Chapter 66: Hearts Floating Unsettled

Inside Xianyang Hall, candlelight flickered, light and shadow drifting uncertainly.

The feeble candlelight reflected faces all shrouded in gloom.

*Cough cough~~~*

On the road fleeing back to Ye City, Shi Hu, who had accidentally fallen from his horse, strove to maintain his dignity as Heavenly King.

Yet the pain from his broken leg forced him to let out involuntary low moans.

"We have long known that Yao Yizhong is unreliable."

Shi Hu narrowed his slanted eyes, his gaze sinister. "We arranged land and slaves for them, provided grain and implements."

"Let them come out from poor mountain gullies, to live on this fertile land."

"We have treated them better than their own parents and ancestors!"

"Yet how do they repay Us?"

"These Qiang actually fled!"

With bloodshot eyes, Shi Hu coughed again. "Traitors! Beasts! Fucking beasts!"

The news that Yao Yizhong was crushed into meat paste by the Hundred-Ton King was unknown to anyone in Later Zhao.

But the news that the Qiang fled en masse was true.

With a powerful enemy at the gates, for this to happen — Shi Hu not fainting from rage already proved his mental fortitude.

Shi Hu's roars echoed in the hall; everyone bowed their heads in silence.

Under the candlelight, each person's complexion was different.

Some were fearful, some angry, some secretly delighted, some deep in thought, and some heavy-hearted and expressionless.

"Crown Prince~"

Catching his breath, Shi Hu instructed Shi Xuan: "Send orders to Shi Bao (Chang'an garrison commander) to intercept and slaughter the Qiang, kill them all!"

Shi Xuan immediately accepted the command.

"Dispatch men to search the city interior." Shi Hu's anger had not subsided. "Any Qiang found, execute them all!"

Shi Xuan accepted the command again.

Later Zhao faced a major crisis; as Crown Prince, Shi Xuan now inevitably stood on the same line as his father.

"Traitors, in the end We will exterminate them all."

When Shi Hu spoke these words, his gaze was fixed on the Di Great Chieftain Fu Hong.

They had previously experienced an unprecedented crushing defeat.

The Qihuo Army's sudden emergence of steel behemoths, great killing weapons.

Directly shattered the morale and military heart of Later Zhao's various departments.

Facing irresistible steel behemoths, hearts within Later Zhao floated restlessly.

Seeing the great ship in danger of capsizing, smart people should think of jumping ship early.

The Qiang fled first; the Di, possessing numerous tribesmen, became the key focus of attention.

Under close scrutiny, Fu Hong's expression remained normal, not a word spoken.

"All departments must strictly guard the cities."

Shi Hu's gaze was fierce. "Ye City's defenses are solid; We do not believe the Qihuo Army's behemoths can smash open the city walls!"

Leaving Xianyang Hall, the atmosphere remained oppressive.

The crowd of Later Zhao's civil and military meritorious nobles dispersed without much exchange.

Returning to his residence, Fu Hong first hugged his grandson Fu Jian affectionately for a while.

Then he took his son Fu Jian to the study for a secret talk.

"We must find a way to leave the city as soon as possible."

Fu Hong spoke bluntly: "I am watched closely; you must take Fu Jian out."

"A Ye." Fu Jian was astonished. "Why so?"

"Why so?" Fu Hong clenched his fist, face ferocious. "Our people suffered a disastrous defeat in field battle — then there is no future!"

The foundation on which the various Hu stand is precisely their powerful field battle capability.

But the sudden emergence of steel behemoths directly turned field battle into a joke.

Even armored cavalry crashing into them became minced flesh and blood.

How much less anyone else.

As long as that behemoth appears on the battlefield, formations will inevitably fall into chaos, morale will collapse.

How can this still be fought?

If merely defending cities, what difference is there between our people and the Han?

"This city cannot be held."

Fu Hong clenched his fist. "In the Qihuo Army, all kinds of strange things emerge endlessly."

"They surely have siege-breaking weapons."

"You must leave quickly."

Before the anxious Fu Jian could speak, Fu Hong spoke again: "After leaving the city, go find the clansmen, take them to Shuo Fang."

"There gullies crisscross, convenient for hiding."

"If there is an opportunity." Speaking here, Fu Hong hesitated slightly. "We can surrender to the Qihuo Army."

Fu Jian was greatly shocked. "But the Qihuo Army killed Fu Xiong!"

"Compared to the tribe's future, Fu Xiong's grudge is not worth mentioning."

"If we surrender to the Qihuo Army, we serve them wholeheartedly."

Fu Hong waved his hand. "If it doesn't work, then we retreat to the grasslands, retreat into the great mountains."

"Lie low, wait for the Han people's realm to fall into internal chaos once more."

Cheng Hou Fu.

Shi Min had just returned when Feng Dun and the others, who had been waiting here for some time, all stepped forward to greet him, their expressions anxious.

After the siege of Xiangguo City failed, Feng Dun and the others formally joined Shi Min's command.

They also took part in the previous great battle.

The steel behemoth's invincible bearing left them shocked and filled with regret.

Had they known today would come, they should have followed Master Lin Jia from the start.

Master Lin Jia is also a damn piece of work.

You're this fucking capable, why didn't you pull it out sooner~~~

"Let's wait a bit first."

Shi Min spoke somewhat dully. "The Heavenly King is in a rage right now; showing our faces at this time would end badly."

He had always prided himself on his martial valor, feeling that galloping across the battlefield on horseback, no one under heaven could match him.

But when he saw that steel behemoth rampaging unchecked, directly destroying army formations, his heart turned cold.

What kind of martial valor can stand against such a terrifying monster?

He developed deep doubts about his own ability.

If he rode his fine steed charging at the behemoth, what would be the outcome?

Feng Dun and the others also wore ugly expressions, but at this moment they didn't know what to say either.

They originally had the chance to stand on the victor's side cheering and leaping for joy.

After a long silence, Shi Min quietly spoke to ask.

"Do you all know what preferences that Master Lin Jia has?"

Li Nong, returned home, paced in circles in the study.

His brows were tightly knit, as if pondering an urgent matter.

Unknown how much time passed, Li Nong took out several letters from the inner chamber.

These were persuasion-to-surrender letters once written to him from the Jiangzuo side.

After deliberating a moment, Li Nong, by candlelight, spread paper, ground ink, lifted his brush, and wrote a letter.

Later Zhao's great ship is leaking everywhere; Li Nong plans to contact other captains and seek a ship's passage.

Qihuo Army Old Camp.

Laughter and joy are everywhere here.

On every person's face shines a glow of delight.

Lin Dao, in high spirits, paid out of his own pocket to buy several cases of Snowflake and drank freely with everyone in celebration.

In the camp, that Hundred-Ton King Mining Truck which had rendered great merit sat quietly parked there.

Countless Qihuo Army soldiers came forward to worship with reverent hearts.

Even though the viscous stains on the vehicle had not yet been washed off, it did not hinder everyone from touching it, feeling it, worshiping it.

Everyone believed such a peerless wonder could not exist in the mortal world; it must be a National Treasure from the immortal realm.

Looking at it, touching it, getting a bit of blessed luck is good too.

The happiest of all was Wang Meng.

He held a wine bottle, his gaze fixed foolishly on the Hundred-Ton King, as if looking at an unparalleled beauty even more stout and corpulent than a martial champion.

"With this divine object, pacifying the world can be expected any day."

"Only by ending the chaotic era can we live and work in peace."

Lin Dao sat there, drinking beer mouthful by mouthful, his bearing content.

At first he still felt surprise.

It was just winning one battle; why the need to be excited to the point of madness?

Later he figured it out: more important than winning this battle was that a divine object like the Hundred-Ton King Mining Truck belonged to the Qihuo Army side.

At full tilt it's faster than heavy cavalry; hitting cavalry is like smashing eggs with a stone.

Most importantly, the mining truck is completely unstoppable; all existing means cannot break its defense.

To say it really crashes and crushes thousands or tens of thousands of Hu captives — one knows that's impossible.

After all, Hu captives aren't African Honey Badgers, dead set on ramming head-on; they'll run.

The truly important thing is the psychological blow and pressure on the Hu captives.

This thing appearing on the battlefield is a strategic-level deterrent force.

No matter how brave a warrior, charging in is just death.

No matter how solid a battle formation, the Hundred-Ton King rolls over and it shatters directly.

This terrifying pressure deals too great a blow to morale.

Its deterrent capability regarding military morale is unquestionably strategic-grade.

Precisely because of this, the various Hu either flee to other places or hide in the city daring not to come out.

Hu people who dare not fight field battles have lost the greatest advantage they relied on.

Earlier, driving all the way, blood gourds everywhere, crushed who knows how many men and horses.

The great earth was dyed blood-red for it.

If this were a female-protagonist genre, the Holy Mother types would long since have gone full firepower, drowning Lin Dao in spittle.

As it is now, Lin Dao merely feels a bit dizzy.

Snowflake drank too much; though the alcohol content was not high, there were too many people coming to offer toasts, and she got drunk from drinking too much.

He had no psychological burden.

Along the way, he witnessed too many human tragedies with his own eyes; the Northern Han people lived in a way that could no longer be called human.

They were so miserable; Lin Dao was merely speaking out for them.

Return the retribution that the Hu captives deserve to the various Hu.

This is the cycle of heavenly justice where retribution is not comfortable.

How could Lin Dao possibly feel dizzy, nauseous, and unwell because of this, suffer the condemnation of his conscience, and consequently suffer a mental and physical collapse?

He definitely had a conscience, and a large one at that.

But Lin Dao's conscience belonged to humans; the Hu captives who liked two-legged sheep could not be considered human.

There were feelings of regret, discomfort, and wanting to apologize, but those were for those innocent horses that were knocked down and trampled to death.

After all, horses are so cute~

Drinking too much wine made him dizzy, and once dizzy, he wanted to sleep.

In a daze, Lin Dao felt himself being helped up, and then he fell onto a soft large bed.

When he regained consciousness again, it was already past sunrise the next day.

Sitting up, his first feeling was that he wanted water.

Then he saw the girl lying beside him.

"Master~"

Jin Lian, who had woken up long ago, sat up shyly and timidly.

"What a sin~" Lin Dao sighed.

"I'm not some ignorant greenhorn."

"In a drunken state, I still know that there's no way around it."

"But after all, you stayed here for a night."

"Sigh~~~"

Indeed a sin.

Lin Dao usually slept by returning to the Modern World.

He had no feelings for Yonghe Spacetime; here he was purely pushed along by people and events.

In his heart, he also did not want too many attachments.

But Jin Lian pulling such a stunt also left him speechless.

Such things actually often do not require substantive progress.

If Lin Dao ran out and declared to everyone, "Although Jin Lian stayed in my room for a night, we did not do anything."

Then Jin Lian would have no face to be a person in the future.

"Bring me water."

Lin Dao was not some shy little boy.

Since the girl was so proactive, he would just accept it.

It was just that he woke up late.

If he had woken up in the middle of the night, he would definitely have launched a barrage of critical hits.

Jin Lian, who went out to fetch water, saw Sun Rong waiting outside the door, biting her shell-teeth tightly and glaring with apricot eyes wide open.

She was like a proud peacock, raising her head.

As he passed by Sun Rong, he gave a cold hum.

"I won~~~"

End of Chapter