Wang Zhi looked at the empty river valley and didn't know what to say. There was nothing left in the valley that had been filled with tents.

"Qiang people...... Where did it go? ”

Although Liu Xiu was surprised, he was not as helpless as Wang Zhi, he looked at it for a moment and ordered Li Yifeng to take two scouts to investigate. Li Yifeng took the order, went down to the river valley, investigated carefully, and reported to Liu Xiu that the Qiang people should be gone, the traces of the tent on the ground are still there, and you can still see the ashes of cooking, judging from the residual warmth of some ash piles, it should have just left two hours ago.

Liu Xiu estimated that the Heavenly Wolf withdrew after receiving the scout's report, but he felt a little strange, the mountain road was difficult to walk, even if there was an enemy, it could only be a small group of people, the Heavenly Wolf had 20,000 troops in hand, as long as he was prepared, it would be foolproof, so why withdraw? His retreat was to give up the favorable terrain of Zhu Yu Mountain.

Liu Xiusheng was afraid that it was a plan, so he sent Li Yifeng to probe forward again, and at the same time asked people to notify the main force that was estimated to be still grinding on the way, so that they could come as soon as possible and seize Zhu Yushan.

An hour later, Li Yifeng rushed back, the wolf was indeed gone, he was now almost at Luomen Mountain, it seems that he should have returned to Longxi County, as for which direction to go after returning to Longxi, it is still impossible to judge, it is certain that they are walking in a panic, and they have been in a hurry, not like there is an ambush.

Liu Xiu was confused, could it be that something happened among the Qiang people that made the Heavenly Wolf retreat in such a hurry?

After another hour, Xun You and the others arrived, and after listening to Liu Xiu's question, Xun You suddenly smiled. "I don't know if it's related to the general's strange army, but judging from the timing, it should have something to do with the disappearance of Sirius this morning."

Liu Xiu was inexplicable, he had always been very ignorant of the bright starry sky.

Xun You explained, saying that in the past half a month, the wolf star in the well has appeared in the eastern sky every day before the dawn, and the wolf star is called Sirius in the customs of the Qiang people, and the Qiang people have always had the habit of taking the stars in the sky as their name, and this wolf should have regarded Sirius as his own star. The wolf star symbolizes the sword soldier in the customs of the Han people, if it is not in its place, or the color changes, it means that the world will have sword soldiers.

"Really?" Liu Xiu is not very interested in this, he is not like the people of this era who think that human beings are the spirit of all things, and every cow is a star in the sky. However, he knew that these people next to him, including people like Xun You and Fu Xie, believed that he couldn't be too maverick.

"It's hard to say." Xun You suddenly pulled Liu Xiu aside with some mystery, and said softly: "Jingsu, also known as Jingmu Xuan, is the first of the seven Suzaku in the south. The general's battle flag is Suzaku, which may be the general's righteous conquest of the East. ”

Liu Xiu told Xun You that Zhang Jiao might revolt, but he didn't think so about this mysterious symbol. "I'm entangled by the people of Liangzhou now, whether I can get out or not is two different things, even if Zhang Jiao gets up, I can't catch up." Liu Xiu shook his head and sighed secretly: "Besides, there are cadres like Yuan Shao and Huangfu Song in the east, where do you need me to go." ”

"Not really." Xun You shook his head vigorously: "General, the Vermilion Bird is a fire, and the most inappropriate thing is the Northern Xuanwu, but the sandalwood and locust have been destroyed by you, what is the great deal about the Eastern Wood and the Western Gold?" Huo Kejin, the general's trip to Liangzhou was like a bamboo, Nie Xiao gave the head, and the wolf retreated without a fight, which is the proof. ”

Liu Xiu blinked, can this be done?

"General, the sky wolf retreated in a hurry, something big must have happened, and the general should catch up and break it. In this way, Hanyang is peaceful, the Qiang people are bold, and the situation is very favorable to our army. ”

Liu Xiu listened to Xun You and went back to the topic, then he became serious, he weighed it carefully, and discussed it with Xun You, Fu Xie and others, and they all felt that it was necessary to pursue it at this moment, if they could defeat the Heavenly Wolf in one battle, it would have a great impact on the situation in Liangzhou.

After the discussion was decided, Liu Xiu immediately set off, he took the 3,000 personal guard battalion as the vanguard, and Jiang Xu and Fu Xie led the 5,000-foot cavalry composed of the Hanyang County soldiers and various tribes.

The three thousand elites immediately broke away from the brigade and pursued westward under the leadership of Pound.

Luomenju, located on the south bank of Weishui, is the border between Ji County and Pidao County, east of Ji County, west of Zhangxian County, Xiangwu, south of Lintao, north of Longxi, extending in all directions, is a traffic artery, and because of this, this river beach surrounded by mountains has become a gathering.

After the wolf ran to Luomenju, he got the news that the Han army was chasing, and he was shocked and angry, and he was shocked that it was Liu Xiu, who killed Nie Xiao's 10,000 army, and was angry that Liu Xiu deceived people too much, and dared to chase him with 20,000 people with only 3,000 people, and still put his wolf in his eyes? If this reaches the ears of other species, then how will he be mixed up with the wolf in the future.

Although the Heavenly Wolf was very reluctant to fight this battle with Liu Xiu, he had to fight again. He ordered to stop advancing, gather at Luomen and defend the danger, and wanted to fight Liu Xiu.

Unexpectedly, the 20,000-strong Sky Wolf has put himself in a defensive position rather than an active offensive position. His move was met with the dissatisfaction of his subordinates, either overtly or covertly, and they all felt that he was too weak, and he should take the initiative to attack at this time, how could there be 20,000 people who were afraid of 3,000 people.

However, the wolf was frightened by the bad omen in the morning, he was afraid that he would be beheaded by the Han army like Nie Xiao, and would rather put on this kind of unproductive defensive formation to confront Liu Xiu than take the initiative to attack. Not only that, but he also sent people to ask for support from the Wolf Qiang in Longxi, asking them to send troops to respond, and at the same time sent people to report urgently to the border chapter and kingdom of Jincheng, Liu Xiu has rushed to Liangzhou, please immediately lead the army to the decisive battle.

The Heavenly Wolf did not attack but defended, which caught Liu Xiu, who was about to use cavalry to raid the Heavenly Wolf, a little unprepared. Luomenju is located at the turn of the river valley, the terrain is narrow, easy to defend and difficult to attack, not to mention that the wolf has 20,000 people, and he only has 3,000 cavalry, which is fast to catch, but it is taboo to use cavalry to compete with the Qiang people in the mountains. No matter how eager Liu Xiu is to win, he can't do such a stupid thing.

Liu Xiu took people to the front of the battle to watch the battle, it was okay not to look at it, but it was even more crying and laughing when he saw it. On the slopes on both sides of the hill and in the middle of the river valley, the wolf has set up a defensive formation, and it seems that it is a desperate defense, and he resolutely gives up the attack.

"People are afraid of being famous, pigs are afraid of being strong, this name is too loud, and it's not all a good thing."

Xun You shook his head and smiled, "General, do you think it's good for the Heavenly Wolf to take the initiative to fight a decisive battle with our army?" ”

Liu Xiu shrugged, very helpless. Of course, his purpose is not to fight a decisive battle with the Heavenly Wolf, he just wants to fight a pursuit battle, but now not only can the pursuit battle not be successful, but even the attack has become a luxury, if he doesn't want to fight a tough battle, then he can only retreat.

And he obviously doesn't have the strength to fight tough battles, no matter how strong the combat effectiveness of the tiger warriors is, it is only more than 500 people, and in front of the more than 20,000 Qiang people who are prepared, they can't play much role.

"In any case, 3,000 people forced 20,000 people to defend, which is enough to show the strength of our army, and when we face the Qiang people in the future, we will have enough confidence." Xun You saw that Liu Xiu was frustrated, and Wen Yan explained: "The general can force the wolf to defend according to the danger, which is already a victory in itself, so why force yourself too much." ”

Liu Xiu smiled, it seems that it can only be like this. He immediately ordered the army to camp in Gangu, and prepared to wait for Fu Xie and the others to arrive before deliberating.

Night fell quickly, there was no moon in the night sky, only a star, and the Weishui next to the camp was loud, quiet and peaceful. Liu Xiu and Xun You sat by the river, lit a bonfire, and gossiped while keeping warm. The guards set up a small kettle on the bonfire, boiled the water, and a few of the guards found a place where the water flowed slower, caught a few fish, and boiled the fish soup.

Weishui is the birthplace of Shennong's clan, Xuanyuan's clan, that is, the Yellow Emperor originated from Jishui, Jishui is a tributary of Weishui, both sides can be said to be the race that originated in Weishui, they conquered each other, after the battle of Banquan, and finally merged into a clan, and defeated the Chiyou at that time in Zhuolu, and established the foundation of the Chinese nation. These legends are recorded differently in different ancient books, and it is difficult to say which one is absolutely correct, and because of this, it is a good topic to relieve boredom now.

The two talked and talked about Sirius, Liu Xiu was very ignorant of astronomy, but he remembered a poem about Sirius, that is, Su Dongpo's "Jiangchengzi? Hunting in Michigan:

The old man chatted about juvenile madness. The left leads the yellow, and the right is the sky. Brocade hat mink fur, thousand horses roll Pingoka. In order to repay the city, follow the Taishou, shoot the tiger in person, and watch Sun Lang.

The wine is still open. Sideburns are slightly frosty, so what's the matter. In the clouds, he said to send Feng Tang. Will hold the bow like a full moon, look northwest, and shoot the wolf.

There are two most famous sentences in this poem, one is the first sentence "the old man talks about the madness of youth", and the other is the last sentence "Look northwest, shoot the wolf". In fact, Su Shi was not yet forty years old at that time, and he could not be called an old man, but the arrogance of this poem made people yearn for it. In his previous life, in order to take revenge, Liu Xiu painstakingly designed, and the depression of his mood can be imagined, whenever he was about to collapse, he would recite Su Shi's poems and use Su Shi's kind of open-mindedness to explain himself.

At this moment, he is far from worrying about Zhang Jiao's troubles in the Qingxu area, and he is close to solving the Qiang chaos in Liangzhou, but he has no soldiers in his hands, no money, it looks like the scenery is infinite, the young man is rich and rich, in fact, he is controlled everywhere, and the depression in his heart can be imagined. Naturally, the song was chanted again.

Xun You listened quietly, drank the fish soup, and tasted it for a while, "General, good song, although it is slang, it is quite imposing." However, in the year of the general's weak crown, calling himself an old man is a little twilight. The last few words are good, I will hold the bow like a full moon, look northwest, and shoot the wolf, but it is not in harmony with the situation in front of us. ”

Liu Xiu smiled bitterly and put down the wooden bowl in his hand: "It's a pity, I can only sing in my mouth, the wolf is hiding there, I can't shoot him." ”

Xun You smiled slightly: "General, open arrows are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are difficult to prevent." ”

Liu Xiu was stunned, raised his head and looked at Xun You, Xun You smiled, raised the wooden bowl and signaled to Liu Xiu: "General, the assassin can't do it at this time, how long will he stay?" ”

Liu Xiu's eyes lit up and suddenly brightened. Yes, the disparity in strength is unfavorable, but the Assassins can prevail. His subordinates are masters of martial arts like Wang Zhi and Xu Yu, and he himself is also an expert in assassination. If you can succeed in one blow, except for the Heavenly Wolf, the 20,000 Qiang people will collapse without a fight, and they will achieve a legendary record.

As he once said to Fu Xie, using assassins against nomads has always been a low-cost, high-return transaction, for the simple reason that the more primitive the tribe, the more it relies on individual charisma, and only mature political groups will pay more attention to collective intelligence. Gongsun Shu used assassins to kill Cen Peng and Lai She, which could only temporarily block the offensive of the Han army, that was because the overall strength of the Han army was strong, and it was not all tied to one person, but if the Han army wanted to assassinate the leader of the Qiang people, the Qiang tribe would immediately fall apart.

Just as as Tanshi Huai died, the once powerful Xianbei people were sucked out of their backbones.

Liu Xiu picked up a branch and stirred the fire, secretly speculating about the possible success of the operation. After a while, he raised his head: "The wolf is afraid of me like a tiger, but I am afraid that the guards will be very tight, and it will be difficult to approach him if you want to use ordinary assassination methods." ”

"What the general said is very true, so I think I can use both light and dark." Xun You picked up the wooden spoon, filled another bowl of fish soup, sipped slowly, and said unhurriedly: "Send someone to see the wolf, you should be able to get close to him and find an opportunity to assassinate him, this is also obvious." The entourage hides the master, enters the camp with the messenger, waits for the opportunity to lurk in the camp, if the messenger fails, then secretly assassinates, which is also secret. ”

Liu Xiu blinked, glanced at Xun You with a smile, Xun You with a smile on his face suddenly felt that something was wrong, thought for a while, suddenly raised his head, stared at Liu Xiu deadly, his hand shook, half a bowl of fish soup splashed on the bonfire, the bonfire crackled, and he said: "General, you must not go." ”

"Why not?" Liu Xiu grinned: "In this big camp, apart from Wang Zhi, who else is more suitable for assassination than me?" ”

Xun You was about to cry, threw the wooden bowl, and grabbed Liu Xiu's sleeve tightly: "General, you have a heavy responsibility, how can you do this assassin's thing." The wolf is trembling at the moment, and the precautions must be very strict, even if the assassination is successful, the general is afraid that he will be able to avoid death. Even if he kills the wolf, can he be worthy of a cold hair of the general? ”

Liu Xiu smiled, slowly pushed Xun You's hand away, pressed him back to sit down, picked up the wooden bowl on the ground, filled Xun You with a bowl of fish soup, stuffed it into his hand, and said softly: "Thank you Gongda for your love." I have my own sense of proportion, and I won't mess around. Wang Zhi is armed with a heart-urging spell, and I also have my own methods, and it is not difficult to subdue a celestial wolf. If there is any danger, if we give up and return in vain, what danger can there be? Besides, the mountains here are high and dense, in case something happens, Wang Zhi and I enter the dense forest, can these Qiang people find us? ”

Xun You persuaded hard, but Liu Xiu refused to give in, all he could promise Xun You was not to act rashly, and if there was no chance to start, he would give up the action and withdraw safely. Anyway, it will take a day or two to wait for the people and horses behind, and it is idle to be idle, so it is better to go to the camp of the Sky Wolf and have a look, maybe you can succeed in one blow.

Xun You regretted it so much that he couldn't wait to slap himself twice. It doesn't matter to him how many assassins die, but if Liu Xiu has any accidents, he won't be able to atone for his sins even if he jumps into Weishui at that time. Liu Xiu is the person that the Xun family likes, if he dies in the camp of the Heavenly Wolf, how will he go to see Xun Yu in the future?

"General, do you think about it again?"

"Don't think about it, I've already made a decision." Liu Xiu smiled slightly and called Wang Zhi. Wang Zhizheng regretted that he had exposed his whereabouts and caused the failure of the last operation, and when he heard that Liu Xiu asked him to assassinate, he agreed without saying a word, but as soon as he heard that Liu Xiu was going to go in person, he was also dumbfounded, and after staying for a while, he shook his head again and again like Xun You, and bitterly advised Liu Xiu not to risk his life.

Liu Xiu shook his head and gently but resolutely rejected Wang Zhi. "Wang Daochang, Gongda, I know that you have good intentions, but the situation in Liangzhou is urgent, and I have to take some risks. Besides, I have my own sense of proportion, and I will not be reluctant to do so. With my skills, as long as I am within ten steps of the Heavenly Wolf, who can stop me? ”

Xun You still disagreed, and persuaded him bitterly.

"What's more, I went to see the Sky Wolf, in addition to assassination, there is also a purpose." Liu Xiu was silent for a moment: "I have always suspected that the Qiang rebellion is related to Zhang Jiao, but there is no evidence. When I see the wolf, I want to ask him personally, if the news is true, I will also go to the court, please Your Majesty immediately arrest Zhang Jiao, so as not to cause a catastrophe. ”

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Xun You could only sigh: "The general must be careful and return safely." ”

"Don't worry, didn't you say that my rebellion against Qiang this time is Huo Kejin, and it will be successful, since the will of heaven is like this, what can a mere wolf do to me?" Liu Xiu smiled slightly, said no more, and immediately began to change his clothes and make a simple appearance. Wang Zhi acted alone as a dark arrow, Pang De knew Qiang language, and went with Liu Xiu as a translator, and none of the others were brought.

After a short time, Liu Xiu and Pang De rode two horses, left the camp, and went straight to the position of the Sky Wolf. Passing through the valley about two miles away, Liu Xiu and Pang De came to the front of the Luomen Gathering, Liu Xiu held the messenger's flag and waited in place, and Pang De stepped forward to shout.

Fall the door to gather, the place is as its name, two cliffs like the door frame stand in the air, there is only less than 20 steps in the middle, the cliff in the north extends to the Weishui, like a sharp knife, cut into the Weishui. The cliffs on both sides were crowded with Qiang people armed with bows and arrows, holding torches, and looking curiously at the two Han people under the cliff.

Hearing that it was a messenger, the commander in charge of guarding it did not dare to slack off, and immediately sent someone to report to the wolf. The wolf was drinking in the big village behind, and when he heard the report, he was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses: "Messenger? What does a messenger do? ”

The commander was speechless, what did you say the messenger was for? He had no choice but to explain: "I guess I'm here to negotiate with the marshal, right?" ”

"Negotiations? What kind of judgment to talk about? The wolf put down the wine bowl, scratched his head, and thought for a moment: "How many people?" Weapons available? ”

"It's just two people, I didn't search my body, I don't know if there are any short knives, but they don't have weapons like ring knives and crossbows."

"Oh." The Sky Wolf breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand: "Search their bodies, they are not allowed to bring a weapon, even a knife to cut meat." ”

The commander answered, and turned to go. The wolf thought about it, and then sent out the tent to send fifty guards, surrounded the big tent, and put on a small armor bought with a lot of money, and put on a leather armor outside, and put a knife on his left and a mace on his right hand, so that the messenger entered the tent.

After Liu Xiu and Pang De were thoroughly searched, they were brought to the Sky Wolf, and when they saw the Sky Wolf's posture, Liu Xiu couldn't help but laugh. When the wolf saw him laughing, his face immediately turned red, and he could only cover his shame with anger, and shouted loudly: "That man, if you have something to say, laugh at a bird?" Aren't you afraid that Lao Tzu will cut off your skull and send you to Tangshu Mountain to be a birdman? ”

Liu Xiu couldn't understand the Qiang language, so he glanced at Pang De, who translated the words of the heavenly wolf. Liu Xiu listened and smiled slightly: "Dare to teach the marshal to learn that if my Han people die, it will be the soul of the blue sky and return to Mount Tai, you send me to Tangshu Mountain, I am afraid that the language is not understood." ”

Seeing Liu Xiu speak, the sky wolf was smiling and his tone was gentle, but he didn't pay much attention to it, but after Pang De finished translating, he couldn't help laughing, and pointed at Liu Xiu with a greasy finger and smiled: "That man, he is handsome and speaks interestingly." Unlike those Han officials, one is more fierce than the other, and the other is more greedy than the other, just like wild dogs that can't be fed, which is annoying. ”

Liu Xiu bowed his body and bowed: "Dashuai, of course we Han people also have cunning people, just as there are bad people among the Qiang people." This is not surprising, it's just that the commander should be vigilant and don't be deceived. ”

"Liar? No one lied to Lao Tzu, and Lao Tzu cut off his skull. Seeing that one of the two Han envoys was still an underage teenager, and the other was just an adult, they both looked very good, and they were liked at first glance, unlike those old and cunning people, and they didn't have weapons on them, so their vigilance was relaxed. He waved his hand, and the Qiang girl next to him poured him wine, he poured it violently, then wiped his beard, and asked loudly: "You came to see Lao Tzu, what is the matter, if you have something to say, hurry up and say, Lao Tzu is tired, you have to sleep." ”

"The handsome man is frank and admired." Liu Xiu remained silent, and calmly arched his hand: "Dare to ask the big handsome, do you know the great sage and good teacher Zhang Jiao?" ”

The wolf was stunned for a moment, and stopped the wine bowl in his hand: "You also know the great sage and good teacher?" ”

Liu Xiu smiled slightly: "Zhang Jiao founded the Taiping Dao, bewitched the people, was exposed, and was just driven out of the court by the Son of Heaven, everyone in the world knows about it, how can I not know." Liu Xiu said as he looked at the look on the wolf's face. He saw the consternation and confusion in the eyes of the wolf, and was even more sure that their rebellion was related to Zhang Jiao, so he continued: "Zhang Jiao is best at deceiving people, he originally wanted to be an official, deceived the Son of Heaven, entered the court, and became a taishou, but unfortunately the deception was exposed later, so he left in embarrassment. Now he is a rat crossing the street in my Han territory, everyone shouts and beats, and few people are willing to believe him anymore. But I think Dashuai is in the western Xinjiang, and he may not be able to know his true face, so I have the courage to remind Dashuai not to be deceived by him. ”

The Sky Wolf's eyes rolled: "No, I saw with my own eyes that one of his disciples could spell." As soon as he recited the mantra, we would have a headache and panic. Speaking of this, the wolf subconsciously covered his chest and frowned, as if he remembered the pain of the man's spell casting.

(To be continued)