Chapter 127: Night Exploration of He Rui Peak (Part 1)

Li Bucai, when he arrived at the camp near He Rui Peak, found no Goblin signs inside; he did not hastily storm the summit, formed his troops into a single‑file line, then turned back, aiming to wipe out the Goblins behind him.

Infantry were at the rear, cavalry at the front, a double envelopment; the Goblin elite had already been exhausted, leaving only some infantry who could not form a fighting force. Most of those gathered near the narrow valley were juvenile Goblins, whose combat ability was only comparable to untrained soldiers newly arrived in the territory. Under Li Bucai's forward charge, they fled toward He Rui Peak, only to be blocked squarely by Li Bucai. Hundreds of cavalry swept like a net, cutting across the entire valley; a few Goblins squeezed through the gaps, but were overtaken by the cavalry and slain cleanly.

In this battle, together with the Goblins led by the Goblin Chieftain, nearly 2,000 were eliminated.

After the great battle, Li Bucai gathered his troops at the midpoint between the narrow valley and He Rui Peak; at that time, the sky had not yet brightened.

"I didn't expect you still have some skill." The Young Marshal rarely praises others, but this effortless, total victory was due to his bait‑and‑switch tactic, and he began to appreciate Li Bucai's tactics. The methods taught to people of Sky City are mostly tactical formations; when they face hostile fortifications they engage in conventional frontal battles and are not adept at striking unexpectedly, which is one reason they cannot establish themselves on the continent. Although Li Bucai has never studied military theory, there is an old Chinese saying: those who grow old without reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and those who are young without reading Water Margin, will, after reading the Three Kingdoms, naturally grasp some superficial principles of warfare. On Earth that would be only skin‑deep, but here, against a few greedy Goblins, it is more than enough.

"If it weren't for the Young Marshal's decisive assistance, even if I, Li Bucai, had ten heads, I would never dare to rashly attack this pack of Goblins."

Finally hearing a sensible remark from him, the Young Marshal couldn't help but smile and said, "Now, shall we strike while they are leaderless, or retreat to regroup first?"

The Young Marshal discovered that his tactics differed greatly from those taught by the Grand Masters of Sky City, often producing unexpected results. The first clash with Goblins succeeded because he lured the Goblins into a dense formation, allowing a smooth breach of the first line. Had he not done so, their two formations would have been identical; if they charged directly according to their own intent, they would have been surrounded after breaking through the first long line. Falling into a circle of 3,000 Goblin elite would have led to unimaginable consequences; even after eliminating 1,000 Goblins, if he had not acted in time, he would have died under the Goblin Chieftain's axe. Therefore, they wanted to see how Li Bucai's next plan would differ from theirs.

Li Bucai said, "After days of campaigning, the Young Marshal must be very exhausted."

"Just two minor battles, at most a warm‑up." The Young Marshal's vigor remained boundless.

"Since you don't intend to rest, how about we go up the mountain to take a look?"

"You mean, only bring a few people?"

How many Goblins remain on the mountain, how many are combat‑ready, and whether any Tree Elves are there are all unknown, so Li Bucai plans to first scout the mountain's defenses before making a decision.

Li Bucai nodded, "And you must be quick‑handed."

"No problem, Jian Yu, Jingyi, Zeyan, Sheng Yao." The four stepped forward at the call.

Among them, Jian Yu is a Lightning Shaman; Jingyi is a swordsman, a class that lies between warrior and assassin—after a close‑guard like Xianghong improves his aptitude, he becomes a swordsman; Zeyan is a shield‑bearer, not called a blade‑shield bearer because her weapons are two arm‑shields, the same person wounded by Wu Zhuoran in Luo Ping Hai's ant‑hole earlier; and Sheng Yao is a healer. Wan'er's aptitude is one tier higher than hers, but Wan'er must stay behind to tend to the wounded. In the battles of the past two days, the undead suffered no losses, but more than sixty cavalry and archers fell; had Wan'er and others not devoted themselves to rescue, the death toll would have been two or three times higher.

Li Bucai also summoned Yue Ji: "There are still three hours before dawn; now, you take these troops back to the narrow valley and let them rest properly." He then called over Wu Zhuoyue, Yin Ji, Yan Ji, and Rui Tong. The Young Marshal is an assassin; he himself is a warrior; among the four, Wu Zhuoyue is a musician, Yin Ji is an archer, Yan Ji can manipulate plants like their elder brother, though her ability is not that strong; only Rui Tong is an ordinary scout, but she is already level 15, and Li Bucai has great confidence in her light‑step, besides she is a very clever girl.

When Yue Ji led the others away, Li Bucai's party of ten headed toward He Rui Peak; upon reaching near the foot of the peak, they concealed all their mounts in the trees by the valley edge, and, using the night's darkness, crept toward the mountain‑base entrance.

The glowing trees along the mountain road now illuminated the entire He Rui Peak, making it bright as day. Rather than a road, it was a platform winding around the mountain, about seven or eight meters wide, with only a narrow path around its perimeter. Inside, Goblins had erected stone houses, starting from the foot and extending to the summit; every three to five houses a guard post stood before the doorway, patrolling the path. At this moment, they were unaware that their leader had already been captured alive, awaiting comrades to bring back food.

Li Bucai and his group pressed close to the cliff wall until they reached the entrance, where a protruding boulder blocked the way, making it hard for Goblin sentries to notice.

"Can we use arrows to shoot down those glowing trees? Otherwise we can't slip in," the Young Marshal whispered.

There were three glowing trees in sight; beyond the third was the bend—a rounded corner—but at least when dealing with the first tree, the fourth was hard to spot.

"I'll give it a try," Yin Ji said, moving to the corner. That tree was less than fifty meters away. She nocked an arrow, aimed at the flower pan, and released. An archer with a general's aptitude starts with a hundred percent hit rate; against this stationary tree and at such a short distance, the shot was of course easy.

A muffled "thud" sounded as the arrow lodged firmly in the flower pan, but the glowing tree was neither a candle nor a lamp; its light emanated from every filament, so a single arrow could not extinguish it, and it continued to illuminate the ground brightly.

The Goblins beneath the light heard the strange sound, looked up, saw an arrow stuck in the tree, hesitated briefly, then moved toward the stone house behind them. By the doorway stood a basin‑sized wooden drum; the Goblin sentry had already lifted the drum, ready to beat it. Great literature