The Great Ming in the Box-Chapter 72: Night Battle at Gaojia Fortress
Bai Yuan said, “Alright, everyone to your positions. When they all reach the planned courtyard, just kill these foolish bandits.”
Everyone responded softly, “May the Deity bless us.”
A weak voice sounded; it was from the man who had come to the news, Wang Er’s subordinate with the bandit name White Cat, “After we finish them off, we must save Big Brother Wang Er.”
“That goes without saying.”
Zheng Yanfu quickly ran to the fortress gate with more than two hundred bandits and reunited with Zhuang Guangdao, saying, “Third Brother, your wall-climbing skills are truly excellent.”
Zhuang Guangdao replied, “Hehe, after this job, you can call me Second Brother, and I’ll start addressing you as Big Brother.”
Zheng Yanfu was thrilled, “Hahaha, yes! Charge!”
The two bandit chiefs led from the front, charging into the fortress. On entry, there was a twisted path with walls made of iron plates on both sides, rock-hard.
After rushing along the path for a stretch, they encountered no living quarters; it was nothing but paths the entire way. Turning a corner, they saw a courtyard ahead, with another path beside it.
“It’s like a maze in here!”
“The rooms are all empty!”
“This village has only a bit over a hundred people, yet this fortress has so many houses; many must be vacant, which isn’t surprising at all.”
“Keep charging inward.”
At the courtyard’s end, there was a path to the left and one to the right. This time, the two could split up; each led about a hundred subordinates, taking the left and right paths separately.
But after traversing the paths, they each found themselves in another courtyard.
Zhuang Guangdao and Zheng Yanfu both started to feel that something wasn’t right.
Just then…
Suddenly, many lanterns lit up on the surrounding rooftops, instantly brightening the courtyards where they stood.
A middle-aged man in a long white robe appeared on the roof, holding a folding fan; he flicked it open with a swish, and the fan bore two large characters: “Gentleman.”
It was Bai Yuan. Pretentiously, he pointed at the bandit troops in the courtyard and boomed, “You all…”
Before he could finish those arrogant words, a fierce middle-aged woman on a nearby rooftop lifted a large stone and hurled it down directly.
“Thud!”
A bandit was hit directly by the large stone, his head burst out bleeding, and he fell.
Bai Yuan cried, “Hey! I hadn’t had a chance to speak yet.”
But it was too late now; with that woman throwing the stone, how could the others hold back? They each picked up prepared stones and threw them wildly into the courtyard. In an instant, large stones rained down from both sides of the rooftops.
Several villagers with bows also drew their light bows and fired erratically downward.
The bandits were caught off guard, and many fell.
Only then did Zheng Yanfu and Zhuang Guangdao realize they had walked into a trap; shocked, they picked up pot lids to shield their heads.
A few bandit troops under them with bows immediately drew and shot back at the rooftops, but Li Daoxuan’s hand immediately reached down and deflected the bandits’ arrows, though he did not block the stones thrown by the villagers.
He played it with bias and exception.
After all, Zheng Yanfu was a fierce bandit; his first instinct wasn’t to flee but to climb up to the roof. But when he touched the wall besides him, he found it was very smooth, without even a stone seam, making it impossible to climb at all.
His heart panicked, so he had to flee for his life.
Just then, ahead at the corner of the courtyard, there was a small passage that seemed easy to dart into, and Zheng Yanfu took a big stride and charged over.
Just as he was about to enter the passage, unexpectedly, a man leaped out of it, blocking Zheng Yanfu in front of him, grinning broadly with a foolish smile.
Gao Chuwu had arrived.
Zheng Yanfu shouted, “Take this blade!”
He struck Gao Chuwu with his blade in one swift motion, incredibly fast, but it was utterly useless; that strike actually produced a sharp “clang” sound as it got blocked by the iron plates in Gao Chuwu’s chest armor.
“Armor!”
Zheng Yanfu was stunned with fear—did the other side have armor? Were they officials?
Gao Chuwu swung his axe horizontally, the force generated by it greatly terrifying Zheng Yanfu; in a hurry, he threw himself to the ground and rolled several times, just barely dodging that axe swing.
But although Gao Chuwu was slow-witted, his physique was top-notch—like someone with zero academic skills but excelling at sports, with top-class strength and speed; Zheng Yanfu had only rolled twice along the ground when Gao Chuwu’s foot followed, delivering a kick to his abdomen.
That kick had immense power, sending Zheng Yanfu flying sideways and thudding as he crashed into two of his underlings and knocked them over.
“Damn, what kind of monster is this?” Zheng Yanfu clutched his abdomen with one hand, struggled to get up, and ran toward another side.
In another courtyard, Zhuang Guangdao was in a similarly sorry state, with stones constantly raining down from the roofs on both sides and occasional arrow shots mixed in—how the hell could a fight happen here? Like Zheng Yanfu, he also wanted to slip into a small passage.
But a group defended the passage, all wearing cotton armor, with Zheng Daniu in the lead, carrying a woodcutter’s axe.
Zhuang Guangdao charged over and only got one slash in when Zheng Daniu swept his axe at him, almost cutting his neck, terrifying him so much he didn’t dare make another attack.
Why did every person in Gaojia Village have armor? Damn it, were big groups of officials hiding in the village?
Actually, only the leading fighters had armor, but in the dark mess of a night battle, the bandits couldn’t see clearly; they just spotted the front few with armor and assumed everyone in Gaojia Village had it.
In these times, fighters with armor were officers!
At the thought of the word “officials,” everyone was terrified, losing all will to fight and just wanting to flee for their lives.
The bandit troops tried to run back the way they came, but the entry path had been silently blocked off with large stones moved by some villagers to cut it shut.
Zhuang Guangdao and Zheng Yanfu passed through the passage, reunited, and with a glance saw another path possible…
A narrow, long passage.
This was the one and only escape route left.
Both men simultaneously charged into that path…
Bai Yuan shouted loudly, “Li Da, Gao Yiyi, get ready, the bandits are heading your way!”
The two blacksmiths rushed with pride, standing behind the “celestial large cannons,” each holding a large hammer and wearing feverish grins.
Bring it on!
Bandits!
Let you taste the power of celestial artifacts!
Zheng Yanfu and Zhuang Guangdao arrived; the passage was narrow, but it could still hold two men running side by side.
The bandit troops behind them also squeezed in after them, running frantically to keep up.
As they ran into that passage, unexpectedly, no stones were being thrown from the roof edges on either side.
This filled both Zheng Yanfu and Zhuang Guangdao with wild excitement.
We must have found a gap in their defenses, right?
If we ran straight out along this path, we might actually escape to safety.
But not just those two thought that way; every bandit behind them believed the same thing, pressing after the two leaders in a frenzied run, and the narrow passage got so jam-packed with people that it could be described as bodies pressed against bodies.
It made the narrow passage seem like a large sausage stuffed full of meat.
Chapter 72: Night Battle at Gaojia Fortress
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