Qingshan Commandery, Wolf Fang Ridge. The mountains were high and the forests dense, peaks rising like cones of every size—a rather unusual sight.
Deep in the mountains, Southern Prefecture's fourth-rank Valiant Cavalry Guerrilla General, Xiang Wuren, who had secretly led his men here, accompanied Yan Duo as he surveyed the terrain.
Standing on a shaded slope beneath the forest canopy, Yan Duo looked at the men and horses scattered around, lying or sitting beneath the trees. All of them had changed out of the Imperial Court's standard uniforms and into motley fitted clothes. If not for the weapons laid beside them, no one would have guessed they were an army. They gnawed at coarse mixed-grain flatbreads, not daring to light fires and raise smoke.
"Wolf Fang Ridge originally had a band of brigands known as the Wolf Fang Bandits. Yesterday, I led my forces and wiped them out in one stroke. When the target arrives, we'll raise the Wolf Fang Bandits' banner and attack while posing as brigands." Xiang Wuren pointed at his men in their assorted clothing as he explained.
Yan Duo mocked, "An army of over ten thousand, with more than a thousand cavalrymen, daring to attack a regular army? Even I, who know nothing of warfare, would understand that someone was impersonating bandits."
Xiang Wuren shook his head. "That isn't important. Once we make a move, they should be able to guess anyway. It's merely an excuse. If it truly comes to it, my side will admit that we had long colluded with the bandits. The men below only followed orders and knew nothing of the truth." He then gestured for Yan Duo to follow him elsewhere.
After crossing a slope, they found below them an official road carved through the towering mountains. Xiang Wuren pointed to