## Chapter Twenty-Seven
The arrival and departure of Monk Huiming were like a minor interlude, causing no great stir in the Black Tiger Camp. The soldiers merely took him for a bald donkey who did not know the height of heaven or the depth of earth and had come looking for trouble. Before long, they threw the matter to the back of their minds and returned to their frenzied training.
Yet Chen Qing vaguely felt that this might only be the beginning. The Killing Intent he possessed, one that orthodox paths could not tolerate, was destined to draw even more attention and trouble.
But he had no time to spare for anything else. Though the main force of Northern Mang had suffered a setback, its bones and sinews remained uninjured. A greater offensive could come at any moment. He needed to forge the Black Tiger Camp into a true killing machine as quickly as possible, and he also needed to further consolidate and elevate his own strength through battle.
A few days later, military orders arrived. Although the Northern Mang army had temporarily halted its full-scale assault, it had dispatched large numbers of roaming cavalry. Like maggots clinging to bone, they constantly harassed the flanks of Great Yan's defensive line, intercepted scouts, and sabotaged supply routes. The Vanguard Camp was ordered to send elite squads to clear out these Northern Mang riders and ensure the rear remained secure.
Chen Qing volunteered to lead the Black Tiger Camp on this border patrol and extermination mission.
Captain Zhou Han naturally agreed. The Black Tiger Camp was now the sharpest blade in the Vanguard Camp, and indeed along the entire Northern Frontier defensive line.
Five hundred fierce Black Tiger soldiers, each with two horses, carried ten days' worth of dry rations and were fully equipped with bows and crossbows. Like a black torrent of iron, they surged from the camp and disappeared into the boundless wilderness of the Northern Frontier.
Chen Qing rode at the head of the column, his Killing Intent restrained around him. Yet his dark-red eyes sweeping over the wasteland were sharper than an eagle's. After breaking through to the Meridian Condensing Realm and forming the initial Fierce Tiger Domain, his senses far surpassed what they had once been. Within several miles, even the rustle of grass in the wind or the crawling of insects beneath the earth could not escape his spiritual perception.
"General, ten miles ahead, we found traces of Northern Mang roaming cavalry. Around thirty men. They are resting at a water source." Sun Quezi, responsible for the vanguard, emerged from behind a dirt mound like a ghost and reported in a low voice.
"Thirty men..." Chen Qing's gaze was ice-cold. "Old Niu, take your men around the left flank. Sun Quezi, take yours and block the retreat route on the right. Everyone else, follow me in a frontal charge. Leave no survivors."
"Yes!"
The orders were concise and efficient. The five hundred men swiftly scattered without a sound, like a gigantic black bat spreading its wings as it closed in on its prey.
Those thirty Northern Mang roaming riders clearly had not realized danger was approaching. They were gathered around a puddle, watering their horses and resting, laughing loudly as their words brimmed with contempt for Great Yan's army.
Suddenly!
A faint yet dense tremor ran through the ground!
"Enemy attack!" The face of an experienced Northern Mang scout changed drastically as he cried out.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A dense rain of arrows had already descended like dark clouds! With Chen Qing sparing no expense, the Black Tiger Camp's powerful bows and heavy crossbows were far mightier than ordinary ones!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Screams rang out in an instant. More than a dozen Northern Mang riders and their warhorses were shot into hedgehogs at once!
"Form up! Mount up!" The remaining Northern Mang cavalry were horrified beyond measure as they hurriedly tried to organize a defense.
But it was already too late!
On the left, Old Niu charged in first like a savage bear. With one sweeping blow of the heavy wolf-tooth club in his hands, he sent two Northern Mang riders who had just mounted their horses flying, men and mounts alike!
On the right, Sun Quezi led his men in like phantoms. Blades flashed as they targeted horse legs and lower bodies, instantly bringing down several more men!
From the front, Chen Qing charged at the head of the line like a bolt of black lightning, crashing straight into the chaotic enemy ranks!
He did not even draw his blade.
He merely threw a simple punch!
The force of that fist, infused with Black Tiger True Intent and the Killing Intent of the Meridian Condensing Realm, struck a Northern Mang Squad Leader squarely in the chest from a distance!
Bang!
The Squad Leader's chest caved in at once, and a bloody hole exploded through his back. He died on the spot without even managing a grunt!
Chen Qing's horse did not slow. He struck with both hands, fist, palm, finger, elbow—every part of his body became a terrifying weapon of slaughter! Every strike inevitably left a Northern Mang rider with shattered bones and severed sinews, dead upon the ground!
He was like a tiger among sheep. Wherever he passed, not a single foe could withstand even one exchange!
[Killed Northern Mang roaming cavalry... Fierce Tiger Iron Body proficiency +8] [Fierce Tiger Domain absorbs Killing Intent scattered across the battlefield; range slightly increased...]
The battle began quickly and ended even faster.
In less than the time it took to burn one incense stick, all thirty Northern Mang roaming riders had become corpses on the ground. Not one escaped.
The Black Tiger Camp soldiers began efficiently clearing the battlefield, collecting heads and weapons and armor, and finishing off those who had not yet died.
Chen Qing reined in his warhorse and surveyed the killing ground, now returned to silence. Feeling the Killing Intent within him stir faintly from the slaughter, as well as the nearly imperceptible expansion of the Fierce Tiger Domain, his expression remained calm and still.
This was only the beginning.
Over the following days, the Black Tiger Camp became the deadliest predator on the Northern Frontier wilderness. Guided by Chen Qing's terrifying senses, they precisely located one Northern Mang roaming cavalry squad after another, then swiftly and thoroughly annihilated them with absolute superiority.
They moved like the wind and struck with ruthless ferocity, never leaving survivors. Wherever they passed, only Northern Mang cavalry corpses and a thick stench of blood remained.
"Fierce Tiger! It's Fierce Tiger's black banner!"
"Run! We've encountered the Black Tiger Camp!"
Terrifying tales of the "Black Tiger" and the "Fierce Tiger" began to spread among the Northern Mang roaming cavalry. That simple banner bearing a black tiger became a symbol of death. Many Northern Mang roaming cavalry squads no longer dared to venture too deeply behind Great Yan's defensive line, and their movements became timid and hesitant.
The Black Tiger Camp's fearsome name rang ever louder amid the baptism of blood and fire.
On this day, Chen Qing led his men to patrol a dangerous place known as Soul Severing Valley. The mountains on either side were steep, with only a narrow passage between them. It was an area where Northern Mang roaming cavalry frequently appeared.
Chen Qing suddenly raised his hand. The five hundred riders behind him immediately reined in their horses, and silence fell so deep that not even a crow could be heard.
His sharp gaze fixed on the depths of the valley, his brows knitting slightly. In his perception, the Killing Intent within the valley was dense. Yet it did not consist solely of the scattered aura typical of Northern Mang roaming cavalry. Instead, it faintly revealed something condensed, savage, and even carrying a trace of... familiarity?
"There is an ambush." Chen Qing's voice was cold. "Not ordinary roaming cavalry."
Old Niu and Sun Quezi's expressions hardened as they immediately ordered the entire force to be on guard.
Just then, a lone rider slowly emerged from the depths of the valley.
This person wore neither Northern Mang standard leather armor nor any military uniform, but rather a suit of tight black clothing. A ferocious ghost mask covered his face, revealing only a pair of utterly emotionless eyes. He carried a strangely shaped curved blade, narrow and long, its body bearing an eerie curve as it emitted a faint, chilling gleam.
Most striking was the aura around him: condensed and cold. He was unmistakably a Meridian Condensing Realm martial artist! Moreover, though the Killing Intent contained within his aura was not as vast and violent as Chen Qing's, it was purer and more restrained, carrying the stillness of death.
"I have waited a long time for you, Chen Qing." The masked man's voice was hoarse and dry, like metal scraping against metal.
Chen Qing's gaze sharpened. "A Northern Mang assassin? Or... some rats that cannot bear the light?"
"A man about to die need not know too much." The masked man slowly raised his curved blade, its tip pointing directly at Chen Qing. "Your head is worth ten thousand gold. I am taking it."
Before his words had faded, the warhorse beneath him suddenly exerted force and shot toward Chen Qing like a black bolt of lightning! Before the man even arrived, that condensed killing intent was already like an ice awl stabbing toward Chen Qing's brow!
At the same time, dozens of similarly black-clad, masked figures abruptly appeared on the slopes to either side of the valley, their powerful crossbows aimed at the Black Tiger Camp below!
This was a meticulously arranged killing trap!
Before you continue