Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Death of the Old Village Chief
“No! Father! You can’t die! What am I supposed to do if you die? Father!”
At this moment, the old village chief lay on the ground, a white arrow piercing his chest, glaringly conspicuous.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
“What about the chief’s son? We can’t hold on much longer!”
A short distance ahead, several young villagers pressed their bodies against the wooden door, struggling to keep the monsters from breaking in.
But the door shuddered more violently with each passing second.
Everyone knew that if the door fell, the entire village would be doomed.
“My son, I’m sorry... After I’m gone, you must...”
Now, the old chief’s face was calm, as if he had long foreseen this moment.
Soft sobs escaped his son’s lips, though he uttered no words; his grief was plain for all to see.
“Cough, cough, cough...”
“My son, protect... protect the village! Take care of our people! Cough... cough!”
“And... find a wife, have some children... let our family continue...”
The old chief’s voice broke, his words coming in fragments as he felt his life ebbing away.
“Regret... Why did I... join the Human Kingdom...?”
Regret consumed the old chief. Had he not made those decisions, his village would not have been driven to this desperate end.
“I...”
His hand, just raised, slowly dropped to the ground.
“Father!!!”
His son’s cry tore through the air.
“Protect the village... Protect the village... If it weren’t for these monsters... Father, he wouldn’t have died, he wouldn’t!”
Memories of his time with his father and the pain of his loss filled the chief’s son with a rising, powerful force.
“He won’t die! He won’t!”
“Monsters!!!”
It was as if everyone present heard a thunderous boom.
The chief’s son felt a surge of clarity, his body brimming with newfound strength.
His warrior rank rose from “Novice” to “Apprentice.”
“Is this... a skill?”
The chief’s simple-minded son realized he could now use a skill called “Triple Strength.”
By unleashing this skill, he would gain the combined power of three of himself.
“Monsters, I will make you pay for my father’s life!”
Overwhelmed by his newfound strength, the chief’s son charged straight ahead!
He felled three zombies in a row!
Then, an arrow from a skeleton struck him!
He wrenched the arrow from his body with a fierce tug!
Two more arrows struck him!
He fell!
He stood up!
He activated Triple Strength!
He used Triple Strength to slay another zombie!
Four zombies ganged up on him!
He withstood the assault for five seconds!
He collapsed!
In just half a minute, this newly minted apprentice warrior failed in his challenge against the monsters!
“Is this really the end? No! Impossible! I have to... ah!”
Spurred by emotion, he felt his strength return and was about to rise when three more zombies clawed his back.
A wave of excruciating pain robbed him of all movement.
“Is this really the end...?” he thought in despair and fury.
He had not yet fulfilled his father’s last wish: to protect the village and its people...
“Roar! Roar!”
The zombies could not sense his thoughts, but the thick scent of blood on him drove their decayed minds wild.
The zombies grew excited!
“Aaargh!”
They rushed him, and he closed his eyes, awaiting death.
But death did not come.
“Aaah! Aaah!”
As the agonized wails of zombies echoed, he opened his eyes again and witnessed a scene he would never forget.
Two warriors clad in iron armor, wielding sword and axe, were slaughtering the monsters—there was no other word for it. They cut through them with the ease of butchers at the slaughterhouse.
He was utterly stunned.
“Lin Ye, you handle the zombies; I’ll take the skeletons.”
After many battles together, Mo Fangyuan and Lin Ye had developed a silent understanding; with a simple glance, Lin Ye knew what his target was.
Excluding those the villagers and the chief’s son had killed, thirteen monsters remained.
Seven zombies, six skeletons.
Not a daunting number for Mo Fangyuan and Lin Ye.
As long as they could get close to the skeleton archers, the rest was straightforward—just a matter of smashing the skeletons’ fragile bones.
Mo Fangyuan used his fishing rod for a burst of movement, closing in on the skeletons, and in a flash, he hacked them to pieces.
“The axe—forever the king!”
Lin Ye’s side of the battle was resolved just as quickly.
“Not bad, impressive!” Mo Fangyuan watched Lin Ye fight and realized just how formidable Lin Ye was—dodging the zombies’ attacks with swift agility and circling behind them to crack open their skulls.
Each zombie was dispatched in less than thirty seconds.
“If I fought Lin Ye off guard, he could beat me!”
Little did Mo Fangyuan know, Lin Ye had been hiding his true strength all along. Now, the reason for unleashing his full power was clear.
Dawn broke...
All the monsters had been cleared out, but the village lay in ruins. Decades of accumulated wealth were lost in this single assault.
In one night, they were returned to nothing.
The villagers gathered in the last remaining stone house, despair hanging heavy in the air.
The chief’s son knelt beside his father.
His eyes were swollen, tear tracks streaked his cheeks, but he could shed no more tears.
From the villagers, Mo Fangyuan learned that the man kneeling by the old chief’s body was his son—the village’s only warrior—named Iron Nose...
Just yesterday, Iron Nose had broken through his limits and become an apprentice-level warrior.
“Sigh, my condolences...”
Lin Ye was racked with guilt. The old chief, covering the villagers’ retreat, had been struck by two arrows from the skeletons and had not survived.
He was the only blockman in the village to fall, but his sacrifice was not in vain; his life protected the rest of the villagers.
Mo Fangyuan said nothing, his fists clenched tight.
These damned monsters!
After a moment, he seemed to come to terms with something and let out a heavy sigh.
“Alas!”
“Friends, I feel deeply sorry for what has happened... But I am the King of the Block Kingdom! Now, I invite you to join the Block Kingdom!”
There was no need for empty words now; Mo Fangyuan had no intention of deceiving these poor villagers.
“If you wish to come to the Block Kingdom, gather your things and join me. On the road, I can protect you—in the name of the sun... If you choose not to come, I’ll provide food, clothing, tools, and a map...”
“Iron Nose, don’t be too sorrowful... Your father will always live in our hearts, he will become one with the sun, watching over you always...”
Lin Ye could not bring himself to confess that he could have arrived at the village earlier that night.
The old chief was gone; if he spoke the truth, Iron Nose might not be able to bear it, and neither could he.
“Come, Iron Nose, join us. Come to the Block Kingdom—there you can better fulfill your father’s last wish and protect many more people...”
Lin Ye’s features were gentle, his voice warm and magnetic, reminiscent of a caring elder sister from next door...
Sunlight poured through a crack in the stone roof, casting a gentle glow on the old chief’s body.
Gradually, his form began to fade, dissolving at last into countless shimmering fragments that returned to the embrace of the sun.
On the ground, only a softly glowing, crystalline experience orb remained...
Lin Ye placed the orb in a glass vial, then handed it to Iron Nose.
Iron Nose clutched the half-finished enchanted bottle tightly.
A flicker of emotion passed through his otherwise lifeless eyes.
“Alas!”
Another heavy sigh.
Mo Fangyuan left the stone house and walked into the morning light.