After Zhang Xiaohou heard this, he looked at Mo Fan in surprise. He had never considered this point.
Zhang Xiaohou himself was unable to distinguish whether what Mo Fan said was right or wrong, he just subconsciously believed in Mo Fan’s choice.
Zhang Xiaohou actually did not know that Mo Fan could be considered a Hunter Magician with experience in hunting Beasts. Being influenced by that kind of environment caused Mo Fan to understand one very important principle, and that was to never think a large number of people would equal being powerful. Why would the Hunter’s Union only form smaller squads to go hunting Beasts in the outside world? Could it be that they didn’t know that the more people there were, the safer it was? The truth was, the more people there were, the easier it was for them to attract the attention of large numbers of Magical Beasts, and easier for them to become livestock for the higher level Magical Beasts.
The amount of people in the Vanguard Squad couldn’t be considered that many. If they were to meet a large number of Magical Beasts, they could most likely evade them. Their movements would be less restricted, and the decision to fight or escape could be made very quickly.
However, if they were in the main group…
If they didn’t meet large numbers of Magical Beasts, then they were safe and sound. However, if they did attract the attention of a Soldier-class creature and its group of Magical Beasts, then the main group would definitely get massacred. In this kind of massacre, your life would no longer be in your own control.
—
The Vanguard Squad had ten people in total, Xue Musheng was in charge of it.
After passing through the gate of the school, they were no longer able to see anyone on the streets.
Trashwas everywhere, with shattered goods from the vendor stalls being flipped over and stores with their doors wide open, yet no one was watching…
When the Blood Alert was sounded, all of the civilians either hid in their houses, or they began to run toward the Safety Shelters with all their might; causing a complete mess. This was also the main reason why the people from the school were not able to retreat in time.
However, there were still a large amount of people who hadn’t retreated to the Safety Shelters. When Tian Lan Magic High began to move toward the Safety Shelters, many of the civilians in the vicinity began to rush over. They wanted to use the strength of the students and teachers of Tian Lan Magic High to safely pass through this three kilometers of dreadful street blocks.
The Vanguard Squad was walking at the very front of the main group. Zhang Xiahou moved to the top of a building and quickly saw this scene of civilians gathering toward the school…
“I’m afraid there’ll be over four thousand people in this move. In this area of the city, there are many people who didn’t reach the Safety Shelters in time. They didn’t dare to move by themselves, so now they’re like iron dust on magnets as they constantly get absorbed into the main group from different locations,” Zhang Xiaohou said to everyone after he jumped down from the old building.
“Mmm, with more people, they should be able to prevent the attack of some smaller groups of Magical Beasts. However, they will also become a burden for the entire main group,” Xue Musheng observed coolly.
Magic High Schools were different from Magic Universities. The students of Magic Universities had more battle prowess than regular army mages, but Magic High Schools nurtured groups of magic student apprentices who weren’t even eighteen. A student able to protect themselves in this Blood Alert could already be considered good, protecting a mass of people was really too far-fetched.
“This is also something we can’t do anything about, it’s not like we can throw them away and ignore them,” Zhoumin said.
“Let’s go, now that the main group has increased to four thousand people, the burden on us has also increased,” Xue Musheng said.
Everyone nodded.
“Zhang Xiaohou, Zhang Yinglu, the two Wind Magicians are responsible for finding us a path. The others will closely follow behind.”
It was clear that Xue Musheng was a teacher who had gone through military training. He had some experience with deploying and troop formation, having some plans on what to do in this kind of situation.
—
The movement of the ten people could be considered rather quick. Passing through the main street after leaving the school gates and along the pedestrian lane, then going through the small area of houses with elevators would allow them to see the Safety Shelters.
The main street was around one kilometer long, and was completely blocked by abandoned cars. Let’s not even talk about a school bus being able to pass through, even a bike would have difficulty finding a smooth path.
Vehicle traffic was basically blocked, they could only rely on walking to get there. Three kilometers; it was far, yet not that far. It was short, yet not that short. Whether something would happen was out of their hands.
“There’s a Colossal-eyed Ape Rat in the book kiosk to the front.” Zhang Yinglu’s complexion was white as she ran back with gasping for breath.
“It is chewing on a child,” Zhang Xiaohou added.
By the time the two of them had discovered it, the child was already dead. But this kind of bloody scene had fallen into their eyes, sad and frightening.
After continuing their advance, they moved past a big bus that was diagonally parked and blocking the street. They were able to see the book kiosk dyed by blood, and the ten or so year-old little boy that was laying in the pool of blood.
“Where’s the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat?” Xue Musheng creased his brow. He was looking around, but he couldn’t even find the shadows of the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat they were talking about.
“It was just…”
“Gugugugu!!”
Just when Zhang Yinglu was about to say something, a furred creature ferociously jumped out of the rear of a Volkswagen to the side, its two large incisors biting at Zhang Yinglu, who was caught completely unprepared.
_Puuuchi~_
Zhang Yinglu was a very thin and weak girl. Her neck was torn out by the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat in front of the stunned Squad, her life’s-blood began to spurt out all over the advertisements on the side of the bus.
This scene was too sudden!
Even Mr. Xue Musheng did not have any kind of preparation for it. He was standing right next to Zhang Yinglu as the blood from her neck splashed over his face.
“Hide in the bus, hurry!” In the instant the stunning change happened, Mo Fan shouted at everyone.
Everyone woke up from their daydreams as they staggered toward the bus.
Xue Musheng’s reaction could be considered quite fast, he pulled Zhang Yinglu along as he jumped into the bus. The dreadful Colossal-eyed Ape Rat was going to continue its massacre, but had crashed into the doorway of the bus due its body shape.
The other people were also somewhat frantic, they also hid themselves in a bus.
As Xu Zhaoting saw Zhang Yinglu being killed like that, he began to chant the power of Lightning in his rage.
Mo Fan originally wanted to link his Star Path also. However, the Beast-Seeking powder that he sprinkled had actually floated in different directions, causing him to suddenly realize something!
“Everyone, climb onto the bus, there is more than just a single Colossal-eyed Ape Rat here!” Mo Fan shouted. As he said this, Mo Fan interrupted Zhoumin, who was casting magic, dragging her toward the bus.
“Monkey, stop looking after Zhang Yinglu, she is already dead. Hurry up and draw that Colossal-eyed Ape Rat away, or else we will all die here!!” Mo Fan ran as he yelled toward Zhang Xiaohou.
Zhang Xiaohou could be considered the calm one, he had already cast his Wind Path during the attack of the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat. Zhang Xiaohou wanted to go and save Zhang Yinglu. Unfortunately, what he did not know was that after the attack of a Magical Beast, there were not many Primary Magicians who were able to do much.
Zhang Xiaohou’s eyes began to redden.
He blinked, the girl who had been in the same class as him had died just like that! This godforsaken Magical Beast!!!!
* * *
Translator: Tofu
Editor: RED
*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap