Another shot flew past him, followed by another shot that swiftly found his left leg. Aba fell to the ground, his expression one of utter terror. Faced with the invisible killing intent, he was momentarily unaware of where the hidden weapon had come from.
My whole body felt numb, and a hot current was emanating from me. I could see that the assassins were targeting Aba Na directly.
When the Xiongnu soldiers brought by Aba Na realized something was wrong, they immediately rushed to rescue him. They thought that Xie Zhu had gone back on his word and ambushed the prince.
As a result, one by one they came, they fell dead. Every person who approached Aba Na turned into a corpse and lay dead beside Aba Na.
Aba quickly shouted, "La, Labenwang is hiding behind the rock."
The Hun soldiers who blocked his path were all killed; they lay on the ground with their eyes open, dying with unseeing disbelief. They were clearly in shock before they died—what kind of weapon could be so accurate?
The soldier next to Aba fell down, and he kept kicking his right leg, leaving marks on the ground all over his right foot.
The sniper seemed eager to witness Aba's final struggle before death, but this time, he didn't succeed.
Soon, a figure in black emerged from the boulder, rolled along the ground, and jumped in front of Aba Na. Before Aba Na could even react, the figure was lifted up and thrown in the opposite direction.
The sniper rifle fired again, this time in the direction Aba was climbing. A shot into the air, and the enemy quickly aimed at Xie Lanzhi.
Xie Lanzhi, using the camera angle, rolled over like a roller onto another boulder. A bullet grazed the rock above her head.
Luckily, she dodged it.
Taking the opportunity, Xie Lanzhi shouted at him, "Stop the bleeding yourself first, and we'll be safe by tonight."
Aba was oblivious to the pain; he sensed that the person who shot him was unusual, and so was the weapon. Moreover, it seemed as if Xie Zhu had known all along that he was going to be assassinated.
While Aba was surprised, she realized that the assassin was not sent by Xie Zhu, otherwise she would not have needed to save her and almost get shot.
Such advanced firearms were possessed by only one person in the world, and that was the leader of the Mohist school!
Aba's face turned pale: "It's the weapon of the Mohist master!!"
Who knew the Mohist master was so amazing? Xie Lanzhi became increasingly curious about this epoch-making Mohist master. Perhaps he, like Wei Zhao, was researching weapons using Aqina's modern knowledge. It's just that the Mohist master was a genius, even inventing a scope.
She couldn't help but say helplessly, "Second Prince, it seems that you and I are both people who are worth the Xiongnu King sending elite troops to assassinate."
"Although I've never met him, he really wants us all to die."
While treating his wounds, Aba said, "He is a demon. He has been a demon since he was a child, and he also has a sorcerer by his side. He is very strange."
“He was born with the curse of causing his mother’s death, and then his father’s health deteriorated drastically. Yet his father still believed in that sorcerer and thought that Aqi was a good candidate to unify the Central Plains.”
"Only I know how sinister he is."
He seemed to have a precognitive ability, knowing who opposed him and who would seize power, and would strike first. Every time he wanted to act, it would be discovered in advance, even if he never told anyone. Archina could foresee even the secrets he hadn't told anyone.
"Since he's so cunning," Xie Lanzhi said, "how could you possibly find a loophole?"
After bandaging his thigh wound, Aba said, "I took action while he was unconscious, which is why I was able to keep it from him."
Unconscious? Xie Lanzhi quickly recalled the days she was unconscious in Jinghua Mansion half a year ago.
Good heavens, this guy can even exploit bugs! No wonder he's a thorn in Achina's side!
Xie Lanzhi became somewhat interested: "What else has your older brother done?"
Aba didn't want to mention Aqina, as he was in so much pain he was about to faint. He was using the drug he had brought with him to stop the bleeding from his wounds, but he was losing too much blood.
As a result, Xie Lanzhi next to him threw him a handful of red dates, which she then took out of her pocket and threw at him, or rather, hit him directly in the face.
One of them, Aba, just tilted his head up and it went into his nostril.
Aba Na immediately retorted angrily, "That's enough! I'm already injured, what more do you want?"
"Red dates are good for your blood, eat a few. It won't do you any harm." Xie Lanzhi had prepared a handful of dates in advance. Actually, she also had some melon seeds in her pocket, which she could crack open while listening to Aqina's story.
But things were really too bad in Aba. She didn't even dare to eat sunflower seeds in front of him because it would seem disrespectful.
Aba's face darkened as he opened his mouth and ate the red dates hanging from his clothes. They seemed quite sweet.
Immediately afterwards, something else came flying at us.
"Marshal!" Aba Na glared at Xie Lanzhi while eating a red date.
Xie Lanzhi pointed to the needle pouch at his feet: "You'd better sew up the wound with a needle. There's also Lu's Mafeisan made by your tycoon's wife inside."
Upon hearing Lu Qing's name, Aba quickly picked up his needle kit and began tending to his wound. With the anesthetic, he was indeed in less pain and could barely maintain his consciousness.
He can't fall asleep now, otherwise it will only be bad for him.
Aba said, "Since the marshal wants to hear it, I'll tell you. Listen to what that demon has done in the past twenty years!"
He spoke in a very resentful tone.
Later, Xie Lanzhi learned more about Aqina in Aba's eyes, what he had done, including predicting earthquakes and weather in the Hu Xiongnu Kingdom, building canals, storing grain, and using the "Xiaoyao Pill" to control the officials. This "miracle pill" was used to brainwash the officials; only nobles could use it.
Things reserved for nobles were forbidden to commoners, so anyone who used them was immediately executed. Aqina used this ancient privileged system to create a lie, using privileged treatment to administer a "freedom pill" to his officials. By the time the more ambitious officials discovered this, they were all deeply poisoned. If anyone opposed Aqina, he would immediately stop the medication, leaving that official in a state worse than death.
Many loyal officials preferred to die rather than be slaughtered. However, many more officials chose to live a life of ignominy and succumbed to Aqina.
The reason why the leader of the Mohist school was so grateful to Aqina was because the Aqina family had saved the former leader of the Mohist school. The leader was a man of great loyalty and righteousness, and he swore to be loyal to the Aqina family for life.
Afterwards, Aqina ruled over the Mohist leader and developed firearms. The Mohist leader initially cooperated very well, but as Aqina focused on killing weapons and destroying life, the Mohist leader realized that he was serving an executioner. A war butcher.
So he told Lu Qing to take his daughter and escape first, while he himself stayed in the Hu Xiongnu Kingdom. He basically didn't teach the secret techniques to the students sent by Aqina, and even went so far as to destroy the essential secret techniques.
As for the sniper rifle, Xie Lanzhi was certain that Aqina had drawn up the principles for it and then had the Mohist master create it.
And that Mohist leader was indeed a genius rarely seen in a thousand years. Logically speaking, such a genius should only be in the protagonist's team, but now he was intercepted by Aqina by a twist of fate, which changed the fate of the Mohist disciples.
The two got more and more into their conversation, perhaps because they were both in a dangerous situation and considered each other as comrades who would share life and death.
The islanders scattered and hid because of the corpses on the ground; no one dared to run around. Someone informed Xie Bing, who sent men to come over, but Xie Lanzhi stopped them.
A group of soldiers hid in the woods, waiting for night to fall.
As the sun set and dusk fell, the moon shone ever brighter. The mirror-like surface of the sea reflected the light, making Xie Lanzhi's shadow particularly sharp whenever she stood up.
Xie Lanzhi tried to take off a piece of clothing and throw it outside. Bang! A gunshot rang out. Xie Lanzhi took the opportunity to hide on a rock in Aba'na's room. Aba'na was now unconscious.
She shouted to Xie Bing on the shore, "There was a gunshot just now, did anyone see the flash?"
Xie Bing did indeed see it in the woods. The soldiers pointed to the opposite mountain and said, "I saw a light in the middle of the mountainside, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye."
Xie Lanzhi said, "Let Shi Yang bring the cannon!"
Soon Xie Bing went to invite Shi Yang. When a Type 94 wheeled cannon was pushed out, Xie Lanzhi specially held a stone to shield her upper body, and then ran from one side of the stone to the other.
Another gunshot rang out, and this time Shi Yang spotted the flash accurately.
Shi Yang calculated the distance: "A total of two hundred and eighty meters."
He immediately led his men to push the cannons down the mountain. Fortunately, the mountain on Floating Light Island wasn't high, and the summit was a flat, pointed top. Shi Yang advanced a hundred paces and then adjusted his position.
Xie Lanzhi ran over again, and this time the bullet hit the rock where she was standing with a bang, sparks flying.
"Fire!" Shi Yang immediately found the right position. The artilleryman lit the fuse. The shell flew out rapidly, blasting the mountainside into flames.
One shell after another, until the mountainside was completely covered.
Shi Yang stopped when he felt it was about time.
Xie Lanzhi put down the stone, picked up Aba Na, threw him to Xie Bing, and had someone take him to Mingbao for treatment.
Through her observations during the day, she had originally intended to eliminate Abana, but now she realized that keeping Abana alive was far more important than she had imagined. After all, nothing is more satisfying than leaving an enemy with a bug in their system, making them feel like they're sitting on pins and needles.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Xie Lanzhi decided to save Aba Na. After Aba Na was sent to Mingbao, Zhang Ju and Xie Ming were both shocked.
They didn't expect the marshal to capture the second prince of the Xiongnu. Wouldn't that mean the war would end soon?
News of Aba's capture spread across the battlefield in an instant.
The Xiongnu soldiers left behind at Zhuqing Island were suddenly leaderless and wanted to organize an army to attack Mingbao to rescue the second prince.
Xie Lanzhi sent people to deliver the goods from Aba to stabilize the morale of the troops there, and also sent people not to take the opportunity to attack Zhuqing Island, and to demand that Zhuqing Island hand over Zheng Fu.
The Xiongnu soldiers dared not disobey, since the prince was in Xie Lanzhi's hands. They sent Zheng Fu to Fuguang Island. Xie Lanzhi had no time to see the good-for-nothing spendthrift son, so she simply handed him over to Zheng Xiu and the islanders.
Zheng Xiu, abandoning his usual virtuous ways, berated Zheng Fu severely. The islanders stripped Zheng Fu of all his clothes; as the saying goes, a tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs. Zheng Fu barely escaped with his life, but his position as king was now in jeopardy.
The islanders all supported Zheng Xiu, and under pressure from Xie Lanzhi, the Yue army had no choice but to surrender to Zheng Xiu, and by following Zheng Xiu, they were able to remain on Yue territory for the time being.
The day after Zheng Xiu fell into a coma in Aba, he hastily ascended to the throne, surrendering 600 firearms and 10,000 fire sticks. The remaining 20,000 fire sticks were transported to Zhuqing Island by the Xiongnu soldiers.
The Xiongnu soldiers are now in a wait-and-see mode, and their internal unrest has intensified after losing Aba.
Xie Lanzhi instructed Xie Ming to keep an eye on Aba Na and wait for him to recover before temporarily returning to Zhuqing Island. She also forbade him from attacking Zhuqing Island again without her orders.
She drafted the peace agreement on the spot. She signed her name first, and then waited for Aba to wake up and stamp the other section.
That very evening, she took Zhang Ju and rushed to the capital without stopping.
Before leaving, Xie Lanzhi almost gritted her teeth and said sourly, "Little Phoenix, I'd like to see what kind of explanation you'll give me!?"
Meanwhile, news of the Jingwei Army and Xie Bing's great victory on the Yue battlefield, surrendering all their firearms and encircling Zhuqing Island, turning it into an isolated island cut off from the outside world, spread throughout the southern Central Plains.
The entire capital was filled with a joyous atmosphere. The officials breathed a sigh of relief to varying degrees, while some felt regret, for them it was nothing more than returning to their previous state of just loafing around and waiting to die.
However, at this moment, Prince Fengning, who had been holding back, suddenly ordered a break with the Northern Region and the dissolution of the North-South alliance.
The Khan of the Northern Regions, Beiluo, was shocked and immediately sent a letter to persuade him to stay.
Si Xitong simply cut off all contact with the Northern Region and even vandalized the Northern Region's embassy. He abandoned his appeasement policy and began to act swiftly and decisively.
Those in Xintianjing who had connections with the Northern Region were all arrested and interrogated.
Crown Prince Li Li took the initiative to renegotiate the Red River Alliance with New Tianjing, leveraging the special economic zone's status. Li Li acted swiftly, and Si Xitong did the same.
The only one facing a headache was the Northern Region. All passages to the Northern Region were immediately cut off, and the vassal states of various countries cooperated with the new Tianjing to sever ties with the Northern Region and expel large numbers of Luochuan merchants.
The Luochuan merchants were second only to the Hu and Xiongnu merchants in notoriety.
Previously, the small countries in the northern regions could only swallow their anger, but now that the new emperor of the capital has given the order, they are using the pretext of following orders to eliminate dissidents.
Everywhere in the northern region is being targeted; whether it's grain or livestock, nothing can be sold, or even if it is sold, the final payment won't be received.
When Bei Luo heard that the small country was taking advantage of the situation along with the new Tianjing, he pleaded with Si Xitong several times without getting any response. In a fit of anger, he sent eight generals to attack the small country.
The army of the Eight Generals had just reached the border of the small country when they were wiped out by Si Xitong's order to suppress the Hu.
Si Xitong had long ago dispatched a large number of Imperial Guards pushing Type 94 wheeled cannons, spreading them from the State of Lu to various other states. The Type 94 cannons blasted the vanguard of the Eight Generals to pieces, and the Eight Generals dared not charge any further, retreating from the small states one after another.
The small country that had previously signed an alliance agreement with Si Xitong was used by her to establish a line of fire, stretching from south to east and then to the center, forming a hexagonal Central Plains Alliance line.
The vassal states were all small kingdoms ruled by people from the Central Plains. They were positioned right in the middle of the Yue Kingdom, turning Yue into the rear of this line of fire. From there, they could defend against the northern Xiongnu, hold their ground, and provide support for attacks on Yue.