Troll Forest, Warg Attack

"Thank you, but speaking of which, is there something urgent for your visit this time? Would you like to stay a few more days? I've been researching a lot of new dishes lately..."

"No need to stay longer, but I did come to talk to you about something."

"Li Wei, ever since that cavalry squad was wiped out last time, the Orc King of the Misty Mountains has learned of your existence. He's likely to retaliate. You'd best be careful with your movements lately."

The Orc King...

The first name that came to Li Wei's mind was Azog, but then he reconsidered—he hadn't heard of Azog bearing the title of Orc King.

So it must be that one. Li Wei's mind conjured an image of a tall orc, yet with a bloated and obese physique.

That Orc King living in the cave, right?

"I understand. Thanks for the warning."

Rangers always came and went like the wind. Despite Li Wei's attempts to keep him, he ultimately couldn't. In the end, he just led him on a tour of the Territory, showing off the new additions.

For instance, the Iron Golem.

These big fellows stared expressionlessly at Falrodan, making him tremble with fear. Yet the Iron Golem just scratched its head, produced a little red flower from somewhere, and handed it to Falrodan without showing any aggressive intent.

It seemed the Iron Golem's friend-or-foe identification was fairly reliable.

"Thanks." Falrodan politely accepted the little flower.

After the tour, he didn't linger long, and the Ranger soon departed.

Not long after, Li Wei mounted his horse and rode east along the main road.

He had to admit, having a horse made travel efficiency incomparably better. Though the horse's top speed was only 11.5 m/s, the advantage was that it could keep running.

And not only could the horse keep running—Li Wei didn't need rest either.

Man and horse, they ran at full speed without pause for an entire day, arriving at a landmark at an incredible pace: the Last Bridge.

Nearing the river, Li Wei reined the horse to a slow walk, step by step across the stone bridge, taking in the scenery on both sides.

The river reflected the setting sun, adding a splash of beauty to the dusk.

This was the place.

"The Ogre Forest."

Li Wei spread out the map.

Heading slightly northeast from here would lead to the perilous Ogre Forest.

It was called the Ogre Forest because it gathered a large number of ogres from the eastern Ettenmoors and the Misty Mountains.

This forest didn't just have three ogres.

Li Wei didn't know exactly where the three ogres who would later capture Bilbo lived, but that didn't stop him from being curious enough to take a look around.

Best case, he'd find them and fatten his little treasury; worst case, he'd treat it as a sightseeing trip.

Even if the scenery here was really nothing to write home about.

With his mind made up, Li Wei dug a large hole right by the bridge, temporarily stashed the horse inside, and sealed the top.

Thanks to riding, Li Wei's food supplies had barely been consumed over the past two days, leaving him with ample reserves.

Certain the horse was safe enough here, Li Wei wasted no time and ran northeast.

The sunset vanished in an instant.

Night fell.

A wisp of breeze brushed past, failing to stir Li Wei in the slightest.

Rustle—

Pushing aside a thicket, he spotted a panicked hare inside. Li Wei let out another disappointed sigh and moved on.

He'd been searching the forest for half the night and still hadn't found a single trace of ogres.

If anyone else saw this, they'd definitely think Li Wei had a screw loose.

What normal people would avoid at all costs, Li Wei actively sought out—and on top of that, he couldn't even find them.

What, did they all hide when they saw me coming?

Suddenly, the thicket behind Li Wei stirred with unusual movement. A dark figure leaped out, raising a blade and charging straight at Li Wei.

"Aha, look what I found—"

Swish—

In an instant, Li Wei drew his longsword, leaped up, and slashed backward.

Critical hit!

"Gah—"

The sound vanished instantly.

He looked down at the corpse on the ground.

An Orc.

Li Wei immediately tensed up—these creatures didn't operate alone. Orcs were like cockroaches: if one showed up, it meant there was definitely a swarm nearby.

Still, at least this one had been cut down the moment it appeared, so hopefully it wouldn't draw reinforcements from the area.

But the moment the smell of blood began to spread, it was already destined to be an unsettled night.

"Awooo—"

The Warg began to howl, the sound almost right in his ear. Li Wei's hair stood on end. He instantly opened his backpack and finished donning his armor in a single motion.

Shrrrrk.

One by one, Wargs leaped out, the foremost one charging with its jaws wide open, lunging straight at Li Wei.

It was easy to imagine—if that bite landed, the impact would be no less than being struck by a cleaver.

Thud!

But the next moment, a wooden square shield edged with iron appeared. Caught off guard, the most aggressive Warg slammed headfirst into it. The shield didn't budge, but the recoil left the Warg dizzy and dazed.

It never got time to recover. Li Wei seized the opportunity and hacked down hard on its head with his sword. The Warg let out a mournful howl and collapsed on the spot—that critical strike had emptied most of its health bar.

Warg after Warg lunged at him. Li Wei held his shield, fighting and retreating, parrying attacks from seven or eight Wargs coming from all directions while still finding time to finish off the one on the ground with an extra stab.

As long as the shield had durability left, these Wargs could barely touch him.

Clearly, their attack power wasn't enough to trigger a "shield break" effect.

Thud!

Li Wei blocked a Warg with his shield, then spun to slash at another. His speed was so fast that even the agile Warg couldn't dodge. But the moment he turned, another Warg immediately filled the gap, sinking its fangs deep into his side.

Li Wei felt a sharp sting in his waist, like being pricked by a needle.

That bite had clearly been waiting a long time, just for Li Wei to show an opening.

[-1]

But the damage was low.

After all, it had bitten the thickest part of his armor.

Still, Li Wei almost forgot—his enemies weren't just the Wargs.

On a rock behind the Warg pack, an Orc quietly drew a bow and took aim.

Whoosh—

An arrow flew.

Thud!

Li Wei felt his head ring.

The Orc archer bared a vicious grin, smug with satisfaction.

That arrow had struck Li Wei's head with precision, even seeming to pierce through the silver iron helmet and drive straight in.

A headshot.

But the next moment, something happened that nearly made the Orc drop its bow in terror.

Li Wei calmly pulled the bloodied arrow from his head and gave the Orc archer's position a long, hard look.

[-4]

That arrow had dealt heavy damage. Without the Iron Armor's protection, it would have cost Li Wei most of his life.

But it didn't matter.

His satiety slowly dropped, while his health shot back up—in the blink of an eye, the health bar was full again.

Ignoring the archer, Li Wei raised his longsword and threw himself back into the fray with the Wargs, cutting and splattering blood all the way. The Orc watched in shock as so many Wargs couldn't handle a single man.

Sure, the Wargs had bitten him, and he was indeed injured—but why wouldn't he just die?!

The archer tried to ambush him again, but every shot was blocked by that big shield. The man would rather let a Warg bite him than drop his guard against the arrows.

It didn't take long.

Li Wei chewed on beef jerky, stepping over a carpet of dead Wargs as he charged toward the archer's position.

Swish!

One clean stroke took its head.