Night Run into the Mountains

In Shuang'an Town's ancestral hall, Wang Chong dismissed everyone else, leaving only the village head and himself behind.

Eight Six Gates constables stood separately behind Li Dingfang, their bamboo hats still on and cloaks still fastened, like nine pitch-black stone statues.

Li Dingfang did not exchange pleasantries or stand on ceremony. He did not even sit. Standing in the middle of the hall with his hands behind his back, he came straight to the point:

"I need you to lead a squad of elites and strike out with us."

Wang Chong's pupils contracted sharply.

"What?"

He almost thought he had misheard.

"Strike out?"

"Lord Li, we know nothing about the bandits' deployment. We do not even know how many men they have!"

Before he could finish—

A rather lean young man behind Li Dingfang reached a hand out from beneath his cloak, a piece of cloth pinched between his fingers.

He spread the cloth over the wooden table.

A rough charcoal map showed Shuang'an Town's location, along with the surrounding hills and forests. Wang Chong understood it at a glance.

Several circles of varying sizes had been marked around the town, spread across three sides and faintly enclosing Shuang'an Town in their midst.

Beside each circle, small writing noted the approximate number of men and sentry posts.

"We spent the day scouting outside the town. This is the bandits' deployment."

"They have surrounded Shuang'an Town from three sides, with roughly two hundred men."

His finger moved to a vermilion dot near the rear of the map. "Here should be the bandit chief's position, guarded at the back."

Wang Chong stared at the simple yet clear map on the table, dumbfounded.

He looked up at the lean young man, then at Li Dingfang. It took him a long while to force out a sentence:

"You mean... the nine of you spent one day and thoroughly uncovered the deployment of two hundred bandits outside town?"

The young man did not answer. He merely pushed the cloth closer to Wang Chong, silently confirming it.

Wang Chong could not say another word.

The young men he had sent out to scout had not even dared go too deep into the forest, yet these people had quietly uncovered the details of two hundred bandits, even marking where their chief was hiding.

This was Six Gates—the legendary Six Gates.

He had fought for more than ten years and considered himself a man who had seen the world, yet standing before Li Dingfang now—

He felt like a raw recruit who had just enlisted.

Li Dingfang stood with his hands behind his back, his bearing exceptional, as though this were merely an ordinary little matter.

"That is why I need you to bring your men and follow us in tearing open a gap along this line." He pointed to the bandits' central line of defense on the map.

"To capture bandits, first capture their king. Once we take down the bandit chief with the force of thunder, these bandits are nothing but a rabble."

"Then their morale will collapse, and they will fall apart without needing to be attacked."

Wang Chong stared at the route traced by that finger on the map, his heart pounding.

He had to admit that while the plan was bold, it was indeed feasible.

Though the bandits had greater numbers, they were spread out in a loose siege. As long as they concentrated their elites to tear open a breach and charged straight for the bandit chief, their odds of success were not small.

But to carry out this plan, they needed a sharp blade capable of killing its way in and back out beneath the eyes of two hundred bandits.

And the nine people before him were that blade.

"When do we leave?"

Even Wang Chong thought his own voice sounded somewhat unsteady when he asked.

"Speed is the soul of war." Li Dingfang withdrew his finger. "We move tonight."

"Tonight?!" Wang Chong gaped. "Isn't that too hasty? Our brothers have had no preparation at all."

The corner of Li Dingfang's mouth twitched slightly, which could barely count as a smile, but there was not the slightest trace of amusement in his narrow eyes.

There was only the calm decisiveness of a hunter watching his prey.

"You all think it is too hasty."

"Even if the bandits noticed that we had entered the town, they would never imagine that we would act tonight."

"That is precisely the surprise we need."

He paused, and his tone suddenly deepened.

"Go make preparations."

Wang Chong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed the words.

He cupped his fists to Li Dingfang, then turned and strode out of the main hall.

The night wind hit him as soon as he stepped outside, and only then did Wang Chong realize his back was drenched in sweat.

He stood at the doorway for a moment, vigorously rubbing his face and throwing all the chaotic thoughts from his mind.

Then he strode toward the training ground, running through the roster of the militia's young men in his head as he walked.

There were more than eighty of them. Most had only been dragged in to train for ten days or half a month. They could barely hold their stances properly; sending them onto a battlefield would be sending them to their deaths.

Those who could follow Six Gates on a night raid had to be veterans—men who had trained, seen blood, and could hold their ground.

He gathered every man who had trained well over the years at the training ground.

Some had been blacksmiths, some hunters, and some had once worked as escort guards. The young men who had followed him to Creek River Village to kill the enemy were also among them.

Most of them had brought their stance training to minor accomplishment, their strength abundant and their blood brimming with vigor.

One more was still missing.

Wang Chong said to someone beside him:

"Go call Chen Jing."

That boy had reached minor accomplishment in the Fierce Tiger Stance after only half a month of training. He had talent.

More importantly, on that night in Creek River Village, Chen Jing had killed several bandits with a White Wax Pole and a Butcher Knife.

He had seen blood, killed men, and had a hard enough hand and a steady enough heart.

It would be a terrible waste not to send such talent into battle.

Although Butcher Zhang had repeatedly told him to look after Chen Jing, Wang Chong believed that a man ought to temper himself in blood.

At most, he would keep Chen Jing by his side later. That would put him at ease as well.

By the time Chen Jing reached the training ground, thirty-nine veterans had already formed ranks.

Torchlight shone across their rough faces. No one spoke. There was only the rustle of night wind tugging at their clothes and the faint scrape of weapons against the ground.

Wang Chong stood before the ranks. On the rammed-earth platform stood the nine Six Gates constables.

Li Dingfang still stood with his hands behind his back. His bamboo hat had been removed, revealing a lean, cold, stern face.

Wang Chong cleared his throat and kept his voice low. "Tonight, we leave town to eliminate bandits. Everything will be under the command of Lord Li of Six Gates."

"You are Shuang'an Town's hardest fists. Do not bring shame on me."

No one shouted a slogan. The forty men merely tightened their grips on their weapons in silence.

Chen Jing stood at the very front of the line, near Wang Chong.

He gripped the White Wax Pole in his hand, with the Butcher Knife tucked at the small of his back.

Butcher Zhang did not know about this operation. He only thought Chen Jing was on an ordinary night patrol, and Chen Jing had no intention of telling him.

If the old butcher's temper flared and he insisted on going to risk his life alongside him, his current body truly would not be able to endure it.

Forty elite militia men, nine Six Gates constables.

A party of forty-nine.

They extinguished their torches and, under moonlight and starlight, filed out through the town entrance and plunged headlong into the pitch-black mountain forest.

The nine Six Gates constables led the way in a wedge formation, with Li Dingfang at the center, taking the lead.

Chen Jing carried the White Wax Pole over his shoulder and stayed close beside Wang Chong. The other militia men followed behind. Everyone kept their breathing and footsteps extremely low, like forty leopards moving through the woods.

As they walked, Wang Chong murmured to Chen Jing:

"Stay close to me. Do not stick your head out, and do not fall behind."

Chen Jing nodded. He raised his eyes toward the nine cloaked figures ahead, their cloaks billowing, and inwardly felt astonished.

These Six Gates constables moved with astonishing speed, yet they had clearly taken the militia's pace into account. Otherwise, at their speed, they would have long since darted far ahead.

Li Dingfang in particular, at the front, flickered in and out of sight among the trees. His steps rose and fell with incredible lightness, producing only the faintest sounds.

It made Chen Jing wonder whether that was the legendary lightness skill.