Chapter 402: Battle

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Fan Zijin immediately said, “You go first. I’ll follow the people from the 4th and 5th Division to Golden Water Town.”

Mu Yangling and Rong Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. With Fan Zijin holding the fort, they were not afraid of the spies hiding behind the scenes.

Only then did Rong Xuan realize that they didn’t have enough people, and there were too few trusted people they could delegate.

“Miss Mu, who do you want to bring into the mountains?” Rong Xuan asked.

“Haoran’s men.” Mu Yangling said, “As they’ve all been trained in the forest, it’s much more flexible to bring them along.”

“No problem. I’ll transfer them over now. Rest for a while and set off when they arrive.” Rong Xuan greeted Li Jinghua before turning around and striding out.

Fan Zijin abandoned Mu Yangling and went out to mobilize guards to surround this place. From the servant girl who boiled water to the old woman who carried the basin, they were all people he trusted. Since the spy had not been found, he could not be careless at this time. After all, the other party spent so much effort trying to kill his eldest cousin.

Only Li Jinghua, Wen Cui, and Mu Yangling were left outside.

Li Jinghua’s emotions fluctuated. She knew that Qi Xiuyuan valued Mu Yangling, but she didn’t know that he actually gave her the right to lead the army. Looking at Rong Xuan and Fan Zijin’s reactions, they were already used to it and even needed to rely on her.

Recalling that she was the one who carried Qi Xiuyuan back, Li Jinghua took a deep breath and became even more polite and enthusiastic to Mu Yangling. She turned to Wen Cui and said, “Go and get the kitchen to prepare some food to be served later.”

Li Jinghua turned to Mu Yangling and smiled. “Sister Mu, do you want to freshen up and eat something?”

Only then did Mu Yangling sense that her body was covered in blood and mud. Realizing she was indeed very dirty, she smiled in embarrassment and nodded. “Thank you, Sister-in-law.”

Even though Li Jinghua was very curious, she knew that this was not the time to ask. Rong Xuan had said just now that Mu Yangling still had to save Qi Haoran later, so she naturally had to rest well.

She was a little embarrassed when she saw the Mu Yangling’s dark circles, but Mu Yangling, Rong Xuan, and the others were already used to it. Once they started fighting, it was normal for them not to sleep for four to five days, let alone two days.

After taking a shower, Mu Yangling changed her clothes and quickly filled her stomach. Then, she leaned against the couch and fell asleep with her eyes closed.

After about four hours, Rong Xuan sent the people Mu Yangling wanted over. It was already late at night, so Mu Yangling did not say much. She simply picked up the broadsword that Fan Zijin had found for her and left. Li Jinghua hurriedly chased after her with a cloak and said embarrassedly, “Sister Mu, why don’t you put this on? You’ll need this to fend against the strong wind.”

Mu Yangling took it gratefully.

Rong Xuan found 300 people for her. They were all Qi Haoran’s men.

They all knew Mu Yangling and had been trained by her before. Mu Yangling didn’t say much and rode Ruby away.

As soon as Mu Yangling left, Rong Xuan’s orders were sent out from the General’s Mansion one by one. The Jingzhao Prefecture, Hanzhong Prefecture, and Xingzhou Prefecture all entered Level 1 combat readiness. The city gates were tightly shut, and the various camps frequently changed their defense and soldiers. This was to prevent the spies from sabotaging them.

The next morning, Fan Zijin also began to bring the troops he had mobilized to Golden Water Town.

However, no one knew that Qi Haoran was lying on the grass and staring excitedly at the exasperated Jin Kingdom general in the camp below.

A scout reported in Qi Haoran’s ear, “Little General, the rest have been found. The injured have been sent to a cave.”

Qi Haoran said with bright eyes, “Tell everyone to rest. After filling their stomachs, we’ll let those brats below witness what a jungle battle is. Tell our men to note down the number of men they killed so that they can receive merits later.”

The scout replied excitedly, “Yes!”

In the past, they had always felt that the jungle tactics that Mu Yangling had taught them were useless. Other than identifying the direction in the forest, everything else was exaggerated. Even if they had practiced it before, they’d suspected that the other side was going easy on them since they were one of their own, and that was why their results appeared so outstanding.

However, this time, they used what Mu Yangling had taught them on the Hus. Only then did they know that Mu Yangling was not exaggerating at all. They were only a little flustered at the beginning. They had to cooperate in groups of three, and sometimes, they would be discovered by the Jin soldiers and chased all over the forest. After today’s actual combat and the excitement of seeing blood, they were already familiar with the methods, and only need to cooperate in pairs now. So long as they did not forget how to stay hidden as taught by Mu Yangling, the Jin soldiers would not be able to find them.

Not only Qi Haoran, but even they could not bear to leave the forest.

That’s right. It was not that the Jin soldiers were stopping them from leaving, but that they did not want to go out anymore. After a day of battle, the Jin soldiers weren’t guarding the place as tightly. Hence, it was not difficult for them to turn around and leave now. However, it was too satisfying to kill enemies in the forest.

As their soldiers had all been trained in jungle warfare, they could achieve the greatest results with the smallest sacrifice when facing the Jin soldiers. They simply could not bear to give up on the prey that was about to land in their hands. Therefore, even if they had the chance to leave, they chose not to do so.

The 93 soldiers lurked around in pairs. In the wee hours of the morning, when humans were the least vigilant, they stood up from their previous positions and held daggers in their hands. They covered the mouths of the patrolling and guarding Jin soldiers and slit their throats, before dragging them into the darkness. Then, they changed into the clothes of the Jin soldiers as quickly as possible. They quickly made a mark on their arms before sneaking into the camp and starting to silently reap the enemies’ lives…

By the time someone realized that something was wrong and cried out in alarm, Qi Haoran had already led his men to kill nearly 800 of them. Knowing that they were disadvantaged in numbers and could not fight them head-on, he whistled and his men immediately rushed into the darkness and led the enemy into the dense forest.

The Jin Kingdom’s general was so angry that he cried out and was about to order his warriors to chase after them when the deputy general hurriedly stopped him. “General, do you still not understand? We can’t defeat them in the forest at all. If we let our warriors chase after them, they might not be able to return.”

“Are we just going to let it go like this? We clearly said that we were here to take the lives of the Qi brothers, but in the end, we didn’t even manage to touch the corner of their clothes. How did they do it?”

The deputy general said coldly, “Of course we can’t let it go just like that. There are so many Han villages outside. The warriors have been worried for a day and night. Tomorrow is the time to get back interest from them.”

“No, I’m a warrior of the Jin Kingdom. I’ll get up from wherever I fell. What sort of a warrior vents his anger on a group of Han civilians?” The Jin Kingdom general was stubborn. “I must kill Qi Haoran and avenge my previous humiliation.”

The deputy general almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Hadn’t Qi Haoran killed many of their warriors today?

Was he planning to stake everyone’s lives?

At this moment, Qi Haoran had just brought everyone back to a cave and disguised the outside. Only then did he collapse to the ground and say, “Alright, since it’s almost dawn, hurry up and rest. We still have a tough battle to fight tomorrow morning.”

“General, they’re much more vigilant now. Anyway, since the gap has already opened, let’s go out first. Why should we fight them to the death in the forest?”

Qi Haoran glared at him and said, “Shut up. If we really leave, the villagers outside will suffer.. If they fail to kill Big Brother and me while getting so many of their own men killed, will they let the matter rest?”