Chapter 4: The Fierce Battle Before the Witch's Cottage

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The Tauren shaman reacted with remarkable speed to Li Mingxing’s sudden appearance behind him. Sensing an enemy at his back, he did not even turn around; instead, he swept his totem pole powerfully backward, intending to hurl Li Mingxing away with brute force.

But by this time, Li Mingxing had already finished his maneuver. His scorpion tail had pierced the back of the shaman’s neck.

At the instant the tail struck, a copper needle hidden inside shot forth, injecting the shaman’s vital point with the poisons Li Mingxing had specially prepared.

The Tauren shaman felt a sudden numbness throughout his body, and in the next moment, over a dozen shadowy panthers materialized around him. These panthers bit into his arms and legs, and one of them even sank its fangs deep into his throat.

Seeing their shaman under attack, the other tauren grew tense. Just as Li Mingxing had anticipated, three of them blocked all the **Juren warriors, while the remaining two charged forward, aiming to slaughter all the battle panthers fighting alongside Li Mingxing.

At that very moment, Yin Haitao led his own troops into the fray. Contrary to Li Mingxing’s prior orders, his battle panthers did not attack the two charging tauren, but instead rushed to reinforce Li Mingxing’s position.

Yet Yin Haitao’s arrangement proved highly effective. The two tauren, seeing the oncoming panthers, redirected their fury toward the new arrivals.

Yin Haitao and his elite thieves now stood among the battle panthers, firing at the tauren. Their assault drew the tauren’s full attention, and with bloodshot eyes and thunderous roars, the two tauren charged after Yin Haitao’s group.

Seeing the tauren barreling their way, the panthers and thieves scattered in all directions, vanishing into the chaos. The axe-wielding tauren gave chase without hesitation.

With those two drawn away, Li Mingxing—who had been knocked aside—lunged once more at the shaman, biting down hard.

The remaining panthers attacked in waves, each darting in to bite the shaman before swiftly retreating. So swift were the panthers, and so perfectly coordinated, that in mere seconds, the shaman’s leather armor was shredded and his flesh was torn to ribbons.

Yet the Tauren shaman’s vitality was formidable. Even in this state, he refused to die.

Gritting his teeth, Li Mingxing drove his scorpion tail into the shaman once more. This time, the shaman flew into a berserk rage. He hurled his totem pole aside, dropped to all fours, and his muscles began to swell and bulge uncontrollably.

Li Mingxing was at a loss for what to do, but his panthers reacted instantly. Seeing the shaman’s transformation, they launched a frenzied attack on his head, reasoning that if they could sever it, no amount of rage would save him.

That gave Li Mingxing an idea. Planting his claws on the shaman’s shoulders, he lunged and bit hard at the Tauren’s head.

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Li Mingxing’s powerful jaws tore away half the shaman’s skull in a single bite. No matter how fierce the shaman’s spirit, he was finished. He collapsed, torn apart by the panthers’ relentless assault.

With the shaman slain, the **Juren warriors fighting the tauren felt their morale surge. Singing loudly, they charged the remaining tauren, recklessly driving their spears and iron rods into the tauren’s bodies.

Curiously, the harpies who had been attacking earlier now ceased their assault, hovering before the treehouse as if awaiting new orders.

Li Mingxing observed all this and shouted, “Focus all attacks on a single tauren! Strike from the flanks and rear—avoid a frontal assault!”

Not that his command was necessary—the panthers already understood the best tactics. All strategies favoring their strengths had been etched into their minds from the beginning.

At Li Mingxing’s order, they pounced on the most beset tauren, not all at once, but in coordinated waves of three. After each trio attacked, they made way for the next group. This relentless barrage quickly brought the tauren down.

At that moment, the two tauren lured away by Yin Haitao returned. Seeing their speed, Li Mingxing ordered, “Faster! Take down another tauren, then we’ll be able to handle the last two!”

The panthers responded at once, leaping at another tauren. This time, though, their rush was too hasty and the tauren was prepared—a panther was cleaved in two by the war axe in the first assault.

Li Mingxing had no time to mourn. He joined the attack himself, and the **Juren seemed to understand his intentions. All but those holding off the remaining tauren joined the assault against the two returning foes.

Meanwhile, the three harpies who had retreated to the treehouse took flight again. Li Mingxing noticed that each now carried six of the explosive mines they had tossed before.

Soaring overhead, the harpies hurled their mines into the fray. Whether by skill or luck, the mines always bounced and detonated precisely where the tauren fought.

This time, however, with no shaman left to heal them, the mines proved fatal. When the harpies had spent their stock, two more tauren lay dead, blown apart.

The last two tauren stood no chance against the combined might of the **Juren and panthers. Soon, they too fell, one of them slain by repeated thrusts of spears and iron rods.

With the elite thieves sent to secure the field, Li Mingxing and Yin Haitao, guided by the harpies, approached the treehouse.

Standing at the threshold, Li Mingxing detected a strange medicinal aroma wafting from within. Before he could speak, a voice as soft as a cat’s called out, “Thank you for your help. If not for you, my little house would have been destroyed by those tauren.”

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“It was my duty,” Li Mingxing replied coolly.

“What is duty?” the woman inside laughed. “I know you came here for benefit, but you have helped me nonetheless. It would be remiss of me not to give you something in return. Besides, I want those tauren corpses. Let me offer you a few items as my thanks—and in exchange for the bodies.”

As she spoke, the door swung open. Inside, the treehouse looked like an alchemist’s workshop. At the center stood a large alchemy table, upon which a black cat perched, while a woman in black robes stood with her back to them, gently stroking the feline.

On the wall opposite the door stood a great bookshelf. Li Mingxing could clearly see seventeen lifelike tauren figurines neatly arrayed upon it.

In that instant, he understood why the treehouse’s resident wanted the corpses. He spoke up at once, “No problem—the tauren bodies are of no use to us anyway.”

“Good. Since you’re so generous, I can’t be stingy either. I see you’re a young manticore. I have a poison recipe I’ll give you as a gift for your assistance. As for your companion, I possess a skill for mapmaking—would you like to learn it?”

Yin Haitao answered eagerly, “Yes, I would love to learn that skill.”

“Then your gifts are settled. Now, about the tauren corpses—three were killed by my subordinates. Since you’ve taken their belongings, I trust you won’t mind leaving those bodies to me?”

“Of course. We wouldn’t dream of claiming the ones you slew,” Li Mingxing replied politely, though inwardly he wondered whether this woman was a witch or a cunning merchant.

Satisfied with his answer, the woman continued, “Good. For the two tauren slaves you killed, I’ll trade you two daggers—each is a +1 magic weapon, with the added benefit of slowing poison. As for the tauren singer, he’s a rare material. I’ve only ever slain one myself, so I have little to offer for him. Instead, I’ll let you have one of my harpies as compensation.”

Li Mingxing glanced at the three harpies before him and asked casually, “Does that include their explosive mines?”

“Mines? You mean the spring-loaded attack grenades? Certainly not. I can barely make enough of those for myself. However, I can tell you where the tauren’s main lair is. If you bring me the bodies of their guards, I’ll teach you the formula for those grenades.”

“And if I can’t defeat them?”

“The price per tauren remains the same—bring as many as you can, and I’ll take them all.”