A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

In no time, most of the hundred or so scouts had been killed, and the rest fled in disarray.

The leading clerk ran up to Xiao Yunling, trembling, and said, "General, there really are bandits up there!"

Xiao Yunling's eyes darkened, and he ignored her.

She turned and ordered, "Everyone, listen up! Take your shields and surround us as we ascend the mountain."

Now that we have found the remnants of the bandits, this is the best opportunity to wipe them out.

At the order, the soldiers in Zhenbei immediately sprang into action.

Dozens of soldiers, carrying wooden shields, lined up and slowly advanced up the mountain, ready to fight at any moment.

Compared to the yamen runners and local militia, the soldiers of the Zhenbei Army were clearly more well-trained. Even though the mountain path was narrow, they maintained their orderly formation and moved step by step toward the top of the mountain.

Arrows continued to fly from the mountaintop, but they were all blocked by the wooden shields and could not harm the soldiers in the slightest.

And so the Zhenbei Army advanced all the way until they reached the place where the scouts had stopped, only a hundred paces from the mountaintop.

But as you climb further up, there is no path at all.

Ahead was a huge rock ten feet high, extremely steep, with no foothold at all; one could only climb it with bare hands.

The shield bearers stopped and prepared to work together to climb the boulder.

Just then, the sound of rolling boulders suddenly came from the direction of the mountaintop.

Looking up, they saw several rocks rolling down from the mountaintop, hurtling towards the soldiers.

"cover!"

Upon seeing this, the soldiers immediately stopped climbing and raised their targets high.

However, the stones rolled down extremely fast. Even though the soldiers were prepared, they were still thrown back by the stones, along with their shields, and crashed heavily onto the mountain path. The soldiers behind them also fell to the ground.

The soldiers behind them didn't have time to get out of the way, and their formation instantly fell into chaos.

"General, be careful."

Halfway up the mountain, the other soldiers quickly covered Xiao Yunling to avoid the attack from the summit.

Xiao Yunling frowned as she watched this scene from afar.

Although she couldn't see the enemies on the mountaintop clearly, she could deduce from the number of arrows rained down earlier that there were definitely quite a few bandits on the mountaintop, at least forty or fifty people.

This number matched exactly the number of the remaining bandits in Lingtou Village that she was searching for.

Perhaps the bandit leader Chen Mo is hiding inside.

However, Xiling Peak is too treacherous, and if the soldiers continue to attack, it will surely cause considerable casualties.

Now that we've confirmed the enemy's location, there's no need to take any risks.

"Cease the attack and surround the enemy on the spot."

Xiao Yunling gave another order.

The advancing Zhenbei Army soldiers immediately retreated to their positions halfway up the mountain and began to deploy defenses.

Xiao Yunling knew that Xiling Peak was just one mountain, and even if the roads on the mountain were narrow and difficult to travel, the bandits on it would definitely not have much food or water, even if they had a place to hide.

If we can surround this place for less than ten days, the people up there will definitely run out of food. Then we can take them down with minimal casualties.

Upon receiving the order, the Zhenbei Army soldiers had already begun to set up camp halfway up the mountain, erecting wooden fences to prevent the bandits on the mountain from launching another sneak attack, and completely blocking all directions down the mountain.

Time passed slowly, the sun had already set, and the mountain wind carried a chilling cold.

The soldiers of the Zhenbei Army in the camp stood guard at their posts, keeping a close watch on the direction of the mountaintop, not daring to relax for a moment.

Just then, a loud sound suddenly came from the direction of the mountaintop.

Is General Xiao here?

The sound was loud and clearly carried to the government troops' camp halfway up the mountain.

The soldiers on duty instantly became alert, gripping their weapons tightly and looking up at the mountaintop.

At that moment, Xiao Yunling was sitting in the temporary tent above and below. Hearing the shout, he immediately picked up his weapon and went out.

"General, the bandits up above are shouting."

Before long, the soldiers from the mountainside came down and reported the situation.

Xiao Yunling nodded slightly, preparing to lead the group back to the mountainside.

She wanted to see what these bandits trapped on the mountaintop had to say.

A moment later, Xiao Yunling arrived at the foot of the mountain path and sent someone forward to deliver a message.

"My general is here. You bandits, what do you have to say?"

The lieutenant stepped forward and replied.

"I want to see General Xiao in person. I want her to come here herself."

At that moment, the sound from the mountaintop came again.

The lieutenant frowned and turned to look at Xiao Yunling.

Xiao Yunling couldn't help but look towards the mountaintop, feeling that the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

I heard that voice when we were besieging Lingtou Village.

Is it Chen Mo?

"Where is General Xiao? Why hasn't he shown up?"

The man on the mountaintop spoke again.

By this time, it was already dark, and the person on the mountaintop was hidden behind the stone forest, so they could not be seen at all.

It really was the bandit leader Chen Mo.

Xiao Yunling was secretly delighted. She slowly stepped forward and coldly said, "Chen Mo, you're about to die, what else do you have to say?"

Chen Mo, standing atop the mountain, also burst into laughter, saying with a hint of teasing, "General Xiao actually knows my name; I am truly flattered."

Hearing this, Xiao Yunling remained expressionless, but inwardly sneered.

Chen Mo is already trapped, yet he still has the mind to pretend.

"Since you dare to show yourself, you must be surrendering, right?"

Xiao Yunling spoke again in an icy tone.

"It seems General Xiao is quite approachable."

Chen Mo replied calmly.

"This general can be frank: you are a bandit who has brought calamity to this area and your crimes are unforgivable. However, if you are willing to come down the mountain and surrender, this general can spare the lives of the other people on the mountain."

Xiao Yunling added that she also knew that Chen Mo was leading a village in rebellion, and there must be innocent people around him.

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo, still smiling, replied from the mountaintop, "General Xiao is saying I'm a scourge to the region. May I ask, who have I scourged?"

"You seized the village, robbed the government's grain, and indiscriminately killed innocent people. Now you still have the nerve to defend yourself?"

Xiao Yunling responded coldly.

"I was just an ordinary villager in Lingtou Village. How could I have seized the village? As for the claim of robbing government grain, wasn't that grain squeezed from the people by those powerful clans? I was just returning the grain to the people..."

Chen Mo continued speaking fluently, without a trace of nervousness in his tone.

"Shameless person."

Xiao Yunling cursed under her breath.

"On the contrary, General Xiao, you led the Zhenbei Army here, claiming to suppress bandits and bring peace to the people, but how many of those people you killed were real bandits? You colluded with Huang Chengyue and his gang of gentry, aren't you even more of a scourge to the region than I am?"

Chen Mo questioned.

"You audacious bandit! Even on your deathbed, you dare to spout such nonsense."

The deputy general beside Xiao Yunling shouted angrily.

In the eyes of the soldiers of the Yunzi Battalion, no one had ever dared to insult General Xiao like this.

"General Xiao is also a heroine, but I never expected her to be so unable to distinguish between good and evil, allowing those gentry to deceive her. I, Chen Mo, have only ever wanted to help my fellow villagers survive. And you, General Xiao, taking the imperial court's military pay, instead of punishing other evildoers, you come to hunt down us, these common people who are just trying to survive?"

Chen Mo questioned again.