Immortal Refiner

On the vast desert of the frontier, over five thousand bandits, shrouded in thick dust, charged fiercely toward the nearby camp of the Frontier Army.

The earth seemed to tremble as they kicked up a trail of sand behind them, each face adorned with savage, unrestrained grins.

”Hahaha, kill!”

These bandits from the grasslands were highly skilled in horseback archery.

Before they even reached the frontier camp, someone drew their bow and fired a flaming arrow, accurately hitting the foremost tent.

In the next moment, a barrage of burning arrows rained down from the sky.

In an instant, the entire camp turned into a sea of fire, thick smoke billowing up, waves of heat rolling one after another, as if it were a scene from hell.

Amid the chaos, cries of alarm echoed through the camp.

”Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

”It’s the grassland bandits! The bandits are here!”

”What?! That’s impossible!”

But more prevalent were the screams of agony. Some were completely engulfed in flames, rolling on the ground in a desperate attempt to extinguish the fire.

However, the flames on these arrows were fueled by oil, making them nearly impossible to put out once they caught.

They had never imagined that while Chiliarch Yuan Xiao was leading the troops on an expedition, their own camp would be ambushed by bandits.

They couldn’t understand why the numerous sentries they had set up along the way hadn’t relayed the news of the bandits’ attack, allowing these ferocious bandits to charge right up to them.

Li Qing was also utterly shocked. He had just returned to his tent after filling his stomach at the kitchen, and before he could even sit down, he heard the sound of flaming arrows descending.

Then came the overwhelming barrage of arrows, scaring him so much he almost wished he could escape to another world.

”How is this possible? There are so many sentries along the way. Why didn’t any news come back? Did they all defect?” Li Qing muttered in disbelief.

The possibility of all the sentries defecting was extremely slim, almost impossible.

That left only one possibility: these bandits had identified all the sentry locations along the way and swiftly eliminated them.

The imperial reinforcements for the frontier were still on the road and couldn’t arrive in time. The bandits’ surprise attack at this critical moment was perfectly timed. ”There’s a traitor in the Frontier Army!”

At this thought, Li Qing shuddered, his scalp tingling.

”Run! Run!”

”Head to Wangyuan City! Run toward Wangyuan City!”

The chaotic cries outside reached Li Qing’s ears, and he couldn’t help but twitch his lips.

Run? Could they really escape? The bandits were on horseback, and Wangyuan City was at least several dozen miles away from the Frontier Army camp. Even an Outer Strength expert might not outrun a horse.

Scattering and fleeing would likely lead to certain death. The terrain behind them was completely flat, offering no chance of escape—they would just be easy targets.

”Damn it, this is too sudden. There wasn’t even a hint of warning. I didn’t have time to prepare!” Beads of cold sweat formed on Li Qing’s forehead as he tried to calm his mind and quickly figure out the best course of action.

”Plans can’t keep up with changes. Let’s take some food and seek refuge in the World of Eternal Night!” Li Qing clenched his teeth and finally decided to head to the World of Eternal Night.

Immediately, he rushed toward the direction of the granary, preparing to bring enough food to last for a considerable period.

Many tents were set ablaze, but the area around the granary remained untouched. Seeing this, Li Qing couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

It was clear that the bandits knew the location of the granary and deliberately avoided shooting arrows in that area.

With such thorough information, if there wasn’t a traitor in the army, Li Qing would chop off his own head.

Everyone else was fleeing in panic toward Wangyuan City in the rear, with no one willing to pay attention to the state of the granary, eager to run as far away as possible.

Li Qing kicked open the tightly shut door of the granary, but before he could start moving the food, he saw someone he hadn’t expected—or perhaps someone he had.

”Fat Wu? Why are you still in the granary?” Li Qing was dumbfounded.

Inside the granary, a round, chubby figure was sitting on a pile of dried cured meat, continuously stuffing food into his mouth.

”I-I saw there was no fire here, so I hid here to avoid the flames,” Wu Chong stammered, the fat on his face trembling as he spoke.

”Idiot! These bandits are here to loot the food. Staying here is just asking for death!” Li Qing scolded loudly.

Wu Chong opened his mouth in a daze, then mumbled incoherently, ”Then what should I do? I can’t run. Wangyuan City is so far away. I’d probably be caught by those bandits before I even died of exhaustion.”

This fat guy actually had a clear mind, calmer than those soldiers, knowing that two legs couldn’t outrun four-legged horses.

Li Qing couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

Before he could speak, Wu Chong gave up on himself and said, ”Anyway, I’m going to die either way, so I might as well die here as a well-fed ghost!”

”I’ll eat! I’ll eat and eat!”

Li Qing was both amused and exasperated. This guy was still thinking about food even at death’s door. He really didn’t know what to say. ”Fat Wu, if you want to live, listen to me!” Li Qing grabbed Wu Chong and pulled him up, then spoke rapidly, ”Do you remember where my master was buried?”

”Run straight to that graveyard and hide in any tomb you can find. The bandits probably won’t search there!”

At these words, Wu Chong’s eyes lit up.

”Right! Why didn’t I think of that?”

As soon as he knew there was a way to survive, Wu Chong’s chubby body immediately erupted with an unimaginable will to live. He stood up in one go and asked, ”What about you? Why are you still here? Hurry and run with me!”

”You go first. I’ll grab some food and catch up right away!” Li Qing patted Wu Chong’s body, urging him to run.

”Alright, but remember to take more dried meat. We can’t let those damned bandits have it all!”

After this reminder, Wu Chong’s round body, as if summoning all his strength, actually started running quickly, darting out of the granary in a flash.

Then, as if remembering something, Li Qing quickly shouted after him, ”Fat Wu, remember not to hide in my master’s tomb!”

Li Qing didn’t know if Wu Chong had heard him, but he couldn’t worry about that anymore. He directly shouldered a large pile of rice, flour, and dried meat in the granary, closed his eyes, and began this large-scale transportation operation.

He planned to carry enough food to last for a long time, then hide in the World of Eternal Night for a while, waiting for the situation here to blow over.

(End of the Chapter)

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