Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 192 Blood Road

Zhaoyuan City.

The governor of Yiluo stood on the city wall, looking at the people and horses in the distance, gritting his teeth and looking extremely ugly.

The county magistrate stood aside, equally uneasy.

The county soldiers stood on the city wall, their hands holding the bows trembling.

"Yilou Gong, what should we do? He really came here, those people did not lie"

"Oh my God, there are more than a thousand people, how can we not stop him?"

The county magistrate seemed to be frightened out of his wits, staring at his boss with his eyes wide open, muttering to himself, and making all kinds of small movements with his hands.

Yiluo pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Open the gates wide."

"Come down with me to greet General Zhen."

The county magistrate hurriedly grabbed his hand and said, "Mr. Yilou, let's go!"

"I'll go and greet you!!"

The county magistrate immediately came to his senses and ran down quickly.

Soon after, the city gates were opened and Yiluo led the city officials out to welcome them.

"Meet General Liu!!"

Yiluo bowed and asked hurriedly, "I heard that there were bandits from the west sneaking into the area. I didn't dare to attack rashly, so I closed the city gates and strengthened the guard. I didn't know that these idiots made the general wait outside the city. Please forgive me, general!!"

Iluo bowed deeply again.

"Snapped."

Liu Taozi threw a human head in front of Yiluo.

"Do you know this person?"

Iroh pursed his lips and said, "I don't know."

He even had a vibrato.

"You don't know him, but I do."

Looking at Yiluo who was even more frightened, Liu Taozi said: "I smashed the head of that Murong Gong, I am afraid no one can recognize him. These are his deputies. These people are not Western thieves, but internal thieves."

"They are wearing Zhou people's clothes and using Zhou people's weapons. But both their clothes and weapons are extremely messy. They are not from the same army. You must have a lot of captured weapons in Zhaoyuan City, right?"

Yiluo raised his head with a bitter look on his face, "General, I really don't know."

"If you don't know, go check it out."

"Check if anything is missing from the armory. I have quite a few heads here, and I'm offering a huge reward. If you can identify them, please let me know in private. I'll protect them and give them a huge reward!!"

"And you, the governor of Yiluo, have people under your jurisdiction secretly colluding with the Western bandits and trying to murder the general. Can you escape punishment?"

"If you follow my orders, find these thieves, and make amends, I will guarantee your life in front of the Queen Mother and His Majesty. If that doesn't work, you should find a way to escape from the Pseudo-Zhou and seek refuge with your relatives."

Yiluo didn't know what he remembered, and his whole body trembled. In an instant, he suddenly figured out something, his face flushed, and he stood up suddenly, "General! I know who is involved!!"

"Yao Xiong, take some people with you and follow the governor of Yilou, and lead the county soldiers to help kill them."

"only!!"

Yao Xiong stepped forward, "Master Taishou! Let's go!"

Yiluo rode on his horse and galloped away with Yao Xiong and others.

Kou Liu was a little confused, "Brother, what on earth is this..."

Tian Zili explained with a smile: "The person who did this clearly wanted Yilou to be the scapegoat. Almost all of Yilou's clansmen are officials in the Pseudo-Zhou. There is also one who is the General of the Cavalry. He is the only one in the Great Qi. Under his rule, there are Western bandits who attacked the General. I'm afraid someone will report it tomorrow, saying that he colluded with the relatives of the Pseudo-Zhou and that those who attacked the general used his weapons. Hahaha, there's no need to find evidence."

Kou Liu said, "If he knew about it, why didn't he refuse it earlier?"

"I'm afraid that a big shot has given the order and he dares not refuse. But my brother is not without the help of big shots."

"Let's go."

Liu Taozi interrupted their conversation and led them into the city.

The county soldiers who stayed behind looked at them in horror and did not dare to move forward. They rested in the office for a day. The wind and snow had subsided a lot. Although it was still cold, there was no heavy snow that covered the sky.

But Yao Xiong is quite busy.

That night, he teamed up with local officials and broke into the homes of several nobles, all of whom were involved in killing officials and treason.

Shouts and cries of killing were heard everywhere, and flames shot up into the sky in the city.

The next day, rows of human heads were neatly hung on the city wall.

Liu Taozi led his men to leave the county town through another gate.

Yiluo came to see him off.

He rode a big horse and walked beside Liu Taozi. It was obvious that he did not sleep well last night, and his face was full of sleepiness. He lowered his voice and begged repeatedly.

"General, I am weak and powerless, and there are some things I can't do! Please look at my merits and atonement, and say a few good words for me in front of His Majesty. I dare not expect to keep my official title, but as long as I can keep my life, I will never forget your kindness!!!"

"How could a county governor fall to the point of begging for help?"

Liu Taozi asked.

Yiluo shook his head in despair. After the founding of the Great Qi, they kept adding states and counties. There were more and more states and counties. Now, the prefects and governors no longer had the weight they used to have. The fifth and fourth rank officials were nothing in the eyes of the real bigwigs in the temple.
"General, life and death are just a matter of words, how can you be so dignified?"

Liu Taozi continued to move forward, and he suddenly said: "The present is different from the past. His Majesty is determined to govern the world. When he came to the border before, he praised you all highly."

"You are the county governor appointed by His Majesty, so don't pay attention to the others, just do your job well and work hard."

"You have done quite well these days. His Majesty does not value anything else but political achievements. If you can guarantee that you will continue to govern with all your heart in the future, I will preserve your official title."

Yiluo shuddered, "General, I will do my best and will never let your majesty down."

"Well, don't neglect me after I leave."

"Absolutely not!!"

Liu Taozi sped up his horse and led the knights to quickly distance themselves from them. A moment later, he disappeared in the distance.

Looking at Liu Taozi going away, Yilou was stunned for a moment, and suddenly shouted: "General! Be careful of the Jinyang soldiers!!!"

His voice carried far away in the wind.

I don’t know if the other party heard this.

Guangning County, Loufan Pass.

Among the mountains, there is a dangerous checkpoint blocking the road. This checkpoint is built at the mountain pass. It is tall and solid. It looks like a wall connecting two mountains together. It is extremely spectacular.

The snowstorm has stopped.

There is still thick snow on the ground.

Looking at the majestic and outrageous pass in the distance, Yao Xiong and others couldn't help but exclaim in amazement again and again.

This checkpoint is truly huge, and is higher than many city walls on the frontier. I have no idea how it was built in the first place.

The door made a groaning sound as it closed. The door of the checkpoint was very large and it required the efforts of several soldiers to barely open it.

The next moment, knights came out one after another.

The knights were fully armed, and the leader was holding a lance.

Looking at the knights charging towards them, Liu Taozi and others raised their weapons and got ready.

When the two sides met, the leader reined in his horse, and the warhorse neighed.

This man was really tall and strong, his figure was not much inferior to Taozi's. His face was full of ferocity, his hair was loose, and he stared coldly at Liu Taozi in front of him.

"Who are you, the bandit, that dares to knock on the gate?"

The knights behind him had already formed a battle formation. There were hundreds of them. They were all tall and strong, and their manners were the same, with most of them having unfriendly eyes.

"Bold!!"

Yao Xiong stepped forward and shouted angrily: "This is my general! Get off your horse and kowtow to him immediately!!"

The man glanced at him with disdain and then looked at Liu Taozi.

"I don't know what town the general is, and I haven't received any orders. I heard that there are bandits from the west sneaking into the border area. You must be their spies!!"

Liu Taozi slowly drew out his sword, "I am General Liu Taozi, holding the Gaowang Sword, please retreat immediately."

The guy's eyes lit up, "Hahaha, you must have stolen this!!"

"kill!!!"

The man rode his horse wildly towards Liu Taozi, leaving a trail of dust in the distance. The knights behind him also charged at the same time.

Liu Taozi put away his sword, held the lance, and rushed towards the opponent.

The two men came running wildly, their horses waving their hooves wildly, and both seemed to be flying.

Both of their weapons were pointed at each other, and in that instant, their weapons collided with each other.

"Bang!!!"

The horse lance hit one place heavily, and both men trembled. Liu Taozi held the weapon, and his hands trembled for a moment, while the strong man screamed, blood flowed from his knuckles, and the weapon fell out of his hand.

Liu Taozi's horse lance pierced him directly, and he continued to charge with him, but the man was no longer able to move.

Liu Taozi threw his body towards the knights in the distance.

At this moment, even the knights were startled, and at this moment, Liu Taozi rushed into them.

The two sides rushed into battle.

Horse lances and spears were flying, and people kept falling off their horses.

The knights galloped back and forth, and every time they passed each other, one of them fell off his horse and was trampled to death.

More knights rushed out from the checkpoint to come to help.

The blue lion carried its master and ran madly outside the checkpoint. Every time Liu Taozi attacked, he could kill a person. Liu Taozi didn't know how many he had killed.

Someone blew the gong in the level.

The knights began to retreat, Liu Taozi roared, chased after them, and led the knights all the way into the checkpoint gate.

Inside the checkpoint, archers raised their powerful crossbows one after another, and there were ravines on three sides.

Liu Taozi took out the blood-stained edict from his arms and drew out King Gao's sword again.

"I am General Liu Taozi!!"

"I have the official seal!! Following the Queen Mother's order!! Holding the Gao King Sword, I will go to Yecheng!! Are you guys going to rebel??!"

Liu Taozi's roar spread back and forth within the level.

The soldiers looked at Liu Taozi with hesitation, and looked at each other, not daring to take action.

One man stood up and shouted, "Ignore him! Kill him first!"

Liu Taozi roared and rushed forward again. The Green Lion jumped hard in front of the ravine and flew over. In the astonished eyes of the soldiers, Liu Taozi had arrived in front of the man and hit him with a spear. The man who stood up had his head exploded immediately, blood splattered, and his body fell to the ground.

Only then did Liu Taozi look at the people around her.

"Are you going to rebel?!"

The soldiers' faces were filled with fear. They lowered their bows and crossbows and took a few steps back.

Liu Taozi signaled everyone to follow and rushed towards the closed door opposite.

Rushing to the door, Liu Taozi pointed his sword at the soldiers guarding there and asked them to open the door. The soldiers opened the door in panic, and Liu Taozi led them out.

At this moment, there was chaos in the Guanzhai behind him.

Having lost their captain, deputy captain, and a large number of officers, these soldiers lost their command and were at a loss. Even from a distance, they could hear the noise coming from the other side.

Liu Taozi stopped, counted the number of people, asked everyone to treat the wounds, bury the dead, take the wounded and continue forward.

Xianzhou, reach quick garrison.

The garrison commander was not ashamed to sit in the upper seat, as all his minions were standing in front of him, looking extremely flustered.

"Poison! Only poison can kill!"

"I'm afraid they've been on guard for a long time."

"We should close the city gates, fire our bows and crossbows, and don't let him get through!"

"No, they will take a detour, and then we will offend both sides."

"Or just resign and run away!"

"You can't afford to offend that baboon. Loufanguan Wei Shuluoyu was killed by him. His death was so tragic that not even his body was left behind!"

"I heard that the Sheping garrison commander ambushed him on the way and was beheaded by him."

"And the Xianhui Village was set on fire by him. It was burned to ashes. No one was left alive."

"Not to mention the many small forts and settlements along the way, some of them have become deserted cities."

"What can we do about it?"

Looking at the people who were in fear, Wu Xiu said unhappily: "Why are you so timid?"

“It’s just a few dozen people!”

When they heard him speak, everyone stepped aside and lowered their heads.

Wu Yu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Someone came to see me earlier."

"He said that the matter could no longer be concealed. His Majesty has learned of what happened here and will send someone to assist."

"People are coming soon."

"This is the last chance."

“Everyone!!!”

"Our ancestors all followed King Gao to found the country. This Liu Taozi has fought all the way here from Wuchuan. He is unstoppable and kills us like chickens and dogs. We have completely lost the reputation of our ancestors!!"

He gritted his teeth and looked at everyone with murderous intent in his eyes.

"Sizhou is behind us. Even if I have to die today, I will bite off a piece of his flesh."

"We must never let the world look down on us!!"

He stood up and said, "You stay here, I will go out to meet him."

"When I lead him to the city gate, you all fire at the same time. Don't worry about my life or death, as long as you can kill him!"

Hearing his words, everyone was shocked.

Someone stood up and said, "How can we let the garrison commander die? I am willing to take his place!!"

Wu Yiyu shook his head and said, "This is a serious matter. If I ask someone to impersonate me, he will easily find out. So let me go."

"How can we let the dignity of our country be lost in our hands?"

Everyone looked at each other, not daring to speak.

Wu Yu prepared for a long time and made all the arrangements before he led two knights out to meet them.

As he walked along the road for a long time, he finally saw the knights coming towards him.

Liu Taozi rode forward, and behind him were many knights, all of whom were murderous. There was no room on their bodies to hang heads, so they started to hang ears. The ears were so densely packed that Wu Xiuyu shuddered subconsciously when he looked at them.

They came in front of Wu Yu. Liu Taozi lowered his head and looked at the general in front of him.

Wu Eunuch immediately dismounted and bowed deeply to Liu Taozi.

"Your subordinates should not be shy in meeting General Zhen!!!"

Liu Taozi looked into the distance and asked, "Are you trying to trick us into shooting arrows at the city gate?"

"what?"

"Pfft~~"

The lance was flying, Wu Yu looked at the lance that had pierced his chest, raised his head to look at Liu Taozi, opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but blood overflowed from his mouth. Liu Taozi pulled back the lance, and Wu Yu fell to the ground.

The other two knights screamed in fear, and Kouliu and his men shot them dead.

Yao Xiong was stunned, "Brother, even though this happened, you didn't even ask about it."

Tian Zili smiled and asked, "Have you ever seen someone come to greet someone but close the door?"

"If we really want to welcome you, we should open the city gates and arrange for soldiers to guard us."

Yao Xiong slapped his forehead suddenly, "That's the truth."

Liu Taozi handed the imperial edict to Kou Liu standing beside him, "Go and ask them to open the door."

Kou Liu took the imperial edict and the head and rushed towards the garrison.

Sizhou, Xiurong.

A large army rushed to the city gate and stopped there. The general only brought his personal soldiers, rushed into the city, and charged towards the government office.

When the army arrived at the gate of the government office, the general suddenly jumped off his horse. Someone came forward to greet him, but he pushed him away rudely.

"Where is General Liu?!"

"Your Majesty! He is in the prefect's guest hall."

The general was wearing a mask, but the officials still recognized him.

He was Gao Changgong, who had served as the governor of Sizhou in the past.

Gao Changgong led the knights anxiously towards the backyard. He was obviously very familiar with the place.

When Gao Changgong arrived at the door, it was closed and there was silence inside.

Gao Changgong was horrified and slammed the door open.

Inside the house, the lights are brightly lit.

There were Hu beds on both sides, with spilled wine vessels and lying corpses on the beds. The ground was mixed with wine and blood. There were corpses of officials and nobles everywhere, and some warriors, holding sharp weapons, also lying in a pool of blood.

Inside the magnificent lobby, luxury and corpses coexisted at this moment.

There are neatly-arranged soldiers distributed on the outer layer, holding weapons and looking forward.

Liu Taozi was sitting in the upper seat, watching the scene in front of her calmly.

Gao Changgong was stunned for a long time before he quickly walked towards Liu Taozi.

Liu Taozi stood up, kicked away the corpses in front of him, and walked towards him.

"Your Majesty."

"Are you okay? I'm fine, I'm fine."

Gao Changgong helped Liu Taozi up, his eyes filled with indescribable anger, "This group of traitors. I knew they would take action. Before you set out, His Majesty specifically ordered them to protect your safety. You bastards!"

Gao Changgong was shaking with anger.

He looked at Liu Taozi again, his eyes also full of reproach, "You too, why are you walking so fast?"

"If you are attacked, you should stop and wait for a while. His Majesty will surely send someone to help you."

Liu Taozi said calmly: "There are many bandits along the way, so just kill them and it will be fine."

Gao Changgong then looked at the corpses on both sides. He even knew many of them. He took a deep breath and suppressed his anger. "Did these people set an ambush?"

"Yes, the governor led the officials to hold a banquet and wanted to poison me. I refused to drink, so he sent people to kill me by force. However, the people he sent were nothing but pigs and dogs, so I killed them all."

"Your Majesty has already found out that the person who murdered you was Liu Honghui. Your Majesty has already asked Liu Honghui to kill him."

"I'll pick you up and take you back to Jinyang first."

"This time, you turned Jinyang upside down."

(End of this chapter)