Chapter 12 The Truth

Deep Rock City was not a city built on a plain. It was carved out along a mountainside, with staggered terrain and several fissures dividing the urban area, connected by bridges.

Beneath one bridge was a narrow, long rift, six or seven meters deep, with an artificially carved sewage river at the bottom. On the adjacent rock wall, there were several dark, black caves. From the bridge, one could only see the entrances at an angle, with no view of the interior.

At this moment, one of the caves was overcrowded. The captured craftsmen and hunters had been moved here by Cole and others, crammed into the not-so-spacious cave, daring only to speak in near-whispers.

"These caves are where filthy creatures gather. The entrance is right next to the sewage river, the stench is overwhelming, and sewage overflows from time to time. Even the poorest paupers are unwilling to live here. Unless someone specifically knows about them, outsiders wouldn't know these caves exist, and we can't be seen from the bridge unless those bandits jump down and wade through the river. They can't easily find us."

Weber explained the benefits of the hiding place in a low voice, sitting casually on the extremely greasy ground, which had been soaked in sewage for a long time, seemingly oblivious to the pervasive stench.

"Good thing we have you locals to show us the way." Cole flicked away a small rat without changing his expression.

Having experienced too many harsh environments while hunting in the wild, the hunters present completely ignored the dirt and stench here.

The craftsmen didn't have such resilience. Some of them gagged from the smell from time to time, but they were afraid of making too much noise and could only desperately suppress it, feeling the slippery, greasy ground beneath their buttocks, feeling unclean.

"I wonder if Jess can find us. I left him subtle special codes in the bunker. I hope he can understand them."

Cole spoke softly to his companions.

Weber's curiosity was piqued, and he interjected in a low voice, "The hunter who went out to scout is called Jess? Does he have a surname?"

"He doesn't have a surname, why?" Cole turned his head.

"Nothing... Is it okay for him to scout alone? How many enhancements has he undergone?"

"Don't worry, he's a three-time enhancement, and an elite among that level. He's strong. Those bandits can't catch him." Cole smiled.

"...If I remember correctly, a regular hunting squad of your Empire Hunters usually doesn't have two three-time enhancement hunters. Three-time enhancement hunters are usually team leaders," Weber said, puzzled.

On the way to the transfer location, Cole and others had revealed their identities as Empire Hunters from the headquarters to reassure everyone.

Weber was a free hunter. In his many years of career, he knew many dispatched Empire Hunters, and he also knew the composition of the Empire Hunter teams. At this time, he couldn't help but wonder about the unusual structure of this squad.

"Jess joined the Empire Hunters not long ago and is still learning the Empire Hunters' hunting methods, so he doesn't lead a team yet. But he's learning quickly. This time we're out hunting a Deadly-class Exotic Beast. After we return to the capital, Jess will lead a team independently," Cole explained in a low voice.

"Joined not long ago? Learning quickly?" Weber subconsciously grasped the two words he cared about and couldn't help but ask, "Where is that Jess from?"

Cole said the name of a small village Weber didn't recognize, and suddenly reacted, his tone suspicious, "Why are you asking so much?"

"I just think he looks a little familiar. Maybe we hunted together before."

Weber made up a reason, but he became more and more puzzled, feeling that this person sounded more and more like Jason.

Could this person be Jason in disguise? Weber couldn't help but have this bold guess, but he denied it to himself the next second.

Jason was completely dead. His chin was gone. He saw it with his own eyes. How could it be fake?

The dead cannot be resurrected. This is common sense that even the uncultured Earth Bones know. He was thinking too absurdly.

"Stop talking!" Just then, the leader of the hunter squad suddenly changed his face and quickly shushed everyone to be quiet.

The dark cave suddenly became silent, with only the deliberately lowered breathing and the sound of the slowly flowing sewage river outside the cave.

In the tense atmosphere, a few seconds passed, and Zhou Jing suddenly flipped in from above the cave and landed on the ground.

"It's me!"

He was carrying Lynn, looking for his teammates. Knowing that his companions would definitely leave some codes, he searched the bunker and found the information Cole had carved in the squad's secret language, and then he found his way here.

Cole and the others felt relieved when they heard the familiar voice.

"What's the situation?" The squad leader asked quickly.

"I fought with those bandits and killed six more of them. The strongest is only Dotton, a three-time enhancement. Now there are still more than twenty bandits, basically grouped together. They should be searching for your location."

Zhou Jing briefly explained and put down Lynn on his back.

Cole noticed the person he brought, "Who is this person? Is he a bandit you caught?"

"No, this person is a civilian who was frightened by the bandits. Let's settle him here and protect him together." Zhou Jing didn't reveal Lynn's wizard abilities.

Cole and the others nodded, having no objections. There were so many people anyway, and since they had saved him along the way, it didn't matter if there was one more.

"There are still more than twenty people. What are you going to do? Can we handle it together?" The squad leader asked Zhou Jing for his opinion.

"Don't worry, their strength is average. I can kill them all by myself. They can't surround me at all." Zhou Jing pondered, "How about this? You continue to protect these people to avoid accidents and wait for me here. I'll go kill them all."

Can you do it alone... The hunter captain was a little skeptical, but he still nodded.

"I'll go with you. It's fine with the captain here. It's okay if I'm missing. I can watch your back." Cole suggested.

"Then come with me." Zhou Jing thought for a while and didn't refuse.

Having someone to hold Dotton would allow him to start slaughtering enemies quickly, and he could take down the enemies in no time.

Although Cole was only a two-time enhancement, he was still an elite, barely able to entangle Dotton for a while. After all, Dotton was only at the normal level among the three-time enhancements, not as strong as Zhou Jing.

The best candidate was actually the squad leader, but it was also important to stay here to prevent accidents. He was afraid that he would miss Dotton and the others, and the enemies would head straight here. At least the squad leader could stall for a while. He had enough help over there, and he didn't need too much help.

...

More than twenty bandits were searching street by street under Dotton's leadership, not even daring to make too much noise, for fear of being noticed from afar and avoiding them.

However, they searched many streets without success. The captives were not hiding nearby at all. He didn't know where they had gone.

"If it hadn't been for that person holding us back, how could these captives have run so far!"

Dotton had a gloomy face.

A strong man had suddenly appeared, not only killing several of his brothers, but also letting his cooked duck fly away. Dotton's mood now was like having years of constipation—his stomach was full of anger.

"Boss, we can't find anyone. Why don't we just grab something and retreat!"

"That's right. That person was too powerful. If he attacks again, people will die!"

"Call it a day, boss!"

Unlike Dotton, the other accomplices had already begun to play the retreat. They were unwilling to continue looking for people and wanted to run away with the stolen goods.

Especially the bandits who had just undergone their first enhancement, they had seen Zhou Jing's power to easily kill people and were full of fear and apprehension... Even Dotton couldn't stop him. If they fought again, wouldn't their casualties be heavy?

Dotton's expression was uncertain. He couldn't ignore his accomplices' opinions. The anger of failing slowly subsided, and reason slowly occupied the high ground again.

After thinking for more than ten seconds, Dotton gritted his teeth:

"When the news of Deep Rock City spreads, other towns will definitely tighten their control over hunters. It will be difficult for us to break through a fortress city from the inside like today... But the days are long, and there will always be opportunities. At worst, we'll change our method and attack a small town. Let's retreat."

Hearing this, many bandits were overjoyed, grateful that the boss hadn't stubbornly insisted.

Dotton suppressed his annoyance and had to lead the bandits back to the bunker in a hurry, planning to have each person take the remaining spoils, take what they could get, and evacuate the town.

However, just as he arrived at the bunker with his men, he saw Zhou Jing standing on the other side of the street, looking at him from afar.

"It's that guy again!"

Dotton's anger surged up. He drew his scimitar and took the lead, not daring to let his men go first, wanting to take the lead in entangling Zhou Jing to prevent him from freeing his hands to deal with others.

Zhou Jing was not afraid at all. With his twin blades in hand, he faced him head-on.

Clang, clang, clang!

The two men's weapons clashed several times in the blink of an eye, sparks flying.

Dotton rushed too fast and became separated from his accomplices behind him.

Boom!

Just then, the brick wall of a house next to him suddenly shattered.

Cole, who had been ambushing, rushed out and slashed down with his blade.

Dotton was horrified. He rolled over in an emergency to avoid the blow, letting Cole's blade miss, and the wind pressure of the slash raised an arc of fine dust.

As soon as he rolled over and stood up, he immediately prepared to parry Zhou Jing's pursuit, but found that Zhou Jing had directly bypassed him and pounced on the bandits who had followed him like a tiger among sheep. Cole, who had suddenly appeared, took over from Zhou Jing and began to fight.

"Damn it!" Dotton knew that something was wrong. He wanted to quickly force Cole back, turn around and stop Zhou Jing, switching opponents to let his accomplices deal with this suddenly appeared enemy.

However, after attacking hard several times, Cole, although blocking with difficulty, was like chewing gum, delaying his speed and showing superb swordsmanship and tenacious resilience.

Taking advantage of Cole's opportunity to entangle Dotton, Zhou Jing held his breath and released the bioelectricity stored in his body, entering both [Lightning Strike] and [Internal Discharge] states at the same time. He was so fast that he seemed like a bolt of lightning, rushing into the crowd and starting a massacre.

The twin blades were like bright light trails, shuttling through the crowd.

Wherever they passed, blood bloomed.

Thump, thump!

The bandits who had undergone their first enhancement fell one after another, unable to withstand a single blow in front of Zhou Jing's twin blades.

Without Dotton's restraint, Zhou Jing was cutting melons and vegetables in the crowd.

The high-speed blades were not light, but carried extreme violence. Even if someone blocked the blade, they would be knocked away by the heavy force, knocking over their companions.

Even if the enemies panicked and wanted to strike the enemy to save themselves and prevent Zhou Jing from wielding his blade, while Zhou Jing blocked the weapons from all directions, he could use his powerful body to ram into the enemies with his head, breaking the bones of the enemies who had undergone their first enhancement. Those with bad luck would be killed by him directly with a headbutt.

In just a few rounds, seven or eight corpses were lying on the ground, and many bandits were frightened.

"Run!"

The remaining first enhancement thugs finally panicked. Ignoring the others, they abandoned their companions and scattered in all directions, running away separately.

The second enhancement thugs still had the will to fight, but when they saw this scene, they knew that they were powerless to turn the tide and could only run away helplessly.

If these bandits were gathered together, Zhou Jing would have to put in some effort, but when the enemies collapsed, they completely lost their resistance. He moved at high speed, directly chasing after and stabbing to death the bandits running behind.

The blade flashed several times, and six or seven more people fell into the pool of blood.

The remaining people took the opportunity to run far away—they were still Exotic Blood Warriors, and if they really ran away separately, their pace would not be slow.

Although Zhou Jing was fast, he had to chase them one by one. Seeing the distance growing longer and longer, he simply ignored these small fish and turned back to kill Dotton.

Dotton's eyes were about to burst as he watched. He roared like a tiger and desperately killed Cole, wanting to escape.

Seeing this, Cole, at the risk of being slashed a few times, desperately held Dotton back.

The next moment, Zhou Jing horizontally charged into the two of them, and his twin blades heavily smashed on the scimitar.

Clang!!

The humming tremor was transmitted along the blade, and Dotton's tiger's mouth cracked again, almost unable to hold his weapon.

Zhou Jing attacked wildly with all his strength, each blade faster than the last, as if he was forging iron, firmly suppressing Dotton.

Without the restraint of the other bandits, Dotton didn't even have the space to breathe, let alone run away. He only felt that he was enduring a storm of slashes, and could only defend desperately.

After blocking dozens of blades in a row, Dotton's hands were bloody, and he was finally broken open, and his scimitar was sent flying, leaving him wide open.

Bang, bang, bang!

Zhou Jing used the hilt of his blade to heavily smash Dotton's hand and foot joints.

With a thud, Dotton fell to the ground like soft mud.

Zhou Jing flicked his blade, sheathing his weapon.

Cole covered his wound and asked in surprise, "Why didn't you kill him?"

"Such a big thing as the fortress city being attacked by bandits is happening for the first time. He is the leader of this gang of bandits. He is an important criminal. Instead of killing him here with a single blow, it is better to take him back to the capital for a public trial." Zhou Jing's eyes flashed.

Don't look at Deep Rock City being easily taken down, as if it was just a small matter. In fact, this bandit group calling themselves Sons of Exotic Blood had opened the precedent for bandits to loot fortress cities, which was of great significance and far more serious than Jason's assassination of the lord.

If it weren't for him happening to bump into them, if this group of bandits had really succeeded, the entire Terra Empire would have been shocked by this, and the royal family would definitely be furious.

Taking Dotton back for a public trial would allow him, as the greatest contributor to stopping this evil incident and the person who personally caught the bandit leader, to enter the royal family's sight and quickly get on the line.

Now, in the "Jason's" life goal, the requirement for [Empire Chief Hunter] was to be conferred by the Empire. Strength was the main factor, but he also had to gain the reputation of the royal family and have a certain amount of credit. At least he had to be familiar.

With this consideration, Zhou Jing did not kill him and prepared to maximize Dotton's benefits.

"Kill me..." Dotton was paralyzed on the ground, his voice hoarse.

"Okay, I will apply to personally carry out the execution during the public execution." Zhou Jing agreed happily.

Dotton shut his mouth, his face pale.

At this time, Cole squatted down and punched Dotton in the face, his anger erupting, "How dare you pretend to be a hunter and attack Deep Rock City! The reputation of the hunters has been ruined by you!"

Dotton closed his eyes, not wanting to pay attention.

Cole was relentless and roared, "I heard that you used to be an Exotic Beast Hunter. Why did you abandon the hunter's adherence and do such a thing!"

Dotton knew that there was no way out, reopened his eyes, and sneered:

"I have participated in dozens of hunts, big and small. Even if I luckily survived one, there would be the next hunt, endlessly, until I died in some hunt. Is this the hunter's adherence? You are so pathetic! People greedily ask us to fight until we die, as if we were born to dedicate our lives to protect them. I have long been disgusted with such days! Even if I fall into your hands, I have no regrets about everything I have done today!"

Crack!

Zhou Jing directly unloaded Dotton's chin and shook his hand casually.

"No matter how much you say, atrocities are still atrocities. You only need to obediently submit your confession during the trial, and you don't need to talk any other nonsense. Be safe."

Zhou Jing casually finished speaking and turned to look, but found Cole stunned in place, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows:

"What's your reaction? Won't you be convinced by this clumsy reason to pursue the freedom to do evil? No way, no way?"

"How is that possible." Cole denied decisively, his expression a little helpless: "I just think that some of the things he said may be reasonable. Although I voluntarily became a hunter and do not regret it, it is wrong for the world to always expect hunters to fight to the death..."

"You're thinking too complicatedly." Zhou Jing shook his head: "Today I will tell you a truth that I have realized not long ago."

"Uh, what truth?" Cole asked curiously.

Zhou Jing's expression was serious: "Love what you do, do what you love."

Cole was stunned. What kind of truth was that?

"So... so what?"

"So when you don't love this job anymore, just don't do it. The world is dependent on and expects hunters. This is part of the hunter's duty. Since you choose to be a hunter, then accept it. If you don't like it, then don't be a hunter. You are not left with no choice but to live this kind of life. What's there to be entangled about."

Zhou Jing shrugged his shoulders, casually carried Dotton, and walked away swaggeringly.

Cole was stunned for a long time before scratching his forehead and stepping forward to follow.

...

The sky was slightly bright, and the morning light gradually dispelled the night.

The bandits who had been killing people everywhere were gone, and the fire had been extinguished. After a night of chaos, the civilians who had been hiding everywhere took to the streets again, looking blankly at the unrecognizable town.

When they were confused, they saw the Empire Hunter squad leading most of the Deep Rock City hunters, who had not yet recovered, running on the street to summon the surviving civilians in the city.

The civilians who had nowhere to go could only spontaneously follow behind. The crowd grew larger and larger, and finally gathered in the square in front of the lord's castle.

The hunter squad explained the whole thing, and many civilians knew what had happened. Learning that the Empire Hunters had stopped the violence halfway, they all felt that they had escaped death, and their mood was agitated.

The lord of Deep Rock City was dead, and the people of the Empire Inspectorate had also died. Many town officials had been killed by the Sons of Exotic Blood. No one was giving orders, and the entire town was leaderless.

Finally, under the organization of the hunter squad, the surviving prestigious people in Deep Rock City formed a team to rescue the wounded, collect the bodies, and count the losses. In addition, they sent people to the surrounding cities for help, requesting other lords to take over.

Before the troops of other lords took over Deep Rock City, the hunter squad decided to temporarily station in Deep Rock City to prevent the town, which had fallen into a state of disorder, from becoming chaotic again after they left.

Zhou Jing did not participate in the squad's work of maintaining order. At this moment, he was in a temporarily built tent, staring at Weber.

Weber looked at Zhou Jing's familiar face, secretly convincing himself that there were no ghosts in the world, and slowly said:

"Do you know Jason Wood?"