Chapter Sixty Dust Settles

  "Yuanming was overthinking, Dong Zhuo is not the same as before. Li Ru is his son-in-law, half a son to him. He doesn't have a son to inherit, so he values this son-in-law greatly. He won't let him take risks!" Han Sui said about Dong Zhuo and Li Ru's relationship, also hinting at his own relationship with Yan Xiang.

  Yan Xing found Han Sui's words reasonable, but he felt uneasy in his heart. It was probably because meeting Dong Zhuo, such a big shot, would make anyone feel uneasy.

  Two men chatted along the way and before they knew it, they had arrived at San Chakou. They saw Dong Zhuo already waiting there, with a thousand elite heavy armored soldiers behind him.

  Han Sui and Dong Zhuo walked hand in hand, strolling towards the middle of the three-forked road. Behind Dong Zhuo was Hua Xiong, while behind Han Sui was Yan Xing. The two bodyguards kept a tacit distance from each other, eyeing each other warily.

  The road ahead has been checked by soldiers from both sides, and there won't be any human beings left. Soldiers from both sides are also standing guard along the way, making it a tight defense.

  Yan Xing and Hua Xiong each had 200 elite soldiers following closely behind them. The two groups of soldiers marched side by side, keeping a close eye on each other.

  Gongsun Zan and Ma Chao, along with the Western Liang generals, hid in ambush camps, closely following Hua Xiong's rear.

  "Han heard that Dong Zhuo had a young and handsome general in his army, who was from the same hometown as Dong. He is now a deputy general of the Great Qin." Han did not leave a true temporary commander in his own army, fearing that Dong would hold himself back, and that Gongsun Zan would take advantage of this to raid his camp.

  Ma Chao lowered his head, he was deeply afraid that if he saw Han Sui, he would be unable to restrain the murderous intent in his heart.

  Dong Zhuo suddenly stopped, and the whole team also stopped. There was no sound of footsteps to adorn it. The streets of Long City were really quiet at this time, so quiet that it made people's hearts jump with fright.

  "Alas, that young man is a good fighter, but also a heavy drinker. He's still not sober." Dong Zhuo said, leaving Han Sui stunned for a moment, and then the two of them burst out laughing inexplicably. They continued to chat, each accompanied by their own guards, as they walked on.

  Dong Zhuo's sigh, Gong Sun Ce lightly started deep breathing, he knew, it began!

  "Old thief, Ma Chao is here!" Ma Chao heard Han Sui's dry laughter and could no longer restrain the murderous intent in his heart, suddenly drawing his sword.

  Dong Zhuo knew this guy couldn't hold back, quickly jumped away and drew his sword.

  "Dong Gong..." Han Sui's face broke into a smile, but was immediately replaced by a look of shock.

  "Protect our lord!" Yan Xing loudly shouted at the moment Ma Chao drew his sword and also rushed towards Han Sui with his own sword drawn.

  Hua Xiong reacted slightly slower and after Yan Xing finished shouting, he also drew his sword and chased after Yan Xing to kill him.

  Gongsun Zan had never experienced such a sudden turn of events, with swords clashing in an instant. Moreover, he was a beat too slow, and by the time he drew out his Wushan sword, Gao Shun had already struck down one of Han Sui's guards with a single blow.

  One side was well-prepared, the other always on guard. Except for Han's slow-reacting guards who were cut down, the others clashed with the Qin army in the narrow streets. Both sides were elite, highly skilled at killing, and the death toll rose extremely quickly!

  "Dong Zhuo!" Han Sui pointed his sword at Dong Zhuo and shouted loudly, his eyes filled with resentment and incredulity.

  "Old thief, accept your death!" Ma Chao struck with his sword, Yan Xing blocked Ma Chao, the two of them exchanged blows back and forth, in the blink of an eye they had clashed seven or eight times.

  "Go die!" Hua Xiong bypassed the fighting Ma Chao and Yan Yi, raised his sword and chopped at Han Sui.

  "Block them!" Gong Sun Ce swung his sword and shouted loudly.

  He and Gao Shun blocked the impact of Han Sui's personal soldiers, who were fierce and fearless of death, wave after wave came up.

  "He is mine!" Ma Chao vowed to personally kill Han Sui, seeing Hua Xiong surpass himself, wanting to kill Han Sui, how could he be willing! He immediately abandoned Yan Xing and killed towards Han Sui.

  "Save our lord!" Yan Xing also abandoned Ma Chao and rushed towards Hua Xiong.

  "Protect the lord!" The soldiers of both sides who were standing guard along the way shouted loudly, and they did not fight each other, but instead rushed towards Dong Zhuo and Han Sui.

  "Dong Zhuo, you have broken your oath and will not die a good death!" Han Sui truly wanted to join the Great Qin camp, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the risk of attending the banquet. He surrendered to the Northern Liang forces in order to raise his own value. If they really had to fight against the Qin army, how could they allow the Qin army to set up a camp?

  "Han Wen is a pity! It's all because of your bad luck! If you had surrendered one day earlier, I wouldn't have treated you like this!" Dong Zhuo also felt sorry for Han Sui's misfortune. He didn't surrender early and waited until Ma Chao was revived to revive himself. Isn't this clearly asking for trouble?

  Dong Zhuo's words left Han Sui perplexed, but he knew that he was somehow connected to Ma Chao.

  Yan Xing alone held off Ma Chao and Hua Xiong, which was quite a strain. He was slightly weaker than Ma Chao but stronger than Hua Xiong. Surrounded by the two, he naturally met with disaster. In just a short moment, his whole body was covered in wounds in three or four places.

  "High order! Block them!" Gongsun Zan killed one of Han's bodyguards with a single sword, turned around and rushed towards Han, who was more than ten meters away. He had already seen seven or eight of Han's personal soldiers protecting Han, and in front of him, there were also a group of Han's personal soldiers who had broken through the Qin army and were rushing towards Han.

  "Kill Han Sui first!" Dong Zhuo ordered the guards surrounding him to kill Han Sui. As long as Han Sui is killed, his troops will not be difficult to defeat. They can even be directly surrendered!

  "Meng Qi, kill Han Sui first!" Gongsun Zan shouted loudly and rushed into the battle group, clashing swords with Yan Xing. Hua Xiong drew his sword again and stabbed out, Yan Xing dodged to the side but was a bit late, and was stabbed in the shoulder by Hua Xiong.

  Ma Chao nodded in gratitude to Gongsun Zan and strode towards Han Sui, who had three or four of his personal guards draw their swords and advance on Ma Chao. Meanwhile, Han Sui moved with the rest of his personal guards towards the center of Longcheng.

  Ma Chao saw Han Sui, and his eyes turned red. Thinking of his life, the first half was so brilliant, but the second half was so miserable, all because of Han Sui.

  He resurrected only to slay Han Sui and Yang Fu, but as for Cao Cao, he had the heart but not the power. Because Cao Cao would not participate in this muddy world of human affairs, he obediently stayed in the palace of Emperor Wu of Wei in the ghost realm.

  Three or four of Han's personal soldiers crossed paths with Ma Chao in an instant, then fell to the ground one after another, their heads rolling off and beginning to rot. They didn't even see Ma Chao's sword move before they were beheaded!

  "Kill!" Gong Sun Ce's sword strikes one after another, like a whirlwind slashing towards Yan Xing. In the starry sky of his consciousness, the giant snake was entwined in a fierce battle, and he already knew the direction of his breakthrough in martial arts, a simple word: momentum!

  Momentum, literally speaking, is the power of control. Control is control, and power is power. Being able to grasp power is momentum!

  Gongsun Zhi, who had previously acquired the basic transmission of Lü Bu's foundation, even if he practiced this basic martial skill to its deepest level, would only be able to achieve strength, and would never be able to transcend the category of strength.

  Momentum, also means momentum. Gong Sun Ce's deepest understanding of momentum is the momentum that sweeps everything before it! The momentum of having no enemies! The momentum of fighting alone against all eight directions!

  "Go die!" Gong Sun Ce slashed down with his sword, Yan Xing raised his sword to block it, but unexpectedly, the treasured sword in his hand was cut off!

  Yan Xing looked up at the sky and let out a long howl, his left arm had just been severed by Gongsun Zhi's sword! His right hand grasped the broken sword and stabbed at Gongsun Zhi again.

  Gongsun Zhan slashed out with his sword, not expecting to cut off Yan Xing's treasured sword. His sword cut off Yan Xing's left arm, and he couldn't stop the momentum, directly colliding with Yan Xing's broken sword!

  "Cut!" Hua Xiong's sword flashed out, and the blade sliced off Yan Xing's right arm at the elbow.

  Yan Xing lost both arms, although he could still recover. But he knew he had no chance anymore, possibly due to the intense pain. Because he had fully revived, he would also feel pain.

  He let out a loud whistle again, and the sound of it covered up the sounds of slaughter on the battlefield.

  Afterwards, Yan Xing felt that the whole world had quieted down.

  Gongsun Zan's sword was trembling with coarse breath, his face covered in big sweat. Yan Xing's head was just under his feet, a pair of round open eyes staring in Han Sui's direction, refusing to close.

  "Hahaha, ahahahaha!" Ma Chao was overwhelmed with emotion, tears streaming down his face as he laughed loudly to the heavens.

  He held a sword in one hand and raised the head of Han Zhuo with the other. The surrounding fighting also gradually subsided, except for the loyal guards who were determined to die for Han Zhuo and continued to charge at the Qin army in a suicidal manner. The rest of the guards looked terrified and huddled together.

  "I am Ma Chao, the General of Western Liang! Will you surrender to me?" Ma Chao pointed his sword at Han Sui's personal troops who had no intention of fighting and asked in a domineering tone.

  The remaining Han soldiers immediately dropped their weapons and surrendered.

  Ma Chao burst out laughing and shouted loudly: "It's me, the hero of Xiliang! Pick up your weapons and follow Ma Mengqi to capture Street Pavilion!"

  "Ah!" Han Sui's personal soldiers were mostly from the same period as Ma Chao, and there were many people who knew Ma Chao. It is worth noting that Ma Chao had a reputation in the Western Liang region, especially among the Qiang and Di ethnic minorities, which was like that of a god.

  Unfortunately, the troops under Han Sui's command were mainly Qiang people from the beginning, and later they could not leave the Qiang troops. When Han Sui was still alive, these Qiang soldiers thought that they were eating Han Sui's military salary, so they would naturally not respond to Ma Chao.

  Now Han's head is being held by Ma Chao, they naturally want to serve the legendary General Ma Chao.

  "My lord, we must not delay, I will take the Street Pavilion first. Otherwise, if we are late, there will be changes!" Ma Chao held up Han Sui's bloody head, and bowed with great respect.

  "Gao Shun, you go too and help Meng Qi a bit." Gong Sun Zan was really exhausted. From the start of the surprise attack to beheading Han Zhuo, it took less than three minutes.

  In just these three minutes, he felt like he had been fighting for a long time. Not only was his physical strength greatly consumed, but also his spirit. Now, all he wanted to do was sleep.

  Ma Chao led the surrendered Han Sui's personal troops to rush towards the main camp of Han Sui in Street Pavilion. Along the way, he saw that the 800 elite Western Liang cavalry stationed at the crossroads by Han Sui were surrounded by the Qin army. Ma Chao revealed his own banner, and in the blink of an eye, Han Sui's trusted followers were chopped into pieces by the Western Liang elite cavalry, turning into withered ash.

  Ma Wan, the general guarding the front camp, saw his own cavalry rushing towards him, with a group of black-clad Qin soldiers chasing after them. Ma Wan thought that Han Sui's surrender had failed and he was being pursued by the Qin army to be killed. In any case, Han Sui was still the nominal leader, and he couldn't just ignore him.

  "Open the gate and beat the drum!" Ma Wan immediately gave the order.

  Ma Chao saw that the gate of the camp was wide open and led his 700 surrendered Western Liang elite cavalry, like a whirlwind, to charge straight into the front camp of Street Pavilion.

  Ma Chao rushed down the wall, and came straight to look for Han Sui. He found Han Sui, who was being held in Ma Chao's hand, and also saw Ma Chao, his mind suddenly buzzing with noise.

  "Ma Wan, you choose for yourself!" Ma Chao threw Han Sui's head under Ma Wan's feet. Seeing Han Sui's head, Ma Wan's subordinates all knelt down, and Ma Wan struggled for a long time before kneeling down to surrender.

  Before long, the eight Western Liang tribe leaders rushed to the front camp and saw Ma Chao's powerful momentum. They all begged for surrender. Anyway, they were going to follow Han Sui to surrender to Qin, now surrendering to Ma Chao was also surrendering to Qin. There was no difference between the two, so they all surrendered.

  As for Han Sui's own division, several colonels who saw Han Sui's head still wanted to resist and were killed by their own soldiers. The soldiers opened the gate of the central camp, knelt down on both sides, and welcomed Ma Chao in.

  "Ma Chao's reputation is not in vain!" After Li Ru was released by the Western Liang army, he squinted to look at the sun and found that it had taken less than an hour for Ma Chao to defeat Han Sui's over 20,000 men. Ma Chao's prestige was indeed extraordinary.

  As for whether Gongsun Zan can control Ma Chao, Li Ru is not worried at all. Because Ma Chao was born out of Gongsun Zan's imagination and revived in the starry sky of Gongsun Zan's consciousness, from a spiritual point of view, he is just an appendage of Gongsun Zan.

  "Someone! Send this letter to the Li's allied forces!" Dong Zhuo wrote a letter of surrender, and also explained in detail why he and others had killed Han Sui.

  Firstly, tell Li's coalition forces that Han Sui's more than 20,000 people have been settled by themselves. Moreover, at this time, they have nearly 40,000 troops, including the remnants of Han Sui's army, which is not something that Li's coalition forces can withstand.

  Secondly, I hope to dispel the doubts of the Li clan's coalition forces and let them surrender with peace of mind.

  Gongsun Zan now had the idea of dividing his troops, and since Ma Chao brought back the eight Western Liang generals, he didn't think his own strength could expand so quickly!