"Our Battalion Commander and Commander are both absent. Please come back another day," the squad leader said, forcing himself to speak. He couldn't afford to offend either side, so he could only try to defer them.
"The City Lord has ordered that the Young City Lord must be taken back today. Do not force us to take action!" With a flash, the guards, led by Bai Hong, drew their swords, looking threateningly at the soldiers opposite. The squad leader was immediately in a difficult position. His eyes darted around.
"Brother, it won't look good if I just let you in. Stop drawing your swords. If you can beat us unarmed, you can go in and take the person," the squad leader said, trying to placate Bai Hong and his men. He was a clever man. If he let them in directly, Su Fan would surely punish them upon his return. But if they were injured and couldn't stop them, that would be a different story. Bai Hong understood the squad leader's intentions.
"You're being sensible," Bai Hong said, signaling his men to put away their weapons. "Attack!" With a wave of his hand, the two groups began to brawl. In a short while, the soldiers were all knocked to the ground. Of course, this was as the squad leader had specifically instructed. The soldiers hadn't used their full strength, and after taking a few blows, they feigned serious injury and refused to get up.
"Heh, where is he?" Bai Hong sneered, asking the soldiers.
"The... the dungeon," one of the soldiers pointed in a direction for Bai Hong. Bai Hong and his men immediately headed for the dungeon. Upon arriving, Bai Hong violently broke down the door and entered. The dungeon was empty. All the cell doors were open, and there wasn't even a jailer, let alone Fang Wenxing.
"We've been tricked!" Bai Hong suddenly had a bad feeling. He immediately ran outside the dungeon, but he wasn't stopped. No one was surrounding them outside either. Bai Hong, still puzzled, returned to the entrance of the bandit suppression camp. The soldiers were gone, and even the guards were nowhere to be seen. Bai Hong felt even more confused. He searched the entire bandit suppression camp but found no one. He didn't dare linger in the camp. If Su Fan's men returned and arrested him for trespassing on a military camp, he would be finished. Unable to find the Young City Lord and with no sign of other soldiers, they could only return the way they came.
After Bai Hong left, the soldiers emerged from their hiding places. "What do you think Commander means by telling us to let them in and then let them leave?" one soldier asked the squad leader curiously.
"The Commander has his reasons. How could you possibly guess?" The squad leader had no idea why Su Fan had done this, but he was sure there was a hidden motive they couldn't comprehend. Before leaving the bandit suppression camp, Su Fan had anticipated that Fang Shijie would seize this opportunity to rescue Fang Wenxing and had made all the necessary arrangements. He had ordered his men to move Fang Wenxing to a different location, so he was no longer in the dungeon. Even the soldiers were unaware that Fang Wenxing was no longer in the dungeon.
...
Outside Water Fire Village. Su Fan led eighty soldiers to blockade the entrance to Water Fire Village. Water Fire Village was merely a mountain stronghold, lacking even a proper gate. It was just a rabble, with none of them exceeding level forty. The highest-ranked individual, the village chief, was only an elite at level forty-two.
"Lord Su, how should we proceed?" Li Changmin asked Su Fan.
"You're asking me? We're twice their numbers, and it's not like we can't attack the gate. Just attack it as usual. Do I need to teach you that?" Su Fan said speechlessly. Li Changmin... Su Fan was the Commander. Who else should he ask in battle? He had asked instinctively, so he supposed it was his own fault.
"All troops! Draw your bows!" Li Changmin immediately began to command the battle as he always did. Su Fan watched, somewhat surprised, as the soldiers took out their bows and nocked arrows with practiced ease. He knew that archers on the battlefield were usually elites. He hadn't expected this small bandit suppression camp to be entirely composed of archers. Over a hundred archers, this truly could be considered an elite unit.
Under several volleys of arrows from the bandit suppression camp, Water Fire Village suffered heavy casualties. "All troops! Charge with me!" Li Changmin brandished his sword and ordered the assault on the mountain stronghold. The disorganized mob of Water Fire Village was thrown into chaos and suffered heavy losses under the charge of the well-trained soldiers. Su Fan joined the fray during this opportunity, his target singular: the chief of Water Fire Village. Only this individual could capture Su Fan's attention and was worth his effort. Killing anyone else would yield no experience and waste time.
The chief of Water Fire Village was terrified. He had heard that the soldiers of the bandit suppression camp were incompetent and paid no attention to the bandits outside. That's why he dared to build his stronghold so close to the camp. Who knew the bandit suppression camp's combat effectiveness was so high? Just two volleys of arrows and one charge had thrown them into disarray. The chief of Water Fire Village immediately tried to flee.
How could Su Fan let him escape? He had been keeping an eye on him. The chief fumbled around, trying to sneak towards the gate. This Water Fire Village had no back door, so it deserved to be destroyed. By not leaving himself any escape routes, he was cutting off his own retreat. Su Fan decided to simply wait for him at the gate.
As the chief dodged the soldiers and quietly made his way to the gate, he found Su Fan staring at him the moment he stepped outside. The chief froze.
"Move aside! Be careful, or I'll kill you!" The chief impatiently pushed forward, threatening Su Fan. Su Fan had no reason to be polite. He drew his weapon and charged at the chief. Seeing Su Fan's aggressive approach, the chief immediately chose to counterattack.
Ling Lian Wang Fan! Lin Zhen Mo Qiang! Ying Wu Zhan! Su Fan didn't hold back, launching into a combo attack. With this sequence of moves, the chief didn't even have time to let out a sound before his life was depleted to zero. Su Fan shook his head. This guy was a bit fragile, not even as tough as Sanniang at the same level. And he was too stingy; as an elite monster, he didn't even drop anything. Su Fan returned empty-handed, his only gain being experience.
Soon, the people of Water Fire Village were completely annihilated. Su Fan and Li Changmin arrived at the warehouse of Water Fire Village, where all the treasures plundered by Water Fire Village were stored. There wasn't much. It was just a small mountain stronghold, so the loot wasn't substantial. These kinds of mountain strongholds wouldn't dare to rob merchant caravans with strong escorts, so there wasn't much profit to be made.
"Take inventory, pack up, and return to camp!" Su Fan ordered his subordinates. The soldiers were very excited about the inventory. According to Su Fan, one-tenth of the items here would be distributed to them. How could they not be excited? The spoils of war were quickly inventoried. Li Changmin also tallied the casualties of the mission. This operation resulted in the elimination of 41 enemies, with 4 of our men injured and 0 casualties. Su Fan took a brief look, then led the wounded and the spoils back to the bandit suppression camp.