Chapter 66: Night Assault

At eight in the evening, the assembly began, and by nearly nine, the soldiers, officers, and players had gathered in full beneath Tiger Head Mountain.

Torches were lit, and the formation stood solemn and still.

The nonplayer officer Zhang Feng led forty-six fully equipped troops—twenty spearmen, sixteen swordsmen, and ten mounted spearmen—and stood grandly in the very center of the player ranks. This was the first bandit-suppression mission he had received since taking command, and he was full of confidence, certain of victory. Though the mountain bandits were a little stronger than he had expected, he had the aid of so many valiant men that the stronghold could be taken tonight.

All the players envied the soldiers’ equipment: those sharp iron spears and broad swords, that gleaming red armor, and those well-trained level-twenty warhorses. How much money would it take to outfit a force like that?

Besides the government troops, there were a total of four hundred and seventy-two players under level twenty who had accepted the mission, and seventy-four advanced players above level twenty. They were divided into five waves and would assault the bandit stronghold in turn. The lower-level players would undoubtedly become cannon fodder. If not for the rarity of such a bandit-clearing mission, and for Zhang Feng’s promise of copper coins and the title of “Valiant Hero,” there would likely have been very few willing to undertake such a suicidal task. Some of the cannon fodder had already prepared for death, entrusting all their belongings to friends who were not taking part, and setting out in plain cloth clothes with copper blades, so as to minimize their losses upon dying.

In addition, three village chiefs had come in person: Radiant Swordsman of Radiant Village, Invincible Big Ox of Invincible Village, and Drifting Past of Drifting Past Village. Their three villages, along with Grey Sun Village, were the four closest settlements to the stronghold, and naturally the ones most concerned with whether this suppression campaign would succeed. They did not want their own villages to be ruined and turned into abandoned hamlets like Grey Sun Village. So this time they had mobilized several thousand players to camp at the foot of Tiger Head Mountain. A small portion had accepted the bandit-clearing mission; the rest remained stationed at their respective footholds beneath the mountain, holding their positions and waiting to see how things would unfold. Since most players were below level twenty, and one had to pay to accept the mission, most could not afford it.

The highest-ranking representative sent by Little White Village was Autumn Water, who was responsible for coordinating the fifty Little White Village players participating in the campaign. Of course, although it was all under the pretense of assisting the court troops in suppressing the bandits, she had long since received instructions from Zhan Xiaobai: just wave banners and shout slogans; do not take it seriously and rush forward to die. So she cared nothing at all about the success or failure of this operation. Even if the suppression failed, Little White Village would suffer no loss.

A neat formation of more than five hundred people spread out along the base of Tiger Head Mountain. Torchlight illuminated the entire foothill.

The moment nine o’clock arrived, Zhang Feng’s order was issued at once. He bellowed, “First wave, charge!”

“Charge!”

The first wave of one hundred players surged forward. There was only one road to the summit. At the foot of the mountain the terrain was broad, allowing a front line of thirty to forty people, but it narrowed the higher one climbed. By the time one reached the bandit gate, it could barely hold fewer than twenty.

When the group of players reached the midpoint of the mountain, a defensive mechanism was triggered, and a rain of rolling logs and boulders, long prepared in advance, came crashing down. Amid a burst of screams, nearly half the hundred players were smashed to death in an instant, and the survivors were left trembling in shock. The dead cursed furiously. “Damn it, why is there still a defensive barricade here that wasn’t torn down? This isn’t the way to die!” “Damn it, we haven’t even seen a strand of the bandits’ hair, and we’re already dead like this?” “What the hell were the scouts doing?”

The three village chiefs watching from the foot of the mountain felt their hearts ache and their faces turn pale. They all looked toward Zhang Feng. They had assumed he had already sent men to clear the mountain road, and had never even considered such a possibility. Damn it, what were these government troops even eating, to be so utterly lacking in martial competence?

Zhang Feng wore an expression of complete innocence. What? There were fortifications? How was I supposed to know there were fortifications on the mountain? Ah, I almost forgot. This humble officer had not even made it to the middle of the slope before seeing the bandits’ overwhelming strength and hastily withdrawing his troops. It is only natural that I would not know about any fortifications. Surely that cannot be blamed on this humble officer.

By the time the cannon fodder players reached the gate, what greeted them was no less than forty savage bandit spearmen arrayed outside the stronghold entrance. Confronted by a forest of spears, the players were forced to stop, hesitating over how they were meant to charge through.

Wang Laohu, carrying a nine-ring broadsword on his shoulder and standing with his stout belly thrust forward, laughed loudly from atop the gate. “With just this little rabble, you think you can break through my Tiger Head Stronghold? Ha! Do you take this king for a vegetarian? I have strong troops and fine horses, and plenty of capital to fight you.”

From the two watchtowers at the gate, six bandit archers raised their shabby little bows and began to loose arrows. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—six streaks of blood burst among the player crowd.

The players were instantly jolted awake. Damn it, there were archers too. If they were going to die, they might as well drag one more down with them.

“Charge!”

One exchange.

The first wave of cannon fodder was utterly annihilated. Eleven of the forty bandit spearmen were killed, and the rest were injured to varying degrees. Wang Laohu immediately withdrew the spearmen back into the stronghold and replaced them with a fresh group of swordsmen to defend the gate.

Zhang Feng’s roar came from below the mountain: “Second wave, prepare—charge!”

...

The reverse slope of Tiger Head Mountain.

More than fifty advanced players from Little White Village were climbing upward along the rugged mountain path. To avoid alerting the bandits on the mountain, none of them used torches, relying entirely on the faint starlight to make their ascent.

However, they had already scouted the terrain in the afternoon, so the darkness was not much of a problem.

By the time Zhang Feng gave the order for the first charge, some of them had already reached the cliff face. Among them were Zhan Xiaobai, Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, A Fei, and the others—and, naturally, the crucial pair: the Old Hunter and Fire Family Little Treasure.

The Old Hunter glanced at the cliff face. It was dark and hard to make out. He snorted dismissively. “Such a low cliff. What difficulty could there be?” And he walked straight toward it.

Suddenly an arrow shot down from above. Before the others could react, the Old Hunter had already sidestepped it, drew and notched his own arrow, and fired toward the cliff top in a whistling streak. “Ahhh!” a scream rang out above, followed immediately by a bandit thug tumbling from the cliff and crashing to the ground below. The wooden arrow was planted squarely in the bandit’s throat, in a vital spot.

The players drew a sharp breath. One-hit kill. Mountain-range old hunter Lu Shan, incredible!

Clinging to the steep cliff face, the Old Hunter climbed upward like a gecko. Soon he disappeared over the edge.

After a short while, a vine ladder was lowered from the cliff face.

“Up!”

Delighted, Zhan Xiaobai led the others swiftly up the sturdy vine ladder toward the top.