Longzang

Chapter 778 Little Tyrannosaurus

In this battle, 30,000 of the 150,000 Zhao troops fled, 60,000 were killed or wounded, and 60,000 surrendered. Qingming's side suffered 8,000 casualties, making it a complete victory.

Of Zhao Jun's eight Dharma Aspects, two were killed in battle, one was captured, and the rest escaped. Taking advantage of the chaos on the battlefield, Wei Yuan directly and severely killed the two Dharma Aspect generals, and then took their Dharma Aspects, thinking he had done it without anyone noticing.

With the two Dharma Images offered, Wei Yuan's debt to the Three-Eyed Bird Head was partially erased, leaving him with sixty-nine. It seems one Dharma Image can be equivalent to three strands of celestial fortune. It's a pity that the alien Three-Eyed Bird Head doesn't even consider the Dharma Images of the alien race, only accepting those of the human race, for reasons unknown. Otherwise, Wei Yuan's debt would have been cleared long ago, with a surplus to spare.

Hanyang Pass is not far from Qingming, and Wei Yuan was there, so many Zhao soldiers' souls were unable to reincarnate and were intercepted by Wei Yuan, turning into mortals in the human world.

Wei Yuan left 10,000 men to garrison Hanyang Pass and clear the battlefield, while he led the main force straight to the 100,000 Zhao troops in Huangping County. Wei Yuan acted swiftly; the Zhao army had just received news that Qingming's vanguard was already at the city gates.

This Zhao army was quite pragmatic; they immediately sent envoys to the Qingming camp to negotiate surrender with Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan naturally welcomed them, letting the envoys into the central army and treating them with great affability.

This envoy inherited Zhao Nu's tall, spirited figure, yet possessed a touch of gentle charm in her eyes. It was clear she was a proud and arrogant person, but having come to negotiate surrender terms, she had no choice but to lower herself, glaring hatefully at Wei Yuan with murderous intent while speaking the softest of words. The feeling was quite complex.

The negotiation conditions were nothing more than retaining the spoils of war, retaining prisoners of war, retaining the weapons, and retaining the dignity of the commanding general. Except for the last one, the rest could be conceded.

Wei Yuan wasn't in a hurry. He just talked slowly, watching the envoy almost explode in anger several times, biting his lips until they bled, but still having to plead and speak softly. He felt inexplicably happy.

At this point, Wei Yuan finally understood why those demonic cultivators in ancient times liked to come up with all sorts of strange tricks, and why some people were so addicted to their own grotto-heavens. It was mainly because there were all sorts of scripts in their grotto-heavens, which they could act out according to their own wishes.

At this moment, Wei Yuan's thoughts wandered. In the Middle Ages, demonic cultivators were still rampant, but they declined rapidly in the last ten thousand years. Now, there are almost no demonic cultivators in the Great Tang territory. He wondered where they had all gone.

Beyond the Great Tang lies a realm beyond human habitation, where demonic cultivators must find life quite difficult, even those in the Imperial Realm. The Mind World can alter the environment, so without boundary stones, demonic cultivators essentially become their own boundary stones, making their existence incredibly arduous.

Boundary Stones are the supreme treasure of the human race. Ordinary demonic cultivators pay no attention to them, but demonic cultivators who possess Boundary Stones will be hunted down no matter how far away they are.

Wei Yuan sighed inwardly; the demonic cultivators' indulgence in frivolous pursuits served as a stark warning. But looking at this envoy—pure-faced, with a fiery figure and a volatile temper, yet desperately begging for mercy—it was truly remarkable. No wonder so many powerful figures also indulged in frivolous pursuits and ultimately lost their ambition.

The person who could send such an envoy was no ordinary person, so Wei Yuan asked, "Who sent you? Tell me his story clearly and do not hide anything, or you will be severely tortured!"

The envoy's eyebrows shot up, and he roared, "You fool, come on then, and see if I'm afraid..."

She immediately realized her mistake and gritted her teeth, saying, "I'm sorry, I was rude and didn't know my place. Please forgive me, sir. My general's name is Su Ruyu, and he is a member of the Su family of Zhao. I heard that your divine army descended from the heavens, and General Su sent me to try to save the soldiers. If you can lead the army back to Zhao, General Su is willing to serve you like a beast of burden to repay your kindness!"

The girl was swaying her whole body and digging her toes into the ground as she spoke sweet words and praised Wei Yuan. Not only Wei Yuan, but all the generals in the tent were watching intently.

But just as she finished speaking, someone came to report: "There is something strange happening in the Zhao army camp. The weather observers have discovered that the military aura has suddenly dropped. They sent out scouts and found that only some old, weak, sick and disabled people remain in the Zhao army camp. The camp is empty!"

Wei Yuan was taken aback and asked, "Where is the main force of the Zhao army?"

"Judging from the signs outside the camp, they must have already escaped, just over an hour ago!"

Wei Yuan calculated the time and concluded that the Zhao people must have started fleeing as soon as they saw his vanguard. He then feigned a show of force while sending a messenger to buy time. The problem was, the messenger actually managed to delay them!

Although Wei Yuan didn't care about the number of people captured, being tricked by the enemy general still enraged him. So he slammed his fist on the table and roared, "The villain is so cunning!"

Moreover, Wei Yuan was secretly on guard. The envoy sent by General Zhao was so clever, it could be said that he had just targeted his dark little thoughts. How could things be done so cleverly? There must be a purpose behind it! Wei Yuan began to think carefully about who was secretly ruining his reputation.

Upon hearing that Zhao Jun's main force had fled, the female envoy was first stunned, then overjoyed, saying, "Finally, I don't have to play the coward anymore! Kill me or do whatever you want, I'll change my surname to yours if I utter a sound!"

This girl has the most innocent face, but unfortunately, once she opens her mouth, all her charm vanishes.

Wei Yuan had no time to argue with her. He ordered, "Take her away first, and immediately track the Zhao army's movements! Let's go check out the Zhao camp." A moment later, Wei Yuan stood in the center of the Zhao army's camp, looking at the neatly stacked military supplies and a whole cart full of gold, silver, and valuables. He couldn't help but feel troubled.

Cui Yu, standing nearby, said, "The money should all be here. Should we still chase after it? Or should we get down to business first?"

Wei Yuan hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "We must get to the important business, and we must pursue them! Send out the mobile armored vehicle unit, and we'll go after them together. This Zhao general is so cunning; we must get rid of him!"

Cui Yu deeply agreed: "Indeed! You wait, I'll assemble the troops right away, and we can set off in a quarter of an hour. Now, let's send out scouts to track them down; a large army movement will inevitably leave traces."

Wei Yuan nodded, then went to set the main agenda.

During his visit to Huangping County, Wei Yuan only intended to drive away the Zhao soldiers, as long as they didn't interfere with his affairs. Of course, if they were truly obstinate, like Su Hongmei, Wei Yuan wouldn't mind taking them all in one fell swoop.

Wei Yuan returned to the military camp and immediately began distributing orders. Numerous orders were quickly relayed to the rear, where Dao Foundation Warriors distributed them to individual squads.

Each small team, consisting of fifty light cavalry and several trucks, set off immediately with a specific purpose. Hundreds of teams were dispatched to more than seventy counties within Huangping County to transport refugees.

The trucks were fully loaded with dry rations. Each team carried enough food to feed several thousand people for a month. After arriving at their destination, they would go deep into the villages to find refugees and those willing to become refugees, and transport them back to Qingming.

The empty trucks after the food was consumed could then be used to transport women and children, greatly increasing the speed of movement.

Huangping County is still reeling from the recent turmoil of war, with over ten million people remaining. Wei Yuan plans to take at least two million, ideally four million. Hanyang County has only seven million people, and Wei Yuan intends to take two million as well, selecting only the strongest and most capable.

This was the main purpose of Wei Yuan's trip; instead of searching the land thoroughly, it was better to take the people with him. Moreover, each team carried a large poster depicting the wonderful life in Qingming: meat to eat, houses to live in, fields to cultivate, and books to read.

I'm sure the number of displaced people in the two counties will surge after seeing the poster.

After finishing his business, Wei Yuan joined up with the high-mobility armored vehicle unit that had already set off to pursue Su Ruyu.

Half of this unit was on horseback, and the other half consisted of specially made wagons capable of high-speed movement and overcoming difficult terrain. Each wagon was armored with steel plates and equipped with multi-barreled cannons, making them extremely powerful. On flat terrain, they moved at a very fast speed, only slightly slower than pure light cavalry. If they traveled along roads, their speed could rival that of light cavalry.

The full name of this unit is High Mobility Combat Truck, or simply Combat Truck.

Standing amidst the military aura, Wei Yuan used it to fly and said to Cui Yu beside him, "...So this is your kind of thing!"

Cui Yu snorted and said, "A pure and sweet little tyrant, what man wouldn't love that? Don't you like her?"

Wei Yuan sighed, "I can't keep up, I'm too busy!"

Cui Yu glared at Wei Yuan and said, "I'm going home next month to meet the marriage partner my family has arranged. You have to come with me and be there to support me and bolster my prestige."

Wei Yuan was greatly surprised and asked, "Don't you already have a fiancée? Why do you still want a marriage alliance?"

"Not yet married, so it doesn't count! This one is supposedly even better, not only beautiful, but also from a family of equal social standing. Of course, this was decided by our ancestors, and I just didn't object."

Wei Yuan gave Cui Yu a deep look and said, "Brother Cui, I never expected you to be this kind of person!"

At this moment, a scout returned and reported: "The rearguard of Zhao's army has been spotted! However... something is amiss. We request that you personally investigate, General."

Wei Yuan snorted, glanced at Cui Yu, and said, "What could be so strange? Are they all little Tyrannosaurus Rex?"

(End of this chapter)