At the same time, but the crazy

Chapter 608 The Three Li Brothers

The tip of the stone spear scraped against the rough whetstone, making a teeth-grinding sound, and stone chips fell down in a flurry.

Li Er, shirtless, focused intently on sharpening his only weapon. The dim light in the thatched hut outlined his slightly thin but well-defined back, typical of a young man.

In the depths of his hazy memory, before Li San and Li Si were born, his grandfather's wrinkled face would always appear in the firelight.

Grandpa said that when he was a child, the people in the tribe used metal weapons that gleamed coldly. Their homeland was not on this barren land, but on a fertile land with abundant water and grass, where heavy ore could be dug out in the nearby hills.

The tribe's hearth fire burned all night long, and the red-hot metal was hammered into sharp swords and sturdy farm tools.

At that time, the tribe still had tens of thousands of people and an army specifically tasked with hunting large magical beasts.

They can plant whatever they want in the fields, and no owner will come to confiscate most of the harvest. Nor will there be any superior races that will casually crush a fellow human being for their own amusement.

That was the golden age of humanity.

Li Er didn't believe it.

He felt that his grandfather was just bragging, weaving a vague dream for himself in this cruel and suffocating reality.

Otherwise, they might not be able to survive at all.

All he knew was that his grandfather had eight children, but only his father survived.

The rest either died of disease or starvation, and many more were dragged away like livestock by the lords of the various tribes when taxes were insufficient, becoming meat to fill their stomachs.

His mother and his elder brother Li Da both disappeared in this way.

Li Er didn't even dare to dream of such a dreamlike life.

His only thought was that today's hunt would be fruitful, and that he would get a large enough prey.

In this way, after handing over most of their flesh and blood as taxes, they might still be able to leave a few bones for their two younger brothers.

They had been hungry for two days, and the last piece of grass root that could be chewed with a sweet taste was now slowly digesting in his stomach.

Just as the sharp edge of the stone spear finally revealed a hint of coldness, two thin figures blocked the doorway of the thatched hut, completely obscuring the gray sunlight outside.

"What are you...doing?"

Li Er squinted, his voice trembling slightly.

Standing at the door were Li San and Li Si.

They each held a sharpened wooden spear in their hands, which, although far less sharp than Li Er's stone spear, could still be used for thrusting.

That posture was clearly also for hunting.

"Boss, we're all going to have to face this anyway. If we don't pay the taxes this time, the three of us will probably be turned into meat. Why don't we go together? There's strength in numbers, and maybe we'll get lucky and hunt something big?"

Li San and Li Si exchanged a glance and forced a smile. Li San's voice was a little hoarse from hunger, but it was very steady.

Li Si chuckled and nodded vigorously.

Li Er fell silent. Only his heavy breathing could be heard in the thatched hut.

After a long silence, he finally spoke in the same hoarse voice:
"I'm the second oldest, not the oldest. Don't call me by the wrong name."

After saying this, he stood up and walked out of the thatched hut first. His two younger brothers immediately followed behind him.

Li Si muttered to himself:
"We really don't remember our boss at all. You're our big brother."

Li Er paused for a moment, but did not turn around; he simply shook his head.

“At that time, the taxes were not paid in full, and according to the rules, they had to choose from women and children. That night, the eldest brother cut his own throat with a stone. He died for you, so we must not forget him.”

The smiles on Li San and Li Si's faces instantly froze, turning serious.

They stopped talking and silently followed Li Er to the entrance of the tribe.

There were already a dozen or so men scattered around, and then seven or eight more arrived, making a group of more than twenty. This was already a third of the adult males in the tribe.

There were no shouts, no instructions.

The elderly, women, and children who remained in the tribe looked at them with numb, lifeless eyes.

Watching the group of men silently walk into the forest that had devoured countless lives.

Li Er, Li San, and Li Si are three brothers, a rare occurrence in this team.

Most of the others were already all alone.

They survived only because their father was the tribe's best hunter, and he could trade enough prey to keep his family alive.

However, as the prey around the tribe became increasingly scarce, the taxes demanded by the tribal leaders increased, and the number of people in the tribe who became meat also increased.

Some, unable to bear the burden, chose to flee, but this was a grave crime under the laws of all races. If one person fled, the entire race would be slaughtered, and they would be tortured to death with the cruelest insect torture or magic.

Therefore, whenever fugitives appeared, the clan chief could only lead his men to capture them and then offer them up as the next batch of taxes.

This led to a sharp decline in the tribe's population, and people became indifferent, with some even stealing their neighbors' life-saving food.

This vicious cycle leads to fewer prey to be hunted and less tax revenue to be paid.

After walking for about half an hour, the three brothers broke away from the silent main force.

The surrounding forests had already been completely looted, so they had to venture deeper and try their luck in more dangerous areas.

After walking for a while, a commotion suddenly arose in the woods ahead, with branches and leaves shaking violently and cries of panic escaping.

The three immediately ducked and hid behind a thicket of bushes. Moments later, a dozen figures emerged from the woods in a disheveled state, fleeing in their direction.

They were dressed in magnificent clothes, but covered in mud, clearly belonging to one of the myriad races. The one in the lead, a long-robed member of the myriad race, seemed to sense something, abruptly stopping and shouting fiercely in the direction where Li Er and his companions were hiding: "Come out, you people in front! I see you!"

The myriad races behind him immediately showed fear and looked ahead warily.

The long-robed figure, panting heavily, roared, "We have not invaded the Elven forest territory! We were merely hunting on the outermost edge! The man behind me is the son of Duke Ryanta of the Golden Lion lineage of the ancient orcs! We beg our Elven friends to show mercy and spare us; we will repay you handsomely in the future!"

Before he finished speaking, several muffled thuds came from behind him, and several of his followers, with arrows stuck in their bodies, convulsed and fell to the ground.

A young man with brilliant blond hair and a nose shaped like a garlic bulb was tightly protected by two guards, clutching his head and letting out terrified howls.

The three Li brothers were instantly drenched in cold sweat. They knew perfectly well that the Lord of Ten Thousand Races was addressing them.

"I'm going out... You all run back immediately, don't go back to the tribe, whatever you do, don't..."

In the darkness, the three men stared at each other in terror. Li Er forced out a whisper, as if he were the eldest brother, and it was his responsibility to keep watch here.

Before he could finish speaking, Li San seized the moment when Li Er turned his head, a resolute glint flashing in his eyes. He suddenly swung the wooden spear in his hand and struck Li Er hard on the back of the neck with the heavy shaft.

Li Er groaned, his vision went black, and he fainted.

"Carry your older brother on your back and leave! Leave now!"

Li San lowered his voice and shouted at the stunned Li Si,
"Remember, don't go back to the tribe! Run to the deepest part of the forest! Go! Go now!"

Li Si was completely stunned, but the situation before him didn't allow him to think too much. As tears welled up in his eyes, he gritted his teeth, hoisted the unconscious Li Er onto his shoulder, and turned around, darting backward like a startled rabbit.

Li San glanced back at his brother's disappearing figure, then took a deep breath, raised his hands, and stood up from the bushes, humbly calling out as he walked:

"Greetings to all the gentlemen."

After saying that, he knelt down and buried his head deep into the cold soil.

When the fleeing races saw a human suddenly emerge, they were first surprised, then their faces lit up with wild joy.

They didn't even glance at Li San, passing him directly and continuing their frantic run out of the forest. Hearing their receding footsteps, Li San felt a surge of wild joy.

But this joy did not last long.

Suddenly, all the races stopped in their tracks, for before them, in all directions, a cold, eerie light appeared... it was the moonlight reflected from the sharp edges of arrows.

In the trees, in the grass, and on the ground, at least a hundred agile elves were raising their longbows and aiming them at them.

At this moment, all the races dared not move and could only stand frozen in place.

The two guards beside the blond, bulbous-nosed youth, as well as the long-robed member of the myriad races, all emitted different colored extraordinary spiritual light, yet dared not make any unusual movements.

In this encirclement of death, any resistance seems futile.

"Raise the bow!"

A cold, emotionless female voice rang out in the woods.

The moment the order was given, ten streaks of light shot out like bullets, instantly turning the last ten members of the myriad races' ranks into pincushions, not even having time to scream.

The remaining races roared in despair.

"Wait a minute, Sister Barna, we can't kill that human, let him go."

The surrounded races, their faces ashen, desperately raised their weapons, preparing for a final, desperate struggle. Just then, at this critical moment, a clear, melodious voice suddenly rang out.

The bowstring, already fully drawn, was not released.

Upon hearing this, the long-robed member of the myriad races reacted the fastest. He swung his magic staff sharply, and an invisible force instantly pulled Li San, who was kneeling on the ground, in front of him, like a shield.

"Let us go!"

The long-robed races roared fiercely.

"Otherwise, this human is doomed!"

The surrounding elves were all somewhat puzzled, their gazes fixed on a certain spot in the darkness.

There, a dark elf with skin the color of obsidian was talking to a light elf with skin as white as moonlight.

A moment later, the cool, clear voice called Barna rang out again:

"Let them go."

The elves hesitated for a moment, but upon being commanded, they slowly lowered their bows and arrows, their figures gradually disappearing into the shadows of the forest.

The myriad races who had escaped death were both shocked and horrified. The robed race tightly bound Li San with invisible power, retreating step by step, and then the speed increased. The others also came to their senses and followed closely behind, running frantically towards the edge of the forest.

Soon, they rushed out of the forest boundary and came to the open grassland.

All the races collapsed to the ground, as if their bones had been removed, gasping for breath.

Li San was bound by that force, unable to move even a finger, and could only lie stiffly on the grass.

Afterwards, the races that had escaped death finally came to their senses, looking at Li San with some curiosity and beginning to ponder why the elves had held back.

Elves are known to kill anything that dares to venture deep into the forest.

The blond, bulbous-nosed youth didn't think much of it. He helped Li San up from the ground, greeted him warmly, and even called Li San his savior, promising to repay Li San's life-saving grace.

Upon hearing this, Li San was overjoyed, because for the Lord of the Myriad Races, as long as he showed some kindness, his village could be saved.

Seeing this, the followers behind the blond, bulbous-nosed youth revealed eerie smiles...

(End of this chapter)