In this expedition, Peng Jin was eager to contribute and directly brought 2,000 Tiger Head Mountain bandits with him. On Zhou Jing’s side, there were still the 200 Red Cloud Mountain bandits.
More than 2,000 people proceeded on their journey over, stopping every now and then for breaks. On the way, Peng Jin explained the situation of Yellow Pond Mountain.
“There are five leaders in Yellow Pond Mountain. They consist of the Chief, Little Literary Genius Xu Gui, the Ox Slinger Yu Zhen, the Four Handed Arhat Tang Guang, the Thousand Mile Ear Qiu Yong and the Horse Chancellor Wang He… They have some degree of martial arts, but none of them are Brother Hong’s match. It’s just that although the Chief, Xu Gui, is not good at martial arts, he is quite the strategist and has managed Yellow Pond Mountain very well.”
Peng Jin’s tone was a little jealous when he spoke.
Zhou Jing was curious, “How so?”
Peng Jin explained, “There are three villages in close proximity to Yellow Pond Mountain, and they all have dealings with the village. They serve as their spies and guard a few roads that they have to take. As soon as there’s anything amiss, those villagers will go up the mountain to report. The moment outsiders approach, they will definitely alarm Yellow Pond Mountain. In addition, their village’s fortifications are quite perfect, and it’s easy to defend and difficult to attack. They also bought many armaments and weapons from somewhere, making them very difficult to deal with.”
Hong Dingxian also interrupted from the side,
“In terms of martial arts, we naturally have the advantage, but Yellow Pond Mountain rarely fights with us. Their troops are well-trained and have a good sense of when to advance and retreat. In terms of formation, they are indeed stronger than our Tiger Head Mountain. In the past, in many battles, we lost more than we won, and we suffered many losses, so we formed a grudge.”
… It sounded like this Stronghold Chief was someone with a good head screwed on. He was indeed developing well.
Zhou Jing blinked a few times before he asked, “So what’s the origin behind this Xu Gui?”
“This person is a scholar, but he has failed time and time again. For some reason, he resorted to wandering in the wilderness for many years,” Peng Jin replied.
Guo Haishen chimed in, “I’ve also visited Yellow Pond Mountain before. The leader of the mountain is proficient in some unorthodox skills, but his martial arts are ordinary. I’m not too interested in him. However, I have some impression of their Chief, Xu Gui. This person is good at handling matters and reads books all day long. He doesn’t look like a person from the forest, but more like a scholar.”
Hearing this, Zhou Jing fell silent.
The style of Yellow Pond Mountain was very different from that of Tiger Head Mountain. Their Chief’s abilities were ordinary, and he was mostly good at other things, so he did not rely on his own martial arts to show off like Tiger Head Mountain.
“It’s probably not that easy to lure them out…”
Zhou Jing thought to himself.
…
The group trekked all the way as they talked, and it did not take long before they arrived at the boundary of Yellow Pond Mountain. On the way, they did not deliberately avoid the villages at the foot of the mountain.
Firstly, because the village was located on the main road into the mountain, it was not easy to avoid it. Secondly, there were also wandering sentries in the forest. It did not mean they were undetected just because they bypassed the villages.
It was difficult for a force of more than 2,000 people to quietly sneak up on the other party’s territory. Moreover, this was a large-scale challenge, so they did not avoid anyone. Everyone walked directly through the main road of the mountain and went up the mountain as quickly as possible.
Not long after, the stronghold located on Yellow Pond Mountain came into view.
The dense forest hid the terrain, making it more dangerous than normal.
The main stronghold was located on an extended cliff, and one could enter and leave through a basket from there. There was another portion at the bottom of the cliff, and as the entrance to the mountain pass, the fortifications were more complete than that of Tiger Head Mountain. There were arrow towers on both sides of the entrance of the stronghold, and there were also spiked trenches and wooden fences in front of the entrance. Through the crenellations on the walls of the stronghold, one could see many bandits patrolling or standing guard.
Comparison is the thief of joy. Fang Zhen had originally thought that Tiger Head Mountain’s stronghold was already quite easy to defend and difficult to attack. At this moment, when he saw Yellow Pond Mountain, he finally understood what it meant by ‘a dangerous place’.
Comparing the both of them, the stronghold of Tiger Head Mountain was simply unguarded, like the difference between a professional and an amateur.
“How can we attack in such dangerous terrain?”
Fang Zhen exclaimed in shock.
Guo Haishen pondered as he analyzed the situation in front of them.
“If we want to take down this stronghold, we have to split our forces into two. One team will attack the main area from the other side of the mountain path. There will definitely be a large number of troops guarding that side, while the other team will break through the stronghold at the bottom of the cliff. We can’t lack either of the two. Otherwise, the people inside can move to each area at any time, able to fight and retreat at will.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Zhou Jing touched his chin and clicked his tongue, “This stronghold is indeed safe. It’s easy to defend and difficult to attack, but they are most afraid of encountering a landslide… Look, if the cliff of the main area above collapses, we can directly bury the other areas below.”
Hearing this, everyone’s expressions turned subtle.
To be honest, that seemed to be the case…
However, even if they had this weakness, it would have to be done by the heavens. The cliff walls were thick, and it did not look like it would easily collapse.
Zhou Jing shook his head and threw this thought aside. He returned to the main topic, “We’re not here to attack the stronghold, but to challenge them to a battle and lure them out.”
Peng Jin quickly nodded and sized up Yellow Pond Mountain. He spoke in a depressed tone,
“Strange, we’ve been walking all the way and haven’t hidden anything. There must be spies from Yellow Pond Mountain who have leaked the news. Why isn’t anyone stopping us on the way? In the past, when we challenged them, they would most likely come out to fight, but this time, they locked themselves in their house?”
Just as the group was muttering to themselves, a middle-aged scholar in a blue robe suddenly appeared at the entrance of the stronghold.
This blue-robed scholar had a short beard under his chin and a thin physique. He was the Chief of the Yellow Mountain Stockade, Little Literary Genius, Xu Gui.
Xu Gui looked at the more than 2,000 people from afar before shouting out,
“Leaders of Tiger Head Mountain, why have you come to my Yellow Pond Mountain?”
Hearing this, Peng Jin composed himself and stepped out of the crowd
