The four of them were initially cautious, but the closer they got to Tian Lin and his group, the bolder they became, and their steps quickened.

    Tian Lin didn''t wait for the man with the knife to raise his weapon; he yanked the vine in his hand, where he had previously inscribed an array.

    In an instant, several claps of thunder exploded under the feet of the man with the knife and his companions.

    ''Boom!'' the thunder roared, accompanied by a spray of dust, as the knife-wielding men were blasted into the air.

    Before their bodies could hit the ground, a flurry of falling leaves released tribulation thunder, crackling and striking the knife-wielding men.

    After several rounds of bombardment, the four Qi Refiners, upon landing, were already missing limbs.

    Unfortunately, Tian Lin had set up the array too hastily and couldn''t form a continuous grand array.

    Moreover, without the engraving array stone, and merely relying on the Nascent Soul blood of the Rain Listener, such an array couldn''t be sustained for long.

    So after a barrage of fierce attacks, the array ultimately collapsed.

    "Kill them!"

    At this moment, Lang Guan stood up, wielding a knife as he charged at the man with the knife.

    In truth, the man with the knife was stronger than Lang Guan, but after being injured by the array, his left leg was now shorter, and the hand holding the knife was a bloody mess.

    He glared with one eye, staring fiercely at Lang Guan, filled with unwillingness.

    Lang Guan raised his knife, slashing off the man''s head, recreating the scene of the Third Leader''s death. After all, the Third Leader was killed by this knife-wielding man, his neck sliced.

    While Lang Guan dealt with the man, Tian Lin, the Second Leader, and the Rain Listener were not idle either.

    They each took a dagger or a knife.

    Each found a Qi Refiner on the ground, and before they could sit up, they stabbed or chopped, desperately making sure to finish them off.

    Only the Rain Listener was the weakest; he had chosen the female Qi Refiner. But since she was a Qi Refiner, she had long overcome the inherent weakness of her gender.

    Thus, the Rain Listener couldn''t kill the female Qi Refiner for a moment, and was instead slashed on the shoulder by her sword.

    Lang Guan, having killed the knife-wielding man, came over and chopped off the arm of the female Qi Refiner holding the sword. When she cried out in pain, realizing she couldn''t resist, she hastily pleaded for mercy:

    "Spare my life, my lord, I am willing to be your sword holder!"

    Lang Guan cursed, "Spare your life? Then give me back my brother''s life!"

    As soon as his words fell, the female Qi Refiner lay on the ground, her enlarged eyes rolling a few times on the ground.

    The smell of blood drifted in the wind, and looking at the devastation all around, Lang Guan couldn''t tell if he was excited or sad.

    While they were fighting, the Fourth Leader had already breathed his last.

    Because Tian Lin was unsure if they could win the upcoming battles, he didn''t use his True Qi on the Fourth Leader.

    Besides, no one knew if Tian Lin''s Revitalization Skill could save the Fourth Leader, even if they knew it could. Whether to ''waste'' True Qi to use on the Fourth Leader instead of fighting was a matter of debate.

    "Old Third, Old Fourth, we have avenged you!"

    Lang Guan said, but then his expression changed suddenly.

    Standing to his far left, Tian Lin, at this moment, grabbed the Rain Listener and began retreating to the side.

    Vines, like long snakes, rapidly emerged from the mountainside above.

    As Tian Lin dodged to the side, these vines wrapped around the corpses at Tian Lin''s feet, pulling them towards the mountainside.

    "These tree demons smell blood; they''re here to snatch the food."

    Tian Lin said to the Second Leader and Lang Guan, "We don''t need to stop them."

    Seeing several corpses about to be taken away, one vine wrapped around the man with the knife''s head to leave, Lang Guan chopped off the vine with his knife, retrieving the head.

    After being severed, the vine didn''t fight with Lang Guan.

    After all, this place was too far from its main body, and once the tree demon''s attack failed, it wouldn''t linger.

    On Tian Lin''s side, he also protected the Fourth Leader''s corpse.

    The vines came quickly and left just as swiftly, leaving only a pile of blood on the ground. The entrails of those bodies were all taken away by the vines.

    "The Fourth Leader''s body will be cremated tonight, but for now, while it''s still daylight, let''s gather those mortals!"

    After grieving, Lang Guan made arrangements.

    Holding the man-with-the-knife''s head, he led the charge towards the previously unconscious mortals.

    To everyone''s relief, while those mortals were in a deep sleep, utterly defenseless,

    luckily, they hadn''t attracted the attention of the tree demons on the mountainside, and thus remained unharmed.

    The poison powder the Fourth Leader used in the waterhole was not lethal, but its ability to render people unconscious was exceptionally strong.

    The chaotic battle earlier had been overwhelmingly loud.

    Yet, not only had it failed to wake the mortals, but even when the Rain Listener kicked them or whipped them, he couldn''t bring those in a deep slumber to wake.

    "This place is indeed a bit dangerous; let''s gather some food and take them to the mountain base!"

    After Lang Guan spoke, Tian Lin and the Second Leader went to gather food.

    From a small cart, they found two bags of food.

    The two bags seemed like a lot, but it wasn''t enough to last these over twenty people for a few days.

    What was frustrating was that even though this mountain was full of trees, these trees were poisonous, and the fruit they bore was inedible.

    So, if they wanted these mortals to help mine, they must solve the issue of their food supply.

    Plus, since they''re doing physical labor, they can''t skimp on rations.

    "Haha, there''s meat in this bag!"

    On another cart, the Rain Listener pulled out some clothes and found jerky inside a burlap sack beneath them.

    But his laughter soon stopped, and he said to Tian Lin and the others looking at him, "Damn it, these beasts, this is dried human meat."

    It was hard to tell the origin of the dried meat, but with a child''s dismembered hand within, how could the Rain Listener not realize this meat was stripped from humans?

    "Throw the meat away!"

    As soon as Tian Lin spoke, the Second Leader countered, "The meat can''t be thrown away."

    The Rain Listener added, "We don''t eat human meat, but we can use it to feed these mortals. That way, it solves the problem of feeding them from now on."

    Tian Lin frowned slightly, the Second Leader consoled him, "These mortals have probably eaten quite a bit of their own kind to survive this long; they''re accustomed to it and don''t care about the meat''s origin; sea??h thё N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Besides, if we''re giving them meat, they''ll only be grateful and not hate us."

    It had to be said, the Second Leader made a valid point.

    If we don''t feed them, these mortals will eventually starve to death. Between two evils, choose the lesser?

    Moreover, they would still rely on these mortals for mining. How could they make them work on empty stomachs?

    "We''ll keep the food for ourselves and the meat for them. Once we''ve survived this period and obtained Spirit Stones, our lives will get better from then on."

    Lang Guan decided decisively, and thus when Tian Lin and the others took the food and the mortals down the mountain, they also brought along the bag of dried meat.