Chapter 20: The Ending (Complete)
When Li Sheng and others were still thinking about the problem of Woniu Mountain and the matter of winning over Zhao Yun, the second brother Guan of the three Taoyuan brothers who was separated because of the failure of the Battle of Xuzhou also officially left Cao Cao and began to search for Liu Bei all the way. www.biquge.info After breaking through the interceptions along the road, he reached Runan. I thought I could see my brother here, but I didn't want to slow down, so I only got the news that Liu Bei had returned to Hebei. Although Liu Pi asked him to wait in Runan and vowed to promise him that Liu Bei would eventually return to Runan, Guan Yu, who couldn't wait any longer, still refused to stay in Runan, and instead escorted Liu Bei's wife on the journey to Hebei.
Everything is exactly the same as the historical record, Guan Yu passed by Li Sheng's place to deal with Woniu Mountain on the way back to Hebei, received Zhou Cang, and found out the news of Zhang Fei. When Li Sheng was waiting for Zhao Yun to arrive in the heavy rain, he had already arrived at the ancient city and met his third brother Zhang Fei, who had been separated for a long time.
Since he had seen Liu Pi earlier and learned that Liu Bei had already obtained a foothold in Runan, Guan Yu discussed with Zhang Fei and acted separately: Guan Yu went straight to Hebei with some men and horses to meet Liu Bei with Sun Gan, and Zhang Fei took Liu Bei's two wives to Runan with the soldiers of the ancient city. He asked Zhang Fei to take over the military horses in Runan as soon as possible, train the Yellow Turban who agreed to take refuge in Liu Bei, and increase his strength as quickly as possible, so as to prepare for entering Jingzhou in the future.
"I'll leave Zhou Cang to you too. This trip to Runan will pass through Woniu Mountain, you can ask Zhou Cang to recruit all his brothers, they are all elite brave men. When parting, Guan Yu suddenly remembered such a thing and entrusted Zhou Cang to Zhang Fei. Although Liu Bi had agreed to submit to Liu Bei, the proud Guan Yu did not trust him as the leader of the Yellow Turban. Guan Yu thinks that he is still a foreign army and needs to be guarded against. Therefore, Guan Yu was eager to gather more troops that could be trusted to guard against Liu Bi's changes.
"I'll save it!" Zhang Fei nodded, wiped his mouth directly with his hand and said. His behavior always did not match his appearance - he was quite handsome and elegant, but he was very rough in his movements. Perhaps this is the result of his straightforward and irascible personality.
The team of the ancient city set off, but it was the day Li Sheng and Zhao Yun met.
It is about 120 miles from the ancient city to Woniu Mountain. Although they were all main roads, because they had to escort Liu Bei's two wives to drive, Zhang Fei and the others did not walk fast, and it took him several days to come to the foot of Woniu Mountain about ten miles. He set up camp there and asked Zhou Cang to bring a dozen soldiers to the cottage to bring people down.
Zhou Cang set off at the time of the hour, and Zhang Fei estimated that he would be able to bring everyone around noon. Because Guan Yu walked through this road safely, he clearly told him that there were no other forces outside of Woniu Mountain in this area, so Zhang Fei was very relieved. He thinks it's okay to just wait.
Sure enough, when the clear sun slowly rose to mid-heaven, Zhou Cang appeared very on time. It's just that it's quite different from the high-spirited spirit in the morning, when he comes back, not only can he not see how many subordinates are following behind, but even Zhou Cang himself is the kind of embarrassed person who has lost his armor and abandoned his armor. Gradually, Zhang Fei could even see that there were a lot of new traces of red on his drunken figure.
"What's going on? How did you become like this? Zhang Fei stared at Zhou Cang with an unceremonious look: "The person who went to answer you should be just a trivial matter, and you would actually make such a mess, is it that you are such a big man for nothing?" He blamed loudly. Perhaps he was excited, and the foam splashed to the corners of his mouth, and he was very unhappy to wipe it with his own hand. "Tell me what's going on?" After the irascible blame, Zhang Fei finally gave Zhou Cang a chance to explain.
Zhou Cang already knew something about Zhang Fei's personality from Guan Yu, and he understood that the extremely handsome third general's fiery personality and vaguely hurtful words to his subordinates were just habits, and there was really no need to take it to heart. So as if he hadn't heard Zhang Fei's blame, he explained it to him in detail. "Third general, we have encountered the enemy, my brother's camp has been broken by them, thousands of people have been killed by them, and I only snatched my brother's corpse back." Zhou Cang said helplessly, his face was full of panic and fear as if he had seen a ghost: "The enemy is very strong. I was able to escape by running as fast as I could, and most of the people who went with me were killed, leaving only a few of my brother's guards remaining. I've seen the general who killed my brother, although I don't know his name, but I can see his strength, and I always feel that the enemy has the level of the second master. ”
"Huh? Has a level no less than that of the second brother? Zhang Fei couldn't help but jump up when he heard this, and gently touched Zhou Cang's black forehead with his white jade-like hand, "You're not kidding, are you?" Where can there be such a master in this poor and remote place? ”
"It's not a joke. I glanced at the man from a distance, and I could feel that he had the same fierce momentum as Guan Erye. He was chasing after me, but I don't know why he didn't. Zhou Cang patted his chest with palpitations. Although this cautious appearance does not match his big body, which makes people always feel a little weird when they look at it, it is very natural for Zhou Cang himself. His skills are not low, and after staying with masters such as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei for so long, he has also adapted to the momentum of the so-called masters. He thought that although he might not be able to beat everyone when he went out like this, he would never be afraid of anyone. However, after what happened, he realized that he was wrong, and it was a big mistake. He found that when he looked at the pale general, he had the illusion that he was facing death—the momentum emanating from that man almost brought his heart to a halt.
"It's terrible, it's terrible." Zhou Cang said to himself secretly. Right now, standing in front of Zhang Fei, he recalled everything just now, and the cold sweat on his face still couldn't stop flowing. This is something he can't suppress.
Looking at Zhou Cang's almost daring appearance, Zhang Fei didn't laugh at him. Although he has always been very irritable to his subordinates, he also has to be irritable on certain occasions and timing. For example, right now, Zhang Fei understands that he can't blame this second brother's beloved general because of this. After all, he also understood that Zhou Cang was a person who would not talk nonsense. Since he said that the other party has such a strong skill, then the real truth is likely to be similar to what he said: the opponent is really strong, and he really brings Zhou Cang the fear of death coming. Under such fear, what Zhou Cang needs may be a calm time, maybe it is the reassurance of others, but it is definitely not an indiscriminate scolding. Zhang Fei saw this clearly.
As Guan Yu said, except for some times when he was annoyed, Zhang Fei was really scolding, and most of the time he scolded people was often a way for him to show love to his soldiers. Although this is really unacceptable, Zhang Fei's intentions are good. It's just that his personality is more urgent. In fact, compared with his cultural level, Zhang Fei is much better than Guan Yu. Guan Yu only read one Spring and Autumn Period and some military books, while Zhang Fei basically read all the books. Therefore, his heart is different from what others think, under the rush and irritability, he has a mind that is a little more delicate than ordinary people, but such thoughts are usually covered up by his fiery style.
"Since that's the case! Then I'll go meet him for a while. Zhang Fei blinked his eyes the size of a copper bell and said in a tigerly voice. Although this is a show for Zhou Cang, let him understand that there are still people who are not afraid of that person, and give him a peace of mind, but it is also the burning of his own fighting spirit. After listening to Zhou Cang's words, he was also very interested in this sudden master.
"All the troops are up, we have something to do now." Zhang Fei shouted at his loud voice. As the person who can drink Cao Jun on the Nagasaka Bridge in the future, it is quite easy for him to make sure that his voice can be heard by the whole battalion.
The team rushed out of the village in such a hurry, bringing a timid Zhou Cang, and the thousand people threw themselves in the direction of Woniu Mountain. For those who dare to annex Woniu Mountain before him, Zhang Fei does not have much resentment. The reason why he was attacking right now was just to fight against the legendary master who was at the same level as him, just out of the instinctive impulse of a martial artist. After all, he was still a human, not an immortal, and knew what happened last night on Woniu Mountain.
*****
The formation of the battle continued to move towards the cottage as one side retreated and the other side pressed on. There was neither an enlarged separation, nor a tighter mixture, but a considerable distance from the original. This result did not make Pei Yuanshao very satisfied, but it was not so bad that he couldn't accept it. Looking at the gradually steep hillside, Pei Yuanshao's heart gradually let go. He believed that as long as he maintained the stalemate near the inner village, it would be his victory, and then he only needed to use a counter-charge to open the distance between the two sides, then he would be able to rely on the fortifications of the inner camp of the cottage to win the battle. Because, Pei Yuanshao knew that those in the inner camp were the result of years spent by himself, and they were by no means as fragile as paper paste.
"Persistence, in holding on, we will win." Pei Yuanshao told his subordinates clearly. He was convinced of that.
However, things often change when a person is at their most optimistic, and often that change from bliss to sorrow. When Pei Yuanshao thought that victory would soon be his own, the sound of horses' hooves appeared. It was behind him, in a direction where there shouldn't have been any body voice.
"This ...... What's going on? Pei Yuanshao turned his head in shock, but saw a familiar figure and several strange and fierce people rushing out of his cottage on horseback. Those horses Pei Yuanshao was very familiar with, because those were all good horses that he had snatched from others over the years. He was every day, and he knew even more about these animals, even more than his men.
Seeing the appearance of these horses, Pei Yuanshao's heart suddenly sank, he knew that his cottage had been broken by them - the enemy was not only these people who fought with him in front of him, in fact, these people who had been fighting with him were just a bait to attract their attention, their real purpose was to use the bait to attract themselves, and then use some special methods to send the sneak attack troops to their rear, where there was no defensive strength at all.
"Damn! That's the case. Pei Yuanshao was helplessly annoyed. He could naturally see that the current situation was extremely dangerous: there was an enemy in front and an ambush in the back, so it could be said that he was completely in danger of being flanked. Although he didn't know how many enemies had run behind him, judging from the posture and bravery of the enemy in front of him, the enemy who appeared behind him would definitely not be easier to deal with than the enemy in front of him. He knew that they were in this group.
"What should I do?" Pei Yuanshao was still thinking about it, he tried to quickly find a solution to the problem, but the chaos in his mind made him just stay there in astonishment for a while, without judging things. This is very fatal, because at the moment, unlike in normal times, it is impossible for the enemy in front of him to give him a chance to think about it.
While he was still thinking, the white horse and silver spear that was riding behind him came out of the crowd. Although there were still some traces of weakness on his pale face, the perseverance on his familiar face and the amazing momentum exerted on his body still made the guards in front of Pei Yuanshao involuntarily retreat to both sides. Although they did not want to do this, although they were also very brave people, under the persecution of the murderous aura of the white horse and silver spearman, they were like three-year-old children in front of adults, and there was no room for resistance. They only feel that they are already life and death in front of each other. They kept retreating, because they couldn't resist the feeling of death and horror. As they retreated, Pei Yuanshao was completely exposed to the sight of the comer, and he had to look directly at him. On the other party's face with the corners of his mouth slightly curled, Pei Yuanshao saw the smile that contained a provocative meaning. He felt that the other party was challenging him.
"Do you want to respond to this challenge?" Pei Yuanshao asked himself gently, but he shook his head helplessly, has it come to this point, is there any choice? He knows how the other party's force is, it is definitely much higher than his own level, and it is definitely a dead end to go up like this. But although he knew that it was definitely a dead end for him to come forward to fight, he would never be better if he turned around and fled. Because he was fighting in his own camp, and because his camp was in the mountains, Pei Yuanshao did not ride a horse, which made it impossible for him to escape safely at the moment.
"Since you die when you step forward and die when you retreat, it's better to step forward. After all, in that case, it can be regarded as the face of a general, but it will also die vigorously. Seeing the other party's approach, Pei Yuanshao was ruthless in his heart, and he broke the jar and thought of fighting. Even if he knows that he doesn't have the capital to fight with the other party, but if he doesn't fight, it is useless except for making his subordinates despise him, and he still has to die.
Thinking of this, Pei Yuanshao couldn't help but clench the long knife in his hand. He tried to stop the trembling in his heart, so that his head did not bow in the realization of the other party. Looking at the figure of the other party's horse approaching like flying, feeling the momentum of the other party like a sea and a mountain, he persevered, trying to make his fighting spirit burn.
"I can lose, I can die, but I don't feel weak in front of him. Although I am not a general, I also have my own dignity. Pei Yuanshao kept telling himself, and gradually calmed down his heart full of fear. He looked at the comer, and his eyes, which had seemed desperate, slowly lit up, and in an instant, people could feel the sharp edge in them. He broke through, and under the oppression of the other party's fierce momentum, he actually broke through the realm of martial arts that he had not broken through for several years. Although he is still not the opponent of the other party, he is much better than Zhou Cang, who was pressed on his head everywhere. Perhaps this is the result of his efforts.
Knowing that his strength has grown, Pei Yuanshao is happy in his heart, knowing that today's situation may not be as bad as he imagined.
The decisive battle unfolded in front of the camp in the Woniu Mountain cottage. It was still the dawn, the darkest time of the day. Although everyone knew that this day was not far from the arrival of light, everyone was embarrassed by the darkness before this not far away: everything around was misty, for Pei Yuanshao, except for a few guards standing around him and the conspicuously dressed enemy in front of him, everything seemed to be extremely far away from him, and gradually he couldn't see clearly.
The wind blew at this time. The wind in the mountains, the wind at dawn, with a hint of cold breath, pierced into people's bodies like a needle piercing through the bones. The bandits in thin clothes all felt the chill, but in the current tense atmosphere, they didn't know whether the cold was due to the wind, or because of the monstrous killing intent exuded by the two who were about to fight.
The rain finally stopped. When no one noticed, the sky was released. The fading clouds seem to indicate that there will be a day of high sun after dawn. It is true that it is the favorite thing to see after a few days of rain in normal times, but at the moment the warring sides here are completely unconcerned about it. With the two facing each other, almost all those who were still fighting had stopped fighting and returned to their respective camps. The situation became clear: for Li Sheng's side, it was a good scenery; As for Pei Yuanshao's side, it was bleak. However, whether it was the smiling person on Li Sheng's side or the depressed person on Pei Yuanshao's side, no one did not pay great attention to the two people on the pair. Although the outcome of the battle has already been decided before this.
Although the light was not clear at the moment, everyone could clearly see what happened in that extremely short moment. It was a battle that had ended in the blink of an eye, but the thrilling feeling in it made people feel that time was getting slower and slower, and finally it seemed to freeze: Pei Yuanshao raised his broadsword when the white horse and silver spear were about to get close to him, he wanted to cut it down, but the opponent's movements were much faster than him. Just as he raised the knife above his head and was about to chop it, the white horse silver spearman made a move, and with the acceleration of the galloping war horse, he flew in front of Pei Yuanshao like thunder, and stabbed out the spear in his hand like a meteor. To be honest, the movements of the White Horse Silver Spear were only a little faster than Pei Yuanshao's, but in this situation where the winner could be separated in an instant, it was such a slight difference that caused the separation of life and death.
When he felt the pain of his body being pierced, when the sound of blood dripping to the earth sounded in his ears like a hallucination, when the powerful impact made him involuntarily fly into the sky, his heart calmed down. Everything has already come to an end for him, and he can rest easy. Although this result did not satisfy him, he eventually had to accept this fact. He accepted, closed his eyes, and a powerful shock came over him, and he knew nothing.
The Lord will die, and the road will be robbed. Such a scene appeared in the eyes of those bandits, mercilessly crushing the last hope in their hearts for this blessing. The team finally collapsed, and the leaders, large and small, scattered with their men like frightened monkeys.
"How's it going?" Seeing the appearance of the opposite side scattering, Li Sheng couldn't help but feel bitter in his heart. It wasn't that he didn't expect this, but he definitely didn't expect this scattered array to come so fiercely. The dense crowd of human heads blocked everything in front of him, and the dim light made everything here even more confusing. Li Sheng didn't know what kind of changes had happened in front of him, and he didn't know how Zhao Yun, who only had a dozen people, would be treated behind the other party, and everything was incomprehensible, which made Li Sheng have a headache, so he asked the pro-soldiers who had just returned, trying to understand what the situation was like after all.
"Very bad!" The pro-soldier shook his head: "The enemy's impact was too sudden. We didn't realize it all of a sudden, and we were rushed by the surging crowd. I couldn't see where General Zhao Yun was, but I heard from my comrades that General Zhao Yun seemed to be chasing the enemy's guards. He wanted to reclaim the body of the bandit leader and cut off the man's head. ”
"What?" Li Sheng stood up in surprise, "General Zilong chased after him like this?" How can this be? Don't you know how to stop him? You know, he's still wounded. Li Sheng said nervously. He felt that he shouldn't have come over for Zhao Yun at all, after all, what kind of situation Zhao Yun's body was, he knew very well: it was a body that would definitely not last long.
"What should I do?" Zhao Yun asked Li Sheng anxiously.
"What else can I do? For this, we can only send men to catch up with him. Li Sheng said helplessly. For Zhao Yun's unusual rash move, Li Sheng couldn't understand it. In his opinion, Zhao Yun should be a very calm general, how could he be so impulsive. - He couldn't figure it out.
In fact, Li Sheng didn't know that this was just the persistence in Zhao Yun's heart. He knew that he could not join Li Sheng's team, because he wanted to fulfill his original promise to Liu Bei. But he can't help but repay the kindness that Li Sheng gave him, after all, Li Sheng really helped him in the most difficult time. Under such a dilemma, Zhao Yun decided to repay Li Sheng's kindness before joining Liu Bei's team, and he planned to solve the current matter cleanly. He knew the agreement between Liu Bei and Li Sheng, and he also understood that what Pei Yuanshao said was unlikely to be false, so the fact that Pei Yuanshao was destroyed by Li Sheng was very likely to affect the relationship between Li Sheng and Liu Bei and have an adverse impact on them. How can such an effect be eliminated? Zhao Yun chose to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, he wanted to kill all the enemies on the side of Woniu Mountain, and bring Pei Yuanshao's head to Li Sheng.
"You have to take care of your own business." This is a point that Zhao Yun always keeps in mind. Although he was able to get hundreds of bandits in Woniu Mountain because of Li Sheng's help, he thought that he had to bear the consequences of this incident because the matter was caused by himself. In his opinion, since he killed Pei Yuanshao, he must ensure that the matter of killing Pei Yuanshao has nothing to do with Li Sheng in other people's mouths. In order to achieve this, the elimination of people who can explain everything clearly is the key to this. As far as Zhao Yun's understanding is concerned, the pro-soldiers who snatched Pei Yuanshao's body are undoubtedly such people who can explain everything clearly.
So, Zhao Yun took the fifteen cavalry assigned to him by Li Sheng and chased after him frantically. However, due to the fact that the mountains are not suitable for war horses to gallop, Zhao Yun chased after him but lost the person. He could no longer see the figure of the fugitive, so he could only continue to follow the clues left on the ground by the other party, and gradually chased away.
Time passed in the gallop, and there was faint sweat oozing from Zhao Yun's face and forehead. His current pursuit was a bit difficult for his wounded body, but he was a man who didn't want to give up. By the time he had already decided to accomplish this, he had already regarded his body as if it were nothing. Despite the discomfort, he persevered.
Running from the mountain to the bottom of the mountain, on the straight official road, Zhao Yunyou saw those staggering figures. He didn't know where those people were going to take Pei Yuanshao's body, but he still admired the loyalty of these people. Even if they reached such a predicament, they did not give up at all, such persistence, Zhao Yun felt that they were quite similar to himself. Looking at their staggering figures, he couldn't help but feel a little sour in his heart. He knew he felt sympathy for these people. He wanted to let them go if he could, but he knew it wouldn't be possible. As the figure in front of him became clearer and clearer, Zhao Yun also made a decision in his heart, and he finally followed his own reason instead of feelings. He began to urge his horse to sprint.
With Zhao Yun's determination, the fate of those people was also determined. They all heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from behind them, and when they turned around, they all saw the figures of Zhao Yun and others pursuing. Now on flat ground, it was impossible for them to escape the pursuit of these cavalry. So, they made a quick decision: some of them turned around and stopped, while others carried Pei Yuanshao's body and continued to move forward, they increased their speed, trying to use the time their comrades gave their lives to get out of this dangerous place as soon as possible. For them, it would be their victory to leave this dangerous place with the corpse of their boss.
The two sides collided quickly. The interceptor and pursuer collided and a massacre was triggered. Yes, it was a massacre, a massacre of pursuers against interceptors. Although as an interceptor, they have long had the determination to fight to the death and put on a posture of death match, but the fatigue from last night's battle to the present has long made them lose the capital of deathmatch. They no longer had the strength to wield the weapons in their hands, and they had no better way than to use their bodies as a barrier to stop those who tried to pursue them. However, even if they did use their bodies as a tool to block, they would not be able to delay for long. Under the stabbing of the sharp spears in the hands of Zhao Yun and the others, they fell one after another, and almost without delay, Zhao Yun and the others passed through their own defenses.
Looking at the enemy's swift figure that came and flew through, the bandits who had not yet died immediately could only let out a final wail in pain: "Damn ......"