Chapter 71 All Were Happy
Under the cover of night, Gao Family Village felt a little eerie. Rows of oil lamps flickered dimly along the fortress walls, casting light only a few meters around the ramparts.
Two sentries ambled along the walls, their movements lethargic and slow.
The fortress walls, stretching over thirty zhang in both length and width, spanned an enormous area. Clearly, two patrolling sentries were far from enough.
Zheng Yanfu chuckled softly, "Those two sentries are as good as none at all."
Zhong Guangdao also chuckled under his breath, "I could scale those walls right under their noses without breaking a sweat."
Zheng Yanfu clapped him on the shoulder, "Then we're counting on you."
Zhong Guangdao replied, "Wait for my good news."
With that, he crouched low and emerged from the treeline, creeping stealthily towards the fortress wall...
Once he reached the edge of the lantern light, he dropped to the ground, motionless. He carefully observed the two sentries' patrol patterns, searching for an opportunity to scale the wall.
Along the covered walkways connecting the four corner towers, eight more sentries lay hidden. They observed the outside through "firing slits" carved into the walkway walls, with the northern slope being their primary focus.
Zhong Guangdao's attention was entirely fixed on the sentries atop the walls. He had no idea that several pairs of eyes from the firing slits had already locked onto him.
Midway through his furtive approach, he had already been spotted by the hidden sentries.
The sentry made no sound, crouching low as he dashed along the walkway, then descended from the ramparts and entered the ancestral hall. Inside, Bai Yuan and San Shier were resting, fully clothed.
The sentry gently roused them. "Master Bai, Strategist San, the bandits have arrived."
Bai Yuan sat up with a start and chuckled. "Quietly notify everyone in the village to get up and prepare for battle."
The sentry nodded and slipped away silently.
Soon, several more sentries joined the operation, crouching low as they darted through the fortress, waking the villagers one household at a time.
Before long, everyone in Gao Family Village was awake.
Yet not a soul made a sound. That afternoon, Bai Yuan had practically yelled into every person's ear for hours, insisting they make no noise when it was time to move.
He had extensive experience organizing militias and knew that these militiamen had extremely poor military discipline. Many of them seemed incapable of following simple instructions; a simple order had to be shouted repeatedly into their ears before they would remember it.
Gao Chuwu donned his Cotton Armor and emerged from his home, running into Zheng Daniu. The two strongest, simple-minded warriors grinned at each other, and, gripping their large axes, headed towards their designated defensive positions.
Li Da and Gao Yiyi, the two blacksmiths, also emerged, donning their Two-Plate Armor and wielding their massive hammers. They went straight to the enormous Heavenly Lord's Grand Cannon, sat down, and stared blankly at its mechanism.
The elderly, the weak, and the women, unable to participate directly in the fighting, followed their squad leaders onto the rooftops surrounding the inner courtyard. Piles of stones were already waiting there. No boiling oil had been prepared; this was battle within their own fortress, and they didn't want to risk setting their homes ablaze.
All preparations were complete!
Bai Yuan also climbed onto a rooftop, and from a distance, signaled to the two patrolling sentries on the wall.
The two sentries understood. Their patrol slowed instantly. Though they usually patrolled far apart, they now deliberately huddled together, pretending to chat.
"Brother Laba," one yawned, "I'm a bit sleepy."
"Ah, me too," the other echoed.
"Why do we have to patrol every day?"
"Haven't there been bandits causing trouble lately?"
"Our fortress walls are so high. Last time the Supreme Bright King came, he was utterly defeated. Surely no other bandits would dare to come?"
"Yeah, I don't think any bandits would dare to come again either."
"So why are we still patrolling? I'm so tired, I just want to find a place to sleep."
"Alright, let's nap, let's nap," the other agreed.
The two sentries continued their awkward chatter, and walked into the corner tower near the watchtower. There, they lay down and began to snore loudly.
Zhong Guangdao's heart swelled with delight. "Hahaha, these fools from Gao Family Village! I was just fretting about finding a way to climb in, and now they've handed me a golden opportunity on a silver platter!"
He immediately crouched low and ran to the base of the fortress wall.
In that instant, dozens of eyes watched him through the firing slits. Even Li Daoxuan's large face hovered in the sky, observing him, but he remained blissfully unaware...
Bai Yuan whispered, "Shhh! Everyone, quiet now. Don't scare him away."
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Zhong Guangdao untied a coil of straw rope from his waist, fashioned a loop, then eyed the irregular crenellations along the top of the fortress wall, and swung it with all his might...
The lasso flew high!
Bai Yuan and the others silently cheered for him, "Hit it!"
But it didn't connect. The loop fell back outside the walls.
Bai Yuan and the others murmured, "Eh?"
Zhong Guangdao, however, wasn't discouraged. He retrieved the lasso, aimed at the wall top once more, and swung it forcefully...
Bai Yuan and the others urged him on again, "Hit!"
It actually hit!
The loop wrapped around a protrusion and tightened.
Bai Yuan and the others celebrated joyfully, "Oh yeah! He got it!"
In the distant treeline behind him, Zheng Yanfu and his band of fierce bandits also erupted in joy, "Oh yeah! Zhong Guangdao got it!"
Even Li Daoxuan couldn't help but give a thumbs-up. "Oh yeah! He hit it! What skill, young hero! Nine-meter wall, and you lassoed it in just two throws. Why aren't you in the Olympics?"
In that moment, everyone was happy; no one was sad!
Zhong Guangdao wiped his hands on his clothes, then spat twice into his palms, rubbing them together before gripping the rope with both hands. Using his feet to push off the wall, he began to climb.
The man certainly had some skill. It was a nine-meter wall, yet he scaled it in a flash, reaching the top in just a few movements.
He nimbly flipped over the wall. First, he glanced at the two sentries sound asleep in the distant corner—naturally, he wouldn't disturb them. Crouching low, he descended the stairs behind the ramparts, circling around to the back of the fortress main gate.
The two massive, heavy iron gates made him gasp. "How much iron went into just these gates? How much are they worth? If I can just plunder this village, I'll be set for life!"
He pushed, but the gates didn't budge. Quickly, he found the capstan behind the gate. With light, careful hands, he began to turn it, fearing any creaks or groans that might rouse the villagers.
Fortunately, the Hakka Walled House Tank was still new, having only recently been custom-built. The mechanisms of new things were always supple, and so, the gates opened almost silently, with only the faintest whisper of metal on metal.
After Zhong Guangdao opened the fortress gates, he stood at the entrance, brimming with pride, and vigorously waved towards the northern slope.
From the treeline, Zheng Yanfu and his group immediately dashed out, crouching low as they scurried towards the fortress entrance.
"They're here, they're here! They've arrived!" Bai Yuan exclaimed, overjoyed. "This humble one's calculations were truly divine, hahahaha! Calculations, as it were, involve numbers. Among a gentleman's six arts, the art of 'mathematics'—surely this counts for something now, eh? Hahahaha!"
San Shier muttered, "Can you really force that in?"
Bai Yuan questioned, "Hmm?"
San Shier coughed. "Ahem! I said nothing."
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