Half a day after leaving Qingyuan County, Ning Ye and his group were already close to the mountains and forests, and arriving here meant that everything was about to truly begin.
Ning Ye and his group arrived in a swaggering manner; if these bandits had informants, they would surely have been discovered.
However, this was exactly what Ning Ye wanted: to make these bandits nervous, and only if someone went back to report could they find the enemy's lair by following the clues.
Ning Ye has plenty of experience in these matters. Of course, he also needs to train the people under his command. He can't be the only one who knows everything. Otherwise, if he has to do everything himself, he'll exhaust himself.
Ning Silang said, "If I remember correctly, the area ahead should be within the territory of Black Wind Stronghold. It was a bandit leader who appeared three years ago. It is said that he has several hundred men under his command, but whether that is true or not is still unknown. However, most people give him a lot of face."
While observing his surroundings, Ning Ye said, "These bandits are just exaggerating; there's no way there could be so many of them."
"I think the number of people is probably not much less, so we still need to be careful in everything we do."
After walking for a while, Ning Ye finally noticed something unusual. Just now, he felt a gaze on him.
They've been in each other's territory for so long, yet it took so long for spies to appear. It's clear these bandits are only able to run rampant because no one is watching them.
With a glance from Ning Ye, Wang Wu immediately led the two men to follow, while Ning Ye led the others to find a shady spot to rest.
In the forest, Wang Wu dared not miss a single trace, for fear of losing track of the person.
Ning Ye has already taught him how to track and trace, so if problems still arise, then he can only blame himself.
No matter what it is, Wang Wu doesn't want to mess it up. Every mistake is a bad thing, and a mature man should do everything perfectly.
Fortunately, Wang Wu could easily discern the faint footprints in places that were completely invisible to ordinary people. In order not to be discovered by the other party, he dared not follow too closely, which made it even more challenging for a person to track.
About half an hour later, Wang Wu finally found the location of the enemy's lair. It was a ravine that didn't look very big, but there was a cave inside, so everyone lived there.
Judging from the number of houses and the people visible from the outside, Wang Wu estimated that there were about two hundred people here, but some of them were clearly the elderly, women, and children, and there were not many truly able-bodied adults.
After memorizing the route, he instructed the two men he had brought with him to keep a close watch on the area and to report back immediately if anything happened.
"Don't worry, Brother Wang, none of these people can escape our eyes."
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the two people Wang Wu brought with him were actually twin brothers.
During training, the two showed a unique tacit understanding, and they were quite good in all aspects. Wang Wu had the idea of training them as his right and left hands. After all, he might not need them now, but there would always be a time when the situation became more complicated, and if he needed help, he would always have a good person to rely on.
Wang Wu then returned the way he came and arrived back at the camp in no time.
The first thing he did was to draw a map of the houses he saw on this land. "The number of adults is not too much off, and judging from the current situation, the possibility of the other side taking the initiative is not high."
Ning Ye glanced at this thing and realized that it had virtually no defensive capabilities whatsoever; it was simply a product designed for convenience.
How did you determine that the other party didn't intend to take the initiative?
Wang Wu spoke eloquently, “First, the other side was supposed to return before us, but there was no sign of them. Second, the other side didn’t have many people, so I don’t think they would dare to attack a team like ours.”
Ning Ye nodded and said, "Your analysis is good. If we follow your logic, I think that's the most likely scenario. So, tonight, who's willing to go, you or Hu Laosan?"
Hu Laosan immediately spoke up, "Sir, this kid has already taken over the scouting job, so we can't let him take it again. I'm willing to lead men to take down this bandit's hideout."
"Old Hu, you're not right about that. What do you mean I stole it? It's because you didn't learn the tracking technique well enough, so I had to go. I'm giving you the real meat tonight. How am I supposed to explain this to my brothers?"
Ning Ye crossed his arms and laughed, "Brother, you two shouldn't argue. I think we should just play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins will lead the team. But let me make this clear: if we don't wipe out the enemy, I'll still settle the score."
Ever since Ning Ye divided these people into two teams equally, Hu Laosan and Wang Wu have been locked in a fierce battle. Sure enough, everyone needs an opponent; without one, it's difficult to make progress.
Hu Laosan won this game of chance, and even though Wang Wu was unhappy, he had to accept the rules set by Ning Ye.
Hu Laosan patted Wang Wu on the shoulder and said, "Alright, I've taken your good start this time. There are still many bandits to deal with. I won't talk to you next time; you'll be the one to lead the charge."
Wang Wu snorted and said, "Stop talking nonsense. It's just a good start. What's wrong with giving it to you? You might mess it up anyway."
"Don't worry, messing it up is absolutely impossible. This is as difficult as climbing to heaven for me. Just watch, I'll definitely give you a good beating tonight."
Ning Ye said, "Alright, now that it's decided, let's stop arguing and eat well. We'll move out when it gets dark."
The group carried only dry rations, so it wouldn't be long before they were able to rest most of the time. Conserving energy is always the most important thing, because you need to be in good shape to do good things.
Wang Wu led his team to keep watch on their surroundings. Some things can't be said too definitively; if you speak too confidently, you might be proven wrong at any time.
Wang Wu needed to make sure these bandits didn't do anything before nightfall, or he would be the one to lose face.
As night slowly fell, just as they had anticipated, none of the bandits dared to approach. There wasn't even a single spies around. Clearly, these people didn't take Ning Ye and his group seriously, or rather, they didn't believe that Ning Ye and his group would come at all.
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