With his objective set, Zuo Xiaoduo continued using the same methods for the rest of the journey.
Whenever they encountered complicated terrain, he hid the five hundred men, announced that he was going out to scout the surroundings, drew the enemy away, then led his men off again...
If they were truly unlucky and encountered enemies they could not avoid, that was fine too. They simply fought.
After all, Zuo Xiaoduo had already drawn away quite a few enemies, so the combat losses among his five hundred men really were not that great.
After another seven or eight encounters, his side had suffered over two hundred casualties.
In the end, Zuo Xiaoduo led the remaining two hundred and forty-nine men in fighting their way through layer upon layer of enemy encirclement and returning to their own camp.
When the walls of Sun Moon Pass came into view in the distance, the trial ended.
Watching one scene after another unfold, Ye Changqing had long since suffered a mental collapse and lost control of his emotions.
Throughout the entire trial, from beginning to end, inside and out, all he saw was Zuo Xiaoduo bouncing around by himself, leaping up and down. He took on every role and authority-scout, vanguard, commander, bait, adviser, decision-maker-and did everything himself, yet somehow still managed to make a muddled, chaotic mess of it all.
The scouting missions, in particular, were an utter mess, without any method whatsoever.
He was simply a martial artist roaming Jianghu. Where was there even a trace of a military scout's qualities or training?
"This was only a trial. If it had been real, I'm afraid not a single one of those five hundred men... would have made it back!"
Ye Changqing looked as though he could not bear to watch.
"If you'd