knife

Chapter 296 Expectation
Luoyang has fallen!

Although only Yingtian Gate was breached, for Luoyang, Yingtian Gate was more than just a matter of face.

When Kou Zhong's head was hung on the magnificent gate tower of Yingtian Gate by a masked warrior, the city guards, who had been holding the upper hand, immediately collapsed.

In fact, the first to collapse were the generals who commanded the battle.

Ordinary soldiers may have heard of Kou Zhong's name, but they naturally don't know what Kou Zhong looks like.

But the generals knew it!
Kou Zhong was their backbone, their courage, and the source of their confidence in defending Luoyang.

But this very thing they relied on has now cost them their heads.

The mastermind of the Black Ice Platform, a renowned innate martial artist for decades, died just like that?
Is this just a dream?

But that head was still hanging on the gate tower, dripping blood!
Ruined!
What's the point of working so hard now? We need to think about what to do next.

If you want to have a backup plan, you naturally need to have strength in hand to have the bargaining power.

Having fought to the death with Feng Congwen at the Five Phoenix Tower of Yingtian Gate, their strength was greatly diminished, and they would have insufficient resources to spare.

Moreover, even a great master like Kou Zhong is dead. What if the innate master who killed Kou Zhong takes a dislike to him and decides to strike him down?

I doubt I'll even have a chance to fight back.
So the generals ran away.

They didn't run away alone; they took their men with them.

Feng Congwen looked up at the bloody head and sighed. This was a powerful minister who had been second only to the emperor in the Qin Dynasty and held power for decades!
But once you're dead, that's it.

Yang Jian, the Duke of Yang, was truly remarkable!

Feng Congwen sighed inwardly.

But the arrival of a hurried officer shattered his sentiments and even threw him into a panic.

"General, Lord Yang is dead!"

"How could Yang Gong be dead?" Feng Congwen pointed a trembling finger at the head on the gate tower: "Wasn't Kou Zhong dead?"

"They probably died together!" the officer whispered. "We found Yang Gong's body in the East Palace Hall. He was sitting cross-legged, and Kou Zhong's body lay opposite him, but it was headless!"

At this point, the officer glanced up at the head hanging on the city gate tower.

"Who cut off Kou Zhong's head?"

"Perhaps he's one of Yang Gong's subordinates!" the officer whispered. "Judging by that man's skills, he's at least a ninth-rank Xuan Yuan!"

Feng Congwen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, thinking to himself, "How am I going to explain this to the Hong and Yang families?"

Even though the Yang family is a great family with a thousand-year history, they probably don't have many more innate masters.
Now that Yang Jian has been defeated here, will they hold a grudge against me?
“Handle them properly and send them back to the Yang family of Hongnong!” Feng Congwen said.

Where is Kou Zhong?

"Then naturally we'll hang it here properly for a few days!" Feng Congwen said through gritted teeth, his voice filled with resentment.

The Battle of Hedong was orchestrated by Kou Zhong. Over a thousand members of the Feng family, including the main branch, secondary branches, and distant relatives, were killed, leaving only a handful of survivors.

Karma will come quickly!
Kou family of Gucheng, your pillar is dead. Next, it's your turn.

You will not be spared anything that our Feng family has suffered.

"Announce to the whole city that Kou Zhong is dead. Those who surrender will be rewarded, and those who resist will be executed along with their entire clan!" Feng Congwen said sternly.

Xingyang, a battlefield.

Night was slowly falling, and the two sides in the fierce battle were gradually disengaging.

The attackers weren't going all out, and the defenders didn't seem willing to go all out either. Both sides were holding back, mainly testing who had the greater resilience.

But now it seems difficult to determine a winner in the short term.

Needless to say, He Zudao's personal guard was composed mainly of the elite troops of the Southern Garrison Army, who had been fighting against the Chu army for decades. More importantly, several years ago, they experienced the defeat at Xiangcheng. In such a major defeat, those involved usually had two outcomes.

Either their minds are destroyed, and they lose the will to fight forever, or their minds become more mature and stronger.

He Zudao followed Wu De back to the south last year to select soldiers. It goes without saying what kind of people he selected.

As for the Green Forest Army, firstly, they had not suffered a fatal blow, so Zhang Quanyi did not take them seriously at all; secondly, He Zudao's main force was still intact and seemed to be holding up well, so they were naturally full of fighting spirit.

Zhang Quanyi's troops numbered a full 20,000 well-trained soldiers, whose overall combat strength was naturally stronger than He Zudao's. However, Zhang Quanyi wanted to fight He Zudao with all his might, even if it meant losing troops.
Of course not!

He Zudao is just a troublemaker; his wins and losses are of no concern to those who are truly in charge.

If Zhang Quanyi and He Zudao were to fight to the death, they would be the happiest people.

Zhang Quanyi's 50,000-strong army, plus the 50,000-strong army led by Wei Yi in Luoyang, was the last organized and trustworthy force loyal to the Qin Dynasty.

Even the Guanlong region, where the royal family originated, is now divided.

This army of 100,000 is the seed; Zhang Quanyi would never do something that would result in mutual destruction unless absolutely necessary. They are all waiting.

Waiting for major changes in the external war situation.

He Zudao set a trap to eliminate himself, but he overestimated the fighting power of his own troops and underestimated the imperial army.

Feng Congwen's attack on Luoyang might initially deceive Prime Minister Kou, but as long as He Zudao delays his arrival, Prime Minister Kou, with his keen insight, will immediately guess He Zudao's purpose. He only needs to mobilize the entire Luoyang army to defeat Feng Congwen first, and then send reinforcements. In that case, He Zudao's mission will be destined to fail.

As for whether or not He Zudao could be annihilated, Zhang Quanyi wasn't actually that eager.

Those who are more eager than I am are probably the wealthy and powerful families!
He Zudao's tens of thousands of troops need food and drink, and among them are tens of thousands of extremely undisciplined bandits. As time goes on, they will inevitably be unable to endure it, and burning, killing, and looting will certainly occur one after another. At that time, Luoyang will have something to talk about with those vacillating big families who want to watch the show.

A knife is only useful when you can hold the handle. Once it gets out of control, it will stab randomly no matter who it is. Who can stand that?
He Zudao was naturally waiting as well.

However, he wasn't waiting for the battle situation in Luoyang.

Feng Congwen's purpose in going there was simply to tie down a portion of the garrison in Luoyang.

Whether or not Luoyang could be captured was something He Zudao truly didn't care about.

As long as we can hold back a portion of the army and keep Kou Yin tied up in Luoyang, that will be enough.

He Zudao valued Feng Kuan's troops and relied on the thousands of demonic cult warriors led by Ke Wuji.

This is a formidable fighting force that no one could have predicted.

The evil cult always manages to surprise us in ways we never imagined, just as it did decades ago, and it continues to do so today.

After the Battle of Hedong, although he sensed something was wrong and led his troops across the river to escape Kou Zhong's ambush, he was indeed in deep trouble.

Just like decades ago, no amount of effort or struggle will ultimately be meaningful except to do what those in charge intend.

After harassing Hexi for a while and then going straight to Qingzhou and other places for burning, killing and looting, He Zudao finally understood this principle.

He once thought that such killings were the best revenge against Qin, Kou Zhong, and Wei Zhengdao, but in reality, he had fallen into someone else's trap.

This is exactly what they want.

This discovery angered He Zudao, but he also felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

No matter how hard I struggle, can I escape the fate of becoming a knife?

Just when he was at his most lost and helpless, the Demonic Sect came knocking on his door.

The world is a vicious cycle. You think you've escaped, but after going through it all, you find that you've ended up back where you started.

Thirty years ago, those he had betrayed came knocking on his door again, bringing a glimmer of hope to He Zudao in the darkness. They gave him a real chance to get rid of those who had manipulated him, and even the opportunity to sit at the table and enjoy this delicious feast together.

So what's there to hesitate about?
Of course, we agree to all their conditions. A drowning person, about to die, will never let go of a straw, let alone something as valuable as a large piece of driftwood offered by Shanghai.

As for whether the promised conditions can be fulfilled in the future, let's wait and see!

If we truly return to the South and reunite the army of the eight southern garrisons, then anything will be possible.

At worst, he could side with the Southern Chu. He figured that the eight southern garrisons could definitely earn him a kingship in Chu.
He picked up the wine bowl on the table, drank the wine in one gulp, picked up his heavy sword, and walked out of the tent.

He personally inspected the camp, a habit he had developed over decades.

A seasoned general is unlikely to raid a camp, but Zhang Quanyi, having come from the Black Ice Guard, is used to such clandestine activities and might just do it.

Moreover, there are Green Forest Army soldiers in his own company. If the target of the night raid is them, and it causes these guys to riot, it might actually cause him to capsize in a ditch.

So I made some arrangements myself.

However, during the day, Zhang Quanyi appears to be an extremely composed person.

In battle, he is the kind of person who would rather achieve nothing than make a mistake.

Moreover, since the opponent is himself, he is unlikely to think that he would make such a mistake. If it really looks like a mistake, it is most likely a conspiracy.

He must also be waiting for the final results of the troops he sent out!
We should have a result by tomorrow at the latest.

This is a fair and square contest, where both sides' moves are clearly visible and straightforward.

Of course, whether it's a legitimate and upright act with hidden tricks, that depends on each person's skills.

The troops Zhang Quanyi sent out certainly had some tricks up their sleeves.

As the current crown prince, Li Tai's cultivation level of the eighth rank of Xuan Yuan was already quite good. More importantly, his crown prince guard, although only one hundred people, consisted of at least the sixth rank of Yu Qi, which was what Zhang Quanyi valued.

He Zudao was looking forward to that moment.

I eagerly await the moment when Crown Prince Li Tai and his guards crash headfirst into the demonic cult warriors led by Ke Wuji.

(End of this chapter)