Chapter 608 - 607: Farm Woman 36
Chen Xi wasn’t one to worry about her own inadequacies. She had learned a valuable lesson from Tan You: Don’t fret over whether you can do something well. Just get it done, and worry about the results later.
Besides, no matter what happened, Tan You would always have her back. She just had to charge ahead and give it her all.
With this mindset, Chen Xi quickly assembled a group of staff from the former prefectural government and began diligently familiarizing herself with its operations.
And while Chen Xi was busy stabilizing Yunzhou State, Yue Shu, Yang Youchang, and the rest of the special operations team force-marched to the entrance of a secret tunnel outside the city of Youzhou.
The men moved silently through the tunnel, no longer feeling the slightest bit of curiosity. Over the years, every time they had gone out to exterminate bandits, Tan You had been able to produce incredibly detailed maps.
These maps included, but were not limited to, the deployment of personnel within the bandits’ strongholds, and even the locations of secret rooms, treasure, and other valuables, all described in painstaking detail. So for the Matron to know the inner workings of a Beirong army camp was just child’s play.
Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, Yue Shu and his men all changed into Beirong army uniforms. After inspecting one another and finding no flaws in their disguises, they nodded and emerged from the secret passage.
As luck would have it, they had barely emerged from the passage when they ran into a patrolling squad of Beirong soldiers.
Yue Shu stepped forward and spoke a phrase in the Beirong tongue, instantly dispelling the patrol’s suspicion. Their passage was made especially smooth after the soldiers saw the "spoils of war" Yue Shu’s group was carrying—a few gold and silver trinkets.
To the Beirong army of one hundred thousand, Yue Shu’s team of thirty-odd men was like a single drop of water falling into a vast ocean, vanishing without a ripple.
Back in Yunzhou State, Tan You saw all of this unfold clearly. She wanted victory, but more than that, she wanted Yue Shu and his men to come back alive. With events proceeding according to her plan, Tan You could finally relax a little.
After infiltrating the Beirong camp, Yue Shu and his men secretly used Tan You’s map to locate the tent of the Beirong commander, Tuoba Qi. After a full day of reconnaissance, they had a firm grasp of the entire camp’s layout.
Deep into the second night, Yue Shu, Yang Youchang, and a few of the squad leaders gathered together.
Yue Shu scratched a few lines in the dirt. "The old fox is extremely cautious. He rotates between more than a dozen tents. No one knows which one he actually sleeps in at night."
"My point is, better to kill the wrong man than to let our target escape. Tonight, we..."
Yang Youchang nodded. "Exactly. Delays breed disaster. Tuoba Lian is dead, and Tuoba Qi has already waited a day—that’s his limit. The army is expected to march on Yunzhou State tomorrow. I saw the quartermasters already preparing provisions."
A clansman with the surname Chen clenched his fist. "So, we do it?"
Yue Shu nodded. "Alright. Let’s go over the plan..."
An army camp was a disciplined place; a large gathering would undoubtedly attract attention. So, the plan was finalized between just the few squad leaders, who then dispersed to brief their own teams and get them into position.
In less than fifteen minutes, the Beirong camp descended into chaos. The first team released Soft Muscle Powder from an upwind position. The second team entered the tents to carry out the decapitation strike. The third team, naturally, went to burn the grain supplies. The final team was responsible for covering their retreat. ’By acting as human grenadiers, perhaps?’
It was the dead of night, a time when most were heavy with sleep. But Tuoba Qi was wide awake. He was in his tent, analyzing the odds of success for the coming attack on Yunzhou State. ’Was it really those three black iron balls that turned the tide at the critical moment?’
He’d heard about them from the soldiers who had fled the last battle in disarray, but no one knew exactly what those iron balls were. Tuoba Qi was genuinely worried; he had never encountered such a weapon before.
If it weren’t for those black iron balls and that woman who had appeared out of nowhere, Yunzhou State would have been taken with ease. And his second son, Tuoba Lian, would not have lost his life.
’Therefore, the people of Yunzhou will all go to the grave to keep my son company!’
Just as Tuoba Qi clenched his fist, he suddenly felt his head spin. His limbs grew weak, and he found he could no longer sit upright. His body began to slump.
But he was a cunning old fox and immediately sensed something was wrong. He tried to cry out, tried to draw the saber at his waist, but what felt like an immense effort only managed to knock over the wine cup beside a battle report.
Yue Shu threw open the tent flap and stepped inside. His tall, broad frame filled the entrance, and to Tuoba Qi, he looked like a demon straight from the depths of hell. Of course, he didn’t have many more thoughts after that, because he would never know what the future held.
Yue Shu shook open an oilcloth he’d brought and unceremoniously wrapped up Tuoba Qi’s head. Before leaving, he spotted the various documents on Tuoba Qi’s desk. He didn’t leave a single one, bundling them all up to take with him.
’They’re all going to be torched anyway,’ he thought. ’Instead of letting them burn, I might as well bring them back for the Matron. Maybe she can make some sense of them.’
Carrying the bundle of documents, he stepped out of the tent. Yang Youchang and five other team members emerged from the adjacent tents at the same time. They exchanged a look, nodded, and set off to execute the next phase of their mission.
The men had now become killing machines, determined to wipe out the entire Beirong high command in one fell swoop. At the same time, the grain stores in the northwestern part of the camp were set ablaze, a development that inevitably threw the Beirong army into a panic.
Yue Shu and his men knew they couldn’t linger. After a sharp whistle, the group scattered. Soon, the Beirong camp was rocked by thunderous explosions, punctuated by flashes of fire and harrowing screams.
Billowing smoke filled the air. Faced with this horrific scene, a veritable hell on earth, Yue Shu and his men remained perfectly calm.
Their enemies were Beirong. They were never on the same side. They wanted to invade Yunzhou State. If this team hadn’t struck first, it would be their own people screaming and fighting a desperate defense.
After one last glance at the Beirong soldiers scattering in panic, Yue Shu, Yang Youchang, and the others, each carrying a small bundle, melted into the chaos and escaped the camp.
Of course, they were also masters of mayhem. As they fled, they didn’t forget to leave a few "surprises" for the enemy. Their escape route was a trail of fire and thunder, punctuated by agonized howls and furious curses.
They made it back to the tunnel entrance. Just as they were about to head out of the city, they suddenly saw several signal flares shoot into the sky from outside the walls.
Yue Shu skidded to a halt. He stared for a few seconds before turning to Yang Youchang and the others behind him. "Are those coming from outside the city?"
Yang Youchang also stared intently beyond the city walls, straining his eyes. When another flare lit up the sky, he broke into a wide grin. "They are! It’s the Matron’s signal!"
The Chen clansman grew excited. "The Matron must have brought reinforcements! Yue Team, Captain Yang, should we still take the secret tunnel out of the city?"