Chapter 1076 The Rumor is Wrong

"Ha ha ha ha……"

A burst of unrestrained laughter shook the already floating reeds, making them fly even more chaotically and darkening the sky that hadn't fully brightened yet. Yuwen Ye slowly raised his head with a sullen face and saw Shi Yutao carrying a battle axe, riding his horse forward.

Across the crowd, he met Yuwen Ye's cold gaze.

Seeing the other party surrounded by his men like a caged bird, Shi Yutao's smile became even more smug. He stopped a few feet away from the outer edge of the encirclement and laughed, "I didn't expect that we would meet again."

These words were naturally meant for Shen Tu Tai, who was standing in front of Yuwen Ye.

Shen Tu Tai, gripping his long spear, stood like a towering mountain blocking Yuwen Ye's path. He didn't immediately retaliate, but instead glanced at the soldiers surrounding them and coldly said, "Unexpected?"

This was obviously sarcastic.

When he was lying in ambush in the reeds, he was so nervous and worried that a fight was about to break out. Shi Yutao gripped the axe too tightly, so the wound on his hand broke open again, and the bandage wrapped around his hand was soaked with a faint blood color. How could he not have thought of such an ambush?

Shi Yutao raised an eyebrow slightly. Of course, he couldn't have imagined that they would meet again so soon. That was exactly why he came. He just didn't expect that Shen Tu Tai, such a rough and tumble man, would actually find fault with what people say. However, on the battlefield, mistakes in action are far more fatal than mistakes in speech. Compared to a loophole in action, he would rather have ten thousand loopholes in his words pointed out.

Now that he was surrounded by his own people, it was pointless to find fault with him. So he laughed loudly and said, "I misspoke. It's not that I didn't want to meet again, it's that I didn't expect it to be so easy to meet again."

The faces of the soldiers surrounding Yuwen Ye darkened.

Even if they couldn't understand the first few sentences in their panic, the last one was all too clear: Shi Yutao wasn't saying it was so easy to meet again, but that it was so easy to surround them.

Seeing the other party's drastically changed expression, Shi Yutao felt all the frustration he had felt on the battlefield yesterday vanish, and he felt a great sense of relief.

He glanced at Yuwen Ye, who remained expressionless and seemed to be holding his breath, and then laughed, "I never expected to 'meet' His Highness the Prince of Qin of the Great Sheng Dynasty, General Tian Ce, so soon."

This statement was clearly directed at Yuwen Ye.

Shen Tu Tai gripped the long spear tightly, his knuckles cracking. Just then, Yuwen Ye's calm, almost cold voice rang out behind him: "I never expected it to fall into your hands."

"Hahaha, there are many things you wouldn't expect,"

Hearing him say "I never would have guessed," Shi Yutao became even more smug and laughed, "You would never guess that we had already found out about the food shortage at Hulao Pass."

"oh?"

"So you came to the North Shore to herd horses, but to avoid being discovered by us, you brought very few people with you."

"..."

"As for me, I built a pontoon bridge downstream last night to cross the river, and I've been here all night braving the cold wind, waiting for your arrival. Fortunately, you didn't make me wait in vain."

Hearing his smug words, Yuwen Ye frowned slightly, seemingly both annoyed and angry. After a long silence, he said, "I didn't expect General Shi to be so cunning. It seems—"

As he spoke, he slowly shook the reins and took two steps forward.

As soon as he moved, the soldiers around him dared not be negligent and hurriedly followed him forward; and as these people moved, the men holding them also moved a few steps in quick succession, clearly not allowing them any fear of escape, and everyone's movements were being watched.

Glancing at the wary expressions on their faces, Yuwen Ye pursed his lips slightly and said, "It seems the rumors are wrong."

"Rumors?"

These two words made Shi Yutao's heart skip a beat, and he subconsciously asked, "What rumor?"

Yuwen Ye said, "Young General, it actually has little to do with you; it's about rumors about your sister."

As he spoke, his gaze passed over Shen Tu Tai's slightly twitching shoulder, and he saw the rising sun shining from behind Shi Yu Tao, casting a golden glow on his silhouette. That silhouette visibly trembled upon hearing the words "your sister." Shi Yu Tao's brows furrowed slightly: "My sister? What rumors are circulating about my sister?"

Yuwen Ye said, "Wazhou produces outstanding women."

"What?"

Seeing that Shi Yutao's brows furrowed even more, and that he had been on guard, Shen Tu Tai, who had remained silent, said, "Your sister is a formidable figure in Hebei. Even Liang Shide couldn't get the better of her back then. We originally wanted to meet her at Hulao Pass, but we didn't expect it to be you who came."

Upon hearing his words, Shi Yutao's expression changed several times.

However, because the sunlight behind him was too dazzling, even though his expression changed drastically, it was completely hidden in the shadows at this moment. After a moment of silence, he raised his head, stared sharply at Shen Tu Tai, and then looked at Yuwen Ye, and sneered: "Then, your hopes are probably going to be dashed."

"..."

"It seems I won't even need my sister this time; I can get the Yuwen family to your side first—"

Before he could finish speaking, a sharp, piercing sound suddenly rang out in the air, and a cold light shot out from Yuwen Ye's back, heading straight for Shi Yutao's chest!

He was terrified and hurriedly tried to dodge, but everything happened too fast. In the instant he turned to the side, the cold light had already pierced his shoulder!

A sharp pain nearly threw him off his horse!

"General!"

His men were stunned. An arrow had struck his right shoulder. Had he not just slightly turned to the side, it would have hit his heart!

Everyone was shocked and instinctively turned to look at the direction from which the arrows came. They saw countless glints of cold light flying towards them from the riverbank, which was gradually brightening in the sunlight. In addition to the sound of arrows piercing the air, there was also the sound of horses' hooves shaking the ground!

Looking up, they saw that it was behind Yuwen Ye. The warhorses that had been frightened and scattered had returned, and on their backs were cavalrymen in full armor, each with a bow and arrow in hand and a long sword at their waist, galloping towards them.

It's an ambush!

Yuwen Ye had only brought those warhorses over, but on the other side shrouded in darkness, his cavalry lay in ambush!

Shi Yutao was shocked and hurriedly shouted, "Quick—"

Before he could even utter the word "retreat," arrows flew like meteors, and screams filled the air, instantly drowning out his shouts. The archers who had just been shooting arrows from the reeds were all struck by arrows and fell to the ground.