allendalepharm Chapter 353 Get out, get out of Dongdu now!
Chapter 353 Get out, get out of Dongdu now!
"Alright."
Lu Xiao raised his hand and stopped Pei Yuanqing.
If this guy joins the ranks of top-spinning enthusiasts, Yang You's life might really be over.
"Qu Boya".
Lu Xiao turned around and shouted into the distance.
King Qu Boya of Gaochang had already rushed over, but seeing Lü Xiao dealing with the extra time, he dared not step forward.
Hearing the call, they quickly ran over.
"Your Highness, what are your orders?"
Qu Boya bent over, his face beaming with smiles.
Today's battle has completely terrified him.
One man against 100,000 elite troops, the battle was fierce, with rivers of blood and corpses strewn across the fields.
Lü Xiao is a man you should never befriend; you can only befriend him.
"Arrange for someone to escort the Prince of Dai back to Daxing."
Lu Xiao pointed to Yang You, who was covered in wounds and looked utterly disheveled.
"Yes! Your humble servant will arrange it immediately!"
Qu Boya quickly agreed and turned to call for help.
Yang You stood up from the pool of blood and stretched his shoulder, which was still sore from the beating.
He raised his head and looked at Lü Xiao, his eyes filled with a complex expression.
"Uncle, aren't you...aren't you coming back with me?"
"I'm going to the Western Turks."
Lü Xiao mounted his horse and grabbed the halberd Wutian stuck in the ground.
Yang You was stunned.
Western Turks?
Hasn't Shekui Khan already fled?
Is Lü Xiao still going to pursue?
"Oh, right."
Lu Xiao reined in the horse, looking down at Yang You with a cold and sharp gaze.
"When you go back, take a look around Longxi, Huining, and Pingliang."
Yang You's heart tightened.
"Look at the mess you've made."
Lü Xiao spoke slowly and deliberately, each word like a knife.
"Look at those villages that were slaughtered by the barbarians, look at those burned-down houses, look at those people whose bodies were left unclaimed."
If he hadn't mentioned going back, he would have completely forgotten about it.
In the northwest, several counties were subjected to a scorched-earth policy by the foreign tribes. All the grain that could not be taken away was burned, and all the people that could not be taken away were killed.
He fought his way from Yumen Pass to Loulan, only to find scorched earth and white bones.
All of this was thanks to Yang You.
If Yang You hadn't been defeated, the foreign tribes would never have had the chance to enter the pass.
If Yang You hadn't been so greedy for merit and reckless, the people of the Northwest would never have suffered such a calamity.
"Those people are the people of the Great Sui Dynasty; their lives are lives too."
After Lü Xiao finished speaking, he turned his head away and stopped looking at Yang You.
Yang You stood frozen in place.
He recalled how, before setting off, he had solemnly vowed to his grandfather that he would recover the Northwest and uphold the prestige of the Sui Dynasty.
But the result?
The Northwest was not recovered, and the nation's prestige was not proclaimed.
However, they did bring in foreigners, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and the destruction of countless homes.
"Yes……"
Yang You lowered his head, his voice so low it was like a mosquito's buzz.
He held Xue Rengao's severed head tightly in his arms, his knuckles turning white.
Throughout his life, Lü Xiao had always given him the impression of being nonchalant about everything.
Even after winning a battle, one should remain humble and modest.
He was targeted by powerful families in the imperial court, but he remained neither angry nor annoyed.
This is the first time I've ever been so angry.
"Get lost."
Lu Xiao waved his hand, his tone tinged with impatience.
He doesn't want to see Yang You's face right now.
He was afraid that if he looked at it for even a moment longer, he would lose his temper and whip it a few more times.
Yang You opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately said nothing.
Then, carrying Xue Rengao's head, he followed Qu Boya's men and staggered away from the bottom of the valley.
The setting sun cast a long shadow of him, making him appear lonely and desolate.
Lu Xiao watched Yang You's departing figure and remained silent for a moment.
In this battle, Xue Ju was captured, Xue Rengao died, the Wolf Lord of Hami Kingdom died, and Wang Buchao also died.
Keshekui Khan is still alive.
After entering the valley, they did not see Shekui Khan at all.
The old fox, sensing the danger, ran away beforehand.
If the Western Turks are not eliminated, there will never be peace in the Northwest.
Xue Ju is an open enemy; once defeated, he's gone.
But the Western Turks were different; they were real wolves.
If you hit it hard, it will run away.
It will come back after you leave.
"Your Highness, are we really going to give chase?"
Yuwen Chenglong leaned closer and asked, still wanting more.
To be honest, he put in some effort in this battle, but not all of it.
He was unwilling to just go through the motions and wanted to fight again.
"Chase!"
Lü Xiao, adhering to the principle that since he had already come all this way, was not about to go back so easily.
Now that Yang You has been rescued, he has even fewer worries.
If we don't defeat Shekui Khan, this trip will have been in vain!
Yang You, escorted by Qu Boya's men, passed through the narrow valley entrance and returned to the camp of the allied foreign forces.
When he arrived, he was being escorted, bound hand and foot, with a rag stuffed in his mouth, looking as pathetic as a stray dog.
When he left, he was accompanied by guards from the Kingdom of Gaochang, carrying Xue Rengao's bloody head in his arms, which barely managed to salvage some semblance of dignity.
But when his gaze swept over the mountain of corpses in the camp, he paused for a moment.
One body on top of another, layer upon layer, lay scattered haphazardly across the entire open space.
A tattered banner lay askew in the pool of blood, and broken halberds and shards of sword were scattered all over the ground.
The crimson blood had formed streams, slowly flowing out of the camp, gathering into dark red pools in the low-lying areas.
Half a day ago, if he had seen this scene of carnage, he probably would have been terrified and his legs would have gone weak.
But at this moment, there wasn't much shock on his face.
It wasn't that he wasn't shocked, but that battle at the bottom of the valley was enough to shock him for a hundred years.
Lü Xiao, alone on horseback, fought his way in and out of the encirclement of 100,000 elite troops.
Ballistae couldn't pierce him, chariots couldn't crush him, and rolling stones couldn't break him.
Xue Rengao, Wang Buchao, the Wolf Lord of Hami Kingdom, and those fierce generals from foreign lands whose names he couldn't even remember, all fell under his halberd.
Having witnessed such a scene, these corpses before me seemed rather mundane.
"Your Highness, it's time to set off."
One of Qu Boya's guards stepped forward and said respectfully.
Yang You withdrew his gaze, nodded, and climbed into the carriage.
The convoy sped along the route it had come from.
With no pursuers and no ambushes, the journey was unimpeded.
Several days later, the convoy arrived at Yumen Pass.
Yang You lifted the carriage curtain, raised his head, and gazed at the majestic fortress.
Yumen Pass.
It was here that General Zhang Xutuo, in an attempt to save him, led his personal guards all the way to the pass, where they were surrounded and killed by Xue Rengao.
It was here that the old general's head was cut off and hung above the city gate, exposed to the wind and sun.
Yang You got off the carriage, stood in front of the closing gate, and remained silent for a long time.
"Your Highness?"
The guard called out cautiously.
Yang You did not respond, but turned around and took Xue Rengao's head from the carriage.
The head had dried out somewhat, the skin was black and wrinkled, but the eyes were still wide open, as if the person had died with their eyes open.
Yang You, holding the severed head, walked step by step up the city wall.
He found the most conspicuous flagpole and ordered his men to hang Xue Rengao's head on it.