CHAPTER 301: CHAPTER 10: INTO THE CITY!_3

This wasn’t surprising. Any exercise regimen that could be promoted nationally in the future would have its essential movements thoroughly researched and validated by many parties.

In fact, the people who were truly doing the exercises, including Blind Bei, didn’t actually feel any sense of shame.

Everyone did them with a smile on their face.

This feeling was akin to how, in the future, if you went to Lhasa and posted to your social media, "Ah, I feel like my soul has been purified," you would be considered a fool.

But if you took a yacht filled with a gaggle of models to the high seas, did nothing but have a barbecue, clapped your hands, and returned, people would think you had high style; it was the same principle.

In this kind of atmosphere and setting, doing a set of radio calisthenics was actually quite interesting.

Anyway, everyone was out to have fun, and that was the most important thing.

After the exercises, they turned and exchanged a nod with Liang Cheng. The team of six then began their infiltration.

The defenses of Mianzhou City indeed looked formidable. At the same time, due to the escalating friction between Yan and Qian, the Silk Road here had been cut off. This caused the once-active merchant caravans to disappear, making the city seem somewhat deserted.

However, the city wall was wide and massive, and it was nighttime. Unless the wall was densely packed with guards, it was truly difficult to prevent a small group from sneaking close.

Zheng Fan and the others carefully crept to the base of the city wall. Xue Three, with ropes and iron claws strapped to his body, began to SWISH, SWISH, SWISH his way up.

Watching Xue Three’s nimble and swift movements, Zheng Fan felt that Xue Three was truly an indispensable asset for any military campaign or journey.

Once Xue Three reached the top, he watched for a gap in the patrol, quickly secured the iron claws, and then dropped two ropes.

A Ming and Blind Bei each took one.

A Ming relied on his agility, using the rope for leverage to climb. Blind Bei was much more nonchalant; he merely used his hands to lightly grip the rope for balance, then his mental force began to propel him upwards from below. His speed was considerably faster than A Ming’s.

Only after these two had ascended did Zheng Fan, Siniang, and Fanli begin to climb.

Finally, Zheng Fan made it up. He saw the corpses of two Qian soldiers lying on the ground.

With Xue Three and Blind Bei already up top, there were simply too many ways to silently kill two patrolling Qian soldiers.

Everyone had ascended and began moving towards the stairs leading down from the ramparts.

Another tradition at Green Willow Fortress was for Blind Bei to lead the way.

Blind Bei walked in front, periodically informing the group where guards were stationed and where patrols were. If an encounter was unavoidable, he had Xue Three or A Ming eliminate them.

Just like that, everyone smoothly descended from the wall.

Near the city gate, about twenty soldiers were milling about, some leaning, some lying around haphazardly, though none were asleep.

"Prepare to move," Zheng Fan said, drawing his saber.

Fanli thumped his chest, reached out to grab a large flatbed cart beside him, hoisted it horizontally in front of himself, and then began to charge!

They resorted to this method because the area at the bottom of the stairs from the wall was some distance from the city gate, with no cover.

The soldiers at the city gate reacted; some began to shout, while others started nocking arrows to their bows.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

More than ten arrows flew towards them; guards from the watchtower diagonally above had also joined the volleys.

But Fanli blocked all these arrows with the wooden cart he held. Everyone else ran, following closely behind him.

Xue Three was the first to break from their line. Using both hands and feet, he scrambled up the watchtower in an incredibly exaggerated yet swift manner. Soon after, two muffled groans sounded from the watchtower, and arrows ceased to rain down.

Below, as Zheng Fan and the others rushed towards the city gate, Fanli roared and slammed the cart in his hands forward, instantly knocking over four or five Qian soldiers.

Blind Bei spread his hands, unleashing his mental force. The five Qian soldiers to their left all froze on the spot, their movements ceasing.

Siniang flicked her fingers, sending out a stream of embroidery needles. This time, she wasn’t concerned with any artistic flair; the needles mercilessly pierced the hearts of these Qian soldiers.

Fanli swung his axe. No Qian soldier before him could withstand a single blow. Against his axe, blocking meant being crushed to death; failing to block meant being hacked to death.

A Ming, spotting an opening, appeared behind two Qian soldiers. His fingernails lightly caressed the napes of their necks, and the two soldiers immediately crumpled to the ground.

So, when Zheng Fan charged forward with his saber, he found there were no enemies left for him, which was, for a moment, somewhat awkward.

"Open the city gate!" Zheng Fan ordered.

The special operation was highly successful, exceptionally so. Although it inevitably caused a commotion, and Qian soldiers could be seen converging from the surroundings, with Fanli’s roar and everyone working together...

The city gate,

Was pushed open.

Outside,

At that very moment, the thunderous sound of hooves echoed!

「...」

"Brother Meng, Brother Meng," Man Le called out, stopping Meng Geng.

"Mr. Man."

"Brother Meng, you are still too reckless. Why did you have to contradict the Prince so openly?"

"Sigh, it’s just that the Prince has shown me such great kindness. I... I couldn’t bear to deceive him."

"I know very well that Brother Meng is a man of great talent, but please, Brother Meng, try to be a little more flexible. Otherwise, if all this great talent cannot be put to use, wouldn’t it be a loss for our Great Qian?"

"Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Man."

"Brother Meng, you’re being too serious. You don’t need to worry about the Prince; he has an excellent temperament. By the way, I’ve had someone prepare some wine. It’s freezing out. If Brother Meng doesn’t mind, please come with me to a side room for a few cups to warm yourself."

"Thank you, Mr. Man. However, I still need to check on those Wolf Land Soldiers. We’re inside the city, and I’m worried they might cause trouble."

"Oh, yes, that’s also important. Haha, if not for Brother Meng leading the first batch of Wolf Land Soldiers with us, the Prince and I truly wouldn’t have dared to travel north at this time to deliver the imperial edict. Those damn Yan bastards have been causing quite a ruckus lately.

By the way, if I recall correctly, weren’t those Wolf Land Soldiers quartered in the city’s warehouses?"

Due to the previous sacking of the city and the current disruption of trade routes, the warehouses in Mianzhou City were mostly empty.

"Yes, and it was thanks to the Prince putting in a good word. Otherwise, the Prefecture Chief might not have been willing to let these Wolf Land Soldiers into the city."

"The Wolf Land Soldiers are wild and difficult to tame, so it’s understandable that the Prefecture Chief had such concerns. Brother Meng, please don’t take it to heart."

"Mr. Man, you overstate things."

"How about this: I’ll accompany Brother Meng to check on those Wolf Land Soldiers. The officials here in Mianzhou, from top to bottom, have just been replaced. I’m not sure if they can properly manage these five thousand Wolf Land Soldiers."