Wang Hailin had someone lead the way ahead while he followed with long strides. Upon hearing his trusted aide’s words, he shot him a fierce glare. “Who the hell is afraid of that Qiao Yishan?”

“Second Chief, you and Chief Qiao do have some bad blood between you, but you went and killed his entire family in a fit of rage — sooner or later Chief Qiao is going to find out. Right now, you’re safer hiding up in the mountains. At the very least, Chief Zhang can protect you.”

“Ptui.” Wang Hailin spat. “What is Qiao Yishan? Even if he finds out it was me, what can he do about it? Can he kill me? He’d have to have the ability for that.”

Wang Hailin, apparently lost in some pleasant thought, was practically drooling. “Qiao Yishan’s wife — that little body of hers was truly something. It’s a pity this mountain doesn’t allow keeping women. Otherwise I’d find somewhere to lock her up and enjoy her every single day.”

His trusted aide glanced at him, not knowing what to say, and simply fell silent.

“What are you afraid of?” Wang Hailin clapped his trusted aide on the shoulder. “That gutless wretch Qiao Yishan — can he really figure out it was me? Even if he suspects me, he needs evidence, doesn’t he? The bandits around Shuanghe Town aren’t just us; it could well have been someone else.”

The trusted aide thought to himself that there was nothing else to be done, and could only hope that Chief Qiao would not trace things back to them.

He sighed inwardly. This Wang Hailin really was audacious — he had actually gone and done away with the entire family.

Ugh!

“Second Chief, you’d still better be careful — there are Government Troops down the mountain!”

“Those men who lose every battle they fight — you call them Government Troops? Ptui. Even if you gave them another ten or twenty years, they’d never take this mountain. A bunch of useless wretches.” The men down below were beneath Wang Hailin’s notice.

Wang Hailin led his men down the mountain, his mind full of thoughts of Miss Liu, so cheerful that he actually began humming a tune.

His trusted aide was just about to remind him to keep a low profile when a whooshing sound suddenly cut through the air, and out of the dense undergrowth ahead, around a hundred Government Troops — armed to the teeth — burst forth.

“Not good — an ambush!” the trusted aide shouted. “Protect the Second Chief!”

Wang Hailin had not expected to walk into an ambush here, and could only flee behind the trees with the crowd surging around him.

The Government Troops’ assault was fierce, but these bandits were no easy targets either. Banking on their familiarity with the terrain and their years of fighting experience in mountain forests, they actually managed to hold the Government Troops at bay.

“Platoon Leader, we need to finish this fast — once these gunshots ring out, their reinforcements will be on the way,” one of Liu Junyuan’s subordinates said anxiously from behind the thicket.

Liu Junyuan gritted his teeth and reloaded his weapon. “Tell the men to make it quick. We must take these bandits down.”

In the pitch-dark forest, shadowy figures darted back and forth, muzzle flashes sparked and scattered, and gunfire sent birds and beasts fleeing in all directions.

Wang Hailin was hit by a bullet in the leg during the fierce fighting and howled in agony.

“Who the hell sold me out!”

Only a handful of people knew he was coming down the mountain, and he had taken the back mountain’s secret path. How long had these people been lying in ambush here?

Seeing the enemies falling one after another, Liu Junyuan immediately led his men to rapidly close the encirclement.

“Platoon Leader, bad news — enemy reinforcements have arrived.” Just when Liu Junyuan thought everything was under control, a scout brought unwelcome news.

This was Gu’an Gang’s mountain. Upon hearing the gunshots, they had responded swiftly.

Liu Junyuan stamped his foot hard. Victory had been within reach, but they were a step too late.

“Platoon Leader, we’re surrounded.”

“Platoon Leader, there are too many of them, and they’re closing the encirclement — looks like they want to catch us all in one net.”

Bad news kept coming one after another. Liu Junyuan clenched his teeth. “Brothers, fight them with everything we’ve got!”

Just as Liu Junyuan was preparing to lead everyone in a desperate last stand, a faint light suddenly appeared in the undergrowth not far away, flickering in a regular pattern — now bright, now dim.

“That’s one of our people.” Liu Junyuan was overjoyed.

He had studied military science and could read the signal.

“Quick — take the men and follow that signal. There may be a way out.” The only option now was to find a way to break out of the encirclement; otherwise they would be riddled with bullets on this mountain.

The men under his command heard him and immediately fell in behind Liu Junyuan.

Though they hadn’t managed to bring back the chief’s head this time, they had at least whittled down a portion of the enemy’s numbers. Throughout these days of fighting, the enemy had suffered almost no losses, while they themselves had taken heavy casualties — that was a bitterness that was hard to swallow.

They had not gone far following the signal when one of his men suddenly asked, “Platoon Leader, could this be an enemy trap?”

This had been their platoon’s secret mission — no reinforcements, live or die on your own. So where had these supposed allies come from?

“You don’t understand.” Liu Junyuan was certain. “This type of signal is foreign — it’s not widely used within our country. Do you really think a gang of bandits would have learned it?”

Even as he spoke, Liu Junyuan could not help but feel puzzled himself. Among the entire unit, only he knew this type of signal. He had a hobby: studying military signals from around the world, and this was no secret.

Could it be that the other person knew his identity, and had therefore deliberately used a signal no one else would recognize?

Guided by the signal, the group made their way down the mountain, and somehow managed to shake off the pursuers behind them.

Once they were down the mountain they would be safe. The bandits of Mount Dagu were like fish — they would not leave the water. Mountain warfare was their advantage.

Liu Junyuan led his men to hide in the shadows for a while, and when no one gave chase, he finally let himself breathe easy.

“Platoon Leader, look — the light is on the other side of the road. It’s stopped moving.”

Liu Junyuan knew: this person was waiting for him.

“All of you stay here and don’t move. I’ll go take a look.” Seeing his men move to follow, he immediately waved them off. “Since this person has rescued us, he surely has no intention of harming us. Don’t worry.”

Liu Junyuan crossed the dirt road and walked with long strides toward the light. Turning around a large tree, he found a kerosene lamp hanging on a fork in the branches. Beneath the tree stood a figure, hands clasped behind his back, cast in moonlight like a silhouette — carrying an air of hazy mystery.

“Who are you?” Liu Junyuan moved lightly, slowing his steps, stopping about ten paces away from the figure, as if afraid to disturb him — even his voice dropped to a murmur.

The figure turned around. The lamp in the tree fork lit his face, and had it not been for his plain cloth clothing, those remarkable features would have seemed otherworldly.

Liu Junyuan recognized him at once and cried out in astonishment, “Director Shi?!”

Shi Ting spoke. “Platoon Leader Liu.”

“Director Shi actually knows me?”

“Platoon Leader Liu is a young man of exceptional talent. How could I not know him?”

Those words delighted Liu Junyuan and moved him deeply all at once.

Though Liu Junyuan rarely mentioned Shi Ting in front of Liu Qingnian, he had always regarded Shi Ting as his idol. Now, not only had his idol suddenly noticed him, but had also praised him — Liu Junyuan was truly overwhelmed with excitement.

Once his excitement had settled, he cleared his thoughts and looked around. “How does Director Shi come to be here? Did he bring reinforcements?”

“Just me, alone.”

Shi Ting stepped a few paces closer, his sharp eyebrows lifting slightly. “Does Platoon Leader Liu have many questions?”

Liu Junyuan’s mind was indeed bursting with question marks, and for a moment he didn’t know where to begin.

“Platoon Leader Liu need not rush. Let us go meet General Liu.” Shi Ting suggested.

“Right, right — go see Father.” Liu Junyuan snapped back to himself, though the look in his eyes as he gazed at Shi Ting was still that of an adoring fan.

Back at the camp, Liu Qingnian was also startled to see Shi Ting. The three quickly entered the tent and fastened the flap shut.

“General Liu, I have come under the Marshal’s orders to lend General Liu a hand.” Shi Ting sat down and stated his purpose directly.

“Director Shi alone?”

Shi Ting nodded. “The bandits in the Mount Dagu region cannot be subdued by numbers and superior firepower alone — one must rely on strategy.”

Liu Qingnian felt bewildered. Faced with a gang of bandits who would not listen to reason, he truly could not think of any clever stratagem, but Shi Ting’s words were correct — you could not win against them with sheer manpower and equipment.

“Does Director Shi have any suggestions?”

Liu Junyuan quickly added from the side, “Director Shi just single-handedly rescued all of us.”

Liu Qingnian stepped forward and grasped Shi Ting’s hand, his face full of gratitude. “Director Shi has saved my son — this great debt of kindness, I, Liu, will never forget for as long as I live. In the future I am willing to do whatever I can to assist Director Shi.”

“General Liu is too kind.” Shi Ting withdrew his hand, saying composedly, “General Liu is the Marshal’s soldier — is he not?”

General Liu thought of the word “future” in what he had just said and instantly felt his face flush with embarrassment.

Though he was under Meng Xiangyang’s command, when all was said and done, he served in the Marshal’s army, and of course he should be loyal to the Marshal.

At this thought, Liu Qingnian suddenly stood, turned to face Shi Ting, and gave a crisp, proper salute. “I was confused before. Thanks to the Marshal and Director Shi for not abandoning me. From now on, I will devote all my heart and strength to serve faithfully.”

Meng Xiangyang had dispatched him to Mount Dagu with a single word and then never looked back, never giving a moment’s thought to the lives of him and his soldiers. Just when he had suffered defeat after defeat and was beginning to lose heart, he had not expected that the Marshal had been thinking of him all along — even sending his own son to help.

Even if it was just one person, that one person was worth a thousand troops. The sheer ability to rescue his own son from a horde of bandits was enough to earn his admiration.

Seeing Liu Qingnian declare his allegiance in this way, Shi Ting knew the man had thought through the stakes clearly.

Liu Qingnian was no fool. At this moment he could tell who had treated him well and who had not. With a capable leader to follow, why cling stubbornly to someone who used you as a pawn?

Shi Ting also stood and pulled Liu Qingnian back into his seat. “The Marshal knows of your loyalty — otherwise he would not have sent me on this trip.”

Liu Qingnian heard this and felt a pang of embarrassment — his loyalty had only come about after going through all of this.

Ah, he felt ashamed.

“Director Shi, Mount Dagu is simply an iron fortress.” Liu Junyuan, seeing his old father finally come to his senses, spoke with renewed lightness of spirit. “That fortress is guarded tight. We’ve been attacking for half a month and haven’t made a dent.”

Liu Qingnian felt deeply mortified listening to this. He had fought wars for so many years, yet couldn’t even take down a bandit lair. It was utterly humiliating.

“Director Shi, do you have any ideas?” Both Liu Qingnian’s voice and expression made no effort to hide his urgency.

Shi Ting looked at the father and son before him and said serenely, “I do have an idea.”