The darkness of night deepened as the bandit camp slumbered. Thundering snores from the miners drowned out other sources of noise. The only ones awake were the bandits unfortunate enough to be on sentry duty.

Twenty bandits guarded the pit mine, spread out at regular intervals. They covered almost every piece of dirt so there weren't any blind spots to sneak through. Any breakout would have to go through one of them directly.

Gray waited until it was close to dawn to make his move, a time when the sentries were most tired and least likely to be paying attention. He sneaked to the sheer cliffs to the south and began to climb. His movements were slow but steady, honed by years of practice in the mountains. At this steep angle, the guard above the ledge could not see anyone climbing until they came over the top. It was too dark to see anything from the other sides of the mine, even if they were paying attention. As long as he remained silent, nobody would notice his actions.

He paused just below the top and peered over. The bandit assigned to this section was slumped against his spear, staring dumbly at the ground in front of his feet with unfocused eyes.

Gray gathered his spiritual energy and prepared to fight. He broke off a small pebble from the cliff face and threw it overhead. It soared over the bandit and made a rustling sound as it landed.

“Huh? A rat?” The man mumbled sleepily and turned around to study the grass behind him.

Gray pulled himself up and burst into a sprint. The bandit heard the footsteps but before he could turn around, Gray had already closed the distance. He clamped his right arm around the bandit’s neck in a chokehold and covered the mouth with the other hand.

“Mmmm…” The bandit tried to scream but only a small whimper came out.

The bandit flailed around but could not free himself. He was an ordinary person at the bottom of the Spiritual Strengthening Realm. He was overpowered by Gray's arms and soon went limp.

Gray carried the dead bandit and hid in the shadows behind a nearby tent. He waited for any alarms but none were raised. None of the sentries had noticed the loss of one of their own.

The predawn night was peaceful and lifeless as he stalked through the bandit camp, heading towards the east. He chose east because he didn't want to pass through the battlefield to the south. He also took the dead body with him, not wanting to leave evidence that could be easily blamed on his miners.

He arrived at the edge of the camp and met a large force of bandits. They stood atop an earthen wall about as tall as an average person, fully armed and alert. They were on the watch against sneak attacks from Jade Hill Town. They were much more competent than the ones guarding the prisoners.

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Gray retreated and considered his options. He could simply charge through as these bandits weren't that strong. But doing so would raise all kinds of alarms and ruin his intent to escape undetected. If there were any bandit elders nearby, they might give chase like Tang Duanmu.

He looked around at the nearby tents made of cloth and the wooden carts filled with food and supplies such as hay. His eyes settled on the dimly burning braziers dotted around. They were there to provide light and warmth in the middle of the cold prairie night. They were perfect for what he wanted to do.

He found four metal braziers and dragged them to better positions, right next to flammable things like tents and wood. He also laid the dead body nearby to act as the scapegoat. He then tipped over each of the braziers in quick succession, dumping lumps of burning coal on bales of hay and next to cloth tents. Seeing the fire start to spread, he quickly ran away and hid near the edge of the camp.

Soon enough, smoke, flames, and panicked screams filled the night.

“Fire!”

“There’s fire!”

“Help!”

The bandits guarding the walls were the first to respond. They abandoned their posts and rushed towards the source of the commotion. They all ran past Gray without a clue, leaving the escape path clear.

Gray did not hesitate and sprinted out of his hiding place. He didn’t care about being careful or stealthy now. This was his only shot and he took it.

He summoned all the spiritual energy he could into his legs and vaulted over the earthen wall.

As he ran eastward, he looked behind him at the rising conflagration. The bandit camp was burning nicely, with a large section now billowing smoke. The dry tallgrass did nothing to stop the flames from leaping onto new fuel sources. With such chaos happening, nobody noticed or chased after him.

Feeling satisfied, Gray veered south and headed for Jade Hill Town. He had escaped the bandits without issue but he still needed to get back in town without being mistaken for a bandit.

The northern wall was too heavily defended as expected. He stayed far away from it and headed for the eastern wall. However, the east side was also filled with sentries. He could only continue southward and hope for the best.

"Finally!" Gray muttered as the southern gate came into sight.

The gate was tightly shut but there wasn't a soul atop the walls. The town obviously did not think the bandits would be so crazy to march their entire army to attack the south side.

Still, it was strange that there was absolutely no one around...

Gray shook his head. He didn't care why, since he was given this opportunity, he wasn't going to complain.

He quickly arrived at the foot of the wall and jumped up to grab onto the first hand-hold. It was a small crevice in the stone blocks that could barely fit one pinkie. He then swung his body around on that pinkie and grabbed onto the next hold, a misshapen block that protruded outward by a fingernail. He could only grip the protrusion with two fingertips but it was enough to propel him high enough to grab onto the edge of the wall.

Two minuscule holds were all he needed to scale the walls that were over two stories tall. His climbing abilities had greatly improved with his advancements in the Strengthening Realm. Even a guard captain or bandit elder could not have scaled the town's wall as he did.

Gray pulled himself up and landed atop the wall in a low crouch. He looked around but saw nobody else. There were no guards at all. Feeling very pleased with himself, he headed for the nearby stairs.

But before he could take a step, a commotion from below made him freeze.