Chapter 285

A pillar of fire shot skyward, then with a Boom—, a firework exploded in the sky!

"This... what is this?"

At that moment, many Xiongnu soldiers were stunned!

Even many Qin Army soldiers stood bewildered!

But Fan Kuai smiled and explained to the soldiers beside him: "This thing is called a signal flare; it works on the same principle as our cannons. However, I don't care what they call it a signal flare!"

"It is... summoning Brother Ba!"

"Summoning Brother Ba?"

"What does that mean?"

Everyone remained bewildered, and just then, suddenly, a black lightning bolt sliced past many people!

As everyone recoiled in horror, screams erupted from the Xiongnu army!

Li Yuanba!

He, alone with his hammer, charged toward that army of twenty thousand!

Half an hour later, when Fan Kuai arrived here, the place was already a field of bones.

Everyone had died miserably!

"This... Brother Ba... so fierce!"

"So fierce, Brother Ba!"

Fan Kuai was immensely excited!

That's right!

This was Han Xin's arrangement!

Zhou Bo, Fan Kuai, Xia Houying, and others patrolled various locations.

Once they spotted the Xiongnu army, they would fire a signal flare!

As for Li Yuanba, he possessed the Ten Thousand Li Cloudy Light!

Traveling ten thousand li by day, eight thousand by night!

That speed was simply too fast!

For ordinary Ma Pi, a journey taking a whole day, he could cover in less than half a ke!

So, he positioned himself at a spot relatively close to the five people and their five armies!

No matter which side's signal flare lit up, he would immediately mount the Ten Thousand Li Cloudy Light to provide support!

Every time he thought of all this, Fan Kuai was excited to the extreme.

The look in his eyes toward Li Yuanba was practically worshipful to death!

However, before he could worship for long, suddenly, to the due south, another firelight flared up!

"This... is that Lu Wan's side?"

Fan Kuai was startled.

But before he could react, Li Yuanba has already mounted the Ten Thousand Li Cloudy Light again!

A fine steed, like lightning in the night.

In the blink of an eye, he had already vanished from Fan Kuai's sight.

Clearly, he was heading toward Lu Wan's side to the due south!

But...

To the due east!

Chanyu Modu Chanyu Chanyu Modu, along with Fan Zeng and others, led one hundred thousand men, fleeing toward this direction!

Seeing the sudden red light above, though Chanyu Modu Chanyu Chanyu Modu had no idea what it was!

Yet... the instant he saw this thing, he felt an inexplicable sense of panic!

"Fan Zeng, what do you think has happened to those fifty thousand soldiers now?"

Chanyu Modu Chanyu Chanyu Modu asked.

Had they not seen the red light, Fan Zeng would certainly have told Chanyu Modu Chanyu Chanyu Modu that the two forces must be locked in fierce combat.

But regardless, one side must be in a stalemate.

Because... no matter how fast Li Yuanba's speed was, he possessed no precognition!

He could not know in advance which side was fighting!

So, these people must be able to attract Han Xin's attention.

Then, draw all the armies toward these two sides!

All of this was already within his calculations!

But... the instant he saw the red light, Fan Zeng was bewildered; his heart suddenly began to pound, and he felt an extremely bad sensation!

But now, there was no time for such concerns; since the decision to flee was made, they must move quickly, otherwise, it would be hard to leave later!

At that moment, he bowed to Chanyu Modu Chanyu Chanyu Modu and said: "The fifty thousand soldiers should be able to hold Han Xin for a while, but regardless, we must cross this area immediately!"

"Thirty li ahead, we reach the Turmu Bridge!"

"Cross this bridge, and it is an endless open expanse; then, we will be safe!"

"I will escort you across this bridge, then I will return to deal with those Central Plains experts!"

Chanyu Modu Chanyu Chanyu Modu asked: "How do you plan to deal with them?"

Fan Zeng said: "I originally intended to make use of the useless, having them help the two hundred and seventy thousand soldiers escape. But... these people are ultimately Central Plains people; tell them the truth and let them go. Those willing to stay, stay; those unwilling to stay, leave!"

Chanyu Modu Chanyu Chanyu Modu pondered for a moment and said: "Can we not take them all? Let them follow and join us in raiding the Roman Empire!"

Fan Zeng frowned and said: "These people... are none fit for great use!"

Chanyu Modu sighed, "But... every single one of these people can read and write, and moreover, they possess various strange skills. If our steppe people were to learn their arts... then..."

As he spoke, his eyes shone with light!

Fan Zeng inhaled sharply; at that moment, looking at Chanyu Modu, he felt shocked!

It was hard to imagine what kind of boldness this steppe person, who did not read Central Plains books nor recognize Central Plains characters, possessed to actually want the steppe people to learn these things from the Central Plains!

Chanyu Modu said:

"You may not know, but I greatly admire your Central Plains' Zhou Gongdan, and also Lord Xinling, Wei Wei Wuji! And also Guan Zhong, Bao Bao Shuya, and others!"

"These people simply make me admire them immensely!"

"Especially Zhou Gongdan; abolishing human sacrifice, just this one matter, simply distinguished your Central Plains people from us steppe people!"

"Before abolishing human sacrifice, your Central Plains was no different from us; we were all tribes! Compared to the great tribes of our steppe, it was merely a slightly stronger tribe!"

"But... after abolishing human sacrifice, your Central Plains directly became civilization!"

"And we steppe people, even until now, are still barbaric tribes!"

"This makes my heart ache bitterly!"

He sighed while speaking, and Fan Zeng swallowed hard once again.

At this very moment, a feeling of panic arose!

Chanyu Modu continued:

"Some time ago, I asked you, are all you Central Plains people so cunning?"

"At that time, you did not answer me, but after contacting you Central Plains people for so many days, I discovered a problem!"

"That is, the more books one has read, the more cunning one is; moreover, the more one reads, the more cunning one becomes. For example, you; having read so many books, you are cunning beyond words!"

"In contrast, Dian Qing, Wushuang Gui, and others; they cannot even recognize characters, so, just like the vast majority of steppe people, they are honest and simple!"

"So, tell me, is the cunning of Central Plains people related to reading books?"

Fan Zeng closed his eyes and sighed: "Yes!"

"But not entirely!"

"Oh?"

Chanyu Modu looked at Fan Zeng, confused!

Fan Zeng said: "Reading many books can also turn one into a bookworm. For instance, the eldest son of the Qin Shi Huang of the Qin State, Prince Prince Fusu; he is learned in five carriages of books, understanding all ancient and modern classics without exception, knowing everything without exception; the stories of the Hundred Schools of Thought are even grasped by him effortlessly and recited backwards!"

"But unfortunately, he read himself into being a bookworm; he only knows how to apply things rigidly and does not understand flexibility and adaptation! Even though the world is now unified, he still deludes himself with the feudal system!"

"What? The world is unified, yet he still deludes himself with the feudal system? And moreover, he is the eldest son of Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng?"

Chanyu Modu was greatly shocked!

Fan Zeng laughed: "How much more than that? On my way to the Xiongnu, I even heard that he intends to bring five hundred and fifty thousand of the Qin Army to help you Xiongnu kill Li Yuanba, the reason being... Li Yuanba is too cruel!"

"This... this..."