Chapter Twenty-Two Return to the City

  The Han army would not bring live sheep with them, and the copper drums were limited, so Li Guang specially left a team of cavalry at Lao Ying Kou, arranging for them to make some noise at night. Only cavalry could possibly avoid being chased by the Xiongnu when retreating. After making these arrangements, Li Guang led his troops of over 1,000 men back to Ganquan, with their mouths shut and horses' hooves wrapped in cloth.

  Qin Cheng was appointed as the new military marquis by Li Guang on the battlefield for his meritorious service in guarding the yellow flag during the day. This order naturally took effect, and Qin Cheng became a cavalryman, carrying the yellow flag and following behind Li Guang.

  The night was as black as ink, and the moonlight was like frost. The silent troops marched through the quiet mountain path, moving forward swiftly like a snake.

  Next to Qin Cheng was Li Guang's personal guard, a thirty-year-old man who had been constantly protecting Li Guang during the daytime battle and had not escaped unscathed. His dark armor, stained with blood, glowed with a cold blue light in the moonlight, making his stern face look somewhat frightening. In comparison, the pale-faced young servant beside him looked more gentle. Although his battle robe was also stained with blood, his expression was calm. Qin Cheng had known these two men before, but since everyone was silent on the journey, even Qin Cheng, who had wanted to find someone to talk to and ease the atmosphere, could only retreat in frustration.

  "Have you had enough?" The pale-faced young man suddenly turned his head and said coldly to Qin Cheng.

  "Uh...... you're really handsome! I'm sorry, what's your surname, big brother?" Qin Cheng only then realized he had been staring at the person for half a day, and being suddenly asked like this, he stuttered for a moment, saying something that came out randomly before his journey.

  "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!" The pale-faced young servant's face showed a hint of displeasure as he glanced at Qin Cheng sideways.

  "It's exactly what you said earlier." Qin Cheng couldn't help but reveal a brilliant smile, with a hint of schadenfreude.

  "You..." The pale-faced young man was momentarily speechless, his already large eyes staring at Qin Cheng as if he wanted to swallow him whole. "Glib and eloquent, a big man who can talk more than a woman, Qin Lang is indeed a great talent!"

  "It's not necessarily true that women are talkative and men are taciturn, it's entirely an individual matter." Qin Cheng retorted.

  "You..." The pale-faced young man was again at a loss for words, choking back his anger for half a day, and finally, with a flick of his sleeve, he let out a cold snort and cursed, "You insolent whelp!", then ignored Qin Cheng altogether.

  Qin Cheng couldn't help but glance at the pale-faced young servant with a hint of amusement, thinking to himself that this person not only had a face as white as jade, but also carried a subtle feminine air in his demeanor. If he hadn't seen this person's exceptional swordsmanship before, he definitely wouldn't have bothered with someone like him.

  During the conversation between Qin Cheng and Bai Lian Xiao Shuai, the Imperial Guards didn't even glance at them once, their eyes fixed on the front.

  After a group of people walked for more than two hours, they finally left the mountain path and turned over a bend, and Qiansang City appeared in front of them.

  It was wartime, even though it was already late at night, the city of Gensang still had its lights on, and under the lights, the guards standing on the city wall were clearly visible.

  "Company Commander, someone is coming from in front of the mountain!" New recruit Xiao Chengzi pointed loudly at a fire dragon made up of torches that had just appeared on the mountain path.

  "Old fellow saw it, what are you yelling about?!" Wu Zhang angrily said, guessing that he was very resentful of this new recruit who always liked to shout loudly.

  "Is it a Xiongnu person?!" Xiaochengzi felt that his voice was trembling, and he didn't know if it was because of tension or excitement.

  "Hun you mother's head! How could the Huns appear here?" Wu Zhang cursed, hesitated for a moment, his tone somewhat heavy, "It should be our people."

  "Is it our people? Could it be General Li? Didn't they just leave at dawn today? Have they returned victorious so soon?" Little City guessed, with some expectation in his heart.

  "Shut up!" the sergeant shouted, relying on his many years of military experience, he had already sensed a hint of unease. After carefully sizing up the troops that appeared on the relay road, the sergeant's unease grew even more intense. However, as a sergeant, he did not forget his duty and said in a low voice: "Remember, in the army, it is forbidden to discuss military secrets carelessly. There are some things that we ordinary soldiers cannot understand! You just remember, obeying orders is the heaven-sent duty of a soldier, killing all enemies is the mission of a soldier. Even if only one person is left, you must bravely charge at the enemy with your sword! Even if defeated for the time being, as long as there is still a breath in your body, you must rally again! Because behind you are your parents and relatives, it's the Great Han Empire!"

  "Remember, Sergeant!" Xiaochengzi's heart warmed up and he said firmly. Although his mind still didn't fully understand the sergeant's meaning for a moment.

  Wu Chang nodded and didn't say much more. As a veteran, he knew that new recruits needed time to grow and experience.

  The guards on the city wall saw the Han army coming quickly from the end of the post road and reported to the defender of the city early.

  Li Gan rode out in front of the troops and rushed to the foot of Qiansang City, shouting loudly towards the city gate: "The general has returned to the city, quickly open the city gate!"

  The defender looked intently and saw that although Li Gan's face was not very clear under the firelight, it could still be recognized. Looking again at the troops behind him, the one in the middle with a golden armor and sword standing tall, who else could it be if not Li Guang? Confirming the identity of the other party, the defender loudly responded: "General, please wait, I will open the city gate immediately!"

  "Open the gate!"

  ……

  At dawn, in front of Lao Ying's mouth.

  The Xiongnu Left Wise King did not fall asleep, still wearing his armor. This half of the night, he had been calculating time. The main cavalry had already been dispatched and would arrive at the back of Lao Yingkou in two hours without any unexpected events, giving a surprise attack to the Han army. However, as time passed by, a sense of annoyance gradually rose up in the heart of the Left Wise King for no reason.

  After many years of commanding troops and fighting battles, Zuo Xianwang deeply understood how important it was for a general to have a sense of the battlefield.

  At this moment, he stepped towards the sentry post closest to Eagle's Mouth. Before he got close, he saw two Xiongnu soldiers huddled together whispering something.

  "What are you whispering about?" King Xuan shouted.

  "Prince Zuo Xian." The two Xiongnu men saw Prince Zuo Xian behind them and hastily paid their respects. After the formalities, the two Xiongnu soldiers exchanged a glance, a hint of hesitation flashing in their eyes.

  Zuo Xianwang looked at the two Xiongnu soldiers' expressions and said displeased: "What do you have to say?"

  "Report to Zuo Xianwang," a Xiongnu soldier seemed to have made up his mind, and respectfully said, "The Han army's sounds suddenly became much weaker half an hour ago. I found it very strange. But then I thought that the Han army might be asleep, so I didn't report it."

  Zuo Xian Wang's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he fixed his eyes on the old eagle's mouth. He could vaguely see some flames, but when he listened carefully, it was just the faint sound of horses neighing.

  "Forward march!" Left General Xian suddenly shouted loudly.

  "What does Prince Wenyuan have to say?" A nearby chiliarch hurried over.

  "Gather your troops and follow me into Eagle's Mouth!"

  "Hello!"

  Before long, Zuo Xianwang led a group of cavalry rushing towards Lao Ying Kou. Every hundred feet they advanced, Zuo Xianwang's heart sank a little more, because they did not see the shadow of Han soldiers on the rocks of Lao Ying Kou.

  The suddenly boiling post road, the still quiet Old Eagle Mouth, one dynamic and one static, formed a sharp contrast between the two sides.

  "Break through these war chariots!" Zuo Xian Wang shouted loudly, pointing at the several Han army war chariots placed in the middle of the eagle's mouth.

  "Hello!"

  A group of cavalrymen charged into Eagle's Mouth unimpeded. As they looked around, Left Chancellor's face had turned extremely pale.

  On both sides of the forest, there were more than a dozen inferior horses tied up. Not far from these dozens of inferior horses, a large amount of horse feed was placed separately. These inferior horses could see the horse feed but couldn't eat it, so they kept making sorrowful neighing sounds.

  The faint sound of horse whinnies could still be heard, and then they were gone.

  If King Wenyuan of Chu had arrived a little earlier, he would have seen the cavalry that had not retreated yet occasionally beating some bronze drums and someone waving on the rocks.

  "Half a time ago, I still saw people's shadows on this mountain rock, how come there is no one now?" The thousand-year-old who came with him panicked and cried out in grief. Suddenly he understood the plan and knelt down at the feet of General Zuo Xian, "I should die!"

  "You're good for nothing!" Zuo Xian Wang kicked the Thousand Households General on the shoulder, sending him tumbling down. "The Han army ran right under your nose and you didn't even notice! What use is a general like you to me?!"

  He said, and with a thousand husbands, it was a fierce kick, as if kicking a sheep.

  Qian Feng tightly wrapped his head and curled up on the ground, still feeling the shadow of Zuo Xian Wang's feet falling on him like raindrops, although it hurt so much that he gritted his teeth, but he didn't make a sound.

  "Trash!" Zuo Xian Wang cursed as he kicked, causing the nearby Xiongnu soldiers to feel a chill.

  After a while, he estimated that if he kicked the Thousand Households again, he would be kicked to death. Xue Xianwang stopped and shouted: "Pass on the order to the whole army, take the Han army prisoners of war, and rush to Qiansang before dawn!"

  "Ugh!" Qian Fuzhang gritted his teeth and struggled to get up, his clothes and armor already in disarray, looking extremely wretched.

  ……