Chapter Sixty-Seven: Ambush in the Wheat Fields (Part Two)

The Stone of Three Lives fell silent, though he dared not lower his guard. Mr. Liu had insisted several times that there could be no danger; to keep arguing would likely irritate him. Outwardly, the Stone of Three Lives agreed, but privately he ordered his subordinates to remain vigilant and be ready for battle at any moment.

As the carriage traveled between the two hills, the Stone of Three Lives realized this was an ideal spot for an ambush, and his expression grew grave. Ignoring the possibility of angering Mr. Liu, he halted the convoy and instructed Wang Yu to lead a team for another scouting mission.

Behind a blue boulder at the mountaintop, the player Desert Eagle was observing the main road. When he entered the game, he drew the special skill “Eagle Eye,” which increased his vision by ten percent. Seeing the enemy approach, Desert Eagle’s excitement mounted, and he was about to report back to his hiding spot when he noticed more players climbing the mountain.

Desert Eagle immediately circled to the far side of the hill and reported to Liu Zixuan, who decisively ordered, “Descend another twenty meters at once. Be sure to erase any traces you’ve left. Everyone, hide in the brambles and make no sound.”

The twelve players moved twenty meters down the slope. When they saw the dense thickets of brambles, their faces twisted with dismay. Although the game only simulated thirty percent of real pain, the sensation of being pricked all over was still unpleasant. Earlier, with ample time to prepare, they could find gaps in the brambles, but now, pressed for time, they could only burrow directly into the thorns.

“A bunch of grown men afraid of a little pain—aren’t you ashamed?” Liu Zixuan said, diving into the brambles first.

She was the only woman in the group, and once she led the way, the others could hardly stand idly by. They all squeezed into the brambles to conceal themselves.

This time, it was Wang Yu who went to scout the right side of the mountain. He was much more meticulous than Lin Zihao, and after following a small path behind the hill for about twenty meters without finding anything, he returned.

In the wheat field to the right of the main road, Chen Hao lay on the damp earth, quietly waiting for the enemy’s arrival. Suddenly, he heard footsteps beside him. He looked up to see a sturdy player with a square jaw passing by.

Chen Hao recognized him as one of the two players invited by Situ Feng—his name was Liu Yishou. Chen Hao stood up and asked in a low voice, “Liu Yishou, where are you going?”

Liu Yishou grinned, pulled two clay jars from his satchel, and said, “I have a few good things here. I’m planning to bury them on the main road to see if they’ll be useful.”

A look of astonishment crossed Chen Hao’s face. “Homemade landmines?”

“Bingo,” Liu Yishou replied smugly. “This is my improved version; it should pack quite a punch.”

Chen Hao was overjoyed. “With these, our victory is assured! Bury as many as you can, and quickly.”

During the war of resistance, the common people had made many homemade mines to fight the enemy. Though their power was limited, they were very effective for intimidating NPC constables. Players drew all manner of special skills at random when entering the game, and for someone to be able to make homemade mines just days in, he must have drawn the demolitionist skill.

After burying three clay jar mines, Chen Hao told Liu Yishou to stop and asked with a smile, “How many more of those homemade mines do you have?”

“Plenty! But they use up a lot of gunpowder—it’s costly. After the battle, Boss Chen, can you reimburse me…?” Liu Yishou grinned mischievously.

“No problem! After the fight, I’ll pay you twenty silver dollars. But you have to make five more mines for me.”

“Deal.”

With that, Liu Yishou took out seven or eight more clay jars and prepared to continue burying mines, but Chen Hao shook his head and said, “Don’t bury them here. Later, when you ambush at the eastern edge of the wheat field, once the enemy passes, run as fast as you can to Liu Zixuan’s fortifications and bury all the mines in front of the works.”

Chen Hao’s greatest fear was that the NPC constables, desperate to survive, would throw caution to the wind. In close combat, Liu Zixuan’s group was no match for them, and he wasn’t confident they could hold back all the constables. If Liu Yishou buried the mines in front of the improvised fortifications, the NPC constables wouldn’t be able to approach quickly, giving Liu Zixuan and the others more time to shoot down the enemy.

The prisoner convoy emerged from between the two hills. Seeing the long stretch of open plain ahead, the Stone of Three Lives finally breathed a sigh of relief. He reasoned that if anyone planned to rescue the prisoners, they’d surely choose the hills for an ambush, not the wheat fields.

Chen Hao had chosen the wheat fields precisely because of this—surprise and unpredictability. The Stone of Three Lives would never expect someone to forgo the advantage of the hills and set an ambush in the fields.

Boom.

The lead constable stepped on a landmine. The powerful blast hurled him into the air, and the shockwave knocked several others to the ground. In the wheat field to the left, a passerby who’d been fishing had long since positioned his gun on Bai Huhu’s shoulder, and at the sound of the explosion, immediately pulled the trigger.

The shot was a blast of buckshot, covering a wide area; five or six constables were hit at once. Gunfire erupted from the left wheat field, both long and short guns firing together. The constables advanced in two ranks, but the players in the field hardly needed to aim—soon, more than a dozen constables had been shot and fell to the ground.

The remaining constables fell into chaos. Rather than charge into the wheat field, they tried to escape. One ran west and stepped on another mine set by Liu Yishou. The blast hurled him skyward, frightening the others so much they no longer dared advance; instead, they turned and fled, causing chaos in the ranks of the player convoy led by the Stone of Three Lives.

Hearing the explosion from the front, the Stone of Three Lives hurriedly leapt from the carriage to take command. Since all the gunfire was coming from the left, he ordered his men to face that direction and return fire.

Just as the situation seemed to be under control, the NPC constables began fleeing back, scattering the players' formation. More than a dozen constables were already dead, and those remaining had no will to fight; if any player blocked their escape, they’d swing their swords to kill. Helpless, the Stone of Three Lives ordered his players to avoid the constables and let them escape, then focus on dealing with the players in the wheat field.

From the sound of gunfire, the Stone of Three Lives judged that the ambushers in the wheat field were few in number. Thus, he was willing to let the demoralized constables go, both to avoid casualties among his own team and, if he succeeded in keeping the prisoners, to claim credit for himself and his men.

Once all the constables had fled, he ordered his players to lie low and exchange fire with the ambushers to the left. Just as he thought everything was finally under control, a sudden shout rose behind them, and more than a dozen people, weapons in hand, charged out of the right-side wheat field.

Leading the attack were two striking women. The one in bright red wielded a pair of willow-leaf sabers, felling a player with each stroke. The other, clad in emerald green, moved with incredible speed; her sword flickered like a viper, each thrust claiming a life.

(Ah! Seeing everyone guessing about the small bug, I realize you’re all city folk who don’t know the wheat harvest season. The game’s date is January 12, 2012. January is still winter—there’s no way there would be wheat fields tall enough for hiding, nor any rice paddies. That’s why I said it’s hard to fix. Heh, just ignore this little bug, everyone!)