Tang Wen: "Let's go find Commander Zhao!"
Zhou Bing grabbed Tang Wen's hand in return: "Commander Zhao should be on night duty. Let's go find my uncle."
"Go directly to the General? Sister Bing, aren't you afraid my premonition might be wrong?"
"In matters of life and death, what does it matter if it's wrong?"
Zhou Bing pulled Tang Wen straight to the house where General Zhou was resting.
As they were talking to the guards at the door, the lights inside came on. General Zhou had woken up and invited them in.
Tang Wen explained his premonition.
General Zhou pondered for a moment: "This is the coal mining area, the closest frontline to Black Mountain Camp. Let's treat it as a surprise attack drill. There's no harm in waking everyone up!"
Before he could finish, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he rushed out like a gust of wind.
Tang Wen and Zhou Bing exchanged bewildered looks and quickly followed.
"Whoosh, whoosh..."
The sound of something cutting through the air came from the dark night sky.
"Night attack! It's a catapult!"
"Fire the Signal Arrow! Assemble the hunting squad!"
The shouts were deafening.
The entire camp was awakened.
Then, to Tang Wen's astonishment, General Zhou sent out several fist shadows through the air.
Zhou Bing gripped her spear, ready to intercept the falling objects.
But Tang Wen held her back, rapidly throwing stones into the air with both hands.
Even if he couldn't stop the rocks, he could at least alter their trajectory.
Crack, crack...
The sound of jars breaking echoed.
What?
What was being thrown from the sky wasn't rocks?
Tang Wen began to doubt his ears.
But the next second, liquid sprinkled down from above.
The two hurriedly dodged, but inevitably, some splashed onto them.
"What is this?" Tang Wen's unease grew stronger.
The night breeze carried an overwhelming fragrance.
Zhou Bing lifted her arm to sniff it, her expression turning strange: "It seems like nectar. The scent is very strong."
Before she could finish, a voice called out from the distance:
"General, everyone, it's Hundred Flower Nectar! The jars flying through the sky are filled with nectar!"
"What?"
"How can it be nectar?"
"Did those fools mistake nectar for kerosene and throw it at us in the dark?"
"Impossible! The Black Mountain Devil isn't that stupid."
"..."
The mining area descended into chaos. Fortunately, the hunting squad rested together at night. When they emerged, they were surrounded by trusted comrades.
Being well-trained, they avoided the ancient military chaos of nighttime panic and infighting.
"Alternate vigilance! Half of you find a way to remove the nectar scent from your bodies first."
"Ordinary miners in the mining area, follow emergency protocols and evacuate. Now!"
General Zhou's orders rang out as he stood at the forefront, ready for battle.
Boom!
The ground shook.
It was as if a thousand horses were galloping.
Tang Wen and Zhou Bing exchanged glances, seeing disbelief in each other's eyes.
This was mountainous terrain.
Ahead was a forest!
Horses or any other mounts couldn't possibly gallop through a forest!
"Black Mountain Devil! Show yourself!"
Commander Zhao, standing on high ground, roared.
"Whoosh, whoosh..."
Archers from various squads took up advantageous positions and began firing arrows tentatively into the woods.
"Roar!"
A deafening roar.
Zhou Bing, who was cleaning the nectar off herself, felt dizzy and nearly fell to the ground.
Others fared similarly, with those of lesser strength collapsing outright.
"Mutated Beasts! It's the Tyrant Bear!"
Commander Zhao's voice trembled slightly.
A Tyrant Bear with strength equivalent to a General's was a terrifying force, enough to make ten hunting squads despair!
After Commander Zhao shouted, he snatched the bow and arrows from the person beside him and fired three arrows in rapid succession at the tank-like figure!
"Beast! Come at me!"
Commander Zhao drew his bow, shot an arrow, and leaped down from the high ground.
The Tyrant Bear?
Tang Wen frowned. Just hearing the name and seeing Commander Zhao's reaction told him this was not someone to be trifled with.
"You two, retreat first. Take the small path and head straight back to the camp! The Black Mountain Devil is after you too!"
In a blur, General Zhou crossed dozens of meters in a single step, appearing right in front of the two of them.
Tang Wen immediately turned to leave, but Zhou Bing hesitated.
"This is an order. I'll use you as bait to draw the pursuers! Run as fast as you can!"
Hearing this, Tang Wen's expression changed again. He grabbed Zhou Bing's hand and turned to flee.
Just as the two of them ran out of the mining area, they faintly heard a voice echoing behind them: "All new members of the hunting squads, retreat immediately! Abandon the mining area! Abandon the mining area!"
Had things escalated to this extent?
The two exchanged a glance, then lowered their heads and sped up, their armor clanking with each step.
"The main road we came from might be ambushed," Tang Wen thought uneasily as he looked at the dark, dense forest ahead.
"Let's take a detour."
The sounds of battle erupted behind them. The two left the main road leading directly to the camp and veered off into the deeper parts of the forest.
They ran for over ten miles in one breath.
Zhou Bing's face turned pale. She stopped and waved at Tang Wen. "You go ahead. Return to the camp and bring help for me."
Her injuries hadn't fully healed, and her internal organs couldn't withstand further strain.
"I'll carry you!"
"The camp is still far. You go first!"
Tang Wen's unease hadn't dissipated. How could he leave her alone?
"Hurry!" He firmly grabbed Zhou Bing's hands and placed them on his shoulders.
"Alright." Knowing Tang Wen's endurance was exceptional, she didn't argue further.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, freeing his hands.
She clung to him like an oversized koala.
Zhou Bing was a Martial Practitioner, her body packed with solid muscle, and with the weight of her armor and spear, she easily weighed over two hundred pounds.
Yet Tang Wen carried her without slowing down, continuing to sprint.
Meanwhile, the people from Flame Camp had withdrawn from the mining area.
Commander Zhao and his men were barely holding their own against the Tyrant Bear.
General Zhou was nowhere to be seen, likely having gone to intercept the General from Black Mountain Camp.
Black Mountain Camp moved through the forest as if it were unguarded, advancing from the mining area.
At the forefront were two men: one with a vacant expression, and the other dressed like a hunter.
The hunter took a deep breath, then held it for half a minute before pointing in the direction Tang Wen and Zhou Bing had fled. "Among those fleeing in this direction, there's a woman. They have a strong scent of Nectar on them."
The man with the vacant expression immediately waved his hand. "Pursue them! If you find the targets, send a signal."
"Understood." The group of six began tracking in that direction.
"Let's go check elsewhere."
The forest still had patches of snow, and the ground was damp.
The trackers followed the footprints on the ground, trailing far behind Tang Wen and Zhou Bing.
"Something's wrong!" Tang Wen suddenly stopped.
"What is it?"
"I feel like someone's chasing us."
Zhou Bing glanced back at the ground. "Our footprints are too deep. Listen to me, you go ahead. You're faster. Go get reinforcements."
Even if he ran at full speed, it wouldn't be fast enough. Tang Wen knew she didn't want to hold him back, but he shook his head. "The danger isn't that great. Should we set up an ambush?"
"That's risky. Maybe we should take the mountain path instead?"
"Alright," Tang Wen said, then he surveyed the surroundings and suddenly noticed the intertwined pine branches above. "Why don't we try to confuse them first?"
"Listen to you, but if things go south, you need to leave first."
Tang Wen pretended not to hear the latter part. He had run dozens of miles and still didn't feel tired.
Immediately, he used both hands and feet, climbing up the tree like a monkey.
Standing on the thick trunk, he took a few deep breaths to adjust, then aimed and leaped with all his might, covering seven or eight meters in one jump.
Thud!
Both of them simultaneously grabbed onto the thick branch of another tree.
Crack, crack, crack—the branch suddenly sank, making a sound as if it couldn't bear the weight.
But it managed to hold.
"Whew!"
Zhou Bing let out a sigh of relief, gently letting go and grabbing Tang Wen's shoulder.
"Can you still hold on?" The impact from the jump was greater than running.
"I'm fine."
"Good, hold on tight!"
She didn't speak, silently tightening her arms and long legs.
After a few more jumps, Tang Wen slightly changed direction, heading toward the mountainous area.
The ground in the mountains was hard, making it difficult to leave footprints.
After running for a while on the mountain path, the sound of water reached their ears.
In front of them appeared a frozen stream, with water flowing slowly beneath the ice.
The mountain path was particularly draining on their stamina, so Tang Wen stopped and found a nearby cave.
He carried Zhou Bing into the cave.
"Is the danger still not over?"
Tang Wen nodded: "The enemy probably has tracking methods. Smell it, we still have a faint scent of Nectar on us."
Both their armor and clothes were stained with Nectar.
After all the running, it had long since dried.
But the scent lingered, hard to get rid of.
"There's water here, but no fire. If we wash, we won't be able to dry. Let's discard the armor," Zhou Bing said, taking off her helmet.
"I have a fire starter. Sister Bing, you wash off the scent here. I'll go back and lead them away."
Zhou Bing disagreed, but Tang Wen didn't listen. He took off his armor and ha
nded her the fire starter and brown sugar: "Wait for me for an hour."
"You... be extremely careful!"
Tang Wen strode back the way they came. His intuition told him that the pursuers behind them couldn't be shaken off—they had to be killed!