The Three Kingdoms: The entire Cao Cao camp thought I was weak and frail.

Rogue as he may be, as long as he's useful.

At midnight, the night was as dark as ink.

Outside Yangdi City, the sprawling Yellow Turban camps were shrouded in deathly silence. Two consecutive days of siege and constant movement had left these emaciated soldiers utterly exhausted.

Apart from a few scattered patrols that were still moving about listlessly, most people had already fallen asleep, and the camp was filled with snoring.

In the abandoned garden south of the city, thirty elite guards of the Xun family, all dressed in black and masked, with ring-pommel swords at their waists and short crossbows on their backs, emerged silently from the entrance of the underground culvert like a group of ghosts.

Leading the group was Xun Yong, the deputy commander of the Xun family's guards, a taciturn but extremely agile man.

Guo Jia stood at the cave entrance, personally seeing them off. He patted Xun Yong on the shoulder: "Remember, make a big fuss and run fast. We're not going to fight to the death. Strike once and retreat immediately, never linger in battle."

Xun Yong nodded emphatically, waved his hand, and led his men away into the thick of the night.

Xun Hao stood beside Guo Jia, wearing Guo Jia's thick fox fur cloak. The night wind was cold, but he felt no chill at all.

Guo Jia's arm casually rested on his shoulder, the continuous flow of electricity dispelling all discomfort. His gaze pierced the darkness, looking towards the direction of the Yellow Turban camp.

The plan quietly ran through my mind. This time, the cost was minimal. I only marked a few key points on the sand table: the enemy patrol routes, the intervals between troop changes, and... the most laxly guarded grain storage point.

"In the southeast corner, behind the third row of tents, there is a gap between the two patrol teams changing shifts, about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea," he whispered to Guo Jia.

Guo Jia glanced at him sideways, but didn't ask why. He simply flashed the lantern two long and three short signals.

Half an hour later, flames suddenly shot into the sky from the southeast corner of the Yellow Turban camp!

"Fire! Fire!"

A piercing scream shattered the tranquility of the night. Several tents were set ablaze by rockets, and the fire, fanned by the wind, spread rapidly.

The Yellow Turban soldiers responsible for guarding the grain rations were awakened from their sleep and terrified when they saw the firelight in front of them.

They frantically carried buckets of water to put out the fire, only to find that the buckets had been punctured with several holes and could not hold any water.

In the chaos, several dark figures, like raccoons, darted swiftly through the camp. They didn't kill anyone; they simply used knives to cut open bags of grain, letting the golden millet mix with the soil and spill onto the ground.

"There's an assassin!"

"Grab them!"

The entire camp was alarmed. The sounds of gongs, shouts, and curses filled the air.

Bo Cai's personal guard deputy, a burly man named Li Damazi, carrying a knife, led more than 500 men and charged over menacingly.

However, by the time they arrived, the attackers had vanished, leaving behind only devastation and towering flames.

"Where is he?!" Li Dama grabbed a firefighter by the collar, his eyes bloodshot.

"He...he ran away, he ran...he ran into the woods to the east..." The soldier was so frightened that he couldn't even speak clearly.

"Chase them! Chase them! We'll find them no matter what!" Li Dama roared, leading his men into the dark woods.

However, this was destined to be a futile pursuit.

Xun Yong and his men knew the terrain of this mountain forest like the back of their hand. They made their way through the forest and quickly shook off their pursuers, then took another path back to the entrance of the underground canal.

When Li Damazi led his exhausted troops back to the camp, the sky was already beginning to lighten. They had searched all night but hadn't found a single hair.

And this is just the beginning.

Less than half an hour after Li Dama chased into the woods, another incident occurred at the stables responsible for guarding the warhorses on the west side of the Yellow Turban camp.

This time, the attackers were even more decisive.

They didn't set fire to the camp; instead, they used oiled strips of cloth to light fires on the tails of a dozen or so warhorses. The horses, in pain, broke free of their reins and charged wildly through the camp. In an instant, tents collapsed, cooking stoves were overturned, and sleeping Yellow Turban soldiers were trampled by the frightened horses, their screams echoing everywhere.

By the time another patrol arrived, the attackers had vanished without a trace once again.

This night was an absolute nightmare for the 50,000 Yellow Turban soldiers.

They had just extinguished one fire when thick smoke rose from another. They had barely calmed the frightened warhorses when the tents storing weapons were riddled with crossbow bolts.

The attackers are like a swarm of tireless mosquitoes, buzzing in your ear. You slap them, but miss; they just move on to another spot and continue buzzing. You're incredibly annoyed, yet helpless.

Inside the central command tent, Bo Cai kicked over the table in front of him, his chest heaving violently. Maps, bamboo slips, and wine cups were scattered all over the floor.

"Useless! All of you are useless!" He pointed at his several disheveled lieutenants and cursed, "Tens of thousands of troops, and you can't even catch a few dozen petty thieves! What have I been doing keeping you around?!"

The lieutenants all lowered their heads, remaining silent as if trembling in fear.

"Commander, these thieves are too cunning," Li Dama said, forcing a smile. "They know the terrain too well. Once they enter the forest, they're like fish in water; they're impossible to catch. And... it seems like they can know our patrol's movements in advance, and they always manage to attack our weakest point."

Bo Cai was well aware of these things.

He paced back and forth inside the tent in agitation.

This feels so frustrating. It's like punching cotton – you have the strength but nowhere to use it.

He even suspected that the shrewd strategist in the city might have superhuman vision.

"Pass on my orders!" Bo stopped in his tracks, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "From today onwards, double the number of patrols! Everyone will take turns on night watch, and no one is allowed to remove their armor! I want to see what other tricks they can pull!"

However, Bo Cai's response was exactly what Guo Jia wanted.

On the city tower of Yangdi, Guo Jia stood leaning against the railing, holding a wine gourd in his hand, looking at the scattered torches of the Yellow Turban camp in the distance, a playful smile on his lips.

"He's panicking." Guo Jia took a swig of wine and said to Xun Hao beside him, "He's keeping tens of thousands of people awake, taking turns on night watch. Heh, we don't even need to fight them; they'll collapse on their own in less than three days."

Xun Hao didn't speak. He wrapped his cloak tighter around himself and focused his gaze on the map.

After a night of "recharging," he felt much better, but his face was still pale. He knew that this level of harassment was not enough to make Bo Cai, this hungry wolf, retreat; it would only provoke him to be even more ferocious.

We must give him a hard blow, a blow that will make him feel the pain deeply.

Just as Xun Hao had predicted, over the next two days, although the Yellow Turban Army was exhausted from the harassment, Bo Cai had learned his lesson.

He shrank his camp, concentrating supplies and warhorses near the central command tent, and heavily guarded it. It would no longer be so easy for the Xun family's small forces to succeed.

For a time, the two sides were locked in a stalemate.