Chapter 679: A Bunch of Old Sixes [Two-in-One]

Xingyang Road, Chaoli Pass.

The allied forces left the headless body hanging there for several days. The weather was bad during those days—scorching sun, rain, and strong winds—but no one claimed it. The commander of Chao Li Pass, receiving reports from scouts, was also puzzled: "What are these people doing?"

Why hang a headless corpse out for no reason?

The officers under his command speculated, "Could this be an attempt to intimidate us?"

Upon hearing this, the garrison commander of Chaoli Pass put on a stern face and sneered, "Who can be scared by this intimidation? Let alone just hanging up a headless corpse, even if they cleaned and skinned the corpse, cooked and fried it piece by piece and dried it out, there's nothing to be afraid of."

The strategist guarding the pass had a different guess: "Could this action mean they suspect that we sent this corpse out?"

The garrison commander of Chaoli Pass remained silent for a while.

He asked the crowd below, "Did we send this person out?"

The group looked at each other and shook their heads.

Many scouts were sent out, but they were mainly used for gathering intelligence, surveying the battlefield, and monitoring the movements of the allied forces; they did not penetrate deep into the enemy camp. Most of the scouts were martial artists, while the corpse was clearly dressed as a scholar. If it were truly one of their own men hanging on the wall, they would have made a scene long ago; why would they only find out about it today?

The garrison commander of Chaoli Pass was completely baffled.

Finally, he scoffed and forgot about it.

Outside Chaoli Pass, several dozen miles away.

Shen Tang climbed to the highest point near the allied camp and looked out at Chaoli Pass. After a long while, he felt something was off. Xun Ding led his men to follow, looking in the direction of his lord. On the distant horizon, there seemed to be a strange, towering shadow hidden behind the thin mist.

"My lord, watch your step."

If I leaned any further forward, I would have rolled down the mountain.

Shen Tang murmured, "That's strange..."

Xun Ding, with his sharp ears, asked, "What's strange about it?"

Shen Tang pointed to the shadow in the distance: "That mountain range is continuous, but it seems out of place with the flat terrain of Yanzhou. How high is the little mound we are standing on? If Yanzhou is likened to a human face, Chaoli Pass is as abrupt as a pimple that has broken out due to inflammation."

Moreover, they are all connected in an orderly manner.

The Yan Prefecture was divided in two.

Chaoli Pass appears as if a celestial being wielding a sword has cleaved it in two.

It doesn't look like it was formed naturally at all.

Xun Ding countered, "Is there?"

Shen Tang didn't take good care of her eldest son.

His gaze passed directly over him and landed on Xun Zhen, who was accompanying him. Xun Zhen was more knowledgeable and experienced, and naturally much more reliable than his son.

He said, “Yanzhou originally had no natural defenses; the perilousness of this pass is entirely man-made. Legend has it that over 150 years ago, a Marquis of the twentieth rank, surnamed Yan, had his fief here. He achieved great success, but his achievements also threatened the ruler. One day, while hunting with his men, he saw that Yanzhou was vast and stable, and lamented that this place was ‘easy to attack but difficult to defend.’ Fearing for the safety of his descendants, he artificially created a natural barrier. The nearby commoners thought that the earth had turned upside down and were terrified all night until dawn. When they came out, they saw that the mountains were continuous and blocked out the sun. The Marquis of the twentieth rank then used a stunning sword to cleave a narrow strip of sky in the middle, and carved the two characters ‘朝黎’ (Chao Li) on the cliff face. Seeing his masterpiece, he laughed and left gracefully.”

"Man-made? A rank 20 Marquis?"

"That's how it's said, but there are many fabrications involved."

Shen Tang asked him, "Where is the fabrication?"

Xun Zhen said quietly, "Such a magnificent and perilous pass could indeed be created by a rank 20 Marquis, but even a rank 20 Marquis is just a mortal body, and his martial energy is insufficient to support completing it in one go. Not to mention one night, it wouldn't be possible even in half a year."

Having spent a long time with his lord, Xun Zhen could tell what she was planning from her bright eyes: "Man-made passes like Chaoli Pass are common throughout the continent, nothing special. But the inscriptions on Chaoli Pass are quite intriguing."

Some martial arts practitioners would come to observe and learn from his reputation.

It is said that there is still the sword intent of the 20th-rank Chehou on it.

I hope to gain some insight from the traces left by the sages of the past.

Upon hearing Xun Zhen's words, Shen Tang recalled something: "No wonder the maps within the territory are redrawn every ten years."

Although not every martial artist possesses the destructive power of a 20th-rank Marquis, the sheer number of people fighting, the frequency of battles, and the duration of those battles have caused the original landscape to be reshaped and updated countless times over the course of more than two hundred years of war…

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "That's one of the reasons."

Shen Tang descended the small hill and returned to find Tao Yan leading a group of men back to the main camp. Intriguingly, both they encountered headless corpses hanging from the camp walls. Shen Tang asked, "Where are you returning from, Lord Tao?"

Tao said, "Inspect the military situation at the front lines."

Shen Tang then said, "You've worked hard, Mr. Tao."

Tao Yan, seated on his horse, scrutinized Shen Tang's face. Lost in thought, he gave a perfunctory reply, then excused himself, saying he had other business to attend to. Halfway there, he encountered Gu Chi, who was out "enjoying the scenery"—a recent hobby of his, claiming that the spot in front of the camp gate offered a particularly poignant and magnificent view of the sunrise and sunset…

However, Shen Tang knew that he just wanted to annoy his enemies.

The two passed each other.

Shen Tang was worried that Tao Yan might suddenly attack Gu Chi and chop him in half with a knife, but thankfully that didn't happen.

"These guys in the Allied Forces are all incredibly cunning." Seeing the body hanging there for so many days without anyone paying attention to it, Shen Tang figured it out. It turned out that no one believed the body belonged to Zheng Qiao's side, and they were just eager to make a final judgment to avoid trouble.

They planned to gloss over the matter by making a muddled mess of it.

It's just maintaining a facade of calm.

Shen Tang didn't care, but Tao Yan was very upset.

Every day, he went in and out of the camp to see the corpse of his trusted confidant hanging there, yet he couldn't step forward to take the blame, otherwise he would be making an enemy of the entire coalition—what was his intention in sending someone to assassinate a leader of a force on the very first day? Tao Yan dared not admit it, could not admit it, and couldn't even risk stealing the corpse. Coupled with the banter and jokes from the crowd, all he could do was keep it to himself.

He kept it to himself, but Gu Chi was happy.

Looking at Tao Yan's disappearing figure, he sneered, "Better to die than to die. It's not that no one in the allied forces knows there's something fishy about this, but nobody wants any trouble at this critical juncture. So we can only make Tao Shenyu suffer the injustice of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead."

They summed up the matter in a few words and shifted the blame to Zheng Qiao.

Anyway, Zheng Qiao is bad enough; she has plenty of lice to worry about.

Upon returning to the camp, Shen Tang received a letter from Jiang Sheng.

There was nothing else to say, only that the wind had been strong and the fog thick lately.

Shen Tang immediately knew what Jiang Sheng was worried about.

"Are you worried that the garrison commander of Chaoli Pass will launch a surprise attack?" Shen Tang's group of old men really liked to carry out night raids. Extending this idea to others, they were also extra vigilant against the enemy suddenly attacking them in the middle of the night. She said, "Alright, I'll go see the leader."

Her experience from various historical novels told her that the more you worry about something happening, the more likely it is to happen. She also advised against delaying and especially against saying things like "I'll inform the leader tomorrow." Because, according to the usual pattern, the enemy would arrive that very night.

It was midday.

Huang Lie was quite surprised to receive the message from Shen Tang requesting an audience.

Because this young prefect had been the center of gossip these past few days, some people were so bored that they were speculating about which scholar Prefect Shen was having an affair with. Even Huang Lie, a reclusive person, was forced to overhear a bit. He couldn't believe that Prefect Shen himself didn't know, yet he was still running around everywhere. He asked in surprise, "Mr. Shen, is there something you need for your sudden visit?"

Shen Tang said, "I have a scholar in my camp who is good at observing celestial phenomena. He said that the fog has been thick and the wind has been strong in the past few days, and the enemy will make a move."

Huang Lie perked up upon hearing this.

"Really? May I meet that gentleman?"

Shen Tang said, "Of course, Xian Deng is waiting outside the tent."

Huang Lie: "..."

He recognized the word "Xian Deng".

When Jiang Sheng entered the tent, Huang Lie realized that the face was also familiar.

"Greetings, Alliance Leader Huang."

Huang Lie composed himself: "Mr. Jiang, it's been a long time. Since we parted ways in Luxia County, I've always thought of you and worried about your safety. I never imagined you would join the service of Prefect Shen..."

Jiang Sheng remained silent.

Huang Lie realized he had talked too much and steered the conversation back on track: "Sir, you said the troops at Chaoli Pass would launch a night attack?"

"The allied forces' camp is exposed and vulnerable, unlike the strategic pass of Chaoli Pass with its high mountains and fortified positions. If they are attacked at night, they will be at a disadvantage." Jiang Sheng was not a prophet, so how could he give a definite answer? But the allied forces did need to be on guard, just in case.

Each side is fighting its own battles.

Once the fog rolls in, won't it be complete chaos?

Huang Lie also began to take it seriously.

"Huang will send someone to inform everyone about this matter."

Seeing that the message had been delivered, Shen Tang left with Jiang Sheng, who said, "After all, it's a cobbled-together army, not the whole force. It's hard to say how many people will actually listen..."

"...There's a saying that goes, 'The best way to save the Allied Forces is to annihilate them!' If there really is a night attack, we can use the crisis to make the Allied Forces completely abandon their opportunistic mentality. If we don't win this battle, we'll all die!"

Jiang Sheng said he had never heard of it.

But there is some truth to it.

As the military preparations at the front lines neared completion, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, with frequent troop movements. Shen Tang ordered her men to increase the scope and frequency of night patrols, and the handover of commands was changed from once every three days to once every two days, still issued by her as before.

For example, one line might be "No fries at the dock," followed by "It's pointless," or "Mission unfulfilled" and "We'll all die." In short, the password style is completely out of place with the rest of the coalition, but its secrecy is top-notch.

This was personally confirmed by the troops who launched the night raid on Chaoli Pass.

As one of the man-made fortresses, Chaoli Pass is known for its unpredictable weather, often described as fickle as a child's face. However, few know that a private treasury exists within the pass, storing daily weather records, allowing experienced guards to quickly discern patterns. In contrast, the allied forces' encampment is situated on flat terrain with no shelter from the elements, a situation that is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

The advantage lies in the fact that any enemy attempt to launch a surprise attack will be detected immediately; the disadvantage is that once an enemy attack gains momentum, the impact will be significant. The Allied forces' advantage in visibility will vanish under the dense fog. Because visibility is obstructed, the fog will become the enemy's best natural cover. The commander of Chao Le Pass, aware of the pressure of defending the pass, and on the advice of his military advisor, decided to launch a night raid to demoralize the Allied forces before their military construction was fully completed.

The sneak attack was carried out in three groups.

These were all relatively weakly defended areas within the Allied forces.

Shen Tang's camp was prominently listed.

It wasn't that her camp was poorly established; it was simply that she joined last, so her camp was located relatively far to the side, and her allies in the nearby coalition were a bunch of weaklings. From the perspective of the Chaoli Pass forces, this was a perfect opportunity to open a breach!

The moon is in its last quarter, and the moonlight is dim.

It was dark and foggy.

Just as I was feeling drowsy, a figure appeared in the dark fog.

Only when they got closer did they realize that these were their own troops.

The two teams exchanged commands and the handover proceeded smoothly. The replacement soldiers patrolled "dutifully," crossing a military obstacle course and heading towards the rear of the camp. Their initial pace was slow and leisurely, but after a few breaths, a faint, dark light appeared on their feet and horses' legs, and their speed suddenly increased, as if they were about to merge into the fog, or drift away like a wisp of hazy smoke.

It was less than fifty feet from the camp.

The watchtower guard noticed something inconspicuous moving in the darkness, but before he could make out what it was, a buzzing sound, a chill on his forehead, and warm blood trickling from his brow into his eye socket. He lost his balance and fell forward, landing on the ground from a great height. In that brief moment of descent, he seemed to see something falling from a nearby watchtower as well.

And then...

He could vaguely see horses' hooves trotting past in front of him.

Until his hands and feet became ice-cold and he completely lost consciousness.

at the same time--

"Halt, men ahead. Give the command."

The group of men who had been ordered to stop advancing.

The patrol team led the way, giving the previous command.

"The dock without fries."

The leader on the other side: "..."

A moment later, the other party replied, "It's meaningless."

The high-intensity, high-frequency patrols were taking their toll. The patrol team was quite sleepy and was still a bit confused when they heard the next command. They yawned to make sure the other person had answered correctly.

But the yawn abruptly stopped halfway through.

The hairs on my back stood on end.

Instantly, the night patrol team leader became fully awake.

Why?

Because this password was from the day before yesterday, and today's new password has changed the second half, the correct answer should be 【引不来马鸥】! You can't just randomly guess the password, because even if your own people can't answer it correctly, it could lead to serious consequences. In other words—

The person opposite is the enemy.

To avoid alerting the enemy, she said, "Pass!"

As he spoke, he waited for the other person to come forward and hand over the shift.

As they got closer, they were surprised to find that it was a familiar face.

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through her mind.

Aren't they enemies?

Did they really mix up the passwords?

Should we let them pass?

The answer, of course, is no!

Just as the two groups of men were about to pass each other, a flash of martial energy appeared in the patrol leader's hand, and a long halberd shot out like lightning, aimed directly at the enemy leader's head. As soon as she made her move, the other soldiers also drew their swords and surrounded her.

bite--

The other party didn't expect this to happen either.

But his martial arts instincts allowed him to dodge the attack.

The halberd was then pulled back in one swift motion, its tip hooked precisely at his neck, a vital spot. He had no choice but to lean back and deflect the attack with his sword. Without thinking about when he would be exposed, he could only kill the night patrol to avoid alerting the enemy. Little did he know that the attacker was no ordinary person; though his martial arts were weak, his movements were remarkably graceful.

"Shoot arrows to signal for reinforcements!"

Although the enemy wouldn't launch a large-scale attack, the scale of the night raid was still beyond the capabilities of their small squad. For now, they could only stall for time, fighting and retreating while awaiting reinforcements. Of course, it was also possible they would be wiped out before reinforcements arrived.

Yang Ying started cursing in her mind.

What kind of terrible luck is this?!

()

Sneak in a little something: Go, little broken ball, aim for 4 billion!

(End of this chapter)