When the Khitan army withdrew from view, Li Congjing rode down from the hill, met Zhang Daqian, and left here.

Although he met Li Congjing for less than half a day, Zhang Daqian admired him very much, and sighed sincerely: "I have heard of General Li's prestige, and he is invincible and invincible. ”

Zhang Daqian is over forty years old, almost twice as old as Li Congjing, and in terms of appearance, he is also a lot more mature than Li Congjing, but when he said this, he obviously ignored the age difference between the two.

Such praise may make the parties happy when they fall into the ears of ordinary people, but Li Congjing has long been accustomed to this, because he is not too happy. The praise of a border army general, to be honest, he really doesn't take it seriously, it's not that he is arrogant, but that he is now, and his status and strength have allowed him to ignore many things.

"Although the Khitan army retreats, for the sake of all plans, we still return to Sangkan Pass as soon as possible, and you can leave rangers along the way to grasp the whereabouts of the Khitan army." Li Congjing said to Zhang Daqian, because he was not a general of the Datong Army, and he did not have the power to control the Datong Army.

"Defeat without discouragement, victory without arrogance, in the predicament of strange plans, defeat into victory, victory step by step, careful manners, is a general like General Li!" Zhang Daqian felt something, he was going to say this, but seeing Li Congjing's indifferent expression, he obviously didn't care about his praise, he himself was embarrassed to say it again, just nodded and responded: "What General Li said is that it should be so!" ”

Zhang Daqian immediately gave an order to his subordinates, leaving the rangers all the way without mentioning it.

Not far from the hill, the fifth girl led the arson guards to catch up with Li Congjing and gather behind him. Seeing these people, Zhang Daqian couldn't help but look awkward. He is a veteran general in the army, so he can naturally distinguish the chilling killing aura on these sharp soldiers at a glance, needless to say, they are all brave men who crawled out of the pile of dead people, with a pair of cold and quiet eyes, with their fierce figures and violent breath, ordinary people don't know the meaning, they will only feel afraid, but Zhang Daqian can feel their extraordinary lethality.

"All tigers and wolves!" Zhang Daqian said in his heart, "It seems that the people who set the fire before were the ones who did it by these tigers." Thinking of this, I can't help but wonder, "Now that I am out of danger, why is there still no army of a hundred battles?" He looked at Li Congjing and thought, "Doesn't General Li want the Hundred Battles Army to show up and enter the Sangqing Pass?" Why? Then he thought, "Yes, after all, the Hundred Battles Army is a guest army, and it cannot enter without the permission of the military commander." The scene of today's battle came to mind again, remembering that when Qin Shide saw Li Congjing, the sentence "General Li, save my Datong army", and remembered Li Congjing's two plans today to let the Datong army return safely. All this made Zhang Daqian really unat ease to let the Hundred Battles Army sleep in the wilderness.

Zhang Daqian cleared his throat, approached Li Congjing, and said, "General Li, if the Hundred Battles Army has already arrived nearby, please enter Sangqian Pass and set up camp." Seeing Li Congjing's slightly questioning expression, he smiled freely and freely: "Thanks to General Li's strength this time, the Datong military can be safe and sound, and General Li is very kind to the Datong army!" Although the commander has no military order, with the last general's understanding of the commander, please rest assured that General Li will definitely welcome the Hundred Battles Army into the Sang Khan Pass! ”

Li Congjing's lips moved, and before the words could be spoken, there were several horses running in front, and when they got closer, they dismounted and saluted Li Congjing and Zhang Daqian, and said: "The commander order, please enter the Sang Khan Pass!" ”

Hearing this, Zhang Daqian laughed heartily and said to Li Congjing: "General Li, I said that the army marshal will welcome the Hundred Battles Army into the Sangqing Pass, General Li has a great favor to my Datong Army, the army commander is not only not a villain, but also a person in temperament, with clear grievances, this time the Hundred Battles Army arrived in Yunzhou, and there is no difference between it and Youzhou!" ”

Zhang Daqian looked like he was thinking about the Hundred Battles Army, and this kind of "enthusiasm" made Li Congjing laugh, but he was grateful for the other party's mind, and he still said: "This time, the commander went to Yunzhou and did not bring the army here. ”

Zhang Daqian didn't expect this to be the case, and was stunned, "Didn't bring an army? ”

Li Congjing nodded, "If Ben Shuai has a large army here, how can he let those thousands of Khitan troops leave?" ”

He was right, and the cavalry he had arranged had not yet arrived.

Zhang Daqian's eyes widened, "The Hundred Battles Army did not attack the Khitan Army before, and the last general thought that General Li was cautious in his campaign and did not want to attack the enemy army at night. The general is so daring! ”

Li Congjing smiled and didn't care.

Shortly after dawn, Li Congjing and the Datong army returned to the outside of Sangqing Pass.

……

West Building.

Looking at Xilou City from afar, Yerod's hazy eyes also showed a little relief and joy. Regardless of the process and result of this trip to Danzhou, he has finally returned to the Khitan capital safely, returned to the place where he settled down and lived, and returned home.

As long as you can return to the West Building safely, then everything in the past is just the past, and everything has a chance to start over. The next time you face Li Congjing, it will still be a brand new battle, and who will die at that time has nothing to do with the past, only with the future.

Yerod told himself this, cheered himself up, and still walked with a high-spirited face towards this city that carried his too much ambition and ambition. He glanced at the three guards who were following him, two of them were excited and happy, but only Haig's face was calm, although there was also excitement, but it was not obvious, on the contrary, Yerod saw a trace of loss and decline in his eyes.

Yerod's brow sank slightly. However, he can also understand, after all, Hague went to Danzhou with him as his guard before, originally to make meritorious contributions, but he never wanted to encounter twists and turns, and he almost lost his life. I wanted to return to my hometown with honor, but I never wanted to come back from a lost soul, and the gap between them is really chilling.

Frowning, Yelu Deguang said to Haige in an energetic tone: "Haige, there is no need to be so listless, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, as long as there is a life, there will be opportunities to seek glory and wealth in the future." My Great Khitan warriors can be defeated, but they can't lose their minds, as long as their minds are strong, even if they are defeated today, they can also win tomorrow. Now that my Great Khitan Kingdom is fighting in the east and west, and there are frequent wars, it is the time to employ people, and you have the opportunity to display your talents! ”

His words did have the effect of boosting morale, and the two guards listened to it, and they both showed a cheerful look, but Haig sighed, and because of the identity of Yerod Light, he saluted and said: "Thank you Your Highness for your encouragement, Haig will not forget today's shame, and always have a shameful heart." ”

Haig's words were weak, but the meaning was there, and Yerod Guang couldn't blame him, but he didn't think much about it when Hegrid couldn't get out of the shadow of defeat for a while.

When Yelu Deguang returned, it was naturally impossible for Yelu Abaoji in Xilou City to be unaware of it in advance, so he also sent people to wait at the city gate to greet him. It's just that Yelu Deguang calculated Li Congjing this time, not only did his own calculations fail, but all the guards around him were wiped out, and there were only three people left, who were taken by him to Gubeikou and took him to the 10,000 foot horsemen, and most of them were killed and wounded, and he could be regarded as a big defeat on this trip. Therefore, Yelu Abaoji sent to meet him was his own confidant general, who commanded Yelu's enemy Lugu in the near army.

Seeing Yelu's enemy, Yelude's face was only slightly dark, but Haig's heart swelled with a strong sense of sadness and guilt. When he fled in the jungle that day, the son of Jerod Rugu, that is, Anta of Haig, fell because of his lack of strength, and he could not help him, but Jerod did not want to drag everyone down, and he personally killed him.

For not being able to save Anda and let him go out with him, Haig has always been in a deep sense of regret and self-blame, and now when he sees Yelu and Lugu, he thinks of the scenes of that day, especially the desperate and unwilling eyes of Anda when he was dying at the end, how can Haig not be sad and angry?

"Your Highness, the emperor ordered his ministers to welcome you back to the city." There was nothing too obvious on Jerod's face as Rugu approached, and he greeted him and saluted respectfully.

Yelu Deguang nodded, "General Lao is here in person." What did my father command? ”

Yelu replied, "The emperor has decreed that when His Highness returns, he will meet him in the Taiyi Palace." ”

After two sentences, Yelu Deguang could clearly feel the stiffness in the other party's words, and a faint sense of alienation, he was unhappy, but he still tried his best not to be quiet, "In this case, this king will meet his father with the general." ”

"Your Highness, please." Jerugu got out of the way.

Yelu Deguang walked in front of Yelu Rugu, stepped back on his horse, and said to the retainers of his royal palace who were also here to greet him: "Wait and go back first, and when this king has seen his father, he will return to his house." Naturally, the retainers promised one by one, without saying a word.

He said to Haig and the others: "You can also go home separately, and when you have time in the future, this king will summon you to wait again." This southern expedition, you will not leave the king's side, this achievement and this love will not be forgotten by the king. ”

Haig just said yes, and didn't react much, and the two guards were a little excited when they heard the closeness in Jerod's words, and the implicit implication that they would be reused in the future. Although Yelu Deguang's southward journey failed, he was still the prince of the Khitan and the generalissimo of the Khitan soldiers and horses.

Apologetically and guilty, Haig looked at Yelu Rugu with complicated eyes, and he stopped talking with a sad expression. Yelu Rugu glanced at Haig, and said seemingly inadvertently: "Haig, you have protected His Highness well this time, it is meritorious, there is no need to think about anything else, and go back first to ease the family's worries." ”

Knowing what Jelu Rugu said, Haig knew that the other party did not mean to reproach him, but in this way, the guilt in his heart was even worse, but it was not good to say anything at the moment, so he bowed and retired.

It had been some time since he left the West Building, and before meeting Yelu Abaoji, Yelu Deguang was anxious to know the latest national events, so he asked Yelu on the road, "How does the general know about the westward expedition?" ”

Yelu's enemy Lugu still replied dutifully: "Beiyuan Yili Jin has conquered Feng and Sheng's two states, and thwarted the military rebellion of the Tatar chieftains, and the emperor has set up Yingtian's army outside Feng's and Sheng's two states, and now Yelu's enemy martyr has returned to Yingtian's army. ”

This matter was expected by Yerod, because he was not surprised, but others were victorious and triumphant, but he returned defeated, and there was inevitably a gap in comparison.

Before arriving at the palace, Yelu Deguang met the person he least wanted to see at this time, Yelu Bei.