The wind before dawn mixed with snowflakes grew stronger and stronger. The ground was creaking with the sound of snow being stepped on. The figure on the man's back groaned in pain, and drops of blood splattered on the snow, blooming into bright red "flowers".
"General Qu, hold on... We are almost at the place where His Majesty has set up an ambush."
The soldier carrying Qu Yuanfeng was breathing heavily. After running two miles, his legs seemed to have lost all feeling due to the weight of the armor and his commander. The people running around also came over to help support him and reduce some of the weight.
"Almost there, just ahead!"
Someone shouted in the front, which made the people running behind feel a little relieved. Soon after, the sound of horse hooves was heard and torches were thrown from afar. The flickering firelight illuminated the panic-stricken looks of a group of more than 300 people. The knight who came over saw that something was wrong and quickly shot a flare.
call out-
The sound of arrows spread in the night sky. After a while, the footsteps of many people gradually appeared around the burning torches on the snow. Liu Jianwu, the general of the Right Guard, who came first, saw them and waved his hand in disappointment, "Go back to the camp and let Qu Yuanfeng come to see me!"
"General, General Qu..."
The soldier who followed the sneak attack had slightly red eyes and slowly retreated to one side. The more than 300 people crowded behind also made way, revealing the soldier carrying Qu Yuanfeng who walked forward. Seeing the unconscious figure lying on the soldier's back, Liu Jianwu pursed his lips, dismounted, and hurried over to check the injury.
"Hurry and carry it back to the camp. Use the best medicine! Quick!"
The lit fire illuminated the rugged road. Some of the ambushed soldiers stayed behind to cover their retreat, while the rest followed Liu Jianwu to escort Qu Yuanfeng back to the military camp more than ten miles away. At this time, Yang Guang, who was waiting in the tent, heard the noise, put down the book, put on a fur coat, and hurried out. Seeing Qu Yuanfeng with blood on his armor, he went to the military doctor's tent and called Liu Jianwu to ask about the situation.
"What happened to General Qu?"
"Reporting to your majesty, I heard from Qu Yuanfeng's personal guards that they sneaked into the Dadouba Valley for only 20 to 30 feet, and suddenly there was a heavy snowfall. A monk over 10 feet tall appeared, chanting scriptures, invulnerable to swords and spears, and extremely powerful. Qu Yuanfeng personally cut off the retreat and entangled the monk, but was hit by a stick..."
Yang Guang frowned and went into the tent to check Qu Yuanfeng's injuries himself. The waist armor plate of the armor he took off was beaten to pieces, and many fragments were embedded in the flesh. The surrounding area was black and bruised, which was indeed caused by a heavy object hitting him.
"Murong Fuyun must have had the help of a master, otherwise how could there be a Buddha who is invulnerable to swords and guns and snow all over the sky..."
The previous smooth war had given Yang Guang the confidence to recover the northwest and even open up the Southern Silk Road in one fell swoop. However, now that he had passed Yumen Pass and was about to achieve his goal, he was hit head-on, which made him very uncomfortable. From the military report, he thought that the previous battle was not going well and Yang Guang was making excuses, but now it seems that this is not the case.
"If the Imperial Master were here, he would be able to defeat the thieves!"
Liu Jianwu, who followed Yang Guang out of the tent, knew who the emperor was talking about, and asked carefully, "Your Majesty, why don't you let me send a message quickly and invite the imperial master to break the enemy's magic?"
"It's a long way to go. I'm afraid it's too late to send someone back to Chang'an now."
Yang Guang returned to the central army tent and looked at the map of the Western Regions hanging there. He was silent for a long time, then turned around and slammed the table with one fist. "Wait for my central army to arrive in two days and attack this canyon. I don't believe that a small corner of land can stop my army! Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I must catch the person who performed the ritual and I will skin him alive!"
Liu Jianwu hesitated for a moment, then raised his hands and said, "Yes!"
The sky brightened, the snow melted, and time passed quietly. Between the white sky and earth, a long dragon holding numerous flags came windingly and gathered outside the huge military camp.
In the military camp, the figure lying on the fur bed gradually woke up. Smelling the rich scent of herbs, Qu Yuanfeng weakly opened his eyes. The pain in his waist and ribs came from time to time. He stabbed his dry lips, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and slowly sat up with his arms.
"What time is it now... Someone, come... What time is it now? How long have I been unconscious?"
The weak voice alarmed the guards outside. A soldier lifted the curtain and came in. Seeing Qu Yuanfeng sitting on the edge of the bed, he hurried forward to support her, while turning back to call out to his companions to inform the general.
Woo~~
After drinking a bowl of warm water, Qu Yuanfeng vaguely heard the desolate horn outside. He held the soldier's arm and walked out, urging another soldier who was following him: "Why are you blowing the horn? We can't attack Dadouba Valley by force. The place is small, and the enemy can trap our army with magic! Go and inform His Majesty, we can't attack by force!"
He shouted loudly, stumbled a few steps, fell in the snow, and got up with help, holding the bloody bandage, and limped to the camp gate. At this time, Liu Jianwu and Yang Guang, who had received the message, were riding horses to Qu Yuanfeng. When they saw Qu Yuanfeng, they shouted, "Stupid! Go back and lie down!"
"His Majesty!"
Qu Yuanfeng didn't listen, stumbled over, and tried hard not to fall, kneeling on one knee in the snow: "... Your Majesty, we couldn't forcefully attack the canyon that time. The magicians around Murong Fuyun would definitely use the terrain to lure our army inside. Once we were trapped inside, the ice and snow would make it so that the soldiers wouldn't even be able to see the enemy, and would starve to death."
"How could I not know?"
Over there, Yang Guang dismounted and came over to help him up, and quickly took off his fur coat and put it on Qu Yuanfeng, "But I have no other choice. The Khan of Tuyuhun is inside. If all our efforts are wasted, wouldn't the soldiers who died in this battle have died in vain?"
Even as they were talking, someone in the central army that was gathering outside the camp seemed to sense something, subconsciously raised his head, and then shouted.
"Look up in the sky, what is that?!"
In the team not far away, many people heard the shouting and raised their heads to look at the blue sky with white clouds. A black shadow was whistling towards them with a trail of light...
at the same time.
Above the Dadouba Valley, Tuyuhun Khan, wearing a fur coat, stood high up in the canyon, basking in the cold sunshine, looking at the ice and snow outside the mountain. He raised his hand, pointed to the Sui army camp vaguely visible in the distance, laughed, and spoke to the one-armed old monk beside him.
"Master, look, the Sui army is still coming from afar. They are really not afraid of death."
Fu Lianzun held one arm in front of his abdomen, constantly fiddling with the Buddhist beads in his hand, squinting his eyes at the Central Plains army outside. This valley was a dead valley, you could get in but not get out, and if more people came, once they were trapped by his magic, they would never be able to leave.
At a certain moment, the Khan beside him was still talking. The old monk seemed to sense something, and his face turned eastward with the corner of his eyes, and he suddenly uttered a puzzled "Hmm?"
"Master, what are you looking at?"
Murong Fuyun slowly followed the monk's line of sight and saw a ball of light in the sky, like a meteor streaking across the sky, flying straight to the Sui camp over there.
"What is that..."
As the murmuring voice came out of his lips, Yang Guang, who was talking to Qu Yuanfeng in the military camp far away outside the mountain, suddenly heard a noise coming from the gate. Liu Jianwu said, "Your Majesty, I will go out to reorganize the army!" He turned and took two steps away, and a violent whistling instantly filled his ears. The snow on the ground rolled up a wave and buried him directly.
boom!
A loud bang exploded in the camp. Qu Yuanfeng, Yang Guang, and the surrounding soldiers instinctively raised their hands to block the oncoming wind and snow. When the noise stopped, they opened their eyes and brushed off the snow that had accumulated on their bodies. They saw that the snow on the ground where the loud bang came from had been swept away, revealing a huge circle with a long sword stuck in the middle of it. The sword body trembled slightly and white mist rose.
"I am freezing to death..."
A familiar voice rang out from the trembling sword. Qu Yuanfeng was immediately delighted and turned to look at the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is my master's Yuelong Sword!"
Yang Guang naturally recognized the magic sword stuck in the ground. He was stunned for a moment when he heard Qu Yuanfeng's words. He didn't expect that the person in front of him would be the future disciple of Master Lu. He quickly patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go and see if there is a letter from the Master."
"Um!"
Qu Yuanfeng endured the pain and smiled widely. His master's magic sword flew over. It was possible that he knew about the war here and must have sent Yue Long to help.
As expected, as he got closer, he saw a scroll of painting tied to the sword. He raised his hands and bowed to the spiritual sword, "But my master asked you to deliver this painting?"
The Moon Sword trembled, and the scroll on it fell to the ground with a 'pop' sound. It trembled twice with a buzzing sound, and slowly rose up. "It's freezing here. I don't want to stay any longer, and I don't want to talk any more. Goodbye!"
With a swish, the magic light appeared and flew into the sky.
Yang Guang bowed to the ascending sword and quickly walked to Qu Yuanfeng: "General Qu, did the Imperial Master send us the method to defeat the enemy?"
"yes."
Qu Yuanfeng, standing in front of the sword pit, looked at the note in his hand, a smile appeared on his face, he tightened the scroll, and turned to look at the emperor.
"Your Majesty, please help me transport some strong liquor so that we can break into his Great Doubo Valley today!"
Inhaling the liquor on the thousands-mile plateau, the army always has strong liquor to drive away the cold. Now, hearing that it can defeat the enemy, Yang Guang laughed out loud and turned to call Liu Jianwu who had just squeezed out of the snow pile.
"General, quickly prepare some strong liquor! I want to see how the master's disciple defeats the enemy!"
The latter wiped the snow off his face and looked around in confusion, not knowing what had happened.
... Did I miss something? I have only been buried for a while, how come... how come I have a way to defeat the enemy