When the shouts of killing shook the sky in Wuchang City, He Shan and Ying Hongxue had already led their troops into Wangtuo Ridge and arrived at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain.

Fenghuang Mountain is the main peak of Wangtuo Ridge. The mountain is high and steep, with water on the east and north sides and steep cliffs on the west. The only thing on the south side is the mountain road, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

At this time, the spies from Dongchang came in handy. When they were investigating the situation in Phoenix Mountain, they found an abandoned plank road in the back mountain. The plank road was built on the steep mountain wall and was only three people wide. The end point led directly to the back mountain of Phoenix Mountain. There was only one tower in the back mountain, guarded by a bandit. Because no one had walked on the plank road in the back mountain for a long time, the bandit who was guarding the plank road did not care.

Ying Hongxue divided the three thousand troops into six teams and first sent a team of a dozen elite soldiers to explore the way.

The elite quietly walked up the plank road and saw a vague figure on the tower, obviously a lookout guard. Not far away, there were several rows of wood supporting a large iron pot, which was full of wood and was burning. A dozen bandits sat around the iron pot, playing finger-guessing and drinking. Although their postures were casual, their weapons were within reach. A little further away, there was also a large gong for warning, as well as many bamboo rafts with sharpened heads. It was obvious that they had made a complete defense.

The situation was quite different from what the spies had described.

The team did not make any alarm, but quietly returned the same way and reported the situation in the back mountain in detail: "There are people watching on the tower, and we will be discovered if we show our heads. There are also more guards than expected."

Ying Hongxue frowned and confirmed with the East Factory spy again: "Are you sure there was only one guard in the back mountain before?"

The spy was also confused by the sudden change, but he still said firmly: "The guards at the back mountain were never so strict before!"

Ying Hongxue pondered for a moment and winked at He Shan. He Shan and she had already reached a tacit understanding, so he ordered the others to wait there and followed.

After making sure that no one else could hear their conversation, Ying Hongxue whispered, "Something is not right. I suspect there is an insider in the city, and our plan to raid Phoenix Mountain at night has been leaked."

Xue Shu's men were trustworthy and would not provide false information. The sudden tightening of defense at the back mountain was obviously due to the bandits getting the news in advance.

He Shanxia glanced at the people behind him and said in embarrassment: "What should we do? We don't know whether the traitor is in the city or in the army. We won't be able to find him in a short time."

Ying Hongxue thought for a moment and said, "Just in case, we will take our people up first and let the rest of us stay downstairs and follow orders."

If there really is an insider, he is most likely mixed in with the officers and soldiers in the capital. The troops they brought from the capital are reliable.

"I will secretly deal with the 'eye' first, and you lead the others to sneak up. There are only a dozen guards there, and we won't be discovered as long as we move fast enough." Ying Hongxue touched the light crossbow on his back.

She was very good at archery, but because she didn't have enough strength to pull a heavy bow, she rarely used bows and arrows. Later, when Xue Shu found out, he specially got her a batch of lightweight crossbows from the Armory. These crossbows were light and easy to carry, with a long range and high accuracy, and she used them very well.

This time when she traveled south, she specially brought this crossbow with her.

After the two men had discussed it, they returned to their team and selected a hundred people to go up the mountain first, while the rest stayed on standby.

It was the darkest time of the night, He Shan led the way, followed closely by Ying Hongxue. Everyone lined up in a long line, leaning against the mountain wall as they climbed up.

When they reached the last section of the plank road, He Shan made a gesture and everyone stopped.

Ying Hongxue and He Shan quickly exchanged positions, came to the front, and squinted their eyes to look at the guards on the tower.

There were no lights on the tower, but the blazing fire below provided enough illumination. Ying Hongxue held a crossbow, lying in ambush in the darkness, patiently looking for an opportunity.

It must be killed with one strike, and there cannot be too much noise.

The arrow with a cold glow slowly aimed at the guard's neck, and the moment the other party turned around, Ying Hongxue pulled the trigger!

The arrow shot out through the air and pierced through the guard's neck in the next moment.

The blurry figure in the darkness fell down softly, and the slight movement was masked by the noisy sound of fists below. No one noticed that the guard of the tower was dead.

Ying Hongxue quickly exchanged positions with He Shan again. He Shan made a gesture and climbed up quietly under the cover of shadow.

Behind him, soldier after soldier climbed up the hill, hiding in the bushes or in the shadows.

Ying Hongxue had difficulty walking and was not good at close combat, so she continued to hide in the blind spot of the plank road, waiting for an opportunity to shoot a sneak attack.

A hundred people went up the mountain quietly. He Shan made a gesture, and everyone began to surround the bandits who knew nothing about it.

Although these bandits were on guard, they were not vigilant enough.

By the time they reacted, He Shan had already led his men to kill half of them. Those who reacted wanted to ring the bell to warn, but before they could get close, they were shot dead by Ying Hongxue who was lying in ambush.

But in a short moment, more than a dozen bandits were dealt with.

He Shan walked to the edge of the cliff, leaned over and pulled Ying Hongxue up, then whistled to signal the troops on standby to go up the mountain.

After the troops were assembled, He Shan sent people to explore the way to the main camp.

The situation in the main camp was similar to that in the back mountain. The defense was very strict, but there was one difference, that is, there did not seem to be many people on the mountain.

At least it was much less than the number of people they brought.

There was no need to hesitate when outnumbered. After confirming that the enemy was not using an empty city plan, He Shan led his men to attack. The bandits had indeed prepared defenses, but He Shan was brave and the people in the village had gone somewhere. With less than 500 men, He Shan captured Hualin Village with a crushing advantage.

He ordered people to go to the middle of the mountain to check the looted food. He Shan personally interrogated several captured small leaders and inquired about the whereabouts of other people in Hualin Village.

However, the small leaders who stayed behind could not explain the situation clearly. In the end, they just said that the village chief brought his people down the mountain and said he wanted to do something big.

He Shan spat: "Where are these idiots going to cause trouble again?"

Ying Hongxue thought more than he did, and a frightening guess came to her mind, but was suppressed. She summoned the Dongchang spy who was accompanying her: "You should immediately return to the capital to check the situation. Be careful. If you find anything wrong, turn back immediately."

The spy understood the hidden meaning in her words and was shocked.

He Shan frowned and said, "Do these bandits dare to attack the city?"

Ying Hongxue shook her head: "I hope I am just being overly suspicious."

Yin Chengyu dressed up as Zhou Zhiling's long-time attendant, sitting in the carriage and driving, with the raised collar of his cotton coat covering most of his face. Xue Shu and the other five people dressed up as servants and guards, riding horses to escort them all the way to the East City Gate.

The bandits guarding the city saw the carriage approaching and immediately drew their swords to stop it.

Zhou Zhiling opened the curtain, revealed his face, took out Fan Hu's token, and said to the burly man blocking the road, "Little brother Jiang, the Fan village chief has some urgent matters and asked me to go out of the city to handle them. Please open the door."

The "little brother Jiang" he mentioned was none other than Fan Hu's adopted son, who was highly trusted by Fan Hu and was also familiar with Zhou Zhiling.

The other party was unaware of the conspiracy between Fan Hu and Zhou Zhiling, but he often saw Zhou Zhiling and Fan Hu discussing matters in the camp, so he did not suspect anything. He just lifted up the carriage and checked inside, then ordered someone to open the small door on the side of the city gate and let the carriage pass.

The group left the city smoothly. By this time, the sky outside was already turning pale.

Ten miles away from the city, everyone abandoned the carriage, unloaded the horses, and each man rode a horse as fast as they could to Phoenix Mountain.

Coincidentally, when they were halfway there, they ran into spies from the East Factory who were heading to the city.

Seeing Yin Chengyu and his party was stunned for a moment, the other party immediately dismounted and saluted. Then he remembered Ying Hongxue's reminder and said, "Has something happened in the capital? After we attacked Phoenix Mountain, we found that there were only four or five hundred people left in the village, and the rest of them were missing."

Xue Shu nodded, but didn't say much, just said: "Lead the way, let's go to Phoenix Mountain first and then discuss it."

By the time they arrived at Phoenix Mountain, it was already bright.

Ying Hongxue was having people count the food hidden in the cave. When he heard the news, he came out and saw the dusty people. His expression darkened: "Is this really a plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

Yin Chengyu nodded slightly, then looked at Zhou Zhiling and asked, "Where are the private soldiers kept on weekdays? Is there any way for them to contact each other in an emergency?"

Zhou Zhiling pointed to the stone cave where the grain was stored and said, "It's inside this stone cave. This cave was formed naturally and was later expanded. It doesn't look deep from the outside, but there are actually many winding caves and exits inside. Those private soldiers are hiding in them."

"As for the method of communication... In the past, there was a method of emergency communication. If the people in the village went out to 'catch sheep' and something happened on the mountain, three red fireworks would be used as a warning, and the villagers who went out would come back as soon as possible." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "But I have never seen it used, and I am not sure if it is useful."

Yin Chengyu said: "It's okay to give it a try, but we have to wait for news from Yuezhou."

If they could set off fireworks to trick the enemy back, they would save a lot of effort. Even if that didn't work, when the reinforcements from Yuezhou Guards arrived, they would still have to fight a battle to take back the city.

The Yuezhou guards arrived at dusk.

After seeing the prince's seal, the commander of Yuezhou Guards personally selected 5,000 soldiers to come to the rescue.

After Yin Chengyu got the news, he ordered people to set off three red fireworks.

It was already late in the day and dusk was falling. Three red fireworks exploded simultaneously in the sky above Phoenix Mountain, which was very eye-catching.

When the bandits in the city saw the red spot, they immediately became confused.

They had searched house to house for a whole day and night, but not only did they fail to find the person the village chief was looking for, they also lost a lot of manpower - after the officers and soldiers in the government office realized what was happening, they began to resist.

Both sides suffered casualties in the melee.

Although these so-called bandits but actually private soldiers had the advantage in numbers and fought more bravely than the scattered bandits, they were, after all, a mob that had never experienced real fighting.

At first, they were able to follow orders from the small leader. But when Fan Hu suddenly lost contact, the small leader became confused and was anxious to find Fan Hu's whereabouts, and he didn't care about his men at all. These soldiers lost their morale and began to retreat.

Now that the fireworks of retreat were lit, morale plummeted.

Fan Hu's adopted son Jiang Kang gathered with several other leaders to discuss whether to withdraw or stay.

Jiang Kang was unwilling to go against Fan Hu's wishes and wanted to continue looking for him. Moreover, he had not found the whereabouts of his adoptive father and was a little worried that something unexpected had happened.

But the rest of them were more worried about the situation in the village. Phoenix Mountain was their home base, and if something happened to the village, wouldn't all the food they had worked so hard to rob and their years of management be wasted?

In the end, the minority obeyed the majority and withdrew their troops back to Phoenix Mountain.

Thousands of mountain bandits came and went like locusts, leaving the city in ruins.

"Report! The bandits have withdrawn from the city and are almost at the foot of Phoenix Mountain." The scout who went to investigate the enemy's situation hurried back to report.

"Commander, have you set up the ambush?" Yin Chengyu asked.

"We have set up an ambush and are ready to make dumplings as soon as these bandits come up the mountain."

The troops of Yuezhou Guards did not go up the mountain, but ambushed at the foot and halfway up the mountain. The troops on the mountain had to cooperate with the empty city plan, waiting for the bandits to go up the mountain, and then attacking them from the front and back to kill them.

He Shan and Xue Shu led the troops in this battle.

Yin Chengyu and Ying Hongxue sat in the middle hall waiting for news.

The fight lasted two hours from the beginning to the end.

Except for Fan Hu's adopted son who bravely resisted and refused to surrender, the rest of the defeated troops threw down their weapons and surrendered after seeing that the situation was hopeless.

By the time the dust settled, it was already past midnight.

The village was brightly lit, with people needed to place prisoners, transport food, and even wipe out other bandits in Wangtuo Ridge in one fell swoop. Many things needed to be done.

He Shan led his troops to other hilltops to suppress bandits, the commander of Yuezhou Guard led his troops to escort food back to the city, and Ying Hongxue led his men to count the property and prisoners in the village.

By the time Yin Chengyu had placed the piles one by one, it was already daybreak.

His face was filled with deep fatigue. Even after drinking cup after cup of strong tea, he was still very tired. After Xue Shu finished interrogating several leaders and came to report, he saw the dark circles under his eyes. He frowned and changed his words: "Just now when I was inspecting the village, I found a hot spring in the back mountain. Your Highness has just recovered from a serious illness, so it is not advisable to work too hard. Why don't you go to the hot spring to soak in the hot spring to relieve your fatigue?"

Yin Chengyu was not a person who valued enjoyment, but he was indeed very tired at the moment, and the weather was very cold, so he felt cold all over. He hesitated for a moment, thinking that everything was almost arranged, and nodded.

Xue Shu immediately ordered people to prepare windproof screens and necessary clothes and utensils, and went to the hot spring in the back mountain.

The hot spring in the back mountain is a wild spring that has not been dug out. The pool formed by the natural erosion of the spring water is only four or five feet wide, which is not very spacious. But in this cold winter, there is unmelted snow everywhere, and it is great to have such a hot spring with steaming hot water to warm up the body and relieve fatigue.

Xue Shu ordered screens to be placed around the hot spring to block the cold wind, and placed tea and food on trays to warm them in the water. After dismissing the servants, he said slowly, "I will wait for Your Highness to take a bath."