Chapter 36: The So-Called Precipice

"Commander Su?"

The soldiers, unable to find Su Yao in the dark, were standing in a state of bewildered panic.

"Benefactor! Please, don't throw your life away—"

"Get lost, let go! Do you want to die?"

"—Ling, Ling cannot live without you, Benefactor!"

The group followed the sound and groped their way over, only to suddenly discover that, somehow, Su Yao was already clinging to the base of the sheer cliff on the west side. In the pale moonlight, one could only see Su Yao’s head and one hand.

And that hand was the one Wang Ling was gripping with all his might.

"What, what is going on here?" everyone asked, dumbfounded.

"Wang Ling?"

Su Yao was fuming. He hadn't expected to be snagged by this quartermaster. If not for the fact that the man was a "green-named" NPC, Su Yao would have flung him off the cliff long ago.

"Let go, I said let go!"

"No, no, no, Ling won't let go! Ling will absolutely not let go!" Wang Ling insisted, his face a mask of tragic despair.

Surprisingly, if there was anyone present who least wanted something to happen to Su Yao, Wang Ling would likely top that list. Whether it was due to his grandfather’s orders or the potential family ties as a brother-in-law, that was not the reason Wang Ling valued Su Yao. If one had to ask why, it was surely due to the sweat, tears, and blood he had poured into this journey recently.

"Wait, why are you even here?!" Su Yao had completely forgotten about the man, yet here he was, causing trouble the moment he appeared.

"Ling has been here the whole time!"

Wang Ling, while still clutching Su Yao’s hand, gestured and babbled through tears. He recounted how Su Yao himself had said that a quartermaster must never leave the unit and must accompany them on every mission, and he began to list his experiences along the way.

The scene shifted in their minds: Wang Ling had indeed been there the whole time. For instance:

When the group was galloping at full speed, and Su Yao and Cheng Lian were far ahead, Wang Ling had been held down on horseback by a large man at the tail end of the formation, bounced and jolted until he was nauseated and blood-spitting.

The scene shifted again:

When they were surrounded by Xiongnu cavalry, and Su Yao was drawing his bow to intimidate Huyan Jun, Wang Ling had been trembling and weeping between the horses' legs.

Finally, the scene shifted to just moments ago:

When the others were discussing how to take Huanglu Fort, only Wang Ling, who kept his eyes fixed on Su Yao, noticed the moment Su Yao slipped away from the group at the height of the debate. He watched as Su Yao walked to the cliff edge, muttered to himself, and then suddenly flipped over the side. That sight had scared the soul right out of Wang Ling.

Before he even realized what he was doing, he had lunged forward to grab Su Yao’s hand, which was just about to lose its grip on the ledge, and held on for dear life.

"Benefactor, we can't just give up! If we can't win, we just won't, let's just go home, alright? The Xiongnu are going to retreat anyway, why must you be so reckless?"

"Give up? Who is giving up? I’m trying to get to the other side!"

How could Su Yao possibly be thinking of suicide? He was preparing to scale the cliff!

Yes, scale it.

As everyone knew, the "True Three" world possessed an excellent physics engine; as long as there were no invisible walls, there was no mountain a player couldn't climb! He had realized it immediately: the way to conquer this fort was through infiltration. If he could launch an attack from inside the fort, everything would turn out fine.

"Are you serious?" Jin Fangyan looked at him as if he were a dead man.

The expressions of the other soldiers were no better; in fact, they were deathly pale. Was their commander mad from the pressure of the military orders? Was he seeking a more comfortable way to die since death was inevitable either way?

These were sheer cliffs all around. And what is a "sheer cliff"? A nearly vertical precipice, high and treacherous—a fall meant certain death. No one dared to climb it even in broad daylight, yet their commander wanted to scale it in the dead of night?

However, in the military, an officer's order was absolute. They had no right to resist.

After prying Wang Ling loose, they watched as Su Yao disappeared into the darkness.

"He actually went..." Jin Fangyan clenched his fists. "Your commander is truly a madman. I don't know whether to admire his courage or mock his recklessness..."

No one argued with him. Everyone’s heart was heavy; that pitch-black abyss seemed to have swallowed all their hope.

It was a pity that if it had been daylight, or if they had been at a better vantage point, their mood would not have been one of despair—it would have been one of utter shock.

Under the clear moonlight, Su Yao was moving rapidly across the cliff face. He moved upward, downward, leaping forward, and swinging backward. Although his route was somewhat convoluted, he advanced toward Huanglu Fort with steady, unwavering resolve.

So this is what they call a sheer cliff? The background lore told by the NPCs is really just something to listen to, Su Yao muttered to himself as he climbed:

"After all, this is just an early-game activity map. The difficulty of Huanglu Ridge is nothing compared to Mount Hua."

When Su Yao was younger and could only log into the "True Three" world using his father’s credentials, he hadn't been a hot-tempered battle junkie. Back then, what Su Yao loved most was running wild in this fantasy Three Kingdoms world. He would climb walls and mountains, swim in the rivers, roam through the green hills, collect rare items, and act like an adult to other players, experiencing things that were difficult for him to do in the real world.

Because of this, he had long since perfected his rock-climbing skills to a master level. When the Mount Hua map was first released, he was one of the first players to complete the achievement.

Since the game allowed him to climb this mountain in Huanglu Ridge, there was no reason he couldn't make it across. As for the NPCs who couldn't follow? Well, the experience points were all his, so what was wrong with that?

...

The back of Huanglu Fort, which hugged the cliff, had a row of low walls made of wooden posts. Like the high walls at the front, they were lit by bright torches. However, this wall was not built for defense against an assault; it was purely to control the sunny path below the cliff, allowing soldiers to safely look down from above.

Because of this, compared to the front, the security was sparse, with only a few guards on routine patrol.

Just then, two Xiongnu soldiers were walking past each other behind the wall. The shorter soldier on the west side yawned and complained, "What took you so long? You were a full quarter-hour late. If you hadn't shown up, I was about to raise the alarm."

The taller soldier opposite him didn't speak; he just lowered his head and patted the back of his own neck, as if apologizing.

"Alright, it's yours now," the shorter guard said, patting the taller one on the shoulder. "I'm going back to sleep."

However, at the very moment they passed each other, the shorter guard was struck by a massive force. The tall soldier clapped a hand over his mouth, and immediately after, a cold sensation pierced his chest—a short blade had passed through him from behind.

The short guard's eyes were instantly filled with blood, wide as copper bells. He was panicked; he was terrified; he struggled with all his might, trying to let out a scream...

But it was all in vain. After two final, frantic flutters, he fell silent, drifting into an eternal slumber, becoming the eighth—and final—sentry to fall on the side of the cliff.

"Huanglu Fort, I'm here."