Chapter 381: Doubling the Numbers

“Brother Lin, what if we hide over there?”
Liang Ru pointed to a small grove about a hundred meters to the left of the main road and explained, “It’s a bit far, but it’s spacious and well-hidden. Even if someone comes, we can hide separately without any conflicts. I heard that the Hundred-Wing Bird is a high-level spiritual bird—even the Military Testing Institute can’t handle it. The members of the major families surely won’t be able to defeat it in no time. We can wait and strike when the situation allows. Besides, if the Hundred-Wing Bird gets injured and flees, taking the path through the grove, we can use it to trap it there.”
“That’s a good idea!” Lin Dong nodded with a smile. Glancing behind, he saw that the large caravan still hadn’t arrived.
“Then let’s do it. Brother Lin, shall we go now?” Niu Hong asked.
Lin Dong nodded and led the way to the grove. Such a short distance was nothing to him. With his strength, he didn’t need to hide at all. Even if he couldn’t defeat the Hundred-Wing Bird, he could protect himself easily—just stand among the crowd and let the sons of the major families test the bird’s strength. If he could defeat it, he could leave easily; if not, he could wait for them to tire it out before intervening.
The reason he agreed to hide in the grove was to prevent Niu Hong and the others from being dragged into trouble. In the southern part of the city, the people from the Hua and Liang families already knew about his relationship with Niu Hong and the others. Even other families and some individual warriors had seen them many times. If they tried to seize the Hundred-Wing Bird now, the Hua and Liang families, along with all the warriors who had seen him and Niu Hong in the southern part of the city, would surely focus their pursuit on Niu Hong and the others.
Lin Dong believed that Niu Hong and the others would never reveal his identity, but he also didn’t want them to get involved. Now that they followed Lin Dong’s lead, the four of them entered the grove and walked about ten meters inside. Then Liang Ru turned to look at Lin Dong and asked, “Brother Lin, how about we stay here?”
Lin Dong approved, “The location is great! We can see what’s happening on the main road through the gaps, and we can hide if anyone approaches.”
“Since Brother Lin agrees!” Niu Hong said, “Xiao Ru, take a look at how to set up traps.”
Liang Ru nodded and began to inspect the area.
“Do we still need to set up traps?” Lin Dong was surprised.

“Of course. If a Hundred-Winged Bird really flies here, with traps to hold it back and Brother Lin’s strength, maybe we can actually catch it,” Niu Hong nodded emphatically.
“Alright, you guys set up the traps. I’ll be going for now.”
Lin Dong called out, walked another hundred meters deeper into the forest, and stopped. He took off his hat and robe, threw them both onto the mobile counter, then took out a set of black clothes. After changing into them and channeling spiritual energy into his meridians, Lin Dong’s figure blurred as he instantly turned into a black shadow, swiftly moving through the forest. A distance of a hundred meters was covered in the blink of an eye.
Niu Hong and Hua Wuqian, following Liang Ru’s instructions, were already scrambling up and down the banyan trees as thick as water buckets. Ropes, stones, sleeping pills… all sorts of strange items kept being taken out of the cowhide bags they carried, leaving Lin Dong dazzled.
“Who’s there?” Niu Hong was the first to spot Lin Dong and jumped in fright.
“It’s me!” Lin Dong smiled. “I just changed clothes. Keep setting up the traps.”
“You scared me!” The three calmed down and resumed working hard.
After about half an hour, the traps were finally ready. With Lin Dong’s keen eyes, he could see that these traps might be able to trap first- or second-tier spiritual beasts for a while. But against a seventh-tier Hundred-Winged Bird, they were practically useless. Though the dense network of ropes seemed impenetrable, it could be easily broken through at the bird’s flying speed. Of course, Lin Dong wouldn’t say that to discourage them.
“Brother Lin, look! The caravan is coming,” Hua Wuqian suddenly exclaimed in alarm.
Lin Dong turned to look. On the road, carriages were moving slowly forward, with major families stationed on both sides. Behind them, groups of people stretched as far as the eye could see—roughly a thousand people in total.
Perhaps feeling they had arrived, the caravan stopped, and the entire group halted as well.
“Forcing our way won’t work. Hope the Hundred-Winged Bird is strong enough,” Niu Hong said, hiding behind a banyan tree and gripping the trunk. He chuckled, “If we’re lucky, it’ll fly right toward us, already exhausted from flying—that would be great.”
“Boss, you really can dream! It would be even better if the Hundred-Winged Bird, since it likes you the most, stubbornly follows you and lets you kill it at will,” Hua Wuqian joked.
“Anything’s possible. Maybe it will really happen just as you say,” Niu Hong replied leisurely.

“If it really happens like this, we’ll be rich,” Hua Wuqian said, licking his lips. “We don’t even need to exchange it for silver. With a seventh-tier spirit bird by our side, who would dare trouble us?”
“Of course,” Niu Hong chuckled. “Only a fool would kill a Hundred-Winged Bird just to exchange it for reward money.”
Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh. “When it comes to dreaming, you’re second to none—Lingnan City can’t even come close to being first.”
The two laughed nervously.
“Look, someone’s coming,” Liang Ru’s voice rang out.
Everyone looked toward the main road. At the back of the group, indeed, four people were heading toward the small forest.
“Brother Lin, what should we do?” Niu Hong turned to look at Lin Dong.
“It’s fine. They can’t see us,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “If they do spot us, the forest is big enough, and there’s no conflict between us. If that happens, I’ll step in and work with your traps to make sure they’re taken care of.”
The three relaxed slightly, keeping a close eye on the approaching four.
Lin Dong’s spiritual energy slowly flowed outward. Before long, a faint barrier formed around the four people. This barrier completely blocked their voices, so unless someone saw them with their own eyes, no one could detect their presence.
Soon, the four reached the small forest and disappeared inside. They were about a hundred or two hundred meters away from Lin Dong and the others.
“Good, they’re quite far away,” Hua Wuqian whispered.
Niu Hong and Liang Ru nodded firmly, clearly relieved as well.
After that, no more groups came by.
In the sky, after the sun reached its zenith, it slowly began to tilt westward. Just as it was about to cross halfway, Lin Dong, who had his eyes closed, suddenly raised his head.
In the sky, two small black dots were growing larger.
Channeling his spiritual energy into his eyes, Lin Dong’s gaze flashed with surprise.
The black dots resembled the Hundred-Winged Birds described by Hua Wuyue—only there were not one, but two.
“Great fun ahead!” Lin Dong couldn’t help but smack his lips.
“Brother Lin, what’s wrong?” Niu Hong asked.
Lin Dong pointed toward the two black dots and said calmly, “The Hundred-Winged Birds have arrived—and there are two of them.”
“Two?” The three widened their eyes and tried to look in the direction Lin Dong indicated, but couldn’t even spot a black dot.
“If there are no sect elders among the scattered groups behind us, this hunt for Hundred-Winged Birds will likely end in heavy losses,” Lin Dong said thoughtfully. Without a sect elder at the seventh level or above, he wasn’t sure he could even catch one.

After all, if one is caught, the other will definitely not spare it. Lin Dong was confident that with one Hundred-Winged Bird, he could easily evade everyone’s pursuit, but he had no confidence at all in outrunning the other one. Once trapped by the Hundred-Winged Bird and surrounded by various sects and individual warriors, he might end up returning empty-handed.

“Well… um…” Hua Wuqianmian looked anxious, hesitating to speak.

Lin Dong smiled and said, “I’m friends with Young Master Hua, and he works as a chef at our Lin’s Inn. I can’t guarantee anything about others, but if the Hua family is in danger, I won’t stand by doing nothing.”

“But…” Hua Wuqianmian still couldn’t calm down. He had no confidence in Lin Dong’s strength and didn’t dare say so outright. At best, Lin Dong’s abilities could only fend off two members of the Liang family who were at the eighth or ninth level of the Lingdong stage. With such strength, trying to rescue others would be like throwing meat buns at dogs.

“Don’t worry. My strength is more than enough to protect the Hua family,” Lin Dong said, no longer hiding anything from Niu Hong and the others. “Back in the south of the city, I just didn’t want to reveal my strength and get noticed.”

“Really?” Hua Wuqianmian showed signs of relief.

“Of course. You’ll know when the time comes,” Lin Dong said with a smile.

Hua Wuqianmian nodded. He had no other choice but to trust Lin Dong.

Soon, the descendants of various families and individual warriors noticed two small black dots growing larger in the sky, causing immediate commotion.

A moment later, even Niu Hong and the others could faintly see the two black dots.

“Dismount and form a formation!”

After realizing the black dots were two Hundred-Winged Birds, the heirs of each family gave orders in unison.

Quickly, the scattered formations of each family became organized.

The individual warriors at the back also took out their weapons, looking up nervously as the Hundred-Winged Birds descended. Their hearts raced. No one expected that after two successful attacks on the caravan, the Hundred-Winged Birds, who liked to share with their friends, had brought along companions this time.

Chirp…

With a harsh, shrill cry, the two Hundred-Winged Birds flapped their huge wings and dove at the two carriages at the front of the caravan.

The Wang family, whose carriages were targeted, responded to their heir’s shout as all their descendants leaped up, swinging their swords and knives at the birds.

The sound of clashing weapons filled the air. Though unharmed, the two Hundred-Winged Birds let out pained cries from the sharp blows.

Giving up on the carriages below, the birds spread their blue-gray wings slightly and began circling, flapping them at the Wang family’s descendants nearby.

In an instant, chaos ensued—people fell backward, bones cracked, screams and cries of pain filled the air. Any member of the Wang family who came into contact with the wings of the Bird of a Hundred Wings was flung backward.

“Back off!”
After dodging the overwhelming wing attacks, the player heir shouted and took the lead in retreating.

The Bird of a Hundred Wings didn’t give up. It flapped its wings and spun as it pursued the fleeing Wang family members.

“Run to where there are more people!” The Wang family heir once again led the way, charging toward the nearest Ma family group.

This move immediately made the Ma family furious, and it also made the other major families realize the severity of the crisis.

“If we try to fight them separately against those two Birds of a Hundred Wings, we’re doomed. We must unite and fight together,” shouted a disciple from the Yang family.

Everyone immediately agreed with this.

“Tell those behind us to join in too. Let them know there are two Birds of a Hundred Wings. If they think they can take advantage, they won’t get anything once our families are defeated.”

“Gather together at the back. Those stronger should work together to hold off the Birds of a Hundred Wings, while the rest try to attack them with bows and crossbows.”

Faced with the crisis, the major families quickly set aside their differences and reached an agreement.

Behind them, among the scattered warriors in small groups, half of them rushed forward after being informed by people sent by the major families. The other half retreated, clearly preferring to save themselves rather than confront the Birds of a Hundred Wings head-on.

The major families and the warriors who rushed forward weren’t fools either. They tried to separate the Birds of a Hundred Wings while luring them toward the bystanders.

Without unified command, it was impossible to coordinate all forces, and chaos ensued quickly. Countless people were flung away by the Birds of a Hundred Wings, and countless swords and blades also caused them to cry out in pain.

A hundred meters away, Niu Hong and the others stared in shock at this battle that far exceeded their comprehension. From time to time, they let out gasps or shouts.

Beside them, Lin Dong looked grave, his gaze shifting rapidly between the two Birds of a Hundred Wings. Despite being over a hundred meters away, he could clearly see that despite being surrounded by nearly a thousand warriors, neither bird showed any signs of injury.

Time passed, and half an hour later, beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on Lin Dong’s forehead. His spiritual energy was also depleting rapidly. If it weren’t for his spiritual energy circulating at twice the normal speed, it would have been exhausted by now.

From a distance of a hundred meters, Lin Dong consumed the most spiritual energy. Helplessly, he had promised Hua Wuqian that no one in the Hua family would get hurt. Whenever the hundred-winged birds attacked the Hua family members, he had to expend a great deal of spiritual energy to use Yu Wu Jing to pause their attacks from afar. Moreover, when spiritual swords of the third or fifth rank were thrown at the hundred-winged birds, he had to control them to crash into those swords. With such a long distance and the strength of the seventh-tier hundred-winged birds, Lin Dong’s spiritual energy was drained rapidly each time.

What made Lin Dong even more frustrated was the fact that there wasn’t a single person at the seventh or eighth stage of the Mind Realm. Even the stronger ones could only dodge the attacks of the hundred-winged birds; no one could confront them head-on.

If this continued, Lin Dong was certain that they would all be wiped out sooner or later.

Niu Hong, his face pale, swallowed hard and asked anxiously, “Brother Lin, shall we just keep waiting here?”

“Wait a bit longer!”

Lin Dong shook his head helplessly. If things went on like this, he would have no choice but to abandon the idea of waiting for the hundred-winged birds to be severely injured before capturing one. After all, he couldn’t just stand by and watch nearly a thousand people die here. He could only act to temporarily block off two hundred-winged birds, allowing everyone to escape first.

The chaos continued, and some people began to think of retreating. Unfortunately, the hundred-winged birds, enraged by the countless cuts from swords, had no intention of sparing anyone. Those who tried to flee in all directions faced certain death given the speed of the birds.