Splitting Up

"Li Wei, wait!"

Over here, Li Wei had wiped out dozens of Orcs and more than a dozen Wargs, leaving only a minor leader alive.

Gandalf hurried over and looked at the last survivor.

"I thought you'd forgotten our purpose."

"Don't worry. I can control my sword."

Li Wei sheathed his sword. At the same time, Gandalf pressed his staff against the Orc minor leader's chest to stop him from getting up and counterattacking.

Their purpose, naturally, was to gather information from these Orcs.

"Filthy creature, speak. What are you gathering here for?"

"Heh heh, damned wizard. Sooner or later, we'll skin you alive..."

Thud!

Gandalf struck him hard, leaving the Orc with barely a sliver of life.

"Tell us your purpose, and I'll give you a quick death!"

"We'll kill every human in this region. Everything will belong to us!"

Gah—

Having said that, the minor leader breathed his last.

Li Wei looked at Gandalf.

"Are there people living nearby?"

Gandalf slowly nodded, frowning as he said, "As far as I know, there are some."

"Many years ago, before evil had spread, when the Kingdom of Rohan had not yet become ruins and Black Forest was still called the Great Green Forest, many Free Peoples lived together near this fertile river valley. But now the forest has been corrupted and lies in darkness. Danger lurks everywhere nearby, and it is no longer suitable for habitation. Most people chose to move somewhere safer."

"Quite a few people did live here—humans and Hobbits alike. Some left, some are still wandering, and some did not have time to leave and still remain gathered in this region."

"We need to do something, Li Wei."

Gandalf raised his staff and gave the minor leader another blow to make sure he was not playing dead, then motioned for Li Wei to leave with him.

"Where are you going?"

"It's not where I'm going. It's where we're going—we should warn any nearby residents and have them leave quickly, lest they fall to the Orcs."

"No, no, Gandalf. I think you're enough for that."

Li Wei remained where he was.

Gandalf turned back.

"What about you?"

"I'll go kill all the Orcs. Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Li Wei felt that there seemed to be far too many Orcs nearby.

At those words, Gandalf paused.

If anyone else had said that, the wizard would certainly have smacked him hard on the head with his pipe to knock some sense into him.

Since the Orcs were preparing for a large-scale raid, they would not send just a few scattered squads. They would surely dispatch a raiding legion numbering at least several thousand.

Facing thousands of Orcs alone was suicide, no matter how one looked at it.

Normally, that was.

But if it was Li Wei, as long as those Orcs were not gathered together at all times, perhaps...

Gandalf nodded. "That makes sense. Then we'll part ways here. Be careful as well. Once I'm done on my end, I'll immediately come support you."

"May your journey go smoothly."

"The same to you."

In Anduin Valley, east of the Misty Mountains, the two parted and ran in different directions.

Li Wei opened the system map. This entire region was covered in unexplored fog.

"Perfect. Time to uncover some of this map."

Rumble!

Night.

An Orc holding a torch kicked down a fence and set the wooden houses along the road ablaze. In the firelight, its lump-covered face looked especially savage and terrifying.

"Damn it!"

"Another abandoned village."

"Where's the scout? Get him over here! Didn't he say there were people here!?"

A rather short Orc shuffled over with his back bent, saying timidly, "I really did see firelight here earlier. Maybe... maybe they're hiding..."

As they spoke, another Orc suddenly came over with a report. It seemed they had found something at the entrance to the village.

The minor leader immediately took his men over.

"The ashes were just burned. They're still warm..."

"There must be someone nearby. Find him!"

Just as the Orcs were about to spread out and search separately, the Wargs suddenly went on alert and snarled toward the shadows.

The minor leader looked over and saw a human in an inconspicuous Linen Robe slowly emerge from the darkness.

"Aha, I found you!"

The Wargs pounced excitedly, and the Orcs raised their cleavers, already thinking about how to divide up this unfortunate human.

But then a faint blue gleam flashed, and the human slowly smiled.

Wait, this person—something was wrong!

The minor leader forcibly stopped the Warg beneath him from charging forward and yanked it back two steps.

A moment later.

Looking at the large pile of burning Orc and Warg corpses before him, then at the direction in which the Orc minor leader had fled, Li Wei felt it was a little regrettable.

He had not ridden a horse when he came out this time. He really could not catch up to that Warg.

"Pretty sharp."

It had known to run as soon as it saw him.

Without caring where that Orc had fled, Li Wei continued at his own pace, gradually uncovering the map as he searched for abandoned villages or isolated Orc squads.

Under this carpet-like search, days—some quiet, some noisy—passed by without notice.

"Chief, we saw smoke rising from a village over there. Should we go in and loot it?"

The moment they heard it might be a village with people in it, the surrounding Wargs and Orcs began to stir, already growing impatient.

At the very back of the group, someone could not help letting out a sigh, their eyes filled with numbness.

Were more people going to be enslaved?

Clearly, no matter how timely Gandalf's warnings had been or how many Li Wei had killed, many people had still been captured by the Orcs amid the large-scale raids and plundering—either as food or as slaves.

This was an Orc squad responsible for escorting human slaves taken during raids.

Compared to the other raiding squads, they were more numerous, stronger, and far more vicious.

Although he had full confidence in his forces, upon hearing the scout's report, the minor leader still asked warily, "Smoke? Is there only one plume, or many?"

"Many. More than one house has it."

"Are those houses old or new? Are there signs of human activity?"

The scout scratched his swollen head and struggled to recall.

"Some of the houses are very old, but it looks like someone cleaned them. I even saw several pieces of clothing drying in the yards..."

"Are there a lot of weeds by the roadside?"

The scout shook his head. "No, there were very few weeds. I could see the situation inside at a glance."

"Good!"

The minor leader revealed a cruel smile.

In that case, it was not that person's trap. It was a real village!

Pointing at a squad with only a few dozen Orcs, he ordered, "You stay here and watch these slaves. The rest of you, come with me. We're eating human flesh tonight!"

"Hahaha—"

A mass of Orcs and Wargs charged toward the village.

Yet after they entered the various houses and searched them fiercely for a while, they were dumbfounded.

"Why isn't there a single person?"

Some Orcs stared at the fires burning in the chimneys and the leather clothes hanging on wooden racks in the yards, unable to figure out what was going on.

Then, all of a sudden, waves of commotion erupted from the distant squad guarding the slaves.

Flaming Orcs and Wargs flew into the air, screaming as they crashed back down.

Under the night sky, the sight was exceptionally conspicuous.

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