47 Second Trial 1

By the time they were done with the meal, Qin Feng was already feeling a lot more tired than he had expected to be. Which was enough to make him laugh at himself.

He had just spent his whole day running through the forest with all of his Lightness-of-Body art, and hunting for that Third Army camp hidden there. That would certainly have taken its toll on him. Then he just had to accompany the Second Ducal Prince to dinner!

Well, at least he got a bit of useful information out of the man!

Qin Feng sighed then. He had a lot more time to prepare himself this time, for the Second Trial. And he could study the map that he had been given, for the same, rather than running off without a clue. Not that it would help very much. His sense of direction had always been terrible.

Still, no other participant in the First phase of the Trials had managed to return that evening, and the Second Ducal Prince had shared the Adjutant's presumption that the others had all camped in the woods, or decided to spend the night at their target camps rather than rush back.

Which meant that he was the only one setting out for the Second Trial the following morning. Without having to worry about idiots that would try to accost him on the way.

Of course, that also meant that he would not have anyone to help him distract the Barbarians that he was sure were loitering near the outermost military camps.

He had not told anyone about the rough campsite that he discovered during his first Trial. That was simply because he didn't think that anyone would believe him, if he claimed that the Barbarians were already out there, spying on their movements.

Besides, he did not doubt that it would be dismissed as bored Barbarian scouts, or even hunters, keeping an eye on the Third Army, when the Second Ducal Prince reported it to the ones in charge. Qin Feng didn't have a particularly good impression of this Third Army. Or the General who ran it.

So why bother to raise a fuss about it at all?

After all, the only people that had treated him with any semblance of courtesy was that Second Ducal Prince and that sergeant Lei Kongwei. And they were far, far away in the First Camp, so they would definitely not be disturbed, if the Barbarians did spring a surprise attack.

As for the uniformed scoundrels that he had seen at either of the camps, why should he be bothered if they lived or died?

*

Of course, he changed his mind about that when he met up with his first band of soldiers, in the Southern Woods. They were clearly motivated to hunt down the Barbarians. As well as the ones who were taking this particular test!

Qin Feng cursed as soon as he spotted the group ahead of him. It seemed Li Changhai's warning was true. Apparently, these fellows from Camp Five of the Third Army were not as laid-back as the rest of their comrades. And here he was hoping to breeze through this second Trial!

He sighed then, as he skipped up into the canopy overhead once again. He was only doing this so that he could get his hands on a spatial ring, and he had already several plans in place, to get him out of the front-line by the time the Barbarians attacked. So why bother to come face-to-face with these elites now? If he couldn't go past them, he would simply circle around them! Surely they couldn't cover all of the Southern Forest, could they?

Well, his Flowing Wind Steps, and his Lightness-of-Body martial arts, was certainly showing their worth now! Fortunately for him, he had devoted a good bit of his time on the same, back at the Heaven Sword School. So it should not be a problem for him to avoid the idiot soldiers who were patrolling the riverbank.

Still, how was he supposed to cross that open field, and get to his target on the other side? It would be far to dangerous to try to make it across the spot at night, since it was completely lacking in cover. And it also seemed rather clear that the group that was looking out for him were not your usual unmotivated Third Army conscripts.

Had Lei Kongwei or the Adjutant warned this troop that he was coming? That would certainly explain why they were putting so much more effort in their patrol.

Then Qin Feng pushed the idea out of his head. So what if the patrols had been warned? Besides, Lei Kongwei was a sergeant of the Third Army, wasn't he? So he was merely doing his job, if he warned the rest of his people about him.

Sticking to his spot high up in the tree canopy, he pulled out the map that he had been given that morning, when he was briefed on what he was supposed to do. It was a more detailed one than the pitiful scrap that he had received when he was taking the first test, at least. This one had each of the military camps marked out, and properly numbered.

Which was how he knew that his particular target was the fifth of the camps that had been set up in the wooded hills. This one was a good distance to the West as well, deep into the woods. Their dedication to their patrols and keeping an eye on the forest around them, on the other hand, was something that he had to find out for himself!

A far cry from Camp Eight, which was further out to the South-East. That was the ill-disciplined place that he had visited, the day before. This particular Trial was certainly not going to be as simple as the last one, he realized quickly.

With this one, he would have to circle around the patrols, and get closer to the sentry towers so that he wouldn't get his directions mixed up again. He had better stay in the woods too, during the day, so that there was less chance of being spotted.

Getting into the camp unnoticed would have to be done after night has fallen, so that the soldiers would have their sight hampered by the long shadows of the trees around the camp. That should give him to opportunity to slip past the guards, Qin Feng thought.

For the moment, he would just stay up in the tree canopy, and keep his movements masked by the branches and the clumps of snow. Since he was higher up, he should be able to see the patrols coming, and be able to avoid them.

At least, that was what he thought.

But merely fifty li from where he last checked his map, the young man found himself faced with something that he had never expected ...

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