My name is Huang Tian, ​​what the hell is this "Heaven is dead" nonsense?

Chapter 14 What does it mean for the Yellow Heaven to descend to earth?
Lieren County, outside the city.

After nearly two days of fleeing, Lu Zhi finally stopped. With disheveled hair, he looked at the mere two hundred cavalrymen around him, feeling utterly desolate. For a moment, he even contemplated suicide.

Clang~

"Lord Lu, please do not take your own life!"

Zong Yuan had long been worried that Lu Zhi's mentality would collapse, so he had been keeping a close eye on him. When he saw Lu Zhi draw his sword, he immediately pressed down on Lu Zhi's right hand holding the sword.

"The Yellow Heaven has descended upon the world, and the world has undergone great changes. Our great Han Dynasty needs Lord Lu's help. How can you risk your life for a temporary defeat?" Zong Yuan advised.

The generals around him, who also looked disheveled, spoke up: "Lord Lu, the overall situation is of utmost importance! The current court is relying on your wisdom, courage, and military strategy!"

Lu Zhi gave a bitter laugh: "Wisdom and courage? What wisdom and courage! The court allocated me 20,000 elite troops, all wiped out in one battle. How can I face the world and His Majesty again!"

Zong Yuan was anxious: "This is not a fault of the battle! You led the troops out of Luoyang and won one victory after another, forcing the leader of the E bandits to Guangzong. How great your military achievements are!"

However, human strength is no match for destiny; the Moth Thief has divine assistance, and anyone who comes will be defeated.

Lu Zhi turned to look at Zong Yuan, his voice hoarse: "Do you also think the Moth Thieves have a destiny?"

Upon hearing this, Zong Yuan wanted to slap himself. How could he have accidentally blurted out his true feelings?
As the deputy commander of the Han army's northern battlefield, he absolutely could not accept that the Yellow Turban rebels had a destiny, even if that destiny was clearly laid out before them.

He hesitated for a moment, then tried to salvage the situation, saying, "You yourself said that the Moth Bandits were born under the Yellow Heaven, and our Great Han Dynasty was born under the Azure Heaven, so... so each has its own destiny..."

Lu Zhi chuckled: "Do you really believe what I'm saying?"

Zong Yuan remained silent, and the soldiers were also speechless.

How could they possibly believe Lu Zhi's words of encouragement? It was only because they were loyal to the Han Dynasty and to Lu Zhi that they protected him and fled together.

Zong Yuan sighed: "Given the state of affairs, what can be done? If our Great Han Dynasty were not protected by Heaven, neither you, nor Lord Huangfu, nor Lord Zhu would likely be able to..."

"If Heaven is protecting you, wouldn't it be a pity to sacrifice yourself now? Don't you want to lead tens of thousands of elite troops to defeat the Moth Bandits honorably and avenge your defeat?"

Lu Zhi remained silent for a long time.

At this moment, the city gate of Lieren County slowly opened, and the magistrate of Lieren County walked out with a look of surprise under the protection of a group of local soldiers.

He looked around and saw that Lu Zhi's hair was disheveled and his eyes were dark, while the clan members and more than a hundred others were all in disarray, having lost their armor and weapons. His heart skipped a beat.

"Lord Lu? General Zong? What...what happened?" the magistrate asked tremulously. "Could it be that we've been defeated?"

Lu Zhi remained silent, while Zong Yuan gave a bitter smile and whispered, "We've lost."

The magistrate trembled, nearly losing his balance, his teeth chattering. "How many soldiers are left?"

He looked around, hoping to spot a defeated army of tens of thousands, or at least several thousand, as long as they weren't completely wiped out.

However, Zongyuan shook his head slightly, "Everyone is here."

The magistrate was stunned. "They're all here?"

He looked around and saw only a hundred or so cavalrymen, all of whom had discarded their armor; they were pure, unarmored cavalry.

He staggered two steps, almost fell, and felt utterly hopeless.

With the Han army completely wiped out, how could Lieren County, which is near Guangzong, possibly resist the Yellow Turban army's attack?
If he loses Lieren County, he will certainly be ruined, if not executed.

Lu Zhi said in a hoarse voice, "Our army has been wiped out, and the enemy is approaching Guangzong. The most urgent task is to quickly mobilize the people, set up city defenses, and ask Luoyang for help." The county magistrate recovered and nodded repeatedly, "That's right, that's right. Everything is up to Lord Lu to decide."

His words were not without a hint of shirking responsibility, but you can't blame him. Who told you, Lu Zhi, to lose the 20,000 elite troops that the court had worked so hard to organize? Now, what can a mere county magistrate like him do to defend the city?
The total population of his county town might not even equal the number of the Yellow Turban Army!

Left with no other choice, Lu Zhi had to take on the responsibility of defending the city. He did not intend to retreat any further until a new batch of Han troops arrived to reinforce the city.

If we retreat any further, we'll have to retreat to Ye City, leave Ji Province, and retreat to Luoyang!
As the crowd entered the city in a somber atmosphere, the magistrate suddenly slapped his forehead, as if remembering something, and cautiously said, "Lord Lu, the imperial court has sent an envoy."

Angels are the emperor's messengers.

Lu Zhi paused, "Are the angels among us right now?"

“He just arrived yesterday,” the magistrate said hesitantly. “This envoy is named Zuo Feng. He is a minor eunuch and is said to be close to the eunuch Zhang Rang. He is arrogant and domineering. He has been extorting bribes from city to city. Anyone who dares not to give him money or silk is cursed, threatened, or even whipped by him. Everyone is angry but dares not speak out.”

Lu Zhi's expression kept changing.

Having already lost a large army, the emperor also sent a "supervisor" who was an extremely arrogant eunuch. With all sorts of debuffs stacked up, he was having a major headache.

"Let's go into the city first," Lu Zhi said helplessly.

Regardless of how arrogant Zuo Feng is, we will eventually have to face him.

Moreover, the arrival of the angels also had its advantages, namely, they could quickly relay the news of the Han army's great defeat back to Luoyang and request aid from Emperor Liu Hong.

The group entered the city dejectedly. Lu Zhi didn't even wash his face before going straight to see the eunuch Zuo Feng.

When he saw Zuo Feng, Zuo Feng was sitting at a table with honey water, wine, and fruits laid out on the table in front of him. Below him, more than ten beauties in flowing skirts were dancing shyly.

The air was filled with the sounds of stringed instruments, and the wine made one's ears flush.

Lu Zhi walked into the room without looking to the side, and waved his hand, "All of you, step back."

The music stopped, and the beauties looked on in surprise and uncertainty. Zuo Feng looked at Lu Zhi with drunken eyes, blinked, and asked uncertainly, "General Lu?"

Lu Zhi said, "It's me."

Zuo Feng looked Lu Zhi up and down and saw that his brows were full of worry. He was startled and said to the musicians and beauties, "You all go out!"

The beautiful musician bowed her head and retreated in small steps. Zuo Feng stood up and walked to Lu Zhi, asking in surprise, "Shouldn't Lord Lu be leading a large army to besiege Guangzong right now? Why are you here?"

Lu Zhi fell silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.

Seeing Lu Zhi's appearance, Zuo Feng's drunkenness vanished in shock, and he asked urgently, "Could it be that our army... our army has been defeated?!"

"We've lost," Lu Zhi said in a muffled voice.

Zuo Feng's vision blurred. "Didn't Lord Lu send successive reports to Luoyang, saying that he had trapped the bandit leader Zhang Jiao in Guangzong? How could the situation have changed in less than a month?"

Lu Zhi smirked, "I had Guangzong heavily besieged. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the bandit Zhang Jiao came out of the city to fight our army to the death. Our elite troops repelled the enemy's advance in less than half an hour, and a great victory was just around the corner..."

He let out a long sigh: "The Yellow Heaven has descended upon the world!"

Zuo Feng was bewildered. "What do you mean by 'the Yellow Heaven has descended upon the world'? Isn't that the slogan of the Moth Rebels' rebellion?"

Lu Zhi said, word by word, "Yellow Heaven, Yellow Heaven God! The Central Yellow Supreme One has descended to earth!"

(End of this chapter)