Chapter 5 Cultivating Stockholm Syndrome

  The rainy season on the continent of Heir has not yet ended, and the heavy rain continues to fall. Lightning occasionally illuminates the gloomy sky, producing a huge roar, as if it were really intimidating some kind of demon. In the southwest direction of the village of Sart, at the foot of the mountain, the warriors of Sart gathered together to disperse and eliminate the demons in the forest.

  The gathering place is a cave at the foot of the mountain, which has always been a key place for the people of Sart to take care of, due to its excellent geographical location, and every year there will be a large number of demons gathered here.

  The various monsters that gather here are not a good phenomenon, not only can they easily produce some monsters that do not usually appear, but also cause some bad phenomena, such as awakening the powerful existence on the mountain top, a powerful monster that has been sleeping for over a thousand years, it's better to let it continue to sleep.

  Now, in the gathering place not far from the cave, more than 300 Sart warriors have gathered. Although the number is not many, it is indeed a strong and unstoppable force. All young warriors from the three villages nearby have gathered here, and they will complete this year's Virgin Cleaning under the leadership of the village's brave warriors.

  After witnessing and participating in the killing of a monster that encompasses all types of monsters in the cave, these young warriors can truly become a lone warrior, and this ritual is called Utak by the Sart people, meaning Blood Bath.

  "Hey, Sal." A line of twenty Saldian warriors approached the camp with heavy footsteps and greeted the sentry warrior, saying: "You seem to have brought a lot of good young men this year."

  "Haha......Luk, you guys are late this year." Sal said with a silly grin: "The others in your village have already been drinking honey wine by the mouthful at the campsite!"

  "We encountered a six-meter giant and some Minotaurs, it took some effort." Sal said with some pride, pointing to the skulls on the backs of several warriors: "But for us, it's just a matter of effort."

  "Alright, alright, Rukh." Sarl glanced at the row of cow skulls and giant monster heads, then looked Rukh up and down, chuckling. "Your favorite breastplate is gone too, and you still have the nerve to say it was just a bit of trouble? You take that thing out every year to show off."

  "No way, the giant's strength is too great." Luke said without any sign of being exposed, his face not red or nervous: "At least this proves that it was a good armor. Alright, I won't argue with you anymore, I'm going to find Aruba now."

  "Aruba?" Sal was taken aback, turning his head to look around the camp and saying: "Didn't Aruba go with you guys? I heard others say they went with you."

  "Hasn't he come yet?" Ruk frowned, looking somewhat uneasy. "He and Kurru parted ways with us halfway, saying he was going to take a look at the west side of the village."

  "Kabinda's west face?" Sarl stroked his long beard, which was braided into a large braid, and thought: "If it's not too deep, there should only be some low-ranking devils and weak demons, at most some not-too-strong magical creatures, and mostly single ones."

  "Yes." Luke nodded and said: "So, they should be arriving sooner than us."

  "Well, with their skills, there shouldn't be any major issues." Sal spread his hands and said: "Maybe they just got lost, you know how Kururu is a bit of a navigation idiot, Luk probably just got temporarily confused by him, but he should come back to his senses soon."

  "Alright." Ruk reminded by Saru, also remembered that he had a friend who was bad with directions and said somewhat helplessly: "Then let's wait, hopefully they can make it to this year's purge. By the way, who else hasn't arrived?"

  "It's just Robbito and his gang left, you know they're coming here on the road with all those disgusting slimes and cave assassins..." Sal and Ruck said as they walked into the camp...

  At this time, Kurou wiped the rain from his face, looked around at the seemingly identical terrain, tossed a dagger into the air, and then ran off in the direction the blade pointed.

  "Try it." Mo Yan held up a roasted earth spirit leg and encouraged Aruba, who had not eaten for a day: "It tastes very good, don't believe me? You can ask No. 1!"

  "Ah!" Number One looked at the roasted leg of lamb, still dripping with fresh oil and fat, his mouth watering as he nodded vigorously. He didn't even think about whether this was something he had chopped off from one of his own unlucky kind.

  "Look, Number One has nodded." Mo Yan said with a face full of eagerness: "Although I've never tasted it before, but it shouldn't be much different from that, right?"

  "Humans, not you monsters." Aruba, who had suffered a non-trivial injury and hadn't eaten for a day, looked much weaker, completely unlike the vigorous life force he had when he was first caught.

  "Is that so? That's the problem with humans." Mo Yan said somewhat helplessly: "You see, most of our demons are man-eaters. So, if humans don't eat demons, how can this material relationship be balanced? Humans eat less and less, while monsters become more and more numerous, sooner or later there won't be enough humans for the demons to eat."

  "Hmph! We'll wipe you monsters out sooner or later." Aruba said with a vicious tone, but his lack of strength made the words sound somewhat unconvincing.

  "This isn't the case now, is it?" Mo Yan waved the leg of lamb in his hand and said: "Anyway, I only know that if you don't eat something, you won't even have the strength to speak."

  "I'd rather die than eat the corpse of a monster that drives people mad!" Aruba shouted, looking at Mo Yan who was trying to force-feed him the giant spider's leg.

  "Oh, I see." Mo Yan tossed the Golden Toad's leg to Number One, who had been craving it for half a day, and said: "Why didn't you say so earlier? If you hadn't told me, how would I have known that eating the Golden Toad would drive people crazy? Now I've learned something new."

  Mo Yan took out a few stale breads from behind his back and placed them in front of Aruba, but he was just teasing Aruba from the very beginning.

  "Since you've prepared the bread, why didn't you bring it out just now." Aruba reached for the bread, saying somewhat angrily. He saw that Gangcai was just teasing him earlier.

  "Slow down!" Mo Yan suddenly opened Aruba's hand and said: "Did I say you could eat for free?"

  When Mo Yan spoke, Aruba retreated to his stupid corner, closed his eyes and ignored Mo Yan. The dignity of a warrior made him unbearable to such insults.

  "Don't be silent anymore." Mo Yan picked up a branch and poked Aruba, saying: "You see, this grain was stolen from your village with great difficulty. It contains the souls of over 200 innocent dead and their blood. You just eat it like that, can you bear the responsibility for those dead warriors?"

  "The logic of robbers." Aruba glared at Mo Yan, saying in a voice that was already somewhat hoarse: "Those are the grains we cultivated, you bunch of robbers stole the fruits of others' labor and still have the face to say it out loud."

  "Is your throat a bit hoarse?" Mo Yan took down the canteen from his waist and handed it to Aruba, saying: "Take a drink of water."

  Aruba took over the water bag and looked at it. The pattern on it was so familiar. Needless to say, this water bag was also stolen from the cow-headed man in front of him, from the village.

  "Bandits." Aruba took a swig of water and then stuffed the canteen into his bosom.

  "Water bag is coming!" Mo Yan waited for Niu Yan, looking at this captive who dared to rob him of his things and shouted: "You are a captive! That water bag is mine!"

  "That's Village Head Morocco's water bag, he used it for over a decade, when did it become yours?" Aruba didn't plan on paying attention to Mo Yan's request at all, closed his eyes and adjusted his sleeping posture, completely ignoring Mo Yan from then on.

  "You're cruel!" Mo Yan shouted in anger, got up and grabbed a pesky goblin that was in the way, slamming it to the ground and turning it into a pile of minced meat. Ignoring the goblins fighting over food behind him, he walked out of the depths of the cave, and for some reason, those few buns were left untouched.

  "Haha...” Mo Yan walked to the entrance of the cave and sat back on the stone block where he had spent a lot of time, staring at the rain curtain for a while before suddenly bursting into laughter and saying: "Foolish humans, forever unaware of what Stockholm syndrome is! (See note 1)"

  Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages or abuse victims develop a paradoxical emotional bond with their captors or abusers over the course of the captivity.

  Recommend and collect it!

  It's all meaningless now, nobody has any motivation anymore.

  The person who stole from the village is Gao Zhengzhong.

  "Bandits." Aruba took a swig of water and then stuffed the canteen into his bosom.

  "Water bag is back!" Mo Yan waited for Niu Yan, looking at this captive who dared to rob him of his things and shouted: "You are a captive! That water bag is mine!"

  "That's Village Head Morocco's water bag, he used it for over a decade, when did it become yours?" Aruba didn't plan on paying attention to Mo Yan's request at all, closed his eyes and adjusted his sleeping position, completely ignoring Mo Yan from then on.

  "You're cruel!" Mo Yan shouted in anger, got up and grabbed a pesky goblin that was in the way, slamming it to the ground and turning it into a pile of minced meat. Ignoring the goblins fighting over food behind him, he walked out of the depths of the cave, and for some reason, those few buns were left untouched.

  "Hahaha……" Mo Yan walked to the entrance of the cave and sat back on the stone block where he had spent a lot of time, staring at the rain curtain for a while before suddenly bursting into laughter and saying: "Foolish humans, forever unaware of what Stockholm Syndrome is!" (See footnote 1) Footnote 1: Stockholm Syndrome (Stosyndrome), also known as the Stockholm Effect or Hostage Syndrome, refers to a situation where victims of a crime develop feelings for their captor, even going so far as to help them. This emotional response causes the victim to feel affection, dependence, and even assist the perpetrator in harming others. ———————————— Requesting recommendations! Requesting collections!

  Is anyone even motivated anymore?!