Clouds Fly, Swords Dance Across a Thousand Miles - Red Smoke Struck the Sun; One Torch Turned All to Scorched Earth

After hearing Lin Xu's plan, Bao Chuxiong praised its brilliance and immediately ordered Officer Sun to lead a detachment up the mountain, shouting and attacking, and lure the bandits of Great Wind Stronghold down to the clearing before them.

Once Officer Sun had assembled his men and departed with his orders, Bao Chuxiong led the remaining two hundred-odd soldiers into the nearby woods to hide, ready to charge out together as soon as the bandits arrived.

Looking over these seemingly foolproof arrangements, Bao Chuxiong felt rather pleased with himself:

Wasn't using such a stratagem against these witless outlaws giving them rather too much credit?

This battle was already won!

The thought of the coming encirclement filled Bao Chuxiong with excitement. He repeatedly checked the clasps of his shining armor and rubbed his ring-hilted saber against it, unable to keep still for even a moment. After fidgeting for a while, the battle-hungry Commandant Bao began peering incessantly through the gaps between the trees, waiting for Officer Sun to bring the bandits over.

The bandits of Great Wind Stronghold did not keep Commandant Bao waiting long. Less than half a cup of tea after the decoy force departed, the soldiers lying in ambush heard shouting and clamor outside the woods-

Officer Sun came retreating in a fluster at the head of fifty or sixty battered soldiers. Behind them, a band of outlaws pursued relentlessly, yelling at the tops of their lungs. From behind, these defeated government troops looked utterly bedraggled, fleeing without a thought for their direction; but Xing Yan, Bao Chuxiong, and the others could see their faces clearly from the front. Every one of these routed soldiers of Nanhai Commandery wore a perfectly composed expression.

*Well done, lad! You really do know your business! Just what I'd expect from an