Chapter 152: Another Raid on the Nangong Estate

"Oh?" Qingyun purposefully blinked at him, lowering his voice. "Yet I saw it clearly. That little thief you mentioned was actually commanding the scattered soldiers and stray fighters of the Central Palace all along! If it weren't for her, the Central Palace soldiers might not even have kept their corpses intact. Commander, did you perhaps see a ghost?"

The commander was startled, sitting blankly on the stool for a long time with his eyebrows tightly knitted. "How could that be? It was clearly that little thief..." Recalling the scene at the time, he muttered to himself, "At the beginning, it was indeed her I saw. Later on, that figure seemed much sturdier. Could it be that I pursued too eagerly, my eyes played tricks on me, and I mistook someone else for her?"

Qingyun smiled amusedly as he eyed him. "Let's see if this explanation works for you: that later figure was a diversion she created, with the purpose of luring a brave and resourceful warrior like you away from the Southern Palace camp so she could take advantage of the chaos and escape."

"That's right!" The commander struck his left palm forcefully with his right fist, suddenly enlightened. "It seems that must be the case! How cunning, that little thief! As cunning as before—no, even more so!"

"Indeed." A trace of appreciative a smile curved the corners of Qingyun's lips, his voice laced with amusement. "Knowing how to utilize the weather and terrain, knowing how to inspire soldiers to fight to the death and find a way to survive, and even knowing how to set up alternating formations—she learns really fast."

The commander looked at him glumly. "We lost. How is it that you seem so happy instead?"

Qingyun smiled slightly. "This is enough to prove that my judgment of people is still quite good."

The commander curled his lip and ignored him.

Returning to the Central Palace camp, Kaiming's first order of business was to gather all the soldiers and hold a meeting deep into the night. Commander Yu, knowing his crime was unforgivable, voluntarily took full responsibility. Kaiming punished him with twenty military floggings as a warning to others. After this battle, not only did the most stubborn Commander Yu become completely convinced, but the other commanders no longer dared to harbor any contempt.

After washing her face and hands and changing her clothes, she managed to catch a quick nap before dawn broke. This battle had lasted for the better part of the night. The next day, the Central Palace did not form battle arrays to face the enemy; instead, the group huddled in the camp all day discussing countermeasures.

After partaking in the midday meal, Kaiming and Xuan quietly slipped out of the camp with the Three-Member Party to closely observe the surroundings of the Southern Camp once more.

Kaiming stared unblinkingly at the heavily guarded stockade and sighed, "It seems that attacking from the front is an utterly impossible mission."

Xuan's gaze fell upon the hill right behind the stockade, and he said thoughtfully, "In that case, we can only strike from the rear."

"The rear?" Kaiming followed his gaze, a look of surprise on her face. "The mountain?"

"General! General, look!" The Three-Member Party suddenly cried out in astonishment, pointing frantically into the distance. Attracted by their tone, Kaiming and Xuan involuntarily looked in the direction they pointed. At one glance, astonishment deepened on both faces. On that seemingly uninhabited mountaintop, a few black dots were now faintly visible. At first, they thought it was just optical illusions, but upon closer inspection, the distance between the black dots narrowed as they inched bit by bit toward the foot of the mountain on the other side.

The few of them crept stealthily closer to the stockade, fixing their eyes on the moving black dots. Possessing limbs and wearing headscarves, they turned out to be people. Judging by their attire, they were commoners living in these parts.

Kaiming and Xuan quickly exchanged a glance and moved tacitly toward the side of the camp, until a protruding rock blocked the Southern Palace stockade from view as much as possible.

Waiting for those commoners to slide down from above, the moment their toes touched the ground, Chunhua and the others immediately leaped forward, covered the few people's mouths and noses, and dragged them to a secluded spot.

Those who came down were three dark-skinned, robust young men. They never expected such a mishap at the foot of the mountain. Once they understood the situation, they could only open their wide eyes in terror and stare at them.

Kaiming comforted them, saying, "Don't be afraid. We are not bad people. We just have something we'd like to ask you all. Because we don't want to alert the people of the Southern Palace, would you please cooperate and not shout?"

The three men looked at her in fright and nodded repeatedly. Only then did Kaiming signal the Three-Member Party to release them.

One of the three men was bolder; steadying his nerves, he said, "Please ask whatever you wish, My Lord!"

Kaiming smiled slightly. "Which palace do you three belong to, and why are you coming down from such a remote mountain?"

The man replied, "My Lord, the three of us are border drifters belonging to no palace, living always in the wilderness. Recently, because the Southern Palace and Central Palace have been fighting fiercely, the roads down the mountain were all sealed off, so we had no choice but to climb across vines via a shortcut, intending to go down the mountain to trade for some grain and rice."

With that, he even showed them the bamboo baskets and creels they were carrying, which were filled with wild fruits and medicinal herbs gathered by mountain dwellers.

"Drifters?" Kaiming did not understand the term and turned her gaze to Xuan.

Xuan explained, "There are often commoners at the borders of the two palaces—either hermits dissatisfied with the government or ordinary people who have committed offenses—who hide in the mountains to live in seclusion. These people are not subject to the jurisdiction of either palace, and the Palace Lords simply let them be, referring to them as drifters."

Kaiming nodded. Thinking of the shortcut the man mentioned, her mind stirred slightly, and she asked, "You said there is a shortcut down the mountain from the peak? What kind of shortcut is it?"

The man replied, "Because few people walk on the mountain, the weeds grow wildly and thickly. Those wild vines and roots have grown over the years, forming natural climbing ropes. We climbed down using these vine roots. Although it is strenuous, it is very covert."

"Very covert?" Kaiming's eyes flashed as she pondered, "Do these vine roots grow all the way to the foot of the mountain? There should be some along the side of the mountain near the Southern Palace encampment too, right?"

The man quickly answered, "Yes, they grow down on all four sides, so naturally there are some over there as well."

Hearing this, Kaiming narrowed her eyes into slits, bared her white teeth, and chuckled twice. Xuan naturally knew what she was thinking and could not help slightly raising the corners of his lips.

After letting the three men go, Xuan turned his gaze to her and smiled, "Do you have a countermeasure?"

Kaiming rubbed her chin and said, "I've thought of one, but it's a bit risky."

Xuan smiled faintly, "Want to slide down the mountain like the drifters?"

Kaiming looked at the thick vines and roots at the foot of the mountain, stepped forward, and gave them a hard tug. Some dirt and gravel rolled down the mountainside, but the grass roots didn't budge an inch. She patted her hands in satisfaction and said, "Mm, very sturdy."

Chunhua and the others watched this with dumbfounded expressions and stammered, "General, are you planning to climb to the top of the mountain and then enter the Southern Palace encampment from the peak?"

Kaiming let out an affirmative response. "Precisely." Her gaze shifted as she blinked at them and smiled, "And it won't be just me going; it'll be all of us."

"All of us? Are you out of your mind?!" Chunhua's eyes immediately widened. "Such a dangerous thing—no way, no way! In the event that we're discovered by the soldiers below, we'll be shot full of arrows."

"Rest assured!" She heroically patted Chunhua's shoulder and guaranteed while pounding her chest, "Just follow me and put your mind at ease. Not only will there be no danger, but this time is also a fine opportunity for you all to establish merits and achieve greatness."

Chunhua arched her eyebrows high and eyed her distrustfully.

Kaiming put her arm around Chunhua's shoulder and lowered her voice to a chuckle, "Think about it. This time we won't have to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy; we'll just be rock climbing and doing some exercise. As long as we keep our hands and feet light, our mission will be successfully accomplished."

Chunhua frowned and said, "Do you take me for a fool? Slipping into the Southern Palace encampment with just the few of us—isn't that asking for a death sentence?"

Kaiming smiled. "On the ground, there will naturally be Xuan and those commanders to cover for you. Just rest assured. If you don't believe me, surely you trust your Brother Xuan?"

Hearing this, Chunhua cast a self-conscious glance at Xuan. Seeing him smiling, her heart fluttered involuntarily, a cute blush bloomed on her face, and her speech became uncoordinated: "Kaiming, you have zero credibility, but Brother Xuan... Brother Xuan... wait, let us confer for a moment."

She turned around and hugged the Two-Member Party, whispering together for a while. When she turned her face back, she was all smiles. "Kaiming, we'll go with what you said. We can take the risk, but after the deed is done, you must grant the three of us official posts."

"Rest assured, rest assured!" Kaiming slapped her shoulder vigorously, laughing heartily.

Everything was arranged properly that night. Kaiming and the Three-Member Party quietly sneaked toward the back of the mountain and scrambled up the mountain ridge with hands and feet. Halfway up the mountain, they found the shortcut mentioned by the drifters. The four of them put on their black face-covering cloths and clambered onto the vines.

Traversing downward along the vines, although the progress was arduous, it went smoothly—at least without arousing the attention of the soldiers at the foot of the mountain.

However, when they were only a few meters away from the ground, Xiacao missed her footing, and a few small stones rolled to the ground, making a faint sound. If one didn't listen closely, such a faint noise naturally wouldn't be heard. As it happened, a Southern Palace patrol squad was passing right underneath; hearing the disturbance, they immediately stopped in their tracks.

Seeing the torches flickering below, Kaiming pressed herself nervously against the rock face and lowered her voice to instruct the Three-Member Party, "Don't move a muscle! From this height, they can't see us!"

Just as she finished speaking, the Southern Palace soldiers had already raised their heads to gaze upward. The torches swayed back and forth below, as if they were unsure of what was going on above.

They heard them whispering down below: "Did you seem to hear a noise?"

"Who would be on such a steep mountain? You must have heard wrong!"

"Maybe it was a wild animal."

"I'm still uneasy. Should we report this to the General?"

Kaiming broke out in a cold sweat of fear. They wouldn't be exposed this quickly, would they?!

Just as she was growing anxious, she suddenly heard gongs beating ahead, accompanied by loud shouts: "The enemy is raiding the camp!"

The enemy is raiding the camp? Kaiming breathed a sigh of relief. It must have been Xuan, who had been observing them and noticed the precarious situation, acting ahead of schedule. The disorderly footsteps of soldiers sprinted away; she could only see the torches lit below scattering in all directions and converging toward the stockade ahead.

Kaiming immediately gestured for the Three-Member Party to move. The four of them gracefully leaped down. In the chaotic and noisy stockade, the rear was currently empty, making it just the right time to blend in amidst the confusion.

Figures of soldiers flashed by continuously. The four of them easily intercepted a few soldiers, knocked them unconscious, stripped them of their clothes, and swaggered through the encampment. They had not gone far when they heard a few snatches of conversation drifting over from the chaotic front: "The commanders have all gone to the front of the stockade. Where is the military strategist?"

Another person replied, "The strategist said he was rather exhausted last night and won't go today. Just have the commanders inspect the situation and report back to him."

"Oh, right." The speakers finished and went their separate ways.