Chapter 90: Black Mountain Ridge Was Him

The child looked pleased with himself and lifted his face to the moonlight. “By the way, Brother Ziyun, when I go tomorrow to scout out the truth, find me one or two hundred sets of Liao soldiers’ uniforms.”

“What are you planning to do, Junhan?”

A sly glint flashed in Chu Junhan’s eyes. “Use the same trick again!”

“Huh?” Tang Chen looked utterly baffled. Though he had grown up in the army since childhood, followed generals through countless battles, and could be counted both learned and martial, he simply could not keep up with the little schemer’s meaning.

Chu Junhan pursed his lips. “Oh, honestly—it means deceiving someone one more time. Brother Ziyun, do you still remember what happened at the bandits’ stronghold?”

Tang Chen’s eyes shifted, and he answered softly, “I remember. Ah—I see now. Junhan wants the iron cavalry to disguise themselves as Liao soldiers and chase you down, so that by making use of Fang Meng’s hatred for the Liao, he’ll lower his guard.”

Chu Junhan curled his lip and said with feigned annoyance, “Is that how I would use it? That’s clearly my third brother’s trick. I wouldn’t use that. I want you to raid the hiding place with only a few trusted men. Then I’ll burst in and save him…”

Tang Chen’s face flushed red, and he said awkwardly, “Understood!”

“Then hurry and make the preparations. I’m going to scout things out. We meet at Black Ridge tomorrow at noon.”

“Right.” Ever since Tang Chen had fallen in with Chu Junhan, he had unknowingly begun to follow the child’s lead in everything.

At noon the next day, a force of three hundred men crept toward Black Ridge, with another seven hundred of the Chu family’s iron cavalry close behind.

No matter what, Fang Meng would never have believed that Liao troops could appear from the direction of Pingkou Pass, so he had placed no defenses in the surrounding hills. Thus the two forces arrived before the mountain stronghold without the slightest obstruction.

The stronghold lay beneath a massive boulder. The rock resembled a giant hand, gripping the stockade firmly in its palm and leaving only a single opening to the outside.

By all reason, a fortress built on such terrain should have been easy to defend and hard to assault.

Unfortunately for Fang Meng, the enemy he faced was precisely the sort that never acted by reason.

Chu Junhan raised a hand in a signal to halt, and the two detachments immediately spread out. Each man held coiled siege ropes, and one after another they began climbing the great rock.

The child was nimble and swift, his steps light, and he reached the top first. Close behind came a young man.

The young man crawled to the child’s side and looked down at the stronghold below. Lowering his voice, he said, “Smoke is rising from below. They’re likely cooking. When do we strike?”

The little one frowned, and a grave look appeared on the tender face. “No hurry. Let’s observe a little first…”

Before the words had fully left his mouth, an “Ow!” rang out, and loose stone skidded down from the boulder. Both their hearts tightened, and they turned at once toward the source of the sound.

Where one soldier stood was a small pit, and one of his feet had sunk into it, trapping him in a miserable dilemma.

“This is bad—Fang Meng planted a few traps here.” Tang Chen let out a tense whisper and signaled to the soldiers below the boulder to stop climbing. The soldier caught in the trap was well trained; in an instant he flattened himself over it.

But all was already too late. The people inside the stronghold had long since noticed the disturbance. Spear in hand, they came out one after another and looked up toward the boulder.

There were four or five men below the stockade, every one of them wary. Among them was a delicate-looking youth who lifted his head and glanced toward the trap. “May I ask who has come?”

When the youth raised his face, Tang Chen’s eyelids twitched, and he muttered involuntarily, “It’s him!”

“You know him, Brother Ziyun?” Chu Junhan asked, puzzled.

Tang Chen gave a soft reply, climbed up from the ground, and shouted down, “Elder Brother, I trust you have been well!”

“Brother Chen?” Surprise spread across the refined youth’s face, his lips parting slightly.

Chu Junhan also pushed himself up and stared.

Hm?

What sort of scene from a storybook was this?