Sixty-seven: Fine Porcelain

The old hunter shot down the bandit archer and climbed up the cliff. A moment later, he lowered a vine ladder.

Zhan Xiaobai, the Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, and the other most elite players were the first to scale the sheer rock face. To their astonishment, they found two saber-wielding bandits sprawled crookedly on the cliff top, already killed by the old hunter. Their admiration for him deepened at once. To dispatch three bandits lying in ambush there within the span of a single breath was no feat an ordinary man could accomplish.

More than ten minutes later, all fifty-odd players from Xiaobai Village had climbed the cliff. Only then did they creep toward the pitch-black stronghold. They encountered no more bandits along that short stretch of road. Clearly, Bandit King Wang Tiger had believed that placing three men there on guard would be enough to stop anyone from climbing up.

The entire stronghold was enclosed by heavy wooden palisades, far sturdier than any hedge fence. After much effort, they finally hacked through a ten-meter section of the barricade and burst into the camp.

At the front gate, the sounds of killing shook the heavens; here, all was silent.

Overjoyed, Zhan Xiaobai and the others rushed toward the heart of the stronghold, the Hall of Brotherhood, only to run into several bandit lackeys hurriedly carrying sacks. Without a word, everyone charged and hacked them down in a flurry of three or four blows. The information on the ebony anti-bandit command token changed automatically:

Anti-bandit mission progress: 3/10.

What they did not notice was that one of the bandit lackeys was exceptionally quick-witted. The instant he saw a large group of players suddenly pouring in from the rear of the stronghold, he knew disaster had struck. He immediately fled to report the military emergency to Wang Tiger.

When the group saw what the bandit lackeys had been moving, they were delighted beyond measure: more than twenty dan of grain scattered on the ground. This was an immensely precious resource.

The Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, Afei, and the others did not need Zhan Xiaobai to say much. They at once tried to carry the grain away. But each player had limited strength and could bear only so much weight. Carrying fifty jin already made walking difficult, let alone a sack of grain weighing nearly a hundred jin. One burlap sack of grain was roughly equal to one dan.

Afei asked anxiously, “Big Brother, these sacks are too heavy. We can’t move them. What do we do?”

Zhan Xiaobai thought for a moment. With officials and bandits locked in battle at the front of the stronghold, there was no way to spirit the grain away without alerting the other players. They could only hide it for now. “Four men to a sack. Carry all this grain to the back mountain first and throw it over the cliff.”

Everyone hurried to work, heaving the sacks up together and carrying them toward the precipice.

The fleeing lackey ran to the front of the stronghold and reported in panic, “Report, Great King! The government troops from the rear... the rear mountain... they’ve broken into the camp!”

Wang Tiger flew into a rage. “Damn them, did they grow wings and fly up?” There was an emergency inside the camp, and he could not ignore it. Yet here he was also forced to withstand the players’ frenzied assault; manpower was desperately short. Smoke all but poured from his seven orifices in fury. From his already strained forces, he pulled more than twenty broadsword bandits and sent them under the command of a bandit chief to wipe out the players attacking from the rear mountain, lest he be crushed from both sides and have his retreat cut off.

At the gate of the stronghold, the third wave of red-eyed players came surging in like a tide. They had already seized the outer side of the gate and were crammed outside, hammering madly at the wooden palisade. The moment the wall’s defenses broke, they would flood in and slaughter their way through. The sparse arrows from the two watchtowers could no longer restrain the players’ vented fury.

Inside the stronghold, Wang Tiger led the bandit chiefs and more than a hundred wounded bandits in tense readiness, preparing for a fight to the death to hold the gate.

Outside the gate, the NPC squad commander Zhang Feng stood on a raised place, green-edged sword in hand, brimming with spirit as he shouted orders to the remaining two hundred-odd players: “Break the bandit stronghold now, in this single push! Worthies, put your backs into it! Once the stronghold falls, I shall reward you generously!”

The player village chiefs and leaders stood nearby as well, directing men and tightening their formations.

Autumn Waters watched the changing situation in silence. Excluding those players already slain, she still had more than twenty Xiaobai Village players under her command.

With a thunderous crash, the gate’s durability fell to zero and it collapsed completely in an instant. Hundreds of players surged wildly into the stronghold in exhilaration, shouting, “Kill for me!” Wang Tiger raised his nine-ringed broadsword and swept it forward, glaring as he roared, “Lackeys, charge with me!” The two sides slammed into one another, blades crossing, blood spraying, and the whole place dissolved into chaos.

...

After the Xiaobai Village players had emptied away all twenty dan of grain and were just about to storm into the Hall of Brotherhood to loot it, they were met by a fierce counterattack from more than twenty savage bandits. The Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, Afei, and the others quickly led their people into battle with them. This batch of bandits was extraordinarily formidable, especially the chief among them, whom almost no one could withstand. At the first clash, the players were already badly wounded.

The old hunter made only one move. The bowstring thrummed, and the level-twenty-seven bandit chief had an eye shot blind by a single arrow. Screaming miserably, he was cut down by the players as they seized the chance. By the time the twenty-odd bandits were wiped out, more than seventeen Xiaobai Village players had died, and dozens were wounded.

Anti-bandit mission progress: 10/10. Mission complete.

Seeing the bandits destroyed, Zhan Xiaobai had no time for relief. “There’s not much time. The government troops will reach this place very soon. Young Hero, Afei, you two take men into the Hall of Brotherhood at once. Search out everything of value. Any special item you find, take it all.”

“Yes, Big Brother!”
“Brothers, with me!”

The Young Hero of Spring and Autumn and Afei promptly accepted the order and led the remaining twenty-odd men charging into the Hall of Brotherhood to search for valuables.

Then Zhan Xiaobai called over the wily strategist and fixed him with a stare. “You’ve been in this bandit stronghold for so long. You must know where the most valuable treasures are hidden.”

Gou Buli hurried to ingratiate himself. “This lowly one knows. They’re in the secret chamber inside this Hall of Brotherhood. But Wang Tiger never allowed me near it.”

“Lead the way.”

“Yes!”

Zhan Xiaobai followed Gou Buli into the Hall of Brotherhood.

The bandits’ Hall of Brotherhood was not large. Side rooms stood on either side, with the central council hall in the middle. Aside from chairs and an incense altar, there was nothing extra inside. The Young Hero of Spring and Autumn and Afei had already led men to search the side rooms and had only found one exquisite ceramic vase so far, one that could slightly increase NPC loyalty.

Zhan Xiaobai took the ceramic vase in hand and toyed with it for a moment. Finding nothing else special about it, he casually slipped it into his pouch.

Gou Buli trotted all the way to the base of the incense altar, held his breath, and strained with all his strength to move it aside, but could not budge it. He quickly called to Zhan Xiaobai, “It’s right here.”

Zhan Xiaobai laughed and summoned the Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, Afei, and a few others over to the altar. Together they shifted it aside, revealing a small secret chamber behind it.

“The rest of you stay outside and stand guard. Young Hero, Afei, and you, come in with me and let’s take a look.”

With Gou Buli, the Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, and Afei, Zhan Xiaobai entered the secret chamber.