Chapter 22: Luring the Snake out of its Hole

  Xiao Yu settled down with Xiao Hong and Long Hui, while Xiao Yu was snickering and fell asleep on the bed. Today's big battle, he seemed to be carefree, directing calmly, but in fact, he was also extremely exhausted.

  I slept well today, but tomorrow I still have to prepare to rob an even stronger gang. Although we won the victory of a battle, the crisis that follows has just begun.

  What a pity! I was so heroic today, defeating the 5,000-strong army of Karu, yet no one came to comfort me. Tonight is truly lonely.

  Xiao Yu hugged a big pillow, and the images of her five sisters-in-law flashed in her mind one after another, and she fell asleep beautifully.

  "Is that powerful bandit den you mentioned just here?" Xiao Yu looked at the village in front of her with a puzzled expression, somewhat disbelieving.

  Xiao Yu asked Zhao Hu to find a larger bandit den for him, so that he could wipe out more bandits at once and plunder more wealth to quickly produce new troops.

  But unexpectedly, after being taken by Zhao Hu for over a hundred miles, they arrived at such a seemingly peaceful village. Inside, there were old men and women working, children playing, only the village's periphery was surrounded by high wooden city walls.

  "It's not bad, it's just that this place has been developed for a long time by these bandits, and they have already settled down, many of them have children and wives, so the stronghold and some villages are almost the same. This is still a relatively small one, some large bandit dens, with men, women, old and young, all adding up to tens of thousands of people, not smaller than ordinary cities." Zhao Hu explained to Xiao Yu with a serious expression.

  "Unbelievable, isn't this still my territory? Someone is actually so brazenly encroaching on my land, not putting me in their eyes at all...". Xiao Yu was suddenly extremely indignant, these bandits were really too arrogant, even operating like him, the lord.

  In fact, Xiao Hong and Long Hui both knew about these things, they just didn't have the energy to eliminate those bandits anymore.

  Due to the prolonged war and continuous conscription, the number of loyal subjects under the Lion King's rule has dwindled, with many even fleeing to the bandits' territory to live under their protection.

  Some bandits were more farsighted and implemented some policies of low taxes and light corvée, attracting many people, and their forces were not much smaller than those of the Lion King's territory.

  This Lion King Territory is nominally a territory conferred by the Tian Shi Wang Dynasty, but in reality it's just an empty shell. Everyone still does their own thing and doesn't care about this so-called Lion King Territory.

  "How many people are there in this bandit's lair?" Xiao Yu observed while thinking of a way to capture and eliminate all the bandits at once.

  "There are about five or six thousand people in this stronghold, and there are probably over a thousand bandit soldiers who can fight, no more than one thousand five hundred. The rest are all old, weak, women and children." Zhao Hu knew the situation of the bandits in this area very well.

  "We have 1,500 troops now. Two hundred beastmen infantry are equipped with armor, two hundred elf archers have reached level 2, and one hundred elf hunters serve as light cavalry. Annihilating them shouldn't be a problem, but how can we minimize our losses? Xiao Yu lowered his head, thinking about what strategy could maximize the reduction of casualties. At the same time, he had no interest in killing some of the old, weak, women and children here; that would be too inhumane."

  So he also has to consider trying not to harm innocent people, which makes things more troublesome.

  After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Yu looked at Zhao Hu with a sly smile and said: "Zhao Hu, does the leader of this mountain stronghold know you?"

  Zhao Hu's heart skipped a beat, and he awkwardly smiled twice before saying, "I've met the young master once when I went to pay my respects with our leader, so Young Master Tong should recognize me."

  "Hmm, since it's like that, then it's easy to handle." Xiao Yu smiled like a fox.

  Before long, two swift horses rushed to the entrance of the stronghold. After arriving at the entrance, one of them shouted loudly: "Brothers from above, I'm from Dragon Tooth Stronghold and have important news to report to the master of this stronghold."

  The little gatekeeper above heard this and stretched his head down to take a look, saying: "Wait a minute, I'll go inform the chief first."

  "Master, will this trick work? If we get caught, won't we be killed?" Zhao Hu asked with a bitter face, speaking in a low voice to Xiao Yu.

  These two people were naturally Xiao Yu and Zhao Hu.

  Xiao Yu glared at him and said, "You're such a useless guy. Isn't it just about being brave enough to charge into the tiger's lair alone? You don't even have that kind of courage, what kind of hero are you supposed to be? What makes you think you can follow me on adventures around the world? Get your spirits up and don't let them see any weaknesses. In a bit, just do as I say."

  Zhao Huo nodded reluctantly and said, "Yes, master."

  Xiao Yu's heart was actually thinking, if the situation wasn't right, he would use his Wind Step to escape. His Wind Step had already reached its maximum level, and with his current physical strength, escaping shouldn't be a problem. It was just a pity about Zhao Hu, who seemed quite loyal.

  If Zhao Hu knew what Xiao Yu was thinking now, he would probably cry to death. This master is actually so irresponsible.

  Before long, the gate was wide open. A small leader-like figure waved his hand and said, "Come in."

  At once, Xiao Yu and Zhao Hu rode in. Under the leadership of this little chief, Xiao Yu and Zhao Hu quickly arrived at the conference hall in the stockade.

  In the hall, a burly man was sitting in the main seat, watching several dancing girls who had just been caught and brought back, with a lustful smile on his face.

  Xiao Yu looked at the big man, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. This person's strength was extremely high, estimated to have reached the peak of a first-class fighter, just one step away from entering the ranks of a second-class fighter.

  Xiao Yu estimated that even if Grom encountered him now, he would still have to put up a good fight. As for himself, encountering this person, he was afraid that he could only run away.

  Xiao Yu glanced around the hall and found that there were at least four or five Dou Zhe inside, with extremely strong auras. This made Xiao Yu vigilant, as although the beastman soldiers were incredibly powerful, they would still be at a disadvantage against Dou Zhe, unless all of them had reached level 10 and undergone a qualitative transformation.

  Fortunately, however, the number of gladiators is always limited, while there are two hundred of his own beastman infantry.

  Xiao Yu glanced again and suddenly found that among them, there was a magician with a lewd face who was staring at those dancing girls with shining eyes.

  "Grandma's, they actually have a magician too, but this magician seems to be not as powerful as that magician from Calu last time." Xiao Yu muttered to herself, and soon let Tyrande take care of him first.

  Even if it's a relatively weak magician, the magic launched will play a huge role in the army battle.

  "Nice to meet you, Master Dazhai." Zhao Hu walked forward and bowed respectfully to the person sitting in the seat.

  Xiao Yu immediately followed up and paid his respects.

  "Oh, are you referring to that... what was it, Fox?" The Big Boss laughed and said.

  Zhao Hu hastily smiled and said: "Yes, great bandit chief, I am Zhao Hu. My bandit chief has sent me here today to propose a good business deal for us to cooperate on."

  "What? What's a good deal?" The boss of the tavern raised an eyebrow and asked.

  Zhao Hu looked at Xiao Yu beside him and said, "Report to the leader, our leader had just received news a few days ago that a wealthy merchant from Kyoto is going to Yun Meng to purchase a batch of fur, carrying countless wealth with him. The route has been thoroughly investigated, but the other party has many skilled guards by his side. We don't dare act alone, so we've come specifically to ask the leader to cooperate with us. Later, the leader will take more and our leader will take less."

  "What? Is this really true?" The leader of the village heard this and immediately stood up, his face flushed with excitement, saying: "Is this news reliable?"

  Zhao Hu looked at Xiao Yu for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said: "Absolutely true, our great leader has already led the troops to follow, but didn't dare to take action, so he specially ordered me to come and find the leader urgently, and quickly deploy the troops. If we're late, it's possible that others will get there first."

  Dazhai Zhu heard Zhao Hu's words and immediately began pacing back and forth on the spot, deep in thought.

  The two or three bosses below him, it is said, also shifted their attention from these beautiful dancing girls and a greedy glint appeared in their eyes.

  After all, compared with a large sum of wealth, these beauties are insignificant.

  As long as there is money, what's the fear of no beauties?

  Seeing Dazhai's hesitation, Xiao Yu lightly nudged Zhao Hu with her elbow.

  Zhao Hu understood the implication and immediately said, "Great Master, to show our sincerity, our master has specially sent his younger cousin Xiao Yu along with me this time. Please help us, Master."

  "Oh? You actually have such sincerity?" The leader of the bandits turned around and looked at Xiao Yu.

  Xiao Yu hastily stepped forward and saluted, saying: "Great Chieftain, this is a rare opportunity. We also trust in the Great Chieftain's character, which is why we came to find you. Hopefully, when the time comes for the Great Chieftain to enjoy meat, he can spare us a bowl of soup."

  Dazhai Zhu listened to Xiao Yu's words and laughed, saying: "Wealth is shared by everyone, since it's like that, how can Tong Mou refuse? How many people do they have in total? How many troops do we need to deploy to settle this?"

  Xiao Yu heard this, and knowing that things had already been decided, took a step forward, narrowing his eyes as he smiled: "Although the Great Bandit Chief has strong troops and horses, the enemy's strength is also not to be underestimated. I suggest that the Great Bandit Chief deploy all of the bandits' elite forces, going all out with full force. Otherwise, if we fail at the last moment, it will let others gain an advantage. As long as this matter is accomplished, the Great Bandit Chief will have no worries about food and drink for ten years."

  Dazhai Zhu listened to Xiao Yu's words and slapped his shoulder heavily, saying loudly: "Good, since you're so enthusiastic, I naturally can't be stingy. When do we set off?"

  Xiao Yu's teeth chattered as he covered his shoulders and said: "Please ask the chief to send troops immediately, or else there will be changes."