The rat people were not stupid.
From a certain point of view, they had relatively weak fighting strength. To survive, they had to rack their brains and bring out more intelligence than the warriors of the ancient clans.
And the rat people who could rush out of Black Corner City and enter Collapsed Space Plains were the best of the best.
After Meng Chao's guidance, many of them came to a realization.
Aside from fighting strength, the will to fight was also the deciding factor of victory.
Even if the centaur warriors' fighting strength was ten times stronger than theirs, to the former, there was no benefit in playing a game where both sides were heavily injured when they fought like mad demons.
If they won, it was only natural. At most, they would be able to enjoy the pleasure of killing. They would not be able to get any valuable loot from the rat people. They would also use up a lot of resources and precious time.
But if they lost, they would be doomed forever.
Like all high-grade orcs, the centaur warriors were not afraid of death.
If they were facing the Golden Clan's Lion Tiger Warriors, or the Land of Holy Light's Spellcasters and Night Watchers, the Centaur Warriors would charge forward as if they were on steroids, unafraid of death.
Even if their bodies of flesh and blood were torn into pieces by incomparably powerful enemies, they would not hesitate.
Even if their heads flew up high in the sky, they would still have a satisfied smile on their faces.
Because before they died, they knew very well that their souls would turn into dazzling golden light and pierce the peak of the Sacred Mountain. They would join the ranks of their ancestors in eternal glory.
But in a boring game of chasing after the rat people, they would lose their footing and be dragged to hell by the rat people.
Forget about eternal glory, they would probably end up as clowns and be recorded in funny poems with strange accents. They would be mocked by people for ten thousand years.
To any clan warrior, this was a way to die that would make one shudder with fear just thinking about it.
There were people who would kill people, but no one would do a losing trade. As long as the rat people showed a strong enough attitude, "chasing after the fugitives" would become a losing trade. The centaur warriors would not do anything for Black Corner City, for the Minotaurs and Boars!
"We really have a chance to live!"
After figuring this out, all of the rat people's expressions and temperament instantly changed, as if they had been reborn.
They were also not afraid of death.
But if they could see the hope of victory, or at least the hope of heroic sacrifice, it would always cause the burning flames of war to burn even higher.
The bear pelt and the bone club's gazes changed again when they looked at Meng Chao.
It was as if they were looking at the officers, witch doctors, and priests of the Bighorn Army, filled with awe.
"You, you are …"
The round bone club hesitated for a moment and stammered.
"My name is Harvester. I'm a servant soldier in Blood Skull Coliseum. I was once the captain of Ice Queen Ice Storm's personal guards," Meng Chao said readily.
Along the way, he carefully observed the rat people following him.
He discovered that most of them were slave workers who originally lived in Blackhorn City's Foundry Area.
There were also a few slave soldiers from other arenas.
But there were no servants or workers from the Blood Skull Arena.
Regardless of whether it was the slave workers, odd-job workers, or servant soldiers, none of them could enter the Blood Skull Arena to watch the exciting fights.
Moreover, it was only in recent months that Ice Storm had recruited a large number of slave soldiers to form its own battle force.
Over the past year or so, she had been moving around alone. She did not have any teammates or subordinates.
Hence, Meng Chao was not worried that the rat people in front of him would obtain more clues through his identity as the captain of Ice Storm's personal guards.
Just as he expected, many of the rat people in the area had heard of the leader of the Blood Skull Arena's four aces, Ice Queen Ice Storm.
They knew that she was a ruthless person with a fierce reputation.
But they had never been to the arena to watch Ice Storm's fight.
They did not know that Ice Storm was not skilled in commanding battles. Her personal guard captain should not know so many things.
They instinctively felt that since Ice Storm was a ruthless person with a fierce reputation and her personal guard captain was so calm, they would only have a chance of survival if they did as he said!
"My master is a Snow Leopard Warrior. He is not from the Blood Hoof Family, and for a long time, he has not been able to obtain the trust of the person in charge of the Blood Skull Arena. Not long ago, we were attacked by him, and our servant soldier squad was split up. We were sent to work under my master's former enemy," Meng Chao explained to Round Bone Club and Old Bear Skin.
"Of course, we did not want to follow our new master and become cannon fodder. While we were feeling lost, we ran into the Great Horned Rat Deity descending on Black Corner City.
"Honestly speaking, before this, I knew nothing about the Great Horned Rat Deity.
"So, even if I escaped Black Corner City while being surrounded by the rat horde, I was still worried and did not reveal my identity completely.
"At this moment, I realized that if we don't treat each other with sincerity and work together, only death awaits us.
"So …"
His words completely dispelled Old Bear Skin and Round Bone Club's doubts.
Of course, they had never doubted Meng Chao's loyalty.
On one hand, they were just insignificant fugitives who were bound to die.
Exposing his identity for a few hundred fugitives?
There was no need for that.
On the other hand, they were filled with fervent faith in the Great Horned Rat Deity. They did not believe that there would be any rat people who would abandon themselves to depravity and do evil deeds after receiving the Great Horned Rat Deity's blessings.
Meng Chao's suggestion was accepted by the two soldiers from the Great Horned Rat Deity.
The other fugitives obeyed Meng Chao's suggestion. They found a rather dry patch of grass that was a little further away from the bloody battlefield and lay down with their clothes on.
Naturally, they could not fall asleep.
It was especially so in the dead of night when everything was silent. The screams from the distance were even more shrill, and they were like frozen steel needles that stabbed into their ears.
"Someone was running around at night, and the pursuers happened to notice the rustling sounds in the grass," Meng Chao said.
"Even if the warriors' eyesight is good, they won't be able to see their own fingers when it's late at night. As long as we don't make too much of a ruckus, the pursuers won't be able to notice us until dawn arrives."
Meng Chao did not know whether his words were effective or not.
Or whether they were exhausted after running for days. Their tense nerves relaxed a little, and fatigue surged into their brains like a flood.
Soon, dozens of rat people fell into deep sleep.
However, even in their sleep, their eyeballs moved at a strange frequency.
The tremors in their brain waves were different from the usual deep sleep after they drained themselves to their limits.
They were still dreaming.
A thought appeared in Meng Chao's head. He closed his eyes slightly and used spirit energy to massage his cerebral cortex so that he could enter a light sleep.
In his daze, he saw the awe-inspiring Great Horned Rat Deity look like a god descending to the mortal world under a bright red sun. He inspected the steel formation formed by millions of rat people.
When he opened his eyes again, they were like two burning fireflies. His gaze was as sharp as a blade.
'The information I implanted into the rat people's brains last night is still subtly influencing them.
'These rat people might still dream of the Great Horned Rat Deity and the Great Horned Army tonight.
'Because of it, when they wake up tomorrow morning, their fighting spirits will become even firmer.
'It's no wonder then. It's a power that can shake the order that has ruled over Turanze for one thousand years. I'm really looking forward to meeting the person who created this power!'
At that moment, Haifeng opened his eyes beside Meng Chao.
They looked at each other, but neither of them spoke. Instead, they held their breaths at the same time and perked up their ears to listen to all the breathing and heartbeats around them.
Once they made sure that all the rat people, including Old Bearskin and the round bone club, were immersed in the beautiful dream created by the information implanted into their brains, the two of them quietly left the camp.
Even though Meng Chao had spoken confidently just now and seemed to be certain that he would win …
But both he and Haifeng knew that what he was talking about was just a theoretical possibility.
'Lie on the ground and wait for the centaur warrior's iron hooves to trample on you. If you're lucky enough not to be trampled, then point your sword upwards and stab the centaur warrior with all your might.'
Basically, the probability of this sort of good thing happening was the same as' using a slide shovel to push down a tiger, then pointing your sword upwards and using the impact of the tiger's pounce to cut open the tiger's stomach '.
Of course, if they placed Meng Chao and Haifeng on one side of the scales of victory, even the smallest of chances would make their dreams come true.
However, they had to find more rat people to confuse their pursuers and hide the existence of these two 'weights' — no, 'weights'.
Fortunately, the darkness that was practically impossible for the rat people and low-grade warriors was not too big of a problem for elites like Meng Chao and Haifeng.
They poured spirit energy into their mouths, noses, eyes, ears, and the hair on their bodies. All the movements within a circular area of hundreds of meters, including the heat released by living things, surged into their sensory nerves.
It allowed them to instantly lock onto hundreds of rat people.
These rat people were trapped in the darkness, fatigue, pain, and the pained screams that rose and fell in the distance. They curled up in the bushes and were in a dilemma.
Originally, the only fate that awaited them was to wait for their deaths and for the dawn of bloodshed to arrive. Then, the centaur warriors would catch up to them and kill them all.
But now, in a daze, they heard a voice that seemed to come from the clouds, but also from the depths of the abyss. It sounded like it came straight from their heads.
"Stand up."
The seemingly solemn voice said, "Continue forward. Hope is right in front of you!"
These exhausted and bleak fugitives, who had almost given up on their lives, all widened their eyes.
For a moment, there was nothing but dead silence. The stars and the bright moon were all blocked by the dark clouds. They could not see or hear anything, as if they were mired in a boundless swamp named 'death'.
But the next moment, the voice that seemed to contain light rose from the depths of their minds and hearts again.
"Stand up and gather your courage."
The voice said, "Move forward! Move forward!"
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