Chapter 460: The Dust of Sin

"Kill!"

"Brothers, kill for me!"

"Kill these guys who are scourging Liangshan!"

Since Huobu Quli had decided to help Liu Zheng, he naturally knew that today, for him and Liangshan, there was no turning back!

He had hesitated.

But now, he was incomparably resolute!

Because he had seen the evil ghosts beneath those Poppy, he had seen the way those people crawled out from those dim, damp cellars... They were evil ghosts, they were demons. With these tens of thousands of people out, there was no hope left for them to live.

They, the Liangshan People, should all be heroes and tough men, experts at climbing mountains and entering forests.

Why had it come to this?

It was because of this Mandarin!

He took the lead in the charge, hand rising and blade falling; the Shu Army, their formation scattered, had already begun to flee in panic.

"Kill!"

The remaining thirty thousand Liangzhou Army were also holding their breath at this moment; they had just lost twenty thousand brothers—this loss should not have happened, but they were simply too few in number! At this moment, eager for revenge, they naturally killed without the slightest hesitation.

Qin Zhangfeng charged at the front, with Cheng Kai and Pei Qianyun following behind him.

These three generals led the charge, and the morale of the Liangzhou Army was as high as a rainbow.

The Shu Army.

Began to collapse completely.

Even the veteran general Zhou Cheng was powerless to turn the tide at this moment.

"Puff!"

Qin Zhangfeng was the first to reach him, and after fighting more than a hundred rounds with this Zhou Cheng, he finally thrust his spear into his throat.

This famous general of the first echelon in Shu died miserably on the spot just like that.

Once the commander-in-chief was dead, the Shu Army showed even more signs of retreat.

Seventy thousand...

Sixty thousand...

Fifty thousand...

The number of Shu Army soldiers was decreasing bit by bit.

The entire Yuexi Plain was almost a river of blood at this moment, with corpses strewn everywhere. In the end, there was no one left to clear away the bodies, and the speed of the Cavalry was greatly affected. Then, the Cavalry jumped off their horses and continued to fight, continued to fight...

"This..."

"This, this, this..."

Almost the entire army was wiped out.

Today, Xie Zhen watched helplessly as the one hundred thousand-strong army he had brought was wiped out in this single day.

He could not believe it.

But all of this was happening truly and surely before his eyes.

"No..."

"Impossible, impossible!"

He roared hysterically, like a madman.

However, at this moment, Qin Zhangfeng had already brought a group of people and slowly arrived before the Mandarin Xie Zhen. The sounds of killing, wailing, and roaring finally slowly died down.

The fire at the farm had also been burning for a full day and a night.

Yes.

One night, one day.

When this battle ended, the sky was already near dusk.

Death, blood, hunger, fear, and exhaustion filled the entire Yuexi Plain.

"Don't come over, don't come over!"

"No, no, I am the Mandarin, I am the Mandarin!"

Xie Zhen had wanted to flee just a moment ago.

But he knew that when the Shu Army began to collapse, he could no longer escape. More and more Liangzhou Army, more and more Liangshan People, had blocked his path and shot dead the horse beneath him.

More and more people had surrounded him; in their eyes was nothing but killing intent, in their eyes was nothing but hatred.

Among them, naturally, were Liu Zheng and the others who had just walked down from the watchtower.

The closer he got to this sworn brother of his, the more oppressive Liu Zheng's mood became.

Yes.

He had once truly regarded Xie Zhen as his brother. He had once truly believed that the benevolence and love for the people Xie Zhen displayed were sincere. At the time, he thought he had gained a relative of the same generation in this world.

However.

Xie Zhen's acting was too good.

So good that even Liu Zheng felt it was a great pity.

A pity for what?

A pity that he had stood on the wrong side, a pity that he had chosen the wrong path.

Xie Zhen was a smart man; he knew that the various policies he implemented in Liangzhou were correct, were advanced, but... he did not walk the same path as him because of it, but instead wanted to kill him.

This time.

He chose wrong.

Seeing Liu Zheng walking over, Xie Zhen was already kneeling on the ground in panic: "Second brother, second brother, don't kill me, don't kill your foolish brother, it was your foolish brother who was wrong, it was I who was wrong, it was the Mandarin who was wrong... Give your foolish brother one more chance, give me one more!"

Liu Zheng watched coldly.

Everyone watched coldly.

"Second brother, second brother..."

Xie Zhen was truly panicked.

Why did he lose?

Why!

Everything was clearly within his calculations! That Nanzhao Army, those Big Trouser Leg and Middle Trouser Leg tribes, plus his own army of one hundred thousand, and these Weaponry and Equipment bought at an unknown cost, while Liu Zheng only had fifty thousand, fifty thousand, and a bunch of rabble.

Why did he lose?

It shouldn't be!

Yet, he had truly and certainly lost, lost in a complete mess.

Defeat was like a collapsing mountain; at this moment, he only wanted to survive.

However, these pairs of eyes filled with killing intent had already sealed his fate. He had already lost the hearts of all people, all...

Liu Zheng looked at him without saying a word, instead turning back to look at the farm where the fire was gradually weakening, and with his hands behind his back, he walked over on his own.

"Bring him over!"

"Bring him over!"

Huobu Quli, at this moment, had red-rimmed eyes and roared with all his might.

Very quickly, Huobu Zhuoli and the others dragged this Prince of Shu, Xie Zhen, to the entrance of the farm.

Thick black smoke rose into the sky.

Debris was everywhere, and ashes were densely scattered. Those who had just died in this great fire still maintained the postures they had before death, some baring fangs and brandishing claws, some in extreme pain, some puffing on clouds and mist, or some snatching from one another...

It was too tragic...

All the people at the scene who managed to survive had pale faces at this moment.

Huobu Quli and the others were even more incensed, their eyes splitting with rage.

Among these, their Liangshan People were the most numerous...

Shama Zhuoyi, Naibao Rize, Big Trouser Leg, Middle Trouser Leg—they were all Liangshan People!

A great fire.

It seemed to have burned away all the sins of this Liangshan.

Thump.

Xie Zhen was forced to kneel in front of these people.

The person who forged all these sins was still begging for mercy at this time.

Liu Zheng could be considered someone quite obsessed with war, someone relatively calm who did not let himself be affected by the negative emotions of war... However, facing the remains of those who died in the great fire, he still felt a sense of sorrow.

Opium.

This thing that once made the Huaxia nation bear shame should be strictly controlled, yet this Xie Zhen, and even Xie Ling, in order to fight for power and influence, actually wanted to let this thing enter Longyan!

How could he endure it?

"Don't, don't..."

"Second brother, your foolish elder brother was wrong. Your foolish elder brother will listen to you from now on, I will listen to everything you say, okay?"

Xie Zhen was already so scared he had burst into tears.

Liu Zheng chuckled, squatted down beside him, and looked at those who had died. At this moment, a cluster of ash from something unknown drifted down from the sky. Liu Zheng gently caught it in his hand, then rubbed it, letting the ash turn into powder in his palm...

He asked softly: "Elder brother, besides Aluba, do you have any other offspring worth mentioning?"

Boom!

This question struck Xie Zhen like a thunderbolt.

【Author's Note】

Making up one chapter, three more to come.