Chapter 120 I'm waiting for my skills to cool down, what are you waiting for?

"The army of wind! Doctor, quickly retreat behind me!"

Li Jue was coming at him fiercely, so Xu Rong dared not be careless. He slashed with all his might with the black iron sword in his hand, once again displaying the unique military skills in "Tian Zheng Wu Dian".

The first of the twenty-four Tianzheng forms is Tianguan.

Use punishment to defeat it and use virtue to protect it.

The evil spirits of soldiers transformed into swords and axes all over the sky, trying to attack Li Jue's body and trap and kill him.

At the same time, Xu Rong also stood in front of Li Ru, with a surging Qi around him, showing his extraordinary martial arts skills and military body training skills: "Li Jue, don't be so arrogant!"

"Why do you want to stop me?"

Li Jue turned around quickly, and the pair of iron wings behind him turned into a solid shield to protect his body. He blocked the attack with swords and axes, and then chopped down the weapon in his hand repeatedly, sending out a sharp invisible sword energy all over the sky.

The army of wind, with swords hidden in the wind, can change into anything without form!
The two men each displayed their unique military skills, as if the two great military sages Wei Liao and Sun Wu were fighting each other across time and space. The military strategy of Wei Liao, the sage, and the military tactics of Sun Wu, the sage, were confronting each other head-on.

The twenty-four moves of Tian Zheng are grand and majestic with their wide opening and closing movements.

The army fought for six forces: wind, fire, mountain, forest, shadow and thunder. Although Li Jue only mastered one of them, he had a deep understanding of it. With the help of the Iron-Winged Bear Armor, he could glide in the wind. He could come and go freely, go to the sky and into the ground, and gradually made Xu Rong unable to resist.

Li Jue gained the upper hand and became more murderous: "Even Lu Bu is no match for me, let alone you two losers. Leave your lives today!"

Li Ru hurriedly used the Confucian sacred words to help: "The mouse has skin, but the man has no manners! If the man has no manners, what is the point of not dying?"

"The Book of Songs·Zhongfeng·Xiangshu"!
The Book of Songs is one of the Six Classics, and "Xiangshu" is a famous piece among them. The whole text uses sharp words and is full of irony.

The whole poem has three chapters, each with four sentences.

The three chapters overlap, starting with rats, making repeated analogies and parallel meanings, but each has its own emphasis. The whole chapter is full of strong emotions and sharp language, which is both coherent and turbulent. If the Confucian secret techniques of "verbal criticism" and "written criticism" were used, it would be able to achieve the purpose of destroying someone and taking their life without even being noticed.

Li Ru only read out the first sentence, but Li Jue suddenly felt a palpitation, as if a disaster was about to happen: "Thoughts can confuse the mind, and evil words can kill! Don't let him finish the poem, otherwise I will be dead or disabled!"

Confucian scholars of the imperial dynasty can kill people with words even if they are weak. Although Li Ru cannot cultivate the righteous energy that can disperse ghosts and gods, it does not mean that his spiritual cultivation is not high, nor does it mean that his Confucianism is not profound.

"The mouse has teeth, but man has no end! If man has no end, what is there to wait for before death?"

"The mouse has proper manners, but the man is rude. Man is rude! Why not..."

Before Li Ru could utter the last two words "die quickly" he was slashed in front of him by Li Jue's sword. The cold blade cut through the air and struck Li Ru in the face.

When Xu Rong wanted to rescue him, he was blown several feet away by a strong wind.

"My life is over!"

Li Ru was terrified and was about to close the door and wait for death when a stream of blazing flames broke through the air and it seemed as if there was a phoenix singing in his ears, making bursts of clear and distant sounds.

Boom~
Li Jue drew his sword to protect himself, but was still vomiting blood and flew back dozens of feet, knocking down a warehouse storing weapons and supplies, raising a large amount of dust and rubble.

When the smoke and dust cleared, Li Jue stood up again. His armor had been shattered in many places and the wounds were bleeding profusely. The severe pain made him grit his teeth. His hands trembled slightly due to numbness and he almost couldn't hold the two swords in his hands.

"Marquis Qi!"

Blood flowed from the corner of Li Jue's mouth, and he glared at Wang Jing with hatred: "Overlord Bow, Fiery Feather Arrow, it really lives up to its reputation."

Wang Jing slowly put down the Overlord Bow in his hand, his eyes cold and cold: "You are quite capable to survive my arrow. It's a pity that I have set a trap to cut off your chance of survival."

Li Jue's Iron-Winged Bear Barbarian Armor can glide in the air. Although it consumes a lot of energy, he can move freely on the battlefield, attack or defend, and often takes the initiative.

However, the Overlord Bow and the Fiery Feather Arrow are his biggest nemesis. After all, no matter how fast he flies, how can he be faster than the arrow?

The arrow just now almost took his life. If he dared to fly into the air at this time, he would immediately become a sitting duck and die under Wang Jing's arrow.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Li Jue was also a sensible person and did not intend to fight back: "Lord Qi, I am willing to surrender, please forgive my sins."

Wang Jing's eyes were grim as he thought of the evil deeds that Li Jue and Guo Si had done in Chang'an in history. They allowed their sons and daughters to harm the people of Sanfu, causing severe famine, so that the people ate each other, bones piled up, and filth filled the streets.

This disaster was called the "Three Auxiliary Rebellion" in "Wei Lue", which resulted in nine out of ten houses in Guanzhong, where there were more than one million people at that time, being left empty-handed. Everyone starved to death and fled, moving south to the territories of Liu Biao, Liu Yan, Zhang Lu and others.

In Wang Jing's opinion, Li Jue was no longer worthy of being called a human being. He was a living beast. Keeping him around would only become a hidden danger and hinder the Northern Army's incorporation and rectification of the remnants of the Western Liang Army.

So Wang Jing said coldly: "Sorry, I refuse."

Seeing that surrender was unsuccessful, Li Jue immediately gave an order in a hateful voice: "Damn it, Feixiong Army, follow me and fight your way out of the encirclement!"

"sucker Punch."

Wang Jing's body recovered, and he immediately pulled the bowstring, pulling the black dragon tendon to the full moon state. Danyu Holy Flame surged out from the sea of ​​qi, turning into a red Yuanqi arrow: "Idiot, if I waste a lot of time with you, I'm waiting for my skills to cool down, what are you waiting for? Waiting to die?"

Then an arrow was shot out, as fast as a stream of light, and went straight towards Li Jue like a comet hitting the moon.

In fact, after Li Jue was hit by an arrow, he immediately flew away. Even Wang Jing would have found it difficult to chase him. However, Li Jue did not know that Wang Jing had to take a short breath after shooting an arrow before he could shoot the second arrow. He still wished that he could be recruited by the court, but instead lost his chance of survival.

The arrow of divine feathers flies through the fierce sky!

"Flying so high, huh? Come down now!"

Boom~
Li Jue had just taken off into the air and was about to turn around and fly away when he was hit on the back by a scorching stream of flames. His pair of iron wings were instantly turned into red molten iron by the high temperature, and the rune array on his armor was also destroyed by the stream of flames.

The remaining power of the Fierce Feather Arrow finally blew away a large piece of flesh on Li Jue's back, revealing his green martial bones, which were the Feiling Yan bones that could make the practitioner as light as a swallow.

This kind of specialized martial bone is not known for its defense and strength, but its speed and reaction are extremely amazing. If Wang Jing had not learned the "Divine Feather Arrow Sutra", a unique martial art, and had a famous bow like the Overlord Bow in his hand, it would be easy to defeat Li Jue, but almost impossible to kill him.

It's a pity that Li Jue was so unlucky. He thought he could be protected by the strong pass, but he didn't expect that there would be two traitors, Li Ru and Xu Rong, who directly opened the gate to let Wang Jing in and created a mutiny, making it difficult for Li Jue to quickly mobilize troops for battle.

In the end, Li Ru even used himself as bait, risking his own death, to catch this big fish!

From beginning to end, Li Jue, who had studied military strategy all his life, finally fell into the trap of other people's schemes. It can only be said that justice is clear and retribution is inevitable.

"Ahem... use surprise tactics in your warfare... plan first and then fight... if I hadn't been careless for a moment, I wouldn't have been defeated today... I don't accept it!"

The wound on his back was so deep that the bone was visible, but Li Jue did not die instantly thanks to the protection of his armor and the strong vitality of a warrior.

Wang Jing put down the Overlord Bow in his hand again, and then looked at Xu Rong: "General Xu, it's time for you to make a contribution."

Xu Rong was in a dignified mood when he heard this. This was a token of surrender. He had been at odds with Li Jue to begin with, so naturally he did not hesitate at this moment. He personally stepped forward and chopped off Li Jue's head with a knife, then grabbed his hair and held it in his hand.

Rumble~
The east gate of Hangu Pass was completely opened, and Yan Xing and Yan Hu each led 300 soldiers to control the city gate.

In just a cup of tea, a battle flag with the word "Wang" written on it was erected on the top of the city, announcing that this place had fallen into Wang Jing's control.

Lu Bu, who was accompanying the army, was greatly shocked, and his eyes showed an expression of disbelief: "They have taken it already?"

Such a magnificent pass that has been around for thousands of years was actually easily captured by the lord without any effort from the Northern Army!

With the arrival of the Northern Army, Hangu Pass finally changed hands.

Xu Rong carried Li Jue's still bleeding head and came to Wang Jing, who knelt on one knee and bowed his head and said, "I am the guilty general Xu Rong, and I pay my respects to Marquis Qi."

"Haha, General, please stand up. Since you have surrendered, you are one of us from now on. There is no need to be so polite."

Wang Jing helped Xu Rong up from the ground with a smile on his face. Although the man in front of him was not well-known, he was a great general in the late Eastern Han Dynasty who was good at fighting. During his peak period, he had defeated first-class commanders such as Sun Jian and Cao Cao.

Unfortunately, Xu Rong was unlucky in history and was involved in the struggle between Wang Yun and the Western Liang Army. He was eventually betrayed by Hu Zhen and died in defeat.

However, due to Wang Jing's intervention, none of this would have happened. Before this, Hu Zhen and Guo Si had both died in Luoyang, and now Li Jue had also died in Hangu Pass. The diehards within the Western Liang Army were basically all dead, and the remaining ones were just a bunch of idiots who would have difficulty making a difference.

"Yes, Rong has met the lord."

Xu Rong stood up respectfully, walked two steps behind Wang Jing, and began to describe the specific situation of the remnants of the blind Xiliang Army.

There were some news that even Li Ru didn't know. After all, Li Ru was just a civil servant and did not directly lead the troops.

Wang Jing also learned a lot of key information from Xu Rong, especially the fact that the Western Liang Army was short of food and medicine, and the generals were short of training materials, which would be very useful for the Northern Army's subsequent offensive.

Li Ru also came to Wang Jing at this time and said: "I have followed the agreement and will take this ancient pass for you without sacrificing a single soldier."

"Ha, Wenyou deserves the most merit in this battle. Official positions, titles, gold, silver and treasures, whatever rewards you want, just ask, I will not hesitate to reward you."

Wang Jing was very satisfied with Li Ru's performance. He was worthy of being a top strategist who left his name in history. He was ruthless in his actions.

However, Li Ru did not ask for any reward. Instead, he volunteered once again, saying, "Don't worry. There are many important passes in the world, not just Hangu Pass. After I get Tongguan for my lord, we can talk about rewards later."

Li Ru's words were extremely arrogant, but the confidence he displayed made people feel that he could really do it.

"Are you confident?"

"It's not a bad idea to use the same old tricks again."

Li Ru twirled his beard, looking very proud and confident.

Wang Jing naturally would not refuse this, and smiled at Li Ru: "Okay, you have ambition, then I will wait for good news here."

"I will not let my lord down!"

Hangu Pass was breached overnight, and the defending general Li Jue was killed, with his head hung high on a flagpole. Luoyang was immediately shaken, and the whole world was shocked by Wang Jing's achievements.

This is Hangu Pass!

It is a strategic pass with plateau in the west, steep ravines in the east, Qinling Mountains in the south and the Yellow River in the north.

This pass is located on the "Ancient Road between the Two Capitals", close to the bank of the Yellow River. It is located in a valley, deep and dangerous like a box. Only two or three thousand people are needed to garrison it to block the attack of an army of one hundred thousand.

This is the earliest fortress built in history. It is now heavily guarded and is an impregnable military fortress in anyone's eyes.

However, no matter how invincible the barrier is, it is difficult to prevent cracks from within.

Li Ru persuaded Xu Rong to surrender with just a few words. It was not because he was not determined, but because the Xiliang Army was unpopular and had lost the support of the people.

If we lose the support of the people, even if we have the advantage of geographical location, we will ultimately fail.

That is why Sun Tzu's Art of War says that in war, attacking cities is inferior to conquering people's hearts.

At the Tongguan Fortress, after receiving the news of Li Jue's defeat, the defending general Niu Fu did not invite his advisers to ask for strategies at the first time, but instead called the fortune tellers and physiognomists he had hired to predict good or bad luck for him.

Ever since he narrowly escaped death in the last attack by Wang Jing to kill Dong Zhuo, Niu Fu has become more and more superstitious about numerology, believing that he must be carrying a destiny, otherwise how could he turn misfortune into fortune?

But how could he know that Wang Jing was simply busy putting out the flames of rebellion at the time and had no time to hunt down this useless person like him.

If he could find a fortune teller who knows the secret art of fortune-telling, Niu Fu might have a chance of survival this time. Unfortunately, he is a loser himself, and the fortune teller and diviner he found are also liars. They only have some unorthodox tricks, which are okay for ordinary people but not worthy of being accepted by the upper class.

The two swindlers were neither good at face reading nor fortune telling, and their spiritual cultivation was so weak that it was hard to look at them directly. However, they were very good at deceiving people. They said a lot of things and specifically picked out what Niu Fu wanted to hear: "General, don't worry. This is the hexagram of Tian Ze Lu. It looks like you are on the verge of death, but in fact, you are safe. As long as you pray sincerely, you will be able to get through this disaster safely, and from now on, you will be out of danger and turn disaster into blessing. You will be invaluable in the future!"

When Niu Fu heard the words "priceless", he laughed heartily, as happy as a 300-pound child: "Really? Hahaha, come, prepare three animals for me. This general wants to burn incense, bathe, and pray devoutly to God."

Seeing that Niu Fu had been fooled, the two sorcerers looked at each other, happily took the generous reward from Niu Fu, and went back with a smile on their faces to prepare for the sacrifice.

Naturally, Niu Fu's actions were extremely stupid in the eyes of the other generals, and they became even more dissatisfied with his incompetence.

After Dong Zhuo's death, the Xiliang army was divided into two major factions, one of which followed Li Jue and was stationed in the Hangu Pass area.

These people were not very familiar with Li Jue and did not want to be annexed by Li Jue, so they followed Niu Fu. After all, Niu Fu was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, and they could use the reputation of the Xiliang Dong family to safely retreat to their hometown in Liangzhou and save their lives.

But now, seeing that Niu Fu was still making trouble even when he was about to die, they all regretted it deeply.

Faced with a powerful enemy, Niu Fu did not gather everyone to discuss countermeasures, but instead went to seek advice from ghosts and gods. This absurd behavior was simply treating military matters as a joke!

In fact, if you can seek protection from ghosts and gods, no one would have any objection, but the question is, what virtue and ability do you have, Niu Fu, to deserve God's blessing?
Before Liu Xie, the emperor of Luoyang, took power, he was not protected by heaven. How could you, Niu Fu, a mere stray dog, be protected by heaven? Do you really think you are the illegitimate son of heaven?

Niu Fu organized the sacrifices on a grand scale, but the soldiers and generals under him began to become discouraged and completely hopeless about the future.

Just at this time, Li Ru also mixed in with the fleeing soldiers and sneaked into Tongguan.

While Niu Fu was still busy looking for someone to perform a ritual to worship the gods, Li Ru had secretly contacted Duan Wei, the most famous person in the Xiliang Army, and arranged a secret meeting with him in a secluded place: "Duan Zhonglang, long time no see."

"you are still alive?"

Duan Wei was shocked when he saw Li Ru. He had previously heard that Hangu Pass had fallen and thought that Li Ru had died in the battle.

Li Ru smiled and said to Duan Wei calmly, "The traitor Li Jue has surrendered. Although you are a subordinate of the traitor Dong, you never harm the people. Wherever you go, you do not harm anyone. You are a kind-hearted and righteous man. Now that the Xiliang army is about to be defeated, why don't you surrender with me? Otherwise, it will be too late to regret when the heavenly soldiers arrive."

"What, you want me to surrender?"

Duan Wei was shocked when he heard this, but soon the atmosphere on the scene became subtle.

Duan Wei was not angry at Li Ru's words, but was a little moved. After all, Dong Zhuo was dead, and a large number of Xiliang army masters such as Li Jue, Guo Si and Zhang Xiu were also dead.

At the moment, Niu Fu is not a wise leader that can be relied on. Is it necessary for me to be buried with the Dong family?

Li Ru's eyesight was so sharp that he could tell what Duan Wei was thinking at the moment. He immediately struck while the iron was hot and gave another explosive piece of information: "When I came here, I heard that Niu Fu's fortune teller had predicted a bad omen of 'external conspiracy' from you, Zhongming. After hearing this, Niu Fu had already planned to kill you, Zhongming, as a sacrifice, and also to annex your subordinates."

These words were naturally not spoken at random, because the fortune teller who helped Niu Fu to tell fortunes had been bribed by Li Ru with a large sum of money, so naturally he could be made to say whatever Li Ru wanted.

Duan Wei was obviously an honest man. He had no idea how dirty a strategist could be. Therefore, he was very angry at Niu Fu without knowing the truth: "Niu Fu is not a good man. I have worked for him loyally, but now he wants to kill me because of a word from a quack?"

"Zhongming, you should make a decision when necessary, otherwise you will become a prey to the enemy and it will be too late to regret."

"Please, Bunyou, save me!"

"The only solution now is to strike first."

After being persuaded by Li Ru's eloquent speech, Duan Wei thought about it for a while and finally decided to gather his troops and go to settle the score with Niu Fu.

Among all the generals of the Xiliang Army, he has always been the most harmless one. He has never said harsh words to anyone, let alone quarreled with anyone.

But I can’t let you bully me like this as an honest person!

Duan Wei was really angry this time.

(End of this chapter)