I maxed out the Scholar talent at the start, but I want to be a Warrior.

Gu Cheng woke up just as dawn broke.

He leaned against the tree trunk and habitually turned on the screen—

[Constitution: 36] [Strength: 28 (Maximum 50)] [Spirit: 69]

My physique increased by 2 points, and my strength increased by 1 point.

The recovery is slower than a few days ago, but it is still steadily climbing.

My ribs don't hurt much anymore.

He stretched his body and took a deep breath—it was still a little stuffy, but it didn't affect his movements.

He walked out of the shed.

There was already some activity in the camp.

The able-bodied men were packing up their belongings, while the women were changing the dressings of the wounded.

Although we won last night, the atmosphere was still quite somber.

Gu Chang'an stood at the entrance of the camp, whispering something to a few young men.

Gu Cheng walked over.

"uncle."

Gu Chang'an glanced at him. "Awake? Go get something to eat."

"Where are the prisoners?"

"Tie it to that old tree on the west side." Gu Chang'an gestured with his chin towards the back of his head. "Would you like to go take a look?"

"I'll go ask."

Gu Chang'an was somewhat surprised, but didn't stop him. "Don't get too close."

The two bandits were tied to an old tree, their heads bowed.

The older one was in his thirties, with a fleshy face and a sinister look in his eyes.

The younger one was the one from last night, in his early twenties, with his neck hunched and not daring to look up.

Gu Cheng squatted down two steps away and looked at the younger one.

"What's your name?"

"...Zhao Liu".

"How long did you stay in the knock-off shop?"

"Three...three years."

Gu Cheng initiated the investigation—

[Zhao Liu] [Strength: 21] [Status: Fear (Intense Mental Fluctuations)]

Fear. Intense emotional fluctuations—this person is now unable to lie; they answer every question directly.

"How many people are in your mountain stronghold?"

"Including the chief, there are forty-three in total." Zhao Liu's voice trembled. "Last night, the second-in-command brought eighteen men to launch a sneak attack. I don't know how many returned, but there aren't many capable fighters left in the stronghold."

Gu Cheng turned his head and glanced at the older one—

[Zhou Tiezhu] [Strength: 24] [Status: Alert (Mental Stability), Minor Injury]

Mentally stable.

This one is not easy to deal with.

"And you?" Gu Cheng turned to him.

Zhou Tiezhu raised his head and stared at him coldly. "You brat, if you're going to kill me, then kill me. Stop pretending."

Gu Cheng ignored him and continued to ask Zhao Liu.

"What's your boss's name?"

Zhao Liu swallowed hard. "Hao...Hao Yin."

Gu Cheng was taken aback.

"Hao Yin?"

"Yes." Zhao Liu nodded, his expression somewhat strange. "Our boss said that his father originally wanted to name him Hao Yi, but then thought it was too rustic, so he changed it to Hao Yin. He said it sounds better and has a prosperous feel to it."

A young man sharpening a knife nearby heard this and burst out laughing.

"Hao Yin? A good person? A bandit leader is called a good person?"

Zhao Liu shrank back, not daring to reply.

Zhou Tiezhu sneered, "How dare you discuss the name of the gang leader?"

Gu Cheng did not laugh.

He was thinking about something else.

"What's your boss's strength?"

Zhao Liu thought for a moment: "He's about the same as the second-in-command, I guess. I haven't seen him fight much."

"The one blessed by heaven?"

"what?"

"It refers to someone who has awakened combat skills."

"Oh, that." Zhao Liu nodded quickly. "Yes, the chief has a special skill. He has a particularly powerful move; with one strike, he can split a tree as thick as a bowl in half."

"What layout are you copying?"

Zhao Liu began to explain in detail.

The stronghold was built in a mountain valley fifteen miles to the west, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only one entrance.

The entrance is a narrow path with stone walls on both sides that are more than ten feet high, allowing only two people to walk side by side.

The village has stone walls, two arrow towers, a granary, and an armory.

"Of those forty-odd people, how many are actually capable fighters?"

"There are about twenty who can fight. The rest are mostly old and weak, and a few women."

Gu Cheng quickly calculated in his mind.

There are twenty capable fighters, with a strength of approximately 19 to 30.

Add Hao Yin—his strength is unknown, but it's significantly stronger than Hao Er's 51.

He then asked for some details: how many people were on the arrow tower, when the changing of the guard took place, the location of the granary, and what was in the armory.

Zhao Liu spoke frankly about everything he knew.

Zhou Tiezhu didn't say a word from beginning to end, but Gu Cheng noticed that every time Zhao Liu mentioned key information, Zhou Tiezhu's brows would furrow slightly.

There was no rebuttal.

This indicates that what Zhao Liu said is basically true.

Gu Cheng stood up and walked back to Gu Chang'an's side.

"Uncle, I've figured out the situation."

Gu Chang'an looked at him.

Gu Cheng recounted the intelligence—the location, layout, troop strength, and entrance of the stronghold.

"There's only one entrance, and it's a narrow passage, just wide enough for two people to walk side by side." Gu Chang'an pondered for a moment. "If they guard the entrance, it will be very difficult for us to break in."

"So we can't fight head-on," Gu Cheng said.

Gu Chang'an glanced at him.

"Do you have a solution?"

Gu Cheng picked up a twig and drew a sketch on the ground.

"The entrance to the stronghold is a narrow path with stone walls on both sides." He drew an X at the narrow path. "This is their advantage—few people can block out many. But it's also their disadvantage—there's not enough room for many people to spread out."

Gu Chang'an squatted down and looked at the drawing on the ground.

"continue."

"They don't know that the second-in-command is dead," Gu Cheng said. "We can use that. Let Zhao Liu lead the way, pretending to be a remnant of the army who escaped back, and shout for the gate to be opened at the entrance."

"The people inside will recognize Zhao Liu."

"It's good that they recognized it," Gu Cheng said. "As soon as Zhao Liu shouted, everyone inside focused their attention on the entrance. At that moment—"

He drew an arc on the side of the sketch.

"My third uncle led three men to circle around to the foot of the arrow tower from the side. The village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the slope of the valley is not too steep; it's easy to climb. The arrow towers are on both sides of the entrance. Once the people on the arrow towers are taken down, the entrance will be a dead end."

Gu Chang'an didn't speak, his finger slowly moving across the map.

"Where is Hao Yin?"

"Zhao Liu said he's considerably stronger than Hao Er, but he doesn't know exactly how much stronger." Gu Cheng paused, then continued, "Uncle, you—"

"I'll block him," Gu Chang'an said for him.

"Yes. Uncle, you hold Hao Yin off, and the rest of you clean up the rest. There are about twenty able-bodied men. If you take the four on the arrow towers, there will be at most a dozen or so at the entrance. We have fifteen strong men, so we can outnumber them."

Gu Chang'an nodded and added:

"There's a risk," he said. "What if Hao Yin is stronger than we expected—"

"We'll see how things go when the time comes," Gu Cheng said after a moment of silence.

Gu Chang'an stood up. "Okay, let's do it this way."

Gu Cheng nodded.

Half an hour later, the group set off.

Gu Chang'an selected twelve able-bodied men, making a total of fourteen people including himself and Gu Cheng.

Zhao Liu was untied and led the way. The ropes weren't completely untied; his hands were still wrapped twice, so he couldn't escape.

Zhou Tiezhu remained in the camp, watched over by two old men.

The mountain path was difficult to walk on, and the forest was getting denser.

After walking for about an hour, Zhao Liu stopped.

"It's just ahead."

Gu Cheng lay prone behind a rock, peeking out to look ahead—

The entrance to the ravine was just two hundred paces ahead. The stone walls on both sides were over ten feet high, and the narrow path could only accommodate two people walking side by side. Two wooden arrow towers could be vaguely seen at the top of the stone walls.

Smoke curled from chimneys in the village, and people could be seen moving around.

Gu Cheng activated his detection skill and scanned the entrance—

[Bandit Henchman] [Strength: 23] [Current Action: On Watch]

[Bandit Henchman] [Strength: 20] [Current Action: On Watch]

There were only two people on guard at the entrance.

He then glanced at the arrow tower—

[Bandit Henchman] [Strength: 25] [Current Action: On Duty]

[Bandit Henchman] [Strength: 22] [Current Action: On Duty]

One person on each arrow tower.

He continued sweeping deeper into the village—

[Bandit Henchman] [Strength: 19] [Current Activity: Chopping Wood]

[Bandit Henchman] [Strength: 24] [Current Action: Eating]

[Bandit Henchman] [Strength: 21] [Current Action: Sleeping]

……

Scan them one by one.

There were twenty-six able-bodied fighters, plus the four on lookout duty.

There were more people than expected, but not many who could fight.

If the plan is done properly, the advantage is in my hands.

Gu Cheng thought to himself.

But there was one red dot that he examined closely—

Deep inside the village, in a stone house.

[Hao Yin] [Strength: 69] [Preferred Weapon: Greatsword (Elite)] [Warrior Skills: Stone-Splitting Slash (Tier 1), Sweeping Strike (Tier 2, Sealed)] [Status: Minor Injury (Combat Power Reduced by 10%)] [Current Action: Drinking]

Strength 69.

This is not "almost the same," Zhao Liu, you bastard.

Gu Cheng's fingers tightened slightly.

Hao Yin's strength was a full 18 points higher than Hao Er's.

It is lower than my uncle's original strength of 86, but my uncle was affected by his inner demons and minor injuries, so his effective strength is estimated to be only around 57.

69 vs 57.

It's 12 points short.

However, it's unclear how the bandit got injured, which has somewhat reduced his fighting ability.

69 is discounted by 10%, so it's about 62.

62 vs 57.

We're still 5 points short.