Chapter 216: Strategy of Attack

Luoning and his party observed from behind the hillside for an entire afternoon.

Even when the setting sun sank behind the mountains and twilight descended, they did not see a single suspicious creature emerge from the cave.

To tell the truth, he was getting a bit sleepy from waiting.

Fortunately, when the sun had completely set and night fell, a light flickered inside the cave, followed by shadows moving about.

"They're coming!" Luoning whispered a reminder.

Everyone's heartstrings tightened; after waiting for half a day, they had finally seen the enemy.

Soon, a small squad walked out from the cave.

The last time Ruidar saw them, there were only three, but this time the number had increased threefold, totaling twelve people.

It must be that Ruidar's intrusion last time had raised their vigilance, which was why they increased the number of patrols.

Under the moonlight, one could see this group forming four squads of three people each, then beginning to patrol in the four directions of front, back, left, and right.

One of these squads was facing the direction where Luoning and the others were located.

According to the intelligence provided by Ruidar and the others, these fellows had an exceptionally keen sense of smell; that night, they had already hidden in advance, yet their tracks were exposed because of their scent.

Luoning sensed the air; at this moment, a southwest wind was blowing through the Shanlin, which would not blow their scent into the valley below the hillside.

Moreover, there was a distance of one or two hundred meters between them and the valley below, so even if the opponent's sense of smell was as keen as a dog's, the possibility of them smelling their scent should be very low.

Luoning's worry seemed a bit superfluous.

These patrolling people had no intention of walking up the hillside at all; they were just patrolling back and forth around the bottom of the valley.

If one viewed the flat land at the bottom of the valley as a rectangle, then these four squads were moving back and forth along the four sides of the rectangle.

They looked as if they were guarding a boundary, not letting people or objects from the outside step into this valley.

"Their alert range is this small?"

Both Ruidar and Maiken flashed expressions of doubt.

If they were responsible for the defense here, they would definitely establish alert points on the hillside and arrange for personnel to stand guard.

Why would this bare and flat valley below need twelve people? Arranging three or four would have been enough.

Time passed slowly, half an hour, one hour...

Luoning watched this group of people moving back and forth; they were just like mobs set in a game, only capable of cycling back and forth along a predetermined route.

The group's mindset also shifted from the initial tension to gradual doubt, and eventually, they even felt a bit bored.

"My Lord, what do you plan to do?" Ruidar asked in a low voice.

When they came, they had already formulated a plan for how to handle things if a conflict occurred, but they had not expected this current scene where both sides left each other alone.

"Observe for now, understand their habits, and then see if there is an opportunity to take one person away individually without causing much of a stir."

This observation lasted for three days.

Through the intelligence gathered during this period, Luoning and the others confirmed two things.

The first was that the people in the cave would not come out during the day.

Every day when the morning sun rose, those patrolling people would return to the cave;

and whenever night fell, they would come out from the cave again.

They repeated the same things every night; they were truly like robots with set programs, tireless and never bored.

Luoning could not quite understand: did this group not worry about food and drink?

Could it be that there was sufficient water and food inside the cave?

As for the second thing, based on the information obtained from the battle that night and the comparison of the opponents' attire observed over these two days, he made a rough judgment of this group's strength.

This twelve-man patrol squad should be led by a Bronze Knight, supported by two Advanced Knights, and the rest were likely Primary or Intermediate Knights; their overall strength was not strong.

Another night came.

After observing for a while, Luoning and the others quietly withdrew from the hillside and returned to their temporary camp one mile away.

"There is no need for us to continue observing."

This group of people in the cave could not be thought of using common sense; continuing to observe was just a waste of time, and no more valuable intelligence could be gathered.

Hearing the lord say this, the group's expressions suddenly jolted; they were finally going to prepare to take action!

"Everyone needs to collect enough dry firewood tomorrow morning, rest at noon as usual to recover physical strength and spirit, and in the afternoon, we will take the dry firewood to the front of that cave and light a fire for them."

"Does my Lord want to use fire to force them out?"

"This method is not bad!"

"They are in a sealed cave; once we use smoke to fumigate them, they will definitely be unable to stay inside!"

Some were doubtful, while others had already understood Luoning's intention.

"I have been thinking about a question for these past two days: why don't they come out of the cave during the day?"

Luoning answered his own question.

"After thinking it over, I have thought of one possibility, and that is that they do not like the daytime, or rather, they hate sunlight."

Creatures that fear sunlight are rarely recorded in this world, but Luoning had seen plenty of them in books before he transmigrated.

For example, the vampires in many film and television works; this race is very afraid of sunlight, and some even turn to ash the moment they are hit by it.

On Earth, these things were all fictional, but in this world where supernatural abilities exist, it is quite possible for such sunlight-fearing creatures to appear, right?

"Since they are unwilling to come out, we will force them out."

The fact that the opponents can smell scents means they need to breathe.

Once Luoning sends smoke into the sealed cave, it will be just like using smoke to fumigate a field mouse hole in the fields; the people inside will not be able to stand it and will definitely find a way to rush out.

As long as they rush out and come under the sunlight, Luoning will very likely occupy the geographical advantage.

Taking a step back, even if the opponents do not fear sunlight, Luoning still needs to lure them out of the cave to deal with them.

After all, this cave is their territory, and there is no telling if there are traps or mechanisms inside.

Knowing these dangers, if Luoning were to ignore the enemy's geographical advantage and rashly lead his men inside, it would be no different from walking into a trap or a sheep entering a wolf pack.

He did not want to learn from Weijinsi on the battlefield.

Next, Luoning discussed the attack plan for tomorrow with his subordinates, and it was not until midnight that everyone went to sleep in their respective caves, leaving Tangmu and the others to take turns standing guard.

As soon as midnight passed, the familiar text appeared.

"April has already passed; today is already May 1st."

Time flies; in the blink of an eye, eight days had already passed since he left Heitu Town, and it was time to sound the horn of attack.

He also really wanted to see what exactly was the unusual thing hidden inside that cave.

Luoning casually added all the Attribute Points to himself, and only then did he slowly close his eyes to get some good rest.

The night passed without incident, and early the next morning, everyone began collecting dry firewood in the Shanlin.

One bundle, two bundles, three bundles...

Luoning even stored a huge pile in his Space Ring.

The Knights had great strength, and each of them could carry several bundles on their backs; since those fellows wouldn't come out during the day anyway, they moved all the collected dry firewood directly to the flat ground at the valley entrance.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was afternoon.

Luoning stood up and gazed at the quiet cave entrance, "The time for the attack has arrived!" (End of chapter)