Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

"Boss, that's the gist of it."

"The brothers spotted a group of Mongol soldiers in the wild woods thirty miles outside Black Wind Valley."

"There aren't many people, only about three hundred, and the leader is a commander of a thousand."

"They were protecting five or six large trucks, which were covered with thick tarpaulins and kept completely covered."

"The wheel was stuck in the mud, leaving deep ruts."

"The brothers didn't dare get too close, for fear of alerting the enemy."

A Beggar Clan disciple dressed in tattered burlap clothes stood on the blue brick floor of the Guo Mansion's front hall, bowing his head and respectfully reporting.

Huang Rong sat wearily in the armchair and rubbed her temples.

She had been working three consecutive all-nighters, and her eye sockets were sunken.

Now, the mess inside and outside Xiangyang City is all on her shoulders.

"Didn't you see what was covered under the oilcloth?" Huang Rong asked.

"We didn't see clearly. Those Tartars were on very tight guard. They even took turns going to defecate. The brothers really didn't dare to go any closer," the Beggar Clan disciple quickly replied.

Huang Rong waved her hand helplessly.

"Okay, I understand now."

"Go and collect your reward from Elder Lu. Tell the brothers at the front to keep an eye on things and not to make any rash moves."

The Beggars' Sect disciple bowed and withdrew.

Guo Jing came out from the back room.

He was dressed in a faded, coarse cloth outfit with a wide leather belt around his waist.

"Rong'er, there's trouble again in the camp," Guo Jing sighed as he walked.

"Two centurions under Wang Jian got into a fight with several leaders of our Beggars' Sect over the distribution of rations, and they even broke each other's heads."

"I have to go to the main camp myself to quell this raging fire."

Huang Rong sighed.

"Brother Jing, all you'll do is give them a good scolding. Those scoundrels will outwardly submit, but they'll still cause trouble behind your back."

"Don't worry about this. I'll go to the western camp myself to mediate later."

"Didn't you say you were going to Blackwind Valley to scout the terrain in a few days? You should prepare for that more."

Guo Jing sat down on a chair to the side, picked up the teacup, and took a big gulp of cold tea.

"I heard everything the Beggars' Sect brothers reported in the back room."

"Three hundred Mongol soldiers guarding the wagon—that's certainly strange."

"Black Wind Valley is a treacherous area; going any further would be a dead end. Why are they dragging heavy objects that way?"

Huang Rong pondered for a moment and said, "That's why I said we need to be careful. We must send someone to find out the details of this kind of team with unknown origins."

"It would be best if we could take them all down, car and all."

"But now General Wang Jian has led his troops to patrol Fancheng, and all our subordinate generals have been sent to guard the city gates and granaries."

"At this moment, there is really no suitable person in the city to lead the troops out of the city."

As soon as she finished speaking, two people strode in from outside the door.

It was the brothers Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen.

They wore fine blue silk robes and had sharp steel swords hanging at their waists.

A few days ago, Yang Guo injured his leg with a hidden force, but now it has almost fully recovered. He walks with his head held high and chest out, and there is no sign of him limping.

Wu Dunru strode to the center of the hall and thumped his chest loudly.

"Master, Mistress, you can leave this matter to us brothers!"

Wu Xiuwen quickly chimed in to support him.

"Exactly, what are three hundred Mongol Tartars?"

"My brother and I, along with a hundred men, went out of town, made dumplings for them, and brought those trucks back to you intact!"

Guo Jing looked at his two disciples and a gratified smile appeared on his face.

"Good. With a formidable enemy at hand, your willingness to volunteer shows that your years of martial arts training have not been in vain."

"We martial arts practitioners must have this kind of fearless backbone!" Guo Jing praised loudly.

Upon hearing this, Huang Rong's brows furrowed into a deep knot.

She stared intently at her two apprentices, her anger flaring within her.

She knew better than anyone how much these two good-for-nothings were worth.

It's fine for them to show off their power to the refugees fleeing the disaster at the city gate.

But once they were on the battlefield and faced the regular Mongol army, these two would probably have no idea how to arrange their troops.

Taking only one hundred men to fight three hundred elite Mongol soldiers is practically suicide.

"Cultivate Confucianism and refine literature," Huang Rong said in a deep voice, her tone somewhat cold.

"The Mongols are not made of paper. They dared to venture deep into enemy territory with only 300 men. There's no doubt that a large reinforcement would be waiting behind them."

"You two only brought a hundred people, which wouldn't even be enough to fill their teeth."

Upon hearing this, Wu Dunru's face immediately turned bright red.

He argued loudly, clearly unconvinced.

"Master's wife, your words are too encouraging to others and diminish our own prestige."

"We've practiced kung fu on Peach Blossom Island for so many years, and we've learned Master's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and his wondrous footwork."

"A mere few Tartars wielding spears? The two of us brothers could wipe them out one by one with our swords, even with our eyes closed!"

Wu Xiuwen, standing to the side, also became anxious.

"That's right, Master's wife, please don't always treat us like children."

"One hundred men are enough. Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Bringing too many men will only hold us back."

Looking at their arrogant and conceited faces, Huang Rong suddenly lost all energy to even curse them.

She was too lazy to waste any more words with these two idiots, so she simply made the decision and gave the order.

"If you want to make a contribution, I certainly won't stop you."

"But there is no joking in the army, and war is no child's play."

"Go to the training ground and must gather a thousand men, including archers and shield bearers."

"If we encounter that Mongol army, we should fight if we can, but if we can't win, we must not linger in battle."

"Your primary task is to find out exactly what's on those carts, understand?" Huang Rong stared at them sternly.

Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with resentment and dissatisfaction.

But Huang Rong was, after all, an elder and the leader of the Beggars' Sect, so they didn't dare to talk back to her face.

"I understand. I'll leave it all to Master's wife."

Wu Dunru awkwardly clasped his hands in a fist salute.

Then, the two turned around and strode out of the front hall.

After leaving the Guo residence and reaching a secluded corner where no one was around, Wu Xiuwen suddenly spat a mouthful of saliva onto the ground.

"Brother, did you hear that? Master's wife's words clearly showed that she looked down on us brothers!" Wu Xiuwen cursed through gritted teeth.

Wu Dunru also snorted coldly, his hand pressing firmly on the hilt of his sword.

"She only ever had eyes for that boy surnamed Yang."

"That brat Yang Guo acted like a coward at the city gate before, not daring to utter a single fart, but his master's wife still treated him like a treasure."

"My brother and I volunteered to fight the enemy, but she, on the contrary, complained that we weren't good enough and insisted that we lead a thousand men!"

Wu Xiuwen was so angry that he stomped his feet.

"If a thousand men fight three hundred, even if we win and reclaim the carts, the city's garrison will only laugh at us for outnumbering them and for winning unfairly!"

"Our mistress is deliberately suppressing us, intentionally preventing us from standing out and making contributions!"

"She's just biased!" Wu Dunru couldn't help but curse.

"What is Yang Guo anyway? He's just a pretty boy who's good at attracting women, yet his master's wife always protects him."

"My brother and I have trained in martial arts with our master for so many years, but in the end, we are not even given the real power to lead troops into battle."

"Brother, what should we do now? Do we really have to go and call a thousand people?" Wu Xiuwen asked.

Wu Dunru's eyes darted around, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"Since Master's wife says to count a thousand people, then let's count a thousand people."

"However, once this battle starts, how we brothers fight it will be up to us to decide."

"We'll take 100 elite soldiers to charge in and cut them down, while the remaining 900 can stay behind and watch the show."

"This time we must win decisively and bring those carts back to the Guo residence intact."

"Let's show Master's wife who's really the useless bum!"

"Yeah, let's do it! And let Yang Guo see what's what!" Wu Xiuwen rubbed his hands excitedly.

The two men grumbled and cursed as they hurried toward the northern camp.

Before long, Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen arrived at the North Camp.

The deputy general guarding the camp was named Li Erniu, a rough and uncouth man.

Wu Dunru suddenly pulled out the token given to him by Huang Rong and shouted loudly:

"Li Erniu, quickly muster a thousand infantrymen and come with us brothers out of the city to fight!"

Li Erniu took the token and examined it carefully, then scratched his head with some difficulty.

"Young Masters Wu, it's the middle of the night, all the brothers down below are asleep."

"How about... we wait until dawn tomorrow before mustering the troops and leaving the city?"

Without saying a word, Wu Xiuwen kicked Li Erniu hard in the leg.

"Stop wasting your breath. Speed ​​is of the essence in war, don't you understand?"

"If you delay this urgent military mission, I'll chop off your head right now!" Wu Xiuwen shouted angrily.

Li Erniu was beaten, but he couldn't afford to offend these two people with connections, so he had no choice but to run to the gong.

In the dead of night, a series of urgent gong sounds rang out.

A thousand soldiers grumbled as they crawled out of their warm beds, reluctantly donned their leather armor, and picked up their spears.

Wu Dunru stood arrogantly on the command platform, looking down at the chaotic soldiers below with a smug expression on his face.

"Brothers, come with us tonight and we'll make a fortune!"

"Let's go outside Blackwind Valley and cut off the heads of those Mongol Tartars."

"As long as you get a Tartar's head, you'll be rewarded with half a tael of silver on the spot!" Wu Dunru shouted at the top of his lungs.

The soldiers below looked at each other, but no one uttered a sound.

Everyone was forcibly woken up in the middle of the night, and they were all seething with anger.

Upon seeing this, Wu Xiuwen immediately drew his long sword from his waist, pointed it at the audience below, and shouted loudly:

"Everyone, perk up!"

"Anyone who dares to retreat even a step on the battlefield will be court-martialed without exception!"

Urged on by the two men, the thousand-strong group slowly made their way out of the north gate.

Following the intelligence previously relayed by the Beggars' Sect disciples, they hurriedly headed towards the direction where the Mongol squad was stationed.