nagpurpolice Chapter 24 Voting
Chapter 24 Voting
Crawling forward, I parted a thicket of bushes, and the view before me was completely revealed.
Beneath the shade of several towering trees, each as thick as a person's embrace, five fierce-looking martial artists dressed in tight-fitting clothes were fiercely fighting a gray-haired ape.
The gray-haired ape was about 15 feet tall, with a robust physique. Its entire body was covered in gray hair like steel needles, and its fangs protruded from its head. Its beastly eyes revealed a cruel and angry expression.
With a roar from his throat, deep, rhythmic sound waves spread out, and each slam of his muscular fists left a crater more than a foot deep.
Qin Lie's gaze swept over the gray-haired giant ape that was displaying its might. Wild beasts were as numerous as hairs on a cow in the mountains and forests. Even as a tiger rider, he couldn't figure out what kind of ape this gray-haired giant ape had evolved from.
However, among the martial artists who were besieging it, Qin Lie felt that two of them looked familiar, and the reason they looked familiar was that Qin Lie had seen them somewhere before.
He quickly realized where he had seen the two men before.
Although the wanted poster only lists the lowest level of arrest warrant issued by the prefecture, the fact that these two individuals were able to successfully escape from the encirclement and suppression by the local government and the imperial guards suggests that they are not weak either.
The five warriors worked in perfect coordination, pulling the gray-haired giant ape away from its target and trying to prevent it from chasing after anyone.
The blades flashed and clashed, their force surging as they struck the gray-haired giant ape. Though they tore through its thick fur, leaving numerous wounds, none were fatal.
Something's not right.
Qin Lie held his breath and observed the battle for a while, his eyes flickering slightly.
From his perspective, the gray giant ape did indeed display great power, beating the five warriors into a sorry state, but its own stamina was also constantly being depleted.
Moreover, given the regenerative abilities of the demonic beast, the wounds left by the broken fur showed no signs of stopping bleeding. If this continued, the gray-haired giant ape would be worn down to death.
However, apes are generally very intelligent, especially those that can evolve from wild beasts into monsters. If they can't win, they won't stay in one place and fight to the death.
Given the gray-haired giant ape's combat strength, if it wanted to leave, these five people wouldn't be able to stop it.
In the territory of Da Zhao, nearly 40% of the great demons that now reside in the deep mountains, forests, rivers, lakes and seas belong to the monkeys, which shows how valuable they are.
Something must have been holding it back, forcing it to stay put and fight these five warriors to the death.
"What could it be?"
Qin Lie surveyed the battlefield, and even within the gray miasma-covered area, he could faintly smell a strange fragrance. As an experienced player, Qin Lie immediately recognized it as the aroma of wine.
With his eyes closed, Qin Lie carefully sensed the source of the wine's aroma. When he looked over again, his gaze fell on a towering cloud tree behind the gray giant ape, about six or seven meters above the ground, with half of a strange rock embedded in it.
The Blood Gate Warrior's blood and qi had reached their peak. Although he wasn't quite at the level of having eyes like an eagle, he was definitely not bad. Near the tree hole in the hollowed-out rock, two small creatures were curled up together.
The fragrant aroma of wine wafted from behind the little thing.
"No wonder this gray-haired giant ape fought to the death; its lair had been raided."
Thinking to himself, Qin Lie glanced at the battle under the shade of the trees again and quietly retreated.
About two minutes later, Qin Lie arrived at the location where the convoy was parked.
"My lord, how is it?"
Upon seeing Qin Lie return, the vigilant crowd remained silent, but none of them spoke, though they all turned their inquiring gazes toward him.
Qin Lie called over several strong guards, quickly lowered his voice, and clearly recounted what he had seen and heard.
Based on Fu Que's performance, even though he was the youngest and it was his first time on an escort mission, he still earned the right to know the news.
"Without further ado, we now have two choices. The first is to stand by and watch them fight it out until everything settles down, and then we can continue our journey."
Qin Lie said, "With the protection of the Mountain Lord Flag and the miasma covering this place, I am 90% confident that we can conceal our whereabouts no matter which side wins."
"What about the second option?"
One of the guards asked in a low voice.
"That's naturally a case of the snipe and the clam fighting while the fisherman benefits. We'll quietly surround them, and when they're both exhausted, we'll suddenly attack and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
Qin Lie responded softly.
The crowd that had gathered remained silent. From the perspective of maximizing their own interests, their choice was definitely the second option: the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman benefits.
However, doing so carries considerable risk. The gray-haired giant ape and the five warriors are not to be trifled with. Once they clash, even a sudden attack could result in casualties.
Their primary task is to escort the herb-gathering convoy back to the county town. If some of their personnel lose their fighting capacity due to unforeseen events on the road, it would be putting the cart before the horse.
However, if both sides in the battle are successfully defeated, the rewards will be extremely generous, not to mention the value that the gray-haired giant ape can produce and the wealth of the five warriors.
The two heads alone, as requested in the arrest warrant issued by the prefecture, would bring in a substantial sum after being handed over for examination.
In short, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
There's not much to say about the first option; it's simply about playing it safe.
According to Qin Lie, the five martial artists were skilled and coordinated well, slowly chipping away at the opponent's health. It would be difficult for the gray-haired giant ape, which had other things to worry about, to win.
They could wait at most an hour until the five warriors who had killed the gray-haired giant ape and looted the spoils left, at which point they could continue on their way.
This way, there is no conflict, and it is safer.
Fu Que didn't care much about the others, but when he heard Qin Lie say that two of the martial artists were on the arrest warrant for the prefecture, he became a little excited.
Crane, a member of the Green Gang, and Scarface Li, who were smuggled blood offerings and were hated by gods and ghosts, were not on the arrest warrants of Gaoyang County.
Those two guys on arrest warrants must be incredibly hated. If he kills them, how much sin ink will he gain?
"The five of us here, including Fu Que and me, are the best in this escort team. If it really comes down to fighting, it will be us. So, I won't beat around the bush, one vote for each of us."
After stating his choice, Qin Lie waited for about a dozen breaths before speaking again: "Raise your left hand if you choose to play it safe, and raise your right hand if you choose to gamble on a windfall."
"I need to prepare for breaking through the Qi Sea barrier, so I will definitely choose to take a chance to make a fortune and increase my foundation."
Qin Lie raised his right hand first: "However, this is just my personal choice and has nothing to do with you. If the votes for playing it safe are more than the votes for taking a gamble, I swear on my life that I will have no objections."
Fu Que didn't wait and see; after Qin Lie finished explaining why he raised his right hand, he also raised his right hand.
"I also choose to take a gamble. Fortune favors the bold. If I were afraid of danger, I wouldn't have chosen to escort the herb-gathering caravan as my mission to advance to the position of trainee Tiger Rider."
The vote started with a score of 0 to 2.