The Warrior of Love

Understanding each other? What a joke!

Without equal retaliation, no one will be able to stop.

However, even though it is cruel, it is on the "right" track.

If the rotation were to proceed in the normal order, this land would be reunited after the violent but short-lived turmoil, and a unified pattern of nearly four hundred years would begin, even becoming the mark of a nation.

——But history turned out a little differently here.

The Huns, who were defeated during the reign of Qin Shihuang and were unable to intervene in the chaos in the Central Plains and only recovered after the world was reunified, actually began their invasion of the Central Plains not long after the death of Qin Shihuang.

The Xiongnu were a nomadic people who lived by following water and grass, but they were not completely rootless. In fact, they also had a fairly sound system (compared to other nomadic peoples of this era) and even had the embryonic form of an empire. It was precisely because of this that they were able to compete with the Han Empire at its peak in the future.

However, this would have required decades of accumulation to achieve. After all, they had just been severely damaged by the Great Wall Guard Corps... No one expected that they would be able to return to the top so quickly.

Moreover, its internal structure seems to be completely different, and even its appearance has changed to a certain extent.

The Huns worshipped the color white, so the Huns who moved south were also called White Huns.

Under the command of a leader named "White Emperor Ji", they crossed the Great Wall defense line, overthrew the guarding corps, and quickly occupied several important states and counties in the north.

Perhaps it seems strange that a Hun was called Baidiji instead of "Chanyu", but it is said that the man called himself that, so there is nothing to say.

At this time, the wave of revenge from the six states in Shandong was in full swing. In just two years, Qin lost its control over two-thirds of its territory, and it withdrew its military forces to focus on defending the Guanzhong base.

The leader of the uprising army of the six states was a Chu man named Xiang Ji. The Chu State valued red, so the army’s uniforms were also mainly red.

In addition, the Qin State has always valued black since ancient times.

Therefore, the situation of confrontation between Qin (black), Xiongnu (white), and Chu (red) at this time can also be called the "Three Colors World"!

"Black symbolizes the water virtue in the Five Elements, while white and red represent gold and fire respectively. You should know that the spiritual veins of this land are almost all operated according to the laws of the Five Elements. The current pattern of the three-color world has subtly disrupted the proportion of the Five Elements, causing chaos in the spiritual veins and even affecting the celestial phenomena."

In the end, Xiaoyu concluded: "In short, a man-made disaster has become a natural disaster. Although it is rare, it has happened before."

Chapter 229: The Shadow of War

Jiang Liu listened to Xiaoyu's stories along the way and gained a general understanding of the basic situation of this era.

Now, the White Huns, as if assisted by God, have occupied the territories of the former Yan and Wei countries, as well as a small half of the Zhao country, and are in a stalemate with the Qin army in Changping.

The reason why the famous place "Changping" was chosen was because it was a so-called strategically located place. If one wanted to expand each other's territories, this place was unavoidable no matter what. It was no mere coincidence that the decisive battle between Qin and Zhao took place here.

In addition, Zhao general Lian Po built a large-scale fortress here to defend against the Qin army. Although it is not as good as the Great Wall, it can also guard the dangerous places. Its remains still exist today. After a little repair, it can be reused to restrain the light cavalry of the White Huns.

However, if Lian Po himself knew that the fortifications that were originally used to defend against the Qin army were now being used by the Qin people, he would probably feel very complicated.

Qin firmly held the Guanzhong base and still occupied most of the former Chu and Han states, fighting against the coalition forces of the six states on the line of the former Chu capital Yingdu.

The rest was the coalition forces of the six nations that occupied most of Qi, a small part of Chu, and the lands of Wu and Yue...

It was called a coalition force, but in reality it was just Qi providing troops and money, and Chu providing generals and commanders. The other countries had no territory and were only descendants of princes in name only.

In fact, there is the Baiyue further south, which was originally under the jurisdiction of Qin. However, after the transportation was cut off, it seemed that it had independent ideas, so it did not become an enemy of the coalition forces of the six countries, and the six countries did not care about it.

It’s just like there are actually hundreds of different tribes of Hu people to the west of the Xiongnu and Qin - as long as they don’t cause trouble, they will be left alone for the time being.

The three powers were adjacent to each other and were also hostile to each other, but because of the long-standing grievances between the six kingdoms and Qin, they were more hostile to Qin than to the White Huns (also related to the fact that the coalition forces of the six kingdoms were mainly composed of Chu and Qi - the White Huns did not occupy their territory).

The White Huns treated Qin and the six kingdoms equally and attacked them without distinguishing between the primary and the secondary.

As for Qin, it was planning to take advantage of the natural barriers, defend its base, fight for the outer territories, and then sit back and watch the success or failure of the world. After all, the Guanzhong area was indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack, and Hangu Pass also brought them a great sense of security.

Xiao Yuhe was located near Daliang, the former capital of Wei State. However, when Qin conquered the six states, Daliang was flooded and countless civilians and soldiers were reduced to fish and turtles. The original city had collapsed, and a fertile plain was formed in the following years. Then Qin relocated people from other places and settled them here to increase the population and open up wasteland.

Naturally, many unspeakable things happened during this process, and only six or seven out of ten immigrants survived, but no matter what, they finally settled down.

However, just after a dozen years of peace and stability, and just when a generation had grown up, the First Emperor passed away and the world changed drastically, and they were pushed to the brink of extinction again.

Even without considering the problems of natural disasters and monsters, this place is about to become a battlefield. It is said that the White Huns' army has begun a confrontation in Yangdi in the former Han land, and war may break out at any time.

"The world is really not peaceful."

Jiang Liu frowned and said, "The situation here is much more complicated than the history I know... No, it's nothing, I was just talking to myself."

"Well, the world is indeed not peaceful. After the First Emperor conquered the six kingdoms, although the corvée was very hard, there were no large-scale wars after all, and the country was stable for a while. But before we could recover, we encountered something like this. Sigh."

Xiaoyu felt depressed, and her tail drooped and swayed from side to side.

"The villagers who worship me have recently thought about moving away if they can't make a living anymore, to see if they can find a stable place to live, but where can they find such a place now?"

"It doesn't sound like an easy task."

As he spoke, Jiang Liu's expression froze, and suddenly he raised his head and looked towards the east as if thinking about something.

"Xiaoyu, just now you said that there are armies of the White Huns and Qin nearby, and a war could break out at any time, right?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

"That's a real pity."

After a moment, a sound like rolling thunder came from afar, and a faint white line appeared at the end of the horizon. Soon even the ground began to shake.

"Hun, Hun!"

Xiaoyu immediately became nervous, and the hair on her tail suddenly stood up.

“And there are so many!”

"Don't be afraid, these guys are not coming for us."

Jiang Liu held the fox-eared girl's shoulders and comforted her: "They didn't even notice us."

Infected by Jiang Liu's calmness, Xiaoyu slowly calmed down. After a while, she found that the White Hun cavalry did not rush over directly, but ran southward along a fairly wide river from a distance.

It was just as Jiang Liu said, they were not coming for them... This was also understandable, how could they mobilize tens of thousands of cavalry just for two people?

At this distance, the other party didn't even notice the two "little black dots" here.

"Follow the river...you are a local, is there anything in that direction?" Jiang Liu seemed to be thinking about something.

Such a huge cavalry group is a rare sight even a thousand years later. There must be a purpose for such a huge momentum.

"Nothing special... But if you walk a hundred miles along the river, the water will become shallower and the flow will be much slower as you reach the upper reaches."

"What's across the river?"

"Hey, this, um, I seem to have heard someone say that this river is the result of the river changing its course after the flooding of Daliang, so the other side should be...ah, Qin's army is stationed there."

Xiaoyu's face turned pale: "Is the war finally about to begin?"

"It seems so." Jiang Liu nodded.

The fox-eared girl stayed there for a while, and suddenly became nervous: "No, I have to take them away from here quickly!"

As she spoke, she pulled up her skirt which was a bit too long and in the way, revealing a pair of white legs, and then she started to jog in a panic.

Jiang Liu looked at her clumsy appearance and smiled slightly. He took a step forward and somehow came to Xiaoyu's side, then picked her up without any hesitation.

"Ah!" The girl naturally screamed, her pale face showing both panic and shyness.

You have to know that with her identity, she has never had the experience of close contact with humans, and being held like this is an unprecedented experience. The heat and breath coming from Jiang Liu also made her face blush.

As if he didn't notice the reaction of the girl in his arms, Jiang Liu asked her for directions and then moved towards the target at a speed almost like teleportation.

Even though he used his domineering aura to protect her from the wind pressure, such a speed still caused the girl to exclaim constantly. But after all, she was not an ordinary girl. She was at a loss for a while at first, but later she adapted and even became excited.

There was a reason why the two of them rushed back so urgently.

You know, a war between countries will not be limited to one battlefield, but will stretch across an unknown length of front. Once the war officially breaks out, everything covered by the front will be reduced to ashes.

Neither the Qin nor the Xiongnu would care about the lives of the common people with tattoos on their heads.

The only one who cares about those poor people is probably Xiaoyu...and now maybe Jiang Liu will be added to the list.

Chapter 230: The Disappearing Village

The village is burning.

The flames were like a huge and greedy monster, opening its huge mouth and ruthlessly devouring houses and crops. Everything was covered in flames and thick smoke that covered the sky.

——This was the scene that Xiaoyu and Jiang Liu saw when they arrived.

The columns of smoke rising into the sky could be seen from miles away, and the flames were extremely eye-catching even in daylight.

But Xiaoyu still had some hope in her heart at that time. Now that she had witnessed everything with her own eyes, she knelt on the ground in a daze as if she had lost her soul.

When I came to my senses, everything in front of me was distorted by the mist, and a burning sensation slowly slid down my face...

Jiang Liu watched all this in silence. Even though Xiaoyu was distraught, he did not go forward to comfort her. Perhaps he did not know what words to use to persuade her.

No, this is not something that can be comforted or persuaded.

If your home is destroyed, it seems that no other emotions are needed except hatred.

"I."

The girl's trembling voice made Jiang Liu's eyes darken.

"I, in fact, don't really like these people... After all, we've only been together for a few years, and they all treat me as a messenger from heaven, thinking that I can do anything. Whether it's praying for rain or curing illnesses, they all come to me for help, and some even ask me to fight a dragon.

You pushed such a dangerous and troublesome job onto me, and the reward is just wheat and a small amount of meat. Isn't that too much?"

What kind of mood is that? There are tears in the corners of the girl's eyes, but her lips are curved into a smile.

"But...but, even though they are so annoying, they are still cute. No one can read, so I've been the one to name all the newborns in the past few years. Even if the names are jokes, they will thank me gratefully.

Food was always in short supply, but they never discounted my offerings, even when I said it didn't matter whether I ate or not.

When I was in Chu, those people in fancy clothes respected me but kept their distance from me. Here, the peasants in tattered clothes loved me from the bottom of their hearts even though they didn't know where I came from.

They were just using magic to treat some common diseases, but they were so flattered. Obviously, monarchs are all pursuing immortality, haha...

Many people were driven here from their hometowns by the unreasonable emperor and lost their property and families, but they still took root here.

When there is a drought, when there is forced labor, when there is a monster, when there is an earthquake...

Even though it was so hard, they tried very hard - they tried harder than anyone else to survive!"

The girl's beautifully shaped and thin nails were deeply embedded in the dirty mud, but she was completely unaware and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"But why, why didn't anyone come to rescue them?!"

"Uh..." Buzz, buzz, buzz -

There was a faint vibration coming from the ground. It was not the sound of houses collapsing in the flames, but the resonant echo formed by multiple impacts with a certain pattern... It was a horse.

Or to be more precise, it was a herd of horses, the Huns' light cavalry scouts!

This time the Huns noticed this side. After all, Jiang Liu and Xiaoyu were very close to the village. They surrounded the village from behind. There were about twenty riders. They had no intention of stopping to communicate. They just rushed over waving their weapons that flashed with cold light.

It is not surprising that scouts from the White Huns appear here.

The tactic they adopted was to appear to be in direct confrontation with the Qin army, but in fact they sent elite cavalry to cross the river from the rear, cut off the Qin army's retreat, give full play to their mobility, and engage in a decisive battle of annihilation.

To achieve this, the Qin army must be kept completely unaware of the situation.

Therefore, when the ten thousand cavalrymen were conducting an encirclement operation, there were always several elite scout teams roaming around the periphery.

Its mission is to ensure that the army's movements will not be leaked, that is, to destroy all tribes (villages) encountered along the way.

This is a tried and tested tactic on the grasslands, and it applies equally here.

They had no hatred towards the villagers, the purpose of killing was simply because the victims lived here.

Or perhaps, there is no need for any reason, killing and plundering are everything in life for them.

So, when they saw the two fish that had escaped the net, they naturally did not hesitate and spurred their horses to gallop over.

Should they be trampled to death with horse hooves or cut in half with a knife? Although they will be killed in the end, they are human beings after all, and they will get bored. After they become disgusted with boring work, they will naturally pursue more exciting experiences.

Perhaps only at that moment can they truly realize that they are alive.

They have no feelings about the brutal killing of innocent villagers. If someone stands up to accuse them, they will instead show a troubled and puzzled expression.

Because this is their "common sense".

On the grassland, there is no distinction between innocent and innocent people, there are only enemies and oneself. It is normal to treat enemies cruelly, no matter how cruelly.

The Huns were once "treated cruelly", but now they are in a position to oppress others.

When there was still a distance of ten feet, the man next to the strange woman pulled out a slender blade of unique style from somewhere.

He was too late - that was the judgment of the scouts.