Free Web NovelChapter 49: Chapter 49: Perilous Interception
In the darkness, the silhouettes of the mountains rose and fell.
Like a series of reclining giants.
A deathly silence pervaded the surroundings, chilling one to the bone.
Tang Wen ran like the wind. After covering several miles, he hid behind a massive boulder.
Before long, a group of people appeared in his field of vision.
He laid out a dozen or so stones, ready to send them to their graves.
There were six people in total.
He counted them but didn’t act rashly, instead observing them patiently.
His formidable Constitution had long ago granted him impressive Night Vision Ability.
Even from a distance, he could see them clearly.
The one in the lead was carrying a small, birdcage-like object.
The second was a Sword and Shield Soldier, the third...
The fifth person was a problem.
He was holding a Crossbow!
’It’s probably for a Whistling Arrow or something similar.’
’I have to kill him first!’
Tang Wen gripped the stones, ready to strike, then glanced behind them.
’Wait, there’s a sixth person.’
This man was holding a long tube. ’Is that also for sending a signal?’
’It’s possible. I can’t be careless!’
If he let them send a signal, the experts behind them would pursue.
They were much faster than him.
’If that happens, Sister Bing and I will have no escape. We’ll surely die.’
Tang Wen patiently observed them once more, making sure he hadn’t missed anything.
Just as they drew near, their leader suddenly stopped and looked toward Tang Wen’s hiding spot.
Tang Wen’s expression changed, and he shot to his feet!
The Flying Locust Stones in his hand flew out with a roar.
The man didn’t even get the word "No" out.
The Crossbowman had just raised his hand halfway when his entire arm exploded.
The Crossbow fell to the ground, firing on impact. The Whistling Arrow shot into a crevice in the rocks, making no sound.
The sixth man was indeed a signalman as well. He was holding the long tube and about to pull the cord when his neck was snapped, and he crumpled to the ground.
The group of six—five First-class Martial Disciples and one Second-Class Martial Artist—
Tang Wen had bombarded them with over a dozen stones, leaving no one alive.
The surroundings fell silent once more.
He reached back and felt his back, which was drenched in cold sweat.
’That was too close. If I’d been just a bit unlucky and that Whistling Arrow had flown into the sky...’
’My fate today would have been sealed!’
The exchange was brief, but the mental strain was immense.
After steadying his breathing, he drew the long saber from his back and went over to poke at the bodies on the ground.
Only after confirming there was no further danger did he begin to search them, finding several dozen taels of silver.
They were also wearing Leather Armor, which was worth some money, but it would be difficult to carry.
Tang Wen picked up the birdcage from the ground. It wasn’t large, and the green bird inside was even smaller. It lay in the cage, its condition unknown.
"Is this... a Hummingbird?"
Hummingbirds feed on flower nectar.
’It doesn’t seem impossible that an Ability User could tame one to track nectar.’
Not caring whether it was dead or alive, Tang Wen grabbed a rock and smashed the cage and bird into a pulp.
Walking over to the sixth man, he saw a long, firework-like tube with a white cord at the bottom.
His intuition told him that pulling the white cord would launch a signal flare.
Tang Wen took the device and hurried back to the cave.
"Who’s there?"
"Sister Bing, it’s me."
The figure inside clearly breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you hurt?"
"Don’t worry, I took care of them all. I even got their signal flare. Uh... you..." Tang Wen walked in. Behind the fire, Zhou Bing was wearing only a thin undergarment.
Her graceful, curvy figure was on full display.
"Good... that’s good. Hurry up and take off your clothes, I’ll wash them for you. The nectar was mixed with other things, and the scent got through your armor onto your clothes."
Zhou Bing strode toward Tang Wen on her long legs and immediately started to help him.
"Uh, Sister Bing, we’re short on time. You don’t have to wash them."
"Drying them is easy."
As she spoke, she clumsily stripped off Tang Wen’s outer clothes and removed his Inner Armor. Then, her fingertips grazed his chest as she pulled off his undergarment as well.
Tang Wen shivered, hugging his arms and huddling by the fire.
At that moment, they had only four articles of clothing between them.
The armor was wiped clean, the clothes were washed, and the water was wrung out.
Just as Zhou Bing had said, drying them was easy. She heated several relatively flat stones until they were smoking, then pressed them against the clothes.
Steam HISSED out, and after a few passes, the clothes were dry.
"Are you cold? Sit a little closer."
"I’m fine, I’m fine."
Zhou Bing’s every move was full of temptation.
Tang Wen didn’t dare look too much, hugging his knees, appearing somewhat reserved.
He was a virile young man; how could he withstand such a temptation?
They spent nearly half an hour on this.
After drying the clothes, Zhou Bing began to dress Tang Wen herself.
"I can do it, I’ll do it myself." He didn’t dare stand up.
"Do you find me distasteful?" Zhou Bing’s almond-shaped eyes widened.
"No, no, it’s just that I... I..." Tang Wen looked embarrassed. He stammered "I" for a while but couldn’t explain himself.
"Fine, dress yourself." The light in Zhou Bing’s eyes dimmed.
"No, that’s not it... Okay, Sister Bing, you can dress me!"
Tang Wen shut his eyes, shot to his feet, and spread his arms in a gesture of complete surrender.
Seeing his... unusual state, Zhou Bing’s pretty face flushed crimson. Her hands trembled, and her gaze drifted downward involuntarily. After a long moment, she managed to help Tang Wen put on his outer clothes.
The women in the camp, influenced by their environment, were all virtuous and dutiful to their men at home, no matter how fierce or cold they might seem outside.
Take Wu Tian and the others, for example. They had wives and concubines at home, but on their days off, they still frequented Yihong Tower. Their wives at home would just grumble a bit but never made a scene.
Elder Physician Li was even more extreme; he spent half of every month soaking in Yihong Tower. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
He’d leave his beautiful young wife at home, sleeping in an empty room.
"You... you’re not going to have a problem, are you?" Zhou Bing asked, a little worried.
Tang Wen, his mouth dry from her faint scent, quickly pulled on his armor. "I’m going to wash my face."
The two set off again. As she lay on his back, Zhou Bing’s heart pounded like a frightened deer, and she couldn’t help but wonder: ’With him like that... is there really no problem?’
「As dawn broke, the two saw the camp gate in the distance.」
Zhou Bing jumped off his back, and they entered the camp together.
"It’s Captain Zhou Bing! And Tang Wen!"
A Guard, spotting them from afar with a spyglass, couldn’t help but shout excitedly.
When they reached the gate, they found three times as many Guards on duty as before.
A physician was also waiting there.
"Have General Zhou and Commander Zhao returned?" Zhou Bing asked anxiously.
"No, many of the Commanders have gone out. Elder General Zhang has gone out as well. The Queen has now ordered that all captains and regular Guards are forbidden from leaving the camp. She’s also assigned more men to patrol day and night."
’The old general and even the Queen are personally involved?’ fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
The two of them registered, then parted ways at an intersection. Tang Wen went home to let his family know he was safe, while Zhou Bing went to the Guard Battalion to report what they had encountered and to hand over the signal flare Tang Wen had taken.
Tang Wen hurried home to find the main gate shut tight with a bronze lock hanging on it.
’She must have gone to sell meat sandwiches.’
He took out his key, went inside to take off his armor, locked the door, and jogged to the entrance of the Martial Arts Hall. He raised an eyebrow; no one was here either.
The old gatekeeper noticed his gaze and spoke up. "Just got back from outside, have you, young man? There’s a market today. Miss Tang went over there."
"Thank you!"
There was a market in the Inner City, held once every three days.
Tang Wen had known about it for a while, but he was always too busy training to have ever gone.
After a dozen minutes and asking for directions twice, he finally saw the moon gate at the entrance to the market.
At the entrance was a familiar figure, skillfully taking money, handing over meat sandwiches, and adding at the end, "Come again if you liked it!"
The worry in Tang Wen’s heart finally subsided.
"Xiaowen?"
Recognizing him, Tangtang rushed toward him, but then, unable to abandon her stall, she took two steps back. She waved vigorously at her brother, signaling for him to come over.
’Alright, so I’m less important than a meat sandwich stall.’
Tang Wen grumbled to himself as he walked into the market.
His big sister grabbed his arm, looking him up and down, so happy she was jumping for joy.
"...This trip was a little dangerous, but it was okay. It’s just that Sister Bing got some internal injuries during the martial competition."
"Internal injuries?" Tangtang’s brow furrowed. She stopped selling her meat sandwiches altogether.
She picked up her stool and started packing up her stall to go home.
