“Our two families have never been on good terms. Today, I’ve led everyone here to settle our past grudges and beat up your Yellow Pond Mountain!”
On the way, everyone had discussed that this time, Tiger Head Mountain, their old opponent, would take action and challenge them as usual.
Zhou Jing and the others did not appear for the time being. They remained hiding in the team and waited for the person to be lured out before attacking.
When Xu Gui heard this, he was not angry. He stroked his beard and teased, “Why is Chief Peng in such a good mood today? Could it be that you’ve gotten more loot than usual?”
“Don’t try to use such methods. Hurry up and come out to fight!”
Peng Jin raised his saber and pointed it at him, shouting for battle.
Xu Gui’s expression did not change as he said unhurriedly, “I’m not feeling well today, so I’m not in the mood to play with you. Moreover, the lives of my brothers are precious. How can I just make them fight with you guys for no reason at all?”
At this moment, Shi Dong suddenly had a flash of inspiration and deliberately shouted,
“Could it be that you guys don’t dare to accept the challenge? Hmph, a bunch of cowards. I think you shouldn’t be called Yellow Pond Mountain anymore. Why don’t you call it… Let’s call it Lascivious Mountain!”
(TL Note: The word lascivious shares the same character as the word pond, so it’s actually a wordplay of sorts.)
He remembered how he had fallen into Fang Zhen’s hands, so he followed suit to curse at them.
However, Xu Gui was not angry at all. He instead started to laugh,
“It’s been a long time since we last met, and the Mr Stone Leader has learned how to use his brain. However, only a fool would fall for a mere provocation, right?”
“Who are you calling a fool!” Shi Dong blushed in embarrassment.
The corners of Fang Zhen’s mouth twitched when he heard this. He secretly kicked Shi Dong from behind to tell him to shut up and stop embarrassing himself.
Xu Gui glanced at everyone before he slowly spoke again,
“Chief Peng, I’m not in the mood to spar with you recently. If you want to fight, come and try attacking my stronghold. Otherwise, go back to where you came from.”
With that, he directly left the crenellations and did not speak to anyone else. He rode the basket back to the main village on the cliff.
Peng Jin was dumbfounded.
Since the other party did not accept the challenge, he immediately had no chance to perform as well.
Yellow Pond Mountain was heavily guarded, and there were also archers on duty. It was impossible for his 2,000 people to attack head-on, so they could only stand there and watch.
“That Xu guy is really a coward. What should we do now?” Shi Dong scratched his head.
“What’s the hurry? Let me think.”
Peng Jin felt a little embarrassed and started to rack his brains.
However, after thinking for dozens of seconds, he could not even let out a brain fart, let alone an idea.
Zhou Jing rolled his eyes and said, “Don’t waste your energy. Let me think of a way instead.”
“Brother, what sort of plan do you have?”
Peng Jin heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly diverted the attention on himself.
Zhou Jing sized up the terrain of Yellow Pond Mountain and then looked at the sky. His eyes flashed as he made up his mind.
“Since Yellow Pond Mountain is unwilling to accept the battle, we can’t just wait here… How about this? You guys set up camp here and confront each other. Every once in a while, you guys will curse and shout, all the way until night time before you give them a chance to rest. At that time, I’ll quietly climb the mountain and sneak into their stronghold to attack from the inside. I’ll directly take down their leader and force them to surrender. This way, the matter will be settled.”
After being sent away at the doorstep, he had to do something. If he could not lure his opponent out of the stronghold, he could only use some extreme methods.
Because there were two stronghold areas in Yellow Dang Mountain, he could not split himself up. If he broke through the door alone again, it would not be of much use. Moreover, the defense level of Yellow Pond Mountain far exceeded that of Tiger Head Mountain as well. He did not know where they got the bows and arrows from, but they had arranged for many archers to stand guard at the passes and on the arrow towers. If he wanted to break through the door, he would have to withstand a large wave of arrows and have a certain chance of being injured.
It was fine to barge in, but the risk was not small. Therefore, after thinking about it, Zhou Jing felt that it was better to use a more flexible method this time.
Although Yellow Pond Mountain’s terrain was dangerous, his skills were enough for him to climb it easily. As long as he took advantage of the night to avoid the sentries’ vision, it would not be a problem for him to sneak into the stronghold. He could also sneak into the place and silence any bandits he went past.
Guo Haishen was however a little worried, “Second Brother, it’s not too good for you to go alone. I’ll accompany you.”
Zhou Jing shook his head, “There’s no need. It’s easier for me to move alone. If I want to leave, they won’t be able to stop me. Big Brother is also an expert in martial arts, so you should remain here just in case.”
Hearing this, Guo Haishen could only agree.
Everyone had seen Zhou Jing’s bravery and did not object to this plan. They immediately followed Zhou Jing’s instructions and called for the lackeys to camp on the spot before beginning their tirade.
…
At the same time, Xu Gui returned to the main stronghold and was discussing with the leaders of Yellow Pond Mountain inside their meeting hall.
“Chief, that Tiger Head Mountain was defeated by us so many times. Now, they actually dare to clamor below. How despicable. Why don’t you let us go out and fight them head-on? Now that we’re locked up, it seems like we’re afraid. We’re increasing their prestige for no reason!”
Another leader, Yu Zhen, complained loudly.
Xu Gui’s eyes flickered as he slowly spoke,
“Tiger Head Mountain came up the mountain to declare war without any warning. There must be something fishy. I saw that Peng Jin seemed to want to lure us out. Although I don’t know the reason, I can’t let him have his way. I’ll let him curse outside for the time being and leave him hanging to dry.”
The leaders nodded and accepted this explanation.
Although Xu Gui did not know much about martial arts and was the weakest among the leaders, he had led Yellow Pond Mountain to rise up over the years. All the leaders had long trusted him.
Xu Gui stroked his beard and pondered.
“For Peng Jin to dare to block our village with just 2,000 people, he must have something to rely on. However, I don’t know what it is. However, he’s so arrogant and gave me a chance. If I take the opportunity to take down Peng Jin and the others, I can swallow Tiger Head Mountain. From then on, our Yellow Pond Mountain will dominate the Lu River!”
The eyes of the leaders lit up. With this tempting pancake in front of them, they immediately became excited.