Chapter 20: A Bountiful Harvest

…

However, even with Lei Qing’s strength, after exploding with all his might, his body felt slightly weak. Although the fierce battle just now was short, it had been burning his Fighting Qi intensely every moment. Of his ten parts of Fighting Qi, three or four had been consumed.

But Lei Qing felt incredibly exhilarated. While facing many enemies with only two people, they had actually crushed their opponents with overwhelming power.

Lei Qing had scouted carefully before coming to pick a fight. The leader of this group of bandits, One-Eyed Dragon, was not in the stronghold. Instead, he had taken dozens of subordinates to intimidate a village with tough folk and extort protection money.

Because of this, Lei Qing dared to openly come to the Yinfeng Stronghold to stir up trouble and weaken One-Eyed Dragon’s overall strength. According to intelligence, One-Eyed Dragon had only around 150 to 160 subordinates in total, with about twenty being Black Iron-rank. But since the conflict with Lei Qing began, One-Eyed Dragon’s subordinate losses had already exceeded half.

But this wasn’t over yet. After quickly wiping out this wave of bandits, Lei Qing and Zuo Qianqian immediately mounted their horses and started killing their way toward the Yinfeng Gorge Pass. This was the moment when the Yinfeng Stronghold was at its weakest; taking it in one go and raiding their den was the right move.

Due to the previous bandit leader’s mistake, there were now only a tiny number of guards left at the pass. Lei Qing wielded his longsword to block sharp arrows at the front, while Zuo Qianqian supported from behind with her bow. They exchanged fire back and forth, and in just a few short rounds, Zuo Qianqian’s impressive archery skills, honed since childhood, earned merit again.

Using grappling hooks to climb over the pass, the two didn’t stop, directly crossing the mountain pass and killing their way into the interior of the Yinfeng Stronghold. At this time, the bandit nest was empty; the bandits stationed inside were either injured or weak. Lei Qing fought in close combat while Zuo Qianqian attacked from a distance, their killing spree unstoppable. In no time, they slaughtered the remaining twenty or thirty people inside the Yinfeng Stronghold.

They also happened to rescue dozens of young women who had been looted to serve as camp prostitutes or servants. What left Lei Qing quite speechless was that One-Eyed Dragon actually had five “ladies of the stronghold.” Two of them seemed to have gotten used to a life of luxury here and refused to leave even after gaining their freedom. The others didn’t dare to run because they knew One-Eyed Dragon wasn’t dead yet and feared retaliation against their families if they fled.

Lei Qing handled these situations one by one. For those who dared to leave, he distributed some of the gold and silver coins looted from the stronghold to them. After all, these were pitiful people; no one wanted to be captured by bandits for their pleasure, right? Moreover, after something like this, without some money on them, their lives would likely be difficult after returning home.

Lei Qing was no saint who saved the world. Although he used to like fooling around, he was still a flesh-and-blood human. When it came to things that could save lives with little effort, he was willing to do them. Of course, for those women who held gratitude and wanted to offer themselves to him, he politely declined.

After all, the Ninth Young Master of the Lei Family used to be a famous dandy in the capital. He had quite some taste and standards when it came to women. Even if he had held back for several months, he wouldn’t degrade himself to the point of sleeping with just anyone.

Even so, Lei Qing had gained a lot from raiding the nest. Zuo Qianqian, who had specifically emptied her Spatial Ring for this trip, was grinning from ear to ear. The items obtained were all good things One-Eyed Dragon had robbed; finding the right sellers would bring a hefty sum.

The only thing that depressed Zuo Qianqian a little was that the internal space of that Spatial Ring seemed too small; it filled up as she packed. She had to distribute some extra valuables and horses to those pitiful women.

Besides that, Lei Qing also found a good item in One-Eyed Dragon’s treasury. It was an ancient-style Qingfeng Sword; the blade was light and sharp, with two ancient seal characters engraved on it: Qingfeng.

Although it might not be as thin as the Ice Flame Lei Qing used before, this sword was obviously much more durable and sturdy. When Lei Qing was a Young Master, he naturally pursued fame and looks, so the gorgeous and thin Ice Flame was naturally a good sword.

But in repeated actual combat, he gradually discovered Ice Flame’s shortcomings. Although it was thin and sharp, it was not very durable. And its gorgeous appearance was of no use whatsoever in bloody, life-and-death struggles.

Because of this, Lei Qing had a good impression of the Qingfeng Sword. Plus, his cultivation had now risen to High-stage Bronze. The Qingfeng Sword, being slightly heavier than the Ice Flame, was just right; it wouldn’t break easily, nor would its weight affect his speed and Fighting Qi consumption.

Lei Qing’s Heavenly Thunder Fighting Qi had extremely strong explosive power and speed, so he naturally rejected swords that were too heavy.

Perhaps it was because this Qingfeng Sword didn’t match One-Eyed Dragon’s nature that such a good sword was left gathering dust in the treasury.

After handling matters in the stronghold, Lei Qing temporarily arranged for these women to hide in the stronghold for a few more days. He and Zuo Qianqian then rode away. Their target, of course, was to ambush One-Eyed Dragon as planned. Since he had started this, he had to finish it. Otherwise, angering One-Eyed Dragon for a moment’s pleasure would only bring disaster to many innocent people.

Based on deduction, One-Eyed Dragon still had about thirty or forty people around him. But those following him were mostly elites among elites. And One-Eyed Dragon himself was a Bronze-rank expert.

Fighting head-on would be no different from seeking death for Lei Qing.

With careful planning against an unprepared enemy, Zuo Qianqian set up a series of traps at the ambush site. Lei Qing also cut off the heads of a few of One-Eyed Dragon’s confidants beforehand and hung them on the path One-Eyed Dragon had to take.

Sure enough, One-Eyed Dragon, who was originally returning in triumph, immediately went berserk after seeing those bloody, ferocious heads. Added to that was Lei Qing showing himself to lure him, constantly provoking him with vicious words—such as how flirtatious his Third Lady was in bed—he even mentioned the mole on his Third Lady’s buttocks, luring the furious One-Eyed Dragon into an area full of traps.

One-Eyed Dragon was fine; relying on his agility, he forcefully withstood several traps. But his elite subordinates met a tragic end. Under Zuo Qianqian’s various exquisite traps, a full dozen of them were lost, and most of the remaining ones were injured.

One-Eyed Dragon, finally realizing the danger, was just about to lead his subordinates to escape, but Lei Qing wasn’t about to let him. He immediately rode his horse to intercept, clashing with him in a chaotic fight. Zuo Qianqian also appeared, riding in circles from a distance, providing support with her bow and arrows.

This battle was fought until the sky turned dark. Lei Qing was practically fighting alone against three Black Iron Fighters, seven or eight elite soldiers, and One-Eyed Dragon, who had the strength of an Entry-rank Bronze. After a grueling battle, Lei Qing finally used a move of “Lightning Flash and Thunder Clap” exploded to its limit, shaking out eleven sword beams in one breath and slaying One-Eyed Dragon under his sword.

At this time, Lei Qing had not only used up most of his Fighting Qi, but he had also added several wounds. Especially the one on his lower abdomen, stabbed by the desperate One-Eyed Dragon; the wound was deep, making his face turn pale and looking extremely miserable.

Fortunately, after the hard battle, the harvest was huge. Not only did Lei Qing’s experience in various battles increase greatly, but most importantly, the first move of the Heavenly Thunder Combat Code, “Lightning Flash and Thunder Clap,” had also broken through to the Small Success realm. This was the second move, after the “Thunder Flash” movement technique, to reach the Small Success realm. The power of the same Combat Code move would likely be several tens of percent higher out of nowhere.

But this wasn’t the biggest harvest. While searching One-Eyed Dragon’s corpse, Lei Qing discovered a ring on his finger that looked gaudy, just like the kind a nouveau riche would wear. He had even mocked it in his heart at the time.

But Zuo Qianqian said, hopefully, this thing wouldn’t turn out to be a Spatial Ring.

Lei Qing scoffed at this. Spatial Rings—his own Earl’s family only possessed three in total. One-Eyed Dragon was just a small bandit leader in a fringe area, not even a real notable figure. How could he possibly have a Spatial Ring?

But as a result, after Zuo Qianqian appraised it in her hand, Lei Qing was dumbfounded.

…