Chapter 702: Night Raid
Chapter 702: Night Raid
September 25, 2017
The man had been in the secret passage for a long time, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. When he rushed out, even though the room wasn't particularly bright, the sudden light still blurred his vision. He couldn't see clearly, but he acted based on his hazy sight.
Without a clear view, he lunged at a blurry figure without hesitation.
At this moment, the man who had just emerged from the secret passage wasn't exactly agile. His movements were weak and feeble, and it was obvious he had put all his strength into this attack. In such a state, there was no aura to speak of, only the desperate aura of a trapped beast fighting to the death.
This kind of offense posed no threat to Lu HaiKong. On the contrary, even a casual counterattack from Lu HaiKong might have been enough to slap this exhausted man to death.
Fortunately, Lu HaiKong's vision was blurred, while his opponent's was not. Even without the upgraded Celestial Eye Technique, Lu HaiKong didn't need to rely on his eyesight. He could still discern that the man who had rushed out was Li Xiong, the very person he had been desperately seeking.
It was precisely because of this that Lu HaiKong didn't slap away the man who had foolishly attacked him.
At this moment, Lu HaiKong's eyes lit up with joy as he reached out and grabbed the spear Li Xiong was thrusting towards him.
"Li Xiong, it's me!"
Li Xiong, startled by the sound of Lu HaiKong's voice, froze. His exhausted face then relaxed, and he slumped to the ground in relief.
Seeing this, Lu HaiKong quickly stepped forward to support Li Xiong. He took out a Minor Life Pill he had prepared earlier from his pocket and fed it to the barely conscious Li Xiong.
After swallowing the pill, Li Xiong's condition improved significantly, but he was still barely conscious. His face turned slightly red, and after catching his breath, he managed to speak in a trembling voice, "Lord... inside... there are still more people..."
Lu HaiKong was taken aback by Li Xiong's first words. After confirming that Li Xiong was not seriously injured, he stood up and headed towards the secret passage.
Beyond the secret passage was a dimly lit room of about ten square meters. Lu HaiKong's eyes were like lightning, and he could clearly see over a dozen figures in the room. However, he keenly sensed that many of these figures had been dead for a long time.
Among the dozen or so members of the Black Wind Legion, only three were still alive, and even they were mostly unconscious. Lu HaiKong sighed and went inside to carefully carry out the three living members one by one.
These members of the Black Wind Legion were mostly from the Fire Battalion, and they were all extremely loyal to Lu HaiKong. If they knew that Lu HaiKong would personally carry them out of a desperate situation, they could have endured the darkness and held on until this moment. Perhaps more of the dozen or so deceased members of the Black Wind Legion could have survived.
Unfortunately, they didn't know.
Lu HaiKong was a protective leader who could be ruthless, violent, and domineering towards enemies. However, he had never treated his subordinates with such cruelty.
In this situation, Lu HaiKong displayed a rare moment of an iron man's soft side.
After carrying out his three surviving subordinates, Lu HaiKong stood in the secret room, feeling heavy-hearted as he looked at the over a dozen corpses for a while.
"Farewell, my friends," Lu HaiKong murmured. He then brought a brazier from the room and gathered the dozen or so corpses together. After bowing deeply, he turned and carried Li Xiong and the three surviving members of the Black Wind Legion on his back, leaving the mysterious place.
As Lu HaiKong departed, the brazier tipped over, and the dozen or so corpses of the Black Wind Legion members burst into flames.
...
Borderland Grassland, Wind Spirit Valley, Meng Qu's Village.
After returning from Lu HaiKong's place, the more influential people from various Qin villages in Wind Spirit Valley had gathered here.
Lu HaiKong's compromise and Meng Qu's unsuccessful identification had cleared some of the suspicions against Lu HaiKong and his group. Although they had not yet fully gained the trust of the Qin people, at least Lu HaiKong had started to doubt whether someone else had been responsible for the previous night's incident.
This wasn't entirely impossible. Although Wind Spirit Valley was deep in the grassland, it wasn't some utopian paradise. There were still many conflicts among the Qin people living there.
Of course, these conflicts were rarely internal. They were mostly external, as the Qin people in Wind Spirit Valley only numbered about ten thousand. In contrast, the tribes outside the valley often had populations in the tens of thousands, and they all had their eyes on Wind Spirit Valley. In such a situation, where they were surrounded by enemies, wouldn't infighting only make them more impatient?
Therefore, their usual targets of conflict were the external tribes that coveted Wind Spirit Valley.
The Wind Spirit Valley is a picturesque place with lush greenery and abundant water, making it an ideal spot for anyone. However, this attractive location had been occupied by a group of Qin people, causing resentment among the outsiders.
For centuries, the Qin people had fought countless battles around the valley, forming generational grudges with various outsider tribes. So, when this incident occurred, many Qin people suspected the nearby outsider tribes.
But this suspicion was quickly dismissed as the strength of the nearby tribes was well-known, and even the large tribe with a population exceeding 100,000 couldn't field an elite cavalry unit. Hence, it was unlikely that the outsiders were responsible.
Additionally, Meng Qu insisted that Zhao Er was behind this, but when asked for evidence or reasons, he couldn't provide any.
Regarding this matter, the Qin people collectively appointed Meng Chao to take charge. Meng Chao neither denied nor agreed with Meng Qu's intuition. After arriving at Meng Qu's village, he began his investigation.
Meng Chao felt that this incident was not as simple as it seemed, with a sense of strangeness permeating the entire situation.
A group of assailants had wreaked havoc in a village for nearly an hour, killing over a hundred villagers. Despite the village organizing a defense and even engaging in a significant battle, no corpses were found the next morning, and the assailants couldn't be tracked.
These details indicated that this incident was not ordinary, and Meng Chao had to be cautious.
After returning from Lu Haikong, Meng Chao immediately mobilized his forces. On one hand, he closely monitored Lu Haikong and his group, ensuring that this dangerous foreign force remained within their line of sight.
On the other hand, he initiated a comprehensive search throughout the Wind Spirit Valley, believing that finding the assailants would simplify matters.
Moreover, Meng Chao investigated in Meng Qu's village and sent people to keep an eye on the mysterious place Zhao Er and his group had visited.
Despite Meng Chao's multi-pronged approach, progress was still minimal. A day passed quickly, and night fell once more.
Due to the previous night's raid, the villages were extra vigilant in their defenses as night approached, unsure if the mysterious cavalry would reappear.
The Qin people in the Wind Spirit Valley were brave, but they hadn't fought in years. Initially, their defenses seemed solid, but as time passed and the hour of midnight came and went without an attack, the villages' vigilance inevitably relaxed.
This relaxation proved fatal. After midnight, a black-clad cavalry unit silently emerged.
The cavalry, dressed in black armor and armed with spears and crossbows, resembled Lu Haikong's Black Wind Legion in the darkness. Even those familiar with Lu Haikong's forces would struggle to distinguish this unit from the Black Wind Legion.
Upon appearing, the black cavalry unit charged into a Qin village, killing everyone in sight.
Although the village had defenses, they were no match for the cavalry unit, whose crossbow bolts rained down before the Qin people could react. The cavalry's charge followed, easily breaching the village's defenses.
A symphony of chaos ensued—the sound of hooves, crossbow bolts piercing flesh, spears thrusting, and screams, occasionally punctuated by the clash of weapons. A cruel melody played out in the village.
The 'symphony' didn't last long. After wreaking havoc, the black cavalry unit retreated, disappearing into the night before the neighboring Qin villages could arrive with reinforcements. They left behind a wrecked village for the Qin rescuers.
The Qin people were enraged. Two villages had been attacked in two days by the same black cavalry unit, something they hadn't experienced in years.
What infuriated them further was their inability to find the perpetrators, leaving many Qin people demanding Lu Haikong provide answers.
They were beyond caring about evidence; the mere fact that these attacks started after Lu Haikong entered the Wind Spirit Valley was proof enough.
Regardless, Lu Haikong and his group could no longer stay in the Wind Spirit Valley.
(End of Chapter)
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