Extreme Frontier Army: Starting from the bottom ranks, conquering the chaotic world

Inside the camp.

Lu Jing rekindled the charcoal in the brazier.

Ji Ruxue sat on the haystack, watching Qin Duan walk in.

In that instant, the arrogance in her eyes shattered completely.

Instead, there was a deep sense of vigilance, even fear.

Qin Duan knelt on one knee and gave an impeccable military salute.

"Qin Duan, Commander of the Silver Wolf Guard, greets Your Highness."

Ji Ruxue didn't tell him to rise: "What are you doing here?"

Qin Duan raised his head, his deadpan face turning towards Ji Ruxue.

"I've come to confirm Your Highness's safety and to ask three questions."

Lu Jing pulled over a broken stool with a missing leg, placed his steel saber across his knees, and adopted a spectator's stance.

Qin Duan didn't try to avoid Lu Jing's attention and spoke directly.

"First question, where is the top-tier secret order from Lan Yue Pavilion now?"

Ji Ruxue glanced at Lu Jing, gritted her teeth, and said:

"It's ruined. This madman threw it into the fire pit and burned it to ashes."

Qin Duan's eyes flickered.

It's better to be destroyed than to fall into enemy hands.

"My second question is, has Your Highness uttered a single word about the thirty-six secret agents of Lan Yue Pavilion in the Northern Territory?"

Ji Ruxue's gaze briefly touched Lu Jing's face before quickly looking away.

"no."

Ji Ruxue straightened her back, trying her best to maintain her royal dignity.

"I would rather die than divulge a single word."

In the shadows, Shen Qingqiu glanced at Ji Ruxue, then slowly shifted his gaze to Lu Jing.

Qin Duan nodded.

"The third question."

He stared into Ji Ruxue's eyes, and an extremely strong killing intent permeated the tent.

"Your Highness, has your will been controlled, or... have you suffered irreparable humiliation?"

Upon asking this question, Shen Qingqiu gripped the dagger tightly in the shadows.

Lu Jing picked at his ear with his little finger.

Ji Ruxue's face instantly turned bright red, a color born from a mixture of extreme humiliation and anger.

She suddenly stood up and pointed at Qin Duan.

"How dare you! You interrogate me in such a tone!"

"Your subordinate dares not."

Qin Duan remained kneeling on the ground, but his hand had already touched the hilt of the knife.

"This is the rule of the Burning Phoenix Decree. Please answer truthfully, Your Highness."

Ji Ruxue was so angry that she trembled all over.

She took several deep breaths before she managed to suppress the anger.

"I was neither controlled nor humiliated. But..."

She pointed at Lu Jing through gritted teeth.

"This madman did indeed detain me and extorted twenty catties of fine grain from me."

Qin Duan followed her finger and looked at Lu Jing.

Lu Jing shrugged, looking completely innocent.

"Don't look at me, that's the accommodation fee she paid voluntarily. Prices are high in the Eighth Battalion, five catties of fine wheat a day, no cheating the young or old."

Qin Duan stood up, completely ignoring Lu Jing's nonsense.

He looked at Ji Ruxue.

"Your Highness's answer has been noted."

He turned and walked towards the tent entrance: "The main camp is keeping a close watch, so I can't take Your Highness away tonight. I'll come back within three days."

The gray figure blended into the night and disappeared in an instant.

The tent fell silent again.

Ji Ruxue collapsed onto the haystack, as if all her strength had been drained away.

She stared at the muddy ground for a long time before speaking in an extremely soft and cold voice:

"If he comes next time and my answer doesn't satisfy him, or if the situation gets out of his control..."

She looked up at Lu Jing.

For the first time, Lu Jing saw true despair on this proud woman's face.

"He would kill me without hesitation."

Lu Jing stuck his saber back into the ground, stood up, and stretched his sore shoulders.

"The royal family's scandals are even dirtier than the infighting in brothels."

He looked at Ji Ruxue.

"So you'd better pray I live a long time. If I die, you won't even have a shield to take your own life."

After saying that, Lu Jing turned and walked out of the tent, preparing to check if the hungry ghosts in the front camp had caused any trouble.

After walking a dozen or so steps, I went around a section of broken wall.

A dark figure suddenly appeared and hung upside down from the top of the wall, carrying a wine jug in his hand.

He was an inconspicuous veteran in the Eighth Battalion.

He wore a faded old cotton-padded jacket, his hair was as messy as withered grass, and he never carried a knife at his waist, only a dented and worn wine gourd.

He usually either leaned against the broken wall to bask in the sun or hid in a corner to drink. Nobody knew when he joined the Eighth Battalion.

Liang Zhaoye.

The old soldier grinned as he looked at Lu Jing and tossed the wine jug in his hand over.

Lu Jing reached out and caught it, giving him a disgruntled look.

"Are you an owl too? Hanging around everywhere for fun instead of sleeping in the middle of the night?"

Liang Zhaoye rolled over and landed, his tattered cotton shoes sinking into the mud without making a sound.

"Kid, you were pretty convincing when you were shouting at that wall just now."

He pointed to Lu Jing's right hand, which was holding the wine pot.

"But your hands are shaking."

Lu Jing looked down.

It is definitely shaking.

The muscles are spasming slightly out of control due to the relaxation following extreme tension.

The gust of wind that had just grazed his neck still felt like a piece of ice stuck to his skin.

If it were any more off-center, his head would probably be gone.

He uncorked the flask and tilted his head back to gulp down a large mouthful of cheap liquor.

The spicy liquid burned down my throat and into my stomach, finally suppressing the chill.

"nonsense."

Lu Jing wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"That man was a monster; he could cleave me in two with a single stroke of his knife. How could I not tremble?"

Liang Zhaoye's smile deepened.

"Then you still dare to go out and shout those things? Aren't you afraid he'll chop you up with a knife? That person is at the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm."

"What are you babbling about? What does 'peak of the Meridian Opening Realm' even mean?"

"The martial arts realm is divided into: Body Tempering Realm, Inner Breath Realm, Meridian Opening Realm, Innate Realm..."

"Then what realm are you in?" Lu Jing's eyes flashed with shock.

For the first time, he realized that there was a type of person in this world who couldn't be defeated by conventional means.

"The time hasn't come yet. When the time comes, I will naturally tell you." Liang Zhaoye looked at him with great interest.

"Fine, don't tell me then."

Lu Jing tossed the wine jug back to Liang Zhaoye and turned to walk toward the Eighth Battalion's defensive line.

"If I hadn't shouted, I would have really died in there. By shouting, at least I could gamble that he was a machine that followed the rules."

He waved to Liang Zhaoye with his back to him.

"My life may be cheap, but I never give it away for nothing."

Liang Zhaoye caught the wine pot and watched Lu Jing's figure disappear into the night.

A sharp glint flashed in his perpetually drunken, cloudy eyes.

"He's a promising talent. It's a pity he's caught up in Lan Yue Pavilion's deadly trap; I wonder how many days he has left to live."

He raised the wine jug, took a sip, and turned to disappear into the darkness.