After Yang Fu brandished his sword, Jiang Wei also imitated him and fiercely chopped off the head of Dong Zhuo's statue in the palace with his ring-headed sword.
The angry black-faced head fell to the ground, revealing a neatly arranged grass framework inserted between the clay body.
Jiang Wei lifted the head of Dong Zhuo's statue to the courtyard, raised his hand and raised it high, and shouted loudly: "the immoral worship has been executed, now begin to demolish!"
A man in his forties shouted, "You're causing chaos, you'll be punished for this! There'll be another plague!"
The surrounding people were even more excited and wanted to rush together. However, facing the cavalry of the central troops who drew their swords in unison, they were silenced in an instant.
Yang Fu and Jiang Wei did not bother with these fools.
If you want to calm them down, send the prefect of Funing here tomorrow, and give each person a few coins. The people don't understand, what's the point of saying so much?
Only then did Zhu Gai arrive with people at the emperor's side.
However, at this time, Cao Wei had lost interest and waved his hand to signal Xin Bi to inquire, and then returned to the large camp outside Chenchang City.
In the evening, after dinner, Cao Wei felt a bit sleepy, so he went back to his tent and went to bed early.
It might be because he was angry today and also blew wind by the Wei River, in any case, he went to bed an hour earlier than usual.
Today, I felt very sleepy. When lying on the bed, I seemed to have a dizzy sensation as if the world was spinning. Cao Wei originally wanted to call someone in to prepare some hot water to drink, but as I lay there, I fell asleep.
Half asleep and half awake, Cao Wei felt the light and darkness of the light outside the curtain several times. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the great banner flying outside the central camp when he hurried to Lueyang for urgent aid.
This is Lueyang!
Cao Wei was startled, but then he realized it was a dream.
It must be a dream! The army is in Chenjang now, how can we have arrived in Lueyng?
Cao Wei noticed that his perspective was about ten chi high, following closely behind a formation of soldiers arranged in a square.
The soldiers in the formation numbered about a thousand, based on this number and the battlefield, they should be a unit under Chaochan's command that was used to attack Wei Yan's camp.
Cao Wei curiously surveyed the battlefield, and this perspective made him particularly curious, as if he were actually in the battle.
With the sound of gongs and drums behind him, the grand banner in front of the camp flew up along with its flagstaff, turning a few times in the air before waving towards the south.
South, that is the direction of the Shu army's camp.
The banner stopped, and the sky and earth were different.
The sky gradually turned from blue to a thin layer of dark red, and above the battle formation, a group of creatures resembling either flies or crows danced around, densely packed like water currents, carelessly moving in the air as the formation advanced.
The yellow color of the ground became more vivid, the sand turned into powder similar to that of Xiaohuang, continuously raised by the moving troops, gradually enveloping the sky with sandstorm.
Cao Wei couldn't be bothered with fear; he was in a state of surprise and insight, aloofly watching the scenery as the formation moved along with its progression.
The army continued to advance southward, and the Shu army's camp on the southern side shot out densely packed arrows.
When the arrows reached their highest point in the sky, they all turned into the appearance of a bald eagle, diving down and pecking fiercely at the heads of Wei soldiers with their long beaks.
Cao Wei watched a bald eagle intently, and as his attention shifted, his gaze gradually drew closer, focusing on the eagle up close.
In an instant, the bald eagle dived down and pecked fiercely, breaking the skull of a soldier.
The fragments rolled up like bubbles in water and floated upward. The bald eagle, like absorbing water, sucked out the snow-white brain matter of the soldier. After swallowing contentedly, its eagle eyes met Cao Wei's with a touch of pity.
Cao Wei was startled and broke out in a cold sweat, feeling his limbs numb.
In just a few moments, the perspective shifted forward, focusing on the eyes of a soldier in the front row who was running forward continuously.
Skipping the moat and waving his knife to knock away the deer horns, he then pushed the pure black ring-handed knife in his hand forward, as if piercing paper, easily slashing open the wall of the Shu army.
As the wall was pierced, it was as if the great curtain on stage was drawn back, and a Shu military general in full crimson armor, three chi tall, emerged from inside. He wore an iron mask and had two horns on his head.
The long spear in the armor-clad soldier's hand swept horizontally down, and the soldier whose perspective was attached to him had his head rolled away.
After a dizzy spin, the head hit the ground and saw the spear tip of the Shu military general.
The sounds on the battlefield were like the deep rumble of thunder, and although Cao Wei couldn't see, he knew that the Shu military general in front was speaking.
For how long the Shu military general spoke, the rumble of the voice almost shook his eardrums. When Cao Wei finally came to his senses, he only remembered one sentence:
“You have acted against the heavens, and you deserve this fate!”
The soldier closed his eyes, and Cao Wei's perspective began to lose focus.
After another unknown amount of time, when Cao Wei opened his eyes again, what appeared in front of him was a river on his right side, with bubbles popping on the water, looking like blood with a thick consistency.
On both sides were mountains.
Cao Wei suddenly realized, this is Chi ting, this is the Qingni River Valley!
In my field of vision, it was still a battle array. Just when I clearly saw it for a moment, a sharp screaming sound came from behind.
Cao Wei turned his head to look behind, an animal of unknown breed, ten chi tall, filled the entire valley.
The face of the creature was as indistinct as chaos, moving in an irregular, paste-like manner. First, it showed Zhang He's face, then Cao Zhen's, followed by Guo Hui's. Next, it became Qian Zhao's face, then Lu Xun's...
After flashing through countless faces, the paste-like creature suddenly stabilized and became a mirror, reflecting Cao Rui's own face!
Without surprise, Cao Wei's perspective was reset to the forward direction.
The soldiers stepped over the corpses of their comrades, fighting fiercely with the Shu army across the narrow valley.
Swords clashed with swords, spears with spears, lances with lances, maces with maces.
Blood flowers flew around, and the soldiers who fell had their wounds bleeding, which were directly sucked away by the turbulent Qingni water.
The Qingni water grew increasingly red, turning into an extremely dark red like solidified blood scabs.
The Qingni water, which should be a mixture of Qingni river water and blood, became more solid and took on the appearance of a giant hand that smashed an azure fan.
Long feathers flew around, each one turning into a flying crane that circled mournfully in the air.
The blood-red hand stopped in the sky once more and then exploded into pieces with a loud bang, transforming into a gigantic millstone that spanned across the valley, grinding all the soldiers towards the center.
A soldier with a young face, half of his leg had already been rolled into the millstone, repeatedly shouting the word "mother".
When Cao Wei instinctively reached out to save the soldier, the millstone suddenly sped up, leaving only the soldier's unwilling eyes meeting with Cao Wei.
There seemed to be endless resentment in his eyes.
The creature behind him let out an ear-piercing scream, "You killed him! You killed him!"
Cao Wei broke out in a cold sweat again, and his eyes closed as if weighted with a thousand jin.
When he opened his eyes again, the world Cao Rui saw was nothing but pure white, with black lines outlining mountains, rivers, passes, and crowds.
The long line of soldiers could not be seen in either direction. Crowds of people were carrying all their belongings on their backs, taking heavy steps along a winding and rugged mountain road, step by step, silently moving forward towards the distance.
The entire world was silent.
The already rugged mountain road, the black lines on the pure white background became more and more undulating, making the path look increasingly winding.
Looking up at the horizon, Xihu drove the six divine dragons, pulling the scorching sun in the sky.
The river along the road showed waves surging against the current, and the small path in the mountains turned into a plank road.
A single yellow crane, two yellow cranes, and three yellow cranes flew forward, but all hit the cliffs and towering rocks on both sides of the river.
Innumerable apes clambered up the mountain, unable to reach the summit after a long time, and finally fell down exhausted.
A wave of gaze pierced from behind, and Cao Rui instinctively turned his head back, only to find that above the perilous pass behind him, Zhong Yao's regular script was neatly written with the characters "Jiange" (Sword Pass).
There were three human-like figures standing outside the "Jiange" (Sword Pass). One had both hands holding a pair of dual swords, one had a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and one had a Zao Daixiao. However, they were all unclear in appearance.
Somehow, Cao Rui recalled some lines of poetry that he couldn't remember where they came from.
"Rays of lightning, thunder crashes, mountains and ridges collapse. The stone door of the cave heaven, abruptly opens."
These few lines of poetry's voice first repeated endlessly in his mind, and then echoed throughout the entire world, like an old monk chanting.
"The stone door of the cave heaven, abruptly opens. The stone door of the cave heaven, abruptly opens. The stone door of the cave heaven, abruptly opens..."
"Hon!!!
With a loud roar echoing throughout the sky and earth, the Jiange in the distance and the three giant figures in front of it disappeared, leaving only the continuous buzzing sound of earplugs.
People, mountains, rivers were all gone. Ink solidified into a brush, seemingly stuffed into Cao Rui's hand by someone, revealing a wide and complicated map before him.
In an instant, the sky and earth turned into nothingness...
...
On the morning of the second day, towards the end of the third hour, General Cao Zhen arrived at the main camp outside the city with the corrected strategy.
"Today is Zhong Gong's turn to be on duty," General Cao Zhen smiled and nodded at Mai Qiu Jian: "Where is the emperor? I need to report the new strategy again yesterday."
Mai Qiu Jian heard this and was somewhat surprised. First, he turned to look into the tent, and then slightly apologized to Cao Zhen by bowing.
"Reporting to the General, the Emperor has not yet emerged from his tent today, perhaps he slept a bit longer."
A little longer?
Suddenly, General Cao Zhen realized that something was wrong.
Mai Qiu Jian's lack of knowledge was normal, but General Cao Zhen, as the General of the Great Wei, a senior official in the West Hall, and Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army, knew more about the emperor's schedule than any other minister.
Even in Luoyang, the emperor would definitely be in the study by the third hour of the morning. He rarely overslept or was late. Even at the latest, he would be there by the second or third quarter of the hour, never delaying into the fifth hour.
Furthermore, General Cao Zhen has been accompanying the emperor almost every day for half a year. The emperor has never slept late either!
General Cao Zhen's expression grew even more serious: "Zhong Gong, go to the emperor's tent and ask after him. It's this late, and according to the emperor's schedule, he shouldn't still be asleep."
Mai Qiu Jian saw General Cao Zhen's expression and hesitated, then swallowed his saliva and replied solemnly, "General, please wait a moment. I will go to inquire after the emperor right away!" (End of chapter)
