Jiaohua

Chapter 1686 Li Xiao is dead
After he defeated Bao Suwei, his father took him out of the Jian'an Prince's Mansion.

Among his peers, those so-called royal relatives, none could defeat him; they were all his defeated opponents, a bunch of good-for-nothings.

After that, his fame grew.

The high praise was his due, and he deserved all the honors. What he resented was that the princes, who were far inferior to him, especially the crown prince, were the ones who should inherit the throne in the future.

So he began to plan, recruit soldiers and horses, and he wanted to do everything possible to become the strongest!
He should be the best, he clearly should be the best, but how did things turn out like this...?

Two captains in the Guan Ning army have gone mad.

One person was so hungry that he saw everyone as food.

One person was seriously injured, with festering wounds, but there was no medicine available. He was in so much pain that he was throwing a tantrum and kept yelling and cursing.

After another agonizing hour, Li Xiao suddenly cursed angrily, drew his broadsword, and stepped forward to stab each of the two foul-mouthed captains.

The two captains' troops just watched blankly, without reacting.

Lin Zongqi and Ye Jun, who were behind Li Xiao, stepped forward and dragged the two fresh corpses to the roadside.

"Is there anyone else who doesn't want to live?" Li Xiao glared at the others. "Just say the word, and I'll personally send you on your way!"

Silence fell, no one answered, only the chirping of birds in the woods and the rustling of the wind through the pine branches.

"Let's go!" Li Xiao shouted in a low voice.

One of the soldiers on the Guan Ning march suddenly spoke up, dejectedly saying, "Where are we going? Can we even get out of here?"

"Yes!" Li Xiao glared at him. "If you think you can't, then you stay here!"

He swung his sword, and the soldier cowered in fear, but Li Xiao was only feinting and did not actually intend to kill him.

"Everyone, stay alert!" Li Xiao roared. "Anyone who disrupts our morale again will face consequences next time!"

Despite being called an army, they had been hunted down and routed for days, and were now reduced to less than a hundred men.

There was no road ahead, but there was a steep cliff with a slope leading up to it. On one side of the slope, there was a long rocky path that could be stepped on.

After several days without food, their physical strength was simply insufficient to support them in climbing this sheer cliff.

Just as Li Xiao was beginning to despair, something even more desperate happened.

Shen Lie appeared slowly with a squad of Yan soldiers, his tall and slender figure looking down at them.

The sky was behind Shen Lie, who was backlit. His features were exquisite and handsome, gorgeous and beautiful, but his temperament was cold and aloof, his eyes were indifferent and cruel, and he had no human touch at all.

Li Xiao instantly realized that he had embarked on a truly dead end.

The Yan soldiers raised their crossbows, the sharp arrowheads gleaming pale in the dim light.

"Shen Lie!" Li Xiao gritted his teeth.

Shen Lie's dark eyes were calm and expressionless, as still as an ancient well, but Li Xiao felt that Shen Lie was looking at a dead dog.

No, Shen Lie is the dog!
The lost dog!

Li Xiao raised his sword, about to hurl insults, when suddenly Yan's soldiers' crossbow bolts came flying.

A series of whooshing sounds filled the air, like chains that snatch away souls.

Lin Zongqi, who was standing next to Li Xiao, was about to cry out in alarm when, before he could utter a word, an arrow struck his chest, and he fell off the cliff. Ye Jun also fell down the cliff.

Soon, only Li Xiao remained on the cliff.

Li Xiao's gaze shifted from indignation and hatred to pain and bewilderment.

Ambitions unfulfilled, grand dreams shattered, all sounds silenced, fleeting moments wasted.

He stared at the bottomless cliff, then looked up at Shen Lie, his eyes bloodshot: "I am already your defeated opponent, yet you still dare to toy with me like this! Don't even think about killing me! Shen Lie, I, Li Xiao, will not die by your hand!"

Li Xiao pointed at Shen Lie.

Shen Lie remained expressionless and didn't say a single word to him from beginning to end.

Then, Li Xiao turned around and jumped off the cliff without hesitation.

The mountain stream is vast and empty, winding and secluded for dozens of miles, with the wind swirling around the cliffs, carrying dust and swaying leaves. After the wind passes, the dust remains and the leaves are there, but the wind has vanished without a trace.

Jin Hongkang did not learn of Shen Lie's appearance in Youhu County until September 6th. Jin Hongkang was furious and immediately reinforced his troops. Just then, Chen Like, the commander of the attacking battalion, returned from Muye to report on the military situation. Upon hearing this news, Chen Like immediately requested permission to go to Jiangzhou to confront Shen Lie.

Jin Hongkang refused.

Chen Like noticed Jin Hongkang's concerns and, while taking a walk along the riverbank with Jin Hongkang that evening, expressed Jin Hongkang's fears: "Your Highness, are you afraid that I will die at Shen Lie's hands?"

Jin Hongkang's face darkened: "Are you implying that I'm afraid of Shen Lie?"

Chen Like smiled and said, "If Your Highness were afraid of Shen Lie, why would you send more men to besiege him? A fine blade must be concealed, and a good steed must avoid the mud. Your Highness values ​​me and hopes that I am safe so that I can plan more for Your Highness's hegemony."

Jin Hongkang's expression improved: "Indeed, Chen Xing, I have been regretting lately that if I had promoted you to commander of the attacking battalion back then, perhaps there would have been no disputes afterward. In fact, you might have already paved the way for the late emperor, and you have taken over both Hejing and Jiangnan."

Chen Li said, “No, Your Highness, it is the best policy for you to appoint Cao Yijun as the commander-in-chief. He is talented and capable. Without him, it would have been difficult to forge this batch of equipment for the attack battalion in a short time. With good soldiers readily available, I can serve Your Highness wholeheartedly.”

After saying that, Chen Like added, "Your Highness, I wish to go to Jiangzhou, but my true intention is not Shen Lie."

"Not Shen Lie?"

"Yes, it's Nie Huimo."

Jin Hongkang raised an eyebrow, showing interest: "Oh?"

Chen Like stepped forward and stood beside Jin Hongkang, lowering his voice to say, "Your Highness, Nie Huimo and Shen Lie have been competing with each other. Do you still remember the death of Qian Fengrong in Guzhou? Now, this humble general wants to become that 'Qian Fengrong' and get involved in the game."

Jin Hongkang pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Ever since Nie Huimo occupied Huazhou, he has become a hindrance to us, hindering many of our actions, which is truly hateful. If you can take this opportunity to eliminate him, we will not only eliminate a major threat, but also cut off one of Tian Dayao's arms. If you succeed, I will remember you as having performed a first-class service. However, you must remember that neither Shen Lie nor Nie Huimo are benevolent people, and you must be extremely careful."

"Your humble servant will remember this!"

At the hour of Hai (9-11 PM) that night, Chen Like led eight hundred soldiers away from Anjiang and headed for Gongcheng County, the southernmost part of Jiangzhou.

Meanwhile, Jin Hongkang arranged for his staff to go out and spread the news.

Nie Huimo had many ears and eyes in Anjiang. In order to lure Nie Huimo into a trap, Jin Hongkang's advisors deliberately kept the information secret, making it difficult to obtain details without special means.

The more so, the more reliable it appears.

But to Chen Like's surprise, after Shen Lie wiped out the remnants of Li Xiao and Guan Ning's army at Xiaonanshan, he did not concentrate his forces to deal with the Daping Army.

He originally intended to use the Daping Army to lure Shen Lie all the way to Gongcheng County, but Shen Lie and his troops disappeared silently in Youhu County like ghosts.