Chapter 31: Unjust Involvement
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"Pop, pop pop…" A wave of muffled sound echoed out, closely followed by a immensely thick fog that rose up from below the feet of Zhang Yangping and the rest of the hunting squad.
"Why is there smoke?"
"This is bad, this kid is starting a fire!"
"Quick, run!"
"Aiya…"
In the middle of the waves of chaotic shouting, a hunting squad member once again stepped on thin air, and fell into the depths of the trap.
"You dare to set fire in the mountain, this is too cruel!" Zhang Yangping clenched his fists tightly. Robbery was robbery, but setting a fire to the mountain was an act that destroyed their future.
How were they going to hunt in the mountain next time? This is too cruel!
"Where's the fire?"
"Quick, get the water bottle over. Eh? Seems like… there's no fire!"
"What's the meaning of this? There's only smoke, ah… cough cough… so suffocating…"
As the hunting squad hurriedly tried to locate the origin of the fire, they realised that there weren't even any places that caught fire. There was only a immensely thick and suffocating smoke that expanded outwards unstoppably.
Very quickly, they were completely unable to see their surroundings clearly.
Looking at this scene unfolding before him, Fang Zhengzhi was rather dissatisfied, and shook his head. These few days, not only did he dig the traps, he also put in much effort to experiment with some saltpeter and white sugar. These smoke bombs were indeed of inferior quality. Moreover, there was even a smothered bomb. Out of the four smoke bombs he threw, there was actually one which didn't produce any smoke!
What a huge failure!
I need to improve on this next time!
Then, taking his time, he slowly took out a pile of smoke bombs from the big basket. His small arms swung with wind-like speed, and threw the bombs one by one.
Smoke bombs couldn't kill, but, if used appropriately, its power was definitely stronger than a real bomb. Of course… a real bomb was something Fang Zhengzhi would definitely not try his hands on.
Not only did it require too many ingredients, but just the potential danger of it alone was enough to hold him back.
"Even though I prepared quite a few, but I must still use them prudently!" Fang Zhengzhi decided that he couldn't afford to waste.
"Aiya, help…."
"Quick, run away quick, aiya!"
"How are you guys?"
Even though Fang Zhengzhi conserved and held back, but under the barrage of low-grade smoke bombs, the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad finally descended into chaos, each of their eyes flowing with tears evoked by the thick smoke. Coughing uncontrollably, their legs instinctively wanted to run away.
And this
Was exactly what Fang Zhengzhi hoped for.
"Cruel kid, he actually used such shameless tactics on us. Smoke?! How do I even deal with this!" Zhang Yangping roared. He didn't want to move, but he couldn't take the smoke anymore. Lifting his blade, he prepared to make a decisive move.
Unfortunately, after running less than ten steps, his feet met with thin air.
"Aiya!" With a sharp cry, Zhang Yangping’s body dropped downwards like a stone sinking in the water.
...
At a forest not too far away, Ding Qingshan and his team were searching furiously for prey. Then, lifting his head, his expression instantly changed.
"Which place just caught fire!"
"Deputy captain, the smoke is coming from that direction. It seems to be the Northern Mountain Village's territory!" A hunter following beside Ding Qingshan noticed the billowing smoke as well.
"Quick, gather everybody to go over and take a look!" Fire on the Cang Ling Mountain was of huge importance. Even though the fire started at the Northern Mountain Village's hunting territory, Ding Qingshan still didn't dare to hesitate. After all, Cang Ling Mountain was the livelihood of many villages in its radius.
"Roger!"
…
Very quickly, following Ding Qingshan's lead, the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad members had rushed to the source of the fire.
Ding Qingshan frowned. Because, looking at the scene in front of him, screaming sounds cried out continuously, and the thick smoke completely covered the entire landscape.
He was absolutely unable to see clearly what was happening.
"Deputy captain, Northern Mountain Village people seems to be caught inside. Should we help?"
"What are you saying, obviously we should help!" Gritting his teeth, Ding Qingshan didn't hesitate much. Even though the situation in front of him looked very dangerous, but, the Northern Mountain Village and the Southern Mountain Village were ultimately intrinsically linked.
The usual fighting over hunting was unpreventable, but turning a blind eye when others were in peril was impossible.
"Quick, go help them!" When a few hunters heard Ding Qingshan's orders, they immediately lifted their arms, broke off some nearby tree branches and quickly rushed into the smoke.
Of course, the faster they rushed, the faster they fell. Without much ado…
The Southern Mountain Village hunting squad also landed into the traps.
"Aiya, what the hell!, Why is there a hole here!"
"Damn… it!, Where did this trap come from!"
"Fire? Where's the fire?"
After the entire Northern Mountain Village hunting squad had "fallen", the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad was also unfortunately dragged into this. In a blink of an eye, the entire squad had fallen inside the traps.
The already rather small area was quickly filled with over thirty men. This made some of the traps somewhat squeezy. The more unfortunate ones had three or four people falling into them.
"Eh? Why did you guys also fall in?" A Southern Mountain Village hunter was slightly shocked when he saw the Northern Mountain Village hunter in the same trap as him.
"Ah… don't mention it anymore, we were robbed by a seven year old kid!" The Northern Mountain Village hunter sighed, shaking his head.
"Robbed?! Isn't it a fire?"
"There's no fire, that kid only smoked out the area, he didn't set any fire…"
…
Half an hour later, the smoke began to disperse, revealing a huge mess. The ground was filled with all kinds of bow and arrows, blades and spears, and even a few tightly bound prey.
On the other hand, the Northern Mountain Village and Southern Mountain Village hunting squad squatted in their traps, their faces filled with tears.
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad didn't have a choice. When they were waiting on top, they also thought of standing still to avoid the pitfalls. But the smoke was too suffocating.
Compared to standing on top and suffocating for half an hour, they honestly rather waited in the traps. At least, smoke rises upwards, it was actually quite comfortable inside the traps.
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad was now comfortable, but on the other hand the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad was filled with indignation. They were here to save the fire, but what happened? Not only did they not manage to save any fire, the entire hunting squad was now also in trouble.
"Robbery?! You Northern Mountain Village people are the ones being robbed, how does this even concern us?" When many of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad members realised this, they began to scold angrily.
But in the end, even though they were indeed unhappy, they ultimately accepted their fate. Luck wasn't on their side...
Fang Zhengzhi had no idea that the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad had rushed in, he was just leisurely hiding behind the rock and tossing smoke bombs.
When everything was finally silent and no movement was left, then did he decide to stop. Once the smoke began to disperse, he carefully assessed his surroundings, realised that there was no one hiding in ambush and finally began to relax.
Ambush? Without a gas mask, how can anybody stand it? This thing was advanced technology indeed. How suffocating is it? Whoever tried will definitely know!
"Oh, what a nice blade!" Fang Zhengzhi seemed very delighted, picking up a glinting long blade as he walked. Then, without any remorse, kept it inside the big basket.
"Nice sword!" He kept it too.
"This spear isn't bad either!"
"Eh? This bow… might come in useful someday. "
When the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, entrapped in their respective pitfalls, heard the voice coming from outside, they faces turned black. They naturally knew who was the one picking up stuff on top.
The Southern Mountain Village hunting squad on the other hand was filled with shock.
Because, this voice was too familiar. This young voice, could it be… Fang Zhengzhi?