Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 472 Immediate results
In the Heavenly Slaughter Army camp, the generals had already noticed that the Divine Lord was missing.

The generals of the Erzhu family then started making a ruckus, clamoring to find someone immediately.

Murong Shaozong advised them to calm down, saying, "Hou Jing is also missing. He must have gone out with the Divine Lord. So the Divine Lord probably has something to do. Let's wait and see."

"What are we waiting for? Don't we know that the later we go, the more dangerous it becomes?!" Erzhu Shilong shouted. "Let's set off immediately and go back to Shanxi to talk about it."

"..." Upon hearing this, everyone was both amused and exasperated. It turned out that he wasn't worried about the God, but rather wanted to run away again...

"Fool, stop making a fool of yourself!" At that moment, a streak of blood flew into the tent, and Erzhu Rong and Hou Jing returned.

"Greetings, Divine Lord!" The generals hurriedly bowed and worshipped.

"Rise," Erzhu Rong said, settling into his throne. "I went out last night on business. Was there anything unusual in the camp?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, everything is normal," Murong Shaozong replied respectfully. "The soldiers are fully equipped and ready to depart at any time."

"Very well, order the army to march south," Erzhu Rong then issued the decree.

"Huh?" The generals of the Erzhu family were taken aback upon hearing this. Erzhu Dulu asked, "Is the Divine Lord mistaken? Going back to Shanxi is going north, while going to Luoyang is going south."

“We’re going to Luoyang.” Erzhu Rong said decisively, “I was just feigning defeat and retreating before, so that Chen Qingzhi would lower his guard and then launch a surprise attack.”

"Really?" Erzhu's generals exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this.

"Brother, you acted so well, you fooled us all." Erzhu Dulu said with admiration.

But Erzhu Rong's words couldn't fool the group of non-royal generals. Gao Huan and Murong Shaozong exchanged glances, knowing that the previous retreat was definitely not an act. Something big must have happened last night to cause Erzhu Rong's sudden change of attitude.

Erzhu Rong knew he couldn't fool them, so he vaguely said, "Last night I went to the top of Wangwu Mountain to burn incense and pray to the gods, and I received a revelation from the Heavenly Emperor—that Luoyang will be captured within ten days and the Yuan Hao Rebellion will be quelled!"

"Yes, Heavenly Blessing God!" the generals hurriedly flattered. However, some couldn't help but think to themselves, "Isn't he a god himself? What kind of god is he worshipping?"

But flattery aside, there were still some things that needed to be clarified. Murong Shaozong then asked seriously, "My Lord, how do we deal with the White-Robed Army in Beizhong City? Once we attack Luoyang, they will attack us from behind."

“That’s right, they’ve grown wings now, they can fly right across the Yellow River.” Erzhu’s generals also became worried.

Chen Qingzhi and the White-Robed Army have completely defeated and subdued these arrogant Qihu people.

"Don't worry, you only need to deal with Yuan Hao, don't worry about the White Robe Army," Erzhu Rong said, waving his hand.

"Brother, are you going to deal with Chen Qingzhi again?" Erzhu exclaimed in surprise. Erzhu Dulu hurriedly advised, "You'd better not go. You already only have three hands left. If you go again, you'll be chopped into a withered tree!"

"You're the one who's useless!" Erzhu Rong glared at his good-for-nothing brother and said, "You don't need to worry about me, I have my own plans!"

"Oh..." Erzhu's generals responded obsequiously.

The non-family generals, including Murong Shaozong, understood that Erzhu Rong must have had helpers, otherwise he would have said directly, "Leave the White Robe Army to me."

Now he's refusing to talk about it. Clearly, the help he hired wasn't exactly honorable...

~~
The Heavenly Slaughter Army acted swiftly and decisively, returning to the Xiashi area, west of Mazhu, on the north bank of the Yellow River that very night.

This place is nearly two hundred miles from Zhongbei City, which shows how deep their fear of the White-Robed Army is...

Erzhu Zhao was once again in charge of the vanguard. He crouched low on the north bank of the Xiashi River, vigilantly watching the sparse, lax sentry posts on the opposite bank. Intelligence indicated that Yuan Hao's son, Yuan Guanshou, was guarding the opposite bank. This young man was impetuous and inexperienced in combat; his defensive deployment clearly demonstrated this…

Although the results of the scouts' reconnaissance and what he saw with his own eyes both indicated that the defenses on the other side were very lax, Erzhu Zhao dared not relax his vigilance in the slightest.

He's already messed things up twice in a row. If he fails again this time, he won't even need his uncle to lift a finger; he'll make sure he doesn't let himself off the hook.

It wasn't until the third watch of the night, when the opposite camp had completely fallen silent, that Erzhu Zhao waved his hand and ordered the vanguard troops, who had been waiting for a long time, to cross the river.

The soldiers of the Heavenly Slaughter Army rode in groups of three or five atop giant corpse vultures.

The corpse vulture flapped its decaying wings with all its might, slowly lifting them into the air and carrying them to the other side.

Even as the vanguard troops disembarked from the backs of the corpse vultures and secured the river crossing area, Erzhu Zhao still dared not slacken his vigilance in the slightest.

The lesson learned last time was too painful; he will not relax until the final victory.

By the time Yuan Guanshou's patrolling soldiers noticed the unusual activity, the wolf-head flag of the Tianlu Army had already been planted on the south bank.

Yuan Hao's army hurriedly fired arrows to intercept them, but due to the darkness of the night, they lost their aim. When Tianlu Army charged close, the soldiers of Yuan Hao's army were so frightened by their ferocious werewolf appearance that they trembled and looked back at their deputy general, hoping he could help them overcome their fear.

But the deputy general was quite decisive; he simply turned his horse and rode away...

When the soldiers saw that their officers had all fled in terror, who would dare to resist? They threw down their armor and fled as fast as they could, wishing they had more legs.

In the blink of an eye, all the soldiers of the Xiashi camp had fled.

~~
Yuan Guanshou was actually a bit unlucky. He had been on edge all night, patrolling every night, fearing that Erzhu Rong would catch him off guard.

Whether it was good luck or the good position his father had chosen for him, after the battle, he didn't even see a single Erzhu soldier.

Until yesterday, a letter came from Luoyang saying that Chen Qingzhi and the White Robe Army had defeated Yuan Ziyou and Erzhu Rong, and the two had led their troops back to Shanxi!

Although Yuan Hao had warned him to remain cautious and not to be careless, Yuan Guanshou, being young, didn't understand the principle of "better safe than sorry." Last night, he ordered the entire army to celebrate wildly, and the soldiers drank themselves into a stupor... Most importantly, the tension in their ranks had loosened, resulting in Erzhu Zhao easily breaching their camp.

When the camp was breached, he was still fast asleep, embracing his beautiful woman.

His personal guards rushed in and woke him, then helped him quickly put on his helmet and armor. By the time he finished dawdling and was ready to mount his horse and escape, Erzhu Zhao had already led fifty Bloodwing Guards into his central command tent.

The guards drew their swords in an attempt to resist, but were torn to shreds by the Bloodwing Guards...

"Champion General?" Erzhu Zhao entered the tent and saw that Yuan Guanshou had already been held to the throat by a long spear.

He glanced at the several trembling beauties on the bed and couldn't help but sneer, "You won your 'championship' in bed, didn't you?"

Yuan Guan was not only trembling with fear, but his crotch was also wet, which made Erzhu Zhao laugh contemptuously: "Is that all? It certainly wouldn't work in bed!"

Now he was finally certain that he didn't need to worry about the White-Robed Army...

Erzhu Zhao felt he had succeeded again, and with a surge of pride, he ordered, "Go and report to the Divine Lord that I have captured the South Bank Camp and taken Yuan Guan Shou prisoner! I will now proceed ahead to attack Luoyang!"

(End of this chapter)