After an arduous journey of over half a month, Yan Ge and the others finally arrived in the northwest.
Wei Hao turned back to the group and said, “Our destination is not far ahead. Everyone change into your regular clothes and hurry to the city before it gets dark.”
“Yes!”
Yan Ge and the other three intentionally or unintentionally stayed at the back of the group. For some unknown reason, they couldn’t quite integrate into the close-knit special forces team for some reason. They didn’t insist on it either, as long as they could participate in the mission; everything else was secondary.
With a mixture of fast and slow travel, they managed to reach the city before the gates were closed.
Once inside the city, Yan Jin’s group separated from the others and found an inn to stay. They planned to reunite after Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen completed their mission and head to the Xiguan Pass together.
The special forces team stayed in a different inn.
Wei Hao had booked the entire inn and said solemnly, “From now on, no one is allowed to go out alone. Stay in pairs and keep an eye on each other.”
To maintain secrecy, Yan Ge didn’t ask Huangfu Yuchen about the details of their mission. However, upon hearing Wei Hao’s instructions, he immediately understood that this mission must be of great importance.
“Meng Gang and Zhang Qiao will team up; Huang Hui and Jason will be a team…”
Yan Ge’s team was split into different groups.
Wei Hao continued, “I’ve instructed the innkeeper to prepare meals. Rest in your rooms for a while and gather here for dinner later.”
“Yes!”
After leaving Wei Hao’s room, Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen exchanged glances and entered their respective rooms. This was the first time they had to sleep separately on a mission, and it felt a bit strange, but they quickly found it amusing. After all, it was just one night apart, right?
“You and that brother don’t seem like typical special forces soldiers,” Zhou Zheng who was lying on the opposite bed with his eyes closed suddenly spoke.
Yan Ge remained composed. “We made Brother Zhou laugh. We haven’t been in the military for long.”
“I see,” Zhou Zheng commented noncommittally, then added, “This mission is very dangerous. I hope you won’t hinder us when the time comes.”
Yan Ge didn’t mind his words. The four of them hadn’t trained together with the others, so it was understandable that they hadn’t seen their capabilities and were worried about that.
“Your observation and judgment skills still need improvement.”
“What do you mean?” Zhou Zheng abruptly opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling and waiting for his response.
Yan Ge said, “It’s just a casual remark, Brother Zhou. Don’t take them to heart.”
Then, a muffled and intermittent knocking sound came from the wall. Yan Ge couldn’t help but smile and knocked back a few times.
The knocking sound from the next room repeated.
Yan Ge chuckled and responded again.
Zhou Zheng looked at him suspiciously. “Are you communicating with them?”
“Yes, different knocking patterns represent different meanings,” Yan Ge explained briefly then stood up. “Let’s go. It’s time for dinner.”
They both walked out of the room, and as expected, others from different rooms also emerged, getting ready to gather in Wei Hao’s room.
Huangfu Yuchen stood at the doorway of the adjacent room, smiling at Yan Ge.
Zhou Zheng immediately understood that they were “communicating” earlier.
Meng Gang teased Yan Ge and Zhou Zheng, “I was about to call you both, and here you are. Could it be that you smelled the aroma of the food?”
“Yes. After traveling for more than ten days, we can finally sit down and have a proper meal. Of course, we want to hurry,” Yan Ge replied with a smile.
Zhou Zheng glanced at Yan Ge without saying anything.
Everyone entered Wei Hao’s room. Wei Hao asked Meng Gang to close the doors and windows and then said, “Perhaps you all know that the border between Great Han and the Mai Kingdom is very long, and not every border area has stationed troops. The garrisons guard the vulnerable border areas, while the relatively difficult-to-attack areas have no military presence. Dujiaping city is one such place. It borders the Mai Kingdom’s Zhuomudian City to the west. Recently, a group of one hundred cavalry bandits suddenly appeared in the Mai Kingdom. They frequently cross the border, causing trouble in our border towns, committing murders, arson, and robberies. They always succeed and then disappear before our official troops arrive. General Cao at Xig Pass has confronted the Mai Kingdom garrison about this, but they gave excuses, claiming that these bandits also rob their villages and that they are helpless. It’s truly infuriating!”
Upon hearing this, everyone was filled with indignation and anger.
Meng Gang had with a fiery temper and stood up abruptly, his voice full of rage. “Since they can’t control their own people, we’ll do it for them!”
“That’s right!” The other special forces members echoed in agreement.
Wei Hao nodded, speaking in a cold tone, “Our mission this time is to eliminate this cavalry unit, and we must do it covertly, making the Mai Kingdom uncertain if it was the work of Great Han.”
“Zhuomudian is like the heartland of Mai Kingdom’s border regions. By annihilating these bandits in Zhuomudian, it’s like stabbing them in the heart, severely crippling and intimidating them!”
Huang Huike said objectively, “They have a hundred men, and we have only twenty-four. We must have a suitable plan. If we confront them head-on, it’s probably going to be difficult to retreat safely.”
Wei Hao looked around at everyone. “It all depends on our strength. We are all elite soldiers selected from the special forces, and I want to see how strong we really are. I also want to hand in a satisfactory answer to our superiors. What about all of you?”
Everyone’s morale soared as they replied in unison, “We’re the same!”
Wei Hao said, “If we delay for one more day, the nearby civilians will suffer for another day. Let’s all rest well tonight and assemble precisely at the hour of Yin tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
Wei Hao added, “Let’s eat.”
Everyone picked up their bowls and started eating. Soldiers ate quickly, as if it were a competition.
Yan Ge and the other three stood out even more among the group. They exchanged glances and hurriedly picked up their eating pace.
Wei Hao frowned slightly. These four didn’t look like soldiers at all, especially Qin Xiaosha and Yu Xiaoyao. They had the demeanor of noble young masters from prestigious families.
After everyone finished eating, Wei Hao said, “Go back and rest early.”
Yan Ge and the others left the room, and their temporary roommates followed them. The rest of the group dawdled.
Once Yan Ge’s group had left, Jiasen said, “Captain, who are these four exactly? This mission is extremely dangerous, and if they end up causing trouble…”
Zhang Qiao dismissed his concern, “Since they came, they should know the mission’s dangers. I don’t think we need to worry.”
Wei Hao pondered for a moment, “In that case, tonight…”
Once back in his room, Yan Ge freshened up and climbed into bed. The summer nights in the northwest were peculiar—scorching during the day but pleasantly cool at night, making it comfortable to lie in bed without feeling stifled by the heat.
It didn’t take long after Zhou Zheng lay down that he began snoring.
Yan Ge, who was used to sleeping with Huangfu Yuchen nearby—able to rest his head on him, press him down, or hold him in his arms—had a hard time falling asleep. He stared blankly for a while and tried to lull himself to sleep by counting, “One Yuchen, two Yuchen, three Yuchen, four Yuchen…”
After counting for a while, he dozed off in a daze. However, he was awakened by a slight clicking sound outside. He opened his eyes and, with the faint moonlight, vaguely saw someone gently opening the window. A hidden weapon whizzed in and shot towards his bed.
Yan Ge quickly grabbed the canopy and wrapped the hidden weapon in it. Zhou Zheng continued to sleep soundly, unaware of the situation. Yan Ge raised an eyebrow, and a figure in white dashed out of the window like a streak of light.
Under the moonlight, a dark figure was fleeing rapidly into the distance.
Yan Ge leaped onto the rooftop. He took three or four steps before landing in front of the fleeing figure, blocking their path.
The figure was dressed in dark night clothes, with a black face mask concealing their features. In their right hand, they held a knife, glinting in the moonlight. They narrowed their eyes, then swung the knife towards Yan Ge.
The two started fighting on the deserted street.
After approximately a hundred moves, Yan Ge lifted his right foot and kicked the knife out of the figure’s hand.
The figure was startled and immediately turned to flee.
Yan Ge didn’t chase after them, letting out a yawn before effortlessly jumping back into the room through the window, lying down, and falling back to sleep.
In the darkness, Zhou Zheng opened his eyes, closed them again after a while, and went back to sleep.
At the third hour of the tiger (around 3 a.m.), it was still pitch black outside. The twenty-four people gathered in Wei Hao’s room, their eyes shifting from Yan Ge, Huangfu Yuchen, Gao Feng, to Gao Yun’s faces. Last night, Wei Hao arranged for four people to test these four individuals. Although they looked nothing like soldiers, their martial arts skills were impressive, and the likelihood of them being a burden was extremely low, which put Wei Hao at ease. From the fact that Yan Ge and the others didn’t harm those who were testing them, Wei Hao deduced that they had realized it was his attempt and they all tacitly chose not to say more about it.
Wei Hao turned and walked to the door, gesturing for them to follow.
He led them to the end of the first floor and pushed open a door, illuminating the room with a flint. Inside the room were twenty-four camouflage-colored equipment bags, each containing various portable weapons, rations, water bags, and more. Most of it had been prepared in advance by another team.
“Take your gear and get ready to move out.”
The twenty-four people left the inn and silently and swiftly moved towards a distant location in the night.
After about an hour of marching forward, they entered a dense forest, and Wei Hao stopped.
“We are now inside the territory of the Mai Kingdom. About four or five kilometers to the west, there’s a small gorge about half a kilometer long. It’s the only passage for the bandits to cross the border. The gorge is flanked by thick woods and intertwining vines, making it an excellent spot for us to conceal ourselves.”
“Captain, how did you know about this?” Huang Hui asked.
Wei Hao replied succinctly, “Another team scouted the route in advance to save us time. The shorter the time we spend in Dujiaping, the less likely it is for the Mai Kingdom to suspect us.”
“Understood.”
“Now, let’s have breakfast first and then continue forward,” Wei Hao said.
Eating breakfast in the gorge might leave food crumbs and arouse suspicion from the bandits. Everyone understood this logic and silently had their breakfast.
Inside the dense forest, it was stuffy and hot. Wei Hao wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, “Let’s keep going.”
When they arrived at the small gorge, the first light of dawn appeared on the horizon.
After positioning everyone for the ambush, Wei Hao walked back and forth in the gorge to ensure there were no suspicious traces before stealthily hiding in the lush grass.
Yan Ge lay on the ground, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. An ant slowly crawled towards him, seemingly intending to climb onto his head. He exhaled a breath and blew it far away.
Huangfu Yuchen was lying not far away, and a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes.
“Yuchen, does this bandit cavalry raid our territory every day? What if they don’t show up today?” Yan Ge transmitted his voice to Huangfu Yuchen.
Huangfu Yuchen replied, “I sent a secret message with a deadly ultimatum. The longer this drags on, the more unfavorable it becomes. If they don’t show up today, Wei Hao will most likely decide to infiltrate the city of Zhuomudian.”
Yan Ge asked, “Let’s hope they do show up. This is a perfect ambush spot. It would be great to catch them all at once.”
Huangfu Yuchen said, “Mai kingdom’s staple foods are noodles and meat. They like our rice, but their kingdom is not suitable for rice cultivation, and they don’t want to spend money to buy it. So, they can only resort to stealing. They should show up.”
