Chapter 142: Chapter 141 - Strategy to deal with the wolves.
The three of them opened their mouth to shout in agony, but as two had sealed their movement, he also had made it so that they could not speak. Seeing the anguished filled expression on the face of the three of them, as no sound came out of their silent mouths, made all the people frightened.
The three of them looked pitifully at their hands, hoping that someone would pick them up and store them and save it for them. They were thinking of ways that they could reattach them. They were thinking of Fiona's healing cream and other remedies that the Moon Merchant hall offered. At the same time one of them was looking at Xue pitifully and the other two angrily at Aile.
Just when they had some hope and noticed some movement from Xue, Aile picked up the hands and threw them into the different places of the river.
This broke the heart of the three.
Then Aile looked at the last loyal scout remaining and said, "Why don't you go to the other side now and start scouting. The beasts are busy eating now."
The scout did not want to stay here close to Aile, and as if he was being pardoned, the fishes no longer seemed so dangerous. The scout first looked at Xue, this made Aile happy even in such a situation the scout first took Xue's permission before making a move. Xue nodded at him, and he started to move and reached the other side in no time. As Aile said, the beasts did not make an attempt to get him, and he managed to get to the other side safely.
Everyone else had a combination of fear, schadenfreude and a "you deserve it" look at the three traitors.
Aile then looked at the three and said, "I can give you a chance to live if you want."
The three of them nodded.
"Just cross the bridge, and you are free to do whatever you want if you can survive."
Two removed the paralyzing needles from their back.
They slowly walked towards the bridge, clinging on to hope.
The three of them went together in hopes that the other two would divide up the wolves enough to give them a chance to survive. However, without their hands, they soon lost balance and became the food for the wolves. The male wolves fought for their bodies, and each victorious one took a piece towards the centre of their pack.
As the wolves were busy with the three traitors body, One and the scout from Xue side had kept an eye on the wolves and found the location of the queen. As Aile had decerned, the queen was giving birth.
After a while, One returned from the other side with Aile's help with the pufferfish-like beast.
One asked Aile how long the birth of a new pup took. Aile shrugged, as he did not know. With all this information Aile turned to Xue.
Everyone realized that Aile was expecting Xue to make a decision.
Xue looked at Aile and said, "Why do you want to hear the incompetent leader's decision now?"
Everyone was surprised by Xue's bold action.
Aile replied calmly, "Traitors should be removed, after all, we can not allow them to fester and risk the lives of all these loyal people. I have no intention of taking the leading role from you. You have not made a single mistake as far as I am concerned. You have avoided 4 beast packs on the way and dealt with the bandits wonderfully. Even now your method was very safe, but just a little time consuming, if not for the fact that I am in a hurry, I would have let you continue."
Seeing their leader get praised made everyone a little proud.
Xue sighed and mumbled under her breath, 'You have created a problem for me now. How am I going to explain this to that vexatious Phantom now.' Over the years, any mistakes that she did was amplified by Phantom (Fiona). Because of these reasons, she was put in a position where she could not ask for a favour to meet Aile. She even had a premonition, that Phantom will appear again as soon as she hears about the deaths and possible traitor on her team. She would say something like, 'How are you going to face him with such a blunder, I will inform him and beg him to forgive you. Do not worry, you are an important part of our organization, and I will not let anything happen to you.' Shaking her head that once again, she would be denied to see him, she slumped her head in disappointment.
Nonetheless, his ruthless method seemed familiar. His current behaviour once again brought a sense of familiarity.
After that, Xue shook her head and asked One a few more questions. After understanding all the information, she finally came up with a strategy. It was similar to what Aile was planning.
She then said that first, they will move the caravan back, so the wolves do not attack it, and the mounts cannot be injured. Second, the majority of the people will stay with the caravan to protect it in case of an unforeseen event. Third, a small group of more powerful people will cross the river and attract wolves. As most of the wolves will not leave the queens side.
Only a few will be attracted each time, and they could be led to the group of more powerful people and killed slowly. Once the wolves numbers decreased, they will conduct a full-frontal assault.
She was then picking the people to go to the other side. Aile stopped her and told her that four people will go from his side. Aile was planning to go with One, Two, and Hazel. Ellie and Violet said at the same time, "I am going too."
It was not a problem to take the two of them to get some experience fighting the wolves. Therefore Aile did not hinder them. Xue said, she will also go, with the scout that was already at the other side, the two of them will contribute to fighting the wolves from the caravan's side.
Aile came with another simple strategy, he told One to go first and Xue to follow him close by. This way, One would attract the fishes' attention, allowing Xue to cross with ease. One was warned by Aile's shouts, as he dodged the fishes, and pulled their concentration. This allowed Xue to pass with ease. Seeing the success of Aile strategy, and Xue arriving safely to the other side brought everyone some extra confidence.
Then Two went followed by Ellie and Violet. They were trying to use the same method.
Aile and Hazel followed them.
Aile shouted to Two, "Now." Two jumped, and the beast had done a short jump trying to flick two into the water with its tail.
Two dodged the tail and used its fin as a jumping board and passed the first hurdle. Violet, Ellie, Aile and Hazel followed quickly as the first fish landed in the water, to avoid its attack.
Aile shouted to Two that the fishes are waiting in the middle of the river, but they are acting unnatural and that he should be careful. Two jumped, and he was ready to be surprised.
This time the two fishes in the middle did not go for Two and went for Ellie and Violet, who followed him too quickly. The two of them were flustered and panicked, as the light around them decreased, and they felt weak all over. This was due to the large bodies of the fishes and a foul paralyzing smell assaulted them from the open mouths of the giant beast.
As the beasts approached them, they did not back down and took a fighting stance. However, one could easily see that they were not confident in getting out of this predicament. As the mouth of the fishes opened wider to swallow them two blurry lights approached Ellie and Violet.
Crunch
Violet was held by Hazel, and Aile embraced Ellie away from the sharp teeth of the pufferfish beast. With a much faster speed, Aile and Hazel carried them towards the other shore. However, as many people have crossed the rocks, and the fishes splashed and displaced the water, it made the large stones wet. Algae and moss that had grown on the boulders became hydrated, making them very slippery. This alone was not enough of a problem, however, carrying another person along with these problems made it hard for Aile to keep his balance. After a few seconds that made Aile use a lot of concentration, he managed to get to the other side.
However, Ellie had been moved, pinched, kneaded in the process of Aile getting his stability. She was holding on to Aile with an embarrassed expression once again.
Aile then heard Ellie's whisper, "Let go of me before she sees you."
Aile realized that his left hand was holding her upper leg. He let her down from his embrace, as she slid down, his hand passed through her curves.
At this moment, Aile heard the somewhat startled tone of Violet, "Why are you carrying me like a dirty rag and using me as a shield?"
Aile looked and noticed Violet had been drenched by water. It seems that Hazel did not bother with dodging the splashes of water and used Violet as a shield.
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Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone