Searching for the Secret Door

A bandit flatteringly approached and said, "Reporting to the Third Chief, I have it right here."

With that, he pulled a flint from his bosom, struck it to create a spark, and brought it close to the trunk of the large tree.

Visible on the white bark were six characters written in blood: *When fire arises, a shower of arrows follows!*

The Third Chief was terribly startled. Before he could retreat, the foot archers, who had been re-ambushing in the thickets on both sides of the trail, had already nocked their arrows. Seeing the fire light up, they released their shafts directly toward the glow. A hail of arrows descended, and the Third Chief was riddled with projectiles, resembling a hedgehog as he dropped dead on the spot. The fire-bearing bandit fared no better; after emitting a few shrill screams, he dropped the flint and bolted into the bushes, only to be caught red-handed by the players waiting in ambush, who hacked him to death with a flurry of swords.

Another wave of arrows rained down, blanketing the bandits near the stream.

In the pitch darkness, the bandits shrieked continuously. Lacking the command of a bandit chief, they fell into utter chaos. In the confusion, several bandits wielding broadswords and long spears attempted to charge into the thickets to attack the foot archers. What greeted them, however, were the players and soldiers crouched in the front ranks of the archers. Iron swords and long spears thrust forward simultaneously at the dark figures daring to intrude. After absorbing six or seven strikes, the bandits realized too late that there was another ambush waiting in the foliage. As they swung their weapons wildly in random retaliation, the iron swords and spears continued to mercilessly skewer them. Within moments, their health bars were depleted, and they fell backward.

After the foot archers loosed seven volleys, only a handful of bandits remained, all of them severely wounded. A few bandits simply leaped into the small stream with loud splashes to make their escape.

Only then did Li Zhan issue the command to charge. The players and soldiers surged out from the thickets, dispatching the remaining bandits in a single engagement. One of the bandits was captured alive near his death by Righteous Cloud, and from his lips, the group learned that the stronghold was virtually empty, as Wan Hu had led roughly two hundred bandits away to confront the imperial forces.

The group breathed a collective sigh of relief, finally able to rest their minds for a moment. Most of Li Zhan's men had sustained injuries to varying degrees. Had Li Zhan not employed the ancient stratagem of Sun Bin shooting Pang Juan to eliminate the bandit chief first, this final ambush could never have gone so smoothly.

Ambushing three successive waves of bandits totaling over one hundred and fifty men—three times their own numbers and vastly superior in level—made this ambush battle an absolute masterpiece. The results far exceeded Li Zhan's initial expectations.

The swordsmen of Yanhuang Village had generally gained three to four levels, placing them between levels 14 and 15. Zhao Ming, following Li Zhan's prior instructions, had stopped directly killing enemies after leveling up once and focused purely on command, keeping his level steady at 15. The foot archers had also advanced one to two levels. All five foot archers had now reached level 12, allowing them to officially learn archery skills.

The level discrepancies among the players were somewhat greater; some had gained five levels, while others had only gone up by one. The leveled-up players had their health bars fully restored and their injuries largely alleviated.

The soldiers from the E Family Village had likewise gained two to three levels, with their personal attributes slightly enhanced. Even many of the imperial soldiers had leveled up; because they had served as the frontline force in this ambush and possessed lower base defenses, they were naturally the most heavily wounded group, and they were currently receiving treatment from the missionary.

The missionary's healing spell had been upgraded to the intermediate tier, and its restorative effects were vastly superior to the initial primary tier, increasing the amount of health recovered within the same duration. Even so, after healing five imperial soldiers, the missionary's mental energy was entirely exhausted, forcing him to halt the treatment.

The raging fire had thoroughly consumed the stronghold, turning the entire interior into a sea of flames. The continuous, agonizing screams of bandits caught in the blaze could be heard echoing without stop.

Li Zhan raised his head to look at the erratic tongues of fire leaping across the stronghold, a worry gnawing at his heart: Would the trapped Six Sisters be implicated in this inferno?

Entering the stronghold at this moment was extremely dangerous; water and fire are merciless, and one could easily be consumed by the rampant flames. Yet, out of concern for the safety of the Six Sisters, Li Zhan resolved to head up to the stronghold and check on them, leading his men along the trail toward the fortress.

The thirty imperial soldiers hesitated somewhat. Their mission was to assist Li Zhan in ambushing the bandits, but now they were heading up into the stronghold itself, which contradicted their original orders. However, after a brief hesitation, they followed behind Li Zhan. Through the three successive, brilliantly executed ambush battles, they had grown to deeply admire his command and dispatching capabilities, believing that following Li Zhan would not lead them astray.

The rear gate of the stronghold had been completely swallowed by the flames, radiating a scorching heat that made one's face sting, rendering it impossible to approach within two meters. Li Zhan instructed the ten imperial spearmen to step forward and press their long spears together against the gate to push it down. Standing in a single file, the ten spearmen planted their weapons against the roaring, burning gate and heaved with all their might. With a thunderous crash, the gate collapsed outward.

Li Zhan led his party through the wooden gate frame—which resembled a fiery circus hoop—and bypassed the still-burning wooden panels lying on the ground, entering the stronghold to find an ocean of fire before their eyes.

Dozens of wooden houses were nearly all engulfed by the flames; only a few structures in the center of the stronghold, including the council hall, remained intact. Yet, watching the tongues of fire greedily licking at the surrounding buildings, Li Zhan knew it was only a matter of time before these intact structures were devoured as well.

The bandits inside the stronghold were panic-stricken. Those attempting to fight the fire found themselves surrounded by seas of flames, carelessly catching fire themselves. More bandits, realizing the blaze was beyond control, gave in to avarice and seized the opportunity to loot, bursting into the various intact structures to plunder valuables, strapping heavy bundles to their backs, and fleeing. On the rare occasion that a fleeing, blind-sighted bandit bumped into Li Zhan's party, they were immediately hacked to the ground by a flurry of player swords.

Li Zhan warned everyone to carefully evade the flames and avoid being burned. After roughly assessing the situation within the stronghold, Li Zhan led his men toward the council hall at the center.

Arriving at the entrance of the council hall, Li Zhan grabbed a fleeing bandit and demanded sternly, "Speak! Where is the cell holding the Six Sisters?"

Trembling all over in terror, the bandit stammered, "It's... it's in the dungeon beneath the council hall! Spare this humble one's life, great lord!"

Li Zhan shrugged. "I can spare you, but whether the others will do the same is beyond me."

With that, he released his grip, and the men beside him immediately dragged the bandit away, finishing him off with a flurry of swords and spears.

As they entered the council hall, several bandits carrying packs rushed out from the opposite direction, only to be swarmed by players and soldiers and cut down with swords. The items inside their packs scattered across the floor—vases, tea sets, porcelain, and other items of little real value.

Li Zhan instructed Medicine to the Rescue to lead his subordinate players to the main gate of the stronghold to keep watch, warning them to run back and report the moment Wan Hu and his bandits were seen returning. Li Zhan, leading the remaining men, searched the council hall for the door leading to the dungeon. After searching for a while without a single trace of success, they captured a few more bandits for questioning, only to find that while the bandits knew a dungeon existed, none of them knew where the entrance was.

It appeared that this council hall possessed a hidden door leading down to the dungeon. It was truly incredible that a stronghold occupied by bandits could be equipped with such a concealed mechanism.

Li Zhan had the players and soldiers tap against the walls and move tables and chairs around inside the council hall, but after busying themselves for a long time, they still failed to discover the location of the hidden door.