You will switch places periodically."
After hearing the captain's order, the expressionless Mi Lan, Kogan, and four others boarded the wagon, while two more climbed onto its roof.
Some mounted the remaining goats, and they set off back toward the city.
They secured torches atop the wagon to better illuminate their surroundings.
Since they had already been attacked and it was over, there was no point in continuing to hide. Even if their enemies wanted to strike again, they would easily locate them—with or without torches.
They left their comrades' bodies behind, planning to return for them later.
Along the way, no one was in the mood to talk. A suffocating black shroud enveloped them.
And one thought kept circling in their minds—how did they know they had brought Transmigrators from another world?
Even if they assumed there was a traitor among them, how did the enemy attack so quickly?
On the first night they found them, only six people knew the truth.
Three of them were already dead. The remaining three were Mi Lan, the captain, and the captain's partner—completely beyond suspicion.
If the traitor was someone else, that would mean they leaked the information after the group's departure, as that was when everyone learned about it.
So how did the enemy arrive so fast and set up a flawless ambush?
They had no answer.