In the valley, a raging fire wafted, filling the air with the aroma of roasted meat.

There's human flesh, and there's horse flesh!

Xue Rengui had ambushed three thousand archers, two thousand spearmen, and two thousand swordsmen and shieldmen on both sides of the mountain!

When he led the vanguard of the Xiongnu army, numbering ten thousand, into the gourd-shaped valley, he began to blockade the valley from both the front and back.

Of the eight thousand Xiongnu cavalry, at least six thousand were trapped in the valley, unable to escape.

After a fire attack, most of the six thousand Xiongnu cavalrymen were burned alive.

Those who weren't burned to death desperately tried to run up the mountain, but were mercilessly slaughtered by the spearmen and sword-and-shield soldiers guarding both sides.

Under the protection of his guards, King Rizhu was unable to push the boulder aside and had to abandon his warhorse and crawl over it.

After escaping, he was distraught and, disregarding the six thousand soldiers inside the valley, led the two thousand cavalrymen who had not entered the valley in a hasty retreat.

At this moment, thick smoke billowed into the sky from the Manhan Valley, which Qiang Qu, who had led an army of 40,000 to the grassland in the middle reaches of the Qingshui River, also saw.

Just as they were wondering what was going on, King Rizhu led two thousand remnants of his army out in a disheveled state.

“King of the Sun Chaser, your vanguard of 10,000 cavalry has dwindled to just over 2,000?”

Qiangqu had a bad feeling. When he saw Rizhu King scrambling up to him, he questioned him loudly.

"Your Majesty, the Han people are too cunning and ruthless!"

“They came with a thousand cavalrymen, killed two of my generals, Xiutu, and nearly a thousand five hundred of my warriors!”

The King of the Sun was covered in soot, and his body was riddled with burn holes!

He recounted his miserable plight with tears streaming down his face:

"Of course I couldn't agree to that, so I ordered the entire army to pursue them, vowing to tear them to pieces!"

"But...but who knew they had already set up an ambush inside, using fire and poison. All six thousand warriors are probably trapped inside! Waaah!"

What! !

Qiangqu was furious. He lashed out with his whip, striking the Sun-Chasing King so hard that his face was covered in welts and he screamed in agony.

"Useless! Is your brain filled with horse manure? It's obviously a trap!"

"How could I have such an idiot as my vanguard?"

"Before we even reached Shanwu, eight thousand of our cavalrymen were killed!"

Qiang Qu was so angry that his chest heaved.

What a bad start!

King Wenyudi, King Jianjiang, and the Right Grand Commandant rushed forward to persuade Qiangqu, which finally calmed him down.

"Your Majesty, there are Han Chinese ambushes in this valley. Let's take another route!"

It took Wen Yudi Wang a long time before he came to offer his advice.

"Yes, there's a huge fire in the valley right now, so the army probably won't be able to get through! They won't be able to reach Shanwu in time."

The Right Grand Commandant echoed this.

"But this road through the Qingshui River Valley is currently the shortest and fastest route for us to get to Shanwu."

“If we change routes, we will have to march north towards Yunzhong for a day before we find a road,” said King Wenyudi.

However, Qiangqu wanted to get to Shanwu as soon as possible to see who this Han prince who killed his son really was!

Living another day is a disrespect to his son!

"No! Not even a day later!" Qiang Qu said coldly.

"Your Majesty, the Han people have come here to ambush us, so the city of Shanwu must be sparsely defended! After they finish their ambush on King Zhuri, they will surely leave immediately!"

"Let's continue along this valley, and be careful along the way!"

"Alright! Then you lead five thousand cavalry to clear the way!"

Qiangqu immediately issued an order.

King Jianjiang paused for a moment, then saw King Wenyudi and the Right Grand Commandant giving him ambiguous smiles.

He cursed inwardly but had no choice but to agree!

Without stopping for a moment, the Xiongnu army marched towards the valley.

By the time they arrived at the place where the Sun-Chasing King had ambushed them, the fire had already subsided considerably.

They pushed aside the large rock, clearing a path for the soldiers to pass through.

The mountains on both sides were empty, with no trace of any Han soldiers, only trees that had been burned to half their original size and were still smoking.

Along the two or three miles of road, charred human and horse corpses lay scattered about.

They come in various shapes and sizes, seemingly having endured a painful struggle akin to purgatory.

The smell of burnt meat in the air, and the steaming hot horse and human intestines oozing out of the burnt meat.

The sight made the Xiongnu cavalrymen's scalps tingle and they felt nauseous.

Wang Ye gradually vomited as if a Buddhist ritual had been performed.

No one dared to move the scalding hot corpse.

Gradually, Wang led his five thousand troops through quickly, leaving the problem to those behind!

When Qiangqu and the others arrived, the entire valley was filled with the sound of vomiting again.

"They killed my son, buried alive the people who killed me, and now they're burning my people!"

"I will never let you live under the same sky!"

Qiangqu roared in fury, "When I get to Shanwu, I will tear you, prince, apart by five horses and cut you into a thousand pieces!"

"Hurry up, hurry up! We must reach Shanwu today!"

"Sun-Chasing King, these are all your soldiers. You'd better bury them properly!"

Qiangqu, expressionless, ordered Zhu Ri Wang to dispose of the corpse.

Of the ten thousand men, eight thousand died tragically. Even being beheaded ten times wouldn't be enough for him!

Letting him bury the body is already a great act of mercy!

King Zhu Ri swallowed his anger and accepted this difficult task.

His hatred for the Han Chinese army in Dushanwu City reached its peak!

Meanwhile, in Shanwu City, Liu Wei, accompanied by guards such as Guo Luo and Yang Yi, climbed to the top of the city wall early in the morning and looked westward.

When thick smoke rose from the distant mountains, Liu Wei knew that Xue Rengui's plan had succeeded.

However, it's unclear how many enemies were annihilated!

An hour later, Liu Wei saw a bustling scene in the direction of the Qingshui River Valley, with one after another well-dressed soldiers returning in triumph.

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