Chapter 18: The Black Mountain Army Arrives

  Wobu Mountain is a great place, the entire mountain is covered with dense forest, and there is only one small path leading to the top. At the foot of Wobu Mountain, a small river separates it from the official road, and the small wooden bridge has long been dismantled. After crossing the river, along the winding path up the mountain, you need to pass through three checkpoints: Niuzui, Niujiao and Niubei.

  These three places are all easy to defend and hard to attack. The Ox Nose is shaped like an ox nose, with cliffs on both sides that are thousands of feet high. A huge boulder blocks the middle of the road, dividing the already narrow mountain path in two. The Ox Horns are even more peculiar, with two large rocks protruding from either side of the road almost touching each other in mid-air, forming an arch shape when viewed from below. The Ox Back Ridge is a mountain ridge, with the small road running along its peak. Although the slopes on either side are not steep, they are still 30-40 degrees, making it impossible to stand upright.

  Long Fei nodded: "With these few places, even if Zhang Yan sends 100,000 soldiers and horses, he can't take down Wocao Mountain. Brother Zhou, are there any hunters in the mountain stronghold?"

  "Got it!" Zhou Cang asked in puzzlement: "At this time, you still want to go up the mountain to hunt?"

  Long Fei shook his head and laughed, "You see, although we have three layers of insurance, they only need to not take the mountain path, and instead climb up from the side or back through the dense forest. We won't have any way to deal with them! I think Yang Feng is a bit capable, he must have guessed that we would set up ambushes in these few places, so let's do the opposite!"

  Zhou Cang shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand. Long Fei was completely speechless. Pei Yuanshao slapped his thigh: "Brother Long's meaning is, where we are weak, we pretend to be strong; where we are strong, we pretend to be weak. They guess that we have a large army in certain places, but we actually don't, and the places they think we don't have anyone, we actually have a large army."

  "What if Yang Feng and our people think of going together?" Zhao Yun furrowed his brow: "Yang Feng isn't a fool, we're being vague and specific at the same time, they're also being vague and specific, wouldn't that just let them in?"

  "This is a great question!" Long Fei glanced at everyone: "So I asked Brother Zhou to find the brothers who used to be hunters and let them set up traps all around except for this mountain path, the more the better. If Yang Feng wants to attack from both sides, he will have to remove these traps first, and we will know his plan. If he doesn't take the flanks, then he must take this small road! This is called forcing the enemy to show their hand!"

  "Alright! I'll go and arrange it now!" Zhou Cang was overjoyed, turned around and went out to find someone.

  In the camp of General Heishan Yamashita, 5,000 soldiers were also ready to go, waiting for Yang Feng's order to attack Woyao Mountain. Yang Feng was a clever man and had been observing the layout and defense of Woyao Mountain as he climbed up. He clearly saw the three most critical places. Comparing his own strength with the defense of Woyao Mountain, if he wanted to take down Woyao Mountain head-on, he would have to take down those three strategic locations first. Attacking those three places would inevitably result in heavy casualties and might even lead to the destruction of the entire army.

  Tao Sheng repeatedly urged Yang Feng to order the attack, but Yang Feng still couldn't make up his mind. Tao Sheng said coldly: "General Yang, the commander has already given a death order, and if we can't take down Woyang Mountain this time, you and I will have to accept military law!"

  Yang Feng remained silent. Tao Sheng continued, "Are you not thinking of attacking the mountain? If that's the case, I'll immediately report to the general, and don't blame me for being heartless later!"

  Yang Feng gave Tao Sheng a cold look, which made Tao Sheng take half a step back. He swallowed hard and smiled: "Of course, we are all brothers, I won't be so ruthless. But the commander said it clearly when we came, I have no choice either. General Yang, let's attack as soon as possible, the longer we delay, the more unfavorable it will be for us, don't you think?"

  Yang Feng sighed: "I also want to fight now, but look at the terrain of Wocuishan, there is only one small road leading up the mountain, and there are three dangerous places - Niuzui, Niujiao and Niubei. If we don't, Zhou Cang and others will definitely arrange heavy troops in these places. Our 5,000 men go up the mountain, taking down these few places will inevitably suffer heavy losses, and if we're not careful, we might even be annihilated. What can we do then to report to the general?"

  "Ah! What to do?" Tao Sheng's heart also sank when Yang Feng said that. When they were climbing the mountain, he had admired these few places for their danger, but now they had become obstacles in his way. After thinking for a moment: "Unless we attack from the side and avoid these few places?"

  Yang Feng shook his head: "Can you think of it and others can't? I've already sent someone to investigate, Zhou Cang has set up many traps around Wuyang Mountain in the past few days. If we want to ambush him, we'll have to get through these traps! Who knows who gave them this idea, alas..."

  The big account was silent. Yang Feng and Tao Sheng didn't speak again. Although they had the upper hand in terms of military strength, they lost in terms of terrain. Not to mention 5,000 soldiers, even if they were given another 5,000, it's not certain that they could take down Wocun Mountain. Time passed day by day, and in a flash, three days had passed. Yang Feng and Tao Sheng still hadn't come up with a good plan, but they couldn't not fight. The grain and grass they brought were about to run out, and if they didn't make a move, they would have to retreat. If they went back like this, Zhang Yan would definitely not let them off.

  The moonlight is great at night, the bright moonlight, and the twinkling stars. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the big city and the pollution in the air, it's quiet and peaceful here. Long Fei plucked up his courage, took a deep breath, and gently knocked on Wang Qian's door: "Wang Qian, is that you? Are you asleep?"

  There was no movement inside the house. Long Fei knocked a few more times and continued to ask, "I've come to apologize to you, there are some things I'd like to discuss with you in person, if you're asleep then we can talk about it tomorrow!"

  As soon as the words fell, the lights in the house suddenly turned on, and soft footsteps came towards the door. Long Fei subconsciously took a step back, ready to dodge at any moment. He knew how fierce this woman was, and she would pull out her knife at the slightest disagreement. Today, he had made up his mind, and under Wang Wei's repeated requests, he finally gathered the courage to come to Wang Qian's door.

  The small wooden door creaked open. Wang Qiang, with a haggard face, stood at the entrance, his eyes cold and resentful. Long Fei hastily put on a smile: "You're still not asleep! Hehe!"

  Wang Qian didn't say a word and turned to enter the house. Long Fei sighed and followed her in. A man and woman sleeping on the same bed for a night, even now many people can't accept it, let alone in ancient times. Although the Han Dynasty wasn't particularly popular with the saying "men and women shouldn't be intimate", a woman and a man sleeping together for a night, this kind of talk isn't very pleasant to hear when spoken out loud.

  The flame of the oil lamp kept jumping, just like the two people's mood was uncertain. Long Fei looked at the furnishings in the room, they were all simple and practical furniture, Zhou Cang was still quite meticulous, I don't know where he got a copper mirror the size of a bowl from and placed it on the cabinet in the corner of the wall. The quilt on the bed had already been spread out, it seemed that Wang Qian had gone to sleep earlier.

  "These bastards, for no reason at all, put us on the same bed, but don't worry, I'm a decent guy, that night I really didn't do anything!" Long Fei explained.

  Wang Qian didn't say a word, sitting opposite Long Fei with her eyes fixed on him. Long Fei continued: "That night I really drank too much and knew nothing, I can swear to heaven that I did nothing, I've already explained it clearly to them, this matter will never be spread out!"

  "Do you have a wife and concubines?" Wang Qiang suddenly asked.

  Long Fei was taken aback and hastily shook his head. Wang Qiang sighed and continued, "Then are you willing to marry me?"

  Long Fei was stunned. It was the first time a girl had asked Long Fei such a question, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond. To be honest, Wang Qian looked good, and every time Long Fei saw her, he looked at her with an appreciative eye for beauty, never thinking that one day this woman would become his own. Long Fei's frivolous behavior in today's view was a normal reaction of men towards women, if it were to be said that marrying Wang Qian as his wife, he really hadn't thought about it.

  "Aren't you willing?" Wang Qiang saw Long Fei hesitate, and his face clearly showed disappointment, his eyes also became much more confused.

  "No, no, no..." Long Fei waved his hand repeatedly: "You're such a beautiful girl, how could I not be willing? But I'm not worthy of you! Besides, I came here alone, with no relatives or friends. The world is about to fall into chaos, and it's uncertain whether we can even survive. It's not the right time to talk about this!"

  Wang Qian stepped forward, a dagger appearing in her hand. She raised it and placed the blade against her own neck: "I'll ask you one more time, are you willing to marry me?"

  "Put the dagger down first!" Long Fei was anxious, stepped forward to grab it, but Wang Qiang dodged quickly: "I'm a woman, and I slept with you on the same bed for a night, even if nothing happened, how would others see it? There are over a hundred people on this mountain, everyone knows about this matter. If you don't want me, then I'd rather die, so that others won't gossip behind my back."

  "Calm down, put the knife down and let's talk!" Long Fei knew that with Wang Qian's personality, she would definitely follow through on her words.

  Wang Qian looked at Long Fei, the dagger had already touched her delicate skin, and a thin stream of blood seeped out from the blade, dripping into Wang Qian's collar. Due to excitement, Wang Qian's face turned bright red, tears welled up in her eyes, and were about to fall. Long Fei was flustered, not knowing whether to advance or retreat. Looking at Wang Qian's expression, Long Fei suddenly felt that this woman wasn't bad either, except for being a bit hot-tempered, other aspects were also top-notch. He gritted his teeth and stomped his foot: "Alright, I'll marry you, hurry up and put the knife down."

  Wang Qian's tears flowed down her cheeks, mixing with the fresh blood on her neck and wetting her clothes. The sound of sobbing echoed through the house. Seizing the opportunity, Long Fei reached out and grabbed the dagger in Wang Qian's hand, flipping his wrist to execute a move that disarmed her, and then let out a sigh of relief: "Why bother? Such a beautiful girl is willing to marry me, I'm so lucky, haha... Alright, stop crying, I'll marry you!"

  Long Fei reached out to wipe away Wang Qian's tears, but unexpectedly, Wang Qian cried even harder. Suddenly, Long Fei tightly wrapped his arms around Wang Qian. At first, Wang Qian struggled a bit, but after a moment, she calmed down.