Bloody Retaliation

Chapter 16

The blood stench at the entrance to Black Wind Gorge had yet to dissipate when Chen Qing led his soldiers onto the road home.

Of the nine-man squad, aside from the few wounds on Chen Qing that were rapidly healing and Hei Wa's old leg injury reopening, not a single man had been lost. Yet lingering terror remained on every face, along with an undisguised fear and reverence whenever they looked at Chen Qing's back.

The scene at the gorge mouth, like a battlefield of Asura, along with Chen Qing's inhuman Killing Intent and recovery, had been branded deep into their minds.

Chen Qing turned a blind eye to it all. As he traveled, he silently digested the gains from this battle. The blood qi and Killing Intent gained from killing the mid-stage Bone Forging Realm deathsworn leader and dozens of fierce bandits were exceptionally vast. The proficiency of Fierce Tiger Iron Body had surged by a large margin, while his mastery of the Black Tiger Fist and saber techniques had become even more stable. He had even faintly touched the threshold beyond complete mastery.

The token engraved with the mark of "Li" gave off an icy chill against his chest.

Evidence? Perhaps it counted, perhaps it did not. In these border troops, where military law was strict but filth lay hidden beneath the surface, an unidentified token might not be enough to bring down a deeply entrenched Squad Leader. But he had never intended to seek justice through the law.

Strength was the only truth.

The atmosphere at the Vanguard Camp garrison was subtle.

News of Chen Qing's squad returning spread as though it had grown wings. When they passed through the camp gates covered in blood that had yet to dry, carrying a dense killing aura, countless gazes focused on them, filled with shock, scrutiny, and schadenfreude.

Everyone knew they had gone to Black Wind Gorge, that universally acknowledged road of death. Returning alive alone was already a miracle.

Squad Leader Zhao came to meet them at once. Seeing that Chen Qing was wounded but carried a steady, heavy aura—and appeared even more hardened than before he had departed—an extreme shock flashed through his eyes before turning into something complicated.

"Deputy Squad Leader Chen, you... are all right?" Squad Leader Zhao's voice carried a trace of dryness that was difficult to detect.

"Thanks to Squad Leader Zhao's good fortune, we barely escaped death." Chen Qing's tone was calm, betraying neither joy nor anger. "We encountered an ambush by bandits of unknown identity in Black Wind Gorge. There were around fifty of them, and my unit annihilated them all. This is a token we seized."

He handed over the bloodstained token.

Squad Leader Zhao accepted it, his fingers trembling slightly. Without even looking at it, he clenched it in his palm and forced a smile. "Good! Good! Deputy Squad Leader Chen is indeed brave and valiant! Facing many with few and wiping out the bandits, you have rendered another great service! I will certainly request credit for you from the Commandant!"

"I do not dare claim any credit. I merely completed the scouting mission and found no trace of the Northern Mang main force." Chen Qing looked steadily at Squad Leader Zhao. "But those bandits were well-trained and coordinated seamlessly. They did not seem like ordinary mountain bandits. Rather, they seemed like... skilled men from the army. Moreover, their target was clear—they came directly for me. This matter is highly suspicious. I ask Squad Leader Zhao to investigate it thoroughly."

Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from Squad Leader Zhao's forehead as he nodded repeatedly. "Certainly! Certainly, I will investigate it strictly! You have all worked hard. Go and rest properly for now. Treating your injuries is most important!"

Chen Qing said nothing more and left with his men.

Watching their retreating backs, Squad Leader Zhao spread open his palm and stared at the mark of "Li" on the back of the token. His expression shifted unpredictably before finally becoming a long sigh. Then he hurried toward Squad Leader Li's tent.

Inside Squad Leader Li's tent.

"What? They all died? That useless Vulture! And he called himself some mid-stage Bone Forging Realm expert!" Squad Leader Li's face was livid as he swept the teacup from the table. It shattered on the ground. His chest heaved violently, and his eyes were full of shock, fury, and a trace of... fear.

He had never expected that even after deploying such strength and laying such a certain death trap, he still could not kill that brat! Instead, the brat had slaughtered every last one of them! What kind of monster was that boy?

Squad Leader Zhao stood below him, his face bitter. "Brother Li, I fear this matter will not end well. Not only is Chen Qing alive, but his strength seems to have improved considerably. His Killing Intent is soaring to the heavens! He also seized that token... Though I did not spell it out, he must have guessed."

"So what if he guessed?" Squad Leader Li's gaze was sinister. "What can a broken token prove? Without proof or evidence, would he dare touch me? The Commandant will not listen to his one-sided words either!"

"But..."

"There are no buts!" Squad Leader Li cut him off, breathing heavily. "Now that things have come to this, we can only walk one road all the way to the end! I refuse to believe he will be so lucky every time! As for Commander Wang, I will explain things to him myself!"

Squad Leader Zhao opened his mouth, but in the end, it became a silent sigh. He knew Squad Leader Li was riding a tiger and could not dismount, while he himself had also been tied to this dangerous boat.

After returning to his small camp, Chen Qing ordered Old Niu and the others to treat their wounds and rest. No one was to disturb him.

He sat cross-legged inside his tent. Rather than immediately tending to those insignificant wounds on his body, he sank his consciousness inward.

After Fierce Tiger Iron Body reached Slight Accomplishment, his control over Killing Intent had risen to another level. At this moment, he guided the vast and pure Killing Intent within him, washing over the bones in his limbs and body again and again—especially the great dragon of his spine!

The transition from the middle stage to the late stage of the Bone Forging Realm was a qualitative leap. The key lay in tempering the spine, linking the blood qi throughout the body, and allowing strength to run through the entire body in an endless stream. Ordinary martial artists required the slow grind of time, but he possessed a "shortcut" like Killing Intent.

Waves of agonizing pain surged over him, while the negative emotions contained within the Killing Intent ceaselessly battered his mind, attempting to stir the brutality and desire for slaughter in his heart.

Chen Qing held tightly to that thread of clarity in his spiritual platform. With an incomparably tenacious will, he forcibly controlled this violent power. The domineering, suppressive intent of the king of all beasts within the Black Tiger Fist played a crucial role at this moment.

Time passed bit by bit.

Night fell, and the camp gradually quieted down.

Suddenly, a deep crackling of bones rang out from Chen Qing's tent, like the thunderous roar of tigers and leopards! It was not loud, yet it possessed a strange penetrating force that made Old Niu and the others standing guard outside stiffen in alarm.

Inside the tent, Chen Qing slowly opened his eyes. A dark crimson gleam flowed in the depths of his pupils before vanishing.

He let out a long breath of turbid air, his breathing deep and powerful.

His spine was like a dragon, his blood qi rushing like a great river!

Late-stage Bone Forging Realm!

Feeling the vast power within him, united as one and ready to burst forth, Chen Qing clenched his fist. The air in his palm exploded.

He rose, changed into a clean set of fitted black clothes, carefully wiped down his ring-pommel saber, and sheathed it.

Then he lifted the tent flap and walked out.

Moonlight flowed like water over the silent camp.

"Deputy Squad Leader?" Seeing Chen Qing emerge, Old Niu hurried forward.

"I'm going out for a walk. You need not follow." Chen Qing's tone was calm. Without waiting for Old Niu's response, he stepped forward and merged into the camp's shadows.

His pace was not fast, but every step fell precisely into the patrol soldiers' blind spots and the gaps between their footsteps. Like a ghost in the dead of night, he silently slipped toward a certain direction.

His target—Squad Leader Li's tent.

He needed neither evidence nor judgment.

He would use the most direct, bloodiest method to tell all those watching from the shadows—

If you provoked him, you would pay the price.

Squad Leader Li's tent was still lit, and the restless sound of pacing could vaguely be heard from within.

Like a gecko, Chen Qing pressed himself against the shadowed side of the tent. He pushed his senses to their limit and confirmed that no hidden sentries or patrols were approaching.

He extended a finger. A wisp of black-red Killing Intent, condensed to the extreme, flickered from its tip. Like a red-hot branding iron, it lightly drew a tiny slit through the thick hide tent without making a sound.

Through the gap, he saw Squad Leader Li with his back to him, anxiously drinking alone.

Chen Qing's eyes were cold, as though he were looking at a dead man.

He did not draw his ring-pommel saber.

The five fingers of his right hand spread slightly as the dark power of Fierce Tiger Iron Body gathered. Through the slit and from afar, he pressed gently.

An invisible, intangible burst of hidden force, condensed from Killing Intent and icy killing intent, pierced through the tent like a venomous snake and struck precisely upon the vital point at Squad Leader Li's back!

Squad Leader Li's body suddenly stiffened, and the wine cup in his hand fell to the floor. He lowered his head in disbelief. There was not a single wound on his chest, yet he felt as if an icy hand had seized his heart, stopping it in an instant.

He opened his mouth, wanting to shout, but no sound emerged. The terror in his eyes froze in place as his body collapsed limply, his breath utterly gone.

[Killed Li Kui (mid-stage Bone Forging Realm), obtained blood qi and Killing Intent. Fierce Tiger Iron Body proficiency +150!]

Chen Qing withdrew his hand, and the black-red Killing Intent at his fingertips dispersed. Just as he had come, he silently melted into the shadows and disappeared.

The entire process had taken no more than three breaths.

Inside the tent, the lamp still burned. Only Squad Leader Li's corpse remained, gradually turning cold.

It was not until half an hour later, when his personal guards brought him a late-night meal, that they discovered Squad Leader Li had died suddenly on the spot.

After examination by the army physician, the cause of death was deemed strange. There were no external injuries, but his internal organs seemed to have been instantly shattered by some sinister, tyrannical force. It was like a cultivation deviation, yet also like... an assassination by an evil art.

When the news spread, the camp was shaken!

Without prior discussion, everyone turned their eyes toward that young deputy squad leader who had just returned from Black Wind Gorge, his body steeped in Killing Intent—Chen Qing.

Though there was no evidence, everyone knew in their hearts that this was his retaliation!

Bloody, direct, without the slightest dragging of feet!

For a time, all the officers in the camp who had originally harbored hostility toward Chen Qing or nursed petty schemes were chilled to the bone. No one dared easily provoke this Fiend Star again.

At this moment, Chen Qing had already returned to his tent. As though nothing had happened, he continued his cultivation.

The fierce tiger had awakened, and its fangs had begun to show.