#495 - The number of days cannot be escaped
Bolts of purple lightning struck one after another, with the dark clouds showing no sign of dissipating.
It had been a quarter of an hour since the battle began, and the fighting at both the east and west exits of the valley had reached a fever pitch.
The remaining soldiers of the imperial army had mostly gathered on both sides, seeking that last glimmer of hope for survival.
Some attempted to escape into the surrounding mountains, but members of the Freemasons and the Tianluo Sect lay in ambush, with the sounds of fighting occasionally echoing from the woods.
At this point in the Niutou Mountain ambush, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the overall situation was settled.
Wei Changtian, who had been silently observing everything, suddenly withdrew his gaze and softly said to Chu Xianping:
"Brother Chu, keep an eye on things here."
"I want to find a place to be alone for a while."
"Okay, just send me a message if anything happens."
Patting Chu Xianping's shoulder, Wei Changtian left those words and walked along a mountain path, heading away from the valley.
Due to the absence of moonlight, the night was very dark, with only the lightning flashes briefly illuminating the surrounding scenery with a fleeting white light.
The sound of thunder and fighting behind him grew fainter and fainter as his solitary figure moved through the woods.
After an unknown amount of time, Wei Changtian finally stopped beside a mountain lake.
The mountain lake was flanked by towering cliffs on two sides. On the left, a mountain stream ran close to the base of the cliff, while on the right, there was a streamside bank covered in vegetation, with a narrow waterfall cascading from above.
The "哗哗" sound of the waterfall hitting the lake surface drowned out the distant thunder. Wei Changtian stood for a moment, then casually found a rock by the lake and sat down, staring blankly at the ripples on the water's surface.
On a clear day, this would have been a scenic mountain paradise.
However, on this particular night, even the lake water seemed gloomy, with a sense of unfathomable depth.
At this moment, Wei Changtian didn't know what he was thinking, or perhaps he wasn't thinking about anything at all.
He just felt a little tired, so he wanted to find a place to space out.
As for other things... he would deal with them after tonight.
"..."
"Plop~"
"Plop~"
Another small stone fell into the lake, sending out circles of ripples.
Wei Changtian sat motionless on the bluestone, repeatedly swinging his arm, having already forgotten how many stones he had thrown.
The distant, indistinct sounds of chaos and thunder became increasingly sparse, and the night grew quieter and quieter.
Then, at a certain moment, Wei Changtian suddenly noticed a point of light appearing in the center of the lake.
He paused slightly, subconsciously looking up at the night sky, but he didn't see a single star.
So, he retracted his gaze and looked around, finally spotting a faint red dot in the woods not far away.
Hmm? What's that?
Narrowing his eyes, Wei Changtian slowly got up and walked towards the direction of the red light.
As he got closer, he realized that there was actually a small bamboo house on the opposite shore of the lake, and the light was from a candle lit inside the bamboo house.
There's someone living in this place?
Wei Changtian didn't know why he wanted to go and investigate, but he ended up walking all the way to the vicinity of the bamboo house.
The night was as dark as ink, and the warm light of the candle was faint, with shadows flickering around.
The house was surrounded by a shallow fence, and the fence was filled with flowers that Wei Changtian couldn't name, with a delicate fragrance lingering in the air.
Looking at the slightly open small window, Wei Changtian hesitated for a moment and prepared to leave.
However, just as he was about to turn around, the small door of the bamboo house creaked open, revealing the figure of a woman dressed in coarse cloth.
"Who are you?"
This woman was standing barefoot in front of the bamboo house door, her ankles fair, and her appearance was very ordinary.
She was frowning at Wei Changtian, with no hint of vigilance in her expression, but it was clear that she was displeased by the arrival of such an uninvited guest.
"Uh, I am..."
Wei Changtian awkwardly touched his nose, subconsciously wanting to make up an excuse.
However, he quickly realized that there seemed to be no need for that, so he casually said:
"Just a traveler who happened to pass by this place, and came over to take a look upon seeing the light."
"I apologize for disturbing you, miss. I'll leave now."
"..."
The woman looked at Wei Changtian coldly, not saying anything, as if waiting for something.
Wei Changtian was a little puzzled by this, so he asked another question.
"Miss, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
The woman glanced at him: "I'm waiting for you to leave."
"..."
"Understood."
Wei Changtian was also straightforward. He looked at the unknown small flowers in the courtyard again, and then turned around and walked back the way he came.
However, after he had taken a few steps, he heard the woman suddenly ask coldly from behind:
"Do you know why it's so noisy over there?"
"..."
Wei Changtian paused.
"Miss, it's a war."
"Oh."
Half an hour later.
When the sounds of fighting in the valley gradually subsided, with only the thunder still rumbling, the Battle of Niutou Mountain finally came to an end.
Of the 200,000-strong army, 160,000 died tonight, leaving only 40,000 barely managing to break through the encirclement.
Including the 20,000 new recruits guarding Guanghan County, the 300,000-strong rebel suppression army lost 80% of its strength within just ten days, leaving only 60,000 defeated soldiers.
These 60,000 people would certainly no longer pose any threat to Shu Prefecture. On the contrary, they would soon face the counterattack of the Shu army.
Therefore, the situation of the Shu Prefecture battle would undoubtedly be reversed from this point on.
Another half an hour passed.
At midnight, the news of the imperial army's ambush and defeat at Niutou Mountain had been delivered to the hands of various important figures.
In the Wei Mansion, Wei Xianzhi and Qin Caizhen both breathed a heavy sigh of relief upon hearing the news, and then sat up all night drinking, only stopping at dawn the next day.
In Weiyang Palace, Ning Yuke stayed up all night drafting a decree to the people, which was posted the next morning. Within half a day, the decree spread throughout the entire Shu region, and the people were all overjoyed.
In the Imperial Palace, Ning Yongnian sat alone for a long time after receiving the news, and then did not show his face for three consecutive days, said to have suddenly developed a serious illness and needed to rest in bed.
In the thirty-six prefectures of Da Ning, some were happy and some were sad.
The Battle of Niutou Mountain not only preserved Ning Yuke's throne, but would even further expand the territory of the Shu Kingdom.
Correspondingly, due to the appearance of the Tiangou Army, the collusion between the Shu Kingdom and the demon race was completely undeniable, becoming a well-known fact throughout the world.
For a time, the people of Da Ning were both yearning for and fearful of Shu land.
Everyone yearned for the low grain prices and peaceful days here, but they were also afraid of living with demons.
However, for those who were on the verge of starvation, they had no choice.
Soon, countless people set out from various prefectures, traveling thousands of miles to Shu Prefecture to escape the famine.
And the Freemason branch offices in various places would provide them with enough food and travel expenses to support them until they reached Shu land...
Popular sentiment, population, economy, politics.
The impact of the Battle of Niutou Mountain was far more than just the above.
More importantly, such a battle of winning more with less, and destroying more than 100,000 enemies within an hour, had many commendable aspects in itself.
Of course, very few people now knew the complete inside story of this battle. Faced with such a result, everyone was mostly just shocked and puzzled.
But when, many years later, the historian who finally knew the entire process prepared to record this history, he might silently murmur in his heart:
Indeed, worldly affairs are endless, and the vast number of days cannot be escaped...
