Chapter 218 - 158: I’ll Let You Have the Credit
At first, he hadn’t been aware that the competition was secretly a conspiracy by Xiahe County targeting Fang Yue. But without his cooperation, the plot would have been hard to execute.
And so, after receiving orders from Xue Bing of the Prefecture City, the Wang Family used their connections to get County Magistrate Wang to agree to help.
And that was how the present situation came to be.
Then, County Magistrate Wang looked toward Wei He again, his tone somber as he said, "This county lost a Garrison Training Instructor this time. We ought to win this competition to make up for it. Otherwise, it will be hard to explain."
’Explain? To whom?’
’The entire city’s populace? Or the Shanyang Prefecture Government Office?’
Wei He sneered inwardly, but his face remained friendly as he smiled and said, "Of course, of course."
But he immediately added, still worried, "Lord Wang, Fang Yue has dozens of elite soldiers with him. Although their Martial Arts are weak, they’re still a nuisance. With so many people, there are too many eyes and ears!"
"Don’t worry. Members of the Wang Family are among those soldiers. At the critical moment, they can be used as a blade," said County Magistrate Wang.
This competition was a plot against Fang Yue.
But to ensure nothing went wrong, a spy had to be planted by Fang Yue’s side. If nothing else, they could at least leak his whereabouts.
"County Magistrate Wang is truly thorough."
Hearing this, Wei He finally smiled, relieved.
At the same time, his gaze drifted toward the gloomy mountain forest ahead, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly as he couldn’t help but think.
’Fang Yue, oh, Fang Yue. You ungrateful peasant. I offered you a way out, but you had to be shameless. Did you really think becoming an official after the Prefecture Examination meant all your troubles were over?’
’Heh heh. Little do you know, this has only hastened your death!’
When Wei He first heard that Fang Yue had passed the Prefecture Examination and officially become an official, he was consumed by jealousy.
After all, while he himself was now a probationary official, he had ultimately relied on his family’s power and back-door connections to obtain his position.
’But what right did Fang Yue have?’
’A country bumpkin who got lucky, stumbled upon some war spoils, and managed to pass the Prefecture Examination and become an official. His rank was even slightly higher than mine.’
This drove him mad with jealousy. But fortunately, this Fang Yue had offended someone he shouldn’t have.
Upon receiving the message from Xue Bing, Wei He began to scheme, wanting to use this opportunity to eliminate Fang Yue.
Sure enough, things went very smoothly. After all, he wasn’t the only one Fang Yue had offended. County Magistrate Liu Zheng of Xiahe County also found Fang Yue disagreeable, so they hit it off immediately. With the cooperation of Wenxi County, the plan against Fang Yue was successfully set in motion.
’Now that Fang Yue has entered the mountains, the Blood Dragon Platform members in the area will surely not let someone who just walked into their grasp get away.’
After all, no matter how lucky the man had gotten, he had still ’killed’ a member of the Blood Dragon Platform.
If they had the chance, these people would definitely take revenge.
The two men looked at each other and smiled.
"Lord Wang, I still have a few things to arrange on my side, so I’ll take my leave now."
Wei He cupped his fists and bowed respectfully to County Magistrate Wang, then left the Wenxi County Training garrison and returned to his own camp nearby.
~~~~~~
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
Fang Yue had already led his soldiers to the foot of the mountain where Feiyun Stronghold was located.
From this position, a stone fortress could already be seen on the mountainside.
After seeing Feiyun Stronghold’s Wu Castle, Fang Yue was about to give combat commands, but then he realized that he actually didn’t have any good ideas.
After racking his brain, the only plan he could come up with was to advance slowly while having skilled archers provide covering fire.
’Okay, I have to admit, I don’t have much military Talent.’
Commanding troops on the battlefield was not easy for him.
’It’s true. If not for my Golden Finger, I’d probably still be some poor kid from the sticks, just trying to get by and worrying about my next meal.’
As his thoughts reached this point, Fang Yue had a sudden realization.
’It seems that over the years, due to my continuous progress in the Martial Arts Realm, I’ve actually grown arrogant. I’ve been slacking off, not even using my Golden Finger properly to get stronger.’
He instantly cleared his mind of such distracting thoughts.
Fang Yue’s gaze returned to the fortress on the mountainside.
"Built into the mountain, the terrain is treacherous. Easy to defend, hard to attack."
Fang Yue’s eyes glinted. He then took out his bow and arrows, drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and shot toward the patrolling bandits on the Feiyun Stronghold fortress wall.
In one continuous breath, he fired off a dozen or so arrows in succession.
He shot down the patrolling bandits on this side of the fortress one by one.
"My lord is a divine archer! With this, Wenxi County will surely claim victory in this competition."
Next to Fang Yue, a young military officer in armor, clearly of noble birth, exclaimed in sincere admiration.
"This is all I can do," Fang Yue said, waving his hand dismissively.
He wasn’t receptive to the man’s flattery. The man’s surname was Wang; he was a cousin of the Wang Hao he’d met before and another scion of the Wang Family.
This man was very arrogant in the military camp. He usually showed little courtesy upon seeing Fang Yue, and for more than twenty days a month, he wouldn’t even show up for morning roll call.
Only for this occasion did he show up, fully armed and ready for battle.
Even so, the man did not personally participate in storming the stronghold, but instead stayed by Fang Yue’s side to command from the rear.
Meanwhile, on the front line, as soon as the lookout bandits were dead, the Training soldiers who had already crept nearby launched their attack. Led by several Martial Artist captains, they charged the Bandit Stronghold.
Soon, the fortress gate was opened from the inside by a Martial Artist who had scaled the wall. The Training soldiers successfully stormed in.
At this time, there was still no movement from the other side of Feiyun Stronghold. Apparently, the Xiahe County Training unit had not yet launched their attack.
If things continued like this, the Wenxi County Training unit, having seized the initiative, might just win the competition.
At this point, Fang Yue moved to a new position to get a better view of the battle inside the stronghold.
In his opinion, although most of the Training soldiers were a disorderly mob with worrying combat effectiveness, after some intensive training and under the leadership of a few captains, they showed some semblance of discipline.
Advancing cautiously step by step, they pushed forward without meeting much resistance, pressing deeper and deeper into Feiyun Stronghold.
The bandits of Feiyun Stronghold, however, were in constant retreat under the Training soldiers’ assault.
The Training soldiers advanced with unstoppable momentum, encountering almost no resistance from any bandit Martial Artists.
Before long, only the buildings in the center of the Bandit Stronghold remained unconquered.
"Is Feiyun Stronghold this weak? There isn’t even a single decent Martial Artist inside the stronghold? How could they have survived in these mountains for so long?"
Watching the battle inside the Bandit Stronghold, Fang Yue was rather perplexed.
There were almost no Martial Artists; at best, they were only slightly stronger than countryside farmers.
This level of strength was completely incomparable to the Tenglong Stronghold he had encountered during the Prefecture Examination.
This made Fang Yue wonder. ’If the target is this weak, doesn’t that just mean whoever gets here fastest wins the competition?’
’Is it really such a farce?’
Fang Yue was puzzled and couldn’t quite figure it out, but at Vice Officer Wang’s reminder, he headed into Feiyun Stronghold.
Feiyun Stronghold was about to be completely taken, and it was time for him, the commanding officer, to go and take charge.
Whether it was distributing spoils or assigning merits, his presence was required.
Soon, Fang Yue arrived at the main square of Feiyun Stronghold.
At this point, only the main building in the very center of the stronghold still had bandits putting up a stubborn resistance.
However, its fall was only a matter of moments.
But just then, a soldier came to report that the bandits in their den were using the terrain to their advantage, making the assault difficult. A dozen or so of their brothers had already died without breaking the defense.
Fang Yue shook his head. ’Looks like I’ll have to handle this myself.’
However, at this moment, he turned to the Wang Family scion beside him and said, "Vice Officer Wang, the main building is about to fall. You should lead the men to take it. It wouldn’t be quite appropriate for me to take this credit."
Fang Yue smiled faintly. As the commanding officer, he had to bear the greatest responsibility, whether for victory or defeat.
Therefore, at this point, he didn’t need the credit for completely conquering the Bandit Stronghold.
It would be better to give it to this scion of the Wang Family, who was clearly here just to burnish his credentials.
Even if he secretly had issues with the Wang Family, he still had to keep up appearances.