The consumption of alcohol in the army camp was forbidden during wartime. They could only drink to their hearts’ content when the commanding general allowed them to do so. The moment Lou Jing said this, the tension within the audience decreased greatly, and they actually started to look a little excited. Generals who managed to win the hearts of their troops were always those who had a strong sense of right and wrong, and who also knew when to cut their troops some slack.
Lou Jing had instructed Yun Jiu to buy a whole cartload of good wine in Jiuchang City before they went to the army camp. He’d also told Yun Jiu to buy two big baskets of braised meat, and to send the whole lot to the army camp when it was still dark the night before.
Men, especially men in the army, just needed to have a good long swig of alcohol together, and they would be the best of brothers by the end of the night.
“The general is young and very accomplished. This officer has the utmost respect for you,” Zhang Rao said, standing before Lou Jing with his wine bowl cupped in his hands.
Lou Jing smiled, then raised his own wine bowl to clink it against Zhang Rao’s. They both drained the wine in a single gulp.
Everyone saw that their general was quite an easygoing person, so they all got to their feet to try toasting him as well. They all went to clink cups with him in order of their rank.
“Gen-general, I… My name is Li Daniu, and I-I’m a mess cook…” the head of the miscellaneous staff stuttered. He saw that everyone had gone to pay their respects to their new general, and it wasn’t nice for him to sit out, so he had no choice but to go and say something. His simple, honest face turned bright red from nervousness.
Lou Jing listened to him patiently and he smiled as he gulped down the wine. “Food supplies are very important in the army. If you’re an outstanding mess cook, you can be a general too,” he said encouragingly.
“R-really?” Li Daniu asked, smiling foolishly at the amiable General Zhennan.
“Of course it’s for real. We’ll make you the Great General of Toasted Biscuits in a bit!” Zhang Rao laughed, hooking that foolish cow’s neck with the crook of his elbow and dragging him off so that he couldn’t continue embarrassing himself in front of the General.
The wine provided for the men in the army naturally wasn’t some sweet, aromatic peach blossom wine; it was all strong liquor. The men all enjoyed it immensely. Lou Jing sat in the main seat, drinking bowl after bowl. The wine flowed past the corners of his lips and down to the lapels of his robes. The front of his robes was soon wet with liquor.
Xiao Chengjun swirled the winecup in his hand. The wine served in the palace was usually the mild type, and he’d never tried the fiery liquor that these soldiers were drinking. He gave off a cold, unapproachable aura, however, and most of the soldiers didn’t dare to go close to him for fear of giving offence.
“Mr Yuan, come, let’s have a drink!” Zhang Rao said, swaying drunkenly toward Xiao Chengjun. He stood in front of Xiao Chengjun and thrust a bowl at him.
Xiao Chengjun looked at the coarse bowl in front of him, then put down the white jade cup in his hand and accepted the bowl decisively. “My pleasure,” he said.
The coarse bowl was filled with cheap liquor, and it had a cloying taste in the mouth when Xiao Chengjun first tasted it. Then, all of a sudden, a fiery sensation spread from the tip of his tongue to the bottom of his belly. In that fire, there was also a charming freshness. Xiao Chengjun had never drunk this kind of wine before, and he suddenly felt that it was a real pleasure to drink like this.
“Sir Military Strategist, you have good alcohol tolerance! Very different from the scholars I’ve seen before!” Zhang Rao exclaimed. He had originally come over with some intentions to tease this scholarly looking fellow, and he hadn’t expected that even the General’s Military Strategist was also not some coddled noble from the Capital.
“P mjc’a gfjiis yf mbcrlvfgfv j rmtbijg,” Wljb Jtfcupec rjlv, rwlilcu ojlcais. Lf ibbxfv eq ja Obe Alcu, ktb kjr ja atlr nfgs wbwfca rajglcu ja tlw lcafcais jcv afcvfgis klat atbrf yfjealoei fsfr bo tlr.
Ktf yjcdefa kfca bc ecali wlvcluta, ktfc qfbqif rajgafv abqqilcu jkxkjgvis bcab atf oibbg bo atf afca lc j vgecxfc raeqbg. Wljb Jtfcupec jrrlrafv atf Xfcfgji ab gfaegc ab tlr afca. Ktf ijaafg kjr kfjx lc atf xcffr ogbw tjnlcu abb wemt ab vglcx.
After leaving the central tent, the cool night wind blew away some of Lou Jing’s drunkenness, and he looked up at the sliver of a moon in the night sky. “It’s the fourth lunar month,” he said.
Xiao Chengjun looked up as well. The crescent moon was like a little silver line suspended in the dark sky. “Indeed…” he said. In the blink of an eye, they’d been away from the Capital for a whole month.
“It’s just three more days’ travel from here to Minzhou,” Lou Jing said, draping himself over his husband’s shoulders and letting Xiao Chengjun lead the way step by step. “Stay with me two more days, and I’ll leave with you.”
Xiao Chengjun patted his warm, hairy head. “If you’re stationed here for the long term, I can build a xinggong in the outskirts of my fief,” he said. He didn’t know how long he’d have to be a vassal king in Minzhou for, but thankfully, Lou Jing wasn’t stationed too far away now.
“Sounds good. I’ll build the General Zhennan’s residence right next to your xinggong,” Lou Jing said, grinning at Xiao Chengjun. His eyelids, however, were drooping so much that he looked like he would fall asleep any moment now.
Xiao Chengjun dragged him along for a while. He checked to make sure no one was around, then picked Lou Jing up in a princess-carry. The fellow being carried didn’t resist at all, and in fact snuggled subconsciously into his embrace, nuzzling his neck in an adorable manner. He found a comfortable position and simply fell asleep. Xiao Chengjun couldn’t help laughing softly at this, and he lowered his head to plant a kiss on Lou Jing’s cheek.
Very few of the nobility of the Capital were able to out-drink Lou Jing. This was the first time Xiao Chengjun had ever seen Lou Jing drunk, and he hadn’t thought that his drunken self would be so adorable and obedient. It was rather like having a fierce little cat that usually tried to scratch at your clothes for no rhyme or reason suddenly snuggling meekly and cosily in your arms and allowing you to pat it however you wanted.
The next morning, Lou Jing woke up and found himself fully clothed, albeit only in his underclothes. Min Wang’s arms were around him, and he was sleeping soundly by his side. Lou Jing suddenly felt a great deal of… regret.
He shouldn’t have tried to be a hero yesterday and drunk so much wine! He’d missed a prime opportunity last night to get frisky with Xiao Chengjun, and had just spent the whole night sleeping!
“Urgh…” Lou Jing mumbled unhappily. He gnawed gently at Xiao Chengjun’s lower jaw.
The hapless Xiao Chengjun opened his eyes and stroked Lou Jing’s head. “You’re hungry so early in the morning?” he said.
Lou Jing flipped over and pressed Min Wang down under himself. As he gazed at Xiao Chengjun’s handsome face, which looked particularly alluring in the morning light, he felt his breath catch in his throat, and he used that part of his body that tended to stand up in the mornings to say hi to Xiao Chengjun’s member. “This part of me is hungry!” he said slyly.
“Mm…” Xiao Chengjun moaned a little from Lou Jing’s ministrations, and he quickly tried to stop him. “Stop messing around. Don’t you have to assign the troops today?”
“You haven’t apologised to me with sincerity yet,” Lou Jing said in a discontented manner. Xiao Chengjun had already promised to compensate him last night, but then…
“You fell asleep all on your own, so what was I to do?” Xiao Chengjun said, laughing softly. He pulled Lou Jing off himself and flipped over to continue sleeping.
Lou Jing pursed his lips in dissatisfaction, but he got up to put on his armour. He didn’t forget to pull the covers nicely over Xiao Chengjun before he left the tent to train the soldiers that he’d just assumed command of.
The young miss of the Yang family could not be left in the bandits’ mountain hideout for too long, so after Lou Jing put the men through a few exercises and understood the army’s general capabilities, he picked two thousand infantry and a hundred cavalry to go forth with him to attack the hideout. They left after lunch and headed for Jiuchang County.
“Does your arm still hurt?” Xiao Chengjun asked. Lou Jing was going to ride a horse on his own today, and he still felt worried every time he looked at Lou Jing.
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Lou Jing said, fastening the silver headpiece of his armour on his head. He picked up a long spear and sword, then flipped himself up on the horse easily.
His usual sword had been lost in the rushing rapids of the river. Thankfully, the Army Seal had been tied firmly around his neck and had avoided the same fate. It was also a good thing that his sword hadn’t been any particularly valuable treasure sword. Lou Jing didn’t favour any particular weapon that was used by the army, and they were more or less all the same to him.
Yang Xin was waiting outside the city wall with other Imperial soldiers since the early morning, but he didn’t see any army approach until dusk. He couldn’t help but be anxious; surely they couldn’t fight at night? And if they did, wouldn’t that just be an ineffective attack which would benefit the bandits by giving them a warning of what was to come the next day? What if the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits all fled in the night?
Lou Jing accepted the piece of paper that Yang Xin held out to him and glanced through it quickly. “Can this be believed?” he asked. The drawings on the paper were about the mountain hideout’s defences and layout. Even the kitchens and toilets were marked out on it clearly.
“The leader of the bandits drew it for us previously, and we got the Second Boss to draw it for us again. My subordinates pieced the two together to come up with this,” Yang Xin said. He hesitated for a moment, then took out the two original drawings and gave them to Lou Jing.
Lou Jing looked at the drawings. The defences had changed, but the location of the kitchens, toilets and the grain stores were all the same. “This is enough. Thank you, Lord Yang,” he said.
“General, the sky is getting dark. How are we to attack the mountain bandits now?” the Infantry Captain, Wang Zhi, asked. He looked worriedly at the winding road leading into Jiuqu Mountain, then at the reddening sky in the west. The sun was slowly sinking over the horizon. Making their way up the mountain at night was dangerous – the roads were treacherous and narrow, and there were the hideout’s defences to contend with as well. The cavalry probably couldn’t go up the mountain tonight, so it would just be the infantry.
The corner of Lou Jing’s lips lifted slightly, and he glanced at the Youyun Guards who were standing to one side.
Yun Er had already used a strange method to redraw the map of the bandits’ mountain hideout. At first glance, it just looked like scrawly handwriting and lines, rather like the sort seen on a talisman to ward off evil. He handed this weird-looking map to Yun San and Yun Shiyi, who were the assassins of the group. The latter two looked over it a few times, nodded briefly, then disappeared into the dense forest.
“Surround the mountain, set up camp, and start the cookfires!” Lou Jing said, raising a hand and giving this simple command.
Wang Zhi and Zhang Rao looked at each other in confusion. The lower-ranked officers also looked confounded, but they all heaved a collective sigh of relief that they didn’t have to charge up the mountain at night. They quickly carried out Lou Jing’s orders and surrounded the mountain as he instructed.
Jiuqi Mountain was actually part of a mountain range that stretched out for a good thirty or forty li. The place that the mountain hideout was in was a lone mountain peak surrounded by steep cliffs. It was easy to defend and difficult to attack. There were only two roads leading to and from the mountain hideout. Lou Jing ordered five hundred people to guard the first road, and the rest of the men camped at the southern side of the mountain to guard the second road. All routes to the mountain hideout were thus sealed.
The men went about setting up camp, starting fires and cooking their meals in a leisurely manner, but this only made the mountain bandits in the hideout even more anxious.
“Report! Big Boss, it’s bad, the Imperial soldiers are attacking the mountain!” the patrolling minion said, stumbling over his feet as he ran into the hideout.
“What!” the Jiuqi Mountain Bandit Boss exclaimed in shock. “Old Fourth, quick, bring men to guard the entrance of the mountain!”
Two hours later.
“Report! Big Boss, the Imperial soldiers have set up camp below the mountain!” the patrol minion said urgently, running back into the hideout.
“They’re intending to lay siege?” the Big Boss said, confused. He got some men to go and check out the situation.
Another two hours later.
“Report! Big Boss, they’ve started fires and are cooking their dinner,” the patrol minion said, panting hard from his run back to the hideout.
The mountain bandits were flabbergasted now. Should they guard their hideout? Or should they flee? In the end, the Bandit Boss grit his teeth and decided to stay put. These Imperial soldiers probably didn’t want to attack whilst it was dark out, and they had enough food within the hideout to last them a few months. The mountain was easy to defend and difficult for others to attack, so they could certainly hold out for a few days. When the sun rose again the next day, they’d slowly pack up their valuables and belongings, then find an opportune time to force their way out.
All was quiet in the army camp at night. The only sounds that could be heard were the footsteps of the patrolling soldiers.
“Eh? Infantry Captain, look over there – what’s that?” one of the patrolling soldiers exclaimed.
Wang Zhi was the one on duty. He looked up and saw that there was a big fire near the mountain peak. The loud cries of alarm from the mountain peak could be heard even where the Imperial soldiers were camped, and they immediately went to Lou Jing’s tent.
“Reporting to the General, the mountain hideout has suddenly caught fire,” Wang Zhi said in a clear, carrying voice outside Lou Jing’s tent.
Lou Jing raised his head and yawned. His nose had previously been buried in the curve of Xiao Chengjun’s neck. “Pass my orders. Guard the mountain road exits tightly, and don’t let even a single person escape,” he instructed.
The consumption of alcohol in the army camp was forbidden during wartime. They could only drink to their hearts’ content when the commanding general allowed them to do so. The moment Lou Jing said this, the tension within the audience decreased greatly, and they actually started to look a little excited. Generals who managed to win the hearts of their troops were always those who had a strong sense of right and wrong, and who also knew when to cut their troops some slack.
Lou Jing had instructed Yun Jiu to buy a whole cartload of good wine in Jiuchang City before they went to the army camp. He’d also told Yun Jiu to buy two big baskets of braised meat, and to send the whole lot to the army camp when it was still dark the night before.
Men, especially men in the army, just needed to have a good long swig of alcohol together, and they would be the best of brothers by the end of the night.
“The general is young and very accomplished. This officer has the utmost respect for you,” Zhang Rao said, standing before Lou Jing with his wine bowl cupped in his hands.
Lou Jing smiled, then raised his own wine bowl to clink it against Zhang Rao’s. They both drained the wine in a single gulp.
Everyone saw that their general was quite an easygoing person, so they all got to their feet to try toasting him as well. They all went to clink cups with him in order of their rank.
“Gen-general, I… My name is Li Daniu, and I-I’m a mess cook…” the head of the miscellaneous staff stuttered. He saw that everyone had gone to pay their respects to their new general, and it wasn’t nice for him to sit out, so he had no choice but to go and say something. His simple, honest face turned bright red from nervousness.
Lou Jing listened to him patiently and he smiled as he gulped down the wine. “Food supplies are very important in the army. If you’re an outstanding mess cook, you can be a general too,” he said encouragingly.
“R-really?” Li Daniu asked, smiling foolishly at the amiable General Zhennan.
“Of course it’s for real. We’ll make you the Great General of Toasted Biscuits in a bit!” Zhang Rao laughed, hooking that foolish cow’s neck with the crook of his elbow and dragging him off so that he couldn’t continue embarrassing himself in front of the General.
The wine provided for the men in the army naturally wasn’t some sweet, aromatic peach blossom wine; it was all strong liquor. The men all enjoyed it immensely. Lou Jing sat in the main seat, drinking bowl after bowl. The wine flowed past the corners of his lips and down to the lapels of his robes. The front of his robes was soon wet with liquor.
Xiao Chengjun swirled the winecup in his hand. The wine served in the palace was usually the mild type, and he’d never tried the fiery liquor that these soldiers were drinking. He gave off a cold, unapproachable aura, however, and most of the soldiers didn’t dare to go close to him for fear of giving offence.
“Mr Yuan, come, let’s have a drink!” Zhang Rao said, swaying drunkenly toward Xiao Chengjun. He stood in front of Xiao Chengjun and thrust a bowl at him.
Xiao Chengjun looked at the coarse bowl in front of him, then put down the white jade cup in his hand and accepted the bowl decisively. “My pleasure,” he said.
The coarse bowl was filled with cheap liquor, and it had a cloying taste in the mouth when Xiao Chengjun first tasted it. Then, all of a sudden, a fiery sensation spread from the tip of his tongue to the bottom of his belly. In that fire, there was also a charming freshness. Xiao Chengjun had never drunk this kind of wine before, and he suddenly felt that it was a real pleasure to drink like this.
“Sir Military Strategist, you have good alcohol tolerance! Very different from the scholars I’ve seen before!” Zhang Rao exclaimed. He had originally come over with some intentions to tease this scholarly looking fellow, and he hadn’t expected that even the General’s Military Strategist was also not some coddled noble from the Capital.
“P mjc’a gfjiis yf mbcrlvfgfv j rmtbijg,” Wljb Jtfcupec rjlv, rwlilcu ojlcais. Lf ibbxfv eq ja Obe Alcu, ktb kjr ja atlr nfgs wbwfca rajglcu ja tlw lcafcais jcv afcvfgis klat atbrf yfjealoei fsfr bo tlr.
Ktf yjcdefa kfca bc ecali wlvcluta, ktfc qfbqif rajgafv abqqilcu jkxkjgvis bcab atf oibbg bo atf afca lc j vgecxfc raeqbg. Wljb Jtfcupec jrrlrafv atf Xfcfgji ab gfaegc ab tlr afca. Ktf ijaafg kjr kfjx lc atf xcffr ogbw tjnlcu abb wemt ab vglcx.
After leaving the central tent, the cool night wind blew away some of Lou Jing’s drunkenness, and he looked up at the sliver of a moon in the night sky. “It’s the fourth lunar month,” he said.
Xiao Chengjun looked up as well. The crescent moon was like a little silver line suspended in the dark sky. “Indeed…” he said. In the blink of an eye, they’d been away from the Capital for a whole month.
“It’s just three more days’ travel from here to Minzhou,” Lou Jing said, draping himself over his husband’s shoulders and letting Xiao Chengjun lead the way step by step. “Stay with me two more days, and I’ll leave with you.”
Xiao Chengjun patted his warm, hairy head. “If you’re stationed here for the long term, I can build a xinggong in the outskirts of my fief,” he said. He didn’t know how long he’d have to be a vassal king in Minzhou for, but thankfully, Lou Jing wasn’t stationed too far away now.
“Sounds good. I’ll build the General Zhennan’s residence right next to your xinggong,” Lou Jing said, grinning at Xiao Chengjun. His eyelids, however, were drooping so much that he looked like he would fall asleep any moment now.
Xiao Chengjun dragged him along for a while. He checked to make sure no one was around, then picked Lou Jing up in a princess-carry. The fellow being carried didn’t resist at all, and in fact snuggled subconsciously into his embrace, nuzzling his neck in an adorable manner. He found a comfortable position and simply fell asleep. Xiao Chengjun couldn’t help laughing softly at this, and he lowered his head to plant a kiss on Lou Jing’s cheek.
Very few of the nobility of the Capital were able to out-drink Lou Jing. This was the first time Xiao Chengjun had ever seen Lou Jing drunk, and he hadn’t thought that his drunken self would be so adorable and obedient. It was rather like having a fierce little cat that usually tried to scratch at your clothes for no rhyme or reason suddenly snuggling meekly and cosily in your arms and allowing you to pat it however you wanted.
The next morning, Lou Jing woke up and found himself fully clothed, albeit only in his underclothes. Min Wang’s arms were around him, and he was sleeping soundly by his side. Lou Jing suddenly felt a great deal of… regret.
He shouldn’t have tried to be a hero yesterday and drunk so much wine! He’d missed a prime opportunity last night to get frisky with Xiao Chengjun, and had just spent the whole night sleeping!
“Urgh…” Lou Jing mumbled unhappily. He gnawed gently at Xiao Chengjun’s lower jaw.
The hapless Xiao Chengjun opened his eyes and stroked Lou Jing’s head. “You’re hungry so early in the morning?” he said.
Lou Jing flipped over and pressed Min Wang down under himself. As he gazed at Xiao Chengjun’s handsome face, which looked particularly alluring in the morning light, he felt his breath catch in his throat, and he used that part of his body that tended to stand up in the mornings to say hi to Xiao Chengjun’s member. “This part of me is hungry!” he said slyly.
“Mm…” Xiao Chengjun moaned a little from Lou Jing’s ministrations, and he quickly tried to stop him. “Stop messing around. Don’t you have to assign the troops today?”
“You haven’t apologised to me with sincerity yet,” Lou Jing said in a discontented manner. Xiao Chengjun had already promised to compensate him last night, but then…
“You fell asleep all on your own, so what was I to do?” Xiao Chengjun said, laughing softly. He pulled Lou Jing off himself and flipped over to continue sleeping.
Lou Jing pursed his lips in dissatisfaction, but he got up to put on his armour. He didn’t forget to pull the covers nicely over Xiao Chengjun before he left the tent to train the soldiers that he’d just assumed command of.
The young miss of the Yang family could not be left in the bandits’ mountain hideout for too long, so after Lou Jing put the men through a few exercises and understood the army’s general capabilities, he picked two thousand infantry and a hundred cavalry to go forth with him to attack the hideout. They left after lunch and headed for Jiuchang County.
“Does your arm still hurt?” Xiao Chengjun asked. Lou Jing was going to ride a horse on his own today, and he still felt worried every time he looked at Lou Jing.
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Lou Jing said, fastening the silver headpiece of his armour on his head. He picked up a long spear and sword, then flipped himself up on the horse easily.
His usual sword had been lost in the rushing rapids of the river. Thankfully, the Army Seal had been tied firmly around his neck and had avoided the same fate. It was also a good thing that his sword hadn’t been any particularly valuable treasure sword. Lou Jing didn’t favour any particular weapon that was used by the army, and they were more or less all the same to him.
Yang Xin was waiting outside the city wall with other Imperial soldiers since the early morning, but he didn’t see any army approach until dusk. He couldn’t help but be anxious; surely they couldn’t fight at night? And if they did, wouldn’t that just be an ineffective attack which would benefit the bandits by giving them a warning of what was to come the next day? What if the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits all fled in the night?
Lou Jing accepted the piece of paper that Yang Xin held out to him and glanced through it quickly. “Can this be believed?” he asked. The drawings on the paper were about the mountain hideout’s defences and layout. Even the kitchens and toilets were marked out on it clearly.
“The leader of the bandits drew it for us previously, and we got the Second Boss to draw it for us again. My subordinates pieced the two together to come up with this,” Yang Xin said. He hesitated for a moment, then took out the two original drawings and gave them to Lou Jing.
Lou Jing looked at the drawings. The defences had changed, but the location of the kitchens, toilets and the grain stores were all the same. “This is enough. Thank you, Lord Yang,” he said.
“General, the sky is getting dark. How are we to attack the mountain bandits now?” the Infantry Captain, Wang Zhi, asked. He looked worriedly at the winding road leading into Jiuqu Mountain, then at the reddening sky in the west. The sun was slowly sinking over the horizon. Making their way up the mountain at night was dangerous – the roads were treacherous and narrow, and there were the hideout’s defences to contend with as well. The cavalry probably couldn’t go up the mountain tonight, so it would just be the infantry.
The corner of Lou Jing’s lips lifted slightly, and he glanced at the Youyun Guards who were standing to one side.
Yun Er had already used a strange method to redraw the map of the bandits’ mountain hideout. At first glance, it just looked like scrawly handwriting and lines, rather like the sort seen on a talisman to ward off evil. He handed this weird-looking map to Yun San and Yun Shiyi, who were the assassins of the group. The latter two looked over it a few times, nodded briefly, then disappeared into the dense forest.
“Surround the mountain, set up camp, and start the cookfires!” Lou Jing said, raising a hand and giving this simple command.
Wang Zhi and Zhang Rao looked at each other in confusion. The lower-ranked officers also looked confounded, but they all heaved a collective sigh of relief that they didn’t have to charge up the mountain at night. They quickly carried out Lou Jing’s orders and surrounded the mountain as he instructed.
Jiuqi Mountain was actually part of a mountain range that stretched out for a good thirty or forty li. The place that the mountain hideout was in was a lone mountain peak surrounded by steep cliffs. It was easy to defend and difficult to attack. There were only two roads leading to and from the mountain hideout. Lou Jing ordered five hundred people to guard the first road, and the rest of the men camped at the southern side of the mountain to guard the second road. All routes to the mountain hideout were thus sealed.
The men went about setting up camp, starting fires and cooking their meals in a leisurely manner, but this only made the mountain bandits in the hideout even more anxious.
“Report! Big Boss, it’s bad, the Imperial soldiers are attacking the mountain!” the patrolling minion said, stumbling over his feet as he ran into the hideout.
“What!” the Jiuqi Mountain Bandit Boss exclaimed in shock. “Old Fourth, quick, bring men to guard the entrance of the mountain!”
Two hours later.
“Report! Big Boss, the Imperial soldiers have set up camp below the mountain!” the patrol minion said urgently, running back into the hideout.
“They’re intending to lay siege?” the Big Boss said, confused. He got some men to go and check out the situation.
Another two hours later.
“Report! Big Boss, they’ve started fires and are cooking their dinner,” the patrol minion said, panting hard from his run back to the hideout.
The mountain bandits were flabbergasted now. Should they guard their hideout? Or should they flee? In the end, the Bandit Boss grit his teeth and decided to stay put. These Imperial soldiers probably didn’t want to attack whilst it was dark out, and they had enough food within the hideout to last them a few months. The mountain was easy to defend and difficult for others to attack, so they could certainly hold out for a few days. When the sun rose again the next day, they’d slowly pack up their valuables and belongings, then find an opportune time to force their way out.
All was quiet in the army camp at night. The only sounds that could be heard were the footsteps of the patrolling soldiers.
“Eh? Infantry Captain, look over there – what’s that?” one of the patrolling soldiers exclaimed.
Wang Zhi was the one on duty. He looked up and saw that there was a big fire near the mountain peak. The loud cries of alarm from the mountain peak could be heard even where the Imperial soldiers were camped, and they immediately went to Lou Jing’s tent.
“Reporting to the General, the mountain hideout has suddenly caught fire,” Wang Zhi said in a clear, carrying voice outside Lou Jing’s tent.
Lou Jing raised his head and yawned. His nose had previously been buried in the curve of Xiao Chengjun’s neck. “Pass my orders. Guard the mountain road exits tightly, and don’t let even a single person escape,” he instructed.
