Chapter 26: A Single Force That Can Change the Course of Heaven and Earth (Seeking Recommendations, Favorites)

  The front mountain pass of Canglong Ridge with lush vegetation and overlapping peaks.

  The terrain is flat and open. Half of it is Gobi and half is grassland, but now they are all covered with a thin layer of residual snow.

  A winding and slanting mountain path, wide enough for two strong horses to gallop side by side, leads directly to the half-way up the mountain gate tower of a stronghold built entirely with hundred-year-old timber.

  At this moment, on this mountain path that should have been quiet and deserted, there were loud voices and several hundred torches almost illuminating the night sky.

  Mu Haolin now had a strong urge to kill someone. Although he was filled with rage, his rationality told him that he could only hold back for the time being, otherwise Lao San's life would definitely not be spared.

  They returned from Tangjia Fort with a full load, and no one would have thought that a rebellion had occurred on the mountain. If it weren't for Lang Ying bringing his scouting team to explore the road ahead, he felt something was wrong when approaching the mountain stronghold, and timely warned, blocking the unguarded large troops behind from entering the stronghold, or else there might be even more chaos.

  The reason for the rebellion, Mu Hailin couldn't figure out at this time, only knew that it was originally one of his subordinates, a small leader named Cha Sandao, who didn't know what means to gather a group of people, and actually tied up more than 70 people including Mu Haitao and Kurban, the entire mountain stronghold is now under the control of Cha Sandao's men.

  Cha San Dao originally intended to take advantage of the opportunity to welcome back the master, but he also took Mu Haolin hostage. However, Lang Ying saw through his trick and in a fit of rage, he had no choice but to use Mu Haitao as a human shield, holding a gun to Mu Haolin's head, causing a standoff between the two sides at the entrance of the stronghold.

  Before leaving the mountain stronghold, Mu Haolin had secretly agreed with Mu Haitao to have him personally lead a group of people to wait at the gate and welcome them. Zha San Dao had calculated everything but did not expect that his plan would be exposed due to Lang Ying's few questions.

  With the weapons and equipment they currently have in their hands, it's not easy to kill into the village. However, more than 70 brothers were caught by Cha San Dao and his companions, and if they forced their way in, they would inevitably let Mu Haitao and the more than 70 people be killed.

  At this moment, Mu Hailin felt extremely suffocated in his heart. He never thought that Cha Sandao, who was not usually prominent, would be so bold as to commit a crime against his superiors.

  "Cha San Dao, you can still back down now!" Mu Haitao forced himself to remain calm and composed, his tone steady as he shouted: "What conditions do you have? Just name them, for the sake of our many years of brotherhood, I'll try my best to satisfy you."

  "It's not worth wasting our breath on this kind of nonsense, especially when it comes to deceiving a three-year-old child." The voice from the imitation gatehouse sounded extremely calm. "To be honest with you, I am a member of the Niu family. Niu Huai-de once did me a favor, and I must repay that kindness, so I can only offend the master and brothers."

  "So you've been planning this all along?" Mu Hailin roared with laughter in extreme anger.

  "Everyone has their own master, people in the world are not free. " Zha San Dao replied calmly, obviously this person's mental quality is quite strong.

  "What do you want in order to let him go!" Mu Haolin asked gritting his teeth.

  "Tell your men to lay down their arms. I'll take temporary charge of all the camel carts." Cha San Dao replied calmly.

  "You're dreaming!" Lang Ying replied coldly, holding the TC1915 semi-automatic rifle level, his sights locked onto the figure swaying on the mountain stronghold's gate tower. "Cha San Dao, do you believe I'll take you down with one shot?"

  "I believe in your marksmanship, Great Desert Lone Wolf Lang Ying." Cha San Dao held a torch that illuminated his entire person and said gloomily: "However, at the same time I die, I guarantee Mu San Shao's head will also be blown open."

  "Big brother, don't mind me, kill this scum!" Mu Haitao, who was tied up by five people, struggled and shouted loudly on the gate tower: "Kill him, avenge me and my brothers!"

  "Shut up!" Cha San Dao, standing beside Mu Haitao, slapped him with the back of his hand, causing Mu Haitao's mouth to bleed profusely. "With you, Third Brother Mu, by my side, I won't feel lonely on the road to the Yellow Springs."

  Just as both sides were at a stalemate, the "Tangjia Fort No. 1" airship quietly arrived at an altitude of three thousand meters above the mountain stronghold.

  The commotion at the front mountain pass of Canglong Ridge was so great that Tang Dynasty had already discovered it from a distance on their airship.

  However, the Tang Dynasty did not immediately intervene to help Mu Hailin. The first reaction of the Tang Dynasty was to quickly investigate whether there were large enemy troops in the surrounding areas of Qinglong Ridge.

  The airship circled around Qinglong Ridge, with an increasingly larger radius, and finally discovered a large-scale cavalry unit of over 3,000 people, speeding towards Qinglong Ridge from the east of Luobuzhuang, 120 kilometers away.

  Judging by the cavalry's marching speed, the Tang army estimated that within four hours at most, their vanguard would clash with Muhe Linge's troops.

  Now Tang understood why he suddenly felt palpitations, it was a warning of impending crisis.

  The situation is urgent. If the hostage crisis in the stronghold cannot be resolved before the enemy arrives at Canglong Ridge, Mu Haolin and others, as well as the large amount of military supplies they carry, may fall into the enemy's encirclement.

  Tang Dynasty swiftly changed direction, flying towards Canglong Ridge. As they approached the mountain stronghold, Tang ordered the engines to be shut down, allowing the airship to glide downwards using its momentum, avoiding startling the group of "bandits" inside the stronghold.

  At this time, the armed robot made its first formal combat debut. Due to the lack of an enemy identification device, Tang Dynasty could only lead the team in person, otherwise these humanoid killing machines would slaughter all carbon-based life forms within their field of vision.

  He took a set of special warfare suits identical to those worn by the bodyguards from the armory, and Tang Dynasty quickly changed out of his Northern Army uniform into the full black special operations suit.

  The black Kevlar helmet was surprisingly light, and the matching bulletproof vest made Tang feel a great sense of security. The tactical backpack was stuffed with bullets and clips for his MP5 submachine gun.

  On his right thigh hangs a Desert Eagle, and on the outside of his left calf is inserted a D80 Tiger Tooth combat knife that has undergone light-absorbing treatment.

  After debugging the infrared night vision device on the goggles, Tang Dynasty communicated with Xiaomao and the twelve special guards through the earpiece again. Only then did he hold up his MP5 and issue the first combat order: "Fly down to fifty meters and drop the slide rope!"

  Lan Xin, who had been watching Tang Chao's actions from the side, saw him take a deep breath and couldn't help but tense up as well.

  "Boss, give me a gun, I'm very accurate with it. I want to go with you." Lan Xin gathered her courage and asked Tang Chao to join the battle.

  "This time you're not prepared, next time I'll take you with me to kill someone." Tang Dynasty used his left hand wearing a black tactical soft leather glove to gently pat Lan Xin's cheek and smiled casually: "Stay on the airship, wait for my return."

  The red warning lights on the airship lit up soon, followed by a cold mechanical voice: "Arrived at safe landing zone, ready to land at any time."

  "First team in action, second team on standby." Tang Dynasty calmly gave the order as he walked towards the slowly opening landing window.

  Under the cover of night, "Tang's Fortress No. 1" silently hovered above a deserted courtyard about two hundred meters away from the mountain stronghold's gate.

  Three steel cables dropped straight down, three black-clad special agents held the rappelling rope with one hand and an MP5 in shooting position with the other, their movements slightly stiff as they descended from the sky.

  In less than five seconds, the three black-clad special agents landed safely, immediately dropped to one knee, raised their guns and took aim, keeping watch in three different directions.

  Then, three black-clad special agents from the second group also slid down closely behind.

  "A safe group."

  "Group Two Secure."

  Hearing the safety report coming from the earpiece, Tang Chao reached out and grasped the rappelling rope, tugging it forcefully to make sure it was secure. Only then did he use his left hand to tightly grip the rope, hold his breath, and leap down.

  One minute later, thirteen black figures, like thirteen ghosts emerging from the ground, silently and quietly left the deserted courtyard and quickly approached the area where the hostages were being held.

  Real-time reconnaissance images transmitted from airships allowed Tang Dynasty to have no worries about getting lost in this vast stronghold.

  Zha San Dao had all the good men of the Iron Rider Alliance, who were under his control, concentrated and locked up in the hall of the mountain stronghold. Everyone's hands and feet were tied up, with a cloth stuffed into their mouths.

  The Tang Dynasty had already found the location of the target through infrared scanning on the airship, and this rescue action was simply like using a cattle knife to kill a small chicken.

  "Eliminate all handheld weapons, beings carrying weapons on their bodies that can move freely!" The Tang Dynasty issued the massacre order with extreme cold blood.

  The MP5 with a silencer installed emitted a faint hum continuously.

  Every time a shot rang out, one of the horse thieves wearing sheepskin coats would take a bullet to the head, their brains bursting open, and they wouldn't even have time to let out a warning cry before falling dead on the spot.

  Twenty-seven bandits responsible for guarding the hostages at different locations were shot dead in less than a minute.

  This batch of sudden and violent killers, with their guns firing at the heads of their victims, their methods ruthless and cold-blooded, made all the hostages in the hall feel terrified.

  Tang soon found an acquaintance among the crowd, a Uyghur named Kurban who had drunk with everyone at Tang's family stronghold.

  Removing the goggles from his face, Tang Chao quickly walked up to Kurban and cut off the ropes on Kurban's body with his tiger-toothed dagger.

  "Notify everyone to be silent, I still have to go and save Haitao." The Tang Dynasty general handed the knife to Kurban's hand, instructed a sentence, then took the twelve black-clad special guards, quickly moving forward in the direction of the camp gate.

  "Kurban, what was that just now? How come the guns in their hands didn't make a sound?" A burly man with a bushy beard, who was being untied by Kurban, asked in a low voice, his face full of surprise. From his eyes and skin tone, it was clear at a glance that he was an old Muscovite.

  "He is our boss, Mr. Tang of the Tang Dynasty." Kurban's eyes were full of reverence as he looked in the direction where Tang had just disappeared and said in a low voice: "The boss has taken action himself, Cha Sandao this dog thief is dead for sure!"

  In front of the Shan Zhai Gate, Cha San Dao and Mu Hai Lin were still continuing to grind their teeth, neither side could do anything about the other.

  It's obvious that Zhang San is using negotiation as an excuse to drag things out.

  Mu Hailin was very clear about Cha Sandao's intentions, but he had no way to deal with it, unless he could bear to let his own brother die on the spot.

  "Dà dāng jiā de, I think something is off." Lang Ying, standing beside Mu Hailin, whispered: "The surname Cha spent so much effort delaying us, he must have an ulterior motive. I suspect he's waiting for the Black Wind Fortress and Niu Family's main forces to arrive!"

  "You mean Ma Zhongqiang and Niu Fumin will make a move tonight?" Mu Hailin asked with a puzzled expression.

  "During the day, we'll move our main forces to Tangjia Fort, and the mountain stronghold will be almost defenseless. If Heifeng Stronghold and Niu's people get this information, they won't miss such a great opportunity." Lang Ying speculated: "Cha Sandao didn't expect us to rush back overnight. If they don't have external reinforcements, I think he doesn't have the guts to rebel."

  "If all else fails, we can only sacrifice Old Three!" Mu Haolin gritted his teeth and glared at Cha Sandao on the gate tower, "I cannot put all my brothers in danger for the sake of Old Three's life."

  "Shall we launch a surprise attack from the rear mountain and see if there's an opportunity to rescue Third Brother?" Lang Ying asked, his heart filled with reluctance.

  "I'm afraid it's too late." Mu Hailin looked up at the bright moon on the horizon, and his face suddenly turned gloomy enough to frost over. "Notify everyone to prepare for battle, with my gunshot as the signal, we'll launch a strong attack and charge in!"

  "Let's wait a bit longer!" Qi Daguang's face showed that he couldn't bear to ask: "What we're doing is no different from killing Mu San'ge!"

  "Cha San Dao, I give you the last three minutes. If you let them go, Mu Haolin swears to Allah that he will ensure your safe departure with all your men!" Mu Haolin shouted loudly towards the gate of the stockade: "After three minutes, if you don't release them, we'll fight to the death! Old Three, don't blame me, wait for me in heaven and watch me take revenge for you!"

  "Hahaha! Big boss, you're telling me to be ruthless? I'm not afraid at all!" Cha Sandao laughed loudly and said: "From the moment I decided to take action, I never thought I could walk out of here alive. Mu, if you have the guts, let's...

  "I'll help you achieve your goal!"

  A cold and stern voice came from within the village.

  The two horse bandits standing beside Mu Haitao, pointing their guns at his head, suddenly had their heads burst like rotten watermelons.

  This is obviously the result of at least a caliber heavy sniper rifle's terror effect!

  The other two bandits standing guard with guns were also shot in the head almost simultaneously and fell from the gate tower to the ground.

  Tang Dynasty emerged from the shadow of the stockade wall and walked while firing his MP5 at Cha San Dao on the gate tower.

  Cha San Dao's two shoulder blades were all smashed into pieces. Next, Cha San Dao's double knee caps were also shattered, and his tall and majestic body knelt uncontrollably on the wooden floor of the gatehouse.

  It's clear that the Tang Dynasty didn't intend to take Zhao San Dao's life, but rather left his fate in the hands of Mu Hai Lin to deal with.

  The sudden change of events not only caught Zhang San Dao off guard, but also left Mu Hai Lin and others outside the village staring blankly, unsure of what had happened.

  Was it Zhang Sandao's people who defected at the last minute?

  This is the first reaction in the minds of the vast majority of people, including Mu Hailin.

  "It sounds like the boss's voice." Lang Ying said vaguely, his tone not very certain.

  The closed gate of the village was opened from inside, Tang Dynasty's right hand held the MP5 silencer submachine gun upside down, with the muzzle pointing at the ground, and his left hand took off the goggles and held them in his hand.

  "Lao Mu, inform the brothers to prepare for battle immediately!" Tang Dynasty shouted in a deep voice: "The people in the village have been rescued by my men, and Haitao is now safe. The large troops of Niu Jia and Hei Feng Gang are already on their way to Cang Long Ridge, and they will arrive at the latest within four hours. Time is running out for you!"

  "It's the boss!"

  "What a boss! The boss is simply a godsend!"

  "Long live the boss!"

  “……”

  Lang Ying and others, after being shocked, one by one, shouted and jumped for joy, rushing towards the gate of the camp.

  Collected! Thank you.