Chapter 50: Warfare

“There is indeed Dragon Qi here. What the villagers said was correct. Those two people and one horse should have come this way,” a soldier reported to the officer while riding his horse.

“In that case, it must be that the Dragon Steed was found by a Merchant who thought it was a treasure, so he took it with him. Tsk, he’s courting death. He didn’t even bother to check whose property it was before daring to touch it?” The officer chuckled, roughly deducing the course and development of events.

Because they suspected that human activity had scattered the divination results, they searched all villages and strongholds within a five-hundred-li radius.

There were two villages in total, and one of them, with more people, had been visited by a very strange Merchant today.

He claimed to be a Merchant, but in reality, his behavior was very peculiar. Not only did he travel with a woman who seemed to have no fighting ability, but he also led a sick, old horse.

He claimed to be there to exchange for some beans for the old horse to eat.

The officer knew that if one were to travel far with a horse, one would surely have prepared some beans and even Medicinal Pills in advance.

Horses are valuable, large, and consume a lot. How could one possibly find supplies on a long journey? What good could the beans from those villages do?

A Dragon Steed doesn’t eat those Trash beans. To properly care for a Dragon Steed, one needs Medicinal Pills, Spiritual Plants, and even some rare minerals and Spirit Stones.

This kind of thing is not something an ordinary person can afford.

Leading an injured Dragon Steed, yet making it eat wild grass and gnaw on soybeans.

No need to think about it; it must be the Dragon Steed they were chasing.

So, continuing to follow the tracks, after discovering the hoof prints, they quickly advanced towards where the Dragon Steed had run.

“Xiao Qi, we found it! It must be on that mountain ahead!” a soldier shouted.

“Go, speed up,” the officer commanded.

“Shouldn’t we wait for them?” a soldier asked.

When he said this, he looked around. Of the original ten brothers, only five remained.

The other five were handling the rear.

Handling what rear?

After all, they had penetrated deep behind enemy lines, having reached Great Deer. How could they not eliminate some of Great Deer Kingdom’s vital forces?

“Let’s wait. Two villages shouldn’t take long. A thousand or so laborers won’t take much time.” The officer waved his hand. Since the Dragon Steed’s location and direction had been confirmed, it wouldn’t be long now.

At most two hundred li, they should arrive by tonight.

After a while, five black-armored knights were seen moving through the darkness.

“Xiao Qi, they’ve all been eliminated. There were two Shamans guarding the strongholds, but one was unranked and the other was ninth-grade. They’ve both been killed, and their heads are here.” The leading soldier stepped forward, dismounted, and walked over, holding two heads in his hands.

“Good. For killing cultivators, you five will be credited with a merit. Preserve the heads well, and I will report to the Merit Officer when we return,” the officer said.

“Thank you, Xiao Qi!” The five immediately cupped their hands, then carefully placed the two bloody heads down.

If Li Qi were here, he would recognize at a glance that one of these heads belonged to the Shaman from the village he traded with that afternoon.

“Let’s go. The hidden danger has been removed, and we’ve gained merit from two heads. If we retrieve that Dragon Steed, we will surely achieve full merit upon our return and receive great rewards!” the officer said, then sharply cracked his horsewhip.

With a crack, the horse neighed, and the group of five swiftly galloped in the direction of the Dragon Steed.

— — — — — — — — — —

Meanwhile, on the other side, Li Qi simultaneously mocked himself for being useless and prepared for possible situations.

Why useless? Of course, because he planned to stand guard and observe the enemy, but after half a night of guarding, he found nothing, while Shen Shuibi, who was asleep, heard them directly.

Truly… I’m such Trash.

However, since they had caught up, he could only go and block them.

He let the old horse take Shen Shuibi away. Neither of them had any combat ability; there was no need for them to be here.

Li Qi stood near the base of the mountain, which was below the altar’s cliff, preparing himself while carefully choosing his words.

If he could persuade the other party with words, then there would be no need to fight.

Matters that could be resolved with words should not involve risking one’s life in a fight, which is very dangerous. Li Qi preferred to solve problems with his mind.

However… he still had to be prepared.

Words could solve problems, but the premise was that the opponent’s blade couldn’t solve him.

If the blade could solve him, no matter how eloquent his words, they would be useless.

He waited, for less than a quarter of an hour.

Then, he saw them.

A troop of black-armored knights!

Every one of them had a horse!

They were fully armored, and their armor had different patterns, but it was entirely black, looking menacing with Evil Qi.

All the knights had long sabers on their backs, held large spears, and had a light crossbow hanging from their waists, covering long, medium, and close ranges. They rode tall horses, at least six feet tall, and the leading officer’s horse was even seven feet tall.

Although not as tall and large as the old horse, they were all full of Spirit and Qi, young and strong, appearing formidable.

Li Qi swallowed hard just looking at this formation.

Damn it, that… Red Cloud represents military disaster.

He originally thought it was bandits or something else. How the hell is it a regular army?

And like this, it’s definitely not an ordinary regular army; it might even be an elite unit.

This truly was a proper “military disaster.”

Li Qi prepared himself, clutching a stone in his hand, and moved two steps to the side.

What if they were just passing by? Just let them go.

Li Qi thought so.

But obviously, he was overthinking.

That troop of soldiers, ten of them, several of whom were radiating Killing Intent, and one even had two heads hanging from his horse, clearly not to be trifled with, quickly stopped after noticing Li Qi.

The troop did not advance rashly. Instead, one of them spurred his horse forward and approached.

“You there, in front, why are you standing in the wilderness late at night?” the soldier said.

Li Qi deliberately made himself tremble, his voice quivering: “L-little… little one, little one is a Merchant, camping here. Earlier, I saw a few military sirs and quickly got up, fearing I would block the military sirs’ path.”

“Merchant?” The soldier frowned, then turned his horse around and quietly whispered a few words to the officer.

The officer understood after listening, spurred his horse forward, and stopped ten steps away from Li Qi, his face kindly: “Little brother, you said you are a Merchant. Did you happen to find a horse earlier?”

Hearing this, Li Qi’s heart sank.

As expected, they were here for the old horse.

So… hand over the old horse? Could it buy his safety? This thought popped into his mind.

However, he immediately shook his head.

Impossible. The old horse’s injuries were probably the handiwork of these people. If he handed it over, the old horse would surely die.

These past few days, Li Qi and the old horse had gotten along very well, and the old horse was also an important aid for him to find Empress Luofu. He couldn’t abandon it.

Then…

“Little one… little one hasn’t seen it.” Li Qi prepared to try and fool them first.

But what he didn’t expect was that before his words even finished, the officer picked up a crossbow bolt and shot it with a raised hand!

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