At the campsite, Hikiri wasn't sleeping — or rather, he couldn't.
He didn't believe Tony when he talked about the existence of a sect of cannibals.
But after seeing Tony leave alone, Hikiri decided to wait for his return.
…It had now been more than an hour since Tony left. He was beginning to wonder whether he'd been right or not.
As a precaution, he placed a barrier of air around the campsite. It wouldn't stop anyone, but at least he'd know if someone approached.
Ten minutes later, just as sleep was finally starting to take hold, he sensed a disturbance. Someone had crossed his barrier.
He immediately jumped down from the tree and headed toward Lucien, who was sleeping, his spear in hand.
He slapped him twice, sharply, to wake him up.
Lucien, violently pulled out of sleep, reacted instantly by trying to strike Hikiri.
But Hikiri swiftly lowered his spear with a quick movement.
— "Now's not the time for your crap. Someone's approaching," Hikiri said.
Lucien, still annoyed from the slaps, replied:
— "It's probably Tony. He went into the forest earlier."
— "It's not him," Hikiri replied.
— "And how the hell can you be sure?" Lucien asked, suspicious.
— "Last I checked, Tony isn't two meters eighty tall. And the only person who followed him was Dina — that makes two. But this is a group of five approaching."
Lucien stared at Hikiri's impassive face, wondering how he could stay so calm — and more importantly, how he knew all this.
— "Listen to me. Go wake the others and get ready," Hikiri ordered.
— "And what are you going to do?" Lucien asked, more and more nervous.
— "I'm going to test them… see what they're made of," Hikiri said with a smirk.
Without another word, he walked off toward the intruders. Lucien, heart pounding, ran to wake Simone. As much as he joked all the time, this situation chilled him to the bone.
Hikiri moved silently from tree to tree, trying to catch sight of the strangers. A faint flashlight beam caught his attention.
He crept closer. The nearer he got, the more a nauseating stench of dried blood and corpse assaulted his nose.
Then he saw them: five men, all shirtless, wearing only pants. The most disturbing detail was the dried blood covering their mouths.
— "Stop. From here, we split up. You two, follow the scent. Capture them and bring them back to the village. We'll stay here," said one of them, clearly the leader.
Hikiri, still hidden, didn't understand why the leader was splitting up the group.
— "…I know you're there," the leader suddenly said, looking up into the trees.
Hikiri stayed silent.
— "You know, I've been a cannibal since birth. In our village, the smell of death is so strong it took me years to get used to it. And you… you and your friends… you have an exquisite scent. We smelled you from far away. And if you're smart, you've already realized we know your exact position."
The tree Hikiri was perched on began to shake violently. The two men who had stayed behind with the leader were shaking it so hard that Hikiri was forced to jump down.
— "Now that's a surprise. Cannibals and cultivators. That's a new one," said Hikiri, drawing his sword.
— "Don't insult us, or he'll want us to eat you alive," the leader replied with a twisted grin.
— "Calling me a young boy, when I'm sixty-seven years old… I love cultivation. With my face, I look fifteen. Alright, I'll name you — you who are about to die. You, with the scar, you'll be Scarface; you, with that deformity… hmm, judging by your face, I'd say your parents were brother and sister — you'll be Inbred; and you, acting like the big boss, you'll be… Chief," said Hikiri with a mocking, scornful look.
— "YOU… DARE INSULT MY BROTHERS-IN-ARMS… RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME?" the chief roared. "WE'RE NOT JUST GOING TO KILL YOU AND EAT YOU. FIRST, WE'RE GOING TO PLAY WITH YOU. CUT OFF your arms and legs and suck your blood like vampires. Just thinking about it gets me all excited," the chief said, his voice trembling with lust and fury.
— "To do all that to me, you'd first have to knock me out," said Hikiri as he took a combat stance.
— "Now… let's begin."