Chapter 382: A Reward

"Where are the people? Where has everyone gone!"

Luo Huo was completely stupefied at this moment.

Looking around, the entire Jiangzhou City was engulfed in a great fire. The surrounding temperature was also slowly rising; once wooden structures began to burn, they cared not for what material they were made of, nor whether they were damp.

It was a vast, boundless ocean of fire.

The air itself was burned until it distorted.

At this moment.

Everyone's line of sight was obstructed, and visibility had dropped to its lowest point.

The fire was too massive!

"Protect the Great King!"

"Protect..."

These Nanman soldiers, who had started out shouting to protect Luo Huo, were already unable to look after themselves by this time.

At this time.

Jia Shu, still standing on the high tower, watched all of this quietly.

An ocean of fire...

Yet, he felt no fear in his heart at this moment. He knew that with the signing of this treaty a few days ago, his reputation as a traitor was something he absolutely could not escape.

Today.

Burning this thousand-year-old city to the ground, regardless of the outcome, would likewise invite the condemnation of the world.

To leave a name for eternity.

What did death matter?

Since Murong Che had already died by his own sword, why could he, Jia Shu, not depart together with this thousand-year-old city, Jiangzhou City?

His high tower would also be unable to escape this disaster.

"In life, be a hero among men."

"In death, be a hero among ghosts!"

"To this day, one thinks of Xiang Yu!"

"Refusing to cross to Jiangdong!"

Jia Shu laughed heartily and recited it once more.

The high tower beneath his feet had already burned halfway through.

Ever since he and Murong Che planned to set this great fire, he had never thought of fleeing, never thought he could survive.

Boom—

Finally, this high tower collapsed as well.

Jia Shu, a man destined to leave his name in the history books of the Longyan Dynasty, thus had his soul return to the great fire.

This also meant that there was no longer a single safe place in all of Jiangzhou.

Just at this moment.

Above the sky of Jiangzhou City, where the fire soared to the heavens, a dense swarm of "birdmen" appeared!

The arrival of this batch of the Liangzhou Army added fuel to the fire in Jiangzhou. Plop, plop! Barrel after barrel of Quelehuoduo was thrown down.

This move.

Completely shattered the Nanman army's hope of extinguishing the fire.

"Ah!"

"Run!"

"Run quickly!"

One hundred and fifty thousand people turned into headless flies just like that. If the fire that filled the sky had already made it impossible for them to escape, then at this moment, the Liangzhou Army's Quelehuoduo directly accelerated their deaths.

This fire.

Burned for a full day and night.

And the one hundred thousand captives outside the city had also been locked in struggle with the fifty thousand Nanman soldiers for a full day and night.

"Kill..."

"Kill them!"

What shocked the Nanman soldiers was that these captives were so unafraid of death, and clearly possessed astonishing stamina, or rather, potential... They, the Nanman who prided themselves on their astonishing stamina and innate brute strength, were beginning to feel exhausted, yet these captives' desire to kill remained undiminished. Therefore... in the end, the casualties on both sides were incomparably heavy, but the number of Nanman soldiers slowly drew closer to that of these slaves, then became equal, and finally...

Even surpassed them.

But these captives remained fierce and menacing.

Terrifying!

Looking at the hateful gleam in these people's eyes, the Nanman soldiers could not help but tremble all over.

What kind of people were these?

They were clearly the weaker side, so why were they now behaving like starving wolves? They did not know that the imprisonment and humiliation of the past two months, and today... watching their own homeland, Jiangzhou City, be burned to ashes by a great fire... they had lost even their homes, so what was there to fear in death?

Kill!

They wanted revenge!

They wanted to kill every last one of these Nanman!

"Kill!"

Empty-handed, they still charged.

The Nanman people were already swallowing their spit in fear by this time. With every blade strike, these captives suffered heavy casualties again.

What on earth were they after?

What on earth are they doing this for?

It took just one day and one night.

Finally.

The great army led by Xie Zhen arrived by forced march. One hundred thousand, another one hundred thousand! The one hundred thousand Liangzhou Army troops had long been rested and were full of energy. As soon as Xie Zhen saw the situation outside Jiangzhou City, his eyes grew hot: "Kill!"

"Kill!"

The overwhelming Liangzhou Army began to sweep away the resistance like dry wood.

The Nanman Army outside the city had long since been terrified by the prisoners' lack of fear of death. How could they possibly be a match for these one hundred thousand rested Liangzhou Army troops who had arrived by forced march from the direction of Yong'an?

Bang!

Crack!

Harvesting.

Since the great fire was ignited yesterday, Xie Zhen's army had actually already been on the road. A forced march of one day and one night was enough to reach Jiangzhou.

"Kill!"

The group of prisoners on the scene finally saw that reinforcements had arrived; one by one, they sat on the ground like fools and began to wail loudly.

Xie Zhen watched with incomparable heartache: "The suffering of the common people is my sin as Mandarin!"

At the scene, the sound of crying rose up.

Once these one hundred thousand Liangzhou Army troops arrived, the Nanman Army, who had already breached some of the city gates, wanted to escape, but they were quickly beaten back by the Liangzhou Army.

Block it!

Block the city gates!

Don't let anyone out!

One day and one night is not enough to burn down Jiangzhou City.

This fire.

Burned for a full seven days and six nights.

Yes.

Seven days and six nights; it was only a torrential downpour that finally extinguished this great fire.

However...

What could not be extinguished was the shock felt throughout the entire Longyan Dynasty.

Jinghua.

The imperial court.

"Emperor, Emperor, a report from Jiangzhou: the fifteen-thousand-strong Nanman army has been completely wiped out following a great fire in Jiangzhou City..."

In the imperial court.

Xie Tianyao was dumbfounded.

The civil and military officials all gasped in surprise.

"W-w-what did you say?"

"What happened?"

"A great fire?"

Everyone was stunned.

Wasn't the Nanman army supposed to be retreating? Why was there suddenly a great fire?

Suddenly.

A piece of information flashed through everyone's minds at the same time.

A great fire?

The fire at Mang Mountain?

The fire at Jiangzhou?

Could it be... that the treasonous treaty was planned by the Prefect Liu himself from the start? Was the goal to paralyze Luo Huo, release the two hundred thousand prisoners, and then turn around to deal with him?

This...

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qin, Xie Zhao, were immediately overjoyed: "Emperor, Emperor, this is truly a turn for the better, a turn for the better! This Prefect Liu has a brilliant strategy!"

Who cares if it is or isn't!

Let's pin this credit on Prefect Liu first!

Xie Tianyao also smiled repeatedly as he listened: "This strategy is excellent, this strategy is excellent..."

The Third Prince Xie Ling and Zhu Zhen, on the other hand, had ashen faces.

Zhu Zhen gritted his teeth, stepped out, and said: "Emperor, this... although Prefect Liu has minimized the losses, he has already signed the treaty on behalf of the Longyan Dynasty. To suddenly break the treaty now is truly, truly damaging to the image of our great nation!"

"That's right, Emperor!"

Xie Ling thought it was clever as he listened, and followed up by saying: "Once this precedent is set, who will believe in our Longyan in future wars?"

The war treaty was indeed broken, which was very dishonorable.

But Xie Zhao immediately snorted coldly: "Emperor, so-called 'all is fair in war,' and war has been like this since ancient times. Besides, when has this kind of treaty ever been about anything other than national strength?"

He said proudly: "If Longyan is strong, then we have the right to force others to abide by treaties!"

He paused, then gave a cold laugh: "If another country is weak, they must be prepared to have the treaty broken at any time! If a treaty were truly an eternal, unchanging rule, why would our Longyan fear the Xiongnu and the Qi, who break treaties and invade every year?"

A group of people felt the same way.

Every year, they would sign treaties with the Xiongnu. But what use was that? If the Xiongnu encountered a natural disaster, they would still come to rob you!

The Prince of Qin, Xie Zhao, said resolutely:

"National strength is everything!"

"Power is the only truth!"

"To fall behind is to take a beating!"

"Emperor, this humble subject believes Prefect Liu should be rewarded!"

"This humble subject seconds the motion!"

"This humble subject also thinks so!"

Xie Tianyao laughed heartily upon hearing this and slapped the Dragon Throne: "Good, reward him! What a 'to fall behind is to take a beating'! Reward, I must reward him!"