Seven days was enough time for He Yan's leg injury to heal. Although the injury on his hand was not fully healed, as long as he didn't practice bow and crossbow or shooting, it wouldn't affect his daily work.

It was during this seven-day wait that the day of the flag-fighting finally arrived.

Liang Ping came to see He Yan the night before the flag competition and asked how He Yan was doing. He Yan was afraid that he would not be allowed to participate in the flag competition, so he said hurriedly, "Very good, very good, very good. Coach Liang, do you want to fight with me?"

Liang Ping thought of the previous archery competition with He Yan, and he felt embarrassed. He immediately coughed and said, "No need. As long as you are fine, you can go up the mountain with me tomorrow."

After he left, He Yan almost cheered out loud.

Hong Shan smiled and said, "Now you finally get what you wanted."

"I don't know what the flag fight is like," Xiao Mai looked at He Yan and pleaded, "Brother He, please tell us everything word for word after you come down the mountain."

"Didn't your brother also go up the mountain? Why are you only asking about Ah He?" Hong Shan said.

"My brother won't tell you that." Xiao Mai curled his lips.

Of course, not all of the tens of thousands of new recruits in Liangzhou Guards could go up the mountain to compete for the flag, especially since they were selecting people for the Vanguard Battalion, so they only picked those who performed particularly well in the martial arts field. Xiao Mai and Hong Shan were both mediocre in qualifications and were not among those competing for the flag. Of the people in their room, only Shitou and He Yan were selected to go up the mountain.

"The wound on your hand hasn't healed yet." Hong Shan was worried about He Yan, "Don't try to fight hard then. If you can't win, just run away, okay? All the Liangzhou guards know how powerful you are, and they don't care about winning or losing."

"Brother Ahe is really at a disadvantage," Xiao Mai said in a disgruntled tone, "If Brother Ahe hadn't been injured, he would have definitely been the first."

"It's okay." He Yan comforted him, "Even if I'm injured, I will definitely be the first."

When the other people in the room heard this, they all burst into laughter.

"Here we go again! Our great champion He is going to set up his arena on the mountain again. Is there anyone who wants to bet on cookies?"

"Bullshit, I haven't even paid back what I lost last time!"

Amidst the clamor, He Yan felt a little relieved. In fact, she hadn't competed for the flag for a long time, and her last time was not a good memory. She wasn't the most outstanding one, so no one knew what the result would be this time.

But compared to the result of the flag competition, the most important thing is the performance during the flag competition. To enter the Nine Flags Camp, it is not just about the result of this time. I think all the coaches on Baiyue Mountain are hiding in the dark, watching everyone's performance. The one who performs the best may have the opportunity to enter the Nine Flags Camp.

So, rather than a competition, it was more like a play, and there was only one audience from beginning to end, that is, Mr. Xiao Er. She had to be extremely alert and take every step beautifully and thoughtfully to win Xiao Jue's favor.

She should be able to do it.

…

Outside the guardhouse, Shen Han bowed to Xiao Jue and said, "Commander-in-chief, everything is ready."

Green Ear kicked twice beside him. Xiao Jue stroked its head and said, "Let's go."

Shen Han nodded, and suddenly remembered something: "Master Cheng's side..."

"I have sent people to protect him in secret, don't worry." He looked in the direction of Baiyue Mountain, "It's almost time, let them set off immediately."

Shen Han replied: "Yes."

…

He Yan arrived at the martial arts arena, but did not see Liang Ping. Instead, he saw Du Mao. Du Mao had a booklet in his hand and called out the names of He Yan and Shitou. The two walked forward and found Jiang Jiao, Huang Xiong and Wang Ba also standing beside them.

"Five people will form a team to fight for the flag, and you will be in the same team." Du Mao said, "After one stick of incense, you will set out from here on foot and go up Baiyue Mountain. You are not allowed to cross the mountain. There are red colored flags planted everywhere in the mountain. You must return here before sunset." After a pause, he continued, "There will be a total of thirty teams of new soldiers going up the mountain for the flag fight. The team with the most red flags after returning here will be the winner."

"There are weapons on the weapon rack. Pick one that suits you. Do not use bows or crossbows. When fighting for the flag on Baiyue Mountain, do not hurt your comrades. Stop when you have fought enough. Do not endanger your life. Be considerate of the friendship between comrades."

Several people nodded together.

Jiang Jiao chose the spear he was good at, Huang Xiong took his golden-back broadsword, and although Wang Ba was good at bows and crossbows, he couldn't use them in this battle, so he chose a phoenix-head axe, which looked cool. Shitou took an iron-head stick, and everyone looked at He Yan, thinking that He Yan was going to take the Yaoyao knife, but she took a nine-section whip instead.

"You..." Shitou was a little hesitant. They all knew that He Yan was good with swords, crossbows, and spears, but they didn't know how she used a whip. After all, a whip didn't look as impressive as a sword.

"You'll know when we get to the mountain." He Yan smiled, "Let's go."

Several people then rushed towards Baiyue Mountain, each carrying a weapon.

Du Mao laughed loudly behind them and said, "I'll be waiting for your good news here. Go, boys!"

The birds in the forest were startled and flew everywhere. The man disappeared into the forest in the blink of an eye. Ma Damei and Liang Ping came from a distance, each holding a horse, and said to Liang Ping: "It's almost time, let's go too."

…

Thirty groups of people, more than a hundred new recruits, were in Baiyue Mountain, like fish entering the sea, unable to see anything. As soon as they entered the forest, Wang Ba suddenly said, "Wait!"

Several people stopped and looked at him: "What?"

"Someone has already entered the mountain before us. What if they are lying in wait in the forest and we fall into a trap?"

"Don't worry," He Yan said with a smile, "The battle for the flag has just begun, and everyone is busy trying to grab the flag. We don't even have a flag right now, so what's the point of ambushing us? I guess everyone is heading towards... Shannan Baishi at this moment."

"Why is it Shannan Baishi?" Jiang Jiao asked.

"Shitou, show them the map." He Yan looked at Shitou.

Shitou took out a roll of paper from his pocket and slowly unfolded it. There were only a few red dots drawn on the paper, which were only approximate directions. Each group of flag-fighting people would have a map with the location of the flag on it, but only the approximate direction. The map was also drawn very hastily, without even marking trees and rivers, only four directions: east, south, west and north.

"Look, there are a total of twenty flags." He Yan pointed to the red dot at the bottom. "The one closest to the foot of the mountain should be the mountainside. When the new recruits enter the mountain, they will naturally search for the closest flags first, hoping to get them. There is a stream next to the white rock on the south side of the mountain. The area is open and there are no trees covering it. This flag should be the easiest to find. So I guess most of the brothers who entered the mountain earlier than us went to look for this flag."

"How do you know it's Shannan White Stone?" Huang Xiong was suspicious. "There's only one dot on it."

"I'm just guessing, but don't worry. I memorized the route when I patrolled the mountain before, so even if there is a deviation, I will find it after searching."

"Weren't you chased by a wolf when you were patrolling the mountains last time?" Wang Ba couldn't help asking, "Do you still remember the way?"

"Well, when I was being chased by the wolf, I also looked at the road, and when I came back, I memorized it again. I am very familiar with it." He Yan looked at him with a smile, "You have to trust your boss, there will be absolutely no problem."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ba suppressed his anger and turned his head away from looking at He Yan.

He Yan laughed. It was necessary to remember the terrain and roads on the battlefield. She had been in the vanguard camp before. The most important thing was to find out the enemy situation and the surrounding environment at the beginning in order to judge the deployment.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to Baishi in Shannan and seize the flag!" Huang Xiong carried the sword on his back, "How do we get there?"

He Yan: “…” This guy doesn’t know the way.

"We're not going in this direction." He Yan said.

"Why?" Huang Xiong frowned.

"There must be a lot of people trying to grab the same flag right now. If we want to grab it, there are too many opponents. It's not worth it." He Yan shook her head, "Let's not join in the excitement. Let's go in this direction." She pointed in the opposite direction of the map, where there was also a red dot.

"There are dense forests here, and the road is very steep, so it's easy to get lost. I thought, unless you remember the road very well, it would be difficult to find this flag. So it shouldn't be easy for someone to take it away. Let's go straight over and take down this flag first."

"There are only twenty flags in total. I think as long as we get more than half of them, we can win. So at the beginning, we looked for these hidden flags that no one noticed, so as to save some energy. After all, when fighting for flags, the strength you need to use may not be your hands, but here." She pointed to her head.

Was this a trick to brag about his intelligence? Everyone was speechless. Huang Xiong asked, "Do you really remember the way?"

"It's absolutely true." He Yan blinked and said, "I won't forget it when I pass by."

The young man was wearing a red suit. Although he was thin and weak, his eyes were exceptionally cunning and smart. The sunlight shining through the gaps in the woods shone on him, making him appear to be glowing.

"Okay, okay, let's go." Wang Ba was the first to speak. "Hurry up, if you're late, they'll all be snatched up by others. What the hell!"

Shitou and He Yan were in the same group, so naturally they didn't say anything. Jiang Jiao was young, and he had admired He Yan after the gunfight, so he didn't object. Everyone agreed, and Huang Xiong, the oldest, didn't say anything either. The most important thing was that he was completely blind to directions, and if no one led the way, he could literally wander around in there for three days and three nights.

Therefore, these five people all unexpectedly chose He Yan as the leader.

The five of them walked up the mountain together. Because they didn't ride horses and the mountain road was rugged, everyone was worried at first that He Yan wouldn't be able to keep up. But when they saw her moving lightly and looking relaxed along the way, without seeming to be straining, they gradually felt relieved, knowing that He Yan's physical strength should mean she should have no problem reaching the top of the mountain.

And He Yan really did as she said, as if she had walked the roads of Baiyue Mountain countless times, and had memorized all the small paths by heart. She avoided every main road that might collide with other groups, and only took the small paths. The roads were a little harder to walk on, but the distance was much shorter. Moreover, every bush that seemed to have no path, she pushed aside and walked through, and actually found a new path.

"You guys, you should think a few steps ahead in everything," He Yan sighed, "Does the road have to be straight? Can't it be curved? Do people have to walk on the ground? Can't you learn to climb up the wall like a gecko? Rules are dead, but people are alive. Be careful, many things are not that complicated at all."

Everyone: “…”

Huang Xiong said in a muffled voice: "I am forty-six this year."

He Yan replied as he walked: "Yeah."

"You are only sixteen."

The implication is, how can a 16-year-old brat teach his elders? The elders have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice!

He Yan said: "But you still don't know the way."

Huang Xiong couldn't respond to this. What kind of person is this? He is completely impervious to all kinds of attacks.

As they were talking, they climbed over a hill and saw a small flag hidden in the bushes, standing alone on the ground.

"Found it!" Jiang Jiao's eyes lit up, and he took two or three steps forward and held the flag in his palm, "It's really there!"

"I've really found him." Wang Ba muttered. Seeing the young man leaning against a tree, he said leisurely, "I told you before that I won't forget it when I pass by."

The supervisor hiding in the bushes saw this and took two steps outside, whispering, "What's going on? How did they get found so quickly?"

Logically speaking, the flags here are hidden deep and the road is difficult to walk on. At the moment, most people should fight for the flag of Shannan Baishi. However, at this time, their group came straight here from the beginning, and they did not encounter any obstacles on the road. Did they... know the place where the flags were placed in advance?

"Don't worry about it, just reply as soon as possible." The supervisor quickly wrote a few words on a piece of paper and sealed it in the copper tube on the pigeon's leg.

…

In the guardhouse room, black and white pieces were randomly placed on the chessboard, and someone was playing chess.

A pigeon flew to the young man's shoulder and cooed twice. The young man took the copper tube off its leg, pulled out the note and read it.

Shen Han looked at it in confusion.

Xiao Jue handed him the note. Shen Han took it and looked at it. After a moment, he was shocked and said, "You found it so quickly?"

"As expected." Xiao Jue smiled, his eyes becoming clearer. He said, "Based on the current time, he must have headed straight here early in the morning."

There are 20 flags on Baiyue Mountain, and the closest one is next to the white stone on the south side of the mountain. Although it was discovered early in the morning, there were too many people trying to grab it, so the winner has not been decided yet. Instead, the flag in He Yan's hand became the first one to be found, because no one came to grab it.

"Does he remember the way?" Shen Han was suspicious. Even if there were patrols at the beginning, it was impossible for a person to remember the way so well. Moreover, the recruits did not know the significance of patrols at the beginning, so they would not deliberately remember the way. It was already amazing to remember roughly half of it.

"Maybe not," Xiao Jue said, "He just knew about today's flag fight in advance."

Knowing it in advance, he would deliberately take note when patrolling the mountain, or thinking deeper, He Yan got the specific map of Baiyue Mountain at the beginning. So when he saw the flag, he knew the specific location.

Shen Han frowned. "So, he does have doubts. What should we do next?"

"Go on," the young man smiled faintly, placing his chess pieces slowly and calmly, "It's not over yet, the outcome is unknown, we won't know until the very end, no rush."

…

After He Yan found the flag, she led the other four people to continue walking up the mountain. Her path seemed to be closer to the others, and sometimes they had to bump into other groups of recruits. Before they could find out, He Yan asked everyone to lie down in the grass or behind the bushes to avoid a direct encounter with them.

Wang Ba was somewhat dissatisfied. He was used to being a bandit leader. He had never been so timid before. He just said, "We are not afraid of them. Why are we hiding? I think we should stop hiding and just go and rob them!"

"It's still early." He Yan explained patiently, "Other recruits we meet may not have flags, but we do. Once a conflict occurs, we may not get any spoils if we win, but if we lose, we will lose even the flags in our hands. Isn't that a big mistake?"

Seeing that Wang Ba was still reluctant, she unfolded the map in her hand and showed it to Wang Ba: "I have checked. As I just said, there are three flags hidden deep in the forest. We have already got one, and there are two left. We should be able to find it smoothly by walking this way. The last one is close to the top of the mountain."

"Let's get these three sides first. Once we get these three sides, we'll have reached the top of the mountain." She said, "Once we get to the top, we can plan for the rest of the day."

Wang Ba was barely convinced by these words. He said, "You said so. There are two sides. If not," he waved his fist, "I'll make you pay!"

He Yansi was not afraid at all, and took his fist away with a smile: "Little brother can't be so rude to the boss." She looked into the distance: "Let's go."

The sun is getting bigger.

Although the deep forest was not as hot as the foot of the mountain, everyone was sweating because of the rugged mountain road. There were many birds, beasts, insects and ants on the mountain, and there were also several snakes on the road. Surprisingly, He Yan handled these unexpected situations with ease. Compared with Wang Ba, she was more like the master of the mountain. If everyone didn't know that He Yan was a new recruit from Shuojing, I'm afraid others would mistake her for a hunter born and raised on Baiyue Mountain.

She didn't lie. Although the road she led was a bit bumpy, she was able to find the other two flags without any problems. The last flag was taken by Jiang Jiao. Huang Xiong looked ahead and said uncertainly, "The top of the mountain is ahead."

He Yan nodded: "Not bad." She looked down the mountain and said, "We took a shortcut. Along the way, we didn't encounter any other groups that were faster than us. We should be the first to reach the top of the mountain."

While other recruits were busy fighting for flags, they avoided others along the way and just went looking for flags. It was very convenient and saved a lot of time.

Wang Ba sat down under the tree, unscrewed the water bottle at his waist, raised his head and took a big gulp of water, saying: "On the way, I did nothing except killing two snakes. I got two axes for nothing. I said we are here to find things, not to steal things, right?"

It was quite frustrating to avoid others and look for things secretly. Although Huang Xiong and Jiang Jiao didn't say anything, their expressions showed that they agreed with what Wang Ba said.

Shitou said, "It's enough to win, no matter how."

"Brother Shitou is still smart," He Yan said with a smile, "If you want to compete, why not go to the martial arts arena and challenge directly. The flag-fighting competition is not a test of personal skills."

She clapped her hands, looked at everyone and smiled again, "But, I never said we have to hide here forever." He Yan said, "Let's get ready."

"Preparing for what?" Jiang Jiao was puzzled.

He Yan smiled slightly: "Robbery."

——Digression——

There is one more