knife

Chapter 730 A Farewell Gift

Cui Shu looked at Li Dachui and whispered, "Protector, they're trying to escape. Should we go out of the city to pursue them?"

Li Dachui, holding his knife, smiled at the other man and said, "Commendable courage!"

Cui Shu blushed. "The Cui family is willing to sacrifice everything for the Protector. As long as we can hold them off and wait for General Gu's reinforcements, any further sacrifices we make will be worthwhile!"

Li Dachui shook his head, "There's no need!"

Hearing Li Dachui say this, Cui Shu breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that if Li Dachui nodded and said "okay," he would be put on the hot seat.

“Patriarch Cui, you don’t need to overthink this!” Li Dachui glanced at him and said, “Joining us means becoming our partner. In order to maintain stability and peace, our Beiting Protectorate has many systems or rules, and even some unspoken rules that cannot be discussed openly. But you must remember one thing: we will never let our partners die in vain!”

Cui Shu bowed, his face flushing red and then pale, and said awkwardly, "I understand!"

Li Dachui looked back at the wrecked Cui family old house and said, "You should take good care of the aftermath. You also suffered heavy losses in this battle. How to win back the hearts of the people and make them feel that all the sacrifices were worthwhile should be your focus going forward."

"Yes!"

"The Beiting Protectorate will send someone to talk to you about the follow-up matters! Also, you should hurry up and go to Boling County. With Li Guohua's escape, it would be best if the situation in Boling County could be resolved peacefully."

"Is the Protector-General leaving?"

"I'm going to see Li Guohua off!" Li Dachui laughed, tucked his knife under his arm, and leaped down from the city wall. While still in the air, he suddenly took a step forward and soared forward through the air, leaving Cui Shu dumbfounded.

Cui Tu and Cui Peng walked somewhat unsteadily to Cui Shu's side.

This battle was truly far too dangerous.

The fighting strength of Li Guohua's troops far exceeded their expectations. If Li Dachui had not predicted the enemy's actions in advance, their earlier arrangements would have resulted in losses many times greater than what they have now.

Although the losses are significant, they are still within an acceptable range.

"Second Brother, is it really over just like that?" Cui Tu asked.

Cui Shu nodded: "Yes, it's over just like that! From now on, war will be further and further away from our Cui family."

After a long silence, Cui Peng said, "Without military protection, can the Cui family still function as before?"

“Because force is no longer reliable!” Cui Shu sighed. “Perhaps our Cui family should change its way of life! In fact, our Cui family’s greatest strength has never been force, has it?”

"What did Protector-General Li say?"

"He only cares about the general outline and won't concern himself with the specifics. I think it won't be long before someone comes to talk to us about the next steps. Even though the Cui family is now divided, it can still be considered a behemoth."

Who could be coming?

"Given the Cui family's influence, I guess the one who will arrive is Mao Daxian, the top civil official of the Beiting Protectorate!"

The sky was filled with the cries of eagles. Li Guohua looked up at the sky and saw a black dot circling back and forth. That must be the divine eagle that Li Dachui had trained.

"Too high, we can't hit them!" Yang Rong shook his head. "With this thing hanging over our heads, we can't shake them off."

"You go first!" Li Guohua said. "I'll hold them off!"

"General, Li Dachui isn't alone this time. Why don't we just fight them? Our forces here aren't necessarily inferior to theirs!" Yang Rong said fiercely.

Li Guohua shook his head: "We've been fighting for so long, and our fighting spirit, killing intent, and morale are all at their lowest point. If we fight a decisive battle with the enemy at this time, we will definitely lose. Besides, why fight a battle that is completely unprofitable? Just to vent our anger? If it were just to vent our anger, we wouldn't have withdrawn from the Cui family's old residence!"

"Then be careful!" Yang Rong said. "Don't worry!" Li Guohua reined in his horse.

Before long, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves could be heard, and countless torches stretched across the night sky like a long dragon.

As Li Guohua raised his hand, a large tree not far from him swayed, as if cleaved in two by an invisible blade at its roots. Then, with a whooshing sound, the branches were sheared off, and the trunk, as thick as a bowl, was cut into strips several feet long with a hissing sound. These strips, along with the branches and leaves, were piled together to form a pile of firewood taller than a person.

With a single spark, the pile of firewood burst into flames with a roar, the bright firelight illuminating Li Guohua standing to one side.

The long, serpentine dragon of fire that was advancing rapidly in the distance suddenly stopped. A moment later, several riders quickly approached, the one leading them being none other than Li Dachui.

"Governor Li, why pursue me so relentlessly?" Li Guohua raised his voice, "Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"

Li Dachui chuckled: "General Li is my biggest worry. His current defeat is a golden opportunity. I want to follow him and see if I can find a good chance. If I can take care of General Li, things will be much easier for me in the future!"

"Who knows, I might find an opportunity to turn against you. To be honest, I also want to take you down in one fell swoop, Protector Li, and eliminate any future troubles!"

"In that case, why don't we test who's better here?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking, Protector Li, please!" Li Guohua chuckled.

"General Li is an elder, please go first!"

The two shouted at each other loudly, but neither of them made the first move.

Not far behind Li Dachui, Ding Ergou stared blankly ahead, and after a long while, he whispered to Gu Xiaoman, "General Gu, what's going on? The Protector-General is just spouting tough talk but not taking any action? If we don't rush up and do something, the enemy will run far away!"

"They won't fight!" Gu Xiaoman shook her head.

"why?"

"The unit led by Li Guohua is very powerful!"

"We're just as good!" Ding Ergou said proudly. "Besides, they're exhausted right now. If they really want to be powerful, isn't this the best opportunity? Are we going to save them for later to cause trouble for us? We must strike hard when a dog is down, and we can't be soft-hearted. That's what our teacher said back in martial arts school."

“The problem is that they have two innate masters protecting them now!” Gu Xiaoman said, “If a real fight breaks out, we might win, but how many of our five thousand brothers will be left? Young Master would never do something like that!”

"What are they rushing here for?"

"Because we have to keep an eye on this army as it rolls away!" Gu Xiaoman explained patiently, "Otherwise, they might turn around and cause trouble for others, such as the Lu family's army from Fanyang, which is heading towards Boling County. Do you believe that the Lu family's army would collapse at the first touch under their attack?"

"That's true!"

"So it's more worthwhile for us to keep watching them get out of here and let us easily take over Boling County!" Gu Xiaoman laughed. "As for when we can eliminate them, we'll find an opportunity later! We're fighting for the world, not for thugs fighting for territory with ruthlessness. When it's time to act, we have to act even if it means great sacrifices, but when it's time to be patient, we should remain unmoved even if others spit in our faces!"

Ding Ergou chuckled: "I can handle the first one, but if you actually get spittle flying in my face, I think I'll take action!"

"You'll be able to endure it when you have the lives of tens of thousands of people on your shoulders!"

Ding Ergou thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Maybe!"

Gu Xiaoman looked at the young general who had just turned twenty, her eyes full of admiration.

They are not yet old, but a new generation of generals is growing rapidly, and this is the source of Beiting's confidence.

(End of this chapter)