Chapter 20: An Unexpected Encounter
The road was bumpy, due to the hurry, coupled with the particularity of this mission, both of them kept a low profile very sensibly, barely stopping on the way, and soon passed through the long canyon corridor, and the outline of a huge basin appeared in front of them.
White Jade City, right in the middle of the basin, is the only large town in the area.
An Xu had also come here to do a lot of missions before, and he was very familiar with this road.
"Hey, no, I'm tired of Doudou, let's rest!" Doudou never had a strong physique like An Xu, and after a whole day's travel, his body couldn't stand it.
The long-tailed beast was not so comfortable to ride, and the road in the Grand Canyon was uneven and bumpy, making him feel like the bones in his body were about to fall apart.
An Xu looked up, it was not early, it was obvious that he would not be able to catch up with Baiyucheng today anyway, and it was good to stop and repair for the night, but this place was at the mouth of the canyon, and the wind was strong, so it was not suitable for camping.
He has personally experienced that the temperature at night here is enough to make you feel what it means to be cold to your bones.
"Let's go a little further, there will be a forest there, and we will rest at the edge of the forest tonight." An Xu tightened the cloak on his body and said, the cold wind kept whistling and blowing, which was really uncomfortable.
"Okay!" Doudou is also a mercenary, so he naturally knows some common sense of camping in the wild, and he no longer complains and follows.
After leaving the canyon, the wind gradually became lighter, and the two of them went on a distance, and finally when night fell, they saw the forest that An Xu said, the forest was lush and green, and there was a clear stream not far away, which was indeed a good place to camp.
An Xu jumped off the long-tailed beast and tied the rope to a small tree, this long-tailed beast had not eaten anything for a long time, and it happened to be its favorite bush and grass under its feet, burying its head and eating happily.
An Xu took off his heavy bags and prepared to find a sheltered place to set up a simple tent, in such a woodland, if there is no shelter, all kinds of snakes and mosquitoes are definitely a torture.
"I went to get some water, and I died of thirst after a day of running!" Doudou picked up the kettle and ran towards the water source with a puff of smoke, he was not tall, but he was very agile.
Setting up a tent was a daily routine for An Xu, and he quickly got it ready, and he gathered some dry wood in the woods to start a fire in front of the tent.
"Hey, come here!"
Suddenly, Doudou's low voice came from a distance, An Xu looked up, and saw Doudou lying behind a stone by the stream, quietly waving to him, like a thief.
"What's wrong?" An Xu quietly touched it.
"Look over there!" Doudou pointed in the direction of the upstream, looking a little excited.
An Xu looked at it, under the sunset, a strong beast was drinking water by the stream, the beast had thick limbs, a tall body, a long sharp horn on its nose, and its body was crystal clear like white jade, so beautiful that it was like a holy beast that came out of a fairy tale.
White jade rhino! He recognized the beast.
There was also a surprise in my heart, the white jade rhinoceros is a unique beast in the vicinity of the White Jade City, its skin and horns are very luxurious materials, and it is very popular in other places.
In the black market of Hidden Moon City, an adult white jade rhinoceros can almost be sold for more than a dozen gold coins at a high price.
Doudou resisted the excitement in his heart, and took a crossbow arrow to aim at this beast, it would be a pity to let go of such an opportunity.
But before he could pull the trigger, An Xu held him down.
"Don't!" An Xu lowered his voice and said: "The white jade rhinoceros is the symbol of the white jade city, it has a very special status here, many people have been hunting and killing in recent years, which has led to the endangerment of this animal, and the white jade city has issued a grim decree prohibiting the killing of the white jade rhino!" ”
"We have something to do, we shouldn't make any extraneous branches, in case we are discovered, it will be troublesome, and we are just going to White Jade City, with such a thing, we can't go in at all."
"Really? Hey, what a pity! Hearing this, Doudou also put down his weapon, compared to the goal of their group, this white jade rhinoceros seemed less important.
An Xu is right, it's best not to get into trouble at this time.
But the two of them were about to leave, when there was a sound of breaking the air in the woods, and a sharp arrow shot straight over, hitting the body of the white jade rhino, the sharp arrow seemed to be coated with anesthetic, and the white jade rhino shook his body and lay on the ground.
Three figures sprang out of the woods, and judging by their dress, they were two warriors and an archer.
They looked at the white jade rhinoceros that fell to the ground, with an excited look on their faces, they had been guarding for so long, and finally caught one!
"Get it away! lest the people of White Jade City find out! This white jade rhinoceros looks good, it's worth a good price, and when you find a safe place, I invite you to drink and celebrate! ”
The archer licked his lips, pulled out a bundle of rope from behind his back, and the three of them tied it up around the white jade rhinoceros, which could only be sold for a higher price if it was an adult white jade rhino.
It's a squad of poachers!
An Xu had an understanding in his heart, but he didn't want to meddle in the matter in front of him, even if the other party violated the law of Baiyucheng, it had nothing to do with the two of them.
Or don't cause unnecessary conflicts.
He exchanged glances with Doudou, ready to quietly retreat, poachers are a high-risk profession, they are all outlaws, if they know that the matter is exposed, they may be able to attack them.
It's a pity that the archer seems to be very alert, An Xu and they just moved their bodies, and the other party noticed it, and immediately put the bow and arrow in his hand, and shouted in the direction where An Xu was:
"Who's there?"
An Xu was a little helpless, he was already very careful, but he didn't expect trouble to come up.
"Don't get me wrong, we're just passing by, you guys continue!" An Xu said loudly, and took a step back, indicating that he had no ill intentions.
"Stop, don't move!" But the three men didn't seem to appreciate it, and slowly approached.
"People from White Jade City?" The archer tentatively said, you must know that poaching the white jade rhino in the white jade city will be punished with a very severe criminal law, they themselves are hunting on the tip of the knife, but there is no room for carelessness.
"No, no, we're from somewhere else! Don't worry, we'll act like we don't see anything. An Xu tried to negotiate with the other party, but when he saw that the other party was still approaching, his body also entered a state of alert.
"Please stop and don't cause us a misunderstanding!" He bites the word 'misunderstanding' very hard, and in the field, if you are close to someone you don't know with a weapon, it is already a taboo.
Such guilds are generally seen as provocations and declarations of war.
An Xu raised his shield and covered it in front of him, in case the archers burst into attack! Doudou also took a step back, hid behind An Xu, and then mounted the crossbow arrow.
A long-range and one-shield warrior is a very reasonable combination, especially in this kind of open place, the combination of offense and defense is like a small fortress that can be moved, which is one of the reasons why Doudou found An Xu.
As a long-range crossbowman, what he lacks is protection like An Xu.
As An Xu and Doudou entered the attack stance, the three people who approached also stopped.
"Alchemy Hand Crossbow!" The pupils of the three people were all shrunk, they knew this kind of alchemy weapon with great lethality, and the ordinary leather armor on their bodies could not withstand such an attack.
If An Xu is an ordinary warrior, it is okay, he also has a long-range, and the archer is still a little confident, but An Xu is a shield warrior, which is a headache.
Such a thick shield is enough to block the penetrating power of the bow and arrows.
An Xu didn't really want to fight, the bigger reason for doing this was to deter the other party, telling them that the two of them were not persimmons to pinch, and hoped that the other party would not be stupid.
Sure enough, the other party's aggressive momentum was suppressed.
"I said I was just passing by, if you don't feel at ease, we can leave immediately!" Seeing that it had an effect, An Xu shouted while the iron was hot.
"Okay, I believe you, now you get out of here!" After weighing it up, then the archers seemed to have compromised.
But what he didn't know was that An Xu, who looked very young, was actually a very experienced mercenary, especially An Xu, who had improved his perception ability, and had already seen his expression.
A little off! If they really intended to compromise, there would definitely be some resentment on their faces, but looking at their expressions, there was clearly a hint of sneer.
The archer, in particular, had his hands on the bowstring and his body was tense, a gesture that was so obvious that he was ready to do so.
But where did he get the confidence to face the combination of shields and crossbows on his side?
Suddenly, the archer's eyes squinted slightly, and An Xu instantly thought of a possibility.
There are more than three of them!
"Attention, if there is any movement, the archers first!" He lowered his voice, reminding Doudou, who was a little lax, that this bit of experience that had just come out and wandered for a short time was never as good as An Xu.
"Huh?" Doudou is a little strange, hasn't the other party already stopped?
But at this moment, he chose to believe An Xu, and there was no change on the surface, but in fact, he had already locked on the archer.
Under the gaze of the three people on the opposite side, they slowly retreated, such a situation An Xu did not dare to turn around, if he turned around, it would be an act of looking for death.
He kept an eye on the archer's expression, and finally caught the murderous intent in his eyes in an instant.
"Do it!" An Xu shouted, then turned around quickly
Sure enough, a man was hiding diagonally behind them, holding a bow and arrow, and shooting sharp arrows in their direction. Arrows whistled with a whistling eye.
At the same time, Doudou also reflexively pulled the trigger.
'Wow! An Xu blocked the shot, but the archer was not so lucky, and was shot through the chest by Doudou's arrow and fell to the ground.
An exchange of attacks from both sides instantly ignited the fuse of the battle, and while Doudou was loading the crossbow arrows, the two warriors rushed forward with a roar of rage, ignoring the injuries of their comrades.