As the crowd pondered, Catherine suddenly broke the silence: "Wait, let me say something." ”

Nagisa was a little surprised: "Tsubasa? If you have any ideas, just say it. ”

"First of all, at present, Wang ****'s energy is focused on dealing with the military operations of the Desert Empire, so this gang of wild thieves must be solved by a few of us, and reinforcements are definitely not counted on." Catherine thought as she slowly spoke her opinion, "If it's just a group of ordinary bandits, the four of us can be said to be more than enough to deal with, and at present, all indications show that this group of cloud thieves is not a rabble - in this case, it is not wise to fight hard." ”

"That's right, go on." Lu Qing nodded with interest.

Catherine, who was encouraged, was obviously a little more confident, and continued: "According to what Nagisa just reported, when he came back, the snow not only did not decrease, but tended to increase. This means that, under the cover of a blizzard, our actions will be difficult to detect. If we can properly camouflage, then I think we should be able to avoid these roving scouts without having to startle them. ”

Nagisa looked at her thoughtfully: "Oh? The idea is good, how should it be executed? ”

"I think we should sneak through the mountains and avoid the mobile posts. If you can avoid the stronghold, of course, it's best, if you really can't dodge, then let's find an opportunity to sneak into the stronghold and deal with the enemy. If it is accidentally exposed, it will be the first to drive the body to force a breakthrough, and then rush to the base camp of the leader of the bandits. ”

"Well, overall it's a good plan. The only problem is that sneaking in such weather can be very strenuous, requiring almost three times as much physical energy as usual, and always being aware of your surroundings - being in this state for long periods of time can be quite a test of willpower. And you and Fei Lun, I heard that you are still freshmen who have just entered the academy for less than a year, can you persevere? Lu Qing bluntly raised his doubts.

"So you're worried about this, huh? Then you don't have to do it at all. Although both of them are freshmen, they have received high-intensity special training for most of the year, and both of them have done very well. So there shouldn't be any problems in terms of willpower and perseverance. Zhu dispelled Lu Qing's doubts, "Of course, in view of the lack of practical experience, it is still necessary to explain in detail some necessary matters that need to be paid attention to when sneaking." ”

"That's okay - let's see if there is any light-colored clothing in the clothes we carry, preferably white, so that it won't be very conspicuous in a snowstorm." Seeing that the other three all expressed their affirmation, Lu Qing continued, "Okay, then let's find a place to change their clothes!" Remember, be sure to hide the guy you're using so that others don't easily see it – don't put it in the storage system in case you don't have time to react in case something unexpected happens. ”

The four of them each found a fork hole and finished the assembly, and Lu Qing repeatedly confirmed that there were no flaws and said, "Okay, then let's prepare to set off now." I'll lead the team, after Nagisa. Tsubasa, you and Fei Lun are in the middle, don't panic in case of emergencies, just listen to my command. I just looked at the topographic map, and we don't know the route of the mobile outpost of the Wild Pirate Regiment, so we have to be careful along the way. Now we're about five or six hundred meters away from the nearest stronghold, so we'll see if we can get around it as we move forward. Alright, let's go! ”

"Yes, understood!"

The four of them braved the blizzard and struggled through the mountains as planned, and their steps were as light as possible. However, less than a hundred meters after walking out, Lu Qing suddenly made a gesture to stop advancing, and then half-squatted down, as if observing something. Nagisa motioned with her eyes for Catherine and Feron to hide behind a tree with him and lie on the ground. Sure enough, it wasn't long before the four of them saw a patrol team approaching this direction.

"Don't be impulsive, hide and wait for them to pass." Lu Qing turned his head sideways and said to Nagisa with his mouth, and then maintained a half-squatting posture, motionless as he watched the patrol gradually move away, before signaling the three of them to come out.

"Is there such a back? They didn't even go a hundred meters before they met them. Fallon complained.

Nagisa shook his head solemnly: "In my opinion, this is not our character problem. Rather, it can only be said that the vigilance of the Remnant Cloud Wild Pirates is much higher than we expected. If you think about it, if the patrols of such external bases are so dense, you can imagine how tightly guarded the other side will be when entering the core area. ”

Lu Qing agreed: "Zhu is right, we can only be extra careful now, take one step at a time." Alright, move on, head to the nearest stronghold first, and see if there's a place nearby where you can go around. ”

After the group of four walked a few hundred meters, Lu Qing signaled to stop again.

"What's wrong? Brother Lu Qing, you won't encounter the patrol again, right? At this point, we've already met three. Catherine was a little impatient, as if she understood why Lu Qing said that her physical exertion was several times that of usual.

"No, but according to the topographic map, more than sixty meters further is one of the outer strongholds of the Wild Pirates." Lu Qing turned to Nagisa, "But in this kind of weather, the visibility is not even ten meters, and acting together may hinder each other, so I plan to explore the road alone first." Nagisa, you take a few of them to hide here for a while, and wait for me to come back. ”

"Okay, Brother Lu, be careful, go and come back quickly."

"Rest assured. Don't forget that I'm a hunter, and it's normal to carry out missions in this kind of bad weather. ”

Lu Qing continued to move forward alone, while Nagisa took Catherine and Feron to hide near a recess. After walking for a minute, Lu Qing could already see the general outline of the stronghold of the Wild Bandit Group.

"These guys are very good at picking places, and building a stronghold here is equivalent to blocking the road to the interior. Uh-huh, I'll see if I can get over here. As he spoke, Lu Qing climbed a tree beside him, only to see that he was vigorous and agile, and climbed to the top of the tree in three times and two times.

Even at a height of more than ten meters, the view did not improve. Lu Qing had to squint his eyes to carefully identify the surrounding environment: "Not over there, even this kind of weather may be discovered-it's so dangerous, almost discovered." Sure enough, there was a patrol nearby, but fortunately it was going in the other direction. Over here...... Well, go down and have a look. ”

Lu Qing quickly slipped down from the top of the tree and walked under the rock wall a few meters away: "Here, here—and here!" Well, it should be almost up there, so why don't you go back and call the three of them over and try it. ”

At the same time, Catherine, who was hiding under the recessed wall, was a little worried: "Nagisa, you said that Lu Qing went for so long and didn't reply to the letter, will it be ......?"

"Alright, don't start thinking nonsense. It's better to have a good rest if you have this kung fu, and you can go later-shhh At this moment, a creaking sound came from nearby, and Nagisa's face changed, and he hurriedly made a gesture to silence him.

He was just about to pull out his sword when he heard Lu Qing's voice: "Don't panic, it's me." ”

"Brother Lu Qing? Surprise me! Catherine breathed a sigh of relief and asked eagerly, "How's it going?" ”

"If you find your way, you all come with me." Lu Qing took the three of them to the bottom of the rock wall they had just found.

"I said Brother Lu, although it looks like there are a few places to support and put your feet, but is it too risky to climb in this weather? Oh? I see......" Fei Lun's doubts disappeared as Lu Qing took out the rope hook.

"Stay away from me first." After speaking, Lu Qing picked up the rope hook in his hand vigorously, and after turning the end with the hook several times above his head, he aimed the rope hook at a big tree on the rock wall with the help of inertia and threw it fiercely. The rope looped several times around the thickest branch of the tree, and the hook was deeply embedded in the trunk.

Nagisa stepped forward and pulled the rope hard: "No problem, this strength is enough to support a person's weight." I'll go up first, then Catherine, Feron, and Brother Lu. After getting the approval of the other three, Nagisa grabbed the rope with both hands, and slowly climbed to the top of the rock wall with the help of several footholds on the rock wall.

Seeing Nagisa successfully reach the top, Catherine and Pheren were instantly filled with confidence. Although there were some twists and turns in the process, I finally climbed the rock wall smoothly. And the last Lu Qing can almost be said to have completed the summit without much effort. He used a knife to pry open the bark and pull out the hook, carefully closing the rope hook.

Lu Qing waved his hand and said, "Everyone follow me to this side, so that we can smoothly bypass this stronghold under the cover of wind and snow, but we still have to be careful of the patrol." ”

Lu Qing's worries did not come true, and this detour actually went very smoothly. The four of them continued to walk cautiously forward for more than a thousand meters, and at this time, the position of the four of them was almost halfway up the mountain, and the altitude had reached more than three hundred meters. In this distance, several people encountered three patrols and a stronghold, but fortunately they all managed to get past without danger.

Fei Lun asked, "Brother Lu, how far are we from our destination now?" ”

Lu Qing glanced at him with a smile: "There is good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?" ”