CH 281

Bai Liwu was under house arrest in the palace, and Huang Yuanwei was imprisoned in an iron prison.

The two men were imprisoned separately, but neither knew that the other had been imprisoned.

The moment he was put under house arrest, Bai Liwu knew that something had gone wrong with his plan and that his defeat was inevitable.

The news of Huang Yuanwei and Bai Liwu’s imprisonment was kept tightly under wraps, and not a single word was leaked to the public.

Eight days later, an eagle flew into Huang Yuanwei’s house.

The eagle hovered in mid-air but did not land because it did not hear the usual familiar call.

In the darkness, something was thrown at the eagle. The eagle let out a shrill cry and plunged straight to the ground.

Just when the eagle was about to hit the ground, a figure suddenly appeared below it and caught it in his arms, saving it from falling.

Xiahou Chun took off the paper at the eagle’s feet. It said that 500,000 troops were ready to advance to the deep forests of the Snow Kingdom. They planned to set up camp temporarily and asked Huang Yuanwei to go there within two days.

The weather was so cold that even the people of the Snow Kingdom stayed away from the deep forest, so almost no one found out where they were hiding. Even if anyone found out, they would kill and silence them.

Xiahou Chun read the contents of the letter, and a cold smile tugged at the corners of his lips. You have finally come. Only, what you want to enter is not a treasure cave, but a sea of purgatory.

Xiahou Chun took the fainted eagle into his study. He took out a piece of paper and wrote a letter in imitation of Huang Yuanwei’s handwriting, then stuffed it onto the eagle before placing the eagle on the roof.

Sometime later, the eagle slowly woke up, flapped its wings, and flew away.

General Qianfeng led his army of half a million men forward, slowly penetrating deeper into the dense forest. Unexpectedly, a mountain peak suddenly collapsed, and an avalanche accumulated thickly and tumbled down. It came at them from high above, like a huge, ferocious river.

General Qianfeng saw that the situation was not good and hastily retreated. However, no matter how fast they ran, they could not outrun the raging waves of snow and ice. Countless soldiers were buried under the thick snow and were instantly submerged in it. The 500,000-strong army was moving through the dense forest in a “mouth” formation because they wanted to hide and minimise the colour difference between them and their surroundings. Although they were numerous, they were nothing more than ants in the face of nature.

The avalanche alone caused the Kalou army to flee, losing more than 100,000 men.

So a huge number of soldiers, with the conviction and determination to win, thought that victory was imminent and had lost one-fifth of them before even touching the gates of the Snow City. Half of the remaining soldiers suffered bruises or falls in their haste to dodge.

The Snow Kingdom has always been cold, and the weather was not conducive to the healing of wounds.

The avalanche came from the top of the mountain and drove them straight to the foot of the mountain. Snow City was at the top of this snowy mountain. To enter the city, they must step through the woods.

“General, what shall we do?”

General Qianfeng swept a glance at the wounded sitting on the ground waiting to be treated, looked at the flat forest not far away, and after some thought, said, “Let us first set up camp there. I will think of something.”

General Qianfeng gave the order, and the soldiers marched on in great numbers.

In the evening, General Qianfeng wrote to Huang Yuanwei once again, asking him for countermeasures.

This was the path pointed out in the secret letter that Huang Yuanwei had sent him the day before. He had not expected that man’s plans would not be as good as God’s. Amid the snowstorm, opportunities were also threatened.

The eagle did not fly away immediately after being released. Instead, it circles the air for a while before flying off in the direction of Huang Yuanwei’s house.

Late into the night, the eagle flew back again.

General Qianfeng had just fallen asleep when he heard the eagle’s cry. He got up and came out of his tent. He whistled and saw the eagle swoop down onto his arm and untied the secret letter at the eagle’s feet.

General Qianfeng did not doubt it and opened the secret letter.

This time, Huang Yuanwei directed them to take a different route, one without snowy mountains but with a wide frozen river.

In the secret letter, Huang Yuanwei also said that he had received news in Snow City that this year the snow was a disaster. Landslides had occurred in three places; only the cliff had not collapsed.

The letter also said that although the cliff looked very dangerous, overlooking the river with thick ice below it, there was a secret passage in it. It led straight to the palace and was the best option. Bai Liwu was the one who revealed this passage to him after he had gained his absolute trust. He and Bai Liwu would meet them in front of the secret passage, so they could enter the kingdom without the need to open the gates.

Huang Yuanwei had always been cautious and had never made mistakes with the information he provided, so General Qianfei did not doubt it and called his soldiers up in the night. They headed for the icy surface of the cliffs at the back of the mountain.

There was nothing above the river, so anything huge appearing on the surface would be in plain view. In order not to attract the attention of the Snow Kingdom, General Qianfeng followed Huang Yuanwei’s advice, which was to hurry on through the night, cross the river, and hide under the cliffs.

They advanced for about two hours and arrived in front of the river while it was still dark.

“General, do we have to cross the river in the dark? The road ahead is pitch black. What should we do if this river is not solid? ” The military advisor had a slight uneasiness in his heart and hurriedly asked General Qianfeng.

“Is the military advisor afraid?” General Qianfeng scoffed, “You sent your soldiers to check the other three sides and found out that heavy snow was blocking the roads, so we won’t be able to move an inch. Three of the four sides are blocked, and this is the only road that is still passable. It is cold here, so how thick do you think the ice is? It must be at least as thick as my calf, and there is no way the ice would crack. ”

The military advisor still had some doubts, “In that case, how about this, General? Let us cross the river in groups of a thousand people. That way, we can ensure a smooth crossing and also ensure safety.”

General Qianfeng shook his head, “There is no time. It will be dawn in half an hour. We must cross the river before it is light, otherwise, the Snow Kingdom will find out and the plan will be ruined. Don’t worry, once we cross the river, the people who will meet us will lead us straight into the palace. It will be the time for us to make our name in history! ”

Seeing the general’s insistence on crossing the river, the military advisor could only swallow his words, even if he had more to say.

After hearing the general’s words, not only did he not feel at ease, but he became more restless.

But even with all the anxiety, the group began to move forward.

Although he said that they had to cross to the other side of the river within half an hour, his brain was not yet overwhelmed by the imminent victory. He let a small group of soldiers walk at the front to clear the way, while the larger group followed behind and marched peacefully. When the last row of soldiers had set foot on the river, General Qianfeng let out a sigh of relief.

He sneered at the military advisor beside him, “You literati are just greedy for life and afraid of death. A great man will put his life at risk and live! ”

The soldiers marched on the ice in a neat and orderly fashion, and in a short time, they reached the middle of the river.

General Qianfeng was nervous and excited as he saw victory in sight.

Suddenly, in the darkness, there was a violent crashing sound on the river, and General Qianfeng heard a constant “click-click” sound coming from the river.

Not only did the general hear the sound, but all the other soldiers also heard it as well.

The Kalou kingdom was predominantly a desert. There was not much water in it, so fewer people knew how to swim. And almost all of the soldiers did not know how to swim. Fear gripped the army when they heard the sound of the ice breaking.

Their neat pace was disrupted, and their orderly stance distorted as they pushed against each other. The soldiers were in a hurry, some striding towards the front, others towards the back. But in the darkness and the indistinguishable ice, the soldiers scattered and fled, but were unable to find the right direction.

The ice continued to crack when a sudden plop and scream rang out in the darkness as someone fell into the water.

This sound was like a spark that broke the surface of the river as more and more soldiers fell into the river. They tried to get back on, but the surface was breaking into pieces. The river was cold, and the soldiers were wearing thick cotton trousers and padded jackets to resist the cold. The cold water swept into the soldiers’ trousers and jackets almost as soon as they fell into the river, weighing down their already bulky bodies.

One by one, their heavy bodies sank into the river without the support of suspension.

It was only then that it dawned on the general that he had walked into a trap that had been set up from the very beginning! No matter which of the four paths he chose, he would end up with a total loss!

First, he was led to take the land route, and an avalanche was used to wipe out some of the soldiers. Avalanches occurred on all three land routes, forcing them to take the water route. By deliberately sending him the letter late at night, the time was shortened to the point where he neither had enough time to think nor enough time for the soldiers to advance in small groups. The intention was to wipe them out!

A lot of wine and salt water had been poured into the water to lower the melting point of the ice. In this way, the ice he thought was thick enough would actually shatter with a heavy enough external force, and they, the clowns, who were about to pick the fruit of victory, would already be dead in a jar and on a steel sword.

At the moment he fell into the river, General Qianfeng looked blankly at the sky, repentant.

My king, I am a sinner in the kingdom of Kalou. I have insulted your expectations!