The expression of the village head turned incredibly pale, as he kneeled on the floor hurriedly and kowtowed.
Supported by Annie, Yue Zhong walked out from the wooden hut and immediately saw a number of children aged 5 to 10 being rounded up and thrown into a cage, crying and wailing. The villagers who lost their kids were also crying uncontrollably, kneeling on the floor, not daring to move.
Even the 3 youths who had barged into Yue Zhong"s hut earlier were on the ground, their bodies trembling and their faces ashen.
Seeing this, Yue Zhong frowned, and a hint of killing intent erupted. Those kids were obviously intended to be used for demonic practices. Otherwise, there would be no need to cage them.
Ives saw Annie, and his eyes immediately lit up with l.u.s.t and greed, ordering loudly, "What a beautiful chick!! To think that there would such a high-quality good here! Men, go catch her for me!!"
Hearing his orders, 6 soldiers quickly charged towards Annie.
Annie hoisted Yue Zhong with one hand, pulling out a bat with the other, and sent 6 shadows slamming into the bodies of the 6 soldiers.
In that instant, the 6 Type 3 soldiers were sent flying back, as they doubled over on the floor and trembling with incredible agony.
Under Yue Zhong"s instructions, she had already shown mercy, otherwise, with her Type 8 strength, just blowing at them would cause them to disintegrate.
Ives saw how strong she was, and was not upset, instead, looking extremely excited, as he asked, "Great!! What an incredible specimen! I like her!! Baru, who is she?!"
Village Head Baru trembled as he replied, "Sir Ives, she"s called Annie, and she is a wandering hunter that had just joined us not long ago."
Ives had an evil look in his eyes as he laughed savagely, threatening, "Annie, kneel down and submit to me. I can make the decision and spare this village from the blood sacrifice. Otherwise, I will kill all these kids, and raze the entire village to the ground. If you don"t want to be the cause of their slaughter, surrender now! Become my woman. You only have 30 seconds to consider. By the end, if you cannot answer, I will kill everyone here."
When he waved his hands, his personal guards had already raised their weapons at the children within the cage.
Ives then swept the villagers a gaze, and laughed cruelly, "You people, if you want to leave, go beg her to save you."
"Annie, please, surrender! My son is in their hands!! Please!! Surrender to Ives, he will provide for you!"
"Annie, please, on account that we had sheltered you these few days, please save us."
"..."
The villagers began to kneel, crawling towards Annie as they begged pitifully.
Even the village head Baru came up to Annie, kowtowing profusely, as blood appeared, "Miss Annie, I"m begging you!!! On behalf of our village, please, please save us!! Please!!"
Ives was extremely cunning and knew how to pit others against one another. If Annie did not submit, he would really commit genocide. That was why Baru and the rest could only plead and beg for Annie to sacrifice herself.
Yue Zhong frowned when he saw the sight, and he spoke indifferently, "Kill all of them, leave only 6. Separate that Marquis and the black-robed guy beside him."
"Got it!" Annie replied and with a wave of her hands, a number of transparent silk shot out, instantly slaughtering all of Ives" men.
In an instant, most of the soldiers were sliced up into fine pieces, fresh blood splattering everywhere. It was a gruesome sight.
Before Ives could even express his shock, he, the black-robed man beside him, as well as 4 others were all tied up by the silk and dragged before Yue Zhong.
"What?! Dead!?!"
"What did she do?!"
"She actually slaughtered all the soldiers and even captured Ives!!"
"That was too terrifying!!"
"..."
Seeing how Annie actually slaughtered the soldiers under Ives, the villagers were all full of shock.
Ives was a n.o.ble of the Jiao Beast City and had a huge background. If he were to be injured slightly, the entire village would be wiped out by the forces sent by the city.
Compared to Jiao Beast City, this village was nothing much. In these years, many other villages had been wiped out due to the slightest offense of any n.o.ble within the city.
The moment they realized the guards of a member of n.o.bility had died in their village, Baru and the rest felt an intense sense of fear and helplessness.
At that instant, the black robes fluttered, revealing a strange monster with the head of a Wyrm, his body covered entirely in grey scales, while wearing a casual outfit over his human-like body.
This Wyrm-head spoke in a growl, "Release me, you d.a.m.n human sc.u.m. Do you know who I am? I"m a member of the Grey Wyrms, and if you lowly humans dare touch a single hair of mine, the entire Grey Wyrm Clan would not let you off!! You guys have offended me, I will definitely tear you limb from limb and cook you alive!"
Ives was also struggling, as he roared out, "This is Sir Sanford, one of the n.o.bles of the Grey Wyrm Clan among the Holy Race! If you guys dare hurt him, the entire village would suffer the wrath of the Holy Race! Your plight would be worse than death!! Release us this instant, and offer your sacrifices!! There is still a chance to appease Sir Sanford!"
"What?! Holy Race!?!"
"He is actually from the Holy Race?"
"s.h.i.+t, it"s over, we actually offended a n.o.ble from the Holy Race!"
"..."
The moment they heard the term Holy Race, every one"s countenance changed, and they were filled with despair.
Baru began kowtowing once more, pleading profusely, "Annie, please, release Sir Sanford, he"s from the Holy Race. If we were to hurt him, even after we die, we will not be let off lightly. The Holy Race would not let us off, and they would round us all up and eat us alive."
"Release him!"
"Annie, release him!"
"..."
The villagers clamored to persuade her. They were extremely afraid of the Holy Race, as it would mean the demise of their entire village.
Facing the begging of the villages, Annie did not do anything, instead, she turned to Yue Zhong and asked, "What do we do? Kill them?"
Her personality was like that, cool and unfeeling. Other than those she cared about, she would not frown even if more died in front of her.
In fact, most of the Holy Sons and Daughters of the Holy Heavens were like that. Only such characters could trudge through the countless challenges and rise to become an overlord.
If she had to change her mind because of unrelated people, or threats, Annie would have died umpteen times over.
Hearing those cold words, the entire village felt a chill, their eyes turning towards Yue Zhong. This seemingly crippled man was the one who decided their fate.
Baru pleaded, "Yue Zhong, please, release the 2 sirs. I"m begging you!!"
Sanford continued to struggle wildly, as he threatened viciously, "Release me, and give me 10 children to feed on! I will spare you guys this once. Otherwise, if you lowly humans dare to hurt me, I will get the Holy Army to round you all up and cook you guys to eat!"
Cries and screams began to ring out, and the entire field turned extremely chaotic. The moment they heard that Sanford wanted to eat 10 children, many of the villagers trembled, crying out, not knowing what to do.
Yue Zhong frowned and ordered, "Knock them out!"
Annie shot out a finger, and she manipulated the atmospheric energy to strike the heads of Ives and his men, knocking them out.
With a wave of Yue Zhong"s hands, a number of Puppet Runes entered the brains of Ives and his men.
Yue Zhong then ordered, "Release their bindings!"
Annie waved her hands, and the silk strands tying up the bunch disappeared without a trace.
Sanford woke up immediately, crawling in front of Yue Zhong and spoke, "Your lowly servant Sanford greets Master. I had offended Master previously, and I seek Master"s mercy and grace!"
Ives also woke up just then, crawling in front of Yue Zhong as though he was a loyal dog, "Your shameful servant Ives greets Master. I deserve death for my earlier offenses, and seek Master"s instructions on how this servant can atone."