“Rest assured, my lord, there is only obstruction in front. We can go from the side..."

Before Liang Cheng could finish speaking, cavalry also charged out from the fortresses on both sides.

"..." Zheng Fan.

"..." Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng raised his long saber. There was no choice; at this point, they could only fight head-on. Only during a charge could cavalry fully unleash their terror.

However, his side was now exhausted, and it was hard to say whether they could break through. Even if they did, their speed would inevitably be slowed, and the thousands of Qian soldiers chasing relentlessly behind them would certainly encircle them. At that time, it was hard to say how many of these three hundred or so people would survive.

However, just then, the cavalry blocking them ahead suddenly slowed down.

Liang Cheng slowly lowered the saber in his hand again, not ordering an acceleration of the charge. He clearly understood the other side's purpose: they wanted to capture them alive.

Seeing that the Yan cavalry was also slowing down, the surrounding Qian cavalry began to encircle them proactively. The distance was a bit far, outside the range of arrows, but it had already blocked any possibility of this Yan cavalry force breaking out in any direction.

"They want to persuade us to surrender?" Zheng Fan said.

"Probably," Liang Cheng replied.

"This era doesn't have the Geneva Convention."

"Having the Geneva Convention or not doesn't make any difference."

Liang Cheng signaled the surrounding barbarian cavalry to gather together. These barbarian cavalry spontaneously formed a circle, protecting Zheng Fan and Liang Cheng inside.

"Tsk, tell me, was I too unkind to them before?"

At this moment, Zheng Fan really had a feeling that people about to die speak kindly.

"My lord, when I led troops before, there were not only people from different tribes under my command, but even many different races."

Zheng Fan wasn't sure if "Liang Cheng," the author, had drawn extra chapters or "theater versions" for the character Liang Cheng but hadn't published them.

Because "Liang Cheng" himself died in a car accident, very suddenly.

So, Zheng Fan wasn't sure if there were any unpublished parts of the manga *Zombie Liang Cheng*, and Liang Cheng's girlfriend, A Qiu, hadn't mentioned it either.

In the original manga, the character Liang Cheng was more based on a modern urban background, and his past was only vaguely mentioned. Many manga readers had speculated about it, even bringing out the four ancient zombie ancestors and trying to fit them one by one, but the original author "Liang Cheng" had never given a definite answer.

As for Liang Cheng's true origin, Zheng Fan, the "ghostwriter," himself didn't know. He was only responsible for continuing the plot of the manga and didn't want to subvert the theme of the manga.

Like Gao E's continuation of *Dream of the Red Chamber* simply continued the story according to the previous atmosphere and gave a corresponding ending, without writing about Jia Baoyu joining the rebel army, rebelling, and seizing the throne or anything like that.

"So?" Zheng Fan asked.

"My lord, a true king must have a heart that accommodates everything. Any living being, as long as they worship under your banner, is your subject.

Just like..."

"Just like who?"

"The Yellow Emperor."

"..." Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan really wanted to ask if this was his self-completion or if "Liang Cheng" really left a large number of extra chapters unpublished, even involving the Yellow Emperor. What was your past?

However, now was not the time to consider these things. To fantasize about the Descent of Magic would only make himself feel like an idiot.

They had already surrounded him layer by layer. A tiger in a cage was hardly the king of beasts, right?

"We've already cut off the heads of the officials in Qian's Mianzhou City. Even if they offer us any conditions now, they're all fake.

The reason they're pretending to want to capture us alive is just to extract information about Yan from us. Maybe they think our actions were ordered by superiors.

Once they've squeezed out the information, our heads will definitely not be spared. You'll see, they'll soon send someone out to negotiate terms and ask us to surrender..."

As soon as Zheng Fan finished speaking, a civil official in official robes rode out from the Qian cavalry, heading straight towards them.

"What a pity, it's all fake. A Cheng, I really don't want to be a loyal minister for Yan, but surrendering to Qian is just another way to die."

The reason Zheng Fan dared to be so certain about Qian's attitude was because he knew the Qian border army was useless. Therefore, Qian was unlikely to actively launch another Northern Expedition. If the two countries were at war, surrendering would at least get you a decent arrangement even if you weren't given important positions, a way of "spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones" (to attract talent), but Qian didn't need that at all.

"My lord, we can charge again."

"Can you charge out yourself? I can't do it anymore. My body is weak. It's probably a sequela of the Demonic Pill. If you can get out, go out first and join up with Blind and the others. Find a chance to avenge me later.

You don't have to take too hard of a revenge, just destroy Qian."

"..." Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng really wanted to say that if you died, not only himself, but probably Blind and the others in Cui Liu Fort would all die suddenly.

They would have to be buried with you even if they didn't want to.

So,

there was absolutely no possibility of leaving you and running away myself.

"My lord, I won't leave you."

"Damn, this isn't the time for sentimentality, okay? If Si Niang was here singing a *Farewell My Concubine* with me, I might feel something, but you..."

"I am Zheng Hongze, supervising secretary of Liang Town in the Great Qian, under the command of the Grand Commandant and commander of the three towns of the Great Qian. I have words for your leader!"

Zheng Fan curled his lip and smiled:

"Well, he's even the same family name."

"What's the reply?" Liang Cheng asked.

"Negotiate, negotiate with them properly. You go negotiate with them, starting with salary and benefits, all the way to retirement insurance, five social insurances, one housing fund, and slowly drag it out with him."

"Delaying time?" Liang Cheng understood somewhat.

"Go negotiate first. Miracles are fought for."

Liang Cheng left Zheng Fan alone on horseback. He dismounted, took another horse from a barbarian soldier next to him, and slowly rode out.

Zheng Fan lay on the horse's back, reaching out to touch his back.

"Hiss..."

It really hurt.

…………

"Grand Commandant, why not order an attack!"

A middle-aged man in light armor with a long sword rode his horse to the side of the platform car and questioned directly.

The platform car was an open form of carriage, with a roof but no railings, requiring people or horses to pull it.

Every Lantern Festival or festive day in Qian's upper capital, many opera troupes or courtesans from various courtyards would stand on platform cars and perform while parading through the streets.

Developed in the military, it became the place where the commander directed operations.

At this time, thousands of armored soldiers closely guarded the platform car, on which only three people stood.

One in the lead,

two behind.

The leader was about fifty years old, with a long, flowing beard, a clean face, red lips, and white teeth, exuding the aura of a superior!

Behind him stood two middle-aged men in purple official robes.

The questioner below, although wearing armor and holding a sword, looked like he was just putting on a show. Both the armor and the sword looked awkward on him.

"Impudent! Wu Jiedushi, how dare you speak to the Grand Commandant like this!"

One of the middle-aged men standing behind Grand Commandant Yang pointed his finger at Wu Jiedushi and rebuked him.

"Heh..."

Wu Jiedushi dismounted, but stumbled and almost fell off his horse. This accident caused his momentum to weaken.

After climbing onto the platform car from the steps, Wu Jiedushi bowed to Grand Commandant Yang:

"Wu Yingwu, Chen Town Jiedushi, greets Grand Commandant Yang."

Grand Commandant Yang then turned around, walked over with a cordial smile, and lifted Wu Yingwu's hand in greeting with both hands, patting it and saying:

"This commandant knows about Jiedushi Wu's father-in-law's matter. Jiedushi Wu, please grieve in moderation."

The prefect of Mianzhou City, the thin, tall old man who entertained himself to death and had his head cut off by Zheng Fan's men, was Wu Yingwu's father-in-law.

Wu Yingwu was not from a grassroots background but could be considered from a scholarly family, but the family had declined. He was able to enter the officialdom and have his eldest daughter marry him as his promising son-in-law thanks to the relief and appreciation of that prefect father-in-law.

It could be said that without the old prefect's appreciation and promotion, there would be no Wu Yingwu today.

Of course, the Great Qian's northern three prefectures, Chen, Liang, and Wei, each had three towns under their jurisdiction: Chen Town, Liang Town, and Wei Town. Each town was controlled by a jiedushi. The Qian's jiedushi were equivalent to the commander of the three military regions in the north, all of whom were civil officials.

Wu Yingwu's ability to become the Wei Town Jiedushi also showed that the old prefect not only took Five-Stone Powder skillfully, but his ability to judge people was also first-class. He was able to occupy the lucrative position of prefect of Mianzhou City, a major commercial transit hub, because of Wu Yingwu's relationship.

"Grand Commandant, these Yan dogs are ferocious and heinous! This official implores the Grand Commandant to quickly send troops to annihilate this group of Yan dogs! This official wants to take their heads to comfort the spirits of my Great Qian people who were harmed by them!"

"What's the rush? They're already surrounded, can they fly to the sky?" The middle-aged man who had previously rebuked Wu Yingwu spoke again.

Wu Yingwu immediately snorted coldly and retorted:

"I've heard that someone's wife and daughters have also fallen into the hands of those Yan dogs. Someone is neglecting their duty for personal reasons and is naturally reluctant to attack this group of Yan dogs."

Liang Town Jiedushi Meng Changqi immediately became angry upon hearing this and was about to retort when Grand Commandant Yang spoke:

"Enough, enough. As a jiedushi guarding a region for the imperial court, how is such behavior any different from the shrewishness of commoners in the market?"

Seeing that Grand Commandant Yang was angry, the two jiedushi stopped and dared not say anything more.

It should be known that Grand Commandant Yang was in charge of the military affairs of the three northern prefectures of Great Qian and was the direct superior of the three jiedushi.

At the same time, the three Yang consorts in the harem were all from his Yang family. Although they were not his biological daughters but nieces, they were still considered close elders in the family.

In theory, Great Qian was jointly ruled by scholar-officials and the imperial family, and suppressing military officials was the instinct of scholar-officials. At the same time, the scholar-official class did not allow the situation of in-laws holding power to appear.

But this Grand Commandant Yang was an exception because he was a eunuch.

In his early years, when this generation of Qian Emperor was still a crown prince, he was an attendant in the Eastern Palace. Later, when the crown prince ascended the throne, he introduced the three Yang sisters from his own Hang Yang family into the palace. The three sisters were deeply favored by the Qian Emperor, and he was therefore reused and even allowed to hold a position in the Privy Council as a eunuch, while also being sent to the northern border to control the three northern towns of Great Qian.

The most amazing thing was that he was a eunuch, and it was unknown if it was because he wasn't completely castrated, but he actually grew a beautiful beard that many literati envied.

Grand Commandant Yang turned around, faced forward, and said:

"It's easy to kill them. They're already surrounded by my army. With just these three hundred or so people, can they fly to the sky?

What this commandant wants to know is who exactly is directing them and what exactly the Yan thieves are planning."

Saying this, Grand Commandant Yang looked at Wu Yingwu standing behind him and said:

"These people are not worth pitying. Their crimes are unforgivable! But the Yan thieves' country has too many things going on recently. It is said that the Yan Emperor has already broken with the Zhenbei Marquisate, and the two sides have even deployed troops against each other.

This time, a Yan thief cavalry suddenly pierced into my Great Qian. It is difficult to guarantee that there are no other thoughts in it. If this commandant cannot find out, how should he explain to the officials in the court, how should he explain to the imperial family?

What's more, according to previous reports, there are actually barbarians among these Yan cavalry! Can we figure out the mystery in this?

You are Great Qian Jiedushi, in charge of the military power of one town. How can you disregard the importance of a country because of personal matters?"

Wu Yingwu and Meng Changqi looked at each other, and together with Qian Shuwen, the Chen Town Jiedushi next to them, saluted Grand Commandant Yang and said:

"Thank you Grand Commandant for your teachings. We are ashamed."

Grand Commandant Yang nodded and stroked his beautiful beard with satisfaction.

At this time, a civil official in official uniform rode over, and the armored soldiers in front immediately dispersed to let him pass.

The newcomer was Zheng Hongze, who had just finished negotiating with Liang Cheng.

Zheng Hongze did not dismount but rode to the front of the platform car, clasped his hands and said:

"I am on duty and cannot perform the full salute."

Grand Commandant Yang nodded and said, "It's okay, Zheng Sima has worked hard."

Zheng Hongze was overjoyed. In fact, it was all empty talk that he couldn't perform the full salute because he was on duty. Grand Commandant Yang gave him the job. Grand Commandant Yang had asked the people around him who could persuade the Yan team to surrender, and everyone was silent except Zheng Sima, who stepped forward to ask for orders.

What Zheng Hongze wanted now was to deepen his impression in Grand Commandant Yang's heart. Middle- and lower-level officials who wanted to climb up really had to rely on whether they were appreciated by big shots.

"Reporting to the Grand Commandant, the Yan thieves are willing to surrender, but they have put forward many conditions. Allow this official to report them one by one..."

Grand Commandant Yang smiled:

"No need to report them, agree to them all."

"This..."

"Agree to them."

Anyway, these promises would not be fulfilled in the future. What he wanted was just the Yan army's attempt to go south!

"This official understands. By the way, the Yan thieves said that Lord Meng's daughter is still in their hands."

Meng Changqi was immediately overjoyed upon hearing this and hurriedly asked:

"What about this official's wife?"

"The Yan thieves said that Lord Meng's wife suddenly died of a serious illness yesterday."

"..." Meng Changqi.

"Yan thieves, this official will never coexist with you under the same sky!!!"

Meng Changqi roared,

but in his heart, he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like a burden had been lifted.

That woman had finally died reasonably, which was too hard.

"Lord Meng, please grieve in moderation," Grand Commandant Yang comforted.

"This official knows. Grand Commandant, there is no need to delay state affairs because of this official's family affairs. State affairs are the most important."

"Lord Meng is righteous. Zheng Sima, go reply."

"This official obeys!"

Zheng Hongze clasped his hands again, then turned his horse around, came to the front army from the rear army again, passed through the front army, and came to the front of the Yan army cavalry.

At this time, Chen Town Jiedushi Qian Shuwen, who was standing behind Grand Commandant Yang, said:

"The Grand Commandant is wise. The Yan barbarians do not know etiquette, do not respect education. What loyalty and righteousness can there be in people from such a country?

If these barbarian thieves hear that the Grand Commandant is willing to agree to their conditions, they will naturally kneel and surrender."

Grand Commandant Yang smiled

and said:

"The Yan thieves' peaceful days are numbered. Wait, it won't be long before they have to fight among themselves."

…………

Zheng Fan pointed to the returning Zheng Sima and said to Liang Cheng next to him:

"That dog thief isn't even willing to put on a full show. The big shot leading the army behind him must have told him to agree to whatever conditions we put forward."

At this time, Zheng Hongze, who had reached the front, said loudly:

"The Grand Commandant has ordered that all your conditions can be agreed to. I hope you will quickly lay down your weapons, dismount, and surrender. My Great Qian is a land of propriety and will definitely keep our promises!"

"Heh."

Zheng Fan sneered.

Just then,

Zheng Fan suddenly saw two eagles circling in the sky to the north.

Zheng Fan immediately smiled,

and said in the barbarian language:

"Shoot him down! He doesn't deserve the surname Zheng!"

All the barbarian soldiers immediately drew their bows and aimed at Zheng Hongze.

Zheng Hongze, who was still secretly rejoicing in his heart that this mission was about to be completed successfully and that he was about to enter the Grand Commandant's bag, felt a "thump" in his heart after seeing this scene

and subconsciously shouted:

"Don't..."

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

What answered him were hundreds of arrows.

Sima Zheng was shot into a hedgehog along with his horse and died thoroughly.

This move immediately caused an uproar among the nearby Qian cavalry. The cavalry team caused a commotion, and the military formation, which had previously relaxed because they thought the other side was going to surrender, became rigorous again.

…………

"How dare he, how dare he!!!"

Grand Commandant Yang, who was standing on the platform car, was somewhat incredulous.

The three jiedushi standing behind him were also dumbfounded. Were these Yan thieves really courting death?

Especially Qian Shuwen, who had previously said that the Yan people had no loyal and righteous people, had an even uglier face.

…………

"Whether you understand or not, shout with me word by word, shout with all your might!" (Barbarian language)

The surrounding barbarian soldiers sat up straight on their horses.

Zheng Fan shouted:

"We, Great Yan soldiers..."

"We, Great Yan soldiers..."

"Swear not to surrender!"

"Swear not to surrender!"

"Long live the Emperor of Great Yan!"

"Long live the Emperor of Great Yan!"

"Long live the Marquis of Jingnan!"

"Long live the Marquis of Jingnan!"

The slogans were shouted out by hundreds of barbarian soldiers in not-so-standard Chinese, and a tragic atmosphere swept out!

This scene

made Grand Commandant Yang on the platform car somewhat moved,

and at the same time, he was even more shocked in his heart.

Were these Yan people so tenacious and unwilling to surrender even in death?

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little fortunate that the Yan people were about to have internal strife in their own home, otherwise...

"Grand Commandant, the Yan thieves are stubborn, give the order!" Wu Yingwu advised.

Meng Changqi was stunned for a moment. His daughter was still in the hands of the Yan people.

Grand Commandant Yang nodded

and said to the flag soldier in front of him:

"Kill!"

The flag soldier immediately passed the order down.

The next moment,

the Qian cavalry surrounding Zheng Fan and others began to move, the ranks were rearranged, and they were about to charge.

Zheng Fan was not afraid at all.

Instead, with Liang Cheng's help, he raised the long saber in his hand. The barbarian soldiers also raised their sabers, preparing to fight to the death.

"Dong, dong, dong!"

"Dong, dong, dong!"

"Dong, dong, dong!"

Just then,

in the north, where the line of sight could barely reach,

a black shadow suddenly appeared,

followed by

the rhythmic vibration of the earth.

The Qian cavalry who were about to charge reined in their horses, looking north somewhat blankly. Grand Commandant Yang, standing on the platform car, and the three jiedushi behind him also looked north in shock.

Black cavalry teams began to appear, their military appearance was orderly, their ranks were neat, and banners with the words "Yan" and "Nan" fluttered in the wind in the army.

A majestic aura of killing began to oppress and sweep in with their appearance, like a true war beast about to open its ferocious eyes!

"Woo..."

A desolate bugle sounded,

and all the Yan soldiers raised the weapons in their hands together

and shouted in unison:

"Hu!" (Tiger!)

"Hu!"

"Hu!"

---

The new book is on the shelves, asking for monthly tickets, everyone.