Gong Xi returned to Mengtou Rock and met Pu Hu. He looked for Luo Tai everywhere in the village and wanted to duel with him, but he was told that Luo Tai had not returned to Guanzhong either.
Gong Xi then told the other leaders how Luo Tai surrendered, which led to his being tricked and captured, and how he pretended to submit to Liu Qi and was released. Upon hearing this, the other leaders were shocked and angry, and they all cursed Luo Tai.
Pu Hu was furious and immediately ordered a great witch to take the King of Ba's guards to the Luo tribe to capture Luo Tai and bring him to trial.
Gong Xi added: "There is a Zhao Zilong in the Jingzhou army. He is very skilled in martial arts. Everyone must be careful. I was defeated by him."
Pu Hu asked, "How many rounds did you fight?"
Gong Xi lowered his head and sighed: "Only three or five rounds!"
All the leaders were shocked. Although Gong Xi was not the strongest in martial arts in the tribe, he was able to become the tribal chief, which made him the best in the Gong family. No one could defeat him in three or five rounds.
Pu Hu looked solemn as he glanced at everyone: "We originally planned to take Hanzhong, but before we even entered the country, we lost two tribes. This Liu Qi is really capable."
Du Fu heard that Pu Hu wanted to retreat, so he took the opportunity to say, "Liu Qi came here to attack Zhang Wei, so why should we take the blame for him? As long as we retreat back to the tribe, Liu Qi will attack Hanchang. When the two tigers fight, we will act accordingly."
The witch god Yuan Yue sneered, "We have already started a war with Liu Qi. If we withdraw our troops now, and wait for him to get rid of Zhang Wei and join forces with Liu Zhang to deal with us, wouldn't that be adding insult to injury?"
Pu Hu's face changed slightly. The witch god and the great witch were both the wisest people. They asked, "If Liu Qi's army arrives at the city and we can't resist, what should we do?"
Yuan Yue smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. The Jingzhou army only has one Zhao Zilong. No matter how powerful a tiger is, it can't withstand the attack of a pack of wolves. Liu Qi can use tricks, so why can't we use tricks too?"
Pu Hu hurriedly asked, "What does the witch god think?"
Yuan Yueyan said: "The soldiers of Jingzhou are strong in cavalry. Their horses are fast, so they naturally have an advantage. But as long as we enter Mi Cang Mountain, the territory of Bashan will be ours. We only need to defend Mengtou Rock. The rainy season is about to begin, and Liu Qi will retreat. That's when we can counterattack!"
Pu Hushen agreed with this and ordered all the troops to take turns guarding the pass. If Zhao Yun arrived at the pass, there was no need to go into battle, but to wait for the rainy season to come and then look for an opportunity to counterattack.
Everyone dispersed, and Du Fu sighed, "Each of the seven royal families had their own selfish motives, but the ones who died were innocent people. I am afraid that the Ba people will be annihilated."
Wang Ping said: "According to the soldiers who escaped, the soldiers of Jingzhou did not kill the captives, but gave them wine and meat and let them go, asking them to persuade their tribesmen to withdraw. It can be seen that Liu Qi is not willing to be our enemy, otherwise the two kings Luo and Gong would have been beheaded long ago."
Du Fu smiled bitterly and said, "As long as the King of Ba and the other leaders are unwilling to withdraw their troops, it will be of no avail."
Wang Ping said, "Liu Qi repeatedly released prisoners to promote his benevolence and to undermine the morale of the army. You must know that a thousand-mile dam can be destroyed by an ant hole."
Du Fu was lost in thought. At this moment, Li Hu, who was in charge of training the troops, came and reported, "This morning, the tribes said that King Gong had surrendered to Liu Qi. He came back to unite with other tribes to capture King Ba and to offer Mengtou Rock for merit. He wants to be King Ba forever!"
Du Fu smiled and said, "Gong Xi has explained the truth. These must be random guesses made by those soldiers who don't know the situation."
Li Hu added: "There is another rumor: Zhang Wei has named the Park family as the Eternal King of Ba, but he is worried that the other six families will not obey, so he plans to attack Hanzhong. In fact, he is killing someone with a borrowed knife and wants to take the opportunity to eliminate the other tribes."
Du Fu turned to look at Wang Ping: "Zijun, is this possible?"
Wang Ping frowned slightly: "It's hard to tell whether this is true or not, but even if it's a rumor, since two tribes have been destroyed, someone will definitely believe it."
Li Hu nodded and said, "Yes, in addition, there are soldiers who brought back the imperial edict from Master Zhang, and several chief priests are also in the army, saying that we have all been deceived by Zhang Wei, and all the camps are arguing about it."
Wang Ping said slowly: "Liu Qi released the captives, and it has worked."
Du Fu was surprised, looked at Wang Pingming, and sighed: "This Liu Qi is really smart."
The next day, scouts came to report that Liu Qi had led his army into Micang Mountain. The leaders were gathering to discuss matters when suddenly a loud drum sounded.
Soon the defenders reported that an old general was challenging the enemy at the foot of the pass. All the leaders looked at Pu Hu, but no one took the initiative to fight.
Pu Hu's face was gloomy, he stood up and said, "Let's go and take a look together."
Du Fu was walking at the end, and seeing that several leaders were silent, he knew in his heart that they must have been influenced by the rumors.
Although they suffered two major defeats, an old veteran could not scare the brave Ba people warriors. Under normal circumstances, they would have been clamoring to fight.
When they arrived at the pass, they saw a group of soldiers standing in front of the pass in neat rows, with bright armor. In front of the formation was an old veteran standing on his horse with a sword in his hand. His beard was nearly two feet long, and he was even older than he had imagined.
Pu Hu clenched his fist and said, "Liu Qi lets such an old soldier lead the troops. Is he bullying us Ba people who can't fight?"
The leaders were just feeling surprised when Pu Hu's son Pu Yang rushed to ask for orders, "Father, Liu Qi is bullying us too much. Let me deal with him!"
Pu Hu laughed and said, "Okay, my son, we must make a quick decision."
Pu Yang received the order and went down the pass, while Pu Hu watched the battle with great pride. Yesterday, rumors were spreading among the tribes, and he was having a headache about this matter. Unexpectedly, Liu Qi sent an old man to die today, which would allow his son to kill the enemy and gain merit, and also dispel the rumors, killing two birds with one stone.
The leaders all curled their lips and thought to themselves, thinking that Liu Qi must have deliberately sent an old soldier to give Pu Hu a credit for nothing. Then when the battle came, they would be the ones to provide the men. How could they refuse
While they were each thinking up their own plans, Pu Yang had already led his troops out of the pass. The two armies deployed themselves and rushed out impatiently.
"Beat the drum!" Pu Hu shouted at the guards on the gate tower.
Boom boom boom—
At the sound of a drum, Pu Yang rushed to the old general, still yelling, but saw the old general raised his sword and swung it down. A cold light flashed, and a head flew up. The mount rushed into the enemy's formation with the corpse in it.
"Yang'er—" Pu Hu rushed to the battlement and roared loudly.
Several leaders were shocked. They knew that Pu Hu was alone and would never be sent to die, so they were all stunned.
"You should believe it now, right?" Pu Hu turned around suddenly, his eyes red, like an angry beast, beating his chest and roaring: "Liu Qi and I cannot coexist!"
"Please calm down, King Ba. We don't doubt you!" Du Yong, a warrior of the Du tribe, clasped his fists and said, "I will go and avenge my good brother now!"
The chief of the Du tribe is already old, so sending Du Yong to the battle this time is to give him experience. He is much stronger than the pampered Pu Yang, and he believes that he can easily deal with this old veteran.
The drums sounded again, and Du Yong went into battle carrying the black iron shield given to him by the chief. He barely lasted three rounds before the old general chopped off his shield with a sword and cut off half of his body from the shoulder. His internal organs were scattered all over the ground. He died in a very tragic way.
The whole place was filled with shock and everyone was stunned. Not to mention how strong this veteran was, he could actually split the black iron shield with one sword. What kind of magic weapon was this
Pu Hu scratched a bloody groove on the wall with his fingernails, turned his head and stared at Du Wei, gritted his teeth and said: "Why don't you Qiang tribe go to fight?"
Du Fu was furious. When it was time to kill the enemy and make merit, you all rushed to do it. Now that the situation is unfavorable, you want our people to die
Just as he was about to argue, Wang Ping clasped his fists again and said, "I am willing to go and meet the enemy!"