Chapter 79: 79. Contact with the Enemy

The bamboo leaves rustled, and the troop moved quickly through the bamboo forest.

If it were the season for digging winter bamboo shoots, they might have run into a few people, but now they passed through without any obstruction.

It could be said that the Qingzhu Tribe had not invested any manpower or material resources into preventing foreign invasion; it was unclear whether they were confident in their own strength or felt at ease with Shanlin Town.

Soon, faint human voices reached the ears of the group.

Through the gaps in the forest, the group easily saw a relatively open area beneath this bamboo mountain, where dozens of wooden huts were scattered unevenly.

Luoning also saw many farmers returning home carrying farm tools; they seemed even thinner and more exhausted than the farmers of Shanlin Town.

Aierlong reminded him in a low voice, "My Lord, there is someone on the watchtower over there."

Luoning looked in that direction; a three-story watchtower stood on a relatively high slope, and indeed, figures could be seen moving on it.

The question was, what was the use of building a watchtower inside a mountain stronghold?

Luoning was somewhat puzzled; he had already walked this far and the other side hadn't discovered them, so what was the point of building this watchtower?

"Use my Fireball Technique as the signal; after bombing the watchtower, everyone move immediately."

Crossing the bamboo forest, the group arrived at the open area. Luoning mobilized his Mental Power and mana, concentrating them on his palm to draw the Spell Pattern for the Fireball Technique.

Hum~

The moment the Spell Pattern was successfully drawn, the fire elements between heaven and earth surged, gradually condensing into a half-meter-diameter fireball above his palm.

"What is that?"

At the same time, the sentry on the Qingzhu Tribe's watchtower finally discovered this scene (mainly because it was getting dark, and the suddenly appearing flame was too eye-catching).

The sentry's eyes widened; he clearly saw a massive crowd of people standing behind that fireball.

"The... the Heiling Tribe is attacking!!"

The sentry reacted subconsciously, but before he could shout out his thoughts and pass them on, he saw the fireball flying toward his watchtower at an extremely fast speed; he could even feel the scorching heat wave from the fireball.

Boom!

The half-meter-diameter fireball slammed violently into the watchtower, blasting the wooden pillars below into splinters; the platform above lost its support and fell from mid-air.

The sentry fell along with it, his fate unknown.

"Charge!"

Ruidar drew his longsword and shouted loudly, rushing out like an arrow released from a string, closely followed by Maiken and a column of soldiers.

Tangmu and Dawei led the remaining men, splitting into two teams to outflank from the left and right.

"Intruders..."

An unidentified person blocked Ruidar's path; this person's clothing looked slightly better than the others in the Qingzhu Tribe, and it was unclear what his status was.

"Get lost!"

Ruidar barely looked at the opponent, only erupting with Battle Qi as he brushed past, and the man was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.

"Listen up, everyone!"

Ruidar leaped onto the roof of a house, "You are now surrounded by the army of the Baron; if you don't want to die, kneel and surrender immediately, otherwise you will be killed without mercy!"

Accompanying his roar, Maiken and the other Guards also responded, "Kneel and surrender! Kneel and surrender!"

With uniform phrasing, consistent speed, and roars bolstered by Battle Qi, almost the entire Qingzhu Tribe could hear it.

Those savages who had thought it was the Heiling Tribe attacking the stronghold finally realized that these were not people from the Heiling Tribe, but the legendary noble army from outside the woodlands!

It had been many years; they had forgotten the nobles' extermination campaigns against them, and some even thought the nobles would never come.

Until this moment, those fearful memories surged back into their hearts; back then, they had been hunted by the Noble Allied Forces and fled into the woodlands in a sorry state.

At that time, they had no base and could run freely, leaving the Noble Allied Forces with no target to pursue. But now it was different; they had their own stronghold, their own base camp, and they were all gathered here.

"I, I surrender!"

Someone knelt on the ground in fear; they had been terrified by the enemy's momentum, and at this moment, they were like a lonely boat facing a hundred-meter-high giant wave, without a single thought of resistance.

"I, I surrender!"

"I, I surrender!"

Suddenly, a large area of savages on the road knelt down.

Seeing this scene, Luoning was in a great mood, "This battle is going even easier than I imagined."

Aierlong, who was also not charging, smiled and said, "Your arrival has brought them the dawn, giving them a chance to shed their status as savages; they should thank you, not resist."

"They won't realize that."

Luoning laughed, "They are just frightened by the strength of the soldiers."

While the two were talking, a Flame Slash formed by Fire Attribute Battle Qi cut through the void, blasting toward Ruidar, who was standing on the roof.

The commander slashed with his sword, directly tearing the Flame Slash to pieces. But the bursting Battle Qi turned into a shockwave, blowing the thatched roof down.

Ruidar landed on the ground and saw a woman in the house holding a child, huddled in a corner and trembling.

"Stay there and don't move, Madam; I will not harm you."

He withdrew his gaze and looked straight at the group of people rushing over; clearly, the other side was the Transcendental of the Qingzhu Tribe.

"Who are you people, daring to attack my Qingzhu Tribe?"

Some of those who were kneeling on the ground to surrender immediately showed looks of hope when they saw the newcomer, "It's Lord Wili, it's Lord Wili!"

"With Lord Wili here, we won't lose!"

"Intruders deserve to die!"

"Nobles deserve to die!"

Although some stood up, preparing to resist, more people remained blankly kneeling on the ground, not daring to move.

At this time, the men led by Dawei and Tangmu had almost surrounded this area of the stronghold; even if the other side wanted to resist, it would be nothing more than a cornered beast's struggle.

"Standing before you is the noble Wushan Bloodline, the master of Shanlin Town, Baron Luoning!"

Ruidar pointed at Luoning, who was walking up, and said to the Knight opposite.

"The Baron of Shanlin Town?"

Knight Wili frowned and asked coldly, "Isn't the master of Shanlin Town Pulinsite? Since when has there been a Baron Luoning?"

Yet as he looked at the silver-haired man before him, he already somewhat believed Ruidar's words in his heart. The leader of the coalition army that hunted them down back then had such a head of silver hair, which had left a great shadow on him when he was young.

"Being trapped in such a mountain forest all year round has blinded your ears and eyes, Knight Wili."

Luoning stepped forward, "Wubei Woodland has already bound half of your life; do you still wish to continue being trapped in this land for the rest of your life under the name of a 'remnant'?"

Wili gripped the longsword in his hand, his expression flickering between light and dark; he truly did not want to be trapped here, but wanting a legal identity to leave was a very difficult thing.

"What do you want?"

"Submit to me!"

Luoning said with a smile, "I can give you a legal identity and take you out of this forest."

(End of this chapter)