For the emperor

"Ayu, our only hope of getting out alive lies in the sacrifice I'm preparing." Cang Tiansu held the thin copper coin in his hand and turned it slowly under the lamp with great interest.

Duan Yu was lying flat on the bed, recharging his energy for tomorrow's fierce battle. Hearing this, he immediately opened his eyes and asked, "What the hell is it? It's so mysterious that even Zhao Liu and I don't know what it is." Tell."

It was the first time that he saw Cang Tiansu hiding important matters from himself.Cang Tian was usually thoughtful and cautious in doing things, but this time it was especially obvious. He didn't even move Zhao Liu's manpower. I know what I'm busy with, and I've been preparing for three or four months since the army was stationed in place.

In order to do this, Cang Tiansu didn't even intervene in the government affairs of the army. The army had stopped advancing at that time, and there was nothing important. Otherwise, Li Renqiang really didn't want to make up his own mind.

In the tradition of the Wuji Continent, once the army encounters a deadly battle, a sacrifice will be held before the battle. All the soldiers who participated in the battle will gather together, slaughter pigs and sheep, and burn incense to sacrifice.

And the last item of the ritual is the so-called speculation of providence.There are no special regulations for this item, and how to proceed is entirely up to the marching commander to decide.

Like burning incense to see if it goes out, or shooting a hundred-step arrow to see if it hits when it hits, or even counting the number of soldiers to see if they are single or double.Before this item is carried out, the general will give the soldiers a judgment standard. If the words come true, it will prove that God is on his side.

The sacrificial ceremony has a long history, and at the beginning it could arouse the fighting spirit of the soldiers, but later on, the generals became more and more cunning, and the things set were easier and easier to complete. Still will lose in a mess.Over time, there are almost no soldiers who will believe this.

If the standard is set too high, it will be difficult to complete, and if it is not done well, it will have the opposite effect; if the standard is set low, the soldiers will not believe it. It is really a headache and difficult to make a choice.Up to now, the number of sacrificial ceremonies has become less and less.

Duan Yu thought about it, but he couldn't figure out what Cang Tiansu's intention was.The major general really wanted to ask for clarification, but seeing that the other party was already lying down on the bed next to him with his clothes on, he knew that he didn't want to talk more, so he simply scratched his hair and blew out the candle.

Cang Tiansu refused to say that there was a reason.Influenced by the atheist Li Mi, he himself does not believe in ghosts and gods, but the Wuji Continent is extremely awed by such things. He is not sure if he will play tricks on it, whether Duan Yu and Zhao Liu will feel uncomfortable.

Besides, it doesn't matter if you make something that is not illegal on weekdays. This matter is directly related to tomorrow's life-and-death battle, and those craftsmen under Zhao Liu will definitely not be able to use it.

Cang Tiansu was afraid that he would leak the news in advance, or attract the attention of others to discover the mystery, so he simply did not use human hands.Regarding the truth of the matter, the fewer people who know it, the better.

Duan Yu seemed a little excited. It was his first time directing this kind of Jedi counterattack. He closed his eyes for a long time and still didn't fall asleep. After thinking about it, he asked softly, "Susu?"

"...Why?" Cang Tiansu couldn't sleep either, he filtered through tomorrow's arrangements again and again, for fear that there might be any mistakes.If things succeed, the benefits are huge; if things fail, disasters will also ensue.

Playing tricks and blasphemy are serious crimes here.

Upon hearing this, Duan Yu rolled over from the bed very energetically: "Why didn't you go with the group of 8 people?" He believed that the so-called increase in weight of 2 people was not the main reason.

When Cang Tiansu first discussed with him, Duan Yu thought he was trying to set off smoke bombs, relying on bit by bit clues, controlling the information that the enemy commander could receive was not so difficult for Cang Tiansu, Why bother to take such a big risk?

"The current domestic public opinion orientation is very unfavorable to us." Cang Tiansu spread his palms in the dark and cast his gaze on it, "Whether it is the Pingye massacre of the city or the envoys who share the food, many people resist, thinking that this is too cruel and cold-blooded , against the law of heaven."

Duan Yu tilted his head and looked at the blurry figure in the dim light of the dark night.

"I need an opportunity to prove to everyone that the Dao of Heaven is on my side...so tomorrow's ceremony becomes the key." So he threw away the only chance of escape, and would rather lead his desperate subordinates to stay and fight to the death .

In the tossing and turning tonight, Cang Tiansu was full of frustration and found that no matter what, he couldn't deal with all directions and smile freely as usual.

Only by winning can the Northwest Army truly use it for itself and win the true respect of those generals.Once you lose, you will die on the spot. Even if you escape by chance, you will never be able to stand up again.

Today's choice, will you gain more or lose more?This is the first big gamble in his 16-year life.

As he and General Duan looked at each other silently through the darkness, Cang Tiansu seemed to have regained his former state of mind.At that time, he could huddle in one place all day and night without speaking, and in his imagination, he could open up a whole new world for himself.

The pettiness of peddlers, the luxury of the princes and nobles, the love of the gifted and the beautiful, and the business calculations of the giants.Whether it is life, death, laughing, crying, skyrocketing, flying down, sun rises and sunsets, stars shift and turn, it is all up to him to decide, and no one else can comment.

He was once fascinated by this feeling of controlling everything, that piece of sky, that place, all belonged to him completely.No one can see the biggest secret in the child's heart through the clean and peaceful face in the corner.

At this time, Cang Tiansu wished so much that he held the thread of destiny in his hands, and with his knuckles shaking lightly, he could strike a glorious ending for himself.

Dress up, burn incense, throw pots, worship again, and offer blessings.The ritual was not too lengthy, and soon reached the final step.

Twenty thousand soldiers stood in hundreds of rows, silently.Seeing the grease-painted Yousi retreating, Cang Tiansu made a gesture to the bottom.

The soldiers standing at the front of each column turned their heads and charged a copper coin to each person behind them.This was agreed in advance. Before the ceremony began, the commander of the Northwest Army asked everyone to carry at least one copper plate.

After [-] copper plates were placed in front of him in a large vat, Duan Yu raised his voice and said, "Today's battle is life or death, but it depends on God's decision. With [-] copper plates, the front side will live, and the back side will die. "

"A big fire lamp rises without wind, life and death, and a square inch of heart." Cang Tiansu clapped his hands, and quickly 2000 people ran from the outside, and each two people worked together to lift a cylindrical lantern made of cotton paper. The word "win" was written with a red pen.

After the two finished talking, the soldiers below couldn't help but turned their heads and whispered to the people on the left and right.From ancient times to the present, I have never heard of any general choosing such a weird way of offering sacrifices to heaven. Unlike other soldiers who try to choose simple ones, the chances of success for the choices made by these two are too small.

There must be pros and cons for [-] copper coins, and General Duan is probably betting on which side will appear more.The one chosen by the coach is too unreliable. May I ask, has anyone heard that lanterns can fly in the sky?

While the people below were talking, Cang Tiansu and Duan Yu lifted up the big vat together, and threw the copper coins in it upwards.

The [-] copper coins rose into mid-air due to inertia, collided with each other, and then scattered slightly with a "cracking" impact sound, and finally fell on the platform, some of which were still bouncing up and down.

Cang Tiansu immediately lowered his head and wanted to check on Major General Duan. In order to prove that he hadn't made any small moves, he purposely faced outwards so that the soldiers below could see their every move clearly.

After retreating under the altar, Cang Tiansu turned his head and looked at the copper coins settled on the altar, because they were scattered against the edge of the altar, so he could see the copper coins clearly without going to the stage.

Because there is a custom in Wuji Continent that you are not allowed to step on the platform casually, he ordered people to surround the outside with sparse guardrails, and strictly prohibited touching copper coins at will, so as not to confuse the will of heaven.

Duan Yu didn't know about it before, he stared blankly at the situation above, stared at Cang Tiansu for a long time like a ghost, and was slightly stabbed by the other party's arm, and then he realized that he clapped his hands to signal the hundred teams to step forward one by one to identify.

Seeing this, among the 2 people, none of them was surprised and shouted.

"Oh my God!"

"Is it all true?!"

"Why is there no reverse?!"

"real or fake?!"

Duan Yu looked around at the soldiers covering their mouths in surprise, no one noticed this, he squirmed his lips and whispered: "Susu, you are really amazing!"

"It's not that I'm great, it's just that you don't have a magical nurse." Cang Tiansu said, looking at the big tank on the platform.Li Mi told him about relying on copper plates to boost morale when he was a child. As for replacing the copper plates prepared in advance with those belonging to soldiers, in Li Mi's words, it was just a little magic.

It took him a long time to insinuate Zhao Liu before he figured out Bandit Zong's usual tricks of coaxing people.Change one of the methods of stealing beams and replacing pillars, and add a porcelain vat with a sandwich, and it can be done.

When the [-] soldiers lined up again, the original dead atmosphere was swept away, and everyone's face was full of vigor and excitement, showing a red light of excitement.

The two consciously ended their whispering, and walked to the stage to stand still.Cang Tiansu waved his hand and ordered two thousand soldiers to light the one thousand lanterns.

At first the lantern didn't respond, Duan Yu peeked at Cang Tiansu worriedly, the latter returned him a comforting smile, he didn't seem too surprised.

After Cang Tiansu made the Kongming lantern, he secretly tested it many times in the military tent. When he first lit it, there was really no response. It took a while for the lantern to slowly float upwards.

Sure enough, when the whispers below started, one of the lanterns had slowly left the ground and rushed to the sky.Then, the second, the third, more and more paper lanterns headed towards the sky.After a while, there were no lanterns still standing on the ground.

General Ding Ningsong of Qi State, who received the news from the spies, led the army to rush towards the place where 2 people were stationed in Cang State.

Ding Ningsong, who was walking in front of the front on a tall horse, looked back at the 50 soldiers behind him from time to time, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

In the past, he really didn't dare to boast, saying that with a five-fold disparity in troops, he would definitely be able to defeat a hundred thousand Cang Kingdom troops.

The eldest prince of the Cang Kingdom is really a bit evil, and people from the Qi Kingdom are always unlucky when they meet him.You guessed and restored it a little bit. The so-called true nature of the matter is likely to be that he deliberately led you to this road.

When you mobilize your troops with joy, there is often a big trap ahead, as long as you dare to step on it, you are sure to die in an ugly, ugly way.

Even if five times as many people are used to carry out an ambush on all sides, it may not be possible to trap him to death smoothly.

——Only this time, for the sake of safety, I deliberately gave up pursuing the remnants of the 50 Cang Kingdom, and mobilized a total of 25 soldiers to stand in front of them—you must know that the huge difference in troop strength of [-] times cannot be reversed by any strategy.

Ding Ningsong couldn't help feeling a little worried when he thought of this, he couldn't help but turn around and ask his subordinates again: "Is Cang Tiansu really among those 2 people?"

The subordinate slandered in his heart, "You have asked No.20 six times, why don't you believe me?" He respectfully replied, "Return to the general, absolutely."

In the past few years, the eldest prince of the Cang Kingdom has often wandered around the barracks of the Northwest Army, and many ordinary soldiers have seen him.This time, he personally led 2 people in handsome uniforms to march to the place where they are now hiding. There is no cover on his face, and each of the 2 people can see clearly. Is there a second Cangguo in the world? The eldest prince?

Ding Ningsong was silent for a while, and speculated: "Maybe they are two people who look exactly the same..."

His subordinates rolled their eyes in their hearts: "General, you forgot, he is the seed left behind by the most beautiful woman in Wuji back then. Besides that, whose parents are so lucky to have such a son?"

For a dignified man, is it a blessing to grow up like that?Ding Ningsong snorted, but he was still a little worried: "Maybe, who made it easy?"

His subordinates didn't have the nerve to speak out this time. After thinking for a long time, seeing that the general was still waiting for his answer, he could only whisper: "Could it be that the face was torn off to make human skin?"

Don't overestimate the ancient disguise technology.It's not that putting a thin skin on a person's face can turn a pancake face into an oval face, or a melon seed face into a Chinese character face.Ordinary disguises can only be smeared with some medicine to make the complexion look darker and yellower, but it cannot completely change a person's appearance.

A few minor changes may make a person completely different, but to be exactly the same as the original owner, except that the face shape must be basically the same, you can only use a human skin mask.

——General, that is the first son of the Emperor of Cang Kingdom, the orthodox heir of the royal family, and he is the legitimate commander of the Northwest Army, even if he himself agrees, who would dare to do that?

What's more, if the whole face is gone, people won't be able to live for long. Even if they survive, this life will be over, and his plan will be completely meaningless. It's better to just go to the battlefield and give it a try. At least it has a good reputation.His subordinates tried hard to hide the contempt in their eyes.

Ding Ningsong touched his chest, but he still couldn't swallow his heart. Just as he was about to continue talking, he saw his subordinate's face suddenly changed, his eyes popped out in shock, and he pointed forward, speechless .

Ding Ningsong was stunned, before he had time to think about it, he hurriedly followed him to look over, and was horrified to find that with the slight breeze, the sky was full of fire lamps floating from a distance.

He couldn't believe what he saw at all. He rubbed his eyes several times, but he couldn't see how many lanterns were still hanging high in the sky. can still be seen clearly.

Unrestrained and unrestrained, baring his teeth and claws, the bright red color almost stung his eyes.

The general did not issue an order to stop the march, and the 50 troops who saw the same scene as Ding Ningsong still stopped unconsciously, staring blankly at the thousand lanterns in the sky, unable to say a word.

"...It's...it came from the army of the Cang Kingdom..." Ding Ningsong murmured unconsciously, an unprecedented sense of fear rose in his heart.

... Zhang Da Huo Deng ...

...there is no wind to rise...

Thousands of ominous fire lanterns had floated over the silent army. Ding Ningsong subconsciously raised his hand, bent his bow and set an arrow, and shot a lantern directly above him.

Under the silent gaze of tens of thousands of people, the lantern fell down and burned in mid-air, and the fire spread to all around along the place where the arrow was shot in the outer cover.

Ding Ningsong didn't move at first, watching the fire cloud fall to the ground silently, he was surrounded by the fear that rose from the bottom of his heart, but unexpectedly, the lower body of the horse was startled by something falling right in front of him, and trembled violently.

Ding Ningsong came back to his senses, and hurriedly tightened the reins to control the horse. Unexpectedly, the docile war horse seemed to be greatly stimulated. Wanted to throw him off his back.

Ding Ningsong was upset and irritable, so he simply raised his hand and whipped the horse's ass hard. Suddenly, this guy who had been with him for several years immediately quit and ran forward.

General Ding broke out in a cold sweat. The two armies were about to start fighting. If he, the commander, disappeared at this juncture, the pendant around his neck would definitely be gone. down.

Under the silent gaze of all the soldiers, the dignified commander rolled over a few donkeys, and when the dusty Ding Ningsong stood up in a daze, his face was ugly and terrifying.

What made him even more miserable was that before he could say a few beautiful words to save face, those lanterns above his head were actually burning up from the sky scatteredly.

More and more fireballs fell among Qi's army, more and more horses were frightened and ran around uncontrollably, and the formation was disrupted. Know how many people have been injured by horseshoes.

"What's going on?!" Ding Ningsong roared loudly as he looked at the messy scene in front of him.

His subordinates frowned, looked at the general's face, and said in a low voice, "It's a bit weird. The horses we go to the battlefield are all specially trained, so they shouldn't be afraid of fire..."

In his early years, he also followed Ding Ningsong to escape from the fire scene on horseback, and he didn't see any abnormality in the lower body of the horse.Well done, how could these carefully selected horses be so frightened by so many fire balls?

Halfway through the conversation, the two of them looked at each other, their faces turned livid, and at the same time thought of the worst possibility—today they saw all kinds of strange things—could it be, could it be that God really wanted to kill me?

Ding Ningsong's heart tightened, he turned his head and looked back, and sure enough, he saw several generals nearby were all looking at the chaotic army, their faces pale and silent.

Qi Guo's army was in panic and panic. There was thunder in the distance, and the ground shook. Obviously, a large number of people were galloping towards them.

Ding Ningsong restrained himself, looked intently, and saw the flag hanging high at a glance.Neither the word "Cang" nor the word "Shuai" was written on it. Instead, there was a word "Sheng" lying in the middle with its teeth and claws stretched out. It was also blood red, and the ink was splattered.

The cavalry is in the front, the infantry is behind, and the first one is wearing a bright and handsome armor, all silver and white. 2 people came from afar like flying in mighty force, with an imposing manner.

"Damn it!" Ding Ningsong hastily ordered the people who had fallen to the ground to get on their horses and set up formation, because no one was chasing the running horse, so he had to ride with the men behind him.

The soldiers of Qi State hurriedly set up a formation to resist the impact. Although there were still lamps falling down from time to time to disrupt the formation, compared to the 50 troops standing all over the mountains and plains, it could not cause too much disturbance.

Ding Ningsong saw it, let go of his hanging heart slightly, and was about to let the cavalry step forward to meet him, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, when he looked down, the blood-stained sword tip that emerged from his heart reflected fiercely in the sunlight. The light made him dare not look directly at it.