Chapter 401

Why the cowardice before the battle has even begun?

"Should we pursue them and coordinate a pincer attack with Beigong Boyu?" the old King of the Dianling Qiang asked, looking at the leader of the Canlang Qiang beside him.

The leader of the Canlang Qiang fixed his gaze upon those carriages.

"Pursue?"

"What for?"

"They have so few men; surely Beigong Boyu's Huangzhong Righteous Followers can block them."

"This place is filled with gold and silver jewelry. If we leave now, wouldn't that just benefit the old King of the Zhong Qiang?"

The leader of the Canlang Qiang looked at the carriages and the wooden crates atop them with greedy eyes.

"Let us gather these things first, split them half and half, and then it won't be too late to pursue," the leader of the Canlang Qiang said.

The old King of the Dianling Qiang had naturally heard the soldiers' words this morning.

So much gold and silver—that was a windfall.

Thus, the old King of the Dianling Qiang nodded in agreement.

"Fine, half and half," the old King of the Dianling Qiang said.

"Go, open the wooden crates on those carriages. Take every bit of gold and silver and load them onto our carts to carry away."

The leader of the Canlang Qiang waved a hand.

Hearing that there was gold and silver jewelry, the soldiers seemed to go mad, swarming forward toward the front where hundreds of carriages were piled together.

However, at that very moment.

Li Jue and Guo Si, who had originally fled, reined in their horses and stopped.

As Li Jue and Guo Si halted, the hundreds of cavalrymen in front of them also came to a stop.

"Nock arrows."

Li Jue gave the order.

The hundreds of cavalrymen all placed the fire arrows already prepared in their quivers onto their bowstrings.

Then, the hundreds of men turned their horses in unison and charged back.

As for the Qiang soldiers, because they were anxious to loot the gold and silver, those who had climbed onto the carriages did not notice at all that Li Jue and Guo Si had returned.

At a distance of one arrow-shot from the valley where the carriages were piled.

Li Jue and Guo Si ordered everyone to light their fire arrows.

"Loose!"

Following the order from Li Jue and Guo Si.

Hundreds of fire arrows soared into the air, shooting toward the location where the carriages were parked.

Only then did some of the Qiang soldiers scrambling to loot the carriages notice the incoming fire arrows and the returning Li Jue and Guo Si.

But the chaotic valley was filled with all sorts of noises.

The Qiang soldiers, anxious to loot the gold and silver, could not hear the shouts from behind them at all.

However, when the first batch of soldiers to climb the carriages used their weapons to pry open the wooden crates, only to see them filled with hay and branches, they all froze in place.

Whoosh!

A fire arrow fell from the sky, landing squarely inside a wooden crate opened by a Qiang soldier, embedding itself into the hay and branches.

The flame on the arrowhead instantly ignited the hay and branches inside the crate.

Hundreds more followed in its wake.

"Loose again."

"Loose again!"

Seeing that the carriages had been set ablaze, Li Jue shouted excitedly.

The soldiers pulled their bowstrings in succession, shooting fire arrow after fire arrow toward the carriages.

In just a moment, billowing thick smoke rose in the valley.

And at this time, the old King of the Dianling Qiang and the leader of the Canlang Qiang finally reacted.

"No, no, we've been tricked!"

"We've been tricked," the leader of the Canlang Qiang shouted loudly.

But by this time, the fire had already risen, cutting off Li Jue and Guo Si from the Qiang tribesmen.

The heat waves rolled up by the fire forced the Qiang soldiers to retreat, screaming in chaos.

"Haha!"

Li Jue laughed out loud: "If you have the ability, come and chase us again!"

After saying this, Li Jue and Guo Si both laughed, turned their horses, and departed with flair.

Only the leader of the Canlang Qiang and the old King of the Dianling Qiang remained, their path blocked by the raging fire.

By now, thick black smoke was billowing upward, lingering in the sky above the valley, choking the Qiang soldiers until they covered their mouths and noses, coughing.

"Retreat, retreat!"

The old King of the Dianling Qiang and the leader of the Canlang Qiang turned their horses around and galloped wildly in the direction they had come from.

At the exit of Shehu Valley.

A great battle had already come to an end.

Zhang Xiu, clad in silver armor and wielding the Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix Spear, flipped the old King of the Zhong Qiang over with a single thrust, his gaze sweeping disdainfully across the four directions.

Behind Zhang Xiu, Zhang Ji led the three thousand cavalrymen who had come from Lintao, slaughtering every last one of the Zhong Qiang soldiers blocking the exit.

"Xiuer, have the Chen army form ranks and wait for the Qiang tribesmen in the valley to emerge, then slaughter them all!"

Zhang Xiu, still riding the high of the slaughter, shook the blood from his Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix Spear and said: "Uncle, rest assured. Today, I shall ensure this pack of thieves never returns!" ===== CHAPTER 403 =====