Chapter 11: Night Raid on the Camp

  At night, the cold wind howls, the sky is gloomy, and the entire horizon is dark.

  The officer and soldier's camp was illuminated by bright torches that crackled and burned ceaselessly, casting a fiery glow over the entire camp.

  In the camp, soldiers wearing armor and holding long spears were patrolling back and forth. At the entrance of the camp, a row of wooden barriers was placed to prevent cavalry from suddenly attacking the camp. The army had been marching continuously for a day, and the soldiers were all exhausted. Except for the night watchmen, all the other soldiers in the camp had already rested, and the entire camp was silent except for the sound of patrolling soldiers' footsteps.

  "Chirp...chirp..."

  A nightingale's song came, a clear and pleasant sound echoing through the night sky.

  As the nightingale's cry was heard, the commander of the soldiers on guard in the camp hesitated for a moment, and seeing that there was no other sound around, he continued to patrol. At the gate of the camp, the soldiers responsible for keeping watch on both sides of the arrow tower were startled, and they looked intently into the forest, measuring the distant nightingale's cry in the mountain forest. Seeing that the mountain forest was quiet and silent again, and no birds were startled, they stood on the arrow tower and patrolled back and forth.

  At this time, a rustling sound arose from the mountain forest 100 meters away from the official soldier's camp.

  Three black figures darted through the mountain forest, rapidly approaching the official barracks. The leader was a young man, followed by two burly men with braided beards. The young man held a longbow in his hand and had an arrow quiver on his back. Behind him, one of the burly men held a wolf-tooth club, while the other held a golden-backed large knife. Both men closely followed the young man, vigilantly gazing at the dense forest ahead.

  "My lord, we can't proceed any further. If we continue to sneak ahead, we might be discovered by the government soldiers."

  A burly man with a golden back and a large knife leapt forward, blocking the young man's path. This person was none other than Zhou Cang, who had surrendered to Wang Can. Under the cover of night, Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao, and Wang Can hid in the woods, swiftly making their way towards the government army camp. Zhou Cang fixed his gaze on the government army camp ahead, a deep sense of apprehension flashing in his eyes. The front was the main camp of the government army; if they were discovered by the government soldiers, the consequences would be unthinkable.

  Pei Yuanshao also stood beside Zhou Cang and said in a deep voice, "Zhou Heizi is right, my lord. We can't advance any further."

  Wang Cai smiled and stroked his chin, saying: "Advance another three zhang, with another three zhang of distance, I'll have the confidence to shoot and kill the soldiers on duty at the arrow tower of the official barracks."

  Zhou Cang roughly measured the distance between the government army's camp and the mountain forest, which was about 130 meters. At such a long distance, Wang Can said that continuing to advance three zhang would be able to shoot and kill the alert soldiers, making Zhou Cang surprised for a moment. However, he did not doubt Wang Can's ability because Wang Can had brought two people out to harass the government army, there was no need to lie.

  After a moment's thought, Zhou Cang nodded and said, "Master, you must be careful, absolutely cannot let the government soldiers find out."

  Wang Can smiled slightly and didn't speak, but instead slowly walked forward. Because the forest was dense with branches and leaves, and the trees were tall and numerous, plus the darkness of night without a moon in the sky, it was so dark that the soldiers standing on the watchtower responsible for keeping guard could only listen carefully to the movements around them, and it was impossible to see what was happening in the forest.

  More importantly, there were two torches burning crackling on the arrow towers on both sides of the camp, making the arrow tower extremely bright. In such a situation, in the dark night, it can only be seen by people hiding in the dark to see the alert soldiers, but not the alert soldiers discovering people hiding in the dark.

  Wang Can stood 120 meters away from the camp, concentrated his breath, slowly drew the longbow in his hand, loaded the arrow, and aimed at the soldier on the left side of the distant arrow tower.

  "Pei Yuanshao, scatter their attention."

  Wang Can narrowed his eyes and gazed at the soldiers on high alert in the distance, issuing a low command.

  Pei Yuanshao nodded, his left thumb and index finger entered his mouth, and he suddenly blew air. A nightingale's chirping sound came out of Pei Yuanshao's mouth, the clear and pleasant bird calls echoed in the forest, and the soldiers standing on the arrow tower in the distance were startled, their eyes wide open, staring at the dark forest, with a hint of solemnity on their faces.

  "Lao Cai, something's not quite right?"

  The soldier standing on the left arrow tower of the camp shouted to the soldier standing on the right, with a thick sense of vigilance in his eyes. He was an old soldier who had been enlisted for ten years and had extremely rich experience. He was very sensitive to the occasional bird calls coming from the forest, feeling that the atmosphere was somewhat off.

  "Ah~~ Old Wang, get out of the way!"

  The soldier known as Old Cai suddenly looked shocked, staring at the soldiers on the opposite arrow tower, a hint of terror in his eyes, pointing at the old soldier and shouting loudly: "Enemy attack, enemy attack~~~"

  As soon as Old Cai's voice fell, the old soldier standing on the left side had just heard the shout when he was pierced through the throat by a black bow and arrow. The arrow that passed through the old soldier's neck shot onto the beam supporting the arrow tower with a loud thud. The tail of the arrow feathers quivered incessantly. The old soldier who was pierced through the throat opened his mouth wide, making a "hiss" sound, but since his throat was pierced by an arrow, he couldn't make any noise at all. He struggled for a moment before falling to the ground, convulsing twice and then losing his breath.

  The soldier on the right side of the arrow tower is vigilant, with both hands holding a knife across his chest, and a look of horror in his eyes.

  At this time, he had already determined that someone was sneaking up on him because his loud roar shook the entire military camp, and patrolling soldiers rushed to the entrance of the barracks, being vigilant and preventing anyone from sneaking in.

  "Hiss...hiss..."

  A shrill whistling sound came from the forest, a black arrow flew out of the forest and shot straight at the soldiers on the right arrow tower. The soldier's pupils shrank, his eyes widened, he let out a loud roar, and the war knife in his hand fiercely knocked forward, knocking the incoming arrow flying away.

  "Whoa... close call, almost got shot!"

  The soldier let out a sigh of relief, having narrowly avoided the hidden arrow. But just as he did, another shrill whistling sound came, and a black bow and arrow shot out, piercing the soldier's heart before he could even react. A massive force emanated from the arrow, lifting the soldier off the ground and slamming him into the railing of the watchtower.

  With a loud crash, the soldier's body slammed into the fence, breaking off the wooden planks used to build the arrow tower. The soldier also fell from the arrow tower and landed on the ground with a thud.

  "What happened?"

  A loud, resonant voice came from the military camp, and Ji Ling's expression was cold and indifferent. He held a three-pointed, two-edged knife in his hand and rushed to the entrance of the camp, looking around left and right. His gaze finally fell on the soldier lying on the ground, dead as could be, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes.

  "General, there's an ambush in the woods!"

  The night patrol officer stepped forward and said. The officer's words had just fallen when Ji Ling suddenly shouted, "Be careful!"

  As soon as the voice fell, Ji Ling stretched out his hand and pulled the school lieutenant back, then threw him behind him. In an instant, Ji Ling's right hand shook, and the three-pointed double-edged knife in his hand rose up, and in another instant, it chopped out. A clear and cold arc of light flashed across the night sky, and a huge force emanated from the three-pointed double-edged knife. Where the knife light passed, a sharp whistling sound pierced the air. The three-pointed double-edged knife that chopped down from the sky accurately split the black bow and arrow into two halves.

  "Hum, a hidden arrow hurts people, just a group of despicable thieves who can't show their faces!"

  Ji Ling sheathed his sword and stood up, with a fierce blaze of anger shooting out from his eyes. Bao Hong, who had just put on his clothes in the tent, walked out of the tent and saw Ji Ling chop out with one knife, cutting the bow and arrow in half. His mouth was wide open, and his eyes were filled with astonishment. It wasn't until then that he truly witnessed Ji Ling's ferocity, silently admitting to himself that Ji Ling was indeed the number one general under Yuan Shu. At the same time, he also made up his mind that he must never provoke Ji Ling, or else it would be a bad deal if he were chopped to death by him with just one knife.

  In the mountain forest, Wang Can clearly saw Ji Ling cut the bow and arrow in half with one knife, and a thick color of fear flashed in his eyes.

  "Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao, having seen Ji Ling's swordsmanship, do you two really have the confidence to entangle Ji Ling?" Wang Can asked in a low voice. At this time, he had witnessed Ji Ling's stunning one-knife move and finally understood the gap between himself and these top-notch martial artists. The pride of being unbeatable in close combat vanished without a trace, leaving only intense fighting spirit.

  If it were a sneak attack, under the unexpected circumstances, Wang Can had absolute confidence in shooting and killing Ji Ling.

  However, a vigilant Ki is impossible to shoot and kill. With martial arts skills reaching the level of Ki, one's senses are extremely sharp, making it impossible to be easily shot and killed.

  Zhou Cang's expression was calm, and he simply nodded slightly: "Ji Ling's knife skills are already excellent, very good. But it's just formidable, not the most terrifying. Among the world's top knife experts, the most formidable is still Liu Bei's second brother Guan Yu. His knife skills are like a ghostly god, unmatched by anyone. When I and Old Pei were under the command of Da Xian Liang Shi, we saw Guan Yu take action, his knife skills were simply human-killer, god-killer!"

  Zhou Cang spoke as he glanced at Ji Ling standing at the gate of the camp, and said confidently: "Ji Ling is also formidable, but I and Old Pei join forces, we can definitely entangle Ji Ling. If he doesn't escape, the two of us can wear him out to death. It's just that if he desperately wants to escape, we can't do anything about it."

  Wang Can's mouth was agape with shock, thinking that Ji Ling was already very fierce, but Guan Yu turned out to be even more formidable.

  Damn it, looks like I still need to work hard on the true martial arts of Tai Ping Yin Jue, otherwise in the future I really won't have the courage to fight with these generals.