## Chapter Fifteen
The opportunity came soon enough.
Three days later, military orders arrived. The main force of Northern Mang had made unusual movements, seemingly splitting off troops to circle around and strike our army's supply route from the flank and rear. The Vanguard Camp was ordered to dispatch several elite squads ahead to scout and determine the enemy's movements at all costs.
Chen Qing's unit was conspicuously on the list. And the route assigned to them was the deepest and most dangerous one—Black Wind Gorge.
Squad Leader Zhao personally delivered the order. This superior, usually fairly impartial, looked somewhat unnatural at the moment. Avoiding Chen Qing's gaze, he merely stressed that the military situation was urgent and ordered them to depart at once.
"Black Wind Gorge..." Old Niu's expression changed the moment he heard the name. "That place has sheer cliffs on both sides and a narrow path through the middle. It's a death trap for an ambush! Aren't they sending us to our deaths?"
Sun Quezi kept silent with a dark expression, but his grip on his saber tightened. The other soldiers also showed anger and concern. After being given the cold shoulder time and again, even a fool could see something was wrong.
Chen Qing remained calm as he looked at Squad Leader Zhao. "This subordinate accepts the order. However, this mission is dangerous. Could we be issued more arrows and medicine for wounds?"
Squad Leader Zhao hesitated, then ultimately nodded. "Fine. I'll do my best to request more for you."
The supplies soon arrived, thirty percent more than usual, but their quality was still worrying. Some arrow shafts were moldy, and the wound medicine was the lowest-grade stuff.
Chen Qing said nothing. He simply had his men carefully inspect their weapons and armor, then bring along all the dried meat they had been issued.
"Squad Leader... Deputy Squad Leader, are we really going?" Hei Wa asked timidly. The wound on his leg had not fully healed yet.
Chen Qing swept his gaze over the nine faces beneath him—some angry, some fearful, some numb—and slowly spoke. "Military orders are as unyielding as mountains. We have no choice but to go."
Everyone's eyes darkened.
"However," Chen Qing changed tack, his voice carrying an icy, penetrating force, "how we go, and how we return, is up to me."
He looked at Old Niu and Sun Quezi. "Old Niu, take two men and scout ahead. Go no farther than three li. The moment you spot anything unusual, sound the warning and retreat. Do not engage."
"Sun Quezi, take two men and guard the rear. Watch the rear and both cliff walls."
"The rest of you stay in the center with me, ready to support either side."
His assignments were orderly and clear, his tone beyond dispute. The unsettled men felt somewhat reassured.
"Remember, our mission is reconnaissance, not a fight to the death. Staying alive and bringing back information are our highest priorities," Chen Qing emphasized at last. "If the situation cannot be handled, I will order a retreat. No one is to look back."
"Yes, Deputy Squad Leader!" everyone answered in unison, their morale finally recovering somewhat.
Half an hour later, the squad set out, silently melting into the wilderness beyond the camp.
Black Wind Gorge lay roughly sixty li from the main camp, and the road there was rugged and difficult. Chen Qing pushed his senses to their limit while circulating Fierce Tiger Iron Body, carefully feeling out the finer control he had gained after reaching Slight Accomplishment. He could sense the surrounding baleful aura, deathly air, even the vitality of grass and trees, all taking vague outlines within his perception.
No one spoke along the way. The atmosphere was oppressive. The closer they drew to Black Wind Gorge, the stronger that feeling of a mountain storm about to break became.
Two hours later, the entrance to Black Wind Gorge appeared before them, towering like the open maw of some enormous beast. The cliffs on both sides looked carved by blades and axes, rising into the clouds. A narrow passage twisted inward between them, dimly lit, while the wind passing through the gorge produced a strange, mournful howl.
"Deputy Squad Leader, it's... too quiet ahead." Old Niu, who had been scouting ahead, retreated with a grave expression. "I can't even hear a bird."
When something was abnormal, there had to be a demon at work!
Chen Qing's sharp gaze swept across the cliffs flanking the gorge entrance. Jagged boulders covered them, making them perfect places for an ambush.
"Sun Quezi, take your men and hold the retreat route. Old Niu, you men, use your bows to probe that patch of rubble on the left," Chen Qing ordered calmly.
Old Niu and the others immediately drew their bows, nocked arrows, and fired toward the area Chen Qing had indicated.
The arrows vanished into the rubble. There was no response.
Just as everyone relaxed slightly!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A piercing shriek suddenly rang out from the cliff on the right! Dozens of crossbow bolts shot down like a swarm of poisonous bees! Their target was not Old Niu's scouting group, but Chen Qing, standing in the center of the formation!
There really was an ambush! And the target was clear—they wanted his life!
"Raise shields!" Chen Qing roared. Rather than retreating, he took a step forward into the rain of arrows! A dark gleam flashed over his body as Fierce Tiger Iron Body circulated at full force!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Chen Qing knocked aside most of the bolts with his ring-pommel saber or endured them with his iron armor and Fierce Tiger Iron Body. Yet several armor-piercing bolts of tremendous force still pierced his defenses, burying themselves deep in his shoulder blade and thigh!
A searing pain struck him. Chen Qing grunted, staggering.
"Deputy Squad Leader!"
"Protect the Deputy Squad Leader!"
Old Niu and the others' eyes nearly split open with fury as they desperately tried to rush over.
"Don't come over! Form up and defend!" Chen Qing roared, stopping them. He knew the enemy's killing move would not end here!
Sure enough, dozens of figures climbed down the right cliff like apes, swiftly blocking the gorge entrance and cutting off their retreat! These people were not dressed like Northern Mang soldiers. They wore motley leather armor, black cloth over their faces, and vicious looks in their eyes. Their movements were nimble. At a glance, they were seasoned, savage bandits—or perhaps dead men privately raised by certain people!
The leader was tall and thin, holding a long, slender curved saber. His aura was cold and sinister. He was clearly at the middle stage of the Bone Forging Realm! Staring at the arrow-wounded Chen Qing, he revealed a cruel smile.
"Deputy Squad Leader Chen, someone paid for your life. If you know what's good for you, kill yourself. At least you'll leave behind an intact corpse," the masked leader said hoarsely.
Chen Qing slowly straightened. He reached out and gripped the shaft of the bolt embedded in his shoulder blade, not even furrowing his brow as he suddenly exerted force!
Pfft! The bolt was forcibly torn free, trailing a string of blood!
He pulled out the bolt from his thigh as well, letting blood stream down as his icy gaze swept over the masked men before settling on their leader.
"Squad Leader Li, or Commander Wang?" His voice was calm to a terrifying degree.
The leader's eyes shifted slightly before he bared his teeth in a vicious grin. "Why should a dying man know so much? Kill!"
At the command, dozens of masked bandits howled and charged! The middle-stage Bone Forging Realm leader moved like a ghost, his slender curved saber stabbing straight for Chen Qing's vital points!
"Form a circle! Fight to the death!" Old Niu roared, leading the remaining men in desperately holding back the enemies rushing from the rear and flanks, buying Chen Qing space.
Facing the slender curved saber stabbing toward him, Chen Qing felt no fear. Instead, blazing battle intent rose in his eyes, along with... a deeply hidden flicker of excitement!
He needed this battle! He needed the enemy's blood and baleful aura to nourish his newborn strength!
"Good!"
Chen Qing let out a low roar. Rather than retreating, he advanced. The vitality and blood of his middle-stage Bone Forging Realm cultivation, along with the baleful aura of his Slight Accomplishment Fierce Tiger Iron Body, erupted at once! A far denser, more violent, ferocious aura rose from his body like tangible black flames!
His ring-pommel saber slashed out fiercely, trailing a miserable black-red saber glow! There was no technique, no flourish—only the purest release of power and baleful aura!
Black Tiger Saber Technique—Fusing Baleful Intent! Tiger Devours the World!
Clang!!!
The saber edge collided viciously with the slender curved saber!
The masked leader felt an indescribable force, mixed with bone-chilling baleful aura, surge wildly along his blade! The web of his hand instantly split open, and the slender curved saber gave a mournful cry as it flew from his grip! His entire body reeled backward as though struck by a heavy blow, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief!
"Impossible! You..."
His words came to an abrupt halt.
Because Chen Qing's saber followed close behind like a festering parasite clinging to the bone! The saber light flashed past, faster than he could react!
Pfft!
A head wrapped in black cloth flew into the sky! Blood sprayed more than a zhang high from the neck cavity!
[Killed a middle-stage Bone Forging Realm deadman leader. Obtained a large amount of vitality and blood, as well as pure baleful aura. *Fierce Tiger Iron Body* proficiency +120! Black Tiger Saber Technique proficiency +100!]
Vast energy instantly flooded into him. The wounds in his shoulder blade and thigh closed and healed at a visible rate beneath the frantic coils of black-red baleful aura! His depleted strength was replenished in an instant, even pushing his cultivation faintly toward the late stage of the Bone Forging Realm!
Chen Qing suddenly turned toward the masked bandits, who had frozen in shock at the instant death of their leader. The baleful aura in his eyes nearly condensed into substance, like a primordial beast that had fixed its gaze on prey.
He licked his somewhat cracked lips, feeling the power surging and roaring within him, and revealed a cold, cruel smile.
"Now, it's my turn."
He moved.
His figure transformed into a whirlwind of death wreathed in black-red baleful aura and charged into the enemy ranks!
Every flash of saber light claimed a life! Severed limbs flew through the air, and blood dyed the ground at the gorge entrance red.
He was no longer merely killing. It was more like a sacrifice—using the enemy's lives and baleful aura to nourish himself!
[Kill...] [*Fierce Tiger Iron Body* proficiency +25] [Black Tiger Saber Technique proficiency +20]
Old Niu and the others stared at Chen Qing's rampage through the enemy ranks like a demon god, at the almost tangible ferocious aura surrounding him, and at the bizarre sight of his wounds healing at incredible speed. They were all too stunned to speak.
Was... was this still a human?
The battle swiftly became a one-sided slaughter.
When Chen Qing cleaved the last masked bandit in two at the waist, dead silence returned to the gorge entrance. Only the stench of blood, too thick to disperse, and shattered corpses all over the ground remained.
Chen Qing stood amid the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, leaning on his saber as he breathed lightly. The baleful aura around him slowly withdrew, but the chill in his eyes seemed branded into the depths of his soul.
He walked to the headless leader's corpse and searched it carefully. From inside the man's clothes, he retrieved a token neither metal nor wood, carved with strange patterns. On the back of the token, there was a faint trace of the character "Li."
He put away the token and looked into the depths of the gorge.
"Deputy Squad Leader... are we still going in?" Old Niu asked, his voice trembling.
Chen Qing shook his head, his tone calm. "The mission is complete. We discovered a squad of Northern Mang(?) ambushers and have wiped them out entirely. Return to camp and report."
He turned toward the road they had taken, his gaze deep.
It was time to return and meet that "Squad Leader Li."
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