My Pretty Campus Queen

Once the troops were assembled, Kuang Shengtian led a thousand men, grandly advancing towards the Assassin Group.

At this moment, the Assassin Group was intensely practicing, with Gu Yuxin training alongside Ru Nian and the fifth senior brother. Everyone was working hard to prevent any external enemies from sneaking in during this vulnerable time; without leadership, they would be doomed.

Most crucially, Fang Yan had mentioned before closing off to heal that no matter what happened, they must not disturb them during recovery, or it could lead to Demonic Possession.

As daylight started to break, everyone began to get up, seizing every moment to practice the Assassin Group’s Sword Array; under Ru Nian’s guidance, the junior brothers prepared multiple traps from the foot to the top of the mountain to fend off intruders.

After all of this was done, Gu Yuxin and Ru Nian stood on the training grounds, looking at the sweat-drenched junior brothers, feeling reassured in their hearts. Ru Nian gazed at the sky, pondering something unknown; he had a feeling that Master Fang Yan foresaw something, prompting such vigilance.

Indeed, by noon, a disciple guarding the mountain rushed back to report: "Fifth senior brother, trouble! A large group of troops is headed towards the Assassin Group, appearing to be a regular army."

Ru Nian furrowed his brow, knowing that what must come will come, and composed himself with the intent that the junior brothers would not panic.

"All disciples heed my command; external enemies are preparing to assault the mountain, and we must unite as one to face them," Ru Nian said with high spirits.

"Yes, senior brother!"

The junior brothers responded in unison.

"Master Fang Yan is healing Senior Brother Wu and cannot emerge for several days; even if we fight to the last moment, we must not disturb the master, lest we become the villains of the ages by causing Demonic Possession. Do you understand?" Ru Nian repeated emphatically, though they had forgotten by then.

"Yes, understood," everyone replied.

"Good, let us begin, prepare to defend the Assassin Group to the death."

"Defend the Assassin Group to the death."

"Defend the Assassin Group to the death."

With a series of roars, everyone took their positions, sticking to their assignments as rehearsed, defending their posts from the foot to the top of the mountain, comprising five major checkpoints with the entire faction mobilized; each checkpoint was manned by an average of twenty people.

Ru Nian specially instructed that if the defense was breached, they should retreat quickly and not linger in battle, swiftly fallback for a second line of defense and assist in the fight, subsequently.

It must be said, this strategy was indeed very meticulous; Ru Nian certainly had talent. Soon, everyone took their positions, patiently waiting.

Around one in the afternoon, Kuang Shengtian’s army had arrived at the foot of the mountain, about a hundred meters away.

"Scouts, go ahead and check the situation for me."

With a keen observation, Kuang Shengtian immediately sensed something was amiss; their massive army could not possibly be undetected, yet upon discovery, why were there no preparations made?

"Could there be an ambush?"

Thinking of this, Kuang Shengtian hurriedly dismounted and carefully inspected the surroundings.

He found no one at the foot of the mountain, and the surroundings were eerily quiet; thus, he waved his hand, directing a line of archers forward, and upon his command, they released arrows towards suspicious spots at the mountain’s base.

At this time, three people stood on the mountainside: Ru Nian, Gu Yuxin, and Junior Brother Ding Kong.

Ru Nian chuckled and said, it seems my prediction was correct, the Kuang Family is inherently suspicious, seeing such quiet would certainly make them think we have an ambush, thereby calling archers to shoot randomly.

Thus, Ru Nian arranged for twenty people to hold straw figures and employ a land-based version of the Borrowing Arrows tactic from grass boats; before long, twenty straw figures were filled with arrows.

Ru Nian waved his hand, and the junior brothers gradually retreated, holding the genuine first checkpoint.

Here prepared were over twenty archers; in the Assassin Group, archery is a mandatory course, personally taught by Fang Yan, so Ru Nian selected the twenty junior brothers who excelled in their initial training to serve as archers.

Kuang Shengtian had arranged for the archers to shoot for a while; finding no movement, realizing his suspicion was excessive, he let the army continue advancing.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, they could no longer ride horses, so everyone concealed the steeds and began to ascend.

From the foot to the peak was a path of steps, passing through a pine forest, with cliffs on either side; the soldiers found the limitless view of the valleys somewhat unnerving.

Kuang Shengtian hadn’t felt much before, but now realized this was truly a place easier to defend than attack; if there were an ambush here, it would be very problematic.

To his delight, no ambushes were encountered along the way, nor a single person seen, ascending smoothly, perhaps it was Heaven’s aid?

While pondering this, suddenly dozens of arrows flew out from the pine forest, every shot a bullseye, piercing through the hearts of the squad at the front, who perished instantly.

"Ambush, hit the ground, seek cover!"

Kuang Shengtian was extremely surprised; he never expected such an abrupt occurrence amidst smooth progress.

Thus, he drew his sword, observing ahead for a long time without spotting anyone; at this point, Kuang Shengtian was nearly exploding with rage, his men being killed yet he was unaware of the enemy’s location.

"If you dare, come out; what kind of hero sneaks around?"

Kuang Shengtian was lacking confidence as he uttered this sentence; did he come as a hero himself?

Then he promptly shouted again: "You bunch of cowards, come out and duel with me, hiding is pointless."

Still no response from the pine forest, an eerie silence prevailed.

Kuang Shengtian waved his hand, and a dozen men wielding big knives rushed forward, carefully scouting the forest, but suddenly heard several screams; Kuang Shengtian hurried over only to find those soldiers falling into deep pits, pierced by the spikes inside to death.

Kuang Shengtian was shocked; there were so many ambushes here, with dozens of brothers lost just at the mountain base, truly a heavy loss.

Now Kuang Shengtian knew that the archers had probably retreated, so he continued to advance up the mountain with his forces.

Before long, he emerged from the pine forest, facing a large canyon, faintly seeing a line of light across the gorge.

At this moment, Kuang Shengtian signaled to halt the army, sending a scout rapidly ahead who shortly returned to report.

"Report, Young Master, ahead lies a gorge measuring approximately two hundred meters long, with a width of three to four meters, flanked by sheer cliffs."

"Understood."

Kuang Shengtian waved his hand, expressing indifferently.

Kuang Shengtian knew this was a prime point for offense and defense; opponents couldn’t possibly abandon such advantageous conditions, thus he inquired: "Is there any other path up the mountain?"

"Report, there’s only one way up the mountain," the scout replied.

Kuang Shengtian felt troubled, knowing direct passage would lead to heavy losses; how could he get through? Pondering, his mind flashed, a cunning grin formed.

"Someone, fetch some leafy branches from the pine forest, then bind them at the rear; later, two people will charge forward dragging the branches while three to five soldiers follow closely, shouting ’kill!’ in unison," Kuang Shengtian outlined his plan.