“Hmm, the child is there!”

After observing for a while, Xia Tian finally spotted the child from his territory who had been abducted, a girl named Niu Niu.

Her feet were entangled by a thorny vine held by a xiao, who then hung her upside down and roughly imprisoned her in a stone cage, much like humans would cage poultry.

“Waaah, Mommy, Niu Niu hurts so much…”

Her tender skin had been scratched by the thorns on the vine, with some barbs even digging into the soles of her feet and between her toenails.

Niu Niu’s cries of pain carried far, audible even from Xia Tian’s position!

“Waaah, Daddy, where are you?”

“Wuwu, Grandpa, Gouwa wants Grandpa…”

“Brother, Xing’er is so hungry, I want to eat something!”

Immediately after, as if triggered, a chorus of cries and shouts erupted from the prison cell.

“Wait, these cries aren't from the same person?”

Xia Tian’s expression shifted as he listened closely, realizing that there was clearly more than one child’s voice in the “stone prison,” at least ten or more children crying.

In other words, this stone prison held at least ten children.

The problem was, his territory only had two children, and one had already been rescued, so these xiao must have captured human children from other places?

This meant that besides his territory, there were other human settlements nearby.

And the population there might not be small.

If he could find that settlement, the initial population problem that had always constrained him might be solved.

He might not even need to find the settlement; just these children alone would be enough to help him.

After all, children, like adults, could be counted as “sheltered population.” If he successfully rescued these children, his territory would meet the hundred-person requirement to trigger its “upgrade”!

“But, it won’t be easy to rescue these children.”

Xia Tian’s gaze fell upon a xiao, laboriously carrying a container made entirely of stone.

【Xiao (White)】

【Level】 Six

【Physique】 3.5

【Spirit】 2.2

【Description】 An underdeveloped xiao, extremely weak within its tribe, reduced to a slave.

Level six, with three times the physique of an ordinary human, yet still “underdeveloped,” to the point where it wasn't even qualified to participate in building houses, only fit for slave labor and odd jobs.

The other xiao were indeed larger, almost all above Level Seven, and among them, the one directing this Level Six slave xiao was a “Leader Xiao” of Level Nine, whose name appeared blue under the Eye of Insight!

Around its neck hung a yellow stone pendant, threaded with a rope made of human skin, looking somewhat ancient and mysterious.

“Gili gulu…”

The scrawny Level Six xiao, looking eager to please, presented a cup, presumably made from a child’s skull, to the Leader Xiao. Then, it laboriously tilted a stone container and poured some amber-colored liquid into the cup.

The Level Nine Leader Xiao took the cup and drank it in one gulp, and soon a slight redness appeared on its originally greenish face!

This substance seemed to be alcohol?

These xiao could even brew alcohol!

Hidden in the mist, Xia Tian observed calmly, intending to gather as much information as possible from the xiao’s behavior to decide his next tactical arrangements.

After all, unlike facing the Level Four half-beasts yesterday, this time, humans were at a disadvantage in terms of level.

“Bastards!”

However, the next scene Xia Tian witnessed made him lose his calm and even filled him with extreme rage.

“Guli Xika…”

After taking a sip from the cup, the xiao leader seemed to feel a lack of accompanying food.

So the xiao leader pointed towards the stone prison, and the scrawny Level Six slave xiao immediately ran over, pulled the thorny vine from above, and dragged out a severely injured, dying human child from the stone prison.

Then, it picked up a stone and smashed it onto the child’s head.

With a “bang,” flesh and blood splattered.

Afterward, seeing that the child still had the strength to struggle, the slave xiao raised its hand and slammed the child onto the ground.

Only when the child was completely still, with only its fingertips still slightly twitching, did the slave xiao, with a satisfied expression, begin to boil water in a stone pot, preparing to process the “ingredients”… “Damn it, they’re truly a bunch of beasts!”

Any human with a shred of decency would feel anger when witnessing such a scene of their own kind’s young being brutally tortured and killed by monsters.

This scene ignited a fire in Xia Tian’s heart. If he wasn't worried that the mist’s wide range during the day would make him too obvious to the enemy, and if Wu Song and the others hadn't come along, then acting now would surely alert the enemy and might even lead to them being surrounded. He would definitely have launched an attack already!

Not just Xia Tian, Shen Lian, who was also shrouded in the mist beside him, had fire in his eyes, and the veins on his hand, gripping the Xiu Chun Dao, bulged.

“Shen Lian, give me your saber.”

Xia Tian suddenly said. Although Shen Lian was puzzled, he still handed over the saber.

Then, he saw a golden light emerge from Xia Tian’s fingertips, covering the entire Xiu Chun Dao. After the light dissipated, his saber, which had a large chip from its collision with the half-beast leader’s wolf-tooth club earlier, had transformed!

The blade was completely restored, its sharp edge gleaming with a chilling cold light. A silver beast head adorned the hilt, and the scabbard was embroidered with exquisite and ornate flying fish patterns, delicate and intricate.

“My Lord!”

Shen Lian’s hand trembled slightly as he took the saber.

After all, this was a saber personally crafted by Xia Tian using “immortal magic” for him. He had once seen its design before—it was the very saber bestowed by Emperor Taizu upon the first commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Was there some hidden meaning in the Lord bestowing this saber upon him?

If Xia Tian knew Shen Lian’s thoughts, he would probably be a bit embarrassed. Not to mention that the effect of “turning stone into gold” didn't depend on him, but also, he hadn't actually specified gold for Shen Lian’s Xiu Chun Dao, only silver quality.

After all, considering that after this battle, if the children in the stone prison were successfully rescued, upgrading the territory would immediately consume 1000 fortune points, so it was better to be a bit frugal at this time.

Of course, the most important thing Xia Tian discovered was that although these “xiao” had developed some civilization, understanding how to brew alcohol and build houses,

they did not know how to make and use weapons!

Or rather, they had no need to use weapons at all.

Because as creatures whose normal level would reach Level Seven, these xiao could fight tigers and leopards with just their physique and claws as sharp as knives!

In their own world, they were also at the top of the food chain, with absolutely no need to manufacture weapons.

However, as a human, he would show these hairy, horned beasts today what true civilization was.

Truth always lay within the range of a crossbow bolt!

“Go call the others over. Prepare for battle.”

Soon, the rest of the people arrived. Upon seeing this scene, the group immediately became furious, their teeth grinding loudly!

They were all soldiers trained in military camps. Although the main purpose of their training was for war, the purpose of war was also to protect their own people. Even though Wu Song hadn’t undergone military training, as a head constable, protecting the common people was his duty. Seeing this situation, how could his heart not burn with anger?

Xia Tian knew that their morale was high. He took out “Golden Honey, Blood Replenishing Pills,” and other items, distributing them and having everyone prepare for battle. This battle was not just about saving people, but also about killing the enemy!

“Jiggu jiggu…”

At this moment, the Leader Xiao seemed to feel that the first human child had been imprisoned for too long and was no longer “fresh.” It then directed the slave xiao to change targets. This time, the one pulled out of the stone prison by the slave xiao, tugging on the thorny vine, was none other than Niu Niu, who had just been captured.

“This one is the freshest. ‘Ye’ just caught her… and lost an arm for it!”

A common language phrase came from the slave xiao’s mouth.

Then it picked up a stone, intending to repeat the same method.

Just as it picked up the stone, “Puff!” a crossbow bolt, carrying a powerful whooshing sound and burning rage, slammed violently into its face, causing its ugly, demon-like face, along with its head, to explode. As it fell to the ground, the stone and thorny vine it held also fell back into the stone prison.

Before the other xiao could even react to what had happened,

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… The next moment, a swarm of crossbow bolts, like locusts, flew from the jungle towards the xiao attempting to build houses in the clearing.

Puff, puff, puff… One by one, the xiao were caught off guard, struck in vital areas like the chest and head by the crossbow bolts, and fell to the ground, bleeding.

It should be known that the Divine Arm Crossbow, as the strongest “Mortal-grade” long-range individual weapon, even the black and white jiao pheasant had to avoid its sharp edge. Even though these xiao were as high as Level Seven, once hit in a vital spot, they would also be killed instantly!