Chapter 81 81 – Henry's Detection Skills



"Haaaa!"

A tanned girl came out of nowhere and slashed her sword violently behind the bear. Jane came out nearly unscathed from her exchange with the bear other than some bruises. 

The talisman blocked 90% of the bear's attack, and the 10% was only enough to knock her back without inflicting any serious injury.

Since the beast turned toward Ken, it only noticed the incoming woman when the latter shouted, and it only managed to partly turn back to her and raise its arm. 

"HAHAHA, TWO LIMBS TO GO!"

Swordsman's real personality showed in the heat of the moment as she saw and smelt the blood coming from the bear's body. 

'She's a maniac.'

Ken judged and watched the beast fall to the ground, weakened by its severe blood loss, pain, and imbalance from the lack of 2 limbs.

An arrow suddenly pierced its right eye with accuracy, this time without any whistle to act as a warning for the incoming shot. Evidently, Diana came to a range of 100 meters, allowing her arrow to travel silently as long as it didn't meet anything solid on its way.

Ken used the sword style he learned from Annie and left another deep cut on the now helpless bear lying in front of them. To his embarrassment, he only made the beast suffer more when his goal was to kill it off.

With a wide swing of her greatsword, Jane brought it down on the bear's neck, cutting its head off and putting it out of its misery.

"Good job, Ken. It gave us a huge advantage when you crippled its back leg!"

Jane showed a wild smile as she cleaned her sword from the blood that kept dripping from it.

"I could only achieve that thanks to your distraction and Diana's first arrow which blinded its left eye."

Ken replied with a smile of his own as he moved Qi and executed the water technique he always used to clean himself.

*splash*

Ken washed all the blood off Jane's face, clothes, and body, leaving her soaking wet.

"Hey, what's that for?!"

But before she could complain, Ken executed the second part of the technique which made the water hover from her body and fall to the ground next to her.

"Oh, that's a useful water technique for cleaning. Did you master it just for that?"

"Yes, I don't like getting dirty."

Diana, who already stood by their side, looked down at the bloody wounds Jane left behind her and the clean sword stab Ken inflicted on the back leg of the bear. Indeed, Ken's strike only made the blood leak from the bear's wound without any splashes. 

"All right, we can have bear meat tonight. Let's go and get some sleep at the cave."

She stored the bear in her storage ring for later use, and the three went to the cave where the bear lived until lately. Ken's favorite part about the mountains was proven right again; the houses came with food.

"We need to take shifts to guard the cave while the other two sleep. I'm not so tired so I can go first."

Jane spoke and Diana didn't say anything, using silence as acceptance. Ken didn't tell them about his ability to create formations, so the two ladies didn't know it was an option.

While Ken and Diana were sleeping, the bored short girl was sitting at the entrance, prepared to intercept intruders.

"Who is walking there?"

Jane asked loudly while unsheathing her great sword. The noise immediately alerted the sleeping Ken and Diana, making them jump on their legs.

"It's us… Can we sleep inside with you guys? We don't want to get hunted outside."

Miles asked with an awkward smile when he noticed three weapons aimed at him. The two bodyguards didn't think about it in advance, but they couldn't get too far from Ken, so they couldn't search for another cave.

"Ah, it's you guys. Did you have to wait outside until we fell asleep to come here?"

"Sorry, we were unsure whether we could come in."

Miles said apologetically, and Diana barely stopped herself from answering rudely. 

"Since you're here, you should take care of us damsels and stay guard. You can't ask your young master, so just take turns between the two of you."

Jane grinned and went to sleep, leaving the guarding duty to the two bodyguards. Henry went straight inside to sleep, and the talkative guard was left alone at the entrance. With a wronged expression, he remained behind to watch over.

--------

The trio left in the morning after barbecuing the previous owner of the cave while the two men followed from behind. They picked up a few fourth-grade ores and herbs, but they hoped to find some of the fifth grade.

"Young Master."

"What is it?"

Miles and Henry appeared before Ken.

"Henry has a strong affinity with Earth Qi, and he reports he found a strong concentration of Qi west from here. it's a kilometer away in a tunnel leading underground."

Jane looked at the bald man curiously. They have never heard him speak, and she wondered if he only talked to Miles when the two were alone.

"Did he tell you that? Verbally?"

"He told me, but not verbally. We've been hanging out together for 16 years now, but I have never heard him talk."

Miles replied to her question truthfully and soon understood the underlying question waiting to be asked after his strange answer.

"Ah, he uses Earth Qi, his eyes, and some sign language to convey himself, and I understand it somehow."

"Henry, did he understand your intentions correctly?"

Ken turned to ask the mute man and got a nod in response, indicating Miles reported accurately.

"Let's have a look. I will pay you the treasure's price if it's truly valuable."

The bodyguards returned to their position and the three traveled to the west. Ken offered to pay because he understood Henry's intentions; as a bodyguard, he couldn't leave him behind and pick up the treasure. By remaining with him, Ken would have priority over anything they find.