Chapter 585

The war between the Xiongnu and the Qin state soon reached its end.

What truly brought this war to an end was not just Meng Tian leading his army, split into several groups, to wreak havoc in the Xiongnu rear, but Li Mu leading another army to cross the Yinshan Mountains from the front and launch an attack on the Xiongnu.

If Meng Tian’s army was a surprise force, constantly raiding the Xiongnu and dismantling their power, then Li Mu’s army was a formal, upright force. Using the tiger tally left by Meng Tian, he directly mobilized the remaining troops to launch a fierce frontal attack on the Xiongnu.

In this battle, the Qin army fought very fiercely.

But, in the end, they won.

Just as Touman was routed and fleeing completely toward Touman City, he suddenly discovered that the Xiongnu royal flag above Touman City had changed owners and become the flag of the Qin state.

It turned out that while Li Mu was confronting and resisting the Xiongnu army from the front, the several troops under Meng Tian’s command had surrounded the Xiongnu royal city from several directions, directly taking the Xiongnu royal city in one fell swoop.

With the Xiongnu royal city changing hands and Li Mu’s army pursuing Touman’s remnants from the rear.

The outcome of this war was already doomed.

Since the earlier time when Meng Tian and Li Mu’s armies defeated the two hundred thousand Xiongnu troops, to Meng Tian crossing the Yinshan Mountains to strike the Xiongnu tribal lands, today, with the death of the Xiongnu leader Touman, the Xiongnu, a powerful tribe that had existed on the Mobei grassland for hundreds of years, had completely become a thing of the past.

When this news arrived, the Yuezhi and Donghu tribes on the Mobei grassland were simultaneously shocked.

They were very clear about the Xiongnu’s strength. Now that the Xiongnu had been annihilated by that powerful empire in the south, would the other party’s next target be them?

This was a question worth pondering.

In the Yuezhi tribe, when the news that the Xiongnu had been annihilated by the Qin state spread, a young man was shocked. Then, he decided that he must find a way to escape from the Yuezhi.

Although the Xiongnu had been annihilated by the Qin state, he firmly believed that many of his people must have survived. This time, he only needed to escape from the Yuezhi, gather these people, recuperate, and silently accumulate power for a few years. Sooner or later, he could make the name "Xiongnu" make a comeback.

The young man’s name was Modu.

He was Touman’s son. However, although he was a son, in Xiongnu culture, there was no such thing as father-son affection. Touman was extremely wary of this son of his. This was because Touman was already old, while he was still young. In the Xiongnu tribe, the elderly had no value; keeping them only wasted food.

It was precisely because Touman was wary of his youth and worried that he would seize power that he had sent him to the Yuezhi as a hostage when the Xiongnu sent troops to invade the Central Plains earlier.

One reason for sending him here was that he was far from the Xiongnu royal court and could not usurp power while Touman was in the Central Plains. The second was to use this to appease the Yuezhi and befriend them, so that the Yuezhi would not take the opportunity to attack the Xiongnu and pick up a bargain.

The Yuezhi were also good people. Seeing Touman send his son as a hostage, they immediately concluded an alliance with the Xiongnu, not knowing that the Xiongnu had other motives in sending Modu. Even before they had ideas about the Central Plains, the Xiongnu had already had ideas about the Yuezhi.

If the situation in the Central Plains had not changed so quickly, making the Xiongnu think there was an opportunity to exploit, the first target the Xiongnu would have attacked was actually the Yuezhi.

Unfortunately, Touman was smart for a lifetime but confused for a moment. He ultimately chose the wrong opponent. Marching into the Central Plains was the most wrong decision he had made in his life, and it was this decision that led to the annihilation of the Xiongnu and his own death.

After learning of Touman’s failure, Modu sneered. Therefore, if he could go back, he would not clash with that powerful empire in the Central Plains for the time being. This grassland was very large, and the area where the Xiongnu lived was only a very small part of it. If he were the leader of the Xiongnu, he would choose to annihilate the many tribes of the grassland first, imitating that emperor of the Central Plains, unifying the grassland first, and then, after there were no more enemies on the grassland, march into the Central Plains.

With the help of the Yuezhi’s laxity and the help of insiders bribed with wealth since he had been a hostage in the Yuezhi, Modu easily escaped from the Yuezhi. He rode a fine horse and quickly headed toward the area where the Xiongnu lived.

The vast world receded rapidly on his left and right; in front and behind were vast grasslands.

At this moment, after breaking free from his shackles, although the Xiongnu had nominally been annihilated and his father Touman had died, Modu had a feeling of the sky being high and the earth being wide, allowing him to soar at will. That was the feeling of freedom.

However, at the next moment.

A cold voice sounded in his ear: "Are you Modu?"

Modu at this time, because he was still young and did not yet regard the Central Plains as his opponent, did not understand the culture of the Central Plains, and even less could he understand the language of the Central Plains.

Hearing this strange voice, he could not help but turn his head to look.

He only saw a figure in black clothes quietly floating in mid-air, the other party’s palm reaching out.

In an instant, the vast world shrank rapidly. In Modu’s eyes, there was only this palm, and immediately after, his life faded away.

Watching Modu die, Su Xuan nodded with satisfaction.

Although the Xiongnu had been defeated and Touman had died, he had not forgotten that Touman had an extremely formidable son, Modu. So after Touman died, he immediately had his Primordial Spirit travel to the battlefield, took Touman’s soul, and then, through a certain secret method, borrowed his perception to find the whereabouts of Modu, his blood relative.

During this time, Su Xuan’s Primordial Spirit walked between heaven and earth, just to kill all of Touman’s blood relatives.

Until he met the person in front of him, almost the moment he saw the other party, Su Xuan recognized that the other party was Modu. This was presented in Touman’s soul memory.

He did not give Modu any chance to turn the tables.

Su Xuan struck fiercely, taking the other party’s life.

A generation of heaven’s pride, before he had grown to his peak, was directly slaughtered in advance because Su Xuan knew his future deeds.

Afterward, Su Xuan did not pay attention to Modu’s corpse, and his Primordial Spirit continued to roam heaven and earth, returning to his body in Xianyang.

After a period of time, the news of the Xiongnu’s annihilation reached Xianyang. In an instant, the whole country was shaken, and everyone was immersed in joy.

Although the Qin state had previously annihilated the Regarding Baiyue, the name of the Xiongnu was much louder than that of the Regarding Baiyue.

— Author's Notes —

0 ... Seeking flowers ...