This night is destined to be restless.
The bearded man's face was livid as he listened to his subordinates report the damage caused by the fire. Most of the baggage and food supplies were destroyed, and there was almost nothing left of the siege equipment - most of them were made of wood and could no longer be used once they caught fire.
In comparison, the casualties were not great.
More than 200 people died, more than 300 were burned, about 200 were injured or disabled by being trampled by cattle and sheep, and nearly 100 tents were burned by sparks from the sky.
The bearded man said gloomily: "Are you done?"
The officials were shivering with fear at the hint of ice in his words.
Hesitantly, Ai Ai said: "Reply, report completed—"
As soon as he finished speaking, the bearded man angrily lifted up the low table in front of him. His face trembled from the excessive force. He stared at the officer who dared not even breathe with his big copper bell eyes and roared: "Is the report complete? Where are the people? Where did they go?"
There was a chorus of crackling and roaring.
Hot sweat dripped down the official's forehead and he dared not move.
The atmosphere in the main tent was extremely solemn and murderous.
"I... I failed to stop them..."
The bearded man picked up something and smashed it on the forehead of the subordinate, cursing: "Asshole! How many of them are there? If you can't even catch them, what's the use of you? This is an important place for the military camp, and a group of bad guys not only come and go freely, but also let people burn the baggage. Isn't it shameful!"
The subordinates didn't even dare to dodge.
He took the blow head-on.
A loud bang exploded in my ears.
Warm blood flowed down his forehead, mixed with turbid sweat and wood ash, flowing down his forehead, part of it flowing down his cheeks into his jaw, and the other part flowing into the corners of his eyes. The official blinked, not daring to raise his hand to wipe it off, allowing the dirt to run rampant in his eyeballs.
He pursed his lips and swallowed his words.
If one really cared about responsibility, this general who was openly having a passionate fight with his concubine in the military camp, and whose noise could be heard by several nearby tents, was not a good person either.
When it comes to dereliction of duty, everyone is about the same.
But as a subordinate, he couldn't complain and didn't dare to speak out his mind. A light bulb went off in his head and he suddenly thought of someone.
"I have tried my best! But two of the four criminals were brought in by the Major General. I dare not kill them. What if the Major General..."
The officer paused here, looking a little embarrassed, "It's not that I'm afraid of the Major General, but I'm worried that this matter will affect the relationship between you and the Major General, and also the old general..."
All that's missing is telling the bearded man—
It's not my fault! Those bad guys were brought back by the barbarian. He has bad intentions. How can I bear it when he comes to settle accounts? In addition, your father is partial to me. Even if the barbarian has committed such a big mistake, I guess he will be let off lightly.
This time the blame should be put on the barbarian!
The bearded man was already holding a grudge in his heart, and after hearing the sarcastic words from his subordinate, he almost fell backward in anger.
He was so angry that he crushed the paperweight beside him, his back teeth grinding with a creaking sound, and asked, "Where is that bastard now?"
The officer said, "He is applying medicine to treat the wound."
The bearded man sneered twice and said, "Healing? Applying medicine? Can he get hurt again? I'm afraid it's a self-torture trick!"
Who are you trying to show off by using the strategy of inflicting pain on yourself
It’s still that old guy with a confused mind!
He stood up suddenly and strode towards the young man's tent.
He wanted to see what kind of injuries the barbarian could suffer!
The young man was indeed injured.
The injury is not light.
Shen Tang's words turned the black and white spirit into fireworks, most of which fell on the young man. It was the first time for the young man to see this scene. He had no experience and relied entirely on his own strength.
He picked up, shot down, and shattered the continuously incoming sparks, and as for the sparks that he couldn't take care of, he condensed his energy into a strong force and took them down!
Although martial energy can resist close-range sparks and to a certain extent protect against cold and heat, it cannot completely isolate the terrifying heat. This is also the main reason why the young man was injured—the sparks condensed by literary energy have an extremely high temperature, and if it continues for a longer time, he will be roasted.
Although the young man was not roasted, he had large blisters on his back and his arms and chest were red, like a cooked crayfish.
He took off his shirt and casually piled it around his waist.
Behind him, the doctor carefully opened and squeezed the blisters, then applied a mint-colored plaster. The coolness of the plaster dispelled the burning heat. The young man covered his face with a cold cloth and said in a muffled voice, "Humph, fortunately this face is still intact."
There is no handsome face in his tribe, and no Mama is willing to sing with him. This face is as important as his voice!
"It's already this late, and you're still concerned about your face?" The officer standing to one side smiled bitterly, "You should think about how to..."
The young man pursed his lips: "What are you thinking about?"
The subordinate said: "Think about how to explain..."
The young man threw the warmed cloth into the copper basin filled with cold water and said nonchalantly, "There is nothing to explain. He can't do anything to me. If you want to hold me responsible for 'letting the wolf in', then you have to first hold him responsible for 'negligence in duty'. We should punish both..."
The officials were speechless.
The young man spread his hands and said nonchalantly, "I didn't know there was anything wrong with those two people. Can you blame me for this? I tried my best to stop them, but it was one against four, and two of them were strong scholars. How could I stop them?"
After saying that, the roar of a bearded man was heard outside the tent.
"Evil beast! Do you still think you are not wrong?"
The young man was not surprised at all that the man was eavesdropping outside the tent, and said innocently, "I am wrong, but it is only 30% wrong at most. Moreover, I have tried my best to make up for my mistakes. How long did I delay the four people? If my brother had sent people to support us in time, he would not have let the four people escape."
The bearded man's beard trembled with anger.
After the doctor bandaged the wound, the young man stood up and lazily put his shirt back on, straightening his collar. His expression was innocent but also fearless, which annoyed the bearded man.
"It's true that I brought back two of the gangsters. But the other two were brought back by the soldiers sent out by my brother. It's still unknown which two of the four did it."
The bearded man was so angry that his eyes were bloodshot!
"How dare you—"
The young man smiled and narrowed his eyes. He pushed back directly, sneering, "Why not? As for the right and wrong, it's better to wait for my foster father to come and let him decide. If my foster father determines that I should take full responsibility, I will take all the punishment."
Suddenly, the bearded man's eyes widened.
He was shocked by the young man's shameless behavior. Was he sure that nothing would happen? ?
How outrageous!
How outrageous!
"According to the speed of the march, my foster father will arrive in six or seven days, and our army has run out of food and grass. Brother, why don't you gather the troops under your command to discuss how to survive these few days. It's nothing if we fail to capture Xiaocheng, but it would be a shame if we were defeated by that group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals!"
The squeeze made the bearded man look much more serious.
His nostrils flared slightly, exhaling hot air filled with anger.
The young man didn't even look at him, but lowered his eyes to see him off.
The bearded man gnashed his teeth and said, "Just wait! This general wants to see how you can get away with colluding with the foreign enemy! Come on, keep an eye on him, and you are not allowed to step out of the tent at this moment!"
The young man didn't care, he kicked over the low table that was blocking his way, and he didn't even bother to maintain the basic etiquette of seeing off a guest. His subordinates secretly thought "bad luck", bowed hastily, and hurried to follow, not caring whether the bearded man was so angry that he was about to die.
Listening to the bearded man angrily slamming the curtain and walking away, the young man's depressed mood improved a lot. He took out a box of large longan pearls of different colors, called his subordinates over, and said with a smile: "It's okay now, play two games with me."
Official: “…”
The young man said again: "Alas, what a pity."
The subordinate couldn't help but be curious: "What's so precious?"
The young man said, "What a pity for my soulmate."
Official: “…”
He didn't understand what was so regretful.
Although he was not on the battlefield and did not see the scene of Shen Tang fighting against the young man, he knew the final result. It was also because of this "friend" that the young man was afraid that he would be beaten with a military stick, otherwise he would not be able to calm the public anger... Did the young general feel sorry for that person
The young man sighed, "It's easy to get a fortune, but it's hard to find a soulmate... Mama may be the only person in the world who can sing with me..."
The official was about to say something.
He suddenly stopped talking.
The subordinate had been with the young man for a while, and he didn't know much about him, but he didn't know little either. He wanted to say that the young man still had tribe members, but when the words came to his lips, he remembered that the young general's tribe members were gone, and he was the only Miao Miao in the entire tribe.
indeed-
Anyone who can sing with him is welcome.
The officer asked, "Then you let him go?"
The young man looked at him with a half-smile.
The official's face suddenly changed, realizing that he had spoken out of turn, he half-knelt down to apologize: "That's not what I meant, I meant..."
He thought about it for a while but couldn't think of a suitable excuse. He was so anxious that sweat broke out like a pig, and soon his inner shirt under his armor was wet.
The atmosphere in the tent was extremely solemn. Just when the officer was wondering if he would be silenced, the young man spoke.
He said, "Get up."
The officer was surprised, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief as if he had escaped a disaster. When he stood up, he found that his hands and feet were weak: "Thank you, General!"
The young man said: "Don't worry, we will see each other again."
The officials dared not speak any more.
The more he said, the more mistakes he made. He didn't want to lose his life for no apparent reason.
As for whether the young man intended to let the enemy go, no one knew except the young man himself. The two men played marbles for a while, and the young man suddenly remembered something and asked his subordinates: "Based on your understanding of my brother, will he withdraw his troops after this defeat?"
The subordinate said, "I dare not speculate."
Young man: "You said it!"
The subordinate said, "I think so... The baggage and food have been burned. Once the Xiaocheng garrison knows about this, they will gather their forces and go out of the city to attack us. Our morale is low and they are fighting a desperate battle... Well, it is better to withdraw temporarily and join the old general."
The young man smiled and said, "I thought so too."
Official: “…???”
Inexplicably, he felt that the major general was in a very good mood at this moment. He... seemed to want to see the army retreat temporarily
After playing marbles for a while, the young man patted his stomach and said he was hungry.
Just as he was about to call someone to get food, he remembered that the food had been burned, so he gave up the idea of having more food.
After a while, there was a burst of joyful noise outside the tent.
He sent someone out to find out what was going on.
The soldier replied with a happy look on his face.
"Major General, this is great news!"
The young man was bored and crushed a pearl. He watched the powder falling from his fingertips and asked casually, "Oh? What's the good news?"
The soldier said, "The army is coming!"
youth:"!!!"
There was a series of crackling sounds of things falling inside the tent, and the soldiers guarding the tent looked at each other in confusion.
Isn’t this a good thing
hehe-
This news was indeed good news for the rebel camp whose morale had plummeted after their baggage and food supplies were burned, but it was not good news for the people in Xiaocheng. The young man looked at the noisy direction outside the tent with a gloomy face, and his fists hanging at his sides clenched again and again.
Before we knew it, the sun was high in the sky.
A messenger soldier came outside the tent.
The old general wants to see him.
The young man pursed his lips tightly. Although he was reluctant, he still dressed up. He stepped out of the tent, and his face was filled with the bright and simple smile that outsiders were familiar with. Near the main tent, he looked in the distance in the direction of Xiaocheng, and vaguely saw the outline of the towering city wall.
Sighing inwardly—
This disaster is destined for you and you cannot escape it.
He bent down and lifted the curtain. Before he entered, the sound had already reached the ears of the people in the tent.
"Godfather, my son is here."
————
"puff-"
The two scholars helped with all their strength, and Zhai Le wasted no effort in using his martial energy, and soon brought the nearly unconscious Shen Tang to a safe place. As soon as he stopped, Shen Tang leaned against a tree trunk and vomited a mouthful of black and red blood, and his pale face looked much better.
Zhai Le was nervous: "Brother Shen, what are you doing..."
Shen Tang waved his hand and said, "I'm fine, it's just a small matter!"
She sat down and took a breath for a while.
The dizziness was mostly suppressed.
Qi Shan was keeping an eye on Shen Tang's situation while being alert to his surroundings. Suddenly, he looked into the dark depths of the dense forest and drew his sword.
He shouted, "Who! Get out!"
Zhai Le also entered a state of alert.
At this time, there was a rustling sound from the direction of the dense forest, and a familiar face came out, Captain Yang who was escorting the tax silver! He responded, "It's me!"
After not seeing him for a few days, Captain Yang looked much more haggard.
Qi Shan looked at him, then at Zhai Le who had let down his guard, and he also retracted his sword and bowed from a distance.
Captain Yang said to Zhai Le and the others, "You two have been away for a long time, and there has been a fire in the direction of the rebel camp. I thought your plan was successful, so I brought people here to support you..."
Qishan's complexion improved a lot.
Captain Yang noticed the unfamiliar faces of Qi Shan and Shen Tang and asked hesitantly, "Who are these two..."
The corner of Zhai Huan's mouth twitched slightly.
How should I introduce this
Zhai Le was very happy and introduced him with a smile: "Captain Yang, this is Brother Shen whom I often mentioned. He is very capable. This fire was only successful thanks to his and Mr. Qi's help! Brother Shen, Mr. Qi, this is Captain Yang of the Xiaocheng garrison."
After hearing this, Captain Yang's eyes lit up.
He said, "So they are two heroes."
Shen Tang reluctantly stood up, his face full of admiration and respect, and replied: "I don't deserve to be a hero. I have heard of Captain Yang's great name for a long time. After meeting him today, I find that his reputation is well-deserved." His formal smile was impeccable.
Qi Shan lowered his eyes and said a casual greeting.
The greetings between the two were insincere, but Captain Yang didn't mind.
As long as they are against the rebels, they are comrades!
"This is not a place to stay for long. Please follow me, my righteous men."
Shen Tang's literary energy was severely depleted this time.
It took me three or four hours of sleep before I recovered.
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