There weren't many people on the street.

The Uto people were waiting outside the city, and the people in the city could not sleep at night. The street vendors had already closed their shops, and walking along the street, it was cold and deserted, desolate and pitiful.

The rice shop had closed down several months ago, and from time to time on the road, you could see women with children digging wild vegetables in the dirt to eat. Unfortunately, for several months, people in the city could not go out, and people outside the city could not come in. The edible things had already been eaten, so there were no wild vegetables to be seen. Occasionally, if you saw a mouse, you would be very happy and think that it was the smell of meat.

Although everyone was worried about when the Wutu people outside the city would break in, hunger had already spread to every corner of the city. When the last grain of rice was eaten, even if the Wutu people did not attack the city, something bad would happen in the city.

In this desolate street, two people were walking slowly. They were a man and a woman, both of them were extremely good-looking. The man was wearing an indigo robe, and he was gentle and handsome, while the woman had beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and was charming and attractive.

Ying Xiang took out a piece of dry food from her bag and handed it to Chu Zhao, saying, "Fourth Master, all the shops here are closed. Eat some dry food to fill your stomach first."

This dry food was the food that the guards used to eat when they were traveling in Liangzhou. It had been kept in their bags and was dry and hard. Now that there were no inns to eat in, they could only make do with what they had.

Chu Zhao took it and was about to eat it when he saw a little girl standing under the tree. The little girl was about five or six years old, with a dirty face, ragged clothes, no shoes, and bare feet. It was unknown whose child she was. She stared at the dry food in his hand without saying a word.

Chu Zhao smiled, walked forward, squatted down, and handed her the dry food.

The little girl was stunned for a moment, then looked around, as if she was afraid that Chu Zhao would change his mind. She snatched the dry food and put it in her arms, turned around and ran, and soon disappeared at the end of the deserted street.

Chu Zhao stood up and said to Ying Xiang: "Fourth Young Master..."

"Nothing." He shook his head. "The moisturizer won't last much longer."

Ying Xiang was a little worried. The two of them left Liangzhouwei and hurried back to Shuojing. As soon as they arrived in Rundu, the Wutuo people followed them. The city commander Li Kuang ordered the guarding of the city gate. They could neither enter nor leave, and were trapped here.

"We have to leave Rundu as soon as possible," Ying Xiang said softly, "The Wutuo people have been trying to attack the city for several days. I think the full attack will be in the next few days. Once the city is breached... we will also be in danger."

Those Wutuo people were cunning and cruel. Even though Chu Zhao had a way to escape unscathed, she was still a woman, and a very beautiful woman. In a chaotic world, beauties always suffer particularly tragic fates. Ying Xiang couldn't help but shudder.

Chu Zhao seemed to see what she was thinking and said, "We will leave tomorrow."

Ying Xiang felt relieved and said gratefully, "Thank you, Fourth Master."

"Before that, we have to find the city commander Li Kuang first." Chu Zhao smiled, "Without his help, we can't leave the city."

Ying Xiang nodded. Even though the city gates were blocked, she never doubted that they would not be able to escape unscathed. There were secret passages in every city. The families of high-ranking officials and important people would be sent out at particularly critical moments as a chance to stay.

Li Kuang couldn't possibly ignore Xu Xiang's face.

…

"A sneak attack? Impossible, it's too risky!"

"That's right. It's easy to say, but it's clearly suicide. Even though we in Rundu are not afraid of death, we can't just become targets for nothing!"

In the room, people who heard He Yan's words started to speak.

Li Kuang looked at He Yan. The young man spoke with confidence. He didn't know what he was planning. The deputy soldiers of the City Gate Army and He Yan's other brothers were all in the room.

When the discussion among the crowd had calmed down a bit, He Yan spoke up, "I know you all don't trust me right now. But I've already asked Lord Li. In the past ten days, there were five nights when the Wutuo people attacked the city gate at night. Although they gave up in the end, it seemed like a test. In the past three days, the Wutuo people have been silent."

"Based on my experience fighting the Utuo people, being quiet at this time is not a good thing. The Utuo people are probably planning a general attack. They have already understood the situation in Rundu City, and the soldiers in Rundu City have been exhausted by the Utuo people for a long time. Their morale and physical strength are not as good as before. If the Utuo people launch a general attack, the city gate will definitely be breached."

"Why do you say that? Aren't you cursing us?" an irritable-looking lieutenant said angrily.

"Can telling the truth be called a curse? You can only listen to nice things, right?" Wang Ba immediately mocked, "Then I can say right now that the gates of your Rundu city are as solid as stone and iron. It is impossible for the city to be broken. It will be impossible in this lifetime. Do you believe it? Ask anyone on the street if they believe it!"

"Rundu defends the city by deceiving himself. I have never seen such a funny thing!"

He had come to Rundu with He Yan with the intention of sacrificing his life for justice. But now that his passion was not appreciated, his passion immediately turned into anger, and the man he cursed was speechless.

The atmosphere was somewhat stagnant.

Huang Xiong looked at Li Kuang and said, "Sir Li, my brother He is not a simple man. He is very proficient in military tactics. In the Liangzhou Guards, besides Commander Xiao, he is the most powerful." He praised He Yan without any reservation, "Since he said he could launch a sneak attack, he must have his own method. You are so arbitrary in rejecting him. Why don't you listen to what he says first and discuss it in a friendly manner?"

His words were very kind and mature, but he kept stroking the sword at his waist while he spoke, which looked very murderous, which was chilling.

Someone said boldly, "He... Lord He, it's not that we don't want to launch a surprise attack. It's just that we have few soldiers to begin with. If we launch a surprise attack again, we will never come back. There are even fewer soldiers guarding the city. Moreover, those Wutuo people are watching the city gate very closely. I'm afraid that we will be shot into a sieve by their arrows before we leave the city. How can we sneak into their camp at night?"

"Arrows?" He Yan paused and looked at the person who had just spoken, "Do the Wutuo people have a lot of arrows?"

"A lot." The man answered with a bitter face, "In fact, when the Wutuo people first came, we fought them on the city gate. But later we had very few arrows, and they had a lot. Someone had intended to ambush and assassinate their commander, but he was pierced through the heart by thousands of arrows just after he left the city gate and before he could sneak in. Those Wutuo people chopped off his head and hung it on a tree branch outside the city for fun." At this point, everyone present had their eyes peeled.

Such provocation is really unbearable.

"You mean, we have very few arrows, but they have a lot?" He Yan asked.

The other party nodded.

He Yan looked at Li Kuang again, "If we lead those Wutuo people to the city gate during our sneak attack and the archers lying in ambush on the city tower are ready, how many Wutuo people can we kill?"

"Thousands to ten thousand," Li Kuang replied, "but we don't have that many arrows."

"We do."

Everyone was stunned.

"Let's let those Wutuo people cast arrows for us." The young man smiled, his eyes were amazingly bright, and for a moment, Li Kuang thought of another person. He didn't see the face under the mask that year, but he only remembered those eyes, just like the eyes in front of him, confident, calm, and able to kill his way out of the siege in the most chaotic and bad situation.

With him around, the army's morale is stable and they will never give up.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, coming to his senses.

"I need to gather all the craftsmen and women in the city to make straw figures for me."

…

It was late at night. Thousands of tents stood quietly in the fields outside the city gates. From a distance, the fields seemed to have turned into endless hills, which was breathtaking.

Patrol soldiers were walking around the area.

Huyat, the leader of Wutuo who led the troops to attack Rundu, was pouring wine from a wine jar into a bowl. The wine was fragrant, and he drank a bowl of it, patted his stomach, smacked his lips and said, "Is this the wine brewed by the people of Rundu? What's the difference between it and sweet water? It's just a woman's preference. Everyone in Wei likes to drink this. No wonder he was born weak and timid. He was chopped to pieces with one knife!"

The confidant flattered him, "Yes, yes, the wine of the Great Wei is in no way comparable to the sweetness of Wutuo's strong liquor!"

Huyate laughed loudly and said, "Go to the prison and pick a few women!"

The people of Rundu have now closed the city gates, but when they were stationed here, there were still many people lingering outside the city. Including the nearby manors, the Uto soldiers swept these manors clean, leaving the women behind, and killing the rest, even the children. The wine was also robbed from the manors, and the people were powerless, and the whole manor was destroyed as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

The Wutuo people envied the people of Wei, but they also looked down on them. They envied the people of Wei for their gorgeous silks, exquisite porcelain, vast territory, large population, and beautiful tall houses. But they lived in the desert, on the edge of the grassland, with nothing but the sound of the whistling wind.

They looked down on the people of Wei for being weak, timid, and unable to protect themselves. They guarded the so-called "benevolent government" and waited for others to invade. A piece of fat meat without anyone guarding it will always attract all kinds of eyes. The people of Wutuo had been silent for many years, and finally they couldn't bear it anymore.

"We have been waiting here for a month," said a confidant, "He Rufei still hasn't come. As the king said, He Rufei will not come again."

Hu Yat laughed and said, "That's great!"

The Wei Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials. Over the years, many military generals have emerged, but the most feared ones left today are General Feihong and General Fengyun. That fool Maka, relying on the fact that he was the cousin of the king, volunteered to seize Jiyang, but who would have thought that he would run into Xiao Huaijin. It was his bad luck, but unfortunately, the 150,000-man army was completely defeated by Wutuo, which severely damaged Wutuo's vitality.

He is not Maka. Since he chose the job in Rundu, it must be because he is absolutely sure of it.

"There is a saying in the Wei Dynasty, 'The red dust on the other side of the river is as busy as fire, while the green mountains in front of the pavilion are as cold as ice.' What we are doing now is 'watching the fire from the other side of the river.' So what about General Feihong? He cannot be killed by force, and he must have other weaknesses. Using power and beauty is no more than that."

"Sometimes I really don't understand the people of Wei," Hu Yat's face showed genuine confusion, "Why do they always like to kill each other? If there are people like Xiao Huaijin and He Rufei in our Wutuo, the king will definitely offer the best preferential treatment. They will become the two sharpest swords of Wutuo. With them, the whole world will be in our pocket. But the people of Wei can't stand such good generals. Once someone rises, they will be trampled into the mud. However, this is just right. If Xiao Huaijin and He Rufei are really impeccable, it will be a disaster for our Wutuo."

The confidant also said: "Yes, this is just right. It is also thanks to the king's years of planning that he let the fire burn bigger and bigger early on. Now they don't need us, and their people in Wei are helping Wutuo fight their own people."

Unbridled laughter was heard from the tent. At this time, the Wutuo soldiers who had just left brought back several Wei women. They were all captives captured from nearby farms. These women were still young and quite pretty. As soon as they came in, they trembled.

Hu Yat-sen was a man of cruel character, and many women were raped to death by him.

He laughed deviously and grabbed a woman beside him. Before he could move, he suddenly heard a horn sound from outside. Everyone was stunned.

"What's going on?"

"Someone is leaving town!"

The camp was in chaos. Huyate lost interest in continuing and pushed the woman away. He stood up and walked out. An Utuo soldier came forward and reported: "General, someone is coming down from the tower outside the city gate!"

"What?" Huyat was shocked.

The Rundu people were as timid as mice, and dared only hide in the city without making a sound. They had tried to sneak attack once before, but before the man came down, he was shot into a hedgehog by the Wutu people. Now they dared to come again? This was somewhat beyond Huyate's expectation. Logically, the Rundu people should not be like this.

Could it be that they have reached the end of their rope and decided to fight to the death? Hu Yat strode out to the wilderness, "Let's go and take a look!"

Outside the dark tower, there were indeed hundreds of ropes hanging down, and it seemed that people were descending from the tower one after another. From a distance, there were quite a few people.

"Are these people crazy?" an Utuo soldier asked, "Are they here to die?"

"There is a kind of badger in our country of Utuo. It is as timid as a mouse. It is said that if it encounters a hunter, it will not only not run away, but will panic and actively rush towards the hunter's arrows. I think these Rundu people are just like this. They are so scared that they can't even tell the directions!"

"How can we not hunt prey that comes to our doorstep?" Huyate was also feeling proud. He had already frightened the people of Rundu before the battle even started, which showed how powerful his Utuo army was. He immediately said, "Let the archers get ready! It's a good opportunity to practice their aim. If you didn't have enough fun last time, you can practice your archery as much as you can this time. There won't be many such good targets in the future!"

The Utos archers immediately prepared.

Arrows flew towards the people on the ropes on the tower, but in a moment, they were shot like hedgehogs, with countless arrows hitting one person. The people of Rundu seemed to realize this, and quickly put away the ropes and replaced them with new people.

Huyate was amused: "I think they are really crazy."

"This is what the people of Wei call... the courage of a common man!" The confidant racked his brains to come up with a word.

"What kind of bravery is this? I think it's just stupidity!" Huyate laughed and ordered loudly, "Next batch of archers, get ready!"

On the tower, ropes were constantly being hoisted, and each rope was tied to a number of "people". These people were pierced with arrows on their chests and backs. When they were lifted up, they looked like targets, which was creepy. But if you look closely, you will find that these are straw men, dressed in black, and in the night, they are no different from real people.

Xiao Mai said excitedly, "So many arrows, Brother He, we are rich!"

"It's nothing," Wang Ba said in a dull tone, "These aren't silver, and they can't be eaten."

Li Kuang was very excited and almost burst into tears. They had no arrows and could only be beaten by the Wutuo people. They didn't even dare to show their heads on the city walls during the day. One or two of the sentinels patrolling on the city walls were killed by arrows every day, but they didn't have enough bows and arrows to fight back.

And now it has.

This group of straw men in black brought out countless arrows. He Yan released another group. Before the Uto people found out, they could harvest a lot. What kind of miracle is this? This is a business with no capital!

During the day, He Yan asked Li Kuang to gather all the craftsmen and women in the city to make straw men. When the people heard that it was to deal with the Wutuo people, even the children joined in. In just one day, they made a lot of straw men. He Yan also asked Li Kuang to borrow a lot of black clothes that ordinary people wear, so that the straw men could wear them neatly.

When this plan was first proposed, Li Kuang was skeptical. Would the Wutuo people really be so stupid? Would they really send arrows to him?

The current scene has confirmed his doubts. The Uto people are really that stupid.

He looked at the young man standing on the tower, and he was filled with admiration. No matter what the future of Rundu would be, at least the straw man borrowing arrows tonight could allow Rundu to hold out for a while longer. Li Kuang walked to He Yan and said, "Brother He is very smart. I am ashamed of myself."

He Yan glanced at him sideways, the wind blew the hair around the boy's ears, he smiled nonchalantly: "It's just luck. These Wutuo people think they have a lot of people, they are proud in their hearts, they are determined to get Run, they see the straw man, they won't think of other deeper meanings."

"The Uto people think we have nothing, no external aid, no weapons, no troops, so we will make them have nothing and catch them by surprise."

"What if we fail?"

The young man said, "Then think of another way. There is always more than one way in the world."

Li Kuang was speechless. He always felt that this young man gave him a sense of déjà vu. He shook his head and threw away the absurd idea in his mind. He only thought that the reason why these thoughts appeared was simply because the current situation was extremely similar to that of the past, and even more difficult.

Tonight is just the beginning.

He Yan looked down at the tower and saw faint sparks of fire in the distant fields. Those were the camps where the Wutuo people were stationed.

To pretend to be something when nothing exists is deception. Deception cannot last long and is easily discovered, so nothing can be nothing at the end. To create something out of nothing, then from deception comes truth, from emptiness comes reality. Nothing can defeat the enemy, and when there is something, there is something to defeat the enemy.

When He Yan read this passage in the military book, he himself was also very puzzled. He took the military book to find Liu Buwang, and Liu Buwang just said: "'Nothing' is false, the purpose is to cover up the 'truth'. If you want to successfully 'create something out of nothing', you have to understand the opponent's psychology. This is the highest level of wits between generals."

He Yan fought with the Wutuo people three times. Every general of the Wutuo people looked down on everyone and was extremely arrogant. Perhaps it was because their country admired strong military force. They thought that if they had soldiers, they had everything, but they forgot that arrogant soldiers would be defeated.

She looked at the arrows that kept coming, a hint of a smile on her lips: "Switch to the next batch."

…

The arrow flew towards the city gate of Rundu with great momentum.

"What's wrong with the people of Rundu? Aren't they afraid? How many people have been replaced?" asked an Uto soldier.

Hu Yat was also somewhat suspicious. These Rundu people... seemed to be coming here to die. It had been several hours. Were they going to kill all the troops of Rundu here?

It was already daybreak; they had been shooting arrows here all night.

A bird flew across the sky and landed on a branch, chirping, breaking the silence. At this moment, Huyate suddenly remembered something and asked, "You have been shooting arrows all night, but have you ever heard the screams of those people?"

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.

It was very quiet, too quiet. They shot so many arrows, but the people of Rundu died miserably, but they didn't even scream? Why? Were they afraid that the screams would be heard by the people in the city and cause panic, or were they afraid that it would affect morale? If that was the case, it would be fine. If it was for some other reason... a trace of uneasiness passed through his heart.

"Stop!" Huyate shouted, "Stop shooting arrows immediately!"

The Uto people stopped and waited for Huyat's next order.

The arrows stopped at the same time. He Yan, who was sitting on the tower, yawned and shook his head with some regret, saying, "Oh, I was discovered."

Li Kuang was already very satisfied. That night, they had collected at least 100,000 arrows. This was faster and less laborious than forging by craftsmen. The soldier on the top of the city pulled up the last scarecrow with ropes inserted in it, rubbed his sore wrist, and turned back to ask He Yan: "Sir, do you need to put another scarecrow down?"

"Release it." He Yan said, "Release it cleanly so they can see it clearly."

Li Kuang was shocked: "Brother He, this will let the Wutuo people know our true identity, and it will be difficult for us to deceive them in the future."

He Yan smiled and said, "Master Li, I didn't make a straw man to borrow arrows. After this night, the Wutuo people have already discovered something is wrong and they can't hide it."

"They have bullied us for so long. Now, let's make them die of anger!"

The first ray of sunlight broke through the clouds, shone onto the fields, and illuminated the vermilion city walls of Rundu.

Outside the city gate, there was a human figure hanging quietly. The figure was hanging in the air, swaying. It was blurry at first, and then gradually became clear in the sunlight and fell into the eyes of the Utuo people in the distance.

A straw man dressed in black.

"Fuck!" Huyat was furious.