On the outskirts of Tancheng.

In order to cover the retreat of Cao Cao's army, which was short of food and grass, Duan Xuan alone blocked the pursuit of Liu Bei and Tao Qian's combined forces.

Although he used the "Spider Silk Stone Formation" to slow down the pace of the pursuers and kill six of Yan Yun's eighteen horsemen, when facing Zhang Fei's martial arts, Duan Xuan felt the gap between himself and the general for the first time.

Even the most vicious close-range killing move, "Cutting Belly Silk", was blocked by Zhang Fei, and Duan Xuan had no more tricks.

After Zhang Fei used his spear to block this final blow, he grabbed Duan Xuan's arm with his right hand and threw him into the air with a loud roar.

Duan Xuan struggled to control his body in the air, but when he looked down, he knew that his limit was approaching.

On the ground, Zhang Fei had a grim face, holding a spear in both hands, and was staring at him. There is no doubt that when he enters Zhang Fei's attack distance, the Zhangba Snake Spear will pierce itself at the first time.

Is this where you end up? Duan Xuan couldn't help but smile bitterly, he was always thinking about how he would die in the end, but now it was really this time.

But he saw something in his spare eye, the "spider silk" connected to the wrist guard of his right hand, although Zhang Fei destroyed the stone formation, the "spider silk" was not completely broken, and some were connected.

In order to manipulate the "spider silk", Duan Xuan wore extremely tough gloves made of the same material on both hands. He grabbed a number of "spider silks" at his wrists, and with a handful of them, he aimed the silk threads that were close together at Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei could only see Duan Xuan's movements, but he couldn't see the silk thread clearly, but he could also guess that Duan Xuan was preparing to break the net at the end.

He didn't hesitate, and as Duan Xuan fell into his attack range, the spear roared out. Even if Duan Xuan slipped down the spear, he was fully capable of dodging before he was cut by the "spider silk".

It's just that he miscalculated the situation, Duan Xuan is not a general, he is just an assassin, instead of losing his life with a momentary bravery, Duan Xuan will choose to save his life first and then kill the opponent.

The "Spider Silk" was indeed pushed out horizontally by Duan Xuan, but it was not cut to Zhang Fei, but aimed at the place where the front end of the spear was forked.

Duan Xuan took advantage of this to unload part of his strength, but the "spider silk" was also cut off by the strength of the spear. But that was enough, Duan Xuan kicked the shaft of the spear with his left foot and flew out sideways.

Zhang Fei stabilized the spear with his hand and looked in the direction where Duan Xuan was flying, his gaze was complex and contradictory.

Duan Xuan was still able to deal with countermeasures calmly in the face of mortality, but at the same time, he also chose to steal his life instead of letting Yibo go. Zhang Fei was both appreciative and disappointed in him.

"Brother Duan is a good means." Zhang Fei said, but this is not a compliment, but the beginning of another trick.

Zhang Fei strode towards Duan Xuan, who hadn't gotten up yet. He held his spear high with both hands, jumped forward three steps away from Duan Xuan, supported the end of the spear on the ground, and stepped on the shaft of the spear with both feet at the same time. The spear fell towards Duan Xuan like a sword.

Duan Xuan hurriedly rolled on the ground and flashed out to the right.

Zhang Fei added his momentum and his own weight to this blow, and the force was so great that it shook the gravel on the ground and splashed everywhere.

With the help of rolling, Duan Xuan turned into a crouching state, facing this Zhang Fei.

But Zhang Fei's next blow came again. When he saw Duan Xuan dodge, he retreated in small steps while landing on the ground, slid his hand to the end of the spear, and used his strong wrist strength to swing the spear horizontally towards Duan Xuan.

Duan Xuan hurriedly jumped up again to dodge the spear that swept away, but Zhang Fei's left hand immediately grabbed the hollow spear shaft, pierced the front end of the spear into the ground, kicked hard with his left foot, and kicked out with his right foot while his body flew towards Duan Xuan.

At this time, Xuan was already flying in the air, and he had no power to fight back, so he could only use his shoulders to block hard.

"Ahh ~~~~" As Zhang Fei's kick hit him, Duan Xuan let out a miserable scream. Because of Zhang Fei's fierce kick, his right arm was kicked and dislocated, and he was afraid that his bones were also injured.

Duan Xuan was kicked out of the distance and hit the ground a few times before stopping. His vision blurred as the dust he rolled up on the ground flew up.

Is this the strength of Yanren Zhang Fei? It's a gap between heaven and earth, and there is no place in my body that is not sore and numb now, and I don't even have the strength to stand up.

But he didn't know that Zhang Fei didn't use all his strength at all.

Guan Yu had been watching the battle from behind, but at this time he sighed slightly. The adjutant general next to him was a little puzzled: "General Guan, General Zhang has already subdued that guy, why are you sighing?" ”

"Heh, I have confidence in the third brother's martial arts, victory is inevitable. It's just that he relented in the end and showed mercy in his moves, but that's the end of it. ”

The deputy general looked ahead again with Guan Yu's words, and at this time, Zhang Fei's eyes were already filled with murderous aura.

Zhang Fei approached Duan Xuan, who was still trying to get up on the ground, step by step, and slowly spoke: "Brother Duan, I hope that in the next life, you and I can no longer be enemies." Zhang agreed with you that if there is really that time, I will enjoy the masterpiece with you. ”

After speaking, he slowly raised the Zhangba snake spear.

Duan Xuan slowly closed his eyes, he knew that as long as the spear fell, he would be able to leave this troubled world and have a good rest. It's over, and this world of strife has nothing to do with itself anymore.

Zhang Fei's hands were strong, and the spear was driven to fall. But as soon as he was halfway down, three arrows suddenly flew from a distance, and Zhang Fei hurriedly dodged away.

Then he saw a team of several hundred people in the distance, led by three men, rushing towards this direction.

Duan Xuan also heard the movement, so he opened his eyes again and looked over there.

What caught his eye was Nie Hong and Hu Yi, the two commanders of the Qingzhou Army, and Xu Chu, who had been ordered to retreat by himself.

It turned out that after Xu Chu left with Cao Cao's army, he always felt that it was inappropriate on the road. Although Duan Xuan said that he had a way to leave, and Nie Hong and the others also led 20,000 horses to prepare to respond, he was always not at ease, after all, he had also heard a little about the names of the two fierce generals under Liu Bei, and Duan Xuan was more resourceful, how could he deal with it.

So he suggested to Nie Hong that he should go to pick up Duan Xuan. Nie Hong actually didn't know the bottom in his heart, and when he heard Xu Chu say this, he ordered Zhou Heng to be in charge of commanding the large army, and he and Hu Yi and Xu Chu led five hundred people to kill back to meet Duan Xuan.

Hu Yi is skilled in arching and horses, and is called "a thousand miles to grab the throat" by his subordinates, and his eyesight is several times stronger than that of ordinary people, and he saw Duan Xuan's life hanging by a thread from a distance, and hurriedly set up a bow and released arrows.

Seeing this sparsely numbered army of soldiers and horses appear in front of his 80,000 soldiers and horses, Zhang Fei secretly admired the courage of these people.

"Zhang Fei, who once fought against Lu Bu and saved Gongsun Zhan, really deserves his reputation." Nie Hong jumped off the horse, walked to Duan Xuan's side, checked his injuries, and slowly helped him to his feet.

"Hehe, it's just a false name, it's a shame that the three of my brothers fought against Lu Bu and let him escape. I just don't know, why are you here today? If you want to save Brother Duan, with just a few hundred people, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get out like Lu Bu. Zhang Fei said with a smile.

"In these three punches and two kicks, how can you fight with the general. I am here to advise the two generals," Nie Hong said and looked at Guan Yu not far behind Zhang Fei, "In today's situation, it is easy for the two generals to get rid of us, but I hope the two generals can consider it carefully, after all, you have only come to Xuzhou this time to support Tao Qian, if you really annoy the lord and give up retreating and decide to fight you to the end, then Xuzhou will only be afraid that the lives will be ruined, and the army that General Liu has painstakingly developed will also be exhausted, which will not benefit both you and me, and will only cheapen the other princes." ”

Hearing this, Zhang Fei nodded appreciatively and looked back at Guan Yu.

Guan Yu also nodded at him. Nie Hong's heart finally let go, and this gamble for his life was done.

……

After returning with the pursuing soldiers and horses, Zhang Fei briefly told Liu Bei what had happened.

"That person is right, if Cao Cao really wants to fight to the death in Xuzhou, it will not be beneficial to Tao Gongzu and me. Now it's better to sell favors and let them leave. The second brother and the third brother have worked hard this time, so let's go back and have a good rest. Liu Bei patted Guan Yu and Zhang Fei on the shoulders and said helplessly.

"Big brother, there's something I've always wanted to tell you." Zhang Fei said thoughtfully.

"What's wrong, third brother?"

"Although you and Gongsun Zan are old classmates, this person has now become brutal, and he has been defeated by Yuan Shao several times before, and I am afraid that he will eventually be destroyed in the future. And with our thousands of soldiers and horses, we will never be able to rescue them. If today's son is in trouble, his grandson Zhan does not think about saving the country, but he only knows how to fight for the state and county, and it is useless to help. It is better to take this opportunity to take refuge in Tao Qian, so as not to implicate the three brothers in the future. We can develop ourselves in Xuzhou and serve the Son of Heaven. You see......"

"Yes, big brother, I also wanted to tell you about this before, Gongsun Chan is indeed not a person who has achieved great things, sooner or later he will be annihilated by Yuan Shao, I should not help him anymore." Guan Yu also stepped forward and said.

"I am not satisfied that he killed Liu Yu, but I am an old friend with him, and I can't bear to abandon him. Let's discuss this matter in a few days, and tomorrow we will go to see Tao Qian first. ”

……

After Guan Yu and Zhang Fei left, Liu Bei fell into thought.

At this time, the guards outside the door reported that three people had visited. Liu Bei was a little surprised, how could anyone come to visit at dusk, so he ordered them to come in.

After a while, the three of them walked into the living room. Liu Bei saw that it was two men and a woman, the man in the middle was in his thirties, dressed as a scribe, on the left was a twenty-six or seventeen-year-old guy, and the woman on the right looked less than twenty.

"There is a guest visiting, Liu Bei is rude, I don't know who the three are?"

"Hehe, I took the liberty to visit General Liu, and I hope that the general will not be strange. Under Xuzhou Mu Taoqian's subordinates, don't drive Mi Zhu, this is the younger brother Mi Fang, the younger sister Mi Shu. Hearing that General Liu came from afar to rescue Xuzhou, he came to thank him. ”

"Oh, where is it, Tao Gongzu is expected to be in the sea, and I am very pleased to be fortunate to do my best today. Come, three of you, please sit down and talk slowly. ”

"General Liu, please." With that, everyone sat down separately.

"General Liu is well aware of righteousness and is respectable. Now that Cao Cao heard of the arrival of the general, he also had to withdraw his troops. But I wonder what the general's plans are for the future? Mi Zhu asked with a smile.

"I am here to prepare for Xuzhou, since Cao Cao has withdrawn his army, it is inconvenient to stay for a long time. Say goodbye to Lord Tao tomorrow and return to Qingzhou. ”

"The general's words are wrong, although Cao Cao withdrew his troops today, it was only because Lu Bu attacked his prefecture and county. If he defeats Lü Bu and recaptures the prefecture and county, he will inevitably come back, and at that time, the people of Xuzhou will suffer. Mi Zhu said with some embarrassment.

"What does Mi-sama think?"

"General Liu might as well settle down in Xuzhou first, which can not only ensure the integrity of Xuzhou, but also ......"

Speaking of this, Mi Zhu glanced at Liu Bei meaningfully.

"It can also avoid the influence of Gongsun Zhan, and at the same time secretly accumulate strength and make contributions."

Liu Bei looked at the smiling three people in front of him, and felt that he had fallen into a situation from which he could not escape.