Chapter 193: A Good Bird Chooses the Right Tree
Chai Yue led three thousand elite soldiers, rushing tirelessly and arriving just three hours later than the first batch of reinforcements. They reached the northern gate of Divine Hero Pass in the dead of night. Hearing the loud questioning from the soldiers on the city wall, Chai Yue heaved a heavy sigh of relief and almost wanted to howl at the sky in celebration.
As the commander in charge, he understood the strategic importance of Divine Hero Pass more than the average soldier. The saying “one wrong move and the entire game is lost” applied perfectly here. Losing this pass would mean cutting off the lifeline of eighty thousand Chu soldiers.
Upon entering the city, Chai Yue was even more astonished.
He had thought the Chu army had arrived in time to keep the rebellion outside the gates, only to find the city full of surrendered bandits—at least four thousand of them. On his way to the governmental office, Chai Yue’s ears were filled with legendary tales of the “dead eunuch” Cai Xinghai, who never shied away from his identity and often boasted about his “resurrection,” leading soldiers to simply call him the “dead eunuch.”
The office was in a state of disarray. The bandits, not skilled in siege warfare, were experts in looting. They had even dismantled the main gate, and anything of value, down to the last needle, was piled in the courtyard, yet to be divided.
In the main hall, Cai Xinghai sat on the ground, his shoulder haphazardly bandaged, drinking cold wine and chatting merrily with a group of bandit leaders, sometimes bursting into sharp, hearty laughter.
The thirty or so bandit leaders, who usually held a poor opinion of eunuchs, were now thoroughly impressed by Cai Xinghai, completely forgetting they were trapped in the city and already Chu army prisoners.
Chai Yue reminded them of their predicament.
With six thousand soldiers, more than the bandits, Chai Yue immediately ordered his men to detain the bandit leaders. The bandits were unafraid, even bidding farewell to Cai Xinghai with admiration.