Tunnel

"Scrub, scrub, scrub scrub scrub..."

Inside the cave, Li Wei poured out a bucket of water. Frowning, he placed the stick, whose surface was caked with grime, into the puddle and laboriously beat and knocked it around before scrubbing it hard. Only then did he finally remove more than half of the hardened crust.

A moment later, when all the filth had fallen away from the blade, Li Wei looked at the gleaming sword and was overjoyed.

The "Covered in Filth" tag in front of the sword had now vanished, and its item ID had officially become Ancient Elven Sword.

Attack +9.

"Holy shit!"

It had two more attack than a Diamond Sword!

It was equivalent to a Diamond Sword with Sharpness III already enchanted on it.

He had truly struck gold this time.

Diamond Sword? What was that? Never heard of it. Don't ruin the relationship between me and the Ancient Elven Sword.

Still, this Ancient Elven Sword... anything related to elves that also had the word "ancient" in its name had to be genuinely old. After all, elves had endless lifespans. An antique passed down through several human generations might not even be as old as their household cutlery.

This had to be from the previous era—or even the one before that.

It had to be said that Middle-earth's forging techniques were truly miraculous. Some weapons could go thousands, even tens of thousands of years without fading or decaying.

After washing the sword, Li Wei glanced at the puddle, its murky surface still floating with bits of filth, then looked at the empty bucket in his inventory.

Forget it. This water was no good anymore.

Looking at the sword still glowing in his inventory, Li Wei felt the trip had been completely worth it. The value of this sword far surpassed any gold or silver.

Wait.

Li Wei suddenly noticed something.

Had it been glowing this whole time?

Alarm bells blaring in his mind, Li Wei immediately became alert. He left the cave at once, lowered his body, and hid in the shadows of the bushes as he scanned his surroundings.

Rustle, rustle.

Before long, footsteps indeed sounded.

An Orc nearly passed right in front of Li Wei. It ran up to another Orc riding a Warg and promptly reported:

"Chief, I saw firelight in a cave in that direction."

"Ignore it. That's Troll territory."

"Yes." The Orc withdrew.

The Warg beneath him twitched its nose and looked around, seeming somewhat restless.

"Baby, what did you smell?"

Its scarlet eyes shifted from side to side before finally locking onto a shadowed patch of bushes.

Sometimes, Li Wei really hated these Wargs.

Not only did these things have noses keener than dogs, but they could also climb walls and trees.

Keeping his eyes on the Orcs passing before him, Li Wei soon spotted a small Orc cavalry unit not far away.

With a quick glance, he estimated there were around twenty Warg riders.

Rubbing the sword in his hand, Li Wei weighed the gap between their respective strength.

This was a little tricky.

If he were wearing Diamond Armor, Li Wei would still have been confident enough to fight. Even if he lost, the Diamond Armor's full defense could support him as he forced his way out. But Iron Armor was ultimately still a bit lacking.

To be honest, Li Wei's combat experience was not particularly extensive, nor were his fighting skills especially impressive. Other than when dealing with Trolls, most of his battles relied on trading blows. Once the enemy count exceeded ten, he started to struggle.

Should he run?

No. Could the sword I just got really suffer such humiliation?

He had to take them down!

But...

Most MC Players would not choose to fight head-on when facing a large group of enemies.

Seeing a Warg heading in his direction, Li Wei quietly backed away and moved farther from the area.

The Warg darted into the bushes, only finding traces of a lingering scent.

"Something came through here?"

the Orc squad leader asked.

The Warg panted in response.

"Stay alert."

Elsewhere.

After leaving, Li Wei directly pulled out a shovel.

He began digging tunnels nearby.

At that moment, the Warg cavalry squad was still moving forward. Having finished digging, Li Wei followed their trail again.

"This direction... should lead to the Misty Mountains."

These Orcs were probably planning to return to their nest.

But today, they were destined not to have an easy time.

Li Wei quietly drew the glowing Elven Sword, burst from the grass, and leaped into a savage downward slash.

Thud!

The heavy impact foretold a devastating critical hit. The Orc rider at the rear was killed instantly, and the Warg beneath him could not escape death either.

Perhaps the Warg's fur was not especially tough, or perhaps the sword was simply too sharp. With all his strength behind the swing, Li Wei actually cut off the Warg's hind half in a single slash. The poor Warg let out a miserable howl before dying on the spot.

"Enemy attack!!"

The rider ahead suddenly realized what was happening. With an angry roar, he raised his cleaver and charged at Li Wei.

Li Wei instantly brought up his left-hand shield to block, knocking back the attacking Orc. He did not linger in the fight. While the main force ahead was turning around, he had already run several steps away.

Of course, no matter how fast Li Wei ran, he could not outrun a Warg. Even though he had started fleeing in advance, the Wargs still closed in step by step.

Just as they were about to catch him, Li Wei suddenly leaped into the bushes ahead, and the Wargs sprang in after him.

Yet in the next moment, they were dumbfounded. There was no trace of any human in the clearing before them, nor were there any signs of movement nearby.

It was as though he had vanished into thin air.

The main force soon arrived behind them.

"Damn it, where did that piece of trash go?!"

The Orc squad leader looked around furiously. The Wargs lowered themselves to sniff, but all they smelled was the fresh scent of earth, as if the ground had recently been turned over.

Not far away, Li Wei dug away a patch of dirt and used it as a foothold to climb out.

"What was that sound?"

A scout went over to investigate. After looking around, the only unusual thing he found was a neat, square patch of earth that seemed to have been freshly turned.

Could someone be farming here?

Just as the Orc scout was puzzling over it, a flash of white light suddenly streaked past. The Warg beneath him let out a howl and immediately collapsed limply to the ground.

The Orc scout fell after it. The instant he hit the ground, a sword pierced through his chest, executing him on the spot.

"Damn it, he's over there!"

The commotion from the kill was not small, and an Orc immediately spotted Li Wei.

Yet when a group of riders charged over in fury, they found that the man had vanished again.

Thump.

Li Wei landed hard on his backside inside the tunnel. He hurriedly sealed the entrance, then headed toward another exit.

"Damn human!"

The squad leader growled resentfully, unable to understand how such a large person could suddenly disappear.

"Ah—"

At that moment, another scream came from the rear of the formation. Yet another rider had been ambushed and knocked down.

"Over there!"

"Where is he?!"

"Ah!"

In the time it took to turn around, another flash of light swept by, piercing through the chest of the last isolated Orc.

"There's more than one enemy!"

Faced with one bizarre ambush after another, the squad leader immediately realized the seriousness of the situation.

There had to be more than one attacker. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the ambushes to come from such strange angles.

But there could not be too many attackers either. At the very least, they definitely could not defeat this cavalry squad in a frontal battle, or they would not be relying on sneak attacks like this.

"Trash, if you've got the guts, come out and fight!"

There was no response. Li Wei dug away the dirt above his head, covered it back up, crouched in the grass, waited for the right moment, then drew his sword and slashed—

"Found you!"

Whoosh—

A sharp whistling sound cut through the air. Li Wei felt a sudden pain in his chest, and an arrow had already struck him.

There would not be a third time. After suffering several ambushes, even these dull-witted Orcs should have known to stay alert.

"Hahahaha!"

The Orc squad leader grinned broadly and let out a hearty laugh.

"I'm going to gut you, eat your flesh, and drink your blood!" Before he had even caught Li Wei, the squad captain was already indulging in his fantasies.

Yet Li Wei merely hacked down the Orc in front of him, calmly pulled out the arrow, stuffed it into his backpack, and said, "Thanks."

Then, as if he hadn't been injured at all, he turned and ran.

Whoosh—

Halfway through his run, Li Wei spun and leaped into the bushes, and the squad captain immediately sensed that something was wrong.

When he charged into the bushes with the main force, sure enough, the man had vanished again.

Staring at the flat ground, the Orc squad captain was gripped by fear. One disappearance after another was simply too bizarre.

There were likely countless traps nearby. If they stayed here any longer, they would only end up losing every last soldier.

This fairly quick-witted Orc squad captain immediately gave the order:

"Let's get out of here first—Gah!"

Before he could finish, an arrow suddenly came flying in without warning. In an instant, it pierced through his armor and plunged into the squad captain's shoulder, severely wounding him.

And the arrow had come from beneath his feet!

Looking at the one-meter-wide opening and pit that had suddenly appeared beside his feet, the squad captain understood everything.

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