Chapter 1112 Password

Just as the two groups were locked in a fierce battle in the dense forest, at the foot of Beiman Mountain on the other side, in almost the same pitch-black night, several screams were drowned out by the unusually turbulent waves of the Yellow River. However, the stench of blood could not be concealed and permeated the night air, but it was quickly swept away by the chilling night wind.

Several tall soldiers dressed in black stood in the bloody wind.

At their feet lay four or five corpses lying haphazardly.

After getting the answer he wanted, the middle-aged man who was leading the group snapped the neck of the last survivor in his grasp. Still not entirely at ease, he knelt down to check carefully, confirming that the other scouts on the ground were also dead. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. He then frowned and said to a soldier beside him, "Ah Jing, I told you to be careful when you act, and try not to tear your clothes. Look!"

As he spoke, he pointed to one of the corpses.

That was the first scout killed when they made their move. He had a knife in his chest, and his clothes were torn open, staining a large area with blood.

Ah Jing, who was being reprimanded, was a young man. He muttered, "The person has already been killed, why bother with their clothes?"

On the other side, a similarly young soldier asked, "Boss Zheng, the general ordered us to come here to intercept and kill these scouts. Did he already know they were here?"

Old Zheng laughed and said, "Of course."

"If you knew all along, why did you only take action today?"

“If we kill them too early and no news gets back, the people at Hulao Pass will find out soon and send another group. Then we’ll have to search for them all over again, and it will never end.”

"..."

"Moreover, knowing that the men they sent out earlier had been killed, they will only be more cautious, making it harder to catch them."

"..."

"It would be better to let them lie in ambush here. Anyway, there haven't been any battles recently, so they won't be able to find out any important military intelligence. On the contrary, we can keep track of their movements at all times and accomplish great things when the time is right."

Upon hearing these words, everyone exclaimed, "The General is indeed wise!"

The young soldier then asked, "So, what great thing can be accomplished by killing them?"

Mentioning this, Old Zheng glared at him again before saying, "The general ordered us to find these scouts, kill them, put on their clothes, and use the coded language we extracted to enter Hulao Pass!"

"ah!?"

Upon hearing this, everyone around was taken aback.

Their initial orders were only to intercept and kill these scouts, but now they realized there was a follow-up mission. No wonder Boss Zheng spared one of them and interrogated him for a long time in such a dangerous situation; it turned out he wanted to get the password to pass through.

The other soldiers exchanged glances, and one of them said, "Should the few of us go into Hulao Pass?"

"What can the few of us do?"

"That's Hulao Pass! Even General Xiao Shi was captured alive there!"

Old Master Zheng said, "It is because General Xiao Shi was captured alive that we are going to enter Hulao Pass tonight!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood—it turned out that their main mission tonight was to enter Hulao Pass and rescue General Shi Yutao, who had been captured alive!

The group exchanged glances. Those chosen to participate in tonight's operation were not ordinary soldiers, but rather a group of highly skilled fighters meticulously trained by Xiao Yuansui. Thus, after the fierce battle, they had eliminated the scouts almost unharmed. However, a hint of doubt still surfaced in their eyes as they prepared to enter Hulao Pass—after all, it was no ordinary place.

They had either witnessed firsthand the might of Prince Yuwen Ye of Qin or heard of the bravery of Shen Tu Tai.

Then someone said, "Can the few of us rescue General Xiao Shi from Yuwen Ye and Shen Tu Tai? Just the few of us?"

Old Master Zheng said, "If we force our way through, even if the General sends thousands or tens of thousands more troops, it might not be enough. But I have just found out the password for Hulao Pass tonight. If we put on the scouts' clothes and pretend to be them, we can enter Hulao Pass smoothly."

Everyone then understood the meaning behind his earlier complaint about ruining the clothes.

But some people still have concerns: "But even if there aren't many men in Hulao Pass, there must still be several thousand."

Old Master Zheng said, "Have you forgotten that Luoyang sent a team to retrieve grain from Luocang? The people guarding Hulao Pass are here to prevent their people from taking Luoyang. Naturally, they can't be allowed to retrieve the grain smoothly, so they will definitely send a large force to obstruct them."

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Hulao Pass in the distance, which had long since blended into the night and seemed to be just a huge shadow in the darkness. Then he said, "I guess there aren't many guards in Hulao Pass tonight, which is a good opportunity for us to show our skills."

"..."

"Let me tell you, the General has already given the order that whoever can rescue General Xiao Shi tonight will be promoted and richly rewarded!"

Upon hearing the words "promotion and generous reward," the eyes of the group immediately lit up.

Without Zheng Laoda's prompting, they hurriedly squatted down and peeled off the clothes that still held the warmth of the corpses, haphazardly putting them on. Only Ah Jing, seeing that his own clothes were torn open and stained with blood, worried that people would notice something amiss before he even entered Hulao Pass, so he said, "Then, what should I do?"

Boss Zheng glared at him before saying, "This is definitely not something you can wear in public. You shouldn't go in; stay outside and meet us."

Ah Jing had no choice but to dejectedly agree.

Soon everyone was dressed and, under the cover of night, hurried toward Hulao Pass. After more than half an hour, they finally arrived at Hulao Pass.

Tonight, only a few soldiers patrolled this formidable pass, their torches barely illuminating the small area in front of them. It wasn't until they reached near the city gate that they were spotted by those above, who immediately shouted, "Who goes there?!"

Immediately, the soldiers held their breath.

The eldest brother, Zheng, looked unusually serious. He pulled out a token he had taken from a scout and held it high: "We are."

The soldier above flicked his torch and took a closer look. He immediately recognized it as a scout's token. He nodded and was about to turn and order his men to open the city gate, but then he remembered something and leaned out from the city wall: "Password!"

Then Old Zheng raised his head and said clearly, word by word, "Guardian Vajra!"

Upon hearing these four words, the soldier finally nodded in relief, turned around and shouted behind him. Then, with a heavy and hoarse sound, the gates of Hulao Pass slowly opened before their eyes.