Chapter Thirty-Six: Luring the Enemy into a Trap

  After arranging for someone to keep watch outside the mountain, Li Zhong called two people and had them prepare to go to Shengtou Mountain Baolu Valley to see Nuluo and explain the situation.

  Li Zhēng muttered to himself, and suddenly felt a little regretful. If he had known earlier that it would be better to bring two Blue Swallow birds with him, it would have been much more convenient. The message transmission would be faster and more covert, less likely to be detected, and the safety factor would be higher.

  At first Li Zhen led the army to come north, and at this time he divided his troops with Nuo Luo on the mountain of Lingtu Shengtou, leaving 100 infantrymen for Nuo Luo, and ordered him to set up an ambush in Bólùo Valley.

  It has been seven days since we parted ways. I suppose Nuro must have made sufficient preparations during these seven days.

  Recalling the more than 10,000 pursuers outside the mountain, Li Zhēn couldn't help but sneer in his heart. As long as these bastards dared to chase in, Li Zhēn dared to leave them on this Shēngtóu Mountain!

  "It seems that younger brother had made preparations earlier."

  Fu Xie's eyes sparkled with amusement as he chuckled and said, "Han Sui ran into you, younger brother - I suppose it's just his bad luck."

  Li Zhēng smiled and waved his hand, saying: "It's just a precautionary measure, if the rebels don't pursue us, there's nothing I can do."

  Fu Xiu smiled and shook his head: "Younger brother's actions along the way, weren't they all preparations for this contingency?"

  Fu Xie saw it clearly, Li Zhong's provocative actions on this road were not hidden. If he really wanted to escape, he would have fled in the daytime and traveled at night, taking shortcuts to remote areas, relying on his horse's strength, and should have already withdrawn from Hanyang and entered Sanfu. Why was he so ostentatious, hurrying slowly, as if afraid that the rebel army wouldn't know his whereabouts?

  Li Zhēng heard this and couldn't help but smile: "Of course I wouldn't be able to deceive my elder brother."

  Fu Xi shook his head again: "Younger brother, this calculation is a superficial plan. Fu Mou is the biggest threat to Han Wei's heart, and younger brother is also the thorn in Han Wei's eye. No matter what, Han Wei will not let you and me go. However, Han Wei is now at the height of his power, and he might have some suspicions, but he won't take it seriously, thinking that his own power is great, and he absolutely won't put younger brother's small forces in his eyes, and he will definitely pursue us relentlessly."

  Li Ding nodded slightly: "However, to prevent any accidents, I will still try my best to provoke him. I'm afraid that Han Xi's pursuing soldiers won't arrive, and all my preparations will be in vain."

  Only six riders were left, and after resting in the mountain pass for about three quarters of an hour, a soldier who was monitoring the rebel army's movements returned to report that the rebels had previously buried pots and cooked rice at the foot of the mountain, and were now gathering their horses.

  But in another moment, the other sentinel also returned.

  "Your Majesty, the pursuing troops have entered the mountains!"

  Upon hearing this, Li Zheng and the other five people all stood up together.

  "Good!"

  Li Zheng stroked his palm and laughed: "It didn't let me waste my efforts in vain!"

  With a smile, Li Zhēng waved his hand and said to the two people he had previously instructed: "You two escort Brother Fù to Bólù Gǔ, be careful on the way. The remaining four people follow me to welcome the guests!"

  "Ah!"

  From Longtou Mountain to Bolutang Valley, this line is actually quite open. It's a mountain stream washed out by mountain floods, stretching all the way to near Bolutang Valley.

  Li Ding led two riders in green armor out of the mountain valley by the stream, along the mountain stream, and went outside the mountain.

  But in an instant, I heard the sound of people and horses, and it was boiling with excitement.

  The sky had turned dark, and the pursuing soldiers had lit torches, the whole scene looked like a fire dragon in the distance.

  Li Zheng led the light cavalry to a huge rock by the creek, looking down at the approaching fire dragon from a distance, and smiled back: "When the pursuing soldiers approach, let's give them a few arrows to taste first."

  Four riders beside him simultaneously bowed their heads and grabbed the longbows hanging from the saddle hooks.

  Li Jing had originally intended to use the Qingyijun as heavy cavalry, but before they set out from Lingzhou, he also equipped them with a set of bows and arrows for reserve purposes, which now turned out to be just right.

  Before long, the pursuing soldiers had entered the range of an arrow shot, and the flames were already faintly illuminating Li Zhēn's eyes.

  "Fire the arrow."

  Li Zhēng also drew his longbow.

  Five arrows flew out in a flash, and in an instant several people shot out without stopping, shooting out the second arrow.

  However, the five riders shot arrows without making any noise. The pursuing soldiers were in an uproar, and it was dark, so they couldn't see anything. As a result, the ten arrows fell into the midst of the pursuers with ease. In an instant, several shrill cries of agony echoed through the mountains.

  "Enemy attack!"

  The rebels in the front row immediately panicked.

  "Don't panic!"

  At this time, a familiar voice came, it was Yan Xing.

  "I know it's you!" Yan Xing comforted the soldiers while shouting at Li Zhuang: "That little brat, if he has the guts to fight openly with swords and guns, what kind of hero is he by shooting a cold arrow?!"

  Hahaha...

  Li Zheng burst out laughing, waving his hand to let the four riders retreat quickly, shouting: "Yan Xing, you have more men, I'm not a fool! I'll leave now, you can chase slowly, haha!"

  When Li Zhēng's voice faded away, Yán Xíng's face looked ferocious under the reflection of the flames.

  Now that he knew Li Zhong and his men had not gone far, Yan Xing naturally would not give up. He hastily urged the soldiers on, pressing the pursuit closely.

  Along the mountain stream, Li Zhong occasionally stopped for a while, shot a few cold arrows, and took away several lives, making Yan Xing more furious.

  However, Yan Xing was not a fool either and had thought of several possibilities in his mind.

  Either Li Zhēn was luring him, deceiving him, but Yán Háng thought the most likely possibility was that Li Zhēn was delaying his speed to give Fù Xiǎo time to escape!

  Because Yan Xing determined from the number of cold arrows Li Jing shot each time, the number of people and horses Li Jing brought this time absolutely did not exceed five. Then where did the others go?

  He must have fled with Fu Xian one step ahead! Or perhaps... an ambush?!

  What's most important is that Yan Xing clearly knew that Li Zhong had at most less than a hundred men under his command. Now he has over ten thousand men under him, even if Li Zhong's plans were to reach the heavens, with just a hundred men, what kind of plan could he possibly set up?!

  In the face of absolute power, all schemes are useless!

  Even Yan Xing hoped that Li Zhong would set an ambush, and use the lives of his men to lure out Li Zhong's troops, in order to spare Li Zhong's life.

  Having understood the crux of the matter, Yan Xing's heart calmed down and he didn't bother with Li Zheng's cold arrows, just biting down and not letting go!

  Li Zhong and his party had always been a few hundred steps ahead of Yan Xing's pursuing troops, seeing that Yan Xing not only did not have the intention to retreat due to the weather and terrain, but instead accelerated the pursuit, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

  As soon as Bó Lùo Gǔ came into view, Lǐ Zhēng stopped teasing Yán Xíng's nerves and instead occasionally revealed his figure while quickly approaching Bó Lùo Gǔ.

  Suddenly, a bird cry sounded from ahead, and one of the soldiers under his command said: "Your Majesty, it's the White Wolf General!"

  Li Zhēn was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "It seems that White Wolf's speed is quite fast, and he has arrived here before us."

  Just as they were speaking, the mouth of the valley was right in front of them. Several horses stood at the entrance of the valley, and the leader was none other than White Wolf.

  "Your Majesty!"

  Bai Lang saw Li Zhuang arrive and hurriedly came forward to greet him, saying: "Your Majesty, Nu Luo has made all the preparations. Now please follow me up the mountain!"

  Li Zheng looked around at both sides of the valley, but shook his head and said: "I still can't go up the mountain. Someone must lead the pursuing troops into the valley to avoid any unexpected situations."

  "Then let it be!"

  Bai Lang didn't hesitate, cupped his hands and bowed, solemnly saying: "This world can do without Bai Lang, but it cannot do without its master! Dangerous tasks are for subordinates to handle, Master, please ascend the mountain from this side!"

  Li Zheng stared at White Wolf for a few breaths, then nodded slowly: "Alright, you come!"

  With a flick of his whip, he urged on the four green-armored cavalrymen behind him and turned to gallop up the mountain.

  The white wolf led a few riders in light armor at the mouth of the valley, and when they saw the pursuing soldiers approaching, they hastily dodged and rushed into the Thin Falling Valley.

  Li Zhēng climbed up the mountain, turned over and came down from the back of the green cloud, turned around and looked at the White Wolf and others rushing into the Thin Falling Valley, and couldn't help but let out a faint sigh.

  There are people who can make others willing to die for them. For example, Fu Xi, on the battlefield of Jizhou at that time, those soldiers who launched the final attack, what a magnificent sight, Li Jing witnessed it with his own eyes.

  But now it has fallen on him, and the impact is far beyond what was seen at first.

  This thin valley has been set up by Nuo Luo for seven days, and there must be countless traps. Now that the sky is dark, even if Bai Lang comes a little earlier, it's roughly clear what's inside the setup. In the case of being chased by soldiers, it's also difficult to avoid the danger of death.

  But he unhesitatingly replaced Li Zhong, perhaps because of the principle of being a subordinate in this era, or perhaps for some other reason, it can't be said what the reason is, but he just did it.

  A surge of warmth welled up in Li Zhēng's heart.

  "If you die, I will erect a monument for you; if you don't die, I will grant you wealth and honor!"

  As soon as this was said, the four riders beside him exchanged a glance, and their eyes burst forth with fervor.

  With a determined mind, Li Zhēng took Qīng Yún's hand and led the four of them swiftly up the mountain.

  On both sides of the valley mouth of Thin Falling Valley, two mountain peaks are very steep.

  On the top of the cliff on the left side, there were more than 50 people, and Nuo Luo was among them.

  The top of this cliff is very flat, with countless objects piled up on it, including giant trees and stones, all jumbled together in a big heap.

  Nuo Luo stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the fire dragon below, but his eyebrows furrowed.

  He turned around and paced back and forth, his expression somewhat anxious.

  "Why hasn't the Emperor arrived yet?!"

  "You two, hurry up and go take a look... what's White Wolf doing? Why hasn't he brought the master back yet?"

  "It's okay!"

  Just then, Li Zhēng's voice came from behind.

  "The White Wolf has led the pursuing soldiers into the valley." Li Zhēng pulled Qīng Yún along, with four people following behind him, and they walked out of the darkness.

  "Hmm..."

  Seeing Li Zhong, Nuo Luo let out a long sigh of relief and finally showed joy on his face: "Your Majesty!"

  Li Zheng nodded slightly and said: "How's the preparation going?"

  "All preparations are complete!"

  Nuo Luo replied respectfully: "At the entrance, there are fifty people I brought with me. At the exit, there are also fifty people. All kinds of things have been prepared in abundance, and there is enough dry hay and firewood in the valley. Moreover, many traps have been dug at the back of the valley."

  Li Zheng nodded in approval and looked at Nuo Luo, saying: "Well done."

  With that, he walked towards the edge of the cliff, his eyes shining like stars in the dark night, fixed intently on the fire dragon writhing below. He said slowly, "What's next, you're in command."

  Nuro set up here for seven days and understood this place best. He knew best when to launch the attack at the right moment.

  Upon hearing this, Nuo Rou cupped his fists and nodded: "Your Majesty just watch, I will make sure these rebels can't fly out of Thin Ridge Valley even if they grow wings!"

  Li Zheng nodded, and suddenly said: "Just hope that Bai Lang and others are safe..."

  Nuo Luo was speechless.