Rebirth of a Star General Chapter 82
Lei Hou
The group headed down the mountain.
This young man seemed to never know what humility is. He was confident but not arrogant and he always seemed to have a plan in mind. He also has the ability to convince the crowd, at least until now, he had done what he said.
The six flags were all held in Jiang Jiao’s arms. After walking for a while, he was already far from the top of the mountain. Just when they were about to reach the mountainside, He Yan stopped and said, “Now, let’s take a rest here.”
Everyone sat down, but He Yan climbed the tree instead and took a look around. Wang Ba asked, “What are you doing?”
“Stepping on board.” He Yan replied. [t/n She’s saying like I’m waiting for a good opportunity] [ed/n: this is the same bandit slang that appeared in one of the earlier chapters. It’s implying that the main character is scouting around and waiting for a chance.]
“You’re now so familiar with the robbery, what kind of board are you still stepping on.” Wang Ba snorted, “You’re pretending on purpose.”
He Yan watched the surroundings for a while before she climbed down the tree, and sat down on the stone, saying, “This should be the last stop. Since we are following a tricky plan, we must succeed in one shot. Otherwise, with just six flags, we may not come in at the first position.”
“They will really pass through here?” Jiang Jiao turned and glanced behind him. The dense forest was deep, with no one in sight. “There are so many mountain roads and the mountain is so big. What if they take the other mountain roads?”
“There are many small and long routes on Baiyue mountain,” He Yan smiled, “People with flags would always be more cautious. If they take the wide route, they will inevitably attract attention. For the fear of other recruits coming to snatch their flags, they will definitely not take any wide routes. Amongst the small roads, this is the shortest way to the guardhouse, and is also the easiest route to find. You must know that not everyone can remember the path they went through, so they are most likely to take this route.”
Huang Xiong liked to listen to He Yan’s speech, so he asked, “Is what you said written in the art of war?”
“This is called the Theory of Circumstance,” He Yan picked up a branch and drew a picture on the ground to show them, “The purpose is not to choose the place to deal with the enemy, but instead to control the complexity with simplicity, to adapt to the constant changes, to respond to big changes with the small ones, to respond the movement with no movement, and to respond to big actions with small ones.”
Wang Ba asked, “Then, are we not doing anything? Didn’t you say that our tactics have long been exposed to others and that they won’t be fooled.”
“You’re thinking that since the other party has won a lot of flags, they must have also won many games and their morale must have risen greatly. So if they really face us, they may not lose.” Having said that, He Yan still didn’t have any anxiety on her face, “So let’s go ahead. Go down the mountain and recharge our energy. By the way, let’s also find a good place to lie in ambush, but I think that in the end, it may still be the more powerful group between both to be the one capturing the flags.”
“But this is also natural. Ultimately, in capturing the flag , between the best people, there will always be a winner.”
None of them can answer these words, only Wang Ba squinted at her and said coldly, “Why are you the best person?”
“Have I ever named myself?” He Yan replied sincerely.
Wang Ba: “…”
“In short, everyone let’s first eat, drink and rest here., After that, we will lie in ambush as just arranged. I have looked around, the road ahead is dangerous and narrow, It’ll be easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is good for us. We can take advantage of the situation. After I’ve grabbed the flag, don’t indulge in the fight but follow me to leave quickly. Going down the mountain is the priority, and once we leave the Baiyue Mountain, no one can grab the flag from us.”
“Understood!” Huang Xiong gulped down almost half of the pot water, “I can’t wait!”
“Give me the flags.” He Yan said.
Jiang Jiao handed the flags to her and He Yan tucked them in her body, saying, “I think the last group passing through here will also have the flag in the hands of their leader. I’m bound to fight with him. You just have to entangle the other teammates and prevent them from getting close.”
“Can you really do it alone?” Wang Ba asked, “There are six flags. They might get scattered or snatched away.”
“You’re really underestimating your leader.” He Yan leaped slightly, landing on the branch, and laughed, “At least in Liangzhou Wei, no one can snatch my things away from me.”
…
Wang Xiaohan was leading his team down the mountain.
His clothes were torn till they were barely covering his upper body. Fortunately, his trousers were still intact. The blade in his hand had been chipped and his eyes were also darked from the punch he took in the face. The companions behind him were no better. All of them had blue noses, swollen faces, and ragged clothes. If one didn’t know about the competition, they might mistake them as refugees from outside the city.
Wang Xiaohan felt very despair.
Being the recruits of Liangzhou Wei, they had to fight for the flag. In the beginning, they were all very proud and full of enthusiasm. But who knew that once they actually went up to the mountain, it was not as easy as they thought it would be.
In the rugged mountain roads, one must find the flags hidden within the mess. They had to watch out for snakes, insects, beasts, and even the traps set by the hunters. In competing with other recruits, if you encountered the milder ones, it was still quite okay, but if you encountered the brutal ones, you would be immediately beaten up to a pulp.
Although the instructor said that it would not be life-threatening before they went up the mountain, it was still impossible to remain scratchless during a fight. Though their lives were not endangered, Wang Xianhan was still beaten up to a pulp. Wang Xiaohan thought aggrievedly. From the time he grew up, this was the first he was beaten up to this extent. How miserable!
Moreover, their flags were all robbed away. With nothing left, Wang Xiaohan also came to realize that their team was inferior to the others. It was good that they were able to descend safely. Whoever that loves to enter the forward camp, can go to the damn forward camp and fight for the damn flag!
As he was thinking, he stepped on the dead branches. Suddenly something hit his forehead. It didn’t hurt, but he was shocked. When he looked up, he saw the oak tree in front of him. A boy in red was sitting on the tree, holding a handful of acorns in his hand, and aiming at his forehead. Seeing Wang Xiaohan looking over, the boy smiled and greeted him, “Hey!”
The young boy’s eyebrows were beautiful and his expression was spirited,like a good portrait, but Wang Xiaohan felt like a basin of cold water poured from his head to his feet, and his heart felt cold. He trembled, and only had time to let out a miserable cry, “…It’s He Yan, run–“
When the companions heard the words, they ran away. Wang Xiaohan turned around and also wanted to run, but the moment he moved, he felt that something flew toward his knees. Then, his legs became numb and he could no longer move. Looking at his several companions, they were all in the same situation.
He Yan jumped down from the tree, still holding the acorn in her hand, as she had just hit their acupuncture point with the acorn. This was also due to the fact that Wang Xiaohan and his party were injured, and the road down the mountain was steep, in addition, they were exhausted from walking here, so they were easily restrained by He Yan.
He Yan walked to Wang Xiaohan but Wang Xiaohan didn’t wait for her to speak, and shouted, “We don’t have a flag, all of them were snatched!”
Wang Ba and others also walked out from hiding at this moment, searched them all, shook their heads to He Yan, and said, “Nothing.”
“Since there is no flag, why did you try to run away after seeing me?” He Yan asked curiously.
“…I was afraid you will hit me.” Wang Xiaohan said difficulty.
“Who told you that we beat people up?” He Yan became even more curious, and looked at his eyes as she again, “Brother, your injuries seem to be serious, is the flag fight on the mountain already so fierce?”
They avoided the particularly fierce disputes from the start to the end, so they didn’t know what the actual situation was. At this moment, looking at the miserable appearance of Wang Xiaohan and his party, they were all fortunate that they did not fight head-on with the other recruits.
No one would like to be beaten into a pulp.
“We, we heard that you’d robbed a lot of flags,” Wang Xiaohan hesitated, “And the methods were cunning and cruel…”
Wang Ba was unhappy, “What the hell is this nonsense? We are using cruel means? Who is corrupting our reputation everywhere?”
Wang Xiaohan didn’t dare to say that people outside were saying more than just that, and they were directly describing He Yan and the others as a mob, or a group of dogs and foxes.
“You just want to go down the mountain, right?” He Yan asked.
Wang Xiaohan nodded.
“Without a flag, why do you want to go down the mountain?”
Wang Xiaohan broke the jar and said, “I can’t get it anyway. It’s better to go back to take a bath and rest early.”
“Let me ask you again,” He Yan looked at him with a smile, “Apart from us, who holds the most flags on the mountain right now?”
“It’s…Lei Hou.”
“Lei Hou?” Huang Xiong frowned, “Have you ever heard of this name?”
Jiang Jiao shook his head, “No.”
Shi Tou and Wangba also said that they had never heard of it. Liangzhou Wei has tens of thousands of recruits, and all the outstanding people will surely be talked about after all. Since Lei Hou had grabbed the flag of many people, he should also be very talented. But before today, no one had heard the name of this person.
“Is he great?” He Yan asked Wang Xiaohan.
“Very powerful. He has more than a dozen flags in his hands. I think except for the ones in your hands, all the flags are with him.” Wang Xiaohan said.
More than a dozen, He Yan raised her eyebrows. It seemed that Lei Hou’s wins were not because of luck. She asked, “How did he grab the flag and set a trap?”
“No, no,” Wang Xiaohan replied, “Whenever he saw someone with a flag, he would directly fight with the opponent. After defeating the opponent, he would snatched the flags. His companions are similar to ours, but this person is really amazing, he can withstand several others by himself.”
He Yan was stunned. If that’s the case, this person was not ordinary. She asked, “Your injuries were inflicted by him?”
Wang Xiaohan nodded humiliatingly.
He Yan shook her head.
Wang Xiaohan asked, “What’s wrong?”
“He beat you, why didn’t you hit him?”
“I couldn’t fight!” Wang Xiaohan said angrily, “If I had the skills like yours, I would have beaten him up a long time ago!”
“That’s not true. If you can’t fight with your hands, you just need to use your brain.” He Yan patted him on the shoulder and unlocked the acupuncture points for them, “You told us so much, I’ll take you revenge for you. Brothers,” she turned to greet Jiang Jiao and the others, “Don’t stand still, pack up and work.”
“Are you really going to fight against him?” Wang Xiaohan asked cautiously. After having a few words with He Yan, he felt that He Yan was not as cruel as the rumors said. Wang Xiaohan was relieved and kindly persuaded him, “Since you already have flags in your hand, you should go down the mountain first. Lei Hou is great at fighting. If you can’t fight him, you eventually won’t have any flags left. If you go down the mountain now, you will still be able to get the second position.”
“Second?” He Yan shook her head, “The second one may not necessarily enter the forward battalion. Don’t worry,” He Yan said, “No matter how powerful he is, he can only be a worm once he enters my territory.”
She laughed wildly, and for a while, Wang Xiaohan had nothing to say.
…
After being briefly questioned by He Yan, Wang Xiaohan and the others made their way down the mountain. They were afraid that He Yan and Lei Hou would fight together and drag them along. They ran so fast that they disappeared in a few seconds without leaving any trace.
Jiang Jiao turned his head to look at He Yan, “After listening to what he said, Lei Hou seems to be very skilled.”
“Don’t worry,” He Yan said, “I’m even better.”
She was so confident that everyone didn’t know what else to say. He Yan estimated the time. It shouldn’t be long before Lei Hou and his group would go down the mountain, so she urged everyone to hide quickly, and not waste time.
After hiding and waiting long enough to drink a cup of tea, someone’s footsteps approached.
There were a total of five people on the route, one in the front and the other four behind. The leader of these five people should be in front. He looked about 20 years old, a young man, tall and thin, handsome, with blazing eyes. He walked to the dense forest and stopped suddenly, restraining the movement of his companions behind him with one hand, and said, “Hold on!”
“Brother Lei?” the companion asked.
“Ahead in this dense forest, there is a faint murderous intent. I am afraid that there are ambushers here.”
“Ambush?” The companion felt very novel, “How can anyone dare to ambush us?”
Their group, relying on Lei Hou, grabbed all the flags from the hands of other recruits on the mountain. Others, not to mention an ambush, always took a detour whenever they saw their group. So their group had been openly going down the mountain, almost without cover, because no one can beat Lei Hou.
“We only have 14 flags in our hands.” Lei Hou said, “The remaining six are untouched.”
“Aren’t the rest in He Yan’s hands?”
“Not bad.” Lei Hou looked at the dense forest in front of him, “So most likely the person who set up an ambush here is He Yan.”
They looked at each other for a long while, and someone asked, “Then what should we do?”
There was no one in Liangzhou Wei who didn’t know about He Yan, as he was considered to be a one-in-a-million talent. Although Lei Hou was also very good, it would be hard to say what the outcome would be if the two of them played hand in hand.
“Good timing,” Lei Hou smiled suddenly, and said, “He is here, and happened to have the rest of the flags, we just have to snatch them all, leaving none for them.”
This remark was full of confidence, making people excited. The companions agreed one after another, and Lei Hou commanded again, “You all just need to deal with other people and leave He Yan to me.”
He didn’t know that, coincidentally, He Yan thought the same too.
Lei Hou took a few steps forward alone. The road was narrow and there were dense jungles on both sides. He did not step forward any further, but instead said loudly to the front, “I’m Lei Hou. Come out, He Yan. I know you are here. “
The young man’s chuckle suddenly sounded from the tree. Lei Hou raised his head and looked up. The young man leaned half of his body against the branch and supported his head with one hand, seemed to be taking a nap, his eyes filled with regret as he said, “Brother’s eyes are really too good. I can’t even hide for long.”
“You hid well.” Lei Hou also smiled, “It’s just that your companions’ murderous intent were too strong.”
He Yan thought helplessly, what can she do? A mountain bandit, a green forest warrior, a young master of a martial arts school, and a hunter who was born and raised in Shuojing. All of them had suffered through the blood and rain, how could they be as calm as a monk from the temple?
“Call your people out,” Lei Hou said, “Let’s fight for the flag upright.”
He bit the word [put a lot of emphasis on the word] “upright” very hard.
Probably when he was at the top of the mountain, he had already heard rumors about He Yan and the others’ “great achievements” and their love to fish in muddy waters [1], that’s why he had to emphasize not to use intrigue and trickery
“They like to play hide and seek,” He Yan only smiled: “Get your people find them by themselves.”
Lei Hou’s smile turned cold and he looked at He Yan for a moment. Suddenly, a cold light rushed towards He Yan. He Yan avoided and passed by the cold light, but saw that cold light flew back to Lei Hou’s hand, it was a long sword.
This person used a sword.
“Brother is really too anxious,” He Yan smiled slightly, raised her hand, and pulled out the nine-section whip around her waist. The whip collided in the air with a crisp sound. The boy jumped off the branch, “So, I’ll fight you!”
She rushed towards Lei Hou.
Lei Hou also greeted her. Lei Hou’s companions behind him wanted to help, but as soon as they tried to move, they saw a few people drilled out from all directions, from the grass, behind the stone, and also from beside the tree trunk. They were probably He Yan’s companions. They were caught off guard as their opponents grasped the first opportunity. As such, Lei Hou’s people, who were caught off guard, had to suffer such a stifling loss.
They were beaten up a few times.
Since going up the mountain, they have been invincible throughout. So when they were beaten up, they were more shocked than angry.
Wang Ba waved his axe and rushed into the crowd, “Your grandfather, I, wanted to come out and do this a long time ago. Come on, let’s have a good fight!”
He Yan smiled and said, “Take it easy, Brother Wang, if it ends too soon, there will be no fun in fighting.”
“You still have the mood to joke?” Lei Hou felt unbelievable. He was probably angry at He Yan’s lack of concentration during the fight. He wasn’t being soft since the time he started, as his sword’s blade stabbed straight towards He Yan’s chest.
He Yan frowned slightly, looking at Lei Hou’s expression gradually becoming cold.
The purpose of recruits going up the mountain is to fight for the flag and not to have a real fight. Therefore, the instructor had also reminded the recruit in every possible way, not to hurt lives. But when she fought against Lei Hou just now, she already knew that this person really had no scruples.
It was no wonder that Wang Xiaohan was beaten so badly and was discouraged so early. She thought Wang Xiaohan might not be the most miserable one of the ones who fought with Lei Hou. For example, if it wasn’t her just now, she was afraid that the person would have already been stabbed.
He was really not going soft at all.
Seeing He Yan’s expression changed, a trace of contempt flashed in Lei Hou’s eyes, and he said, “If you give up at this moment, I won’t fight.”
“Why?” The young man smiled and said, “I still want the flags in your arms.”
Lei Hou’s face changed. All the flags were indeed in his arms. First, it was because he had snatched these flags, and the others had no objection to putting them with him. The second reason was that no one dared to snatch it from him.
Unexpectedly, He Yan could see through at a glance.
He sneered, his eyes were quick, as he pointed his sword at He Yan, and was about to lift He Yan’s front lapel to grab He Yan’s flags. He Yan raised her hand and the nine-section whip’s tail snapped off Lei Hou’s sword tip as she took a few steps back with her toes tapping.
She lowered her head and glanced at her clothes. Fortunately, they were intact. A trace of dissatisfaction passed in her heart. If this was Shuojing, Lei Hou’s actions would have been enough for the girl to send him through the gates of the official office. Molesting a virtuous woman in the streets was what a gangster does.
“This is very rude of you, Brother Lei.” She raised her eyebrows, “I’m a little angry.”
[1] This is a Chinese idiom used to describe people taking advantage of the chaos situation in front of their eyes.
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