"Report!!"

"Come in!"

Just as the relic was caught in a dilemma, unsure of what to do, another guard suddenly rushed in.

Seeing the guard suddenly walk in, Shari's expression changed. This guard was sent by Shari to monitor the movements of Qiuliju Nanlou. Now that he has suddenly returned, it must be because there is some movement on their side.

"What is it?"

"Reporting to the lord, Nanlou and Qiuliju's troops suddenly broke camp yesterday, carrying a large amount of grain and supplies, and are heading towards our army!"

"What?"

Sheli was suddenly stunned. The Han army had all withdrawn, but Nanlou and Qiuliju not only did not withdraw, but instead marched towards him with provisions and supplies. Were they preparing to attack him?

Thinking of this, Relic hurriedly asked, "How many men do they have?"

"Only five thousand men!"

"Uh... five thousand?"

The relic was completely bewildered this time. What was going on? Did it think it couldn't beat him and was preparing to surrender?

Then Relic shook his head. Their north and south had been opposed for over a hundred years, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them sworn enemies. Expecting them to surrender was basically impossible.

Seeing the relic lost in thought, Li Ru quickly said loudly, "Lord Relic, this must be Huangfu Song's strategy of advancing as a retreat, deliberately making our army hesitant and afraid to act rashly! Once our army runs out of supplies and retreats, they will be safe and sound!"

"Therefore, Lord Shariputra, you should immediately send troops to defeat the likes of Nanlou and Qiuliju!!"

After saying this, Li Ru bowed to the relic, hoping that the relic would listen to his opinion.

Relic's eyes flickered, and he hesitated before saying, "Mr. Li's words are indeed..."

"This is utterly absurd!! Lord Relic, you must not listen to Li Ru's words!"

Just as the relic was about to depart, Han Qing, who was standing nearby, immediately jumped out as well.

Then Han Qing said loudly, "Lord Sheli, this is clearly a strategy to lure the enemy deep into our territory. Huangfu Song must have already laid an ambush, just waiting for our army to move so he can take the opportunity to attack us from both sides. Lord Sheli, you must not act rashly!"

After saying this, Han Qing also bowed deeply to the relic, appearing as a loyal minister ready to die for his country.

"Mr. Han is right! Our army is not in a hurry to act now, and it is indeed not advisable to make any rash moves. It will be better to make a decision after we have found out more about the situation."

In the end, Sheli listened to Han Qing's advice and did not send troops, but only sent out scouts to investigate.

He wasn't worried about any ambush, because apart from that mountain hollow, there was nowhere to hide troops along the way. Moreover, he had sent out scouts everywhere along the route, so if any ambush troops wanted to travel hundreds of miles to that place to ambush, they would not be able to avoid being detected by the scouts.

His concern remained that with his hasty deployment of troops, Qiu Liju and his men might feign defeat and then lure the enemy deep into their territory. If his leaders went berserk, he wasn't confident he could control them.

Once he penetrates deep into the local territory, he can be 100% certain that his men will scatter to plunder those tribes. If they are not dealt with by the enemy's main force and instead go off to loot, and are then attacked separately by the Han army that comes to their aid, then it will be all over.

So after thinking for a moment, Sheli decided to wait and wait until he was sure that the Han army had really retreated before leading his men on a hundred-mile raid to defeat Nanlou and Qiuliju in one fell swoop.

Seeing that the relic had not heeded his advice, Li Ru sighed softly and then returned to his original position.

After Han Qing, Li Ru, and the others walked out of the tent, Han Qing turned to look at Li Ru and then sneered:

"Heh~ You, Li Wenyou, I didn't expect you to be so cunning. You always seemed quite intelligent, so why are you so eager to climb the ranks after only a few days here?"

Li Ru merely raised his eyebrows, glanced at Han Qing indifferently, and said nothing. Instead, he walked past Han Qing and headed straight for his residence.

Han Qing snorted coldly: "Hmph~ Don't be ungrateful! If it weren't for me, you would be a corpse by now!!"

But Li Ru seemed not to hear, and his feet did not stop at all.

Seeing that he was being ignored by Li Ru, and watching Li Ru's departing figure, Han Qing's face immediately darkened.

Another young man approached Han Qing and said in a deep voice, "Mr. Han, it seems that this Li Ru must be eliminated as soon as possible. Just now, Lord Sheli almost believed his words. If this continues, I'm afraid it will affect your position in Lord Sheli's heart!"

This young man was named Wang Ming. He was the same young man with murderous intent who had been standing next to Li Ru earlier. He was a spy planted by Jia Xu in the suicide squad. He had gained Han Qing's trust from the very beginning and had come here with Han Qing. He was deeply trusted by Han Qing.

He had just received a message from Jia Xu, learning of Huangfu Song's plan. So Li Ru's quick and decisive strategy in the tent just now had greatly frightened him. If Sheli adopted Li Ru's suggestion, Huangfu Song's plan would completely fail.

This undoubtedly made Wang Ming extremely wary of Li Ru, because he did not know Li Ru's true identity. Therefore, he felt that Li Ru's existence was a great threat, which is why he instigated Han Qing, wanting to use Han Qing to get rid of him.

"Hmph~ You think you can ride on my head? You're dreaming!"

Han Qing did not disappoint Wang Ming; Wang Ming's words resonated with Han Qing.

Meanwhile, Huangfu Song led his troops back to Yuyang and immediately sent men to conscript some civilians to the military camp. They secretly changed into Han army uniforms and pretended to be Han soldiers stationed inside the camp.

Huangfu Song, under the cover of night, secretly left Yuyang with his 5,000 cavalrymen and entered the territory of the Southern Wuhuan. He then changed into the clothes of a herdsman and disguised himself as a grain transport team, heading towards Nanlou and Qiuliju.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!