Jia Dali had guessed correctly. By the time Chu Xisheng led eight hundred Vanguard Hall elites to within thirty li of West Mountain Town, Liu Dingtang had already received word.
At that moment, the Clear Sea Gang's West Mountain Hall Master was in the Fragrant Beauty House, leisurely sipping tea and listening to songs.
A person hung above them.
She was a nearly naked young girl, wearing only a bellyband, with dozens of bloody whip marks across her body.
Her hands were bound, and she hung from a roof beam, swaying constantly.
Her pretty face was faintly blue, her eyes tightly shut. She remained oblivious to everything around her; only her eyelashes trembled from time to time.
"The Iron Banner Gang? Vanguard Hall?"
Holding his tea bowl, Liu Dingtang burst out laughing. "Is your report true? They only brought eight hundred men? Are they coming to their deaths with so few? And even Tie Xiaosheng isn't with them?"
At his words, the Clear Sea Gang members present roared with laughter.
"That handful wouldn't even be enough for me to cut down!"
"Our twenty newly purchased heavy crossbows can finally see some use. They won't even get through the gates this time."
"Better to let them in and catch the whole lot in one net."
Yet Liu Dingtang's smile turned cold. "So you're certain this information is true? I don't want the Iron Banner Gang suddenly producing another force at the last moment, openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing through Chencang."
The stratagem of openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing through Chencang had taken place seventeen thousand years ago in Shu Province. Through it, Wei Taizu had conquered the realm and founded the Wei Dynasty, which had endured for three thousand years.
A dark-faced man of about