Crossing the Sword

The supervisor sighed, "I was indeed too greedy at the time. I thought that with our superior forces, I could take this city first, and then it would be much easier to attack another city with fewer defenders. But I didn't expect that the enemy would burn our food supplies, so I had to retreat. On the way back, I was ambushed, which led to such a terrible defeat. If the troops were divided into two routes, although the enemy would also divide their forces accordingly, it would not be possible for the food supplies on both routes to be burned at the same time." After saying that, he shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Ye Shisan smiled and said, "In my humble opinion, you have made two mistakes." As soon as he said this, he immediately attracted the attention of the two. Jingwei even pulled at the corner of his clothes and whispered, "Don't talk nonsense."

But the guard had very strong hearing, so he naturally heard her reminder and said, "No problem, I am very interested in what Lord Ye has to say."

Ye Shisan gave Jingwei a look that said "don't worry", then turned to the guards and said, "First, at this time, we should allocate half of our forces to attack the other city. If the other side also allocates its forces, we should mobilize all our forces to stop and kill the other side!"

The supervisor's eyes lit up and he said, "Great! I also thought of this after reflecting on it after the war, but you only listened to my brief introduction of the form and looked at the strategic map for a few times to come up with this good idea. You are simply a rare military genius! But what is the second mistake you mentioned? I am even more interested in it now." Ye Shisan felt ashamed. His method was based on the Thirty-Six Stratagems of Encircling Wei to Save Zhao and Teasing the Tiger Away from the Mountain, and most of it was plagiarized.

Ye Shisan met the guard's gaze and said, "Second, after the food and grass are burned, we should not withdraw the troops immediately, but attack the city with all our strength!"

When this was said, not only the guards but also Jingwei were stunned. In their opinion, without backup, the only way was to withdraw. How could they not retreat but advance?

Seeing the confusion in the two men's eyes, Ye Shisan explained: "This is taking advantage of human nature. All people will think of retreating when facing difficulties. After the food and grass are burned, as long as the soldiers have no intention of retreating, it is equivalent to forcing them into a dead end! And at this time, let them know that they can only have a glimmer of survival if they capture the city, and the soldiers can naturally exert extraordinary strength." Everyone guessed correctly, this trick was plagiarized from Xiang Yu's "burning the boats and breaking the cauldrons".

The guard's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he praised loudly: "Dangerous! Brilliant! Absolute! It's really a good idea! I should be glad that you are not my enemy, otherwise I would really return home wrapped in my horse's hide as I said when I was young." His tone was sincere, without any affectation. But when Ye Shisan saw the look in his eyes, why did he look as excited as a beggar seeing five million?

Ye Shisan said modestly: "My Lord, you are too kind. I am a bystander and can see things more clearly. If I were really asked to lead the troops, I might be so nervous that I wouldn't be able to think of anything." What a joke, being a prefect is depressing enough. If I were really asked by this old man to be his military advisor, I might as well use the imperial sword to execute myself first and report to him later.

The guard seemed to see that Ye Shisan was unwilling to be restrained, and secretly sighed that it was a pity. He changed the subject and said, "When I heard that Chongshan was a traitor, I thought that the death of my general Lu Ming was very similar to Ren'er. After opening the coffin, I found a golden needle! What's more unfortunate is Yi'er's father. He was the most promising of my three sons, but unfortunately he died young... At that time, I also suspected that he might have died of poisoning, and sent someone to check. But how could they check it out? Because the person who checked was Chongshan, that bastard!" At this point, two lines of tears had already slid down from the corners of his eyes.

Ye Shisan felt a little depressed, and turned to look out the window at the training ground, just in time to see Jian Yi kicking a wooden stake in half with a side kick. The upper half of the stake was kicked out and hit the wall with a muffled "bang".

*****

The next morning, the Chihuo Sect was in a secret stronghold thirty miles outside Shangdang City. The leader of the Chihuo Sect was quietly drinking tea. The room was filled with the fragrance of tea. It was Shennong Tea produced in the Yan Emperor's tea garden. Needless to say, it was precious. Even in Shennong Country, there were only a handful of people who could receive tea from the Yan Emperor.

After the tea was ready, Chihuo Sect Leader stood up and walked to the window, looking at the farmland outside the window, and said casually: "Come in."

A man dressed in black and wearing a copper mask entered the room upon hearing this. He crossed one hand over his chest, bowed to the Chihuo Sect Leader and said, "Sister, I have received the latest news. Ye Shisan was appointed as the Eight Prefectures Patrolman by Emperor Yan this morning. He has now left the city and is heading north. Although I don't know where he is going, if he takes the main road, he will definitely pass by here soon."

A trace of murderous intent flashed in the eyes of the Chihuo Sect Leader. He subconsciously touched his lower abdomen with his hand and said in a cold voice: "This man is very harmful to our sect. Last time, we were controlled by his Demon Training Pot. This time, I have the companion Yuan Dan given by the prince, so there is no need to worry about anything. You guys get ready immediately, and we must keep him today!"

The bronze-faced man said, "As you command!"

After the bronze-faced man left, Chihuo Sect Leader said to himself proudly: "With the three Peiyuan Pills, even if he really fights hard, I can immediately recover to my best condition! Even if he has the Demon Refining Pot, what can he do to me?" As he spoke, a hint of cruelty flashed in his eyes.

"Huff..." A gentle blowing sound came from behind her, and the location of the sound was exactly where she was sitting while drinking tea.

"Who is it?" Chihuo Cult Leader was startled and turned around to see a young girl sitting there, holding a cup of lacquered tea in her hand and blowing away the hot steam from it. Chihuo Cult Leader was even more shocked when he saw her. You know, her tea was still in the pot just now, which means that she couldn't even detect the sound of the other party pouring tea, which shows that the person who came is unpredictable.

"Since it's so unfathomable, let's not try to guess it." The girl seemed to have guessed what was in the mind of the Chihuo Sect Leader. She looked at the tea in her hand and said, "This tea tastes really good. Why don't we drink some together?" Her tone sounded as if the tea originally belonged to her and she was inviting the Chihuo Sect Leader instead.

The Chihuo leader was extremely shocked, but he pretended to be calm and said, "This girl came to see me, isn't she just to drink a cup of tea? Please reveal your identity, otherwise I have urgent matters to attend to, so I'm sorry I can't accompany you."

The girl finally raised her head and smiled harmlessly, "I didn't come to you for tea. I just wanted to chat with you. Don't worry, I don't plan to waste too much of your time. We'll just chat until Ye Shisan leaves here safely."

As soon as Chihuo Cult Leader saw the other person's appearance, a trace of murderous intent flashed in her eyes. It was not because of anything else, but because the other person was too beautiful, much more beautiful than her. Chihuo Cult Leader was a self-centered woman, and she had a special obsession with her appearance. For women who were more beautiful than herself, she had a potential desire to destroy them.

However, knowing that the other party was not an ordinary person, the murderous intent in the eyes of the Chihuo Sect Leader flashed away, and he smiled and said, "Young lady, it seems that you have come here specifically to oppose me today. But I don't know how to address you yet, so it may not be convenient for us to chat, right?"

The girl did not seem to notice the murderous intent that flashed in the eyes of the Chihuo Sect Leader, and said nonchalantly: "Your ears don't seem to be working very well. I've said it before, today I want to chat with you, not to go against you. As for my name, it's okay to tell you. My name is Xiangliu. How about it, does it sound nice?" As she spoke, she winked at the Chihuo Sect Leader mischievously.