Xun Xiu was still unconscious, but Zhao Ming received the message. After brief consideration, he understood and immediately ordered people to retreat, wanting to open up the area outside the south gate.

For an ordinary person, they would naturally understand the principle that as long as green mountains remain, one needn’t fear lack of firewood. But was Zhi Xiong an ordinary person?

He ignored that escape route. Discovering he couldn’t retake Meng County and realizing that even if he got out, he would be surrounded and pursued by Zhao’s army, fleeing all the way, he directly led men to expend great effort arranging fire oil and other materials. When Zhao Hanzhang closed in on him, he directly ordered the city burned, only then leading his men to flee out the opened south gate.

This was late summer in the seventh month. Having passed through the hottest sixth month and endured continuous drought, when the houses doused with fire oil were ignited, they instantly combusted, following the poured fire oil like fire serpents winding upward.

Seeing the flames that instantly rose, Zhao Hanzhang was furious and immediately ordered: “Squads One and Two go fight the fires. Squads Three and Four cut off the fire’s path. Squads Five and Six, send word throughout the city to evacuate the city’s people from Meng County. The rest, follow me to pursue Zhi Xiong. Zhao Ze.”

“This subordinate is here.”

“You go to the north of the city to bring Tinghan over and protect him in the main camp.”

Zhao Ze acknowledged.

Zhao Hanzhang also had someone notify Xun Xiu to immediately deploy troops and divide forces to intercept Zhi Xiong, also saying: “Have Xun Xiu divide out twenty thousand men to go to Xiayi County to support Zhao Ju.”

Calculating the time, Shi Lei should have arrived long ago. If he hadn’t arrived, he must have been delayed by Zhao Ju. She needed to send troops to support him.

Zhao Ming accepted the order on Xun Xiu’s behalf and immediately divided the forces into two routes. Considering the current morale and loyalty of the Xun Family Army, he ordered Qiu Wu to lead twenty thousand men to support Zhao Ju, while Xun Ming led troops to pursue Zhi Xiong and join with Zhao Hanzhang in surrounding him.

Hmph, he didn’t believe Xun Ming would dare make trouble before Zhao Hanzhang.

Xun Ming truly didn’t dare. After receiving the order, he immediately mustered troops to pursue Zhi Xiong.

Because he stubbornly insisted on setting fires, Zhi Xiong missed the opportunity and was chased closely from behind by Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang was very angry. She urged her horse to close in rapidly, leaning forward close to the horse’s back. The long spear in her hand was tossed up, then gripped, gathering strength before throwing it. The spear flew out shooting forth, directly piercing through the chest of a squad leader in the Stone Army’s rear ranks…

Zhao Hanzhang rode swiftly past the panicked Stone Army. As she got close, she reached out to grab the spear shaft, pulled it out with a swing, and without looking at the squad leader who died with eyes wide open, the spear swept across and thrust, slashing through one person’s throat and piercing through another’s chest.

The Stone Army trembled with fear. Zhao Hanzhang raised her spear and shouted: “Kill them for me!”

“Kill—”

Zhao’s army caught up with the Stone Army, their morale tremendous. The Stone Army was fleeing, their morale already low. Being suppressed by Zhao’s army momentum, their will to fight instantly vanished completely. They only wanted to flee quickly.

Zhi Xiong had originally intended to turn back and fight a round, but seeing the defeat come so swiftly, he immediately turned his horse around and fled with his trusted men.

By the time Zhao Hanzhang killed her way through, Zhi Xiong had already gone far. But she wasn’t in such a hurry anymore. After capturing the majority of the Stone Army that had been left behind, Xun Ming also caught up. She left some men to escort the prisoners, while the remaining forces split into two routes to pursue.

One route followed in the direction he was fleeing, while the other route took a detour.

The Central Plains at this time was mostly wilderness and mountains. Only around cities were there more people. In other places, there might not be a village for ten or eight li. So as long as Zhi Xiong didn’t want to attack cities and avoided populated areas, if he could shake off the pursuing troops behind him, he would be truly difficult to find.

Originally, Zhao Hanzhang had Xun Xiu open the south gate to give him a chance to escape. Who knew he wouldn’t cherish it and would rather die than burn the city.

Zhao Hanzhang stood at a fork in the road. After brief consideration, she decided to gamble. She bet Zhi Xiong wanted to head southeast to Xiayi County to find Shi Lei, rather than heading east to circle away from Yuzhou.

Zhao Hanzhang spurred her horse around, leading a squad of cavalry onto the small road, directly circling to the southeast, where Meng County, Xiayi County, and Sui County intersected.

After running for over an hour with no signs of human habitation along the way, reaching a fork in the road, Zhao Hanzhang pulled out a map from her bosom and carefully cross-referenced it. After calculating her speed and brief consideration, she said: “We’ll go this way. Have everyone hurry up and rest, eat something. We must intercept Zhi Xiong before nightfall today.”

Zhao Hanzhang gritted her teeth: “He dared burn my city and slaughter my people. I will make him pay blood for blood!”

The officers and soldiers acknowledged.

Following the direction Zhao Hanzhang had chosen, after running for another half hour, they emerged from the small road onto the main road.

Zhao Hanzhang and Rong Yi looked at the traces on the ground and confirmed no large army had passed yet, then said: “Rest, eat, ambush.”

Rong Yi acknowledged. After everyone had pulled up the horse-tripping ropes and hidden in the woods on both sides of the road, Rong Yi was somewhat worried: “My Lord, will Zhi Xiong and his men really take this road?”

Zhao Hanzhang said confidently: “They will!”

If they didn’t come, she could just consider lying here as resting. She had recovered over ten counties in Yanzhou. She would eventually recover the remaining commanderies and counties, so she would always encounter Zhi Xiong. If she couldn’t get revenge today, she could do so another day.

Never mind—a gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years. She would remember him always, taking him along even in death.

Zhao Hanzhang’s face was calm, but she was gritting her teeth internally.

She suppressed the hatred in her heart and pulled out a piece of dry rations from her bosom, breaking off a small piece to put in her mouth to relieve her hunger.

They hadn’t brought much dry rations. If they couldn’t find him tomorrow, they would have to return.

Just as she was thinking, the sound of chaotic hoofbeats reached her ears. Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes lit up. She immediately pressed her ear to the ground to listen: “They’re coming! Everyone prepare!”

Rong Yi acknowledged. While passing down the order, he also lay down to listen. He felt the Lord was too tense, so she had heard wrong. Hesitating, his ears finally caught the vibrations of hooves striking the ground.

Rong Yi was slightly stunned. He raised his head to look at Zhao Hanzhang admiringly.

Zhao Hanzhang saw him lift his head and raised her hand to press it hard into the grass: “Stay down properly! No one is allowed to reveal our position.”

The order was passed down one by one. The soldiers all readied their weapons and lay down. Even their horses were calmed and made to lie on the ground.

There was also a hundred-man cavalry squad led by Wu Liang hidden above the main road, using the trees to conceal their forms, waiting only for the order to charge down.

Soon enough, everyone saw Zhi Xiong leading a group of cavalry fleeing toward them in a sorry state.

They had been fleeing for a full day—both men and horses were exhausted. Therefore their speed wasn’t very fast. Obviously, Xun Ming wasn’t pursuing very closely.

Zhao Hanzhang waited for the lead riders to approach, calculating the rhythm of their horses’ hooves. After letting seven or eight riders pass, she waved her hand and shouted: “Trip them—”

Over ten ropes were instantly pulled up, combined with small pits that had been buried in the ground. Dozens of horses were instantly tripped. The riders on the horses fell off…

The Jie tribe was skilled at mounted archery. Most people, when their horses pitched forward, quickly turned sideways, choosing to fly out with their shoulders or backs striking the ground first, then rolling twice when they landed to stand up…

But with so many horses fallen in chaos on the ground, not everyone could safely roll twice on the ground. Being trampled by horses or falling and breaking one’s neck directly were common occurrences.

Zhi Xiong was both capable and lucky. He successfully stood up, but just as he had climbed up and not yet steadied himself, Zhao Hanzhang was already leading men charging into the formation.

The two armies instantly engaged in close combat.

Zhao Hanzhang saw Zhi Xiong and charged toward him to kill.

Zhi Xiong also saw Zhao Hanzhang.

The two could be called old opponents. During the Battle of Zhao Family Fortress back then, he had followed at Shi Lei’s side and had long hated her to the point of gnashing teeth. This time he simply didn’t flee at all. Raising his great saber, he charged toward Zhao Hanzhang to kill.

The area where the two fought soon cleared out a space. Mainly because Zhi Xiong was brutal and Zhao Hanzhang killed without blinking—both killed any enemy soldiers who got close. Gradually everyone gave them an open space, only tacitly blocking the other side from approaching to support.

Rong Yi really wanted to go support, but he couldn’t get close. He could only lead men to block the Stone Army soldiers who kept trying to charge forward.

But a routed army could be killed but was hard to stop. Over a hundred men soon scattered and broke through the encirclement. Caring nothing for their main general, they tried to flee. Just at this moment, a cavalry force flew out from around the corner ahead, charging over to harvest them directly.

They charged into the melee and fought fiercely. Meanwhile, Zhao Hanzhang also thrust her spear into Zhi Xiong’s chest, pushing with one hand so he retreated repeatedly until she had pierced him completely through with one spear strike, then fiercely pulled the spear out.

Zhi Xiong was still holding his great saber. He stared at Zhao Hanzhang with wide eyes. His knees went soft and he knelt on the ground. He wanted to speak but blood kept gushing out, his voice barely audible.

Zhao Hanzhang had no intention of leaning in to listen. Instead, she raised her chin proudly and said: “I will send your head back to Shi Lei.”

Zhi Xiong was so angry a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out. Finally able to speak, he looked at Zhao Hanzhang with resentment: “The Great General will avenge me. He will definitely avenge me!”

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze sharpened. The long spear in her hand swiftly swept across his neck. Zhi Xiong’s eyes instantly widened as he slowly lowered his head.

Zhao Hanzhang stepped forward and took his great saber, swinging it forcefully to sever his head. After picking up the head, she shouted loudly: “Zhi Xiong is dead! Do you still want to resist?”

The Stone Army soldiers killing with bloodshot eyes regained their reason. Their movements slowed. Zhao’s army also slowed and began closing in to surround them.

Rong Yi killed the enemy he was fighting with one slash, stepped forward, and shouted loudly: “Surrender your weapons and you won’t be killed!”

The soldiers followed in clamoring. The Stone Army soldiers looked around. Someone carefully dropped their weapon. Immediately a Zhao soldier was quick-eyed and pulled the person over, making him squat on the ground…

Seeing that those who surrendered truly weren’t killed, the others slowly put down their weapons.

At this time, the setting sun had already fallen. The entire road was covered in bloodstains and scattered corpses. Zhao Hanzhang stood on the battlefield redder than the lingering sunset glow, the surging emotions from the killing in her chest slowly cooling with the fading twilight, leaving only physical and mental exhaustion.

Zhao Hanzhang stood in the darkening dusk and pressed her lips together, feeling weariness toward war for the first time. If she couldn’t pacify all under heaven, then war would be endless.

Wanting Yuzhou alone to be at peace was simply a pipe dream.

“My Lord, the battlefield has been cleared. We’ve taken three hundred ninety-eight prisoners, and total beheaded…”

Before Rong Yi could finish his report, Wu Liang suddenly shouted: “Who’s spying there?”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately turned. The entire army instantly stood up, weapons at the ready.

Several bird calls immediately came from the forest. Everyone recognized this as Zhao Family Army communication signals and all looked toward Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t relax. She stepped forward: “Give the countersign. Have him come out and respond.”