In the darkness, the contours of the mountains rose and fell like giants lying down. The surroundings were eerily silent, sending chills down one's spine.
Tang Wen ran swiftly, covering several miles before hiding behind a massive boulder. Not long after, a group of people appeared in his line of sight. He had prepared over a dozen stones, ready to send them to their graves.
There were six people in total. After counting them, he didn't act rashly but patiently observed them instead. His robust physique had long granted him exceptional night vision, allowing him to see clearly even from a distance.
The leader of the group held something resembling a small birdcage. The second person was a swordsman with a shield, and the third...
The fifth person was suspicious. He held a crossbow! It might be a signal arrow. He had to be taken out first!
Tang Wen gripped a stone, ready to strike, but then his eyes caught something else. Wait, there was a sixth person. This person held a long tube—could it also be used to send signals? It was possible; he couldn't afford to be careless.
If they managed to send a signal, the experts from their rear would catch up. They were much faster than him. If that happened, both he and Sister Bing would be doomed.
Tang Wen remained patient, carefully observing once more to ensure he hadn't missed anything. As they approached, the leader suddenly stopped and looked toward Tang Wen's hiding spot.
Tang Wen's expression changed, and he sprang into action. The Flying Stone in his hand shot out with a thunderous force.
"No—" Before the word could fully escape his lips, the crossbowman's arm, raised halfway, exploded. The crossbow fell to the ground, triggering the signal arrow, which lodged itself into a crevice in the rocks, failing to make a sound.
The sixth person was indeed a signalman. As he gripped the long tube and was about to pull the string, his neck was snapped, and he collapsed to the ground.
The group of six—five first-class Martial Apprentices and one second-class Martial Practitioner—were all dead. Tang Wen's barrage of stones left no survivors.
The surroundings fell silent once more. Tang Wen reached back and felt his shirt soaked with cold sweat. It had been too close. If luck hadn't been on his side and that signal arrow had been launched, Tang Wen's fate today would have been uncertain.
Though the fight was brief, the tension had been extreme. After steadying his breathing, he drew the long knife from his back and approached the bodies on the ground. Only after confirming there was no danger did he search them, finding several dozen taels of silver.
Additionally, they wore leather armor, which was valuable but difficult to carry. Tang Wen picked up the birdcage on the ground. The cage was small, and inside was an even smaller green bird, lying motionless, its fate unknown.
"Is this... a Hummingbird?"
Hummingbirds feed on nectar. It wasn't impossible for them to be tamed by ability users to track nectar. Tang Wen didn't care if it was alive or dead; he grabbed a stone and smashed the cage and the bird into a pulp.
Approaching the sixth person, he saw a long tube resembling a firework, with a white string at the bottom. His intuition told him that pulling the string would release a signal flare.
Tang Wen took the device and hurried back to the cave.
"Who's there?"
"Sister Bing, it's me."
The figure inside visibly relaxed. "Are you hurt?"
"Don't worry, I took care of them. I also got their signal tube. Uh, you—" Tang Wen stepped inside. Behind the fire, Zhou Bing wore only a thin garment, her alluring figure fully revealed.
"Good, that's good. Quick, take off your clothes, I'll wash them for you. The nectar has mixed with something else, and the scent has seeped through the armor and onto your clothes."
Zhou Bing strode over to Tang Wen with her long legs and started undressing him directly.
"Uh, Sister Bing, time is tight. Maybe we don't need to wash them."
"Drying them is easy."
As she spoke, she clumsily stripped Tang Wen of his outer garment, removed his inner armor, and then slid her fingers across his chest, leaving him with nothing but his undershirt.
Tang Wen shivered and huddled by the fire, hugging his arms.
At this point, the two of them had only four pieces of clothing between them.
After cleaning the armor and washing the clothes, she wrung out the water.
As Zhou Bing had said, drying them was easy. She heated some flat stones until they smoked and then pressed them against the clothes.
Steam hissed out, and after a few rounds, the clothes were dry.
"Are you cold? Sit closer."
"It's fine, it's fine."
Every move Zhou Bing made was filled with allure.
Tang Wen didn't dare to look too much, hugging his knees, slightly reserved.
He was full of youthful vigor, how could he withstand such temptation?
The two of them delayed for nearly half an hour.
Zhou Bing finished drying the clothes and personally helped Tang Wen put them on.
"I'll do it myself, I'll do it myself." He didn't dare to stand up.
"Do you dislike me?" Zhou Bing's almond eyes widened.
"No, no, it's mainly me, I," Tang Wen looked embarrassed, stammering "I" for a while without finishing his sentence.
"Fine, you can dress yourself." Zhou Bing's eyes dimmed.
"No, that, okay, Sister Bing, you can help me dress!"
Tang Wen closed his eyes, suddenly stood up, and spread his arms in a resigned manner.
Seeing the anomaly, Zhou Bing's pretty face flushed crimson, her arms trembled, and her gaze involuntarily drifted downward. After a while, she barely managed to help Tang Wen put on his outer garment.
The women in the camp, influenced by the environment, whether they were fierce or cold outside, were all virtuous to their men at home.
Take Wu Tian and the others, for example. They had wives and concubines at home, but on their days off, they still visited the Pleasure House. Their wives at home would grumble a few words but never made a fuss.
Old Doctor Li was even more exaggerated, spending half of each month at the Pleasure House.
Leaving the young beauties at home to guard an empty room.
"You, won't there be a problem?" Zhou Bing was somewhat worried.
Tang Wen, smelling the faint scent on her, felt his mouth dry and his throat parched. He quickly put on his armor: "I'll go wash my face."
The two set off again, with Zhou Bing on his back, her heart racing like a deer, unable to help but wonder: Was there really no problem with Tang Wen like that?
As the sky brightened, the two saw the camp gate from afar.
Zhou Bing jumped off his back, and they entered the camp together.
"It's Captain Zhou Bing! And Tang Wen."
The guard, holding binoculars, saw them from a distance and couldn't help but shout excitedly.
When they reached the gate, they found that the number of guards on duty had tripled.
There was also a doctor waiting here.
"Have General Zhou and Commander Zhao returned?" Zhou Bing asked urgently.
"No, many commanders have gone out. Old General Zhang has also left. Now the Queen has ordered that captains and ordinary guards are not allowed to leave the camp, and additional personnel have been assigned to patrol day and night."
Even the old general and the Queen have taken action?
The two completed their registration and parted ways at the intersection. Tang Wen went home to report his safety, while Zhou Bing went to the Guard Barracks to explain the situation they encountered and to hand over the signal flare Tang Wen had obtained.
Tang Wen hurried home to find the door tightly shut with a copper lock hanging on it.
"He must have gone to sell Meat Buns."
He took out his keys, entered the house, removed his armor, locked the door, and jogged to the martial arts school entrance, only to raise an eyebrow—there was no one here either.
The gatekeeper noticed his gaze and spoke up, "Young man, just back from outside, aren't you? There's a market today, Miss Tang went there."
"Thank you!"
There was a market in the inner city, held every three days.
Tang Wen had known about it, but he had been too busy practicing martial arts to ever go.
After about ten minutes and asking for directions twice, he finally saw the moon gate of the market.
At the entrance, a familiar figure was skillfully collecting money and handing out Meat Buns, ending with a cheerful, "Come back if it's good!"
Only then did Tang Wen's anxious heart settle down.
"Xiao Wen?"
Recognizing him, Tang Tang immediately ran towards him but then hesitated, taking two steps back. She waved vigorously at her brother, signaling him to come over.
Alright, I guess I'm not as important as a Meat Bun stall.
Tang Wen muttered to himself as he walked into the market.
The young lady grabbed his arm, looking him up and down, jumping up and down with joy.
"This trip was a bit dangerous, but it's
okay. Sister Bing just went up to compete and suffered some internal injuries."
"Internal injuries?" Tang Tang frowned, even forgetting about selling Meat Buns.
She picked up the stool, ready to pack up and go home.
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