The territory of the Far East, outside the ice sheet
After the ice valley was attacked by the black smoke barrier, Lang Bingwei and Shui Lianggong, carrying Han Banner and the surviving 50,000 soldiers and horses, retreated to the outside of the ice field in one breath. They stopped their hasty escape after confirming safety.
"Shui Lianggong! Didn't you say there is a thousand-year treasure there? How could this happen?" Han Qi, who had suffered heavy losses, grabbed Shui Lianggong's collar and asked angrily.
"Brother Han, don't be angry, don't be angry. I don't know how that place could be the devil's lair! If I knew, how could I go and die?" Shui Lianggong also looked aggrieved, but he didn't expect it to happen despite all calculations. Such an incident suddenly ruined all his plans.
"My lord, please have my condolences. Everything is of no use now. General Liu has encountered an unexpected situation, and there are still many dangers on the way back. The top priority is that the Lord of the City has taken the overall situation seriously!" Langbingwei, who was taking a breath, saw the two arguing. , quickly stepped forward to resolve the issue.
"Hmph! This loss cannot be in vain. Shui Lianggong, you must give me an explanation!" Han Qi, who was furious, gradually calmed down after hearing Lang Bingwei's persuasion.
"Brother Han, don't worry, Liang will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation this time." Shui Lianggong said meaningfully, communicating with Lang Bingwei with hidden eyes as he spoke.
"Now, how many soldiers and horses do we have left?" Han Qi calmed down and changed the topic. He had to say that as the city lord, Han Qi had experienced many years of ups and downs. Even if the situation was unfavorable, he could still face danger without fear, remain calm and make the most appropriate decision. .
"Sir, we still have 30,000 people left. What should we do next?" Wolfbei calculated in his mind and counted.
"What else can 30,000 people do? Go back to...the city!" Han Qi said these two words fiercely, glanced at the ice field filled with ice and snow again, and left with unwillingness in his eyes. Duke Shui Liang was worried and led his remaining 20,000 soldiers, following the Han Banner army...
Far East Territory, Ice Valley
After Qiye spent ten days in the cave to accumulate strength, he finally walked out of the cave. Nowadays, Qiye's skin wounds have completely scabbed off after applying healing plaster, and the bruises, redness and swelling from before are no longer visible on his body.
However, Qiye's vest left a burning black mark from the sneak attack by the black demonic flames: a mark that looked like burning fireworks. Upon closer inspection, this flame is composed of nine zigzag lines. The lines seep into the texture and into the bones, becoming more ferocious as the shoulder bones twist.
After walking out of the cave for seven nights, I relaxed my muscles and bones for a long time. The bones in my whole body were "rattling", and the smooth and comfortable feeling came over me layer by layer, which made me feel happy both physically and mentally. In more than ten days, all the muscles and bones in the body have been nourished and strengthened. At this moment, the whole body feels as refreshed as if it had been reborn. Qiye can't wait to move his legs and feet.
"Haha, how are you? Little baby, doesn't it feel wonderful to have increased strength?" Within the body, the great protector Ao's sinister laughter with unknown intentions came again.
"It seems that Ah Qi has to thank the Great Protector for controlling my body to extract other people's spiritual power." Although his sense of strength has increased significantly, he has gained it at the cost of pain. Thinking of this, Qiye still said in a low voice angrily.
"Hahaha... There's no need to thank you. This Great Protector doesn't even bother with the gratitude of a little kid. Besides, I'm not doing this all for you. If your strength is too weak, this Great Protector will also be deeply uneasy." The Great Protector's tone showed a high-spirited attitude of showing kindness to others.
"How is Ah Qi's own strength? There is no need for the Great Protector to worry about it. The Great Protector should worry more about himself!" Qiye sneered unappreciatively.
"Hmph! Yellow-mouthed boy, in this world where strength is respected and the strong eat the weak, you are not even qualified to die if you don't have the strength." Seeing that his 'good intentions' were scorned by Qiye, the Great Protector finally couldn't help but yelled angrily.
"Ah Qi will find ways to improve his strength, but it won't be up to you!" Qiye emphasized in a emphatically voice, refusing to admit defeat. However, after carefully thinking about the words of the Great Protector and thinking about his own painful experience, Qiye agrees with his reasoning but never agrees with the Great Protector's evil practice of extracting other people's spiritual power.
After saying that, Qiye glanced around the ice valley, and if he saw nothing unusual, he set off and galloped upwards.
"Ling Bu!" Qiye urged the footwork in one breath without interruption. Now Qiye's 'elementary fifth-level' strength can perform Lingbu with ease, reaching the 'Lingbu, proficiency stage'. With one breath, the person had already escaped more than ten meters away. In the time it took to burn an incense stick, Qi Ye jumped onto the rock wall of the Ice Valley. On the ice sheet, a charred scene was shockingly displayed in front of Qiye.
"I didn't expect so many people to lose their lives this time." Qiye murmured sadly as he glanced around at the desolate scenes at the valley bottom and on the ice field.
"Hmph, it's just a mere 100,000 ants. In the eyes of the Great Protector, these are just dust from the world. Why is it sad?" Seeing Qiye's short-sightedness, the Great Protector expressed disdain again.
"To the Great Protector, it's 100,000 ants. But, to Ah Qi, it's 100,000 people! 100,000 people like me!" Hearing the Great Protector's indifferent words, Qiye couldn't suppress his emotions and was filled with anger. retorted passionately.
Slowing down, the sad and silent Qiye took steps, quietly walking past each charred corpse. Among them were soldiers from the same military camp as him, as well as Shuiyou City soldiers wearing brass armor... What surprised Qiye was that the corpses at the bottom of the ice valley were all burned to charred bones, while the ice field was only charred. Qiye knelt down curiously and took a look. The brass-colored armor was as fragile as burnt paper ashes. It turned into ashes and fell off the body at the first touch.
Looking closely at the charred corpse, Qiye felt a little surprised: Although the corpse's arms were charred, the word "Slave" deeply carved with a soldering iron could be vaguely discerned.
"He is a slave!" Qiye said in disbelief. To confirm again, Qiye continuously checked the corpses of several soldiers wearing brass armor around them. Without exception, there is a word "Slave" branded on the arm, but there are three different styles: one with thick font, one with slender font, and one with distorted font.
"What's going on? How come there are three languages?" Qiye asked himself in his heart. Judging from the corpses discovered so far, it seems that most of them are soldiers acting as slaves, and there are only a few real soldiers. Qiye couldn't help but make a bold guess: Could it be that most of the 100,000 troops sent by Shuiyou City this time were slaves?
After some inspection, this suspicion was further confirmed. Qiye felt that coming to the Far East Territory this time might not be easy. No matter why he came here, so many people were killed and he almost died here. Thinking of this, Qiye felt an indescribable resentment in his heart.
Taking a deep breath, suppressing the hatred in his heart, Qiye embarked on the return journey again. Now is not the time to ask why. The Far East Territory is still full of dangers. The top priority is to leave here as soon as possible. On the vast ice field with no road markings, Qiye searched for the corpses left on the ground as road signs.
Not far ahead, an elevated carriage stopped quietly on the ice field. The horse had disappeared, and only the reins were left wrapped around the body. Qiye drew out the Nine-curved Silver Snake Sword and approached cautiously. The carriage looked familiar. After careful inspection, it turned out to be a cargo carriage from the kitchen camp. He stretched out his silver snake sword and slightly lifted the car curtain: a charred corpse was lying inside the car, with bags of dry food scattered around.
"It's the cook!" Qiye said with some surprise. Although the body was burned beyond recognition and unrecognizable, Qiye could still recognize the deceased at a glance from the familiar outline of the body.
"I didn't expect you had been hiding in the carriage, and you didn't escape the fate of being buried here." Qiye said to himself. Apart from lighting fires and cooking for the city lord's officers along the way, the chief cook spent the rest of the time hiding in the carriage tent. He did not expect to encounter such a tragic end this time. Judging from the burnt hole in the roof of the car and the dark charred cloth remaining around it, it seemed that the cook was killed by the Black Demon Flame in an air strike while he was escaping.
Looking at a cart full of scattered dry food, I thought of the long journey back. Nanaya packed them all up in one go, put them into Yanahei's golden spirit ring, and finally burned the carriage and the corpse.
Far East, at the edge of the ice and snow pine forest
Han Qi and Shui Lianggong, who had been traveling quickly for more than a month, were finally about to walk out of the ice and snow. On the way back, the two armies encountered several night attacks by wolves. Coupled with the soldiers' frightened spirits and poor defense, the 50,000 soldiers suffered casualties of more than 5,000. In the dark forest where the ice and snow have receded, the army that travels day and night rests here.
In a quiet corner of the forest, Han Qi stood on the rocks in the forest with a tired look on his face, looking into the depths of the Far East Territory, feeling lost. During this treasure hunt, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and the long period of high mental stress back and forth also made Han Qi physically and mentally exhausted.
"Lord City Lord, are you thinking about General Liu?" Behind Han Qi, Lang Bingwei slowly approached and asked with concern.
"Hey... I didn't expect that this time, not only was the treasure not found, but General Liu also died here. What a mistake!" Han Qi clenched his fists, lowered his head and said bitterly.
"Sir, don't blame yourself too much. The black smoke in the Ice Valley is evil demon fire, and mortals can't resist it at all. We are lucky to have escaped. It's just unfortunate that General Liu died here. I hope the Lord of the City can express his condolences." Wolf Soldier Wei enlightened further.
"That's the case. Although the incident happened suddenly, with General Liu's skill and reaction, he should have been able to barely escape. But why didn't General Liu hide at that time?" Recalling the scene where Liu Bingwei was engulfed in black smoke, Han Qi always feels very strange.
"It may be that the sudden change in the environment at that time distracted General Liu for a moment. Moreover, the attack came so unexpectedly that General Liu had no time to escape. It is also possible that General Liu was thinking about digging for treasures at the time and failed to react immediately." Wolfbei said. Already close to Han Qi's back, he expressed his guess.
"But I always felt that this was not the case. It was just that the sky was dark at the time and I couldn't see clearly. However, I could vaguely see that General Liu's fallen posture was a bit stiff and unnatural." Recalling carefully, Han Qi became more certain.
"Maybe it's because..." Wolfbei hesitated to speak.
"Why?" Han Qi was about to turn sideways and ask Lang Bingwei.
"Poisoned!" Langbei whispered two words in a low voice. Although his voice was low, it was filled with evil evil.
As soon as he finished speaking, a black dagger silently slipped out of Lang Bingwei's right arm. He held the dagger firmly in his right hand and stabbed Han Qi in the waist with lightning speed as he turned around. Facing the sudden close attack, Han Qi was caught off guard, but with his keen intuition from many years of fighting, he instinctively flashed his waist and avoided the most vicious frontal thrust. Although he had reacted in the flash of lightning, it was still a little late. The black dagger blade cut through the brocade robe, and a ten centimeter-long bloody opening was opened on Han Qi's abdomen. The reason why Langbei launched a close sneak attack at this moment was because he saw that Han Qi was mentally exhausted and in poor condition, which was a rare opportunity.
