It was close to midday. Lin Xi and the others stood on a certain hilltop in "Wulasha" Mountain Region, borrowing the dense forest branches and leaves to hide their bodies, quietly waiting.
"Wulasha", in Xiyi"s native language, meant treasure bowl. It was formed from many hills and meadows. When one looked down from above, this region really was like a large treasure bowl, the hills of different sizes like ingots, the fertile gra.s.slands like green gemstones.
This region was behind Heaven"s Lens Lake, originally occupied by Xiyi Fifteen Divisions" Earthwalk Clan.
The front and back of Heaven"s Lens Lake were terms Yunqin Empire were used to using later on. It was because the west side of Heaven"s Lens Lake faced Yunqin"s front lines, Sanskrit Pa.s.sage where Yunqin and Tangcang bordered each other. That was why Yuqin was used to calling this side front. Meanwhile, the side that was closer to Yunqin"s original territory was called the back.
There were large areas of fertile land where water plants flourished, so Earthwalk Clan only needed to rely on simple free-range raising to produce astonis.h.i.+ng amounts of horses and thick fur elks. The former brought Earthwalk Clan Xiyi Fifteen Division"s most powerful cavalry troops, while the latter provided Earthwalk Clan with a great fur trading business with Yunqin, so they didn"t need to worry about food or military funds.
But it was also precisely because of those rich merchants" wealth and luxurious lifestyles that were completely different from their nomadic tribes that Earthwalk Clan"s eyes became red from jealousy and greed. As such, Earthwalk Clan who was extremely reliant on the border trade instead secretly suggested and organized the past"s western invasion. As a result, Princ.i.p.al Zhang took the heads of all Xiyi Fifteen Divisions" leaders in a single night. After Yunqin"s troops retaliated, because Earthwalk Clan was closest to Yunqin"s borders back then, they were the first to lose their territory. After that day, this treasure bowl was thus under the jurisdiction of Yunqin"s Jadefall East Outskirts Army.
Right now, when one looked down from the hill Lin Xi was currently standing on, it was precisely the scenery of "Within Chile Plains, under the mountains" shadows, cattle and sheep graze among pleasant winds.""
Within the gra.s.s that grew up to one"s waist, winds blew, large groups of cattle and sheep faintly discernible.
Only, Lin Xi"s attention wasn"t focused on this scenery that wasn"t too often seen in his previous word.
In his line of sight, an expansive horse path winded about between the hills and meadow. At the end of this path, located at the top of a hill, was an army camp region.
The sides of this mound were precipitous cliffs, only one side was a forty-five degree incline. The horse path followed this incline towards a large army camp gate with copper rivets. Fences with sharp tips, as well as tall watchtowers and archery towers formed the defensive perimeter of this camp.
This was a very standard easily guarded, difficult to attack military camp.
The long and precipitous slope made it so that it was difficult for heavy equipment to effectively enter killing range. Even if it was a heavy armored army, they would exhaust a large portion of their stamina for nothing on the slope. Meanwhile, the large scale military equipment in the camp could display terrifying destructive power.
Moreover, Yunqin would normally station large amounts of light cavalry in army camps with this type of choke point. If battles happened anywhere else, the troops here could quickly rush over to provide support.
If there really was a great army that insisted on breaking through, the best way to deal with this type of choke point was either a war of attrition, to just trap the camp within to death, or to directly avoid it, wait until the troops here made a move before wiping them out.
However, Lin Xi"s mission today wasn"t to avoid or overcome this camp, but rather to a.s.sume control over this camp.
The difficulty of this was undoubtedly much greater.
…
Jadefall East Outskirts Army"s Rear Heaven"s Lens Army.
Light cavalry seven hundred men.
Infantry five hundred.
Heavy cavalry one hundred.
Sickle spear one hundred.
Heavy armored soldiers unclear.
…
When Jiang Xiaoyi behind Lin Xi repeated this camp"s information in his head for a third time, a bird cry sounded from behind them. Then, Bian Linghan dressed in black skintight clothes gracefully and silently appeared from the woods, making a hand gesture towards Lin Xi.
“All of you need to be careful.”
Lin Xi said this to Gao Yanan, Jiang Xiaoyi and the others, and then didn"t say anything else, following Bian Linghan into the dense mountain forest.
A dismal bugle horn noise sounded.
The sentries in Rear Heaven"s Lens Camp"s watchtowers quickly noticed traces of a group of people in the meadow. The great speed at which they broke through the barracks, as well as how the hidden sentries didn"t release any warning, made all of these horn blowing guards" minds turn slightly cold. This large group of cultivators clearly didn"t come to Jadefall City for sightseeing.
When these uninvited guests" feet stepped on the slope leading into the camp, a fully armed army had already gathered behind the camp"s entrance.
The first warning was quickly released with a strict shout. However, the twenty or so uninvited guests instead didn"t seem to have heard the warning filled with austere coldness, only continuing to quietly and quickly advance. When the third warning was released, the two hundred archers who had gathered in the back of the camp all drew their bowstrings. Only when they were about to fire their arrows neatly into the sky under the orders of a military officer, did the twenty or so uninvited guests suddenly come to a stop.
The calm faced Bai Yulou was at the very front. He slowly said, “I come on the emperor"s imperial edict, here to remove Rear Heaven"s Lens Army Commander from his position.”
Bai Yulou"s voice was extremely calm, but it was also extremely clear. Even from several hundred steps away, his voice still entered the ears of every single person behind the camp entrance.
He didn"t even explain his own ident.i.ty, only saying this, and then reached out a hand.
Unfolded in his left hand was a bright yellow imperial edict dispatch doc.u.ment, in his right hand a Martial Sector military command.
Jadefall Border Army"s regular army, especially after so many years under Great General Wenren"s strict control, didn"t have a single individual whose will was not firm like iron. Even when facing an enemy several times their own size, before a military order was given, they would still stand tall like an iron wall, not displaying any irregular movements. However, following Bai Yulou"s words, the entire camp couldn"t help but erupt into uproar.
Ordinary soldiers only knew that they had to be loyal to Great General Wenren, to be loyal to the emperor, they didn"t know what was happening outside at all. In their hearts, being loyal to Great General Wenren was the same as being loyal to the emperor, this wasn"t something that clashed at all.
It was because being loyal to the empire and to the emperor was something present in most brave Yunqin people"s blood from birth. Even Wenren Cangyue, after governing this part of Yunqin for so many years, commanding most of Jadefall City"s troops, naturally wouldn"t outrightly say that he wasn"t loyal to Yunqin Empire.
Right now, these ordinary soldiers only felt shock and confusion.
Why did this type of troop suddenly appear with the emperor"s imperial command, abruptly stripping them of their highest ranking officer?
Within the austere troops gathered at the back of the camp, the one at the lead was a young high ranking military officer who wore a red metal helmet and silver armor.
Under the commotion, this young military officer whose helmet was red like blood didn"t hesitate at all, his expression quickly becoming even more cold. He immediately shouted coldly, “What are you all panicking for? It is merely a fake enemy confusing tactic!”
The moment his cold shout sounded, Bai Yulou instead didn"t say anything.
Behind him, that fifty something year old, meager accountant-like individual walked in front of him, approaching them step by step.
This meager accountant was the only one who wasn"t a cultivator among their group. Even though everyone took turns supporting him along the way, so he didn"t need to walk, the continuous journey these days made his complexion extremely wan and sallow. Right now, walking on such a steep cliff was clearly extremely difficult.
“Do not doubt the emperor"s command!”
“I believe there are those among you who recognize who I am, able to recognize my voice!”
As he climbed up the slope step by step with great difficulty, this fifty something year old meager accountant did his best to raise his head, using all of his strength to speak these words.
Because he wasn"t a cultivator, these two sentences that used up almost his entire body"s strength seemed a bit empty and powerless, even a bit hard to make out.
However, his voice made the entire army behind the main entrance erupt into an even greater commotion.
“It"s Sir Iris!”
“It really is Sir Lin Zhuhe!”
…
While this uproar that couldn"t be immediately suppressed sounded, Lin Xi, Bian Linghan and An Keyi silently climbed onto a cliff to the side.
Even though right now, shocking changes were happening right now in front of the camp, the sentries on the watchtowers still displayed the qualities of elite soldiers, still quickly noticing these three"s traces.
Two sentries immediately subconsciously raised the horns in their hands, wis.h.i.+ng to sound another alarm. However, An Keyi, Bian Linghan and Lin Xi"s reactions were faster than them.
The instant they noticed the three individuals who were climbing up, their eyes just flickering with worry, Bian Linghan"s body already leaned backwards, while An Keyi already reached out her hand to grab her collar. Bian Linghan"s entire figure was seized within An Keyi"s hand, flying into the air. Meanwhile, in that instant, she already steadily drew her silver longbow, releasing an arrow towards the watchtower above.
This silver arrow actually didn"t release much air tearing sounds, nor did it hit any of the sentries. It only released a light duo sound, nailing itself into an archery tower"s wooden crossbeam. Then, a wave of faint medicinal mist spread, those sentries thus becoming petrified, not moving at all anymore.
When Bian Linghan fired this arrow, Lin Xi instead suddenly accelerated. With a completely unrestrained stance, his hands clasped two black daggers, quickly separately inserting them into the gaps between the mountain stone. In just a dozen or so breaths, he already reached the top of this archery tower.
He didn"t touch any of the sentries that were standing rigidly, instead silently squatting down, starting to coldly examine this camp from the gaps in the wood material.
At this time, that young military officer who wore a blood red helmet no longer spoke any other words, only coldly raising his hand, giving the order to directly fire.
“Do not fire the arrows!” However, right at this time, several officers released sudden shouts at the same time!
1. A part from "Song of Chi Le", written by someone from northern dynasty
2. I will refer to him as Sir Iris instead of Sir Lin to avoid confusion with Lin Xi. The Lin here is different from Lin Xi"s Lin. Lin Xi"s Lin is the Lin for forest