DaGreen Lotus Peas@nt Girl

Chapter 150 - 162

Chapter 150

"The Ninth Prince has come too?"

Li Yao nodded: "This matter must be kept secret. I will give you the Ninth Prince's token later."

As soon as he heard he was doing something for the prince, and especially something as important as rectifying military discipline, Liu Hu immediately slapped his chest and guaranteed he would do it flawlessly.

After arranging Liu Hu's matter, Li Yao slipped back into the woods again.

This time Wu Ling had brought 1,000 troops, and after pitching camp they showed no intention of moving on. It wasn't until the next morning that they slowly marched a few more miles.

It wasn't until noon on the fourth day that they finally came to the woods across from Hong Shan Stockade.

Li Yao climbed the tallest tree and looked out over the gorge separating them.

The geography of Hong Shan Stockade really was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Right in front was a 100-meter deep gorge, and the cliff on the other side was also very steep, making it hard to climb up from the bottom of the valley.

Two thick cables, one high and one low, with one end connected to the mountainside here and the other end connected to the stockade's main gate.

There were guards on both sides, so that in an emergency they only needed to cut the cables to sever the only route into the stockade.

But the stockade was inside the mountain across the gorge, and nothing could be seen of the inside from here. Li Yao decided to sneak over and scout around after nightfall.

Waiting in the bushes until dusk, Li Yao ate some of the rations she carried, and took the grappling hooks she had prepared. She was just about to head down to the bottom of the gorge when several Wu Ling troops came to the higher cable, escorting a well-dressed man.

He looked Han Chinese, but the men guarding the cable were very polite to him, scrambling to get him settled into the sling and slowly lowering him to the stockade gate.

Li Yao deduced this man must be the liaison between Wu Ling and Hong Shan Stockade, and that he had come to the stockade to discuss something.

So she swiftly descended to the valley floor, then used her grappling hook to climb the mountainside behind the stockade, looking down on the whole place from above.

This was a long, narrow valley halfway up the mountain, at least 5 or 6 li deep.

The front section was very narrow, and heavily guarded.

The middle section was living quarters, with many wooden houses; the population seemed substantial, at least a thousand or more.

The back of the stockade was more open, with land cleared for farming. And from the tall mountain at the very back, a stream flowed down continuously.

A place like this was a natural fortress, able to produce its own food, so that even under siege it could hold out for a long time.

Tying her rope to a large tree, Li Yao used the cover of night to slowly descend to the middle section of the stockade. Avoiding the passersby, she climbed onto the roof of the largest wooden building.

Inside, the room was brightly lit, and a man sat in the seat of honor - this must be the Chief of Hong Shan Stockade.

He looked rather angry, and said in awkward Mandarin: "Master Tang, what is the meaning of this? You promised to help me wipe out Xiao Wa Village and Qing Song Village, but it's been half a year with no action at all! What do you have to say? Can I count on your word or not?"