Were the opponents he met really so weak such that he could eradicate them before they could even launch a signal?
"Let's go give it a try too!"
Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu glanced at one another as the same thought surfaced in their minds. After all, it was impossible for the bandits across the west road to be of equal strength.
Perhaps the bandits along this stretch might just be exceptionally weak.
If even Wang Chong was able to clear them away so easily, with their superior strength, they shouldn't face any trouble either.
Thus, the duo advanced forward in search of bandit dens to assault.
---
An hour later, Xu Gan finally found the next bandit den, and he led his troops in a furious charge into the depths of the forest. He left harboring great ambitions, but when he returned, his head was hanging gloomily from his neck.
Behind him was a roaring blaze that could probably be seen even several dozen li away.
Not only were the bandits prepared for their assault, they even laid out many unexpected traps that caught Xu Gan off guard. As a result, two war steeds and four soldiers suffered significant wounds. Even Xu Gan himself wasn't spared from injury.
If they had been wounded in a direct confrontation, that would still have been tolerable. However, what that nearly got them were poisonous gas, hidden crossbows, and many underhanded ploys.
If not for Xu Gan charging forward decisively to slay the bandit chief, they might have suffered even heavier losses.
Xu Gan was bubbling with rage, but there was nothing he could vent his anger on.
Both he and Wang Chong were carrying out the same mission, but why did their outcomes differ so greatly?
Recalling the relaxed expression Wang Chong had when he descended from the mountain, as if he had only gone on a leisurely hunt, Xu Gan felt even more uncomfortable.
Why is that fellow's luck so good?, Huang Yongtu exclaimed in astonishment in his head. It was a deeply ingrained subconscious thought that Xu Gan possessed greater capabilities than Wang Chong. In his view, Xu Gan was simply unlucky to have met problematic bandits.
"I'll give it a try, too!"
Leaving those words behind, Huang Yongtu raised his hand and rallied his troops forward. He was unwilling to believe that he would be as unlucky as Xu Gan.
In the end, how could a loosely scattered group of bandits possibly compare to an official army?
---
This time, Huang Yongtu returned much faster than expected. His face was clearly flustered, and his clothes were unkempt. His luck was worse than Xu Gan.
The blazing flames from Xu Gan's end had already caught the attention of the other bandits. Thus, they set up catapults, hidden crossbows, poisonous gas, and even rallied the bandits from other mountains over, prepared to face any troops that came their way.
This fight was a bitter one, and several of Xu Gan's subordinates nearly lost their lives. Even Huang Yongtu also almost fell under a poisonous saber.
If not for a subordinate of his responding swiftly and taking that saber for him, Huang Yongtu might have been incapacitated by now.
Holding the unconscious soldier who had taken the saber for him in his hands, Huang Yongtu shouted in a panic."Come over and help!"
Fortunately, there were some medics among the group of eighty, and the poison the bandits utilized wasn't too rare, either. The condition of the soldier stabilized swiftly.
However, after those two failures, a bizarre atmosphere suddenly seemed to linger among the soldiers. Subconsciously, they turned their gazes to Wang Chong to assess him.
If Xu Gan was unlucky to meet someone who was prepared, wouldn't it be too much of a coincidence for Huang Yongtu to be the same as well?
It was unbelievable for Wang Chong to be the only lucky one.
It was one thing to meet a weak opponent in the day, but for it to happen at night as well? So far, of the four of them, only Wang Chong had successfully cleared the mission, and with ease at that.
It was hard to believe that there were no tricks behind this.
We'll give it another try. I don't believe that he can still be that lucky on the third day!, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu thought as they stared at the smiling Wang Chong, who was seated beneath another huge Chinese parasol tree.
Their pride didn't allow them to be inferior to a mere peasant from Kunwu Training Camp.
------
However, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu's wish never came to be. The third day came, and nothing changed at all. Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu failed yet again, and even more tragically this time around.
Xu Gan had even sustained significant injuries in his operation.
The further west they headed from the capital, the stronger the bandits became. Lieutenant Zhang Lin had warned them of this matter beforehand.
But despite this, Wang Chong still managed to clear the dens allocated to him with the same ease. There wasn't the slightest scratch or injury on him or his men.
The others couldn't help but begin doubting whether he and his team had even gone up the mountain to engage the bandits.
------
"Something is wrong here!"
After being spectacularly outperformed by Wang Chong for three consecutive days, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu eventually decided to put aside their differences and gather together.
"That brat must have done something behind our backs!"
"Indeed! How could he be so lucky as to meet with weak bandits each time? He must have used some kind of trick."
Huang Yongtu nodded vigorously. A hint of anger and frustration could be heard from his words.
Every time Wang Chong returned, he would use the same excuse "perhaps the bandits I met were weaker than the others", and initially, they did take those words at face value.
But thinking about it now, that brat was clearly mocking them!
The realization of this fact left them even more enraged.
If Wang Chong had come from Shenwei or Longwei, they could still reluctantly admit their loss. But that simply wasn't the case. Considering how the other party was a peasant who hadn't even forged a True Martial halo yet, how could they accept their inferiority toward him?
"I'll send a few men to follow him when he moves later to see what's going on," Xu Gan spat resentfully.
Never had he been looked down on before in such a manner. This experience was infuriating to him.
"Un," Huang Yongtu nodded. He was also curious to know how Wang Chong managed to eradicate the bandits so quickly and leisurely without raising the slightest disturbance.
After discussing things for a moment, they soon worked out the details of their plan.
Having come to a consensus, Huang Yongtu leapt onto his mount and rode toward Wang Chong. With an irritated tone, he instructed impatiently. "Wang Chong, you will be going next."
"Oh?" Wang Chong's eyebrows shot up. According to the order they had decided upon, he shouldn't have been next. But nevertheless, the order didn't matter to him. "Sure."
Wang Chong gestured to the troops behind him before leading them up the mountain, just like he did many times before. And shortly after Wang Chong left, Xu Gan gestured to a soldier within his platoon, and a cavalryman quickly moved out and rode in the direction Wang Chong and the others left in.
---
A masked figure hid silently in the crown of a tree. The figure carefully approached a bandit who was warily scanning his surrounding,s and slit the latter's throat with his knife.
Peng!
Life disappeared from the bandit's eyes, and his corpse fell heavily to the ground with a resounding thud. But amidst the rustling wind within the forest, that sound wasn't particularly conspicuous.
And soon after the bandit's corpse fell to the ground, similar dull thuds also echoed one after another through the forest.
At that moment, Ma Song suddenly spoke up. "Lord, it seems like someone is following us." He instinctively glanced backward warily.
> "Oh? Where is that person?" Wang Chong asked nonchalantly.
"Around fifty steps behind us, hidden in a shrub," Ma Song replied seriously.
"I see. Let him be." Wang Chong waved his hands casually.
"But lord..."
"Calm down, Ma Song. The chances are that the figure you spotted is a spy sent by Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu. If he was a bandit, do you think that he would be able to hold himself back?" Wang Chong replied leisurely, paying the matter no heed.
Ma Song contemplated for a moment before replying. "I see, so it is all within lord's expectations."
To those words, Wang Chong merely smiled lightly. After three days of humiliation, it would be a wonder if Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu could still hold themselves back. Wang Chong knew that it was only a matter of time before they sent a spy to follow him.
Chapter 332: Superior!
Chapter 332: Superior!
"Prepare yourself. Just like before, we shall split our forces in four and eliminate every sentry the bandits have stationed en route to their den. Remember, don't give them any chance. Even a single escapee could spell the failure of our operation. If that were to happen, we'll retreat right away and leave it to the other troops in the future to deal with them," Wang Chong glanced to the side and commanded.
"Yes, lord!" Ma Song replied.
Hearing the dull thuds coming from the forest, a vague smile emerged on Wang Chong's lips. The bandits might be weak, but it would be foolish to assume that they were lacking wits.
To be able to survive the periodic cleanups conducted by the royal court meant that they either possessed superior strength or extraordinary wariness. Since it was impossible for them to be stronger than the troops of the royal court, it had to be the latter.
Even rats developed their own forte for survival, needless to say these bandits!
Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu were far too lacking in worldly experience, resulting in their underestimating the nature of this mission. They thought that they could easily suppress the bandits with absolute strength, and it was that mindset that doomed them to failure.
From the very start, Wang Chong knew that the purpose of this mission was to assess their experience and wits, and not just mere strength.
As outlaws, no matter how deep into the night it was or how tired their members may be, the bandits would still ensure that there were sentries stationed to keep a lookout for enemies.
Without clearing away the sentries at the perimeter of the bandit den, it would be impossible to eliminate all of the bandits.
Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu should have realized this fact when they had suffered their first failure. But perhaps because they were simply lacking in experience, or maybe they were underestimating the bandits too much, they overlooked this crucial factor and attributed their failures to bad luck.
"Prepare yourselves!"
After clearing away the sentries in the perimeter, the troops reorganized at the gathering point. Following which, Wang Chong raised his hand and signalled for the troops to charge into the camp.
At this moment, most of the bandits were still deep in sleep.
------
"What? Sentries?"
On the main road at the foot of the mountain, after receiving the report by the spy, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu stared at one another in shock. From the start of the mission, they had never taken these weak bandits seriously.
They thought that the numerous times they had failed was due to a series of coincidences working against them. While they did clear away the sentries they met en route to the dens, never in their wildest dreams had they expected those simple bandits to go to the extent of planting a huge bunch of them around their camps.
"So that's the case! To think that the fellow didn't warn us about that!" Huang Yongtu was enraged at this discovery.
Had that fellow informed him of this matter, he wouldn't have failed so tragically, to the point where he even nearly lost his life to a poisoned saber.
But considering how they had treated Wang Chong during the past few days, Huang Yongtu also knew that there was no way the other party would be so kind as to enlighten them on this point.
"Hmph, so that's the case!" On the other hand, after learning Wang Chong's "secret", Xu Gan flung his sleeves and stood up decisively. "And here I was wondering what kind of secrets he had up his sleeves. Now that I know what is going on, his smug days are over."
It was as if the veil blinding their eyes had been lifted. Confidence, along with the disdain they had for Wang Chong previously, returned to their faces.
If the failure was due to this oversight on their part, they should be able to fare better than Wang Chong once they resolved this issue. In the end, that peasant from Kunwu Training Camp would still be beneath their feet.
Di da da!
At that moment, the clopping of horse’s hooves sounded from the forest, and Wang Chong and his platoon emerged from the trees.
"You accomplished the mission?" Xu Gan asked.
"Un," Wang Chong nodded.
"Congratulations," Xu Gan spat coldly.
Wang Chong chuckled in response. His gaze fell momentarily on a certain cavalryman standing within the formation behind Xu Gan, but he chose not to expose the matter. Instead, he returned the gesture with two words, "Thank you."
"Brat, I shall wipe that glee off your face. Do you think that we don't know those little tricks of yours? Xu Gan, it should be our turn now!"
Their horses galloped away, raking up a billowing mass of dust in their wake.
------
The duo had left with great confidence and ambitions in mind, but that still didn't stop them from returning in a wretched state. If anything, they looked worse than the previous times.
"What happened? Didn't you pay attention to how he cleared away the traps?"
Xu Gan glared at the cavalrymen who followed Wang Chong previously, his face red with anger. Taking the lesson to mind, he had made sure to hunt down all of the hidden or obvious scouts and sentries planted around the area.
But a simple trap made of vines had rendered his efforts futile.
Not only that, but the further they headed west, the bandits would set ever-more complex and formidable traps, making it harder to guard against them.
It was only then that it dawned on Xu Gan that entering the bandit den silently was far more complex than merely clearing away the sentries in the area. The many traps laid over the area posed a huge problem, as well.
Under Xu Gan's furious gaze, the cavalryman replied anxiously. "I-I also don't know! They didn't step on a single trap in their operation, so I didn't notice anything, either!"
The only role of ground-level troops like them was to obey orders strictly. Since Xu Gan asked him to follow Wang Chong, he simply did what was commanded of him. What Xu Gan was asking of him at this moment was already way beyond the scope of his responsibilities.
"Damn it!"
Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu's complexions darkened.
"We have underestimated that brat!"
"He still has other secrets hidden from us!"
Resentment burned in the eyes of the duo. Both of them had suffered a great deal at the hands of the bandits. When Xu Gan failed, Huang Yongtu thought that it was just a coincidence and went ahead with his assault. But in the end, he ended up in the same state as well.
In this unofficial competition, both of them had lost utterly. The victor ended up being the seemingly unimpressive Wang Chong.
---
Seeing the both of them returned, Wang Chong unexpectedly rode his steed forward and clasped his fist to welcome them. "You have returned. Did you manage to clear the bandits?"
Recalling how disdainful their attitudes were before they left, they couldn't help but feel embarrassed and humiliated by Wang Chong's words. If it was possible for them to disappear into thin air, they would have vanished then and there.
The triumphant return they had imagined didn't come to be, and a completely opposite
reality was shoved right into their faces.
"What are you acting so smug for? All you did is to clear away a few bands of bandits. Is that anything to be proud of?" Huang Yongtu snapped.
Uttering those words embarrassed him even more, but the rage boiling over in his mind was far beyond that. If not for Lieutenant Zhang Lin's presence, he might have already laid his fist on Wang Chong.
"Hmph!"
On the other hand, Xu Gan simply harrumphed coldly and led his subordinates to the side.
"Why don't you just tell them?" a voice suddenly sounded by Wang Chong's side. Surprisingly, Bai Siling was riding her mount over.
"What do you mean?" Wang Chong replied with a doubtful tone.
"They think that you are a normal peasant from Kunwu Training Camp. Why don't you just reveal your true identity?" Bai Siling assessed Wang Chong from head to toe, seemingly trying to comprehend his actions.
The feeling of familiarity from Wang Chong was getting stronger by the moment. She was certain that she had seen him somewhere before, but she just couldn't lay her finger on it.
Furthermore, his way of dealing with things had also successfully hooked her interest.
"Identity? What identity can I have?" Wang Chong asked, seemingly confused by Bai Siling's words.
"There isn't a single person of humble birth who would dare to speak to scions of prestigious clans like you do," Bai Siling shook her head. Her eyes were fixated on Wang Chong, as if trying to peer deep into his soul. "There's no way you could possibly be an ordinary peasant."
"I don't know what you are talking about." Wang Chong laughed the matter off as if it was a joke, before riding his mount back to his platoon. It seemed like the lady from the Bai Clan was far more astute than Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu.
He feared that if he were to continue speaking to her, he might give himself away.
Gazing at Wang Chong's back, Bai Siling sighed deeply. She had a feeling that Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu might have trifled with someone they shouldn't have.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 242
