Xu Qingshan was excited when the starfruit branch appeared.

But the more he fought, the more confused he became.

Given Yang Taozhi's perception, she would have been able to detect his presence before he appeared, making it almost impossible for her to assassinate Wang Yuluan.

But Yang Taozhi still made a move.

Xu Qingshan wondered what Yang Taozhi's purpose was in taking action.

Now, seeing Wang Yuluan chasing Xiao Luofeng into Chengqi Town, he understood.

Wang Yuluan was fooled; there was an ambush in the town!

Yang Taozhi made her move when Wang Yuluan approached the town, in order to keep Xu Qingshan occupied.

If Xu Qingshan were to get close to the town, with his master-level perception, he would be able to detect the people lying in ambush in the town in advance.

Xu Qingshan believed he had figured everything out, but it was too late.

He couldn't shake off Yang Taozhi to remind Wang Yuluan.

Not only can you not shake them off, but to avoid being defeated by Yang Taozhi's sword, you have to focus all your attention.

I don't have time to worry about anything else.

On the other side, Zhang Dalian's troops on the southern front had already encountered Zhao Cheng's troops.

But he discovered that Zhao Cheng's forces were not as numerous as he had anticipated.

It doesn't even look like 100,000 people.

At most, only sixty or seventy thousand people!

Zhang Dalian was completely baffled, wondering if Zhao Cheng had also divided his forces.

Didn't the General say that Zhao Cheng isn't such a fool?

What's going on?

Before Zhang Dalian could even ponder the reason, he saw Zhao Cheng suddenly stop, and then everyone turned around and retreated in the opposite direction.

"They retreated without even fighting?" Zhang Dalian exclaimed in surprise.

What's going on here?!

Zhang Cheng asked, "Luring the enemy deep into our territory? What if there's an ambush?"

Zhang Dalian said, "What nonsense! The view ahead is wide open, how could he possibly ambush us?"

"Then he..."

"Stop thinking about it, he's just outnumbered and afraid to fight. Chase him!"

At his command, Zhang Dalian's troops immediately accelerated and pursued the enemy.

Zhao Cheng's vanguard cavalry became the rearguard, quickly retreating and revealing several rows of infantry, who unloaded their bows and arrows and fired at Zhang Dalian's troops.

Several volleys of arrows slowed down Zhang Dalian's troops, and the infantrymen immediately mounted their cavalry horses and quickly retreated.

"Charge! Don't let them get away!!"

With the meat practically in his mouth, Zhang Dalian didn't hesitate any longer and charged forward, taking the lead.

Zhao Cheng, on the other hand, retreated without hesitation.

Zhang Dalian's judgment was correct; Zhao Cheng's side indeed had no ambush, and he was truly retreating.

On the other side...

Wang Yuluan led his troops into the town and discovered that something was wrong.

There wasn't a soul on the streets of the town!

As long as Zhao Cheng doesn't disturb the residents, life in the town shouldn't be greatly affected.

Ordinary people still need to make a living.

But now, the town seems to be empty.

Snap!

Snap snap—

The sound of windows and doors opening rang out, and then arrows flew out one after another.

Swish swish swish! ! !

Wang Yuluan's face darkened; he immediately realized they had been ambushed.

But it was too late; the once quiet town was suddenly filled with deafening shouts of battle.

"kill!!!"

Bi Fansheng stormed over from the north street, laughing loudly, "Little Wang, you fell for it so easily! Looks like your father didn't teach you much! Or is your father just not very capable himself?"

Song Cheng charged up from the south street, laughing, "Little brat, you don't even call me 'uncle' when you see me?"

Park Gon appeared from the west, cutting off Wang Yuluan's troops, and shouted, "Capture Wang Yuluan alive! Surrender and you will not be killed!"

Wang Yuluan tried to break through to the east, but found that Xiao Luofeng had turned back, looking at him with a mocking expression, and shouted: "Wang Yuluan is already trapped! Brothers, the time to make a name for yourselves has come!!"

"Kill them!!!"

Hearing the other party's aggressive voice, Wang Yuluan was already in despair.

He not only fell into an ambush, but also discovered that the enemy had a considerable number of people.

Looking around, tens of thousands of people were coming from every street, and more were constantly running out of the houses.

He didn't know exactly how Zhao Cheng had arranged things; he only felt that he had been misled by the concept of not disturbing the people.

To set up the ambush, Zhao Cheng arranged for all the residents of the town to leave. Isn't that considered not disturbing the people?

Wang Yuluan was right; Zhao Cheng had indeed cleared out the town beforehand.

But Zhao Cheng wasn't after Wang Yuluan, because Zhao Cheng wasn't sure which way Wang Yuluan had gone.

When Zhao Cheng saw Yang Taozhi at Xiao Luofeng's camp, he had an idea. He simply divided his troops in two: the northern troops were responsible for ambushes, while the southern troops were to retreat as soon as they saw anyone. It didn't matter whether the person captured was Wang Yuluan or Zhang Dalian!

Once any one of them is defeated, the morale of the Xijing Army will be gone again.

With three veteran generals, Bi Fansheng, Song Cheng, and Pu Jian, each leading 20,000 men, plus Xiao Luofeng's 10,000 men, as long as they cut off Wang Yuluan's troops and surround the front section, they can easily encircle them!

Wang Yuluan fought desperately, trying to break through the encirclement, when suddenly a face appeared in front of him.

Looking at the scar on that face, Wang Yuluan felt a chill run down his spine; he knew he was doomed.

"Young general, we meet again."

Zhao Hu chuckled at Wang Yuluan, then lifted him off his horse and launched him into the air.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Luofeng immediately shouted, "Wang Yuluan has been captured! Those who surrender will not be killed!!"

"Wang Yuluan has been captured! Those who surrender will not be killed!!"

"Wang Yuluan has been captured!!!"

"Those who surrender will not be killed!!!" (Reading Notes)

The Xijing soldiers, surrounded, looked at each other and, one after another, threw down their weapons and knelt down.

Those Xijing troops who had not yet entered the market town turned and fled westward.

Seeing this, Xu Qingshan sighed regretfully, made a few feints, and then withdrew.

Yang Taozhi didn't chase after them, nor did she care about the situation in the town. She glanced south and disappeared in an instant.

...

The next morning.

Zhao Cheng and Xiao Luofeng have both led their troops back to their camp.

Zhang Dalian lined up in front of the Dongjing military camp and chased Zhao Cheng all night, but in the end he still failed to intercept him on the road.

In this battle, the Dongjing Army suffered almost no losses, and now 120,000 to 130,000 men are guarding their camps. Zhang Dalian only has 150,000 men, not much more than Zhao Cheng, and Zhao Cheng has the advantage in defense.

Zhang Dalian was speechless.

What did this person do?

"Dalian, go back. You can't break through. Don't let your men bleed in vain!"

Zhao Cheng stood on the high platform of the camp and shouted. At this moment, he really wished he had a megaphone.

Zhang Dalian was trembling with anger. This was only the first battle in Guliang County, and half of his men had already been wiped out.

The men are gone, and so is the morale.

If we try to break through again, as Zhao Cheng said, we won't be able to.

The soldiers shed blood and sacrificed their lives in vain.

But if we don't fight...

This first battle may very well become the only one!

Zhang Dalian clenched his fists so tightly they cracked, and his teeth almost bled from biting them.

"Dalian, look who this is!"

Beside Zhao Cheng, two soldiers lifted Wang Yuluan up.

Zhang Dalian hurriedly spurred his horse forward and shouted, "Zhao Cheng! Let's talk this out! Don't hurt the young general!!"