When Yarn and Yaka arrived at Hunter Asen's house, they saw the team of Hunters Yaka had mentioned, who needed a guide.
The team consisted of no less than thirteen people; they were scattered, standing or sitting, near Asen's doorway. When they saw Yarn and his son approaching from a distance, their postures didn't change, but their gazes were fixed on the two, clearly having entered a state of alert.
"They are well-trained soldiers," Yarn easily detected the familiar aura of his former comrades on these people.
He had seen the private soldiers of the three lords: Gem Territory, White Mountain Territory, and Red River Territory. Among them, Red River Territory's private soldiers were the best trained, but they still lacked that iron-blooded temperament, only being slightly stronger than Gem Territory's disorganized rabble.
However, the iron-blooded temperament of these thirteen individuals, scattered around, who followed orders strictly, could not be concealed. Thus, Yarn recognized them at a glance.
They were from the Tyrell Kingdom Army.
He had served in this army for seven years. After retiring at twenty-five, he formed the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group with two military brothers because he couldn't stand Gem Territory's harsh governance and to evade its oppressive taxes. Afterward, he met his current wife, and their eldest son was born the following year. Their second son, Yam, was born when he was twenty-eight, and their third son, Yaka, when he was thirty-one.
Although he had been out of the army for about twenty years, for Yarn, those years serving in the Kingdom Army still felt like yesterday.
Seeing these soldiers now, Yarn couldn't help but become vigilant.
From their appearances, most of these soldiers were still quite young, with only two being slightly older.
He wasn't sure if these Kingdom Army soldiers had already retired. If they had, there might not be too much of a problem, but if not, then this trip would likely be very dangerous.
"Are the two Bloodline Users you saw among these people?" Yarn asked in a low voice.
"No," Yaka replied softly.
He was very intelligent; from his father's lowered voice and his initial words, he had already realized the danger, so he didn't make any obvious gestures or movements.
"Let's leave here first," Yarn said cautiously. "If we act with them, there will clearly be no small danger."
Yarn suddenly grabbed Yaka's arm, appearing as if he, like others, was suddenly intimidated by the aura of these Hunters. Thus, he dared not advance easily and turned to leave.
These soldiers didn't care about Yarn and Yaka's actions, as they had already seen many such situations along the way.
But just then, Asen's door suddenly opened.
Immediately after, Asen and two men emerged from his house.
Neither of the two men was very old. The younger one didn't look much older than Yam, probably around twenty. The other, a serious and unsmiling man, was slightly older, whom Yarn estimated to be around thirty. With just one glance at him, Yarn knew that this man was the true leader of the team.
The three people who came out at that moment happened to see Yarn and his son.
Asen, with a weathered look, immediately waved his hand happily and shouted, "Yarn, Yaka, hahaha, I knew you two would come!"
As Asen's words rang out, everyone's gaze instantly fell on Yarn and his son, especially the thirty-something blond man. His gaze, sharp as lightning, landed on Yarn, full of scrutiny. Although there was no hostility in his eyes, it nearly triggered Yarn's defensive reflex.
In an instant, Yarn knew that this blond man was definitely an experienced veteran.
"These two are the best candidates I just mentioned to you," Asen, still unaware of the problem, continued to introduce enthusiastically, "I've had very in-depth discussions with them, and they've both ventured deep into Death Forest, even to areas deeper than I have. They definitely meet your requirements."
Asen walked towards Yarn and his son with the two Bloodline Knights. His unlowered voice clearly reached their ears.
"Yarn, didn't you always want to go deep into Death Forest? Now's your chance!" Asen heartily introduced the two Bloodline Knights beside him to Yarn and his son. "This is Sir Hughes, a Knight from Gem Territory, and this is Sir Burton. They want to enter Death Forest to hunt a third-tier demon beast... But as you know, I've only been to the edge a few times, and I wouldn't dare step into a third-tier demon beast's territory."
Hughes was the blond middle-aged man.
He didn't speak at this moment, but continued to stare at Yarn, his expression somewhat puzzled.
And Yarn, upon hearing the title "Knight from Gem Territory," felt a tremor in his heart.
However, his facial expression remained quite calm, without the slightest ripple.
He only heard him say softly, "But I haven't ventured deep into Death Forest either. I've only had a few adventures at the edge... I heard that a team of Hunters wanted to hire you, so I brought my son to see if we could go with you and learn something."
"Hahaha," Asen, however, didn't doubt him. He just laughed heartily, "You're as humble as ever. I didn't even know there was a ruin in Death Forest, but you've seen it from afar once. And this time, these two gentlemen are heading to that ruin in Death Forest, and I immediately thought of you... You won't learn anything by following me. It's better to be a guide for these two gentlemen once; I guarantee you'll learn more."
Yarn cursed Asen inwardly, but on his face, he could only continue to feign calmness.
In the past month and a half, besides recuperating, he had tentatively ventured into Deadwood Forest, but at most, he only reached a ruin within Deadwood Forest. That ruin seemed to have been a large estate in the past—Yarn even suspected that the entire Deadwood Forest was once a vast estate.
The closer they got to this ruin, the stronger the reaction of the rusty sword became. Therefore, Yarn and his son believed that the rusty sword's components were probably within this ruin.
However, this ruin had now become a complex demon beast lair.
Yarn and his son had seen at least four types of demon beasts, and they were relatively rare gregarious demon beasts, which made it impossible for Yarn and his son to find an opportunity to explore and search within this ruin. After all, he didn't even fully recognize these demon beasts, which is why he revealed the existence of this ruin to Asen, trying to learn about the types and habits of those demon beasts from him.
But unfortunately, although Asen was a seasoned Hunter, he was just an ordinary person and not a Bloodline User, so he had no experience hunting third-tier demon beasts. He only recognized two types of demon beasts in this lair: the second-tier Ghost-Eyed Fox and the equally second-tier Fire-Eyed Flood Dragon.
"You've been to that ruin in Deadwood Forest?" The young man didn't know Yarn's thoughts at the moment; instead, he spoke with a surprised expression.
"I only saw it from afar."
Asen was a bit puzzled as to why Yarn was so reserved today, but he simply took it as the immense pressure of meeting two Bloodline Knights. So, at this moment, he mentioned quite enthusiastically, "Hey, you asked me before what that demon beast was, the one that looked like it was wearing armor and had expanded several times like a rabbit, right?... I finally know today! It's called an Armored Demon Rabbit, a third-tier demon beast, and it's precisely the target of these two gentlemen's trip."
"You've seen an Armored Demon Rabbit?" The young man's face immediately showed excitement. "Mr. Yarn, please, you must lead us to it! The reward will definitely satisfy you."
Upon hearing the words of this young man, who was called Burton, Yarn knew he could no longer refuse.
Moreover, by now, he was completely certain that the thirteen soldiers must have been sent by the elder behind Burton to assist and protect him, as he had too much say in the quality of Gem Territory's private soldiers.
So, after a brief discussion, they agreed to depart early the next morning.
Afterward, the two parties briefly separated. Hughes and Burton also bid farewell to Asen and returned to the inn where they had initially checked in.
"Sir Burton, that father and son are not simple," Hughes said immediately after returning to the room, warning, "Especially the one named Yarn; he has a scent that is very familiar to me."
"Scent?" Burton was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Right, you are 【Ghost Fox】, most sensitive to scents. It seems he once unknowingly crossed paths with you."
"I suspect he is the devourer, connected to a murder case that occurred in Gem Territory three and a half years ago."
"Oh?" Burton raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
"Three and a half years ago, Baron Hess discovered a group of bandits in Gem Territory, so he sent a Bloodline Knight to lead a Eliminate campaign. Afterward, although the bandits were completely eliminated, the Bloodline Knight leading the team unfortunately died, and his Bloodline Power completely dissipated. Therefore, we suspected he encountered the devourer," Hughes replied in a deep voice. "Afterward, Baron Hess was furious and ordered us to investigate thoroughly. So, a few of us tracked them down and finally discovered that this matter was related to the Lord of Red River Territory."
"Hmm, I've heard about this," Burton nodded slightly, indicating he was also aware of the matter. "Initially, Baron Hess proposed negotiating with Baron Will to hand over the devourer who murdered his knight, but Baron Will refused, right?"
"Yes," Hughes nodded. "It's precisely because the negotiation failed that Baron Hess declared war on Baron Will."
Burton glanced at Hughes but said nothing.
Although he was young, his upbringing was excellent, so he naturally wouldn't believe Hughes's words based on just a few sentences.
"I don't care what you plan to do, or what you're preparing to do, but it must be after they help me catch the Armored Demon Rabbit, understand?"
"Don't worry, Sir Burton, I certainly won't ruin your plans. After all, Baron Hess sent me here to assist you, precisely to help you catch the Armored Demon Rabbit."
...
Meanwhile, Yarn, after parting ways with Burton and Hughes, also had a solemn expression upon returning to the stable.
"Father, is something wrong?"
"The man named Hughes has probably recognized me," Yarn said coldly. "Since that malicious lord of Gem Territory once wiped out the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group as bandits, he must have some knowledge of us, the leaders of the mercenary group. Before, we hid in White Mountain Territory, and it was fine that they didn't find us. Now that we've met, they definitely won't spare our lives."
However, contrary to Yarn's expectation of his son panicking, Yaka remained remarkably calm. He even retorted, "Do we still have a chance to escape from here?"
"That young man named Burton clearly has a very important identity. He wants to find the Armored Demon Rabbit, and for this, that malicious lord of Gem Territory even sent a Knight to assist him. Now, they've probably set their sights on us and won't give us a chance to escape from Red Soil Town," Yarn shook his head. "Moreover, even if we could truly escape Red Soil Town, they definitely wouldn't let us off easily, and it might even implicate the other people in the town."
"Then it seems there's only one way left," Yaka said in a low voice. "Deadwood Forest is called Death Forest for a reason."
"Oh?" Yarn was startled by his son's cold tone, and a look of surprise involuntarily appeared on his face.