CHAPTER 474: CHAPTER 311: HUNTING DEMON BEAST_2

Among the twelve guards, two were injured, but none were seriously hurt. After the monkey beast was killed, Yan Xiaobao began dissecting it, cooking some of the meat while drying other parts. The hide was treated and cleaned, and the bones ended up stored in Yan Xiaobao’s storage stone.

The guards and the Yang Family members were deeply shocked by Yan Xiaobao’s expertise in dismantling such a large creature. They finally began to grasp the stark difference between mercenaries and household guards.

The night was spent in the cave, with Yan Xiaobao and Xu Biao staying awake all night. Neither of them needed sleep, as both had activated specific meridians. Yet nothing approached the campsite or the fire they had set up.

Feeling somewhat secure, the pale-haired boy couldn’t help but wonder if he was truly safe. Was it simply that Scarface hadn’t deliberately followed them, or had he failed to catch up?

In the dark tunnels, there was no distinction between day and night—everything was enveloped in darkness. Rest was taken whenever the opportunity arose. After a few hours, Yan Xiaobao woke up the entire team.

Sha Yun sat down and merged with the earth, her tail transforming into stone. The stone continued enveloping her body until it reached her embrace, where it seemed satisfied to merge with only a third of her form.

Moments later, Sha Yun’s eyes opened, her body returning to flesh and blood. Her eyes sparkled as she conveyed her findings to Yan Xiaobao.

"Alright, everyone. If we keep moving like this, we’ll remain parallel to the paths illuminated by light stones. Let’s keep going."

As they traversed the dark tunnels, it wasn’t long before the party encountered demonic beasts. Sometimes, they stumbled upon territories belonging to certain beast groups, and other times it was a rogue demon beast that crossed their path.

Yan Xiaobao’s approach to dealing with these demons was straightforward. He commanded all his companions to stand back and instructed the guards to fight them.

He did this for several reasons, but the main purpose was to train the guards. These guards had never killed anything before—not a person, let alone a demon beast. Everything they had learned came from training sessions within the cave, making their skills suited for training rather than actual combat.

One more day in the dark tunnels passed, and the guards began to harden. Their previous innocent views of the tunnels changed as they now understood the sheer effort required to traverse the unlit sections.

Had they chosen the lit paths, the party could have progressed through the tunnel system much faster. However, by sticking to the dark areas, everyone—even the young master and his two servants—gained a fuller understanding of how serious the world was. The strong survive; the weak do not.

Though it was the guards who killed the demonic beasts, they split the demon cores among themselves. The rest, however, all belonged to Yan Xiaobao, as he provided them with warm meals each day and dried meat as desired.

When they entered the tunnels, their team consisted of twelve guards, six mercenaries, a noble young master, and his two servants. Midway through the journey, the guards had transformed into fully-fledged mercenaries. No longer did they hesitate to deliver the killing blow, nor did they feel nauseous at the sight of blood.

"I don’t think he’s here following us," Xu Biao remarked, gazing at the guards cleaning their weapons after battling a pack of savage blood rats. Despite being called rats, the creatures had little in common with their namesakes. Unlike ordinary rats, they stood one and a half meters tall, with sharp, jagged teeth that could effortlessly tear apart anything they encountered. Their fur was black and sleek, rendering them invisible in the dark tunnels, and their two-meter-long tails were often used to pin down their targets.

Though the guards managed to defeat the entire pack, injuries were still sustained, prompting the caravan to decide on a short rest. By now, everyone had completely lost track of time; their resting periods never exceeded a few hours before they resumed their advance through the black tunnels.

"Should I open a path to the lit roads?" Sha Yun asked curiously, watching the guards busy tending to the injured and Wang Julong treating those with multiple scratches.

Sha Yun knew Yan Xiaobao well. He hadn’t just chosen this path to avoid being tracked down by Scarface; he had also selected it to toughen the guards. Now, looking at the guards, no one would believe they were the same people who had entered the tunnels with them. Everything about them had changed. Yan Xiaobao’s goal had been achieved.

Upon hearing her question, the pale-haired youth shook his head. Though one of his objectives had been fulfilled, he still hadn’t figured out how to deal with Scarface. As such, he didn’t feel comfortable entering the lit tunnels—they were still far too dangerous.

Yan Xiaobao knew that if Scarface passed through the tunnels, it was likely he did so effortlessly, waiting in the next cave for them to appear. Even this scenario would be better than encountering the cold-blooded killer within the current cave. Much better.

What Yan Xiaobao didn’t know was that the tunnel systems between caves were guarded by the Dragon Army. As they set up tables to demand entrance fees from all who wished to enter or exit the tunnels, they also patrolled the illuminated paths to ensure peace and eliminate any demon beasts that occasionally wandered into the lit areas.