Mercenary Harem in Murim Novel

Chapter 70: Chapter 70 – Ambush

"You good up there, Jack?"

"I am fine, Leader. Just a little bit of scratch. A rock suddenly flew from nowhere and hit my face. Damn, it's bleeding. Ouch!"

"Heh, crying just by being hit by a rock. How weak." Shui smirked.

"Shut up! At least I don't have a sword fetish like you!"

"You son of a—"

Woosh!

Suddenly, a sound of splitting wind could be heard from outside, three of them at the same time.

Hearing it, both Jack and Shui reacted immediately. The former caught something in his hand while the latter jumped out of the Humvee and drew his sword.

Two silver arches appeared in the air and split something that targeted the driver and Zhen.

At the same time, Chiaki stopped the Humvee again with a screeching sound. It rocked for a second before coming to a stop.

"What the fuck is this?!" Jack yelled as he realized the attack was from a person. He looked at his hand and saw an arrow. "Leader, permission to shoot."

"Granted." Leo nodded and gave the signal, "Fire away, Jack!"

"Yes, sir!"

Jack pulled the trigger of his PhoSni and a thunderbolt shot from the tip, aiming at the hidden enemy in the forest. A photon bullet hit the spot where the arrows were fired and created a bright light.

"Aaaah!"

The sound of a dying scream could be heard as the hidden person fell to the ground.

"Target down! He's incapacitated, not killed."

"Great job, Jack. Shui, grab him and bring him here." Leo said, opening the door and stepping out of the vehicle. "Chiaki, protect me."

"As you wish."

"Yes, Leader."

Everything moved pretty fast. Shui jumped into the forest and grabbed the man incapacitated by Jack. He only needed 5 seconds to come back and bring the injured man in his arms.

"Ow, my shoulder! Let me go, you freak!"

"Shut up, old man."

Shui threw him at Leo's feet, and the man looked up, gritting his teeth. His shoulder was broken, and his leg was twisted. There was a hole in his stomach but he was not bleeding.

'Huh? He's not bleeding.' Leo realized. 'This man is a Martial Artist. Probably a 4 or 5 Stars if he could survive an attack from Jack's PhoSni and healed it pretty fast. Great.'

A smile formed on his face as he stared down at the man. He had a feeling this was an ambush. A planned one on top of that.

Leo's eyes were sharp. He couldn't afford to miss a single thing.

The man gulped his saliva and finally gave up.

"I thought that was a beast. I just wanted to protect our home." He said as he looked at the Humvee.

At that moment, Leo could understand where the old man came from. Even in Chengdu, his Humvee was mistaken as a divine beast. Then when he approached the first village earlier, the villagers were a bit afraid when he approached.

The engine roared like a ferocious beast, and his team was heavily armed. Of course, he was seen as a threat and not an ally. Also...

'A hidden village for retired martial artists, huh? Now that's interesting.' Leo thought. 'So it's not a planned ambush but a misunderstanding.'

"Alright, I believe you. Thank you for answering my question." He said as he stood up. "We won't attack your hidden village. Instead, we will leave immediately."

"Thank you for your kindness." The man bowed his head in relief. "Thank you for sparing me for my mistake."

"It's no problem. Just be careful next time. Don't attack people without knowing their background."

"Y-Yes, sir. Thank you very much. I owe you my life." He bowed his head once again.

"Now, let's move out." Leo announced, returning to the Humvee.

Everyone else followed suit. But as they entered the Humvee, the man suddenly spoke loudly.

"There were many martial artists passing this path yesterday, sir. Please be careful of ambush and trickery."

Leo was surprised, but he smiled and waved his hand.

"Thanks for the information."

With that, he told Jessica to continue the journey. Now he understood why there was inconsistency in the map and why the villager told him to go around the Green Peak mountain.

By circling the mountain, they would need a day or two more than taking the usual path.

"Leader, is it fine to leave him alone like that?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, it's fine. He's no threat. Let's focus on the mission. Besides... I am pretty interested in that hidden village."

"Alright."

Leo smiled as he sat on the passenger seat.

'Retired martial artists? I've read about it in the novel once. Many martial artists who were declared dead or missing gathered to create a hidden village. In the novel, it's mentioned that it's just a rumor. To think that I stumbled upon it. And so close to Chengdu at that.'

He had to visit this village in the future. Maybe after the mission was over.

If only he didn't have a mission, he would stop by right now.

Expanding his force in this world would be good. Even in the game, he had many branches of subordinates for smaller or large scale missions. But with his current base, it was impossible to recruit the retired martial artists.

'It will take some time and effort. Maybe I should focus on that later. Let's see how the mission turns out first.'