NOVPUBGuo Si, pointing at the wounds on his own body, questioned one by one, prompting Zhang Ji and Fan Chou to involuntarily remember the glorious years gone by. Thinking of the current rift between the four men, they couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sorrow. They were brothers who would once shield each other from swords—when did it all change to this?
"We are brothers, brothers who would take a blade for each other!" Guo Si extended his hand toward the two, "Perhaps we previously had bad thoughts for various reasons, for various accidents, but those were just misunderstandings caused by trivial matters. We both understand each other’s loyalty! We are still brothers!"
"Aduo, just speak frankly." Zhang Ji placed his hand on Guo Si’s hand, "I indeed have had other thoughts, but hearing you say this, I am willing to trust you, no matter what it’s about this time, I am willing to believe! We are brothers!"
"So am I, I am willing to trust you." Fan Chou also extended his hand and ripped off his own armor, "I believe the comrade I protected with these scars on my body wouldn’t stab me in the back, I trust you, I trust old Zhang, and I trust old Li too!" After saying this, Fan Chou heaved a sigh of relief as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"Hahaha, that’s what being brothers is all about!" Guo Si laughed heartily, "Zhiran has already thought of a way to solve the food problem. We won’t have to worry about food anymore. After all, didn’t our rift initially arise from the issue of food for our subordinates?"
"Aduo, you’re not joking?" Zhang Ji looked at Guo Si, eyes wide with disbelief, "Zhiran can solve this?"
Guo Si’s laughter was so intense he was nearly in tears, "Really, it’s true, it’s exactly because of this that I’ve come. Zhiran told me to relay a message to you, ’He was wrong before,’ but I don’t want to say it. I myself am at fault too, I can’t say these words! I think you also don’t want to hear this!"
Fan Chou remained silent. He was very familiar with Li Jue, friends for decades, and he naturally knew that this man was petty, yet very loyal. Saying that phrase meant the other person was indeed willing to take responsibility for past mistakes.
"Old Zhang, stop thinking about it. Only with one heart can our Xiliang Army dominate the world. Even without Minister Dong, we remain an unrivaled elite force—the Xiliang Army is still the unbeatable mightiest force in the world, even if we were trapped," Guo Si roared with laughter, then slowly laid out the whole plan to the two men.
"So everything is that simple..." Zhang Ji said with a wry smile. If he had a choice, could he make his nephew serve others? It was because he saw no future for the Xiliang Army that Zhang Ji made such a choice. But now, he was all too clear: as long as they had food and could recollect the forces of the old Xiliang Army, even if he died, with people like Li Jue supporting, Zhang Xiu would be unscathed.
"Indeed, some things are very simple, but we just can’t think of them." Fan Chou said with a bitter laugh, "Without our strategist, we had an unbeatable force but no way to show it. Now we even have unrest within. Let’s leave the past behind. Our Xiliang Soldiers must maintain the unity we had before—the very message our strategist left us was to be united as one." 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
"We simply send troops to completely surround the Qiang Corps. If they don’t accept it, we’ll kill Hann Wenyue and Ma Shoucheng," Guo Si said with a smile, "Old Zhang, have your nephew take the vanguard. We’ll kill all these troublemakers."
"Just kill Hann Wenyue. Spare Ma Shoucheng. We need the Qiang People to dig the Zhengguo Canal and the Six Auxiliary Canals. Murdering Ma Shoucheng would mean we have to deal with the Qiang of Fufeng, Sanfu, and the surrounding areas—it’s not worth it." Zhang Ji’s perspective was slightly better than Li Jue’s. Naturally, what Li Jue thought of, he could think of as well.
"Troublesome!" grumbled Guo Si, clearly dissatisfied.
"Let’s do as Zhiran suggested. Thankfully, Zhiran acted quickly. If it were a year later, we probably would have..." Fan Chou didn’t finish his sentence, but it was clear he was somewhat shaken. If it had been any later, even Guo Si’s actions wouldn’t have been able to reverse the situation!
"Right, diplomacy before force. If they won’t follow commands, then we kill them," Zhang Ji said, a fierce glint in his eyes. If the might of the Xiliang Army could be restored, then for his nephew Zhang Xiu to lead thirty to fifty thousand mixed Iron Cavalry and Qiang Cavalry Cavalry wouldn’t be a problem—it was all for his nephew that he had struggled his whole life!
"That’s settled then; if not, we’ll just wipe them out. No matter how much sway they have among the Qiang People, I don’t believe that food won’t bring them to submission!" Guo Si still harbored the idea of annihilating Ma Teng. It was evident he had a particular distaste for Ma Teng for some unknown reasons.
The next day, Zhang Xiu, following Sima Lang, went to Ma Teng’s camp to negotiate peace. The reason Zhang Xiu was confident about going was that he believed nobody would dare act against him. After all, under the aura of the military formation’s Cloud Qi, his unmatched prowess had left Ma Teng’s Army intimidated. Additionally, he was wary that if the negotiations failed, Ma Teng and Hann Sui might act out of murderous intent. With Zhang Xiu present, if they needed to leave, surely Ma Teng and the others wouldn’t dare interfere.
"General Zhang, I’ve heard that you once fought alone against two experts capable of Inner Qi Manifestation and defeated them," Sima Lang said with a smile as they walked, expressing his admiration when speaking of Zhang Xiu’s legendary achievements.
"That is true!" Zhang Xiu said with a smile, his pride showing through. After all, in the world today, the only ones who dared face two unharmed experts capable of Inner Qi Manifestation were him and Lyu Bu—he could not help but feel arrogant.
