Chapter 181 Unexpected changes
In the early morning, the fog on both sides of the Sushui River was thicker.

Huochuquan drank too much last night and woke up in the morning with a startle from his sleep.

He pressed his right hand against his chest, his rough face was dull and gloomy.

After taking a few deep breaths, Huochuquan glanced at the women huddled together on the couch. Although they were daughters of commoners from Hedong, their looks were no less than those of the Xiongnu noble ladies.

As for how many women there were, Huochequan couldn't remember clearly at the moment.

He called on his personal guards to drive the women out, and at the same time sent someone to invite the high priest shaman who was accompanying the army.

The high priest wore a headband with eagle feathers, his robes were decorated with bones of wild animals, and he also carried a staff with a deer head, which symbolized health and fertility.

"I had a nightmare."

Huochuquan invited the high priest to sit down and said, "In my dream, I saw flames burning our idols. Countless smoke and dust rushed up to the sky, and black and red rain fell from the sky."

The high priest, who was hunched over, fell into deep thought and said, "This is a warning from the gods. We should not go to Luoyang to dig up the tombs of the nobles of the Han Dynasty. This will bring disaster."

Seeing that Huochuquan was unable to make a decision, the high priest also understood his dilemma. The royal court had been weak for a long time and was no longer able to command the various tribes.

If the tombs of the dignitaries in Luoyang can be successfully excavated, the prestige of the royal court and Huochequan will be significantly enhanced.

Seeing that Huchuquan was slow to respond, the high priest said, "We have come to Hedong and Taiyuan, waiting for the future reunification of the Han Dynasty. If we don't leave, we will face the disaster in your dream."

Huochequan was relieved after hearing this. This worry had been lingering in the minds of the Xiongnu nobles ever since they crossed the Yellow River and entered the Pingyang area.

The Han Dynasty's imperial court is now in chaos. If a powerful leader can be chosen, the first thing to do will be to attack the Huns.

Huochuquan said: "The general from Guanzhong who is going to meet today may be the cause of our disasters in the future. He is still weak now, and we cannot let him grow stronger."

After hearing this, the high priest nodded slowly. The opponent's hero was the murderer who caused the destruction of his own clan.

The Shanyu’s nightmare is itself a warning.

After thinking for a while, the high priest said, "Today we will have a meeting, and you should give him some gifts."

Huochuquan smiled, then stopped smiling: "You can give him my fox fur."

"He's sure to like it."

The high priest nodded, his face showing no emotion.

Huochuquan immediately ordered someone to bring the fox fur to the high priest, who took it back to his own small camp.

There were some jars and pots here. Under the command of the high priest, a noble apprentice took out the noses, ears, tongues and other things that were cut off from the skin bags of various disaster victims when they died.

They have all been dried in the shade, and now the apprentices grind them into powder, mix them with spices and mink oil, and start applying and coloring the inner layer of the fox fur for maintenance.

The apprentice nervously and excitedly cast the spell, while the high priest stood a dozen steps away and gave him instructions.

As the morning mist was about to dissipate, the magic was cast and the enchantment of the completely pure white fox fur without any impurities was completed.

The vengeful spirits of those who died from various diseases will curse the person who wears this fox fur collar.

The finished fox fur is folded and placed in a wooden box and will be given away together with other gifts.

Around 11 o'clock in the morning, on the north bank of the Sushui River, on the flat land east of Wenxi City.

The coalition forces arrived, and Black Bear, wearing a golden helmet and golden armor, rode in a chariot, playing with a golden cake in his right hand.

One gold is a gold ingot weighing one Han jin. The official discount price is 10,000 coins, and it feels only about 200 grams.

Gold has a high density, so a gold cake doesn’t feel very big in the hand, as if two Want Want snow cakes are stacked together.

Black Bear thought the gold cake was very suitable for skipping stones because of its shape and feel.

Especially after being refined with...white magic power.

White mana is used to refine tools. A little white mana can refine a two-handed broad-bladed ring-handled sword, or a spear.

The more White Mana you use, the more efficiently your items will heal after taking physical damage.

So according to the theory summarized before, a batch of gold can be refined with white mana, which may have miraculous effects on a small-scale battlefield.

Wash thousands of gold, and use the catapult to smash the enemy's square formation during the battle...

The golden cake is not shocking enough. Although the catapult is quite lethal after it hits it, it still lacks momentum.

To mint gold coins, thousands of gold cakes were melted and cast into hundreds of thousands of gold coins the size of five-zhu coins, which were thrown towards the enemy's position using catapults!
I think no one can stop the golden rain curtain attack.

While thinking, the chariot arrived near the earthen platform.

Yuan Tan has set up several layers of curtains here, which are more than fifty steps wide on both sides, with at least four layers of space inside and outside.

The leaders, nobles, and warriors of the various Hun tribes who arrived here earlier have already entered.

Black Bear got off the car, followed by Lu Bu holding a spear, and Gao Shun's ten-man team followed, following the thousand cavalry to the north bank to rest.

The innermost curtain space was twenty steps square. Yuan Tan was chatting with Huochuquan. When he saw Wang Xiu leading the black bear in, he immediately stood up to greet him and introduced him to Huochuquan: "Chanyu, this is the hero of the Central Plains, the Black Bear of Liang State."

Huochuquan's eyes fell on the mask on Black Bear's face, and he frowned unhappily: "Mr. Yuan, General Black didn't show his true face to me, but do you think he looks down on me?"

"What you don't know is that General Hei has a handsome face, which is not conducive to commanding soldiers."

Yuan Tan explained with a smile, and then said: "General Hei was born into a prominent family in the Central Plains. Now that he is under the rule of Cao Cao, he has concealed his appearance."

Huochuquan didn't hear Black Bear's explanation, so he turned to look at Yuan Tan and said, "Mr. Yuan, General Black refused to speak, which shows that he really looks down on us."

The leaders of the various Hun tribes sitting on both sides noticed that the atmosphere was different, put down their wine and meat, and stood up one by one with unfriendly expressions.

The black bear turned his head left and right to observe. These noble leaders seemed to have seen the little white rabbit and became even more ferocious and surrounded it.

Seeing that the guards around Yuan Tan had their hands on the hilts of their swords, these noble leaders and warrior leaders stood four or five steps away and did not move any closer.

Yuan Tan also stopped smiling and looked at Huo Qubing with a serious face: "Shan Yu, I know that General Hei is me. Can't I prove his identity?"

Huochuquan shook his head, also in a serious manner: "This has nothing to do with truth or falsehood. He has not said a word since he came to the table, which is really disrespectful to our people! If I don't ask for an explanation, how can I explain it to the tribe?"

"Haha, the Chanyu speaks in a very humorous way." Black Bear smiled and turned to look at Yuan Tan. The eye holes of the mask were pitch black. Yuan Tan almost subconsciously stepped back and hid behind the guards.

The black bear also took two steps back, and Lu Bu stepped forward at the same time, with its Fang Tian Ji standing alone in place. Almost at the same time, Huochequan also ran back, and his personal guards also stepped forward.

But Lu Bu was the fastest. He had already drawn the six-sided Han sword when he rushed forward. Huochequan had only taken three steps back. The guard who had just crossed paths with him and was about to rush forward was pierced through the throat by Lu Bu's sword and half of his neck was cut.

The sword thrust out smoothly and unhindered, without the need for a counterattack, and immediately deflected towards Huochequan.

Then the sword in Lu Bu's hand fell on Huochequan's shoulder. At this moment, sixty or seventy Xiongnu nobles, leaders, and chief warriors inside the curtain also drew their swords.

However, they saw that Huochequan had been taken hostage. These people were in a dilemma and pointed their swords at Yuan Tan and Hei Xiong.

A dozen of Yuan Tan's guards also came up, and Gao Shun's ten-man team also surrounded and protected them with spears in hand.

Huochuquan turned his head to look at Yuan Tan, and seeing Yuan Tan's dark face, he looked at Hei Xiong again and said, "General Hei, please forgive me for my momentary offense."

"I respect your choice. If you don't feel comfortable explaining it to the tribe, then don't do it."

Black Bear turned his head and looked at the Xiongnu nobles who half-surrounded them: "Drop your swords and I will spare your life."

The Xiongnu nobles hesitated and retreated tacitly, and the accompanying warriors and leaders also squeezed to the front row.

"kill!"

A Hun noble retreated to the back and shouted, and the warriors and leaders all stepped forward. The noble turned around and cut the curtain open with a sword.

Outside the curtain, servants were seen roasting mutton and preparing dishes, all holding powerful crossbows.

Seeing that the battle had broken out behind the curtain, these disguised veterans immediately pulled the trigger, and a powerful iron arrow pierced the noble's face.

A row of Xiongnu nobles fell backwards, and more than ten warriors and strong leaders who rushed forward to fight almost at the same time were stabbed to death by Gao Shun's ten-man team.

Lu Bu even gave up on Huochuquan, and rushed into the crowd of Huns with six Han swords in both hands, moving back and forth, and the sword moves in his hands were simply stabbing, swiping and slicing.

Yuan Tan retreated about three breaths, and all the Xiongnu nobles in the inner space of the curtain fell down. At this time, the disguised veterans in the corridor on the second floor rushed in with swords.

The old soldiers and guards disguised as Yuan Tan looked at each other, waiting for Yuan Tan's decision.

Some of the veterans held crossbows and aimed at the black bear intentionally or unintentionally.

Huochequan stood there alone, while Lu Bu returned to the black bear and reached out to grab the Fang Tian Ji which was still standing and had not fallen yet.

Gao Shun's ten-man team stabbed with their spears, and finished off all the fallen Huns.

The blood was flowing, and Yuan Tan, who had just eaten some, looked very uncomfortable.

When Black Bear saw that Gao Shun's ten-man team had finished finishing off the enemy, he turned back to look at Yuan Tan and said, "Have you thought about it? This is your only chance."

Yuan Tan took a deep breath and forced a smile: "General, what are you talking about?"

At this time, Wang Xiu waved to the old soldiers holding crossbows, and these people retreated, put down their swords and crossbows, and dragged out the dead bodies of the Huns.

Several spears were driven into the broken parts of the curtain and then tied up again to seal it.

Black Bear sat in the main seat and turned to look at Huochuquan who looked dazed: "Do you want to live or die?"

"If one can live, who would want to seek death?"

Huchuquan glanced at the pool of blood on the ground and bowed: "I wonder what the general wants?"

"I want to recruit the best Xiongnu troops, which will require 3,000 cavalry. I will lead them to Hongnong to attack Luoyang, and you will go to Henei, and we will meet at Mengjin."

Black Bear recounted the pre-war plan and looked at Huochuquan: "Will killing these people affect your leadership of the tribe?"

"Uh……"

We can’t say there is no impact, nor can we say it has a huge impact.

Huochuquan paused for a moment, perhaps stimulated by the smell of blood, and his mind turned quickly: "I will do my best to help, and the general will get 3,000 elite cavalry today."

"Well, I won't make it difficult for you."

As Black Bear spoke, he took out a gold cake from his waist bag and threw it to Huo Chuquan, who quickly caught it with both hands.

As for him, Black Bear said, "Everyone I choose will be given a piece of this golden cake. From now until the middle of January next year, they will serve me."

Huochuquan looked down at the gold cake in his hand with a complicated expression, and smiled awkwardly: "General, you should have taken out the gold cake a long time ago, why did it come to this?"

"I wanted to take it, but you insisted on making things difficult for me."

Black Bear also turned his head to look at the pool of blood beside him: "But you are still alive, it doesn't matter."

Then he pointed at Lü Bu and said, "This man is Taishi Wengong, a warrior from the Central Plains. Take him with you to gather the troops. Here is the gold. Get the job done today. Before nightfall, help me select three thousand cavalrymen, and I will give you an additional three hundred pieces of brocade. If you fail, I will chop off your head and replace you with someone else."

"Yes, Xiao Wang understands, Xiao Wang understands!"

Black Bear turned his head to look at Yuan Tan: "Does Yuan Sili have anything to add?"

Yuan Tan immediately said, "I have already brought here the gold and silk that the general wanted to borrow yesterday. It is ready for use at any time."

"Yuan Sili donated generously. I will never forget this favor."

Black Bear thought for a moment and said seriously, "I will build a manor for Yuan Sili in the Wangchuan River Valley. I hope Yuan Sili will like it."

"If that's the case, that would be great."

Yuan Tan looked delighted, and Black Bear was very pleased: "As long as Yuan Sili likes it."

As he said this, he turned his head to look at Huochuquan. Huochuquan could not see the black bear's expression or the changes in his eyes through the mask.

Now he felt extremely terrified and immediately bowed: "Little King, go gather the tribes now!"

The black bear nodded, gave Lu Bu an order to follow, and watched them leave one after another.

(End of this chapter)