The Hulan Army surrounded the city of Shuozhou like an iron barrel - the only ventilated river, Guan River, had thawed due to the bombing and warming weather.
In this small town that is no bigger than a fingernail, there is a kind of dark cloud that seems to be looming over the hearts of the people.
Liangzhou was originally the best place to cross the river, but now that Liangzhou has returned to Daliang, the Guanhe River has thawed, and crossing the river to fight is almost the death knell of the Huqi people. Xia Qingsheng, who was guarding Liangzhou, even dispatched the navy to never let the Huqi people go into the water from the Liangzhou section of the river.
Yuzhou is now in the hands of the Huqi people. As long as the Huqi people pass through the Shuozhou city, they can get support from the other side and cross the river easily.
This is the thorn in Danzhi's side.
Since the day Hulan's army arrived, the sound of artillery fire has never stopped, and the sound of killing outside the city is often deafening. The people can only see the closed city gates, the black smoke floating in the sky, and the wounded being carried down from the city wall.
When the Tabai army arrived at the city, Duan Xu ordered them to bring a large amount of food, arrows, wood, stone, and tung oil, which came in handy at this time. The Danzhi army attacked in waves, and each wave was driven back by rain of arrows, burning logs, and stones. Taking advantage of the terrain of the city, the Tabai army guarded this pass tightly to prevent the Huqi people from passing.
The people saw that within a few days there were deafening sounds of killing and billowing black smoke, but it was nothing serious, so they began to prepare for the New Year with trepidation.
That’s right, in the mortal world, the Chinese New Year is the most important event in the world.
"Little sister, should we buy some firecrackers?" Chen Ying held a stone jar and sprinkled lime powder on the ground.
He Simu rubbed his temple and said, "Still setting off firecrackers? Haven't you heard enough of the cannon fire outside the city?"
She squatted on the ground and watched Chen Ying spread an irregular white circle outside the door, then pointed at the lime powder circle and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Little sister, don't you know? There are things you don't know too!" Chen Ying puffed out his chest proudly and said, "During the Chinese New Year, we set off firecrackers, put up door gods, put up blessing characters, and draw circles at the door with lime to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters!"
He Simu tilted his head and thought it was outrageous: "Why can this kind of thing drive away evil spirits?"
"Because evil spirits are afraid of firecrackers, door gods, the color red, and lime powder! That's what the old people said!" Shen Ying said confidently.
He Simu was silent for a moment, and then said, "I've always been curious, who originally came up with this genius idea?"
Just like those death row prisoners who are paraded through the streets before being executed, singing songs like "I'll be a brave man again in 18 years", but they are just trying to give themselves courage.
The evil spirit who remained calm when hearing the sound of cannons, could make door gods into candy figures and eat them, and had no idea what color red was - He Simu took the jar from Chen Ying and helped him sprinkle lime powder in front of the doors and windows.
Duan Xu was so busy lately that she could not be seen. She occasionally went to see him in stealth. He was either supervising the battle or discussing military information, and he was almost sleepless. This did not seem to be a good time to make a deal, not to mention that she could not find out Duan Xu's bottom line.
He Simu murmured, "What would he want?"
Break the siege of the city? Drive away the Dan reinforcements? Recover the lost territory? Return to the court to serve as a marshal or prime minister? Each one seems like the right answer.
But not every feeling.
Besides, according to her rules, the ghost world cannot interfere in human affairs. If these are his wishes, it will be very troublesome.
"Who wants what?" Shen Ying asked curiously.
He Simu looked up at him and said with a smile, "Your general brother, what do you think he would wish for?"
Shen Ying thought for a while, stretched out his fingers and made an eight: "I think that I can eat eight cakes for every meal."
"… "
As if that wasn’t enough, Shen Ying added, “They’re all filled with meat.”
“… This doesn’t sound like Duan Xu’s wish, but more like your wish.”
"No, no, no, I can only eat three cakes in one meal. General brother is so powerful, he can definitely eat eight." Shen Ying waved his hands and analyzed seriously.
"I remember you wanted to follow Duan Xu to fight and defend your country?" He Simu reminded him.
Chen Ying blinked his eyes, obviously remembering his former heroic words, and said: "Yes, the Huqi people attacked us and we had no bread to eat. In order to eat eight breads for a meal, Brother General had to drive them back!"
He Simu looked at him silently for a while, then smiled and touched his head, saying with emotion: "This is such a down-to-earth child."
"Little sister, why do you want to know the general's wish?" Chen Ying suddenly became interested, as if he had discovered a gold mine. He followed He Simu wherever she scattered lime powder.
"I want to do an important business with your general brother, so I need to know myself and my opponent before I know how to bid." He Simu said casually.
Chen Ying smiled slyly and said, "Little sister, are you embarrassed?"
"What?"
"You like the general, right? So you want to help him realize his wish! I heard what you said to Captain Meng last time. You said you fell in love with the general at first sight!" Chen Ying finally remembered this idiom.
He Simu looked at the excited Chen Ying speechlessly, and smiled kindly: "Yes, yes, yes, now it seems that he and I are really a match made in heaven and earth."
It takes more than three hundred years to meet such a person who can cast a curse. Isn't it a match made in heaven and unique
Chen Ying didn't know why she was so happy that she jumped three feet high and jumped around He Simu: "Sister, you really like Brother General! Go find him more often! He hasn't been here for a long time!"
He Simu took the lime powder and scattered it on the ground, just ignoring Chen Ying's words.
Chen Ying was completely unaware. He held He Simu's sleeve and said, "Little sister, we still have the suona! Do you really want to play it for General Brother when he dies?"
He Simu suddenly felt that the wind became a little subtle. She looked up and met Duan Xu's eyes at the gate of the courtyard. Lin Jun, the real owner of the courtyard, was standing next to him.
Duan Xu was wearing casual clothes, a crown on his head, and had a bright smile on his face, as if he was not a general of an army, but a brother from the neighboring family who came to visit.
His black eyes blinked and he smiled, revealing his white teeth: "Will you see me off to the end?"
This person came at the right time.
He Simu never knew how to write the word "embarrassment". He held the jar and said calmly, "When did the general come?"
"We just arrived. It probably started as a pair made by heaven and earth. It turns out to be a pair made by earth. You even arranged to send me underground." Duan Xu teased with a smile.
He Simu said generously: "I am not afraid that my beloved general will be wronged on the road."
"When the siege of the city is lifted, how about you play a song for me, little girl?"
"I'm sorry, but this song of mine can only be heard by people on the road. It's not auspicious for you to hear it while you're still alive."
Duan Xu smiled, and his eyes moved to the ground under He Simu's feet. Chen Ying looked down in confusion, following Duan Xu's gaze, and immediately exclaimed.
I don't know when the lime powder on the ground had been scattered to form a picture of plum blossoms, with three or two strong and thin branches and five or six winter plum blossoms, so sharp that they seemed to be about to break out of the ground.
He Simu's father was a man who was used to pretending to be cultured. He had taught her to paint since she was a child. Although she didn't know colors, she was good at painting in ink.
"Little sister, you can also draw!" Shen Ying exclaimed in admiration.
He Simu patted the lime powder on his hands and said, "Lime is really useless. It's just a beautiful painting. If the person who comes is an elegant evil spirit, he might not be willing to step over it."
After a pause, she said to Lin Jun, "Boss Lin, you won't mind me dirtying your floor tiles, right?"
Lin Jun quickly waved his hands and said no, and exclaimed: "Your painting skills are very experienced, it seems like you are a famous artist who has practiced for decades."
… That’s right, it has been practiced for hundreds of years.
He Simu felt that every time Duan Xu came to see her, it seemed that he was looking for inspiration for his bad ideas, and this time was no exception.
She walked through the thick city wall and onto the urn city. Outside the urn city gate was the Huqie camp. The urn city was built with great care, it was small and guarded the main city gate. If the enemy army broke into the urn city, they could lower the urn and the main city gates and trap the enemy army in the urn.
In order to win the war, mortals really racked their brains and took great pains. However, this wall was originally built by the Han people of the previous dynasty, and later used to protect the Huqi people, and now it has returned to the hands of the Han people again.
Switch between offense and defense, and attack each other with contradictions.
"I remember a fable told by the ancients." He Simu walked up the steps of the city wall and said, "In the past, there was a country on the left corner of the snail and the right corner of the snail. Just to fight for such a small piece of land, they fought against each other and tens of thousands of people were killed."
Duan Xu was leading her in front, and now he turned around to look at her, his expression unclear in the dark environment: "This ancient man must be Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi said, there is a country on the left corner of the snail, called Chu clan; there is a country on the right corner of the snail, called Man clan. They fought for land, tens of thousands of corpses were buried, and they chased each other to the north for ten days and fifteen days before returning."
He Simu thought that this young general had a really good memory, a bit like Duan Xu who was rumored to have a photographic memory when he was a child.
They walked out of the dark stairs and climbed up the wall of the city wall. Duan Xu paused and said slowly, "It's the same for us. Life is so short, so small and so humble, isn't it?"
Even when he said such sad words, Duan Xu was smiling, with a light in his eyes. He didn't look humble at all, let alone pitiful.
"Why do you love to laugh so much?" He Simu couldn't help but say.
“I was born this way.”
He Simu finally stepped onto the city wall. She looked around at the tragic city wall. The top of the city wall was covered with charred traces of war. The soldiers coming and going were very nervous, and the smell of blood and burning filled the air.
It seemed that the previous times they repelled the enemy, the battles were very tragic. And outside the city, there was no end to the dark camp, 200,000 people were watching the precarious little city like a crouching black panther, waiting for the right moment to pounce and tear the city apart.
The people in this city are still unaware of the situation and are busy preparing for the New Year.
He Simu rubbed his temples: "People say that those who have thunder in their bellies but a calm face can become generals. So they are talking about you."
Duan Xu smiled and said, "It's my honor."
It won't be long before the Huchia people launch the next wave of attacks, and Duan Xu now has to find a way to keep them out again.
"I looked at it today and thought the lime powder was very good. Burning rain is the second most severe punishment in the Cangyan Sutra. Has there been any east wind and rain recently?" Duan Xu leaned against the parapet and said with a smile.
It is obvious that he has mastered the "Cang Yan Jing" to perfection.
He Simu narrowed his eyes and said with a fake smile: "I'm not the Master of Wind and Rain. Can I create any weather you want? The weather has been sunny and dry recently, and it won't rain."
Duan Xu shook his head and sighed, "What a pity."
"You are a great general, why do you always think of such crooked ways?"
"Warfare is all about deception. Only by combining the strange and the normal can we win. He has an army of 200,000, and I only have 50,000. If we really face him head-on, we will only die."
As soon as Duan Xu finished speaking, he heard someone shouting at the top of his lungs from below the city.
"Duan Shunxi, you are such a cowardly little white face. You must be afraid of your grandfather Danzhi, so you hide in the city and don't go out. If you have the guts, come out of the city and fight us! I will beat you so hard that your head will burst and you will cry for your parents!"
"Come on, let's go out of the city and fight!"
The voice was rough and arrogant, expressing its mockery to the fullest. The enemy camp below the city joined in the laughter, and several shouts and curses flew up to the top of the city, creating a noisy scene.
Duan Xu didn't even look down, and explained to He Simu casually: "I've been shouting for a while."
"They insulted you in order to provoke you to go out of the city to fight."
"Are they insulting me? They say I'm a gigolo, but isn't that another way of praising my handsomeness?" Duan Xu stroked his chest and smiled, "I understand."
He Simu was silent for a moment, then clapped his hands and said, "General, you are really open-minded. I admire you."