Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Shen Lang learned of the Northern Yan army's approach to Rangzhou immediately.

However, he remained completely calm and immediately organized his army to defend the city, and instructed the Taiji Kingdom soldiers and the Goguryeo people in the city to dig trenches under the city walls of Rangju.

Now that Goguryeo has been destroyed and its relationship with Northern Yan has been completely broken, there is no point in hiding anything; let's have a showdown between cold and hot weapons.

Solon soldiers and three thousand Jianzhou cavalrymen galloped back and forth on the construction site, assisting Taiji soldiers in transporting the excavated soil to other locations.

Accompanied by Yue Fei, Ban Dingyuan, and Wang Xuance, Shen Lang observed the progress of the trench inspection.

"Our Central Army only has 800 men this time, and we don't have that much ammunition. We can't possibly face 30,000 battle-hardened Northern Yan cavalry at the same time."

The main solution is for the Solon and Jianzhou cavalry to provide support and contain the enemy, thus inflicting more casualties on them.

"Don't count too much on the Taiji Kingdom's troops. Their purpose is to transport supplies and repair trenches. The actual number of troops that can be used is less than six thousand."

"This battle must be won quickly. The best outcome would be to seize this opportunity to annihilate Murong Ke's main force in one fell swoop. The second best outcome would be to try to delay until the north-south railway line of Chu is completed."

At that time, a continuous stream of soldiers could be transported unimpeded to the Liaodong battlefield at the fastest speed.

Listening to Shen Lang's two-tiered tactical and strategic arrangements, Yue Fei silently memorized them all.

Ban Dingyuan and Wang Xuance also wrote down Shen Lang's words in their notebooks without missing a single one.

After Shen Lang finished assigning the tasks, a scout suddenly came to report.

"Lord Zhenguo, just now when I was investigating the whereabouts of the Northern Yan army, I found a secret letter on the saddle that had appeared at some point. It was written that you should open it yourself."

"Let me take a look."

Shen Lang took the secret letter from the scout, opened it, and his face immediately darkened.

The inscription contained only one sentence: "Can the souls of our ninety-nine comrades rest in peace? If you wish to know the reason, meet me at Qichuan, three hundred li outside Rangzhou City, at the end of Hai hour tonight."

"What's wrong, Commander?"

Seeing that Shen Lang's expression was off, Ban Dingyuan immediately asked.

Shen Lang gripped the paper in his hand and immediately said to the three men, "I have urgent business to attend to. From now on, command of the army will be entirely in Yue Fei's hands."

Ban Dingyuan and Wang Xuance are the military advisors. If I am unable to return on time, you must hold Rangzhou, understand?

Yue Fei: "Commander, what exactly happened?"

Shen Lang chuckled lightly but did not reply.

This is a mental illness that developed after he came into this world.

I thought I had long since moved on from that dark and gloomy period, but I only realized it now.

I have never truly escaped that shadow; all I am doing now is running away from reality.

"I'm going back to camp now."

After leaving those words behind, Shen Lang hurried back to the Goguryeo royal palace...

Inside the palace, he removed his military uniform, which represented the new era, and put on a Chu-style border army armor, with two daggers wrapped around his waist.

Looking closely at my reflection in the full-length glass mirror, I felt as if I had returned to those years of relentless battles.

"go!"

Shen Lang pondered for a moment, then turned to leave.

Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of the "Soldier's Punishment" enshrined on the handle of a knife rack in the corner of the room.

After a moment's thought, he immediately took up his weapon, put it into his storage ring, and quickly walked out of the palace gate.

"Drive~"

With a deep, muffled shout, the warhorse immediately spurred its horse forward, galloping off towards the designated spot outside the city...

Qichuan is a mountain range located on the Liaodong Plain.

The mountains are covered in snow all year round, and the cold is biting. Even an old horse would lose its way if it went in, let alone a person.

But tonight, Shen Lang rode his horse all the way there, and by the time he arrived in Qichuan, it was already past 9 PM.

He dismounted and trudged through the snow towards the depths of Qichuan.

As we walked through the snow into a dense forest and hills...

"Hehehehe~"

A chilling laugh echoed in the cold, eerie wind.

Shen Lang's vision was completely dark, and his hand instinctively reached for the dagger behind his waist.

"Shen Lang, do you still remember me...?"

A voice, seemingly from the netherworld, echoed in my ears.

The next moment, two balls of azure flame suddenly appeared all around, quickly dispelling the darkness and cold.

Looking up, I saw two strange figures standing in front of me, one a man and the other a woman.

"Shen Lang, look at this, what a cruel heart you have."

The woman, with a pale face, took the initiative and showed Shen Lang the knife scar on her neck.

"You really had the heart to do that stab back then."

"Are you Murong Xue?"

With just a simple reminder, Shen Lang quickly recognized the woman in front of him as Princess Murong Xue of Northern Yan, whom he had slit in the throat outside Fengsui Fortress years ago.

Murong Xue: "Hehehe, so many years have passed, but because of you, I am unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Shen Lang, I really want to devour you alive."

Shen Lang did not answer, but closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.

"No, Murong Xue, you couldn't possibly have survived that stab back then, so you are not the same Murong Xue you used to be."

"a ha ha ha."

Upon hearing this, Murong Xue let out a shrill laugh.

"Yes, I did die from that blow, but my obsession with you runs too deep."

So even hell dares not accept me, leaving me trapped in the human world, unable to reincarnate. It's all your fault.

Shen Lang: "When two armies clash, each fights for its own master. I gave you a chance to leave, but you didn't cherish it. You deserve to die."

Murong Xue: "I deserve to die? Then what about you, an executioner who personally slaughtered his ninety-nine most loyal subordinates in one fell swoop? Shouldn't you be torn apart by five horses even more?"

Shen Lang's eyelids twitched, and the dagger instinctively appeared in his left palm.

"Drink~"

Just then, Wei Shuyu, who had been silent all along, let out a deep thought, stepped in front of Shen Lang, and uttered a cold whisper from behind the Yaksha mask.

"Shen Lang, do you still remember me? An old rival."

"One of the two pillars of the Yan state, the iron shield of the nation, Wei Shuyu?"

"Hehehe, I've returned from hell, Shen Lang. Shouldn't we settle our scores?"

Shen Lang laughed: "Very good. Now that two dead men have come knocking on your door again, it seems you are fully prepared. In that case, why shouldn't I grant your wish?"

After speaking, he began to spin the dagger in his palm, scattering bursts of light and energy.

"So, who should start now?"

His cold gaze swept over the two of them for a moment before quickly locking onto Murong Xue.

"Ladies first, let's start with you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Lang darted straight towards Murong Xue.

"Hehehe, ahahaha..."

Unexpectedly, Murong Xue neither dodged nor avoided, watching helplessly as Shen Lang's blade approached.

puff-

With a hiss, Shen Lang plunged his knife into Murong Xue's heart.

Just as he was about to push the tip of the dagger deeper, he suddenly frowned.

"wrong."