Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 231 Hostages
'roar!!'

A large, white-eyed worm with a drooping forehead, its eyes wide open, bared its teeth and hissed.

Its roar was like a subwoofer, deafening and heart-pounding.

Especially those eyes; looking directly into them sends shivers down your spine.

The people surrounding the cage at this moment were all seasoned warriors.

The same applies to the forest path.

They were used to life-and-death battles and had no fear of them.

"This tiger is quite ferocious."

Cheng Zhijie laughed loudly, "I'd like to have a go at it."

Subduing dragons is hard to say, but taming tigers is a required course for fierce generals.

Of course, this is on the premise that you have weapons and armor.

Historically, very few people have been able to kill a tiger with their bare hands, and the veracity of such claims is questionable.

"The wolves here are so scared they've wet themselves."

Hou Junji laughed and pointed to the trembling wolf in the cage next to him, "Could it be that you've mistaken a dog for a wolf and caught it?"

After winning the battle, all the generals were overjoyed, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Lin Dao stepped forward and reached out to lift the lid of a ceramic jar.

"Stay on!"

Li Shiji shouted, "There are poisonous snakes inside!"

Lin Dao stood up and withdrew his hand. "I want wild beasts, why bring poisonous snakes?"

"I was looking for a giant python."

Li Shiji stepped forward to explain, "But we really can't find it."

"The slightly larger ones have all been eaten."

"If you really want to find it, you have to go deep into the mountains and forests."

Li Yuanji glanced over and muttered, "Let him lift the lid, it'll be good to watch the show."

His muttering was quite loud; everyone who needed to hear it heard it.

Lin Dao's sharp gaze immediately swept over.

Li Yuanji's heart tightened, and he even subconsciously took a step back.

Li Erfeng gritted her teeth and shouted, "Go patrol the camp!"

Li Yuanji was very unhappy, but deep down he was still afraid of his second brother.

He snorted heavily, then turned and left.

Luo Shixin and the others exchanged glances, their eyes conveying a message.

The murderous aura that Lin Dao just displayed was definitely from someone who had been on the battlefield.

Restraining his imposing aura, Lin Dao turned his gaze to another cage containing a wild boar.

"They even brought in wild boars. Is that considered a ferocious beast?"

Lin Dao imagined various ferocious beasts surrounding Zhu Can, this demon king, and tearing him apart, so that he could also taste what it was like to be eaten.

But when the tiger roared, all the animals it had captured trembled and squeaked, and were all rendered useless.

Lin Dao's interest waned considerably, and he waved his hand, "That's it then."

What's this talk about, "one pig, two bears, three tigers"? One roar from the tiger and they all become obedient.

Zhu Can, trembling with fear, was brought up.

At this moment, the cannibal king was no longer as arrogant and domineering as before, and he regarded human life as worthless.

He was humming softly, and it was unclear what he was saying.

Outside the fence, which was about ten feet high, everyone was looking around.

The fence closed, and two Tang soldiers pulled hard on the rope, opening the cage containing the tiger.

'Roar~~~'

With a tiger's roar, Zhu Can immediately knelt on the ground.

The tiger is released from its cage and takes a step forward.

He walked step by step to Zhu Can.

With each breath, a foul, fishy stench assaulted our senses.

Zhu Can, trembling like a leaf, knelt on the ground with his eyes closed, his hands clasped together and he muttered incantations.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha~~~"

"Namo Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva~~~"

It's indeed a bit late to seek help from gods and Buddhas now.

Even if there were such a person, they wouldn't come to save a demon king like him.

After reading for a while, no movement was detected.

Zhu Can slowly raised his head and opened his eyes.

Right next to it was a huge tiger's head!

The tiger stared directly at him, then suddenly opened its mouth, revealing its sharp teeth.

"Ho~~~"

Lin Dao turned and instructed, "Send Wang Shichong in as well."

Li Erfeng nodded emphatically, "Agreed!"

When it was time to eat, Li Erfeng invited everyone to dinner.

Among the dishes served were roasted wild boar, snake soup, and roasted wolf leg.

Lin Dao took a bite of wild boar meat.

It's very tough and has a terrible texture.

He looked at Li Erfeng and asked, "Has the tiger been dealt with?"

"It has already been dealt with."

Lin Dao nodded. "Man-eating beasts cannot be kept alive, and the same applies to barbarians."

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

How could this divine being harbor such deep resentment towards the Hu people?

"Brother Zihou."

Li Erfeng smiled broadly, "Brother, you deserve the greatest credit for this victory against the false emperor Shichong."

"If it weren't for Brother Zihou breaking through the city, I don't know when I would have been able to win."

"When we return to Chang'an, we will definitely report to Father Emperor about Brother Zihou's meritorious service."

Lin Dao smiled inwardly, "Are they going back to Chang'an?"

"almost."

Li Erfeng was in a good mood. "Luoyang has fallen, and the rest of the regions can be pacified by issuing proclamations."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we will return to the capital in triumph."

The city of Mingzhou, a thousand miles away.

"Hurry up!"

Xiao Yu, who had come as an envoy to negotiate the ransom, hurriedly jumped onto the carriage and shouted, "Quickly get off and mount the horse!"

Princess Tong'an stepped out of the carriage, supported by her maid, and asked in confusion, "What is it?"

"The King of Qin has defeated Wang Shichong!" Xiao Yu grabbed her hand and ran towards the horse that had been brought to them. "Hurry!"

Li Shentong, who was in the car behind, also jumped off and mounted his horse.

Last autumn, Dou Jiande attacked Xiangzhou, Liyang, and other places that had submitted to the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shentong, Li Shiji, and others stationed in the area were unable to stop them and were defeated and captured one after another.

Wei Zheng, who was transporting grain, was also trapped inside the city and captured.

At that time, Li Yuan's sister, Princess Tong'an, was also in the city and was captured along with her.

Afterwards, Li Shiji chose the right opportunity to escape and fled back to the territory of the Li Tang dynasty.

While Li Erfeng was leading troops to attack Wang Shichong, Li Yuan sent Xiao Yu as an envoy to Mingzhou City to negotiate with Dou Jiande and to get the Li family back through the negotiations.

Dou Jiande did not make things difficult for them and agreed to release Li Shentong and Princess Tong'an.

They had just eaten Dou Jiande's farewell banquet in Mingzhou City last night, and the atmosphere and environment were quite good.

Today, they left the city to return to Chang'an. They had only been gone a short while when Xiao Yu, the envoy, grabbed them and ran like a madman.

"Second Brother is truly amazing."

Princess Tong'an mounted her horse, her joy mixed with confusion: "But why must we run so fast?"

What does Erlang's victory over Wang Shichong have to do with us?

She couldn't understand it.

Xiao Yu did not reply, but urged the group to separate and set off as soon as possible.

They took only a few guards with them and fled on horseback.

The others guarded the carriage and continued slowly, turning in a different direction.

Li Shentong, who had ridden over on horseback, spoke up to explain on behalf of Princess Tong'an.

"The Tang Dynasty, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande, just like the Three Kingdoms period."

"They are intertwined and threaten each other."

"The Second Prince has destroyed Wang Shichong so quickly, and the world is shocked by the strength of his army."

"Dou Jiande must be terrified."

"We have thus become important hostages who must be kept here!"

Princess Tong'an understood now.

The breaking of the tripartite balance of power and the formidable fighting strength of the Tang army would greatly provoke Dou Jiande.

At this point, the hostages who were previously insignificant became exceptionally important.

Capturing them would make the Li Tang dynasty more cautious.

If Li Erfeng's army were to attack, they could be used as hostages to make things difficult for Li Erfeng.

It goes without saying that Dou Jiande's pursuers were right behind him.

Without further ado, the group gritted their teeth and desperately spurred their horses to flee.

They fled until dusk before finally finding a village to rest in.

They need to rest, otherwise even if the people can keep going, the horses won't be able to run.

At midnight, a large number of Dou Jiande's troops arrived and surrounded the village.

"Liu Heita is here!"

Amidst the glow of numerous torches, Liu Heita, a general under Dou Jiande, rode forward and shouted, "King Xia invites you all to return for a banquet!"

Xiao Yu chuckled dryly, stepped forward, and bowed. "Thank you for your kindness, King Xia, but we are in a hurry to get going."

"There's so much nonsense!"

Liu Heita's eyes widened. "Those who disobey will be chopped off!"

Xiao Yu paused for a moment, then spoke again, "In that case, we should not disappoint the King of Xia's good intentions, and should return to the banquet."

"But~"

"We must send a message to His Majesty to explain this matter."

Liu Heita didn't think much of it and nodded, "Okay."

In his view, Li Tang would find out about this soon, so it didn't matter whether he found out sooner or later.

Xiao Yu hurriedly summoned a quick-witted attendant and loudly proclaimed, "Go back and report to His Majesty that we have been treated kindly by the King of Xia and will remain as guests for the time being. Please do not worry, Your Majesty!"

He immediately lowered his voice and quickly gave instructions.

"Go to Luoyang immediately and inform the King of Qin of this matter!"

Jingkang Time and Space.

Lin Dao was in high spirits, holding the child born to Princess Roufu Zhao Huanhuan in his arms, gently comforting and coaxing him.

Even happier than him was Zong Ze, who was rubbing his hands together and standing on tiptoe to peek over the camera.

His joy was palpable: "It's a boy! That's great!"

"It's a good thing they didn't demolish the palace and sell it before, otherwise we would have nowhere to live."

Seeing his radiant, joyful face, Lin Dao jokingly asked, "Why are you so happy?"

"The world has a master."

Zong Ze was genuinely happy; even his wrinkles seemed to have diminished considerably.

"This is the most important good thing in the world."

With no ruler in power, heroes from all sides vied for control.

In ancient times, the absence of a ruler would breed countless ambitious individuals.

These ambitious individuals will bring about endless wars.

Moreover, Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, and others did not know who they were truly loyal to, and trouble was bound to arise in the long run.

In this way, chaos in the world is inevitable.

Zong Ze had already developed many gray hairs from worrying about this.

Now, the birth of Princess Roufu's child is like a ballast stone, enough to gradually bring peace to the world.

This child has the blood of the previous dynasty, which will naturally attract many people who cherish the past dynasty to serve him.

Moreover, his father was a celestial being, a status that has only been held by one person in thousands of years.
Zong Ze's gaze swept over several pregnant princesses who were chatting and laughing.

There are several such bloodlines, and there should be more in the future.

"I wish to teach him myself."

Hearing this, Lin Dao smiled and shook his head.

"Don't joke around, he's still so young."

"Let's talk about it later."

Zong Ze nodded repeatedly; "It was my presumption that led me astray."

He was indeed a bit too impatient.

Having witnessed firsthand how Emperor Huizong and his son brought disaster to the country, how cowardly and weak they were, and how their foolish actions nearly destroyed their own nation.

Zong Ze was determined to cultivate a truly outstanding emperor.

At least, it won't be like Emperor Huizong and his son, where all their choices were wrong.

And most importantly, one must have the courage of an emperor!

"I must take care of my health, I must live many more years, and I must see Chengcai succeed!"

He was really scared!

Two idiots nearly destroyed a country!
(End of this chapter)