Shi Lei had been blocked in the Hedong Commandery area, just north of Luoyang, not far from Shangdang.

After Xun Xiu discovered their tracks, he immediately sent someone to relay the news back to Luoyang.

The three thousand troops Wang Mi had sent successfully circled around Shi Lei’s forces and headed straight for Bingzhou, planning to stabilize Bingzhou while Shi Lei’s communications were disrupted.

So Shi Lei still didn’t know about the situation in Luoyang, and the Qihuo Army fighting desperately against them knew even less.

They simply felt that Shi Lei was a Hu barbarian leading Hu troops, and judging by their posture, they meant harm to Luoyang. Although they themselves had no food or drink, they still bit down hard on Shi Lei, refusing to let them go to Luoyang.

Xun Xiu sent messages back while following Zhao Hanzhang’s orders to have people spread news of Luoyang into the opposing army.

But where was the need? Before they could deliver their message, Shi Lei’s army had already received news from Luoyang. Ji Yuan had beaten them by a small step.

So the message they sent out arrived late in Shi Lei’s army but quickly reached the Qihuo Army camp.

The Qihuo Army was a combined force of officials and commoners—brave and skilled in battle, but… poor!

So poor they couldn’t get food. Originally, they had followed Sima Teng fleeing from Bingzhou. After fleeing all the way, in order to survive, the officials and scholar-gentry of Bingzhou gathered the refugees and formed an army to beg for food in the Jizhou area.

Having reached the point of begging for food, the officials and scholar-gentry naturally could no longer maintain their status and dignity. Everything was for survival. They exchanged their wide-sleeved scholar robes for narrow sleeves, and due to poverty, these too were patch upon patch, barely concealed by their armor.

As they fought and begged in more and more places, fewer and fewer officials and scholar-gentry survived in the army. Eventually, aside from a scattered few, the rest were continuously absorbed refugees, and so they became like the refugees themselves.

Because the vast majority were refugees, the army was filled with families in tow. Aside from the few leaders at the top, you couldn’t find a complete set of armor in the entire army. Their clothes were layer upon layer of patches, and on their feet were basically straw sandals they’d woven themselves.

They had only one goal—survival! That’s why they were called the Qihuo Army.

No matter who it was, except for foreign forces like the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Jie barbarians, anyone willing to pay money and provide grain could hire them to fight anyone.

So today, the Prince of Donghai would pay them to seize some territory from Gou Xi, and they’d go fight Gou Xi. Tomorrow, Gou Xi would offer grain and supplies to have them attack the Prince of Donghai, and they’d turn around and attack the Prince of Donghai.

Their goals were very clear: money and grain.

For this reason, many people had hired them, and many people looked down on them. To this day, not a single faction was willing to fully accept them.

Everyone would hire them for work, settle up with money and grain, then send them packing. The Qihuo Army just wandered about like this, occasionally fighting the Hu armies of Liu Yuan and Shi Lei without pay, blocking their plundering.

Hearing there was a Jin army nearby, Qihuo Army General Chen Wu immediately summoned Chen Chuan, Feng Long, and Li Tou, asking them, “Which of you is willing to scout the situation? The army doesn’t have much grain left. We need to temporarily find a food provider.”

Feng Long and Li Tou immediately said, “We’re willing to go.”

Chen Chuan didn’t want to go begging and rolling around on the ground, so he recommended the two of them. “Let them go. I’ll go guard the front.”

“Fine, you two go then.”

So Feng Long and Li Tou stripped off their armor, revealing bodies covered in patched clothes, and were about to leave when Chen Wu felt they weren’t shabby enough. He called over two personal guards and had them exchange clothes.

“The other side has so many cavalry, and their armor seems plentiful too. They’re clearly wealthy. You two act more miserable—maybe you can get some grain.”

Feng Long and Li Tou felt he made sense. They were all military men who hadn’t bathed in over ten days—nobody should mind anyone else.

Thus, dressed in rags, the two deputy generals stood before Xun Xiu.

“The Qihuo Army?” Xun Xiu frowned slightly but still managed a smile and asked gently, “What brings you two here?”

“Shi Lei’s great army is ahead. Did General Xun come to intercept Shi Lei?”

When entering the camp earlier, they had already learned that the commander was Xun Xiu of Yuzhou. However, Yuzhou was quite far from here—they didn’t know why he’d come all this way.

Because they were all Jin troops, though Xun Xiu didn’t think much of them, he still exchanged some information with them, sharing intelligence. He wanted to know about Shi Lei’s army’s situation too.

So Xun Xiu learned they had blocked Shi Lei here for five days, and Shi Lei had even pushed out captured Jin ministers to kill for sport, trying to force the Qihuo Army to retreat.

However, the captured Jin ministers couldn’t provide the Qihuo Army with money or grain, and in the Qihuo Army’s hearts, they weren’t as important as Luoyang, so Chen Wu let Shi Lei kill them—they simply wouldn’t retreat.

Feng Long said, “Among them is Grand Tutor Wang Yan. Did General Xun come to rescue Grand Tutor Wang and the others?”

Li Tou hinted from the side, “We have over five thousand soldiers, all brave and skilled warriors who can help the General. It’s just that we’ve been starving for days and are somewhat lacking in strength.”

Xun Xiu pretended not to hear. Though they had brought grain, it was only enough for half a month. They’d forcibly purchased the grain from the scholar-gentry in the palace—how could they possibly give it to the Qihuo Army?

He had no grain to give, but he did share quite a bit of information.

For instance, Wang Mi was dead—killed by their commander, Zhao Hanzhang!

For instance, Liu Cong had been defeated—defeated by their commander, Zhao Hanzhang!

Also, the Emperor had been rescued, and their commander Zhao Hanzhang was enfeoffed as Duke of Runan!

Finally, Luoyang was now being governed by their commander, Zhao Hanzhang!

Xun Xiu concealed the news that the Emperor had followed Gou Xi in relocating the capital, saying only that their commander had them come to rescue the Jin ministers captured by Shi Lei.

Feng Da and Li Tou returned to the Qihuo Army and told Chen Wu, “He’s terribly stingy—wouldn’t give even a single measure of grain. Says he came to rescue Jin ministers, but I think he has absolutely no intention of rescuing them. General, he won’t be trying to make us work for free, will he?”

Chen Wu thought it over and shook his head. “Among them is Wang Yan. Wang Yan’s prestige extends far and wide, and he possesses great talent. If he returns to the Emperor’s side and raises his arm in a call to action, half the aristocratic families in the world will heed his command. I fear that Zhao Hanzhang doesn’t want him to return alive, and perhaps the Emperor doesn’t wish it either, so…”

“So they’re trying to force Wang Yan to death?” Feng Da spat and said, “These people’s hearts are truly filthy enough. General, should we still remain here?”

Chen Wu asked, “Did he truly refuse to give even a single measure of rice?”

“Li Tou brought it up three times, and he never responded—clearly unwilling to pay.”

Chen Wu sighed. “Forget it. Since they’ve come, let’s leave Shi Lei to them. We’ll depart tomorrow.”

He said, “There’s not much grain left in the army. If we keep rationing, something will go wrong. Let’s head west and see—I hear the Xianbei occasionally raid Chang’an and other areas. Let’s see if the Prince of Nanyang will hire us.”

“Yes.”

—