"Eh?"

Kang was stunned, an Obun showing emotions is super rare, and a smiling one at that is simply unheard of, but not like his current situation was funny; as he saw the First Elder begin to close the cage as slowly as he could afford to whilst Kang and Meng tried to force their way through the horde of slave bodies;

"You-!?"

Meng almost had a heart attack seeing the First Elder tauntingly lock the cage;

'At this rate, we might not make it out of here in time!'

Kang thought to himself before bellowing;

"Slaughter a path through!"

Then he raised his sword and brought it down on another unfortunate human who fell straight to the ground lifeless, but then another choking sound rang out from behind before Meng and Kang realized that another soldier had fallen, and it was right at this time that the First Elder locked the gate and removed the key… 

Then the crowd within the cave stopped and then five other sounds of chains falling to the ground rang out before the crowd parted, revealing five unchained Djangos [Burly men] with swords which belonged to the fallen soldiers in their hands...

Then there was a tall, bare chested, burly man amongst them who held no weapon, and then Dara who had a sword in his grasp and a very sinister smile on his lips…

Meanwhile…

Outside the cave…

Within a dense foliage just beside the entrance of the cave, the two guards who stopped the First Elder earlier were both munching some edible fruits when the clanging sounds of metal rang floated out of the cave;

"Wait!"

"Stop Munching!"

Guard Chen alerted Liu who ceased his munching instantaneously;

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, it sounds like metal hitting an hard object…"

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?"

"What are you thinking Chen?"

"Yu have been nervy and paranoid all day; they might just be mining more stone slabs from the mountain…" Liu sighed as he continued his munching;

"But what if-"

"That's enough!" Liu interrupted Guard Chen;

"You seem a little off your game today, Chen… If you are feeling too stressed you can go relax, I will handle things here…"

"No, I'm fine… Everything just seems so odd and coincidental for some strange reasons…" Guard Chen replied;

"I don't know why you're edgy, there are 10 Peak Qi Sea Stage experts in there, what can a bunch of people who can't even wield Qi do to them?" Liu patted his partner on the shoulder;

"Oh, that's true… I guess I've not been having enough rest recently, and it is starting to affect me…"

Guard Chen released a huge sigh before slapping himself twice to force himself to focus, but just as he did that;

Crack!

The weak sound of a branch or twig snapping floated into the duo's ears as they sprung to their feet and brought out their swords;

Schweein! Schweein!

Then they slowly approached the origin of the sound and found a very bushy tree ahead of them as the duo approached the tree from opposite directions looking to pincer-attack whatever or whoever might be moving behind the tree...

Then when they got close enough, Liu brought raised up three fingers and lowered one, and then the other, and the moment the third finger dropped, the duo pounced at the tree and slashed at it;

Cha! Cha!

The sound of sword cutting down branches full of leaves resounded within the area, as a little rabbit like beast flew out of the bush and sprinted off into the distance; Hu!

"It's just a game…" The duo simultaneously released a relieved sigh;

"It seems I am not the only nervy one around…"

Guard Chen softly mocked his partner, but just as the both began to laugh, they heard another sound of rustling leaves, and just as they looked up the tree they had just attacked, they saw two black faces with reddish eyes looking back at them;

"Unh!?"

"Eh!?"

That was the only thing the duo could say before the figures they were looking at within the tree dropped over them like SWAT;

Snip! Snip!

Bam! Bam!

The sounds of blades cutting flesh softly drifted through the air before the sound of two bodies hitting the ground followed suit;

"To think there were Obuns lurking around this area…"

Guard Chen swung his sword to put off the black blood stain on his sword whilst Guard Liu advised;

"Let's look around, there might just be more…"

But just as they tried to move out, several approaching rustling sounds rang out, and by the time they could react, the duo saw themselves surrounded by over 45 enemies, but shockingly to them, there were humans amongst them;

"What!?"

"How is this possible!?" Guard Chen blurted in shock as the duo's faces became solemn;

"Chen, this is not the time to be thinking about what is possible or what is not…" Guard Liu pointed out;

"Back to back!"

Guard Chen quickly strategized as he had Guard Liu placed their back against one another as they faced the over 45 enemies in front of them;

"Chen, do you have that thing with you?"

"Yes, I always keep it on me at all times…"

"Good, use it!" Guard Liu instructed as Guard Chen dipped his hands into his robes…

Meanwhile…

About 50 miles off their current location…

Two carriages which were being pulled by two bloodthirsty looking beasts slowly cruised along a path which only less than 10 people knew about on the entire Planet Jok...

The vices of two middle aged men could be heard floating from one carriage to the other, whilst the drivers of these carriage [two Peak Qi Sea Stage soldiers] did their best not to eavesdrop or pay any attention to;

"I am not against whatever you are doing, Left Grand Elder…"

"Nonsense, just do your job and let me do mine…" The angry voice of the Left Grand Elder floated from the other carriage;

"Alright then, if that is how you want it… I will reduce my inspection time from monthly to weekly then…"

"Hmph! Be careful young man, it would be tragic if His Highness were to learn that you have fallen prey to the many predatory beasts within this jungle!"

The Left Grand Elder threatened with hidden meanings as the two drivers who clearly heard everything blanched in fear…