Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 166: Shock and more shock
Red Hair and Dawn walked side by side, their steps hurried, with Benny following behind them.

The training ground was some distance from the stone chamber in the back mountain. The villagers they encountered along the way all lingered briefly on Hongkou and Po Xiao when they saw them.

The fact that there was an intruder today is quite rare for the village.

The closer they got to the back of the mountain, the more unsettled Hongkou's emotions became.

Elon, Xuefeng, Jeff, Haji, Kunjie, Gavin, Gaoge...

These names represent not only former comrades-in-arms, but also a past shared at the lighthouse.

The two Guiyuan warriors guarding the stone chamber nodded to Hongkou and her companions upon their arrival: "Hongkou, Dawn, uh..."

The person behind me looks somewhat familiar, but I can't quite place their name right now.

Hongkou nodded, her gaze fixed on the tightly closed metal door: "Thank you for your hard work. Instructor Wulan asked me to take them out."

"Yes, Zhang Heng has already informed us." A soldier immediately placed his hand on the panel next to him, and the metal door opened.

The sound of the sliding door was particularly clear in the silent passage, startling the hunters sitting or leaning inside the stone chamber.

Everyone instantly became alert, their eyes all turning to the light streaming in through the doorway.

The first thing that caught their eye was a head of striking red hair that remained dazzling even in the dim light, and a face they knew all too well.

"Captain Hong... Captain Hongkou?!" Xuefeng was the first to exclaim in shock. He struggled to stand up, but staggered due to the shackles and his injuries.

Jeff, Haji, and the others all stared wide-eyed, somewhat incredulous.

There's a huge difference between hearing the news that Hongkou is alive and seeing her in person.

Instructor Elon slowly stood up, looked at the tall figure at the door, and his lips moved slightly.

A thousand words stuck in my throat, finally turning into only a sigh: "Hongkou..."

Hongkou's gaze swept over the seven people in the room, taking in the expressions on their faces.

Her gaze lingered for a moment on Instructor Elon's graying temples, then swept over Xuefeng's bruised cheeks.

Then, she smiled at everyone.

“Instructor Elon, Snow Peak… everyone, it’s been a long time.” She winked at the people inside, “It’s a good thing you didn’t hurt anyone in the village, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to let you out.”

“Hongkou…you, you’re really still alive…” Xuefeng choked up.

“I’m alive,” Hongkou interrupted him.

After saying that, she turned to the Guiyuan warriors who stood at attention with their guns and asked, "Can their shackles be removed now?"

The Guiyuan warrior met Hongkou's gaze and remembered Zhang Heng Wulan Aodeng's instructions.

After a slight hesitation, he nodded: "Okay, Hongkou."

He stepped forward, took out a key, and began to unlock the metal shackles binding the wrists of Elon and the other six men one by one.

Xuefeng moved his wrists, which were finally free, feeling the blood flowing smoothly again, and looked at Hongkou with a complicated expression.

Jeff, Haji, and the others rubbed their wrists, their tense bodies relaxing slightly, but the wariness and probing in their eyes did not diminish.

Instructor Elon looked at Red Hair, the one who had succeeded him as commander of the Wilderness Hunters.

He had countless questions in his mind: how she survived, the village…

But at this moment, he simply spoke in a deep voice, with a hint of barely perceptible apology and relief: "Hongkou, it's so good to see you're alright."

Hongkou smiled and shook her head at him: "Let's go, this isn't the place to talk." She stepped aside to make way for him, "I'll take you out first, and we can talk about the details later."

Her gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Xuefeng's still somewhat swollen face, and she added.

“There are skilled healers in the village…we’ll have them take a look at your face injury later.” Hongkou shook her head again, “I’d better go find some medicine for you.”

They would definitely be unwilling to let Jiu Ge treat their injuries, and even if they asked her to, it would make her unhappy.

"Hongkou, you'll be in charge of these people then," the Guiyuan warrior said to Hongkou.

Hongkou nodded to the two of them: "Yes, thank you for your hard work."

The Returning Origin Warrior waved his hand, indicating that it was nothing, and then the two of them left directly.

Watching the two Origin Warriors leave, the Hunters also walked out of the room where they were imprisoned.

The hunter who had just stepped out immediately saw Dawn standing to the side, followed by another low gasp.

"Dawn breaks! And you too..."

Dawn smiled and nodded at his former teammates: "Didn't expect that, did you?"

"This is truly unexpected, even though the one called Zhang Heng had already mentioned it."

When they saw Benny following at the back, they were completely stunned.

Everyone was quite surprised to see that Benedict could stand upright without assistance.

“Benny?! And your leg…” Haji exclaimed.

They clearly remembered that Benny lost both legs during that ground mission.

Benny looked at his former comrades and smiled.

He patted his healthy leg, then pulled up his trouser leg: "Boss Yang cured me."

Xuefeng and Haji, as if they were looking at a rare treasure, squatted down in front of Benny and touched his legs from left to right.

"Wow, is it really made of flesh? What kind of prosthetic is this? It's so realistic!" Xuefeng exclaimed.

Benny felt extremely uncomfortable being touched by these big men and took several steps back.

"This isn't a prosthetic leg, it's a real leg. Boss Yang's source potential seems to be the healing type; as long as there's still a breath left, he can bring you back to life."

What is the potential of the source?

"And who is Boss Yang?"

"That's amazing, he could bring someone back from the brink of death?"

One question after another was thrown at Benny, leaving him unsure which one to answer first.

Instructor Elon's gaze swept from Red Hair and Dawn to Benny, and then, recalling what Ulan Aodeng had said earlier, the high wall of preconceived notions in his mind was rapidly crumbling.

He asked in a hoarse voice, "Hongkou, what kind of place is this... exactly?"

Red Hair looked at Elon and said slowly, "This place is called Dragonbone Village. As you can see, it is a home built on the ground. People live here, protect each other, and are trying to find a way to fight against the Mana ecosystem."

Upon hearing what Hongkou said, Xuefeng and the others stood up and looked at Hongkou.

Hongkou paused, her gaze sharpening slightly: "Lighthouse... Instructor Elon, you're not just here for reconnaissance this time, are you?"

Elon's expression changed slightly, and he sighed, "You know everything... Yes, the day before yesterday, that kid Mark must have seen you, and then yesterday we went to the place you left to look for you."

"Wait!" Hongkou suddenly frowned. "You mean Mark?!" "He went down to the ground? What happened?! Is he alright?!"

Seeing that Red Hair was suddenly losing control of her emotions, Elon quickly said, "Mark is fine, he's at the lighthouse now."

“He firmly believed that you were still alive, so he secretly ran into the car the day before yesterday to hide, hoping to find you on the ground.”

Hong Kou breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Mark was alright. Although she was angry that Mark had secretly hidden in the car and gone down to the ground, she felt that she couldn't stay angry after learning that he wanted to find her.

"This brat."

Seeing that Hongkou's emotions had calmed down, Elon continued, "Afterwards, I reported the situation to the city lord to confirm the condition of the survivors on the ground, and that's how it ended up like this, which triggered the conflict."

He glanced at the injury on Xuefeng's face and added, "We...we're sorry."

Xuefeng lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry, Captain, we..."

Hongkou waved her hand, interrupting his apology: "The past is over the moment I set off. I am now Hongkou of Dragonbone Village."

The Lighthouse had a history of conflict with ground survivors, something Red Hair knew about, and she could roughly understand Elon and the others' actions.

“But you trespassed into the village and were imprisoned according to the rules. I am currently in charge of you temporarily. Until it is confirmed that you will not pose a threat to the village and until the boss or Zhang Heng makes a final decision, you need to stay by my side and abide by the village rules.”

Elon took a deep breath and nodded. "We understand. We're sorry to have troubled you, Red."

Indeed, Red Hair of the Lighthouse had died from that day on, unaware that there were still human survivors on the surface of this continent.

Hongkou hummed in agreement, then turned to Po Xiao and Benny and said, "Po Xiao, you and Benny go and finish today's field report. I'll take them to settle in, and while we're at it... let them see the village."

Po Xiao looked at Hong Kou and said, "Okay, see you later."

Then Dawn looked at everyone and said, "Instructor Elon, everyone, see you later."

The hunters nodded, puzzled.

Hongkou said, "Come with me. Remember, don't make any unnecessary movements, otherwise..."

They silently followed Hongkou out of the stone chamber where they had been imprisoned for most of the day.

When they emerged from the mountain pass and saw the orderly village surrounded by greenery, the seven hunters were once again deeply shocked.

Neat houses, smooth roads, the distant sounds of children reading and shouts from the training ground, and the villagers coming and going, looking at them like they were monkeys...

All of this was completely different from the ground they perceived as a place filled with death and despair.

Elon watched all this in silence. Before coming here, he had thought that most of the people on the ground were barbarians who would do anything to survive.

But the orderly, vibrant, and warm village before him completely overturned his expectations.

"Is this... really the ground?" Kun Jie murmured to himself, almost unable to believe his eyes.

Haji looked at the children playing freely in the open space, the old man playing chess, and the figures on the training field in the distance.

His eyes held a complex expression: "Have they... always been like this?"

Hongkou followed his gaze and said calmly, "No, not always."

“Every brick, every tile, every blade of grass and every tree here was built with everyone’s own hands and protected with their lives. Before the establishment of Dragon Bone Village, everyone experienced battles that were far more brutal than could be imagined on the lighthouse, and lost many comrades.”

She turned to look at Elon, Xuefeng, and the others: "But it is precisely because we know the pain of loss that we understand the meaning of protection."

"Here, as long as you have a breath left and want to live, you will not be abandoned. The elderly can spend their old age in peace, children can learn and grow, and soldiers can protect their homeland. Everyone has their own place and value."

"Here, genes are not considered, there is no distinction between the upper class and the lower class, and people can live freely with the people they love."

Her words struck a chord with the hunters.

At the lighthouse, old age and serious injury signify the end of value, a long journey, and abandonment.

Individual emotions and desires seem insignificant in the face of collective survival.

Here... we place more emphasis on the meaning of living itself.

Hongkou did not lead them deep into the village's core; they mainly walked along the outer areas.

Even so, what they saw and heard was enough to overturn their understanding.

She would occasionally stop and chat briefly with the villagers she encountered, her tone familiar and natural, showing that she had completely integrated into the local life.

“Everyone…has their own value…” Jeff repeated the sentence softly, his eyes somewhat dazed.

He thought of the faces on the lighthouse that had disappeared due to injury, illness, or old age, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Just then, a clear and melodious eagle cry rang out.

Everyone looked up and saw two magnificent eagles swooping down from the sky above the village. One of them folded its wings and landed steadily on the eaves of a house not far away.

The other one flew towards them, circled above Red Hair's head once, and let out a few short cries.

Hongkou raised her arm, and the eagle landed gracefully, tilting its head and curiously observing the group of unfamiliar visitors.

“These are Maido’s family members,” Hongkou explained, gently stroking the falcon’s feathers.

“Maido is a very good little girl. Zhang Heng, whom you met before, is her father, Ulan Aodeng.”

"Family? Is this a chicken?" Gavin asked, puzzled.

“This is a falcon, and it’s very intelligent,” Hongkou said.

Just then, the falcon that had landed on the house flew over, seemingly holding something in its talons.

It landed at Red Bean's feet, loosened its paws, and a small bundle of white packaging fell to the ground.

Hongkou bent down to pick it up, opened the package, and found two tubes of ointment inside.

“This is…” Hongkou was somewhat surprised.

The falcon cooed twice and pointed with its beak at Xuefeng's swollen cheek.

Hongkou paused for a moment, then realized what was happening and couldn't help but laugh: "Was it Maiduo who asked you to deliver this? Thank you."

She nodded her thanks to the falcon, and the falcon then flapped its wings and flew away, satisfied.

Hongkou handed the medicine to Xuefeng: "Here, this is for treating bruises. Apply it to your face, and the swelling should go down by tomorrow."

Xuefeng reached out and took the medicine, looking in the direction where the falcon had disappeared, then at the medicine in his hand, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"We trespassed, give us back our medicine."

Hongkou didn't explain much, but continued to lead the way, saying, "Let's go, I'll take you to my place to rest for a while."

"These things can't be explained in just a few words. Besides, some information requires the boss's permission before I can tell you."

Elon and the others exchanged glances, seeing complex emotions in each other's eyes. As Hongkou took a step forward, they all silently followed.

Hongkou led the silent group toward the small house in the village that belonged to her and Po Xiao.

(End of this chapter)