The Sui army advanced all the way to Bayan City, an important town in the south of the Khitan Department, and the Khitan Khan King Yuanzhi hurriedly convened all the tribal leaders to discuss: "Now that the Sui army is approaching Bayan, although the Great Han of Chuluo has promised to send troops, but I expect it to be difficult to reach within half a month, the Sui army and horses are hundreds of thousands, and my Khitan tribes are only only 30,000 warriors, if they can resist." ”

The leaders of the tribes were silent for a while, and then the Khan Yelu Xie of the Dadan Department suddenly got up and said: "Great Khan, the small city of Bayan must not be able to hold it, the Sui army is overwhelming, and if Bayan is broken, it will definitely be divided into the Khitan tribes that surround me, and then we will be unable to escape." Seeing him say this, Yuanzhi frowned slightly and asked, "Hearing you say that, do you have any ideas?" Yelu Xie nodded and said: "Yes, I think we should give up all the cities here, retreat to the other side of the Kara River to defend Panlong Valley, and wait for reinforcements from Luo Dahan." ”

"No, how can the city we built with great difficulty be surrendered to the Sui army!" More than half of the tribal leaders were opposed, Yuan Zhi had always been indecisive, so he couldn't make up his mind for a while, Yelu Xie covered his left chest and bowed deeply to everyone: "Everyone, can you resist the Sui army with your strength?" Everyone glanced at each other, and all bowed their heads and said nothing. Yelu Xie then continued: "Since you can't resist it, won't these cities fall into the hands of the Sui army sooner or later?"

These words touched the hearts of everyone, indeed, no one was sure that they could resist the Sui army, Yuan Zhi saw that everyone did not speak, and he made a ruthless decision: "Just do it according to Yelu's heresy, and order all the troops to bring cattle and sheep and grain to Panlong Valley, and wait for Turkic reinforcements!"

The Sui army approached Bayan City, but found that the entire city was empty, and hurriedly reported to Lin Nan, Lin Nan spread out the map and the generals looked at it, Li Jing was suddenly taken aback and said: "It's not good, Yuanzhi is going to run!" The generals were in an uproar, Lin Nan also found out about Yuanzhi's intentions, and nodded to the place of Panlonggu and said: "It seems that he wants to rely on the location to defend and wait for reinforcements from Zhuluo." Qin Yi didn't know what the location was, so he snorted and said, "Wait for the minister to lead the army into the valley and capture him." ”

Lin Nan didn't reply to him, thought for a while, and said: "Decree that the whole army march quickly, and be sure to occupy the Khitan departments before dark." "Yes!" the generals commanded.

At the foot of Wumeng Mountain, the company camp is dozens of miles, the night is getting dark, the lights are bright in the big village, Lin Nan sits in the big tent of the Chinese army, the generals are lined up on both sides, all with strict expressions, and the Khitan cities are empty. With neither people nor food, the Sui army was stationed in these cities, but at the same time dispersed its forces.

"Your Majesty, the army of Chuluo can arrive in less than half a month, if you are not sure to take the Khitan, you can only retreat to Tongzhou quickly, otherwise you will be attacked by the enemy, and the outcome is unpredictable," After Li Jing finished speaking, Lin Nan nodded and said: "Order the three armies to burn down all the Khitan departments and city houses, and then return to the foot of Wumeng Mountain." "Yes. Gao Dehong took the order and went. Fan Bodang raised his eyebrows and asked, "Does the emperor have to raise a large army into the valley to fight the Khitan?"

Lin Nan shook his head and said, "I'm not that stupid, this Panlong Valley is dozens of miles long, and the mountains on both sides are rich in vegetation and trees. If our army rushes forward, it can only be used as a living weapon for the Khitans, who can kill our army with only 3,000 archers. ”

Fan Bodang couldn't come up with a good plan after hearing this, and then Hou Junji suddenly said: "Can you bypass Wumeng Mountain?" Li Jing shook his head and said, "This is absolutely impossible." Everyone was puzzled, Lin Nan pressed the Art of War with his left hand, and he couldn't think of any decent way to look at the map, and he was annoyed. Suddenly, he got up and said, "Pharmacist, Junji, you two will go with me to inspect the terrain." "Yes!" the two of them were ordered to follow Lin Nan out of the Chinese military tent, and hurried to the other side of the Kara River.

The Kala River is almost dry, the shallowest place can just pass the horseshoe, opposite the foot of the Wumeng Mountain, the terrain is undulating, the forest leaves are quite lush, but the birdsong is extinct, the quiet is unusual, at this time suddenly out of the night a few figures. Lin Nan hurriedly ordered the two to dismount and lie on the opposite bank to observe carefully.

Under the cover of night. The few people who came out didn't notice Lin Nan and them at all, but because it was too dark, Lin Nan couldn't see what kind of people these people were.

There were three people who came out, each carrying a package, and they took out bowls, steamed buns and other things from the package, and put an incense burner on it, and lit three pillars of incense in it, and the last person untied it from the package, which seemed to contain a bull's head.

The three of them didn't see it too clearly, but Li Jing had already guessed their intentions, and whispered to Lin Nan: "They should be here to worship the river god, so as to bless the wind and rain in the coming year." Lin Nan then remembered that the Khitan Department had also suffered from a severe drought this year, and there had not been a drop of rain for five consecutive months, at this time he vaguely saw the fire from the incense burning on the other side, and suddenly exclaimed: "There is!"

"Who!" he shouted, and the people on the other side didn't even want sacrifices, and hurriedly fled into the valley. Li Jing and Hou Junji looked at Lin Nan blankly and asked, "What did the emperor say?" Lin Nan smiled and said, "There is a way." "Oh?" the eyes of the two lit up, and Lin Nan ordered to beat the horse and return to the camp.

"Burning the mountain?" In the Chinese military tent, the generals were surprised by Lin Nan's bold mention.

"Wumeng Mountain stretches for hundreds of miles, how can it burn to the hidden place of the Khitan for a while. Li Jing didn't know much about this strategy.

Lin Nan smiled proudly: "If you can't finish burning, burn slowly, there hasn't been rain here for five months, and now is the season when it doesn't like rain here, I don't think it will rain in a few months, if it doesn't rain, what will the Khitan people do to extinguish the fire? As long as we cut down trees and pile grass to block the mouth of the valley, more than 100,000 Khitan people will be roasted if they are not burned to death, even if they can't burn the Khitan hiding place for fifteen days, will the Turkic army use the people of the Kara River to extinguish the fire? I'm afraid it's useless to drain all the river water." ”

"But the Khitan people are just like that......," Li Jing said this, and he shuddered.

"Then it's no wonder that I should use extraordinary means in extraordinary times. Lin Nan said that his eyes were cold and ruthless, and all the generals shuddered.

Wumeng Mountain is full of thorns and hay, because it has not rained for a long time, many trees have also died, so the Sui army just set fire, only an hour later, the whole mountain that rushed to the Sui army was already full of fire, and the whole was a sea of fire. The smoke was so thick that it almost obscured the sky and the sun, and even the Sui army, which had retreated thirty miles on the other side, felt hot and dry, and all of them undressed to take advantage of the cold.

However, Lin Nan did not order the Panlong Valley to be sealed, and personally led an army of 10,000 to look at the mouth of the valley with great interest on the other side, waiting for the "lucky ones" to escape from it.

The heart is calm and naturally cool, Lin Nan is admiring the fire as if he is admiring a work of art, he is also hot, but he doesn't think about it, in his eyes there is only fire, dead people, screams......

The Khitans hadn't felt the heat a few days ago, but they saw the smoke in the sky, and they didn't know what was going on, and by the time they found out that the fire was coming at them, it was too late.

"Great Khan, you have to think of a way, otherwise we will all be burned here!" a group of people shouted in the big tent of the Chinese army. That's really an ant on a hot pan.

"Okay, stop arguing, isn't the fire burning yet!" Yuan Zhi roared, but he also knew in his heart that he would be buried in the fire in less than twenty days.

All the Khitan people kneel on the ground and pray to the heavens to rain quickly, but the heavens like to watch other people's liveliness the most, the more you let him rain, the more he tricks you, **** is a sunny day, not only does it not rain, but the temperature is getting higher and higher.

Some people couldn't bear it anymore and ran out along the valley mouth, and only a few dozen of the five hundred people escaped from inside, and they were shot into hedgehogs by the Sui army's random arrows.

It's been five days, and the Sui army's side is no longer so hot, because the trees and hay on the entire side have been burned out, leaving only piles of black and slimy dry ash, while the Khitan side feels that the temperature is getting higher and higher, and they can hardly breathe, they are not praying to heaven, but civil strife.

"Dahan, what should I do now!" In the big tent of the Khitan Khan, everyone was no longer so polite, Yuan Zhi clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and said: "I didn't expect Yang Yu to be so inhumane, and he actually wanted to burn more than 100,000 of my Khitan tribesmen here." ”

"It's better to send someone out of the valley now to surrender. The leaders shouted in unison, almost threatening, Yuanzhi was in a dilemma, he knew that he would definitely die if he surrendered, but if he didn't surrender, he would be roasted into a suckling pig, and suddenly a crisp and pleasant voice came from outside the tent.

"Father Khan, let me go!"

The Great Tent of the Khan King was suddenly silent, and the silence was hard to believe. A young girl walked in, wearing a crimson narrow-sleeved round-necked knee-length coat, phoenix wing boots, and also decorated with snowflake cloud shoulders, black man gauze hand cage, jasper belt, and the whole body did not show any skin, only the delicate and lovely face was exposed, and a pair of big eyes like water seemed to penetrate the bottom of the heart, like a holy princess, people dare not force it.

"Xue'er, where are you going?" asked Motoji in surprise, his eyes widening.

The girl took out a letter from her bosom, with a goose feather on it, and said lightly: "I want to negotiate with the Great Sui Emperor to save my Khitan hundreds of thousands of people." ”

"No, all of our people who escaped were shot to death by the Sui Dynasty outside, how can you go to danger! Besides, the Han people are cunning and treacherous, and the emperor of the Sui Dynasty is cruel and ferocious, how can they accept our surrender. After Yuanzhi finished speaking anxiously, he didn't expect the khans of the various departments to suddenly shout in unison: "Let her go!"

The girl quietly tucked the letter into her bosom, speaking without a trace of expression.

"Father Khan, don't talk about it, listen to everyone. Now only I can save the Khitan by negotiating. ”

"No, even if we are all burned to death, we will never let you go!" Yuan Zhi was not indecisive at all in this matter, but the khans of the other tribes all said in unison: "Great Khan, now only the princess can save the whole clan!"

"No, this thing will definitely not work!" Motoji's tone shocked all the tribal leaders.

At this time, the girl saw that Yuanzhi did not allow it, and suddenly took out a small jade statue from her arms, the statue was very strange, and the face of the fairy on it was extremely vicious, and Zhang had six hands, and each hand held a weapon. He was barefoot, and under his feet was a fierce green wolf.

"I command you in the name of the sword slave, the head of the gods. The maiden held the idol high above her head.

"Huh?" all the people in the tent knelt on the ground, crossed their hands around their chests, and bowed their heads very low, doing the greatest etiquette of the Khitan people.

The girl's face suddenly became very serious, and she glanced around, then crossed her hands over her shoulders, bowed to the front of the tent, and said, "Sword slave god, please give me luck and strength, let me save the entire Khitan clan." ”

Everyone followed the girl and said it again, and then slowly stood up, Yuanzhi had tears in his eyes, and said half-paid: "Daughter, since you have ordered us in the name of the sword slave god, then I can't stop it anymore, I only hope that the sword slave god will bless you with a safe return." ”

"Father, please select a hundred of the most loyal warriors of my Khitan tribe to rush out of Panlong Valley with me. Although Motoji loves this daughter very much, the girl doesn't seem to have any feelings for her father, as if this woman has never had feelings, and her face is always so calm.

"Yes. Motoji agreed to come out of the tent like a slave, and the girl took the idol into her arms and gently closed her eyes. Everyone stood respectfully on both sides, and there was silence in the big tent.

The sword slave in the Khitan tribe is the legendary god in charge of death, ranking first among the gods, and this girl is named Nalan Xue, her mother Nalan Yue is the widow of the royal family of the former Northern Wei Dynasty, after the death of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Nalan fled to Liaodong, and lived with the local Khitan people, Nalan Yue had a child a year after marrying Yuanzhi, but unfortunately died of dystocia during childbirth, there was nothing surprising about this, but when Yuanzhi took over the child, she found that she was holding the statue of the sword slave in her hand.

What happened next was even more strange, Yuanzhi's three sons died one after another, but Nalan Xue was unharmed, and when Nalan Xue reached the age of fifteen, she was more beautiful than the immortals, and all the Khitan men were not moved when they saw her, and even many people had evil intentions to rape her. But these people all died mysteriously immediately after breaking into her big tent, and then she married three men one after another, but they all died violently on their wedding night.

So many strange things happened to her, and the sword slave is a god who controls life and death, so the Khitan tribe soon had a rumor that Nalan Xue is the messenger of the sword slave and the incarnation of the god, and if anyone thinks about her or marries her, she will be cursed by the god and die immediately.

Since then, no man has dared to propose to marry Nalan Xue, not even a man close to her, but Yuanzhi liked her mother very much back then, so he put all his love for her mother on her.

But Nalan Xue's personality can really be associated with death since then, she seems to have suddenly lost her emotions and desires, and there is no expression on her face anymore.

In front of the hot valley mouth, Yuan Zhi led a dry khan to send Nalan Xue away respectfully, the expressions on everyone's faces were very nervous, except for Yuan Zhi, the rest of the people actually thought the same, they were thinking that if Lin Nan had a lust for her, then she would definitely die, as soon as the emperor died, the Sui army would inevitably retreat, as long as the Sui army retreated, she was willing to do whatever she wanted, for the whole clan, she was worth it.

A hundred Khitan warriors escorted her into the deep valley, and the expressions on their faces were as if they had walked into the abyss of hell.

The fire borrows the wind, the wind helps the fire, and the narrow Panlong Valley is filled with smoke, but fortunately, the valley is unusually humid, although the fire is in the sky, but it does not dry up the valley, so the fire is next to the valley, but there is no fire in the valley.

However, the rolling heat wave around them was still scorching, and the billowing smoke choked their tears.

At this time, a burned old pine tree suddenly rolled down from the mountain, and several warriors escorted Nalan Xue and ran away, but the people behind were blocked, and some of them had sparks burning on their bodies, and they rolled on the ground in pain.

At this moment, Nalan Xue still couldn't see any expression on her face, although she was soaked with sweat all over, she looked more like a beauty she had just bathed, and it was moving.

At this time, Lin Nan was sitting on the opposite bank enjoying the scenery of the burning sky, and suddenly four or five Khitan warriors ran out, but unfortunately they were shot into porcupines by arrows without even saying a word. The people behind saw that they couldn't rush out, so they could only shout: "Listen, the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, our Great Khan sent Her Royal Highness the princess to negotiate with you, don't let go of the arrow!"

"Negotiating?" Lin Nan laughed, stood up and took a few steps forward, Gehe shouted at Taniguchi, "Why should I negotiate with you, wouldn't it be better if you were all burned to death?"

Several warriors looked back at Nalan Xue, not knowing what to do, when Nalan Xue suddenly let go of her voice and shouted: "As long as you are a man, you must be interested in negotiating." ”

"Oh?" Lin Nan was slightly startled when he heard such a moving and pleasant voice, and when he heard her words again, he became even more curious, and hurriedly ordered: "Don't release arrows, let them come out." ”

A few warriors trembling didn't dare to go out of the valley first, Nalan Xue suddenly picked up a few people and rushed out of the valley first, Lin Nan had already waded across the shore at this time, and he was really surprised to see Nalan Xue's appearance.

Seeing that although her little face was blackened by thick smoke, she couldn't hide the touching beauty, Lin Nan's heart fluttered, and she stepped forward to support her and said, "Are you the princess of Khitan?" Nalan Xue had no expression on her face, and said lightly: "Your Majesty the Emperor, please allow me to bathe and change clothes." ”

"Good. Come and take the Khitan princess to bathe and change clothes. After Lin Nan finished the order, he smiled at Nalan Xue and said, "I'm waiting for you in the Chinese military tent." (To be continued.) )