“Since we know where they are, just charge in and kill them all!” Liu Hongwu exclaimed, her frown disappearing as she moved to rush forward.
“Why are you stopping me?” Liu Hongwu turned to glare at Ye Tian’s hand.
Ye Tian rolled his eyes, looking at her as if she were an idiot. “Do you know how many mountain bandits there are? Do you know who their most powerful expert is and what level he’s at? You just want to rush in without any information? Please—if you want to die, don’t drag us with you!”
The other nine Squad Leaders nodded in agreement. Although they were wary of Liu Hongwu’s power, none of them were willing to play with their own lives.
Liu Hongwu snorted angrily but still waited silently for Ye Tian’s plans despite her obvious fury.
Ye Tian happily accepted her silence and ignored the young girl, turning to one of the other Squad Leaders. “Old Zhang, I heard you were a hunter and I’ve seen you fight. You’re fast and quiet, so go scout ahead. Find out their numbers and try to figure out their leader’s cultivation level. Be careful.”
Old Zhang was a skinny, monkey-like man with dark skin and ordinary features, but despite his appearance, he was actually Ye Tian’s second most powerful Squad Leader, a Level Eight Martial Artist.
“Heehee, rest assured little boss. Leave this task to me.” Old Zhang chuckled in reply, a flicker of disdain flashing through his eyes.
Ye Tian paid no mind to the man’s unruliness, understanding that it would take time for the older men to respect him.
The old foxes weren’t as strong as Ye Tian but they were all stubborn and arrogant. None of them would willingly take orders from a seventeen year old brat.
The nine Squad Leaders only maintained a veneer of respect, only nominally obeying Ye Tian because of his power and the Scarlet Guard’s strict discipline.
But Ye Tian didn’t care whether these people respected him; he only needed them to obey.
Once Old Zhang left, Ye Tian had the other eight Squad Leaders prepare fire arrows. Every Scarlet Guard carried bows and fire arrow tips they could attach to their ammunition.
Though the mountain was cool, Ye Tian thought that the weather was quite suitable today—the bright sun would evaporate most of the mountain’s surface moisture by noon.
When that time came, a single fire arrow would definitely start a small blaze.
With a hundred Scarlet Guard recruits, if everyone shot out a couple arrows, the hundreds of arrows would surely set the canyon ablaze.
This was the core of Ye Tian’s strategy. Attack with fire and crush the bandits’ morale from a range before moving in and destroying them.
Of course, the plan would only work if the bandit leader’s cultivation was within a certain range. If the bandit leader was an expert like the Commanders, then they could only run away.
Ye Tian wasn’t an idiot. He would only attack if he could win; otherwise, there was no way he would risk his life.
“Hey, rotten brat, what are you thinking? You look so devious!” A rude feminine voice called out, interrupting Ye Tian’s planning.
Obviously it was the Liu Hongwu girl again. Ye Tian cocked his head, glancing at the young girl. She was once again staring angrily at him.
“Rotten brat. They all have tasks, so why do I have nothing? Do you look down on me?” the young girl yelled, raising her little fists.
Ye Tian sneered: “You’re not my equal; are you sure you want to humiliate yourself?”
“You…” Liu Hongwu stuttered with fury.
Just as she was really about to attack, Ye Tian hurriedly interrupted: “Alright, stop messing around. You definitely have a part to play. When we start fighting later, you’ll need to quickly pick off the experts among the bandits.”
“Hmph, so you understand that you need this young lady. Relax—when this young lady moves, the mountain bandits will be destroyed.” Liu Hongwu cocked her head proudly, eyeing him disdainfully.
No group of mountain bandits had ever defeated a company of Scarlet Guards in all their history. The girl had grown up on the fame of her father’s troops and the prestige of her own prodigious talent, so naturally, she looked down on these bandits.
Just from looking at her arrogant face, Ye Tian knew something would definitely go wrong, but in the end, he said nothing. If she didn’t suffer a little, she would never grow.
Time passed and about two hours later, the skinny, monkey-like figure returned, loping towards Ye Tian.
Squad Leader Zhang had returned with his report.
“Little Boss!” Old Zhang called out happily, pride on his face as the other Squad Leaders gathered around.
“Speak. What did you see?” Ye Tian said directly, paying no mind to the “little boss” nickname.
Old Zhang didn’t dare to offend Ye Tian too much and quickly began explaining what he had seen.
“The bandits are incredibly arrogant. They aren’t even a little cautious after robbing our Blood Jade City, drinking and celebrating as if we wouldn’t come for them. There weren’t even lookouts and guards, and it looked like every single bandit was partying,” Old Zhang explained, smirking coldly.
At these words, the others began to relax, smiling coldly as well. They never expected mountain bandits to have higher cultivation levels than them; and if their targets were really so foolish, their victory was assured.
But Ye Tian didn’t relax his questioning. “How many did you see? What were their cultivation levels like?” These were the only facts he cared about.
“I watched them for an hour. They have around five thousand people, mostly Level Three or Four Martial Artists. There were around thirty Level Seven warriors, six Level Eight, and two Level Nines who were probably the leaders,” Old Zhang casually replied.
Even though the bandits outnumbered them more than ten to one, their combat power was incomparable. The weakest warrior under Ye Tian’s command was a Level Seven Martial Artist, and they had ten Level Eights and two Level Tens.
The only real threat to their troop was the pair of Level Nine leaders. Once Ye Tian and Liu Hongwu killed those two, the rest of the mountain bandits would collapse. They would stand no chance.
Once the cowardly mountain bandits began to lose, they would soon retreat and scatter.
After Old Zhang’s report, all of the Squad Leaders began to relax, eagerly awaiting Ye Tian’s order to rush in and start killing!
Ye Tian relaxed as well. The mountain bandits were weaker than he had expected; as long as they didn’t have a Martial Master expert, he feared nothing.
Ye Tian was the equivalent of a weak Martial Master; killing the two Level Nine mountain bandit leaders would only take him two strikes.
After a moment of thought, Ye Tian began gesturing and giving orders to the ten Squad Leaders. He continued with his fire attack plan, still doing his best to ensure the fewest casualties.
With his orders given, the recruits began carefully moving forward, heading for the noisy canyon.
When they approached, the thicket of grass and trees could no longer block the mountain bandit’s lair from view.
The huge canyon was dotted with caves where the bandits lived. It was a pretty clever shelter, an easily defensible location against beasts and provided harbor from the wind. It would be cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
In the middle of the canyon stood some wooden racks, a picket line for horses, some raised platforms and miscellaneous buildings. The majority of the bandits were gathered around the large square beside the buildings, eating, drinking, and singing.
“Brothers! We’ve taken down the Blood Jade City’s caravan and our boss is about to break through to Martial Master! It’s a wonderful day! Everyone, celebrate!”
One of the Level Nine leaders was yelling to the other bandits, but he was too far away for the Scarlet Guard recruits to hear his words.
“Little boss!”
The ten Squad Leaders were ready and waiting for Ye Tian’s orders.
Ye Tian eyed the partying bandits once more before turning to his men, finally gesturing and calling out: “Fire!”
Shua shua shua! Shua shua shua! Shua shua shua!
The hundred Scarlet Guards stood, cocking their prepared arrows and aiming for the gathered mountain bandits.
Xiu xiu…
The rain of arrows fell down, lighting buildings and clothes on fire. A huge flame quickly grew, roaring upwards hungrily.
“Ah…”
“Sh*t! Where are they coming from?”
“Enemy attack!”
“Over there! Kill them all!”
…
The canyon erupted with chaos as the bandits snarled and roared. Some of the mountain bandits had been killed instantly by the arrows while others were crushed by the collapsing buildings. Some of the more cowardly fellows were already fleeing as the others tried to rally an attack. Needless to say, morale was low.
Seizing the opportunity, Ye Tian leapt up and roared: “Charge! Kill them all! Make them fear our Scarlet Guard!”
Ye Tian unsheathed his saber and rushed down into the canyon, cutting his way through the brave mountain bandits, limbs and blood flying around him.
None of these bandits could last a single blow, none of them even stalling Ye Tian as he pummeled his way through them.
“Kill!” The Scarlet Guards cried out, following their powerful boss, spirits high and blood pumping.