This weekend, Li Ang's team accumulated 80 merit points.
In the last 6 days, Huang Wei handled close combat with assistance from Fu Cheng and Yu Zexi, while Li Ang focused on shooting enemies from a distance and Xi Ming took charge of tracking and scouting.
Xi Ming's keen eyesight and senses helped the team find many strange anomalies and bypassed the ones too powerful for them to handle.
After the team distributed points, Li Ang got 14 points, Huang Wei 22, Fu Cheng 18, Yu Zexi 14, and Xi Ming 12.
According to Li Ang's calculations, he would gain over 50 points in four weeks, sufficient to exchange the next Iron Fist technique.
His archery practice is on hold. With a sigh, he checked the condition of his well-worn arrows; most were reused, and he knew that hunting the anomalies would require careful aim and conservation.
During Li Ang's rest at home, Huang Wei, his team leader, came to see him.
He proposed a new task for us to take.
"We should never miss this request. There is only one remaining spot; two teams have already registered. This request doubles anomaly hunting rewards and adds 200 yuan for each team upon completion of the request. From tomorrow morning, our duty is to escort and protect the Liu family's caravan all the way to Linling town, then return with the caravan the next week."
Li Ang is not sure why the leader is eager to accept the request. After all, it's much safer to hunt near the city outskirts, rather than traveling the highway, where there are more anomalies.
Although he doesn't care because he can escape to another world if he faces danger.
"If the reward money is shared equally, I'm in."Huang Wei smiled, saying,
"It's fine as long as you agree. Besides the reward, the Liu Family is known for providing the best food during the journey. They are wealthy, and they have dispatched two expert warriors to lead their caravan."
Li Ang contemplated the proposal before offering affirmation.
Huang Wei is delighted.
He quickly registered our team for the request to avoid someone else claiming it.
Li Ang woke up early in the morning, prepared for the journey.
The caravan is ready to set out.
There are over forty people with four wagons; two are loaded with goods, and the other two carry families and servants.
The owner of the caravan, Liu Ming, is a fat man. Despite his round physique, his combat strength was of an expert warrior.
The expert leading the group goes by the name Liu Rong and stands at an impressive height of 240cm. His arms are thicker than the legs of an average person.
Li Ang wondered if the Liu family had unique physical traits.
The caravan begins its journey.
No problem was too great for the warriors to solve when they reached half the destination. With nightfall approaching, Liu Rong, leading the group, chose to set up camp for the night.
Groups of warriors rotated guard duty, allowing for periods of rest.
When it Li Ang's team turn to guard, Xi Ming detected a figure moving toward our caravan. It looked like a large beast, so we alerted the others and prepared ourselves.
When all the warriors were awake, the beast's appearance became clear. Purple fur and body towering at 3 meters and weighing more than 1000 pounds, the bear was a sight to behold, its sheer size and presence dominating the landscape.
It's the bear anomaly.
While Liu Ming blocked the bear's path to protect the caravan, Liu Rong directly faced the bear.
Li Ang, curious about how an expert like Liu Ming could move with a round body, almost burst out laughing.
What makes him so speedy?
Like a bowling ball, Liu Ming's body rolled across the ground, exceeding the speed of a horse.
The bear stood face to face against Liu Rong before swinging his palm.
A powerful blow from the bear's paw knocks Liu Rong several steps back, accompanied by an earth-shattering roar.
The roar strangely affected the mind, causing fear. Nearby warriors of second-rate strength or lower stand frozen, unable to react.
The group leaders can handle it. The two experts seem the least fazed by the mental attack.
"Hold the line!" A group leader roared, attempting to rouse his men from their daze.
Meanwhile, the other servants, lacking martial arts training, fainted from fright.
Despite being before the bear, Liu Rong felt no fear from its roar and lunged at it.
The group leaders soon joined him, their spears and swords piercing the bear's thick hide, making numerous wounds.
Enraged, the bear lunged at them, sending one warrior sprawling.
Suddenly, the fight grew even more dire. A werewolf anomaly emerged, attracted by the noise and smell of blood. It leaped at the distracted caravan defenders.
Young warriors, still faltering from the mental attack, were cut down by slashing claws. Servants who were collapsed on the ground died by the werewolf brutality without being aware they had been killed.
A considerable number of young warriors and servants lost their life by its hand.
Li Ang, having overcome the mental attack, seized his crossbow and shot at the werewolf.
Having been struck by two arrows, the werewolf saw Li Ang, evaded further projectiles, and charged.
With a final arrow hitting its target, Li Ang discarded his crossbow, unsheathing his sword to engage with the rapidly approaching werewolf in a deadly melee.
As the werewolf's claw swept at him, he deflected it, using the opportunity to plunge his sword into its throat, killing the anomaly.
The sounds of combat were finally fading. He was surrounded by the gruesome sights of the battlefield.
Turning around, Li Ang saw the bear had fled.
Liu Rong was the most badly hurt warrior, his body is full of many bruises and wounds.
A warrior, his arm severed in a fierce battle with a bear alongside Liu Rong, faced the grim reality that his career as a first-rate warrior might be over.
Fifteen people died, while twenty-one others suffered severe wounds.
Despite the battle just ended, Liu Rong commanded the crowd to loot the bodies and bury the died.
Morality has fallen so low that people scavenging the belongings of corpses is commonplace, and a shallow grave is considered a merciful act of repayment.