At night, Mount Li.

Two headless corpses hung from a crooked tree in front of the Linzhai stronghold. The tree swayed in the autumn wind. The patrolling guard, a bit tipsy, shivered as he cradled his machete. "Our boss is truly ruthless! He won't even give Prince Ning face."

"Prince Ning is nothing!"

"Do you know where the calendar of Mount Li came from?"

The scar-faced burly man didn't care.

Holding the wine gourd, he took another big sip.

"We have the support of the King of Qi. We have food and drink in the mountain stronghold and live a comfortable life. He wants us to surrender and work for him. It's simply ridiculous. His Ning Wang Army has a bunch of crappy rules. It's not as comfortable as us in the mountains."

"That's true."

"Once we become a regular army, there are a bunch of broken rules."

"We have everything we need now."

The guard nodded in agreement and whispered, "Brother Dao, you should drink less. The boss has already said that Ning Que will definitely send people to retaliate against us, so we have to patrol day and night."

"What are you afraid of?" Scarface sneered disdainfully, standing in front and saying, "Let me tell you, it'll take at least two or three days for them to arrive."

"Is that so?"

"Nonsense. With so many people, it's bound to take time." Scarface spread his hands and sneered, "That's what I said. We can just stand here and nothing will happen. Don't you think there are at least a dozen secret sentries at the bottom of the mountain? How are they going to get up here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a chill on his back.

Then there was a chill on the neck.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Blood gushed out instantly.

The young man across from him had his mouth covered by a hand before a sword pierced his chest. His face was filled with terror, and his hands were thrashing about. He tried to draw his long sword, but it was firmly held in place by the opponent.

Plop!

They both fell in a pool of blood at the same time. The moment before they lost consciousness, they saw the young man in the jade crown slowly walk out and glance at them coldly.

"Now, the King is here!"

Bai Yu and Tie Niu followed at the same time.

Including Shen Qinghe, everyone changed into night clothes.

"Qinghe, what do you think of their performance?"

"It's okay."

Ning Que couldn't help but smile.

Shen Qinghe played an indispensable role in the Northern Expedition's conquest of Shuofang. They used their flying claws to scale the city wall under cover of night, finding an opportunity to leap over the guards and then open the gate with impunity!

At that time, Ning Que was thinking about establishing a special operations force, so he asked Shen Qinghe to help select suitable people and then teach them the methods of assassination, which were used this time in Lishan.

That’s right, there are many secret sentries in Lishan.

But Bai Yu has basically figured it all out.

Bai Yu led the team to clear out the secret sentries.

Ning Que led a large force to follow behind.

Bai Yu and the others lowered their heads in response to Shen Qinghe's comments. It wasn't just because Shen Qinghe was the princess, but because of her own abilities. During the Shuofang period, Shen Qinghe had followed them deep into the heart of the grasslands, and during the siege, she had even been the first to reach the city gates and opened them.

Looking around the military camp, no one is dissatisfied.

Shen Qinghe is a martial arts expert, skilled in disguise and assassination.

She is responsible for teaching these people.

That's what's called special operations.

In large-scale military operations, special operations forces are not very useful. The key is that if you want to launch a surprise attack, these people can often be very effective, even comparable to a large army!

"The movements were very crisp and neat."

"But you still have to cut their throats to prevent them from speaking out."

"Like you just pierced this man's heart, it's a vital spot. But if he breaks free from you, he'll probably scream out at the top of his lungs."

"I'll remember this!"

"Well, we'll see later." Shen Qinghe said nothing more, but looked at Ning Que, "Two or three miles ahead is Lin Village. What are your plans, husband?"

"According to the plan." Ning Que pointed to the distance. "Tie Niu, take two hundred men and spread out to guard and prevent them from fleeing. Remember what I said, anyone holding a weapon will be killed without mercy."

"promise!"

Tie Niu immediately led his men into action.

These were all arranged on the way.

This includes marking the roads to be guarded.

"Bai Yu, take your men and spread out to set up positions."

"When you see the sky lantern rise, fire at the same time! Remember this, everyone must not stop, and bombard everyone to death. As long as the sky lantern is still hanging, you cannot stop!"

"promise!"

The white feathers also dispersed.

There are only a few dozen people left by Ning Que's side.

This time, hundreds of giant stone cannons were prepared.

The stone cannon had become the army's favorite siege weapon, primarily for its quality, affordability, and rapid construction. Ning Que had a large number of them built in advance, and the ammunition used wasn't stone, but special bullets soaked in kerosene.

Bai Yu had already inquired and found that there were very few adobe houses in the mountain stronghold, mostly bamboo and wooden huts. A single artillery shell could set them ablaze. Furthermore, they were still on the mountain. If the fire spread, the Ma family army would be doomed.

"These people really deserve to die."

"It's obvious that there was collusion with Tian Zhongxun."

Shen Qinghe spoke angrily.

Ning Que smiled calmly, "That's all Tian Zhongxun has. He arrived at the port a few days ago, bringing two hundred warships with him. Ouyang inspected them and found no problems, so they've been handed over to Gu Yuan for training. This guy just wants to use the bandits to cause trouble for us and delay Linzi's development. He's preventing me from increasing my troops, so I can only use his fleet."

"Um."

Shen Qinghe watched them assemble the sky lanterns.

Then he looked at the bright moon hanging high in the night sky.

"Senior Brother Gongshu is here too."

"I always heard my father mention him before."

"It's a shame to say he's too stubborn."

"He was young and impulsive at the time."

"The two of them argued endlessly, and Senior Brother Gongshu left the Shenji Pavilion in anger."

"Yes." Ning Que smiled and nodded. "No matter what, I must win over Senior Brother. I got the news that Gu Yuan really wants to meet Senior Brother and has received help from the Gongshu Family."

"this……"

Shen Qinghe couldn't help but laugh out loud.

This guy is really funny.

You actually want to win over Gongshu Chou?

The case of Gongshu Chou is also quite complicated.

Although he had left the Shenji Pavilion, he did not hate Bu Suanzi, and even felt ashamed of him. Sometimes he would send him gifts, but Bu Suanzi never accepted them.

Gongshu Chou had chosen to come to Linzi, presumably to meet Ning Que. For someone like him, power and gain were nothing but illusions. Although Gongshu Chou and Ning Que had never met, they were both once disciples of the Divine Machine Pavilion.

No matter how I think about it, there is no way I would help Gu Yuan and the others.

Even if he really cared about the benefits, could Ning Que not give what Gu Yuan could?

"Never mind that for now."

Ning Que raised his hand.

Under their gaze, the sky lantern slowly rose.

Because it has been improved, it is quite bright at night.

A moment later, deafening noises echoed from all directions. Massive fireballs lit up the mountain peaks and headed straight for the Lin Village!