Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 346 The Thief King Appears, Events in the Desert

Two days later.

At the gates of Tianxiang Kingdom, numerous bandits launched a charge, their swords flashing and their attacks chilling to the bone.

On the city wall.

Holding a golden sword, Li Xunhuan calmly deployed his soldiers, responding to each of the enemy's attacks.

It was visibly clear that the number of troops on the city walls had decreased significantly compared to before.

However, under Li Xunhuan's command, all of the enemy's attacks were perfectly defended, with almost no casualties.

Before long, the sun was high in the sky, and by noon, the temperature was becoming increasingly scorching.

A gong sounded outside the city.

Upon seeing this, the numerous bandits retreated like a receding tide.

Before long, the battlefield returned to calm.

"Clean up the battlefield as soon as possible and change the defense!"

Li Xunhuan gave the order.

The general beside him nodded in agreement.

Amidst the admiring gazes of the crowd, Li Xunhuan, holding a golden sword, descended from the city wall.

"Li Tanhua, wielding a golden sword, commands the army with unwavering composure, without making the slightest mistake. How impressive!"

Lu Xiaofeng smiled and handed him a glass of wine.

Li Xunhuan shook his head with a wry smile: "Brother Lu, please stop teasing me. If the generals of Tianxiang Kingdom weren't so incompetent, I wouldn't be in this situation."

Two days ago, everyone decided to return to Tianxiang Kingdom and help it resist the enemy.

Command of the enemy forces fell into the hands of Liu Xi. Despite being a eunuch, he was well-read and knowledgeable.

Given his deep fear of Li Xunhuan and his men, and his reluctance to personally intervene, he knew very well that his troops would not be able to breach the gates of Tianxiang Kingdom.

So he ordered his many bandit soldiers to split into several waves and attack day and night, trying to exhaust the soldiers of Tianxiang Kingdom through their constant attacks.

Once the army of the Guizi Kingdom arrives, they can easily crush the entire Tianxiang Kingdom.

This strategy was easily seen through, not to mention Lu Xiaofeng and Li Xunhuan, even Su Rongrong could easily see through it.

Surprisingly, none of the ministers and generals of Tianxiang Kingdom could understand the viciousness of the situation. Every time the enemy attacked, they foolishly led the entire army to defend.

At that moment, the group suddenly understood what it meant to be subtly influenced.

In the Central Plains, history entered people's minds in various ways. Even illiterate farmers knew some famous historical anecdotes.

But in the Western Regions, there is no such subtle form of education.

Therefore, neither the king, the ministers, nor the generals saw through this plan for a while.

Left with no other choice, Li Xunhuan had to speak up and expose the truth.

Unexpectedly, even though these people knew the other party's plan, they couldn't think of a way to deal with it.

Left with no other option, Li Xunhuan requested command of the army from the king and personally took command of the battle.

He also divided his soldiers into several groups, who took turns defending.

The two sides had roughly equal numbers of troops, but Tianxiang Kingdom had the advantage of city defense and could also deploy the city's inhabitants for logistical support.

In contrast, the bandit soldiers not only had to solve their own logistical problems, but also risked their lives to scale the city walls in an attempt to breach them.

Such a huge advantage and disadvantage meant that not a single bandit was able to climb the city wall.

In two days, the enemy suffered heavy losses, while the Tianxiang Kingdom only had a few wounded and no one was killed.

Over such a long period of time, Liu Xi must have realized that the people in Tianxiang Kingdom were not in command of those from the Western Regions.

An ordinary general would have wisely chosen to halt at this point and wait for reinforcements to arrive before launching a full-scale attack, thus avoiding casualties on his own side.

Unfortunately, Liu Xi was no ordinary general, and he didn't care about the deaths and injuries of his men. So he continued to harass and attack, just to cause that little bit of damage that was almost negligible.

After all, the soldiers of Tianxiang Kingdom are also on a rotation system at this time, with a large number of them resting and training, so there is no real chance of winning.

If this brutal method has any effect whatsoever, it's probably only against Li Xunhuan.

Every time the enemy attacked, it was Li Xunhuan who commanded the troops and carried out the defense.

Although he was already a Grandmaster, he was quite exhausted after two days like this.

It's not that Lu Xiaofeng didn't want to replace him, but how could the power to command troops be replaced so easily?
The Kingdom of Tianxiang even has a king!

The danger of a king entrusting his army to one person is self-evident, and it also represents a great deal of trust.

But to say that he would entrust his troops to another person... haha, what kind of king would do that?
Does this mean that anyone can command the troops of the Heavenly Fragrance Kingdom?

Considering the king's thoughts, Li Xunhuan's power as the commander-in-chief of the army could not be arbitrarily transferred to anyone.

Of course, the fact that it cannot be given to Lu Xiaofeng does not mean that it cannot be given to other generals of Tianxiang Kingdom.

"How are those generals learning?"

"It's alright. I'll supervise and guide them a couple more times, and they should be able to command the battle on their own."

Li Xunhuan said with a smile.

He also wanted those generals to replace him, but these generals from the Heavenly Prime Minister's Kingdom were simply not up to the task.

Fortunately, he has been studying diligently these past two days and has already learned most of Li Xunhuan's methods of commanding soldiers in defense.

"Next, as long as the enemy's siege strategy remains unchanged, these matters can be handed over to other generals."

"hope so……"

Lu Xiaofeng looked at the sky and said, "But according to the Black Lama, the army of the Kingdom of Guizi will be here soon. Now that two more days have passed, I'm afraid that army is already very close to Guizi. That will be the most difficult time!"

Li Xunhuan nodded in agreement: "We've made a lot of preparations in the city these past two days, but I don't know if it'll be enough to face the army of the Guizi Kingdom..."

The bandits outside the city were no threat to them.

What's truly troubling is still the army of the Kingdom of Guizi.

The Kingdom of Guizi in the Western Regions could be considered a large country, and the area it ruled was not just one city or one place, but multiple cities within a certain area.

Such a country naturally has a far greater number of soldiers than the Black Lama, this bandit on the road.

However, the exact number is unknown.

In the past two days, they have interrogated the Black Lama again, but the Black Lama was really too incompetent. Before his fortress was captured, he didn't even find out how many people the Kingdom of Kucha had sent.

Although, mainly because a martial arts expert intervened at that time, the battle was quickly resolved.

However, the fact that they didn't even know the number of the enemy was enough to show how terrible and makeshift the Black Lama's group was.

Moreover, the number of skilled fighters within the Guizi Kingdom's army is currently unknown.

Such a nation with a long history and a considerable territory would likely have many innate martial artists even without grandmasters.

The most terrifying enemy is one whose strength you can't determine.

Li Xunhuan and the others could only try their best to mobilize the entire Tianxiang Kingdom and make all the necessary preparations. "If only we knew the current military strength of the Guizi Kingdom, at least we wouldn't be in such a passive position like this..." Li Xunhuan murmured.

Suddenly a voice broke in.

"In that case, my arrival was perfectly timed!"

The two were taken aback. Following the sound, they saw a handsome young man standing not far away, smiling at them.

Meeting their gazes, the young man rubbed his nose and said, "What? You don't recognize me after a year?"

Lu Xiaofeng laughed heartily and said, "Even if I forget everyone in the world, I will never forget the master thief Chu Liuxiang!"

At this moment, the young man who suddenly appeared in the city was none other than the famous Thief King Chu Liuxiang.

Not long after, in the Tianxiang Palace, Su Rongrong and the other two women excitedly came forward and stood in front of Chu Liuxiang: "Brother Chu, you've finally arrived."

"Rongrong, Hongxiu, and Xing'er, you're all alright, that's great."

“The three of them are honored guests I invited, how could anything happen to them!” Black Pearl said indignantly.

"what?"

Chu Liuxiang was taken aback.

Seeing this, Lu Xiaofeng laughed and said, "It seems that Brother Chu still hasn't figured out the situation!"

As everyone entered the palace, Lu Xiaofeng briefly recounted the events.

Chu Liuxiang was completely dumbfounded.

After a moment, he chuckled and said, "I thought... Never mind, it's good that you're all alright."

Li Xunhuan asked, "Brother Chu, what brings you here?"

"This matter... is a long story..."

Meanwhile, Black Pearl, Su Rongrong, and the other two women hit it off immediately and decided to take a trip to the desert.

Before leaving, Black Pearl made a point of leaving her horse behind.

In her mind, an old horse knows the way, and as long as Chu Liuxiang rides her horse, he will naturally be able to find her place and bring the three women back.

However, Chu Liuxiang did not think that way.

He genuinely believed that Black Pearl had abducted the three women, and that the other party had deliberately left behind horses, suggesting a possible trap.

Therefore, Chu Liuxiang never intended to follow the old horse and instead let it go.

He then found his two best friends, Ji Bingyan and Hu Tiehua, and together they bravely ventured into the desert.

However, before the three could find the Desert King's tribe, they encountered the King of Guizi Kingdom first.

The King of Kucha plotted to restore his kingdom. According to the original story, he claimed that he would use the Star of Bliss to recruit martial arts masters. If he could successfully restore his kingdom, he would use the Star of Bliss to retrieve his ancestors' treasure as a reward.

But in reality, he was playing a trick of feigning one thing while secretly doing another.

On the surface, that's how it appears, but in reality, he had already taken out his ancestors' treasure and made a deal with other surrounding forces with a large sum of money, asking them to send troops to help him restore his kingdom.

This strategy was successful in the original work.

However, at this point, it was clearly unsuccessful.

Because in the Western Regions now, there is a group of elusive bandits who plunder everywhere. Even the great powers of the Western Regions are suffering greatly and dare not send troops abroad casually.

Otherwise, they could be robbed and slaughtered by this group of bandits at any time.

This band of bandits is none other than the Gray Wind, who have only appeared in the Western Regions in the last few months but have already achieved countless victories and are feared by all!
No matter how much money you have, you still need to be alive to spend it.

Moreover, if the fact that he had taken the money from the King of Guizi were to leak out, he might attract the attention of the Gray God Wind and become the cause of his downfall.

Therefore, King Kuja's strategy received no response and was destined to fail.

Therefore, the King of Kucha had no choice but to rely on the wandering knights he had recruited.

He was very lucky to run into Chu Liuxiang and his two companions.

Chu Liuxiang and his two companions were not so lucky. They got involved in this matter and were targeted by another terrifying person.

This person is the source of the rebellion in the Kingdom of Guizi, Shi Guanyin!

Shi Guanyin was originally from the Li family of Huangshan. Back then, there was a great battle between the Huashan Sect and the Li family of Huashan. Except for her, the entire Li family was wiped out.

Shi Guanyin fled to Japan, married a Japanese man named Tenfu Shisuro, and had two children. However, after mastering martial arts, she abandoned her husband and children and returned to the Central Plains to seek revenge on the Huashan Sect.

Although she killed many enemies, the Chinese faction in this world was large and powerful, and was not ultimately wiped out. Instead, they contacted many famous sects and jointly issued a warrant for the arrest of Shi Guanyin.

Shi Guanyin thus fled to the Western Desert, found a secluded valley, established a power base, and recruited many people to serve her.

But later, perhaps because she was too bored, she set her sights on the Kingdom of Guizi and wanted to become its queen.

As a result, a rebellion broke out in the unfortunate Kingdom of Guizi, and the king was driven out of the country.

However, when Shi Guanyin heard that the king possessed a Star of Bliss that could unlock the ancestral treasure, she became curious. She disguised herself as an innocent woman and became a concubine of the king, intending to steal the Star of Bliss and the treasure, and shatter the king's last hope.

It is worth mentioning that Shi Guanyin's two sons are Nangong Ling and Wuhua, who chose to commit suicide after Chu Liuxiang discovered the truth.

Wu Hua, however, faked his death and secretly fled to the Western Regions to seek refuge with his mother.

With such hatred between them, the two sides are natural enemies.

Chu Liuxiang quickly exposed Shi Guanyin's conspiracy, but Shi Guanyin herself was extremely powerful. Even with the help of her two friends, they were no match for her.

According to the original story, Chu Liuxiang defeated Shi Guanyin by chance.

However, at this point, things did not develop as originally described, and people from the Eastern Depot also appeared in the struggle between the two sides.

Even Liu Xi was no match for a powerful figure like Shi Guanyin. Moreover, Shi Guanyin held real power in the Kingdom of Guizi. The Eastern Depot was looking to investigate the case of the Iron-Blooded Marquis in Guizi, so they did not hesitate to help Shi Guanyin.

With the two sides joining forces, Chu Liuxiang and his companions, let alone being enemies, almost couldn't escape.

In fact, of the three, only Chu Liuxiang escaped; his two friends both fell into Shi Guanyin's hands.

Subsequently, Chu Liuxiang remained near the Kingdom of Guizi, attempting to provide assistance.

But just a few days later, the Kingdom of Guizi suddenly launched a large-scale military campaign.

Among the soldiers were Shi Guanyin and Wu Hua, and they even brought Ji Bingyan and Hu Tiehua with them.

Chu Liuxiang had no choice but to follow.

This led them all the way to the Kingdom of Heavenly Fragrance!

"So, the troops of the Guizi Kingdom are already close at hand?" Li Xunhuan asked solemnly.

Chu Liuxiang nodded.

"I estimate that the army will arrive at the city walls by tomorrow morning. The army of the Guizi Kingdom already numbers in the tens of thousands, not to mention that among them are experts such as Shi Guanyin and Wuhua!"

"Just how strong are they?"

"Wuhua and I are both Grandmasters, but Shi Guanyin is a Three-Flower Grandmaster! Besides her, Shi Guanyin has nearly twenty Innate Realm masters under her command in the Guizi Kingdom..."

Lu Xiaofeng frowned: "We also need to add Liu Xi, Iron Claw Flying Eagle, and the others..."

(End of this chapter)