Huo Shan was the child of a prominent family, grood from youth with an elite education. He was particularly skilled in winning people’s hearts.
Since he joined the army, he had deliberately narrowed the distance with the Deputy General, because he knew the other was talented. If he could win him over, his control over the army would take a qualitative leap.
Perseverance pays off, and after much effort, he had finally managed to subdue the other party.
Next, it was ti to strike directly at the heart, then achieve great rit and return to the Capital city.
He was already eager to see the faces of those people in the Capital city.
With a slight wave of his hand, Huo Shan led the army and slowly stepped into the valley.
The valley was deep and seemingly endless, surrounded by cliffs and precipices, their view obscured from above. The surroundings were overgrown with wild grass and trees, which, due to prolonged drought, now looked sickly and lifeless.
Huo Shan slowly wiped the sweat from his forehead, complaining, "What kind of damned weather is this year? It’s truly freaking hot!"
For so ti now, the weather in Great Ning had been hotter each day. Huo Shan, the privileged young master, was accustod to being pampered, and had rarely suffered such hardships.
Had it not been for the pursuit of trendous achievent, he would never have chosen to co to such a desolate place.
But as a scion of a prominent family, he also knew his responsibilities. When his family was advancing, one should never be the one who held them back, or else it would be easy to beco dispensable.
"Perhaps it’s because it hasn’t rained, this place hasn’t had rain for over half a year," the Deputy General said, looking up at the sky.
The sun hung high, the sky was cloudless, and the harsh sunlight seed to bleach the world white. The air carried the scent of dust, a unique sll produced by the sun baking the earth.
For so reason, he felt an unspoken unease. The towering cliffs on both sides seed to exude a scent of death, causing him to look involuntarily to either side.
"What are you looking at? There couldn’t be beauties on these cliffs," Huo Shan joked.
The Deputy General shook his head with a grave expression, "For so reason, I just feel uneasy."
Upon hearing this, Huo Shan lightly patted the Deputy General’s shoulder, laughing, "Don’t borrow trouble. We are catching them off guard, those bumpkins won’t have much awareness, they probably can’t even track us, let alone set up an ambush here. Before long, we will be out of the valley, and the splendid achievent will be ours for the taking."
These words ignited a fervent look in the Deputy General’s eyes. The victory of this battle was as much about Huo Shan’s future as it was about his own fate.
And now, it seed as if everything was beckoning to him, just a few quick steps away from grasp.
"Stop daydreaming, let’s break out of here together!" Huo Shan laughed aloud, spurring his horse and starting to run towards the valley’s exit.
The light at the end of the valley was almost within reach, and the Deputy General stopped pondering and urged the soldiers to head towards the exit of the valley.
It was only when they had left the valley that the Deputy General quietly breathed a sigh of relief—there was no ambush!
All was indeed re wishful thinking on his part; ambition began to burn fiercely within the depths of his heart, and he even started to contemplate what rank he could exchange for his rits this ti.
At this thought, he felt an urge to cry, having finally broken through years of hardship to see a glimr of hope for the future.
Standing nearby, Huo Shan was equally overwheld with emotion, feeling that all his family’s hard efforts had not been in vain. With the credit finally in his own hands, he could no longer contain his laughter and burst into hearty chuckles.
"Tell the n behind to speed up!" Huo Shan said proudly.
Looking at the vanguard leaving the valley, Wang Qi said with so urgency, "Shoot the horses first, capture the king first; now the enemy’s Great General has escaped the encirclent."
However, Daoist Qiu remained unperturbed and said, "It doesn’t matter. They are not of any significance. Our aim is to kill as many soldiers as possible. We want their equipnt; if these two manage to escape, the people in the capital city will take care of them for us."
His words finally resolved the confusion in Wang Qi’s heart, who then waited patiently for the vanguard to leave.
The Imperial Army was not small in number this ti. Therefore, as the vanguard passed through the valley, the following troops were marching mightily into the encirclent prepared by Wang Qi and his n.
Seeing this, Wang Qi’s face showed a bloodthirsty smile, and he gestured lightly with his hand, saying, "Do it!"
The order was given, and innurable flammable materials, ablaze with fire, were thrown down into the valley, which had beco highly combustible due to prolonged drought.
Upon contact, the materials burst into raging flas, and the Imperial Army entering the valley was rcilessly surrounded by fire.
They were surrounded by a sea of fire, the terrifying heat searing their flesh. Dense smoke obscured their vision, leaving them unable to discern the cardinal directions.
Huge rocks fell from above ti to ti, and being hit ant certain death. Faced with this dire situation, the soldiers, who had always been defending the area around the capital city, completely lost their will to fight. Many knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly, hoping for forgiveness.
Yet fire and water are rciless, and by this point, even Wang Qi could not possibly save these people.
On the other side of the valley, Huo Shan and the Deputy General also saw the towering flas within the valley.
"How dare they!" exclaid Huo Shan, his eyes wide with disbelief.
A bunch of peasants had outsmarted him. At that mont, Huo Shan felt humiliated. He had always looked down on these rebel peasants, believing that such a Righteous Army was nothing more than a rabble. He thought that as soon as his Imperial Army arrived, they would have no choice but to surrender.
Little did he know that Wang Qi and his group were audacious to the extre. Far from trembling at the arrival of the Imperial Army, they had long since begun gathering intelligence and formulating plans, ultimately staging a devastating ambush in this valley.
When boulders blocked the valley’s passage in an instant, Huo Shan understood that all was lost; he simply could not rescue the troops trapped in the valley.
From this point on, he would beco a laughingstock in the capital city.
The more arrogant he had been before, the more despair he felt now. Huo Shan stared blankly at the flas roaring within the valley, feeling utterly despondent.
Without this army, he was but a commander without troops; more terrifying than the loss of his forces was the end of his own future. His family wouldn’t allow him to continue wasting resources. He knew his several younger brothers had been coveting his position all along.
Reviews
All reviews (0)