Zhou Kun saw that the passage in front of him was manifesting signs of activity again. He rubbed his hands in excitement and counted the days, after which he realized that he could not only bring back a lot of grapes this time, the watermelons in the other world would also be ripe.
Zhou Kun carried Anbabu in his arms. Ever since Anbabu arrived there, he had been in a state of hibernation. He wondered whether Anbabu would awaken once he took it back to the other world. It was currently Zhou Kun's most useful living transporter.
Zhou Kun walked on the path to the manor, but he discovered that the situation was dreadful. There were dried up bloodstains all over the ground, and he wondered, 'Could it be that the two nations that were preparing for war when I last came here had already gone to war?'
The entire surroundings, which had been ravaged by the war, told Zhou Kun that his own conjecture might be true. In this case, how are Hughie and Naby doing?
Zhou Kun was about to reach Naby's manor. However, he could see from afar that there was a flag at the manor, which he could not recognize. A large number of noble guards were still patrolling around.
The current situation was not at all optimistic, and Zhou Kun did not plant to take the risk and enter the manor. Instead, he turned around to leave, planning to go find out some news in Lan City.
All of a sudden, the quick shuffling of footsteps could be heard in the quiet pathway. It seemed that something was approaching Zhou Kun.
Before Zhou Kun had a chance to dodge, a familiar figure came flying from the bushes.
It was actually Naby.
Naby originally looked rather hopeless when she saw that there was someone in front of her. However, when she saw who he was, she exclaimed with joy, "Mr. Cohen, you're finally here!"
"Naby, what are you doing here? Where are the others in the manor?"
Naby looked extremely haggard. Her thick robe had already been a little tattered, and her messy blonde hair didn't look as lustrous as it used to be. Her large, watery eyes were dark, and she had plenty of abrasions that have just healed. It was obvious that Naby had not had a good time lately.
"Mr. Cohen, it's too late to talk. Come with me." She did not explain much to Zhou Kun and instead began sprinting while taking him with her.
"Naby, why are you running?"
Soon, Zhou Kun knew why Naby was running away, as the sound of numerous hoofs came from the forest behind them. They seemed to be approaching.
A few arrows darted out from different directions, obstructing Zhou Kun's and Naby's paths.
Looking at the arrows that were deeply submerged into the earth, Zhou Kun's face turned pale. Had Naby not taken him with her and fled, the arrows would have landed on his body.
However, even so, an arrow still cut Naby's arm, and the pain of the wound caused the little girl to let out a scream.
As soon as she stopped for a moment, a few young archers who were nobles had already arrived beside the two of them.
"Untouchable, our target is this little orc, so get out of here if you don't want to die together with her," one of the noble archers said in a hostile manner.
"Don't let him go, we've been playing with this little orc for a few days, and we're getting a little bored. It just happens that we can move on to the next target after we finish her off today," said another young archer who then aimed his bow and arrow at Zhou Kun.
"Hmph, I'm not interested in such ugly prey."
After hearing their conversation, Zhou Kun pieced together the information and understood the general course of events. It seemed that they had been chasing Naby for a few days, and to them, Naby the orc was not a living being at all. She was just prey for them to make fun of.
"Mr. Cohen, I'll cover you, hurry and flee!" In Naby's opinion, she was just a lowly orc, but Mr. Cohen was different. He was a great benefactor to Teacher Hughie and the other residents of the manor whom he had helped a lot.
Seeing that Naby was shielding him with her skinny body, it was impossible for Zhou Kun to say that he wasn't touched.
"Hahahaha, little orc, you'd better take care of yourself first!" The few nobles in front of them laughed as though they had just witnessed something amusing. They were guffawing in an extraordinarily haughty manner.
"Wind, hear my call..." Naby summoned a wind blade which scraped against the horses belonging to the nobles on the opposite side.
The horses were suddenly attacked, causing a riot. Soon, a loophole was revealed in the siege.
Naby wanted to escape with Zhou Kun.
However, before they could even take a few steps, Zhou Kun and Naby were surrounded by spikes that emerged from the ground. They were trapped and had nowhere to hide or escape.
"I didn't expect that this little orc would actually know magic."
"They say that orcs are inherently stupid, but I didn't expect this little orc to be so special. Now, I can't even bear to kill you." Although he said so, Zhou Kun realized that the murderous intent in their eyes did not diminish at all.
"Alright, I'm also a little tired of this hunting game. Let's just do it and finish these two off!" the teenager in charge said sluggishly as if Zhou Kun and Naby were nothing more than livestock like ordinary chickens or sheep.
A few of them had already pulled their bowstrings back and their cold arrows were pointing directly at Zhou Kun and Naby. At this moment, Zhou Kun felt as if Anbabu was about to wake up in his arms.
At the next second, Zhou Kun exclaimed coldly, "Anbabu, burn them to ashes!"
The dragon's roar reverberated, and the people in front of them were burned down completely, leaving no ashes behind.
"Mr. Cohen, that's a giant...giant dragon!"
Naby was clearly startled by the sudden appearance of Anbabu, which looked back at the ugly little orc in front of him with its huge eyes. It frightened Nabi to the extent that she started hiding behind Zhou Kun.
"Naby, now that we're out of danger, can you tell me what exactly happened?"
Upon hearing Zhou Kun's question, Little Naby finally discovered that her life wasn't at risk anymore.
After being tensed up for the past few days, she suddenly felt relaxed. Naby, who was never courageous in the first place, instantly burst into tears. "Mr. Cohen, I… I've finally seen you after waiting for such a long time. Not long after you left, the war broke out, even before the stipulated date. Mage Hughie brought the people in the manor with him when he fled to Iron Empire for refuge. I was afraid that you couldn't find us, so I stayed behind to tell you the news."
"Old Hughie left you, a child, here all alone?"
"I… I secretly stayed behind." Naby clearly knew that it was wrong of her to do that. Hence, she hung her head lower and lower as she spoke.
Zhou Kun didn't know what he was feeling at the moment. He had never thought that there would be such a person in the other world who would stick around with no concern for her own safety, just for the sake of relaying a message to him.
At this moment, Zhou Kun finally felt his connection to that world. As an outsider, he initially only wanted to get some fruit from the other world and transport it back to the real world where he could sell them to earn some money. That was his priority even though wars had broken out in the other world because of him. However, he was suddenly filled with guilt.
However, Naby's and Hughie's appearance made him understand that the other world was not just a playground for him to earn money. There were countless people who were busy making a living, and they only had a simple request, which was to lead a stable and peaceful life.
His interaction with Naby and the rest was none other than a mere transaction where he had brought them an abundance of food. Yet, that alone made Naby willing to give her life up to protect Zhou Kun.
At that moment, something had changed in Zhou Kun's heart.