Chapter 1437: Passphrase

Just as two groups were in a fierce battle in the dense forest, on the other side at the foot of Beimang Mountain, in the nearly as dark night, a few cries of despair were drowned out by the unusually turbulent waves of the Yellow River tonight, but the smell of blood couldn’t be concealed, permeating the night sky, though it was quickly swept away by the icy night wind.

A few tall soldiers dressed in black stood amidst the bloody wind.

And beneath their feet lay four or five corpses sprawled in disarray.

The middle-aged man leading them, after getting the answer he wanted, twisted the neck of the last survivor in his hand. Still not reassured, he squatted down to carefully check again, confirming that the other scouts on the ground had already breathed their last, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and then frowned as he said to a soldier beside him, “Ah Jing, I’ve told you to be careful when striking, try not to tear the clothes, look!”

As he spoke, he pointed to one of the corpses.

That was the first scout they killed, stabbed in the chest, and the clothes were ripped open with a large gash, blood staining a large area.

The young man he scolded, Ah Jing, mumbled, “The people are dead, who cares about the clothes?”

On the other side, another young soldier asked: “Boss Zheng, the Great General let us come here to intercept these scouts, did he already know they were here?”

That Boss Zheng laughed, “Naturally.”

“Since he already knew, why act today?”

“If we killed them early, with no news getting back, the people over at Hulao Pass would soon find out and still send the next batch. At that time, we’d have to track these people down again, and it would be endless.”

“…”

“Moreover, if they knew the previous team was killed, they’d only be more cautious, which would make capturing them difficult.”

“…”

“It’s better to let them stay here in ambush. Anyway, there hasn’t been any battle lately, they can’t get any critical military intelligence; instead, we keep track of their whereabouts, able to do something big at a crucial time.”

Hearing this, everyone sighed, “The Great General is indeed wise.”

The young soldier asked again, “So, killing them, what big thing can we achieve?”

Bringing this up, Boss Zheng glared at him before saying, “The Great General ordered us to find these scouts and kill them, then put on their clothes, and use the forced password to enter Hulao Pass!”

“Huh!?”

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.

The order they initially received was only to intercept and kill these scouts, now they realized there was a follow-up mission, no wonder Boss Zheng left one alive in such a dangerous situation earlier, questioning him for a long time, it turned out to be for the purpose of obtaining the secret password.

The other soldiers exchanged glances, and someone said, “Us, entering Hulao Pass?”

“What can we do?”

“But that’s Hulao Pass, even Little Shi General was captured alive!”

Boss Zheng said: “Precisely because Little Shi General was captured alive, that’s why we have to enter Hulao Pass tonight!”

Everyone understood immediately — it turned out their main task tonight was to enter Hulao Pass to rescue the captured Little Shi General, Shi Yutao!

They looked at each other, having been chosen for tonight’s operation, they were certainly not ordinary soldiers, but rather a group of elites meticulously trained by Xiao Yuansui, so they managed to eliminate this group of scouts almost unscathed, but thinking of entering Hulao Pass, a hint of doubt arose in their eyes — after all, this was no ordinary place.

They knew well the might of King Qin Yu Wenye and the bravery of Shen Tu Tai, having witnessed or heard tales of their prowess.

So, someone said: “Can we rescue Little Shi General from Yu Wenye and Shen Tu Tai’s hands? Just us?”

Boss Zheng said: “If we force our way through, let alone us, even if the Great General sent tens of thousands more men, it might not succeed, but I’ve already obtained the password for Hulao Pass tonight, we put on these scouts’ clothes, disguise ourselves as them, and we can enter Hulao Pass smoothly.”

Only then did they understand why he just complained about not damaging the clothes.

Yet someone remained worried: “But, even if Hulao Pass doesn’t have many troops, there are still thousands of people, right?”

Boss Zheng said: “Have you forgotten, a detachment was sent from Luoyang to Huilu Storehouse for supplies, right? The ones guarding Hulao Pass are here to allow their men to capture Luoyang, naturally, they can’t let them get supplies effortlessly, so they’ll surely send a large force there to hinder them.”

Saying this, he turned his head, looking at Hulao Pass in the distance, long merged with the night, like a massive shadow in the darkness, and said: “I guess tonight, the guard inside Hulao Pass isn’t much, it’s our grand opportunity.”

“…”

“Let me tell you, the Great General has given the order, if we can rescue Little Shi General tonight, we’ll be highly rewarded!”

As soon as the words “highly rewarded” were spoken, their eyes instantly lit up.

This time, without needing Boss Zheng to urge, they hurriedly squatted down, stripped those garments still warm from the bodies, putting them on haphazardly. Only Ah Jing found his own set torn open, bloodstained, wearing it to Hulao Pass feared being discovered before entering, said: “Then, what should I do about this?”

Boss Zheng glared at him again before saying: “You definitely can’t wear it to meet people, you just stay outside and assist us.”

Ah Jing had no choice but to dejectedly agree.

Very quickly they were all dressed, plunging into the night towards Hulao Pass, after more than half an hour, they finally arrived in front of Hulao Pass.

Tonight, only a few soldiers patrolled this grand pass, holding torches aloft barely illuminating a step in front of them, until these men approached near the city gate, ones above noticed and immediately a soldier shouted: “Who goes there!?”

Instantly, these soldiers all held their breaths.

Boss Zheng, especially composed, pulled out the token fished from a scout, raising it high: “Us.”

The soldier above shook the torch to look closely, immediately recognized it as a scout’s token, nodded, was about to turn and call for the gate to be opened, but remembered something, leaned over the parapet: “Password!”

Boss Zheng lifted his head, enunciated clearly, “Guardian King Kong!”

On hearing these four characters, the soldier finally eased, nodded turning back to shout, consequently, with a heavy raspy sound, the grand door of Hulao Pass slowly opened before them.