Chapter 850 Preparation before action

After a contest and a conversation with the general, Qin Feng and his party finally got a moment of rest. However, they all knew that the real challenge was still ahead, and the threat of the dark sect was never far away.

"I told you, I'm better than that soldier!" Zhang Meng sat on a chair in the banquet hall, holding a large glass of wine in his hand, with pride written all over his face.

"Okay, you haven't boasted enough yet?" Ye Li shook her head amusedly and tapped him lightly on the head with her fingers. "Can you be less boastful and more reflective? Those few moves of yours simply demonstrated the highest level of 'recklessness'."

Zhang Meng curled his lips, took a sip of wine, and said indifferently: "What do you know? Recklessness is also a battle strategy, especially for someone as gifted as me."

Chu Tian couldn't help but interrupt: "Mengzi, you call this a gifted person? You are clearly just relying on your strength. If the general hadn't stopped you, you would have smashed the other soldier into the ground."

"Hehe, that depends on whether he can bear it." Zhang Meng grinned with a proud expression.

Li Xiao silently rolled his eyes and said, "Only people without brains and plans will rely on brute force. You should learn to be calmer."

"How can I not be calm?" Zhang Meng protested, "I'm just... um, more enthusiastic, understand?"

Qin Feng watched everyone laughing and playing, smiled and shook his head: "Okay, everyone, take a break first. Tomorrow morning, we have to start formulating a new action plan."

Hearing the word "plan", Zhang Meng's face instantly fell: "Plan again? Can you have less planning and more practical actions? I think it's most efficient to just do it!"

Ye Li couldn't help but tease: "For you, planning is a waste of time, right?"

"That's right!" Zhang Meng answered loudly, raising his glass without hesitation, "I just like to go straight to the point, simple and rough!"

"That's why you always make trouble." Chu Tian chuckled and said, "Mengzi, I really hope that one day you can learn to think before you act."

"Hey, how could I be as bad as you say?" Zhang Meng scratched his head, still unconvinced, "I obviously did a good job, at least I didn't hold you back, right?"

Qin Feng smiled and said, "Okay, Mengzi, everyone can see your strength. However, the dark sect we are facing next is not an enemy that can be defeated by brute force alone. We must be more careful."

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you." Zhang Meng shrugged and put down his glass helplessly. "But seriously, what exactly is tomorrow's action?"

Li Xiao said calmly: "The Dark Cult is obviously not just playing tricks on us this time. They mentioned the spread of darkness across the entire continent, which means that their plan may have been fully launched. We must find out their next move as soon as possible."

"The problem is that we have too few clues at hand." Ye Li frowned, "Apart from that tower, there is almost no other specific information."

"And we don't know where the real base of the Dark Cult is." Chu Tian added, "They are hiding too deeply."

Qin Feng nodded, his eyes thoughtful: "So what we need to do next is to find more intelligence. Only by understanding the enemy's plans and whereabouts can we effectively stop them."

"Okay, how do we check the intelligence?" Zhang Meng asked, with a puzzled look on his face. "We can't just run around the whole mainland, right? How long will it take to run around?"

Li Xiao said calmly: "We don't have to go to every place to look for it ourselves. First of all, the intelligence agencies in the kingdom should have traces of the dark sect. We can get clues from them. Secondly, we can also contact some people who are familiar with the dark forces to see if they have any intelligence."

"Yes," Ye Li agreed, "and we can also go to the Soul Beast Forest. It has always been a hotspot for dark forces' activities, and maybe we can find some clues there."

"Ah, it's the Soul Beast Forest again." Zhang Meng frowned, "We were almost torn to pieces by soul beasts last time. Will it be more dangerous this time?"

"There is definitely danger, but it is more dangerous not to go." Qin Feng said firmly, "If we don't act, the power of the Dark Sect will continue to spread, and then the whole continent will fall into chaos."

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you." Zhang Meng shrugged, looking helpless, "But, can you bring some tastier dry food next time? The dry bread last time was too hard to swallow."

Ye Li couldn't help laughing: "You only care about food?"

"Eating is the source of fighting power!" Zhang Meng said confidently, "How can you win if you don't eat enough!"

Everyone laughed and the atmosphere became a little more relaxed. Although they knew the road ahead was difficult, with this humor and relaxation, it seemed that everything became less heavy.

At night, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Qin Feng stood alone in front of the window, looking at the stars in the night sky, but he still felt a little uneasy. The Dark Sect's plan was so meticulous, and the intelligence they currently had was too little. He knew that the future battle would be even more difficult.

"I hope we can find a breakthrough before them." Qin Feng whispered to himself, but his heart was full of fighting spirit.

The next morning, everyone gathered in the hall and began to discuss the action plan. Several ministers sent by the king were also present. They obviously trusted Qin Feng and others and were willing to provide full support.

"Qin Feng," an elderly minister said, "According to the intelligence we have, the Dark Cult has indeed been active in various parts of the kingdom recently, especially in remote areas. Their whereabouts are secretive, and it is difficult for us to find conclusive evidence."

"Then we need some specific locations." Li Xiao asked calmly, "Are there any special places worth investigating?"

The minister pondered for a moment, then pointed to a few places on the map: "These are the places where unusual movements have been reported frequently recently - the dark forest in the southeast, the ruins of the ancient castle on the northern border, and the ghost valley in the west. According to intelligence, these places have strange magical fluctuations and may be one of the strongholds of the dark sect."

"Dark Forest, Ancient Castle Ruins, and Ghost Valley." Qin Feng stared at the map carefully and thought, "We can split up and go to these three places to investigate the situation."

When Zhang Meng heard about the "separate actions", he immediately became excited: "Great! This way I can go to the least dangerous place."

"You wish." Ye Li rolled her eyes at him, "You'd better go to the most dangerous place and use your 'talent'."

Zhang Meng's expression froze immediately: "Hey, why am I the one going to a dangerous place again? This is not fair!"

Qin Feng smiled and patted Zhang Meng on the shoulder: "Don't worry, we will all share the risks. We will face any challenges together."

"Oh, okay." Zhang Meng reluctantly accepted this reality, but still grumbled, "Next time I will choose the most comfortable place..."

Finally, after discussion, Qin Feng decided to lead Ye Li and Li Xiao to the ruins of the ancient castle on the northern border; while Zhang Meng and Chu Tian went to the Ghost Valley.

"We'll reunite after we find some useful intelligence." Qin Feng looked at the map and said firmly, "No matter what happens, we must keep in touch."

"Understood!" Everyone responded in unison.

In this way, a new adventure begins again. The conspiracy of the dark sect has not yet fully emerged, and the journey of Qin Feng and others will enter a more dangerous chapter.

As the sound of horse hooves faded away, the sunlight from the palace shone on the empty square, as if foreshadowing the coming storm.