Ma Chao watched it for a while, Zhang Ji rushed over, he knew that Ma Chao was still very unwilling, so he persuaded: "Young General, forget it!" The rain is pouring down, and our army must quickly enter the city to take shelter from the rain, otherwise the weapons will easily rust, and the sergeants and horses will also be prone to illness. ”

Hearing this, Ma Chao let out a long sigh. It's not that he doesn't know that no matter how sorry it is, it's useless at this time; But Ma Chao couldn't swallow this breath.

However, Ma Chao still cherished his soldiers, and after hearing this, he was not in the mood to give an order, so he rode Xiaobai alone and galloped slowly towards Ayang City. Sergeant Ma Chaojun, who was originally excited by the victory, was puzzled when he saw Ma Chao like this.

Ma Chao returned to the city, returned to the temporary government office, handed the reins to the sergeant, and entered the house alone, ready to bathe, wash away the blood and rain on his body. Even if a group of young and beautiful maids untied Ma Chao's armor and clothes, Ma Chao didn't realize that his heart was still on Fang Cai's fierce battle, and he was always holding his breath.

After the red-faced maids bathed Ma Chao, Ma Chao put on light clothes and came to the court, at this time the heavy rain just stopped, and the flowers and trees in the atrium were even more green after being watered by the rain. made Ma Chao hateful.

The more Ma Chaoyue looked at those flowers and trees, the more unhappy he felt, so he drew his sword out of the sheath and practiced "tricks". The long sword flew and slashed into flowers and trees. Ma Chao was extremely angry, he looked at the flowers and trees for too long, and he actually had an illusion and saw every flower and tree as Han Sui's face. Ma Chao gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength, and the flowers and trees in the court were suddenly flattened. Ma Chao cut down this tree, and Han Sui's illusion disappeared; But at the same time, the illusion appeared on another tree, and Ma Chao chased and cut down, and the illusion never disappeared.

Ma Teng gathered the prisoners and surrendered his troops and rushed into Ayang City together. This time, he pursued the horses and captured more than 2,000 captives scattered on the battlefield before the heavy rain fell, and more than 3,000 surrendered. Ma Teng also ordered people to count and clean up the corpses on the battlefield, this war horse Chaojun killed 13,000 horsemen, Han Suijun killed 22,000 horsemen. The Battle of Ayang was still a big victory, but it was also the most heavily damaged battle since Ma Chao's campaign.

Ma Teng happily went to find Ma Chao and came to Zhang Ji, who was withdrawing his troops into the city, but learned that Ma Chao was very unhappy and had already entered the city. After Ma Teng entered the mansion, he heard a sword sound coming from the back of the mansion, and he knew that Ma Chao was practicing swords. When I came to the atrium, Ma Chao was swinging his sword and dancing, cutting down the flowers and trees in the atrium all over the ground. Ma Teng shook his head gently.

Ma Chao saw Ma Teng coming, so he threw aside the long sword that had already been curled, and gasped for a big stone to sit down. Ma Teng walked up to Ma Chao and said lightly, "What's wrong?" Are you still worried about Han Sui escaping in the rain? ”

As soon as Ma Chao heard this, he became furious, and said: "Zhang Xiu is still in Han Sui's formation, and the child, Duan Xuan, and Zhang Ji are also closely pursuing behind him. Seeing that Han Suizhi's main force is about to be surrounded, so that he will die without a place to be buried, who knows that this thief is God, so he will not die at this time It will rain? ! If it hadn't rained, the child would have taken off Han Sui's old horseman's head at this moment, where would he still sulk here?! ”

Ma Teng quietly listened to Ma Chao's complaints, and did not interject, so he asked Ma Chao to say it all over. After listening to it, he said, "Eh, you are not allowed to be rude to God!" ”

Ma Chao snorted heavily, don't look over. Ma Teng also sat on the boulder and said patiently: "Thunder, rain and dew are all heaven's grace." When the heavens are raining heavily at this time, they may have their own intentions, so why hold a grudge? ”

Ma Chao turned his head and said angrily: "Han Sui is the number one scourge in the world, if you keep him for one day, the people of Xiliang will suffer from him for one more day." Besides, he also took tens of thousands of iron horsemen with him, so how could the child be willing?! ”

Ma Teng patted Ma Chao's trembling shoulder with anger and said, "For my father I understand, for my father I understand." But after all, we won this battle! Han Sui's old thief devised to lure us into attacking his strong left flank, and almost wiped us out. Fortunately, Chao'er, you reacted in time, and sent Zhang Xiu to preempt Tugang, and turned defeat into victory. Now that the whole army is boasting in private about your prowess in a hundred battles, what do you have to resent? ”

Ma Chao sighed heavily and said, "If you win, you won, our soldiers still have a lot of losses, and they also let Han Sui's old horseman run away, and the child really can't swallow this breath." The child could have ...... Alas! Ma Chao let out another long sigh.

Ma Teng stopped talking, and the father and son sat on the big stone and did not communicate quietly. Ma Chao thought to himself, maybe Ma Teng is also a pity for this battle.

But after a long time, Ma Teng said inexplicably: "Is Chao'er good at swords?" ”

Ma Chao was stunned for a moment and said: "The child created his own 'technique', and it is difficult for his subordinates to be able to pass ten moves, and they should be considered good at swords." ”

Ma Teng didn't look at Ma Chao, looked at the sky that was gradually fading, and said, "That Chao'er swordsmanship is unbeatable, he must be diligent in practicing swords?" ”

Ma Chao was stunned again, wondering why Ma Teng suddenly asked him this. Ma Chao himself would get up early every morning to practice swords for half an hour, and then go to breakfast to discuss military affairs with the generals. Ma Chao said: "Yes, children practice swords every day, and sometimes they suddenly come up with some new tricks, and the more they practice, the more proficient they become." ”

Only then did Ma Teng turn his head and say, "If you practice your sword so hard, you must have thick calluses on your hands, right?" ”

Ma Chao was even more stunned, and he couldn't guess Ma Teng's mind in his heart, and said, "Yes." ”

"Come, show the Father." As he spoke, Ma Teng pulled Ma Chao's clenched fist, Ma Chao opened his palm, and Ma Teng saw that Ma Chao's palm was already covered with layers of thick calluses. He poked it with his finger, and the calluses were so hard that they didn't bounce at all.

Ma Chao was poked hard by Ma Teng, and he didn't feel it at all, because the calluses had tightly blocked the flesh of his two palms, forming a natural protective layer.

Ma Teng said: "If a child has calluses on his hands, will his hands be worn out when he practices swords?" ”

Ma Chao said: "Of course not, with this layer of calluses in the way, the child has nothing to do." On the contrary, the calluses have become thicker due to the number of sword training. ”

Ma Teng nodded and said, "That's right." You see, this is the truth: the first time you practice the sword, you will definitely wear out the skin of your hands and grind out calluses, which are inevitable as they grow thicker and thicker; However, this callus also plays a protective role, making people more able to practice swords. ”

After Ma Chao listened, he was thoughtful. Ma Teng continued: "This is the same as today's battle. Han Sui ran away, but he also let Chao'er eat a trench and grow wise; When you fight again next time, you will be a little more careful and a little more capable; As time goes by, you will encounter many failures in the future, and although it will cause you some trouble, each failure will bring you some immeasurable benefits. Every time you fail, it's like a callus on your hand", Ma Teng tapped Ma Chao's palm with his finger, and said: "It will help you master the way of using the sword more proficiently, and protect your flesh and skin that is really worth protecting." ”