Chapter 8: Slaughter

While the two of them were talking, they quickly finished packing up the camp. At Zuo Qianqian’s suggestion, they decided to let Lei Qing return with her to her remote small mountain village to rest for a day before leaving. After thinking it over carefully, Lei Qing agreed. After all, the Ghost Wolf Scott was dead now, which greatly weakened the enemy’s tracking ability. Although An Feifei was fierce, her bravery was shown on the battlefield, not in tracking.

On their way back, although Zuo Qianqian’s strength was not enough, she had grown up in this area since childhood and was used to the days of snow and wind. Her speed was not much slower than Lei Qing’s. Moreover, she said she was good at tracking and anti-tracking, which turned out to be no joke.

She applied some powder to Lei Qing to cover his scent, and easily erased the traces along the way. Her movements were elusive, just like a battlefield scout. At the same time, Lei Qing began to suspect what kind of person Zuo Qianqian’s grandfather really was. The things Zuo Qianqian showed were obviously not the level of an ordinary hunter. Various techniques were extremely professional, even better than those battlefield scouting skills Lei Qing had learned in his family.

Could it be? Was her grandfather a hermit? The only thing that puzzled Lei Qing was that Zuo Qianqian seemed to have little knowledge of Fighting Qi. The Fighting Qi she learned was quite common, and her level was very poor, not even reaching the Black Iron-rank.

“Qianqian, why did you come out to hunt the Scar-Head Wolf in this weather? Your things were all taught by your grandfather. Why didn’t he help you?” Lei Qing said tentatively, also out of caution. If Zuo Qianqian’s grandfather was a hermit escaping from enemy pursuers, exposing his whereabouts would make him an enemy.

“My grandfather is physically weak and has trouble walking,” Zuo Qianqian replied casually while directing her black-backed hunting dog to lead the way. “As for hunting the Scar-Head Wolf, it was also out of necessity. This time, our village had a poor harvest of prey furs and could not meet half of the One-Eyed Dragon’s tax requirement. He issued a warning that if even one piece of fur was missing this year, he would kill a person from our village. So, I risked going out to hunt the Scar-Head Wolf. The precious fur and Crystal Core of the Scar-Head Wolf were enough to make up for half of our tax. So, I need to go into the Hengduan Mountains in a couple of days to see if I can find some rare things to get through this difficulty.”

“I see,” Lei Qing pondered slightly. “Then why did you give me the wolf fur and Crystal Core? How about this, I will give you all the wolf fur and Crystal Cores. We can deal with the current difficulty first. In this weather, it is too dangerous for a girl like you to go into the Hengduan Mountains.”

“How can that be?” Zuo Qianqian shook her head and refused. “These were fought for by Brother Lei with your life, I cannot take them.”

“Qianqian, what are you saying?” Lei Qing pretended to be somewhat angry. “Not to mention you saved my life and took good care of me. Even if you just call me Brother Lei, can’t I give you the wolf fur and Crystal Cores? If you refuse, don’t call me Brother Lei in the future, and I won’t accept you as a sister anymore.” In the past, in the Imperial Capital, he was quite popular among girls. He was good at forcing such inexperienced girls to yield.

Sure enough, Zuo Qianqian became nervous and hurriedly said, “Brother Lei, that’s not what I meant.”

“I don’t care. You have to take it, whether you want to or not,” Lei Qing said arbitrarily. “Otherwise, I will be very angry. Also, I will definitely not let you go hunting in the Hengduan Mountains.” Although the fur and Crystal Cores were very precious, even in the Imperial Capital, Lei Qing owed her a life. How could he be stingy about such things? Moreover, Zuo Qianqian was indeed quite likeable and lovable, and Lei Qing really did not want her to take risks.

“Alright, alright, Brother Lei, don’t be angry. I’ll take them, okay?” Although Lei Qing scolded her a bit, Zuo Qianqian actually felt comfortable hearing his words.

Seeing her agree, Lei Qing said some nice words to make her happy.

The two walked very fast. About halfway, during a short rest, Lei Qing asked casually again, “Who is that One-Eyed Dragon? A border defense soldier collecting taxes for the prefecture? How could they fail to collect taxes and have to kill people?”

“Not at all. We had already paid the prefecture’s taxes long ago. That One-Eyed Dragon is a bandit within hundreds of miles around us. He has strong soldiers and horses and bullies us villagers. Every year we have to give him one hundred pieces of fur, otherwise he will kill people. He, the Scar-Head Wolf, and the One-Horned Tiger on Yunlian Peak are the three disasters in our area. Among them, One-Eyed Dragon and his bandits are the head of the three disasters. After all, the Scar-Head Wolf and the One-Horned Tiger only harass the village when they are extremely hungry.”

So, it was a group of bandits. With the emperor so far away here, it was indeed easy for bandits to arise. The former Lei Qing might have been filled with righteous indignation. But after months of tempering and seeing too many ugly things, he was no longer surprised. He just sneered, “It sounds like that One-Eyed Dragon is quite fierce? Are there not imperial border patrol forces in the Hengduan Mountains? Do they not care?”

“I don’t understand this either. Anyway, whenever the border patrol forces come, One-Eyed Dragon disappears. After the patrol forces leave, One-Eyed Dragon comes out to be arrogant again,” Zuo Qianqian said with extreme disgust.

Lei Qing thought to himself, it seemed the border patrol forces and One-Eyed Dragon were already colluding. However, Lei Qing also clearly understood that within the empire, any business must be colluded with the authorities to seek a protector. Otherwise, it would be difficult to carry out any business. Some bandits within the empire were not exceptions to having protectors. Otherwise, those rootless bandits would have been wiped out by the imperial army in a few days.

The two traveled for half a day and walked dozens of miles before finally arriving at the foot of the mountain, outside the small mountain village. On this return, Zuo Qianqian was obviously in a high mood. She pulled Lei Qing and said that the people in their small mountain village were very hospitable and had fun things to do.

Suddenly, both of them stopped their steps. Far away, they both saw thick smoke rising in the small mountain village, with faint flames visible.

“Fire?” This thought just popped up in Lei Qing’s mind, but he immediately discarded it. Something was wrong. If it were a fire, thick smoke would not rise like this. Could it be? Lei Qing had a bad premonition.

When Zuo Qianqian saw the village catching fire, she became somewhat anxious and hurriedly wanted to rush into the village. But Lei Qing pulled her back, his eyes sharp and solemn. “Qianqian, something may be wrong with the village. Calm down first, and take me to sneak in through the small path.”

Upon hearing this, Zuo Qianqian was originally startled and panicked. But seeing Lei Qing’s calm and steady eyes, she slowly calmed down. She pulled Lei Qing and hurriedly walked towards the small path on the side. “Brother Lei, come with me quickly. This small path is hidden. My grandfather’s legs are bad, and I am afraid he will be trapped in the fire… Also, we are downwind. I faintly smell the scent of blood!”

Under life-threatening circumstances, Lei Qing would not be pretentious. He followed her, bending low, and quickly sneaked into the village. In no time, they passed the low wall and entered the village. As expected, a thick smell of blood hit their faces. The smoke was black, and the fire was fierce.

Clop, clop, clop~

A series of fast and frantic hoofbeats echoed chaotically in the village. The miserable screams of some villagers were accompanied by twisted manic laughter. Anyone could tell what had happened here.

Two short-legged mixed-breed horses jumped out of the thick smoke, carrying two burly men in tattered leather coats. Both the horses and the leather coats were stained with blood. Especially the shiny curved swords they held in their hands were covered in scarlet blood. Their expressions were excited and ferocious, obviously having just killed someone.

Shing~

Lei Qing did not hesitate. He drew his somewhat damaged long sword, Ice Flame, and with a piercing gaze, protected Zuo Qianqian behind him.

The two burly men saw Lei Qing, the other person, and the dog. Instead of being surprised, they were joyful. Cruel and mad colors appeared in their eyes. They whistled, “Brothers, there are still two fish that slipped through the net here. Kill!” Then they rode their horses and charged over.

Their horsemanship was average, and their aura and strength did not seem strong. But charging on horseback, they had a particularly ferocious aura. The one on the left took the lead, sidestepped, and raced past Lei Qing, trying to use the momentum of the horse to chop off Lei Qing’s head.

But Lei Qing at this time was a High-stage Bronze expert. Was he a civilian scared out of his wits? To put it bluntly, even if An Feifei were in front of him at this time, Lei Qing would have the strength and courage to compete with her face-to-face, let alone such unrefined bandits.

Immediately, he tapped his foot, and Heavenly Thunder Fighting Qi pumped into his legs. Leaping into the air like wind and lightning, he thrust out a sword without any flourish, piercing the throat of the bandit. After flipping over and kicking him off the horse, Lei Qing sat heavily on the saddle.

With a expressionless face, he grabbed the reins and gently pulled up. The mixed-breed horse neighed, raised its front hooves high, and was stopped directly by Lei Qing. When the rider behind rushed past Lei Qing, his neck directly hit the sharp Ice Flame, and his head separated from his body.

The headless body, spraying a rain of blood, was carried for a long distance by the horse before falling off. The corpse crashed heavily onto the ground.