Dilong Mountain

Chapter 4: Dilong Mountain

After bidding farewell to the officer, Lin Maoxian retraced his steps toward the place where he had first rescued Old Man Sun. This time, without Old Man Sun slowing him down, Lin Maoxian went all out and reached his destination before long. However, the five Yellow Turban Soldiers' bodies were no longer there. Clearly, someone had come to deal with them after he left.

Although he didn't know whether anyone was lying in wait nearby, Lin Maoxian stayed cautious and carefully surveyed his surroundings. Only after confirming that no one else was around did he boldly approach the place where the bodies had first fallen.

After examining the area closely, Lin Maoxian determined that someone had indeed taken away the five bodies. In other words, a group of Yellow Turban Soldiers had gathered on Dilong Mountain. They had apparently sent people to investigate after the five men failed to return for a long time. When they discovered that the men had been killed, they took away their bodies.

Now that he knew a group of Yellow Turban Soldiers had gathered on Dilong Mountain, Lin Maoxian became more cautious. After thinking for a moment, he headed in the direction Old Man Sun had indicated. This time, however, he didn't simply hurry along. As he traveled, he kept an eye on his surroundings so the Yellow Turban Soldiers wouldn't spot him.

Before long, Lin Maoxian reached Dilong Mountain. Nothing had happened along the way. Whether the Yellow Turban Soldiers had deliberately left the route unguarded or were simply careless, they hadn't even left a few men to keep watch. Once he arrived at Dilong Mountain, Lin Maoxian saw that it was not very large. If Yellow Turban Soldiers had gathered there, there couldn't be too many of them; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to keep it a secret.

He was only a short distance from the place Old Man Sun had described, but Lin Maoxian hadn't seen any Yellow Turban Soldiers—or even a single person. This unusual situation made him even more cautious. On the way to the cliff, he would take a few steps, then stop and carefully sense whether anything seemed amiss, afraid that a hidden crossbow bolt might suddenly fly out from somewhere.

Because he was so careful, a journey that should have taken only a few minutes ended up taking him more than twenty. Yet nothing happened along the way. Everything remained calm.

Lin Maoxian looked at the cliff, faintly visible not far ahead, and knew it was the place Old Man Sun had mentioned. But since Old Man Sun had encountered Yellow Turban Soldiers there, it made no sense that Lin Maoxian had come all this way and nothing had happened. He decided not to follow the usual mountain path to the cliff. He expected something to happen over there, and walking straight toward it seemed likely to bring him face-to-face with the enemy.

Lin Maoxian slipped into the woods, got his bearings, and slowly made his way toward the cliff. He hadn't gone far when he noticed something was wrong. The woods were too quiet—not even a single animal made a sound. It was far too strange. Someone must be lying in wait ahead, frightening away all the animals nearby. Whoever it was clearly knew nothing about military strategy.

Thanks to his agility and keen senses, Lin Maoxian soon spotted the men lying in wait ahead. They seemed just as clueless as he'd thought: there were only five of them. They were hiding beside the mountain path leading to the cliff. One man stood out from the other four, exceptionally burly and strong. He held an iron saber, unlike the wooden weapons carried by the others. His status was clearly much higher than theirs.

Seeing how clearly this man differed from the others, Lin Maoxian used his glasses' Probe skill to check his information.

Elite Yellow Turban Soldier: Wang Hu

Strength: 12; Agility: 9; Stamina: 10; Intelligence: 5; Charisma: 4; Perception: 8; Willpower: 8

Skills: Fanatical Faith—When the target enters a state of fanatical faith, Strength, Agility, and Stamina each increase by 4 points, while Intelligence decreases by 2. This skill can only be activated by special characters and cannot be used at will.

Crude Iron Saber (Common): Strength +3. A crude iron saber made by an ordinary blacksmith. Sharpness: 10. (If the target's Stamina is no higher than 10, it will cause bleeding.)

Wang Hu was worthy of being an elite Yellow Turban Soldier. His stats were at least twice as high as those of an ordinary Yellow Turban Soldier, and his skill was stronger, too. Fortunately, he couldn't use it on his own. This skill was probably reserved for high-ranking officers.

Lin Maoxian quietly calculated that if he used only Copper Skin, his Strength would increase by 12 points. With the 2 points from his title and the 3 points from the temporary reward, his base Strength would reach 34. That would let him inflict double crushing damage. In other words, he could deal (34 - 10) × 3 = 72 points of damage to Wang Hu, and take him down in at most two punches. He wouldn't need to spend much time on him at all.

Although Lin Maoxian knew he could take Wang Hu down in just two punches, and that the remaining four were even less of a concern, he didn't rush over. He didn't know whether other soldiers were lying in wait near this little squad, somewhere out of sight. He planned to get a little closer and see if he could hear anything useful.

Lin Maoxian took a few steps forward. When he judged that he was close enough to hear them talking with his current stats, he stopped.

Not long after Lin Maoxian stopped, one of the younger Yellow Turban Soldiers said, "Brother Wang, do you think anyone's coming up here? We've been waiting so long and haven't seen a thing. Why don't we just quit waiting?"

Wang Hu was getting impatient, too, but he still lowered his voice and snapped, "Xiao Zhang, keep your voice down. How would I know if anyone's coming up? But the man dropped his medicine basket on the mountain, and he came out to gather herbs at such a crucial time. That means those herbs must be important to him. If we wait here, there's a chance we can catch him."

Xiao Zhang said nervously, "Brother Wang, what if the person who comes up is the one who killed Li San and the others? What do we do then? He's so powerful—he killed them with a single punch. We'd have no chance against him either."

Though he didn't want to admit it, Wang Hu still said, "That man is strong. I don't think even the Centurion is a match for him. Maybe only that monster in the valley could take him on. He killed Li San and the others with one punch, after all. But don't be afraid. We wouldn't stand a chance against him face-to-face, but we're hidden, and we've set a trap along the mountain path. Once he falls into the pit, we can do whatever we want with him, can't we?"

At the mention of the monster, another man beside Wang Hu asked, "Brother Wang, where do you think that monster came from? And why did the higher-ups send us here? Didn't they say there was about to be a battle near Pingyang County?"

Wang Hu replied irritably, "I'd like to know the answers to those questions, too. But we're just low-ranking soldiers. Do you really think we'd be told something this important? Curiosity killed the cat. If you learn something you shouldn't, you won't come to a good end."

"Y-yes, yes, Brother Wang, you're right. I was just asking. I'm not trying to find anything out." The man who'd asked quickly explained himself in a low voice.

"Heh!" Just then, Xiao Zhang laughed smugly. "Brother Wang, I may not know about all that, but I do know a secret about the monster. Want to hear it?" He looked as if he expected them to beg him.

Seeing Xiao Zhang's smug expression, Wang Hu knew exactly what he was like. He deliberately scowled and said, "What could you possibly know? You're just a foot soldier, with even less standing than your Brother Wang. What would you know? Don't make things up."

"Brother Wang's right." "What could Xiao Zhang know? He's just bragging." "He's definitely making it up." The other three knew what Xiao Zhang was like, too, and immediately joined Wang Hu in teasing him.

Hearing their taunts, Xiao Zhang hurriedly said, "Who says I don't know? You don't know that I'm from the same hometown as one of the Ten-Thousand-Man General's personal guards. We're on good terms. I heard from him that the monster was placed there at the command of General Earth."

Wang Hu asked skeptically, "If you have connections like that, why are you still doing so poorly? You're making it up, aren't you?"

This time, Xiao Zhang didn't immediately argue back. Instead, he gave a bitter smile and said, "Brother Wang, don't tell anyone what I'm about to say. I didn't join the army willingly. I had no food and couldn't keep myself fed, so I enlisted. I'm not looking to become a high-ranking officer. I just want enough to eat."

Hearing Xiao Zhang's words, Wang Hu sighed, too. "Who isn't in the same boat? If there were enough to eat these days, how many people would be willing to risk their heads for this? We were all forced into it." At that, the others fell silent, each lost in his own thoughts.

From nearby, Lin Maoxian had heard their entire conversation loud and clear. The valley they mentioned might be somewhere on Dilong Mountain. If he searched carefully, he should be able to find it. But what Xiao Zhang had said interested him even more: something had been placed here at the command of General Earth Zhang Bao. That suggested it was no ordinary thing. Early on, the Three Zhang brothers had the world of the Three Kingdoms in their hands. Anything connected to them would be a valuable opportunity for Lin Maoxian right now.

Lin Maoxian waited a little longer. The men remained quietly hidden, no longer talking. He concealed himself and slowly crept toward them. He felt sorry for them, but there was nothing he could do. They were enemies. Lin Maoxian wouldn't go soft on an enemy. If his own compassion got him killed, who would feel sorry for him then?