Li Ke crouched in the shadow of the estate’s outer wall, her ear pressed against the cold stone bricks.
Watching Xing Yue casually dispose of the guards at the estate gate, Li Ke silently swallowed her saliva.
‘So strong…’
She averted her gaze.
‘Focus on the mission.’
She took a deep breath, and like a true night cat, she soundlessly climbed over the estate’s outer wall, landing in the shadow of the inner courtyard.
She had long memorized the location of the dungeon.
Li Ke’s movements were as light as a breeze; the guards didn’t even notice something slipping past behind them.
She rounded the patrolling soldiers, crossed the corridor piled with clutter, and dodged the occasional passing servant.
Finally, she found the entrance to the dungeon.
Two guards stood at the door, looking left and right.
Li Ke seized the moment when one of them yawned.
Like a black flash of lightning, she hugged the grass and instantly closed in, arriving behind the two men, raising both hands at the same time—
“Slap! Slap!”
Precise knife-hand strikes landed on the backs of their necks. They didn’t even let out a grunt before collapsing limply to the ground.
【Don’t cause too much of a commotion with your actions, or I won’t be able to help divert attention. Also, try not to kill anyone if you can help it… the smell of blood will also attract others’ attention】
That was Xing Yue’s advice to her before she set out.
Li Ke thought it made a lot of sense.
She dragged the two guards and stuffed them into a nearby pile of clutter, covering them with a rag to disguise them as two inconspicuous heaps of trash.
“Perfect!”
The entrance to the dungeon was a hatch door similar to a cellar. Li Ke lifted a corner and, after confirming no guards were below, quickly slipped inside.
Entering the dungeon, she descended all the way down. The air inside was damp and foul, mixed with the stench of blood and despair. A dim oil lamp flickered at the end, casting light on rows of iron bars on both sides.
Behind each set of iron bars were pairs of eyes.
Some were human, some were orc; some were numb, some were fearful, and some took notice of her and kindled a glimmer of hope.
Li Ke’s chest tightened.
She saw—
Her orc kin. Some missing ears, some with broken tails, some bearing whiplashes and brand marks all over their bodies. They huddled in corners, looking at her with cloudy eyes, as if seeing an illusion.
“Everyone… I’ve come to rescue you!”
Li Ke’s voice trembled slightly.
She took a deep breath and wasted no more time. She rushed to the nearest iron cell, slightly curling the five fingers of her right hand. Her nails began to grow longer, turn black, and become sharp.
That was the half-beastification unique to orcs, allowing a part of the body to temporarily gain the power of a beast.
She aimed at the lock and swung her claw.
Crack—
The lock broke with a snap, and Li Ke quickly opened the iron cell door.
“Quick! Get out!”
She knew her time was limited—someone outside was still drawing attention for her—so she didn’t catch up with her kin and immediately rushed to the next iron cell.
One cell after another.
Whether or not they held orcs, Li Ke destroyed them all.
The iron locks crumbled in Li Ke’s hands like paper, and the shackles binding the slaves snapped with a squeeze.
Her speed grew faster and faster, and finally she freed everyone in the dungeon.
The slaves, some imprisoned for months or even years, stumbled out of their cells. Some wept with joy, some fell to their knees, some tightly embraced their fellow prisoners.
Li Ke had no time for sentiment.
“Everyone, follow me! Quiet! Don’t make a sound!”
She lowered her voice and led this large group, carefully exiting the dungeon.
Outside, the battle in the estate’s front courtyard was still ongoing.
Li Ke poked her head out and looked into the distance.
The commotion ahead was too loud.
The blast of Fire Arrows, the shattering of ice walls, the howling of wind, and the magical incantations she couldn’t understand at all—even across the entire estate, she could feel how fierce the fighting was over there.
She quietly stuck half her head out and peered deeper into the estate.
Then she saw it.
Under the moonlight, that silver-haired girl stood amidst a world of ice and snow. With a wave of her hand, a blizzard filled the sky, while the opposing old mage was completely suppressed the entire time.
Li Ke’s tail involuntarily stood on end.
‘She’s way too strong…’
She recalled the fear this girl had brought her before—the image of those heterochromatic eyes magnifying infinitely in her own pupils, and her own pitiful, flailing form dangling in midair like a kitten scruffed by the neck.
‘Thankfully…’
‘Thankfully they’re allies…’
Originally, Li Ke had planned to come back and help the girl escape after rescuing her kin, but now it seemed the other party didn’t need her at all.
Li Ke silently withdrew her gaze and waved her hand.
“Go! This way!”
Li Ke once again roughly bent the iron fence of the courtyard wall, letting everyone escape through this gap.
Since the group also included human slaves, who couldn’t follow her all the way, Li Ke said to them once they were out, “We’re going back to the forest. You find a place to hide, and run away when dawn comes.”
The human slaves wept with gratitude and scattered into the night.
Li Ke led the remaining orc kin, running all the way until they finally reached the Northern City Wall.
There was an area on that wall that Li Ke remembered clearly.
That silver-haired girl had done something to it earlier, saying it was a “Low-level Explosion Array.”
Li Ke didn’t know what that was, but she trusted that girl.
She pulled out a stone flickering with purple patterns from the cloth pouch at her waist—also given to her by the girl, used to activate those arrays remotely.
Clutching the stone in her hand, Li Ke hurled it with all her might toward that section of the wall!
The stone cut through the night sky and landed precisely on that spot of the wall.
Boom—!!!
A deafening explosion!
Stone fragments flew, flames shot into the sky, and dust and smoke billowed!
When the smoke cleared, a massive gap had appeared in that section of the wall!
“Mew!?”
Li Ke’s eyes widened, and she started in fright again, her fur standing on end.
The orcs behind her also had wide eyes.
What the heck was that? The power was way too fierce!
But time didn’t allow Li Ke and the others to think. The commotion had already attracted the attention of the guards.
“Quick! Quick, get out! Follow me into the forest!”
Li Ke shouted loudly. The orcs snapped out of it and poured through the gap, sprinting outward.
Li Ke was the last one to step out of the gap in the wall.
Before leaving, she stood at the edge of the gap and turned back to look at the Lord’s Manor in the distance.
There, the firelight still blazed, the noise still raged. The battle seemed to be continuing.
Li Ke knew that without that girl, she would have died tonight, many of her kin would have died at the Southern Wall, and they would most likely have failed.
That everything had gone so smoothly, that they had rescued everyone without any casualties, was all thanks to that girl.
Although the girl was a terrifying existence, she had indeed helped them.
“Thank you…”
“We’ll remember your kindness…”
Li Ke murmured softly, her voice swallowed by the night wind.
Then she turned decisively, following in the footsteps of her kin, and disappeared into the night.