In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

Qin Shaolang watched as the entire valley came to life, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

A motley crew, as long as it has a steadfast core, can unleash astonishing power.

The soldiers he led in his previous life were even more ragtag than this.

With proper tactics, it is not impossible to fight a group of bandits who are not even a regular army.

He walked over to Zhao Wu, who was directing everyone to whittle down the wooden stakes.

"The stockade walls should be built at an angle, not in a straight line, so that they can charge in."

"Also, dig some holes in front, not too deep, just deep enough to trip people up, and stick sharpened bamboo sticks in them."

As he spoke, he used a twig to draw simple sketches of traps and fortifications on the ground.

These are the most basic field defense knowledge, but in this era, they are enough to become deadly weapons.

Zhao Wu's eyes lit up as he listened, and he nodded repeatedly. His gaze toward Qin Shaolang had changed from awe to fervent worship.

Having arranged everything, Qin Shaolang walked alone to the highest point of the valley.

He looked down at the bustling scene below, then looked up at the deep night outside the valley, in the direction of Black Wind Village.

A cold wind ruffled his disheveled hair, his expression neither sad nor happy.

Unbeknownst to him, Su Tang, carrying a thick animal hide, quietly approached him from behind.

"Brother Qin, it's chilly at night, put this on."

Qin Shaolang turned around, took the animal skin, but did not put it on; he simply held it in his hand.

"Aren't you afraid?" he asked.

Su Tang shook her head, then nodded, and whispered, "I was scared. But... but seeing you, Brother Qin, I don't seem so scared anymore."

Her eyes reflected the flickering firelight in the valley, clear and pure.

Qin Shaolang remained silent for a moment.

guard.

These two words resurfaced in his mind.

He turned around and said to Su Jin, who had followed him, "Keep an eye on your sister, and keep an eye on everyone else. From now until this is over, I don't want any trouble to happen inside the camp."

Su Jin nodded solemnly: "Don't worry."

Qin Shaolang said no more and turned to walk towards the other side of the cliff.

"Sir, where are you going?" Zhao Wu called out from afar.

Qin Shaolang did not turn around, but his voice came clearly.

"I'll go and prepare a big gift for them."

The "grand gift" that Qin Shaolang was going to prepare was on this cliff.

Ignoring the shouts behind him, he climbed straight up the steep slope on one side of the cliff.

His movements were very agile, not at all like someone who had just recovered from a serious illness and was extremely exhausted.

In special forces, rock climbing is the most basic skill.

This seemingly vertical cliff appeared as a smooth road beneath his feet.

Su Jin and Su Tang looked up as the figure moved quickly up the steep rock face, soon becoming a small black dot before disappearing behind a protruding rock.

Su Tang's little hands gripped her sister's clothes tightly.

"Sister, Brother Qin... he'll be alright, won't he?"

Su Jin didn't say anything, but simply hugged her younger sister even tighter.

She doesn't know either.

But she knew that the man was their only hope now.

……

Qin Shaolang quickly climbed to the mountainside of the cliff.

Here, there is a naturally formed platform, about half the size of a room.

Standing here, you can have a panoramic view of the entire valley entrance.

The wind was strong, making his robes flutter loudly.

He didn't care about any of that.

His gaze was fixed on a huge, somewhat loose rock formation above the platform.

That rock formation resembled a lurking giant beast, suspended above the valley entrance.

Given enough force, it will crash down with tremendous force.

Grind everything below into powder.

This was one of the "grand gifts" he prepared for Black Wind Stronghold.

Rockfall formation.

The most primitive and most effective means of area-of-effect killing.

But this is not enough.

The falling rocks might throw the bandits into disarray, but they wouldn't completely lose their fighting ability.

What he wanted was a devastating blow.

Qin Shaolang peeked out from the edge of the platform, carefully observing what lay below.

The valley entrance is narrow, only about four or five meters wide.

On the hillsides on both sides, Wang Tiezhu was leading his men, laboriously moving huge stones and piling them into stone walls.

Zhao Wu led his men to set up the first line of defense in front of the valley entrance using sharpened wooden stakes and simple barricades.

Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.

In Qin Shaolang's mind, a three-dimensional battlefield model quickly materialized.

When the bandits rushed into the valley, they were slowed down by the antler spears and the pitfalls.

Then, the rolling rocks on both sides of the hillside will launch the first wave of attack from the side.

Just as they were being attacked from both sides and their formation was thrown into chaos...

The giant rock hanging above them will be the "divine punishment" that delivers a fatal blow.

However, something is still missing.

Qin Shaolang's gaze fell on the pile of grease that was prepared to be used as torches.

An even more ruthless plan took shape in his mind.

He needs help.

He returned to the platform and shouted down, "Zhao Wu!"

The sound traveled clearly on the wind.

Zhao Wu, who was directing everyone to set up the trap, suddenly looked up when he heard the shout.

"Sir! I'm here!"

"Take ten brave and quick men, along with all our ropes and axes, and come up the gentle slope from the west!"

"yes!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Wu immediately selected ten of his strongest men, who then carried their tools and ran westward.

About half an hour later.

Zhao Wu and his men, panting heavily, climbed up to the platform.

When they saw where Qin Shaolang was standing and the precariously large rock above them, their legs went weak with fear.

"Sir...this...this was too dangerous!"

"Stop talking nonsense." Qin Shaolang pointed to several old pine trees that had stubbornly grown out of the cracks in the rock below the giant rock.

"Do you see those trees?"

Everyone nodded.

"Use an axe and chop them in half along the side closest to the rock! Remember, only chop them in half, don't cut them completely off!"

"Then, use ropes to connect those trees to the stakes on the opposite mountainside!"

Qin Shaolang's order sent a collective gasp through everyone.

They finally understood what Qin Shaolang was planning.

This requires human effort to move this massive boulder weighing tens of thousands of kilograms!

This is absolutely insane!

"Sir... this... will this work?" a man asked in a trembling voice. "What if... what if this rock falls, we'll all be..."

"Those who are afraid of dying can go down now." Qin Shaolang's tone was very calm.

No one moved.

They are afraid of death.

But they feared the Black Wind Stronghold's butcher's knife even more.

"Damn it!" Zhao Wu gritted his teeth, being the first to pick up an axe. "What the hell are you all standing there for! If you want to live, listen to your master!"

The men exchanged glances and then picked up their weapons.

They secured themselves to the cliff face with ropes and, like geckos, carefully moved to the pine trees.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The sound of an axe chopping down a tree echoed through the empty valley.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

Each strike sent shivers down everyone's spine.

They felt they weren't cutting down trees.

Instead, they are knocking on the door of the King of Hell.