Overthrowing Wei: Starting with Cao Cao's "I'd rather betray the world than surrender

The night was very dark.

The wind blew from the direction of Nanyuan, carrying a damp, cold, earthy smell, like blood that hadn't dried yet, crawling along the ground inch by inch.

Before the patrolman could finish speaking, hurried and suppressed footsteps could be heard outside the ancestral hall.

It's not running around randomly.

It was deliberately restrained, yet the fast pace still couldn't be hidden.

Torches were lit one after another, their dim light casting long shadows in the darkness, reflected on the walls of the ancestral hall like a row of silent human figures.

Lü Ding did not speak immediately.

He stood still, closed his eyes, and listened intently.

The sound of wind, rustling grass, and the faint sound of footsteps in the distance—

It's not just one or two people.

It's a group.

And it moved very steadily.

"There are quite a few visitors," someone whispered.

"Not a refugee."

Xu Huang's voice was extremely low, yet unusually firm.

"The steps are synchronized, and someone is leading the way."

Lü Ding nodded.

The last glimmer of hope in his heart was completely crushed by that one sentence.

Xun Heng.

He suddenly spoke.

Xun Heng immediately stepped forward.

"You stay behind."

In short, there was no explanation, no extra setup.

"The granary, women and children, and wounded soldiers are all inside the manor." Lü Ding's tone was calm but unquestionable. "The doors will not be opened, and the lights will not be turned off. No matter what happens outside, the manor must not be in chaos."

Xun Heng was stunned for a moment.

I understood the next moment.

This means that his entire escape route has been handed over to him.

"As long as the person is here, the lord is here." Xun Heng bowed solemnly.

Lü Ding returned the gift.

He then turned around and looked at Xu Huang.

"Set off."

Xu Huang grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, but his eyes were as cold as iron.

"I've been waiting for several days."

The people quickly separated.

Xun Heng led more than 30 men back to guard the manor gate, while the remaining 120-plus men, led by Xu Huang, left the manor through the south side gate.

Lü Ding was among them.

Not at the very front.

But it wasn't at the end either.

He held a short knife in his hand; the scabbard was rough, and his palm was already soaked with sweat.

This was his first time.

To truly go to the battlefield.

Nanyuankou is a barren, undulating area.

The weeds were knee-high, the earthen slopes were intermittent, and it was just difficult to walk during the day, but at night it was a deadly place.

The torches were not lit.

Only moonlight.

The figure quickly came into view.

A dozen or so steps away, at least seventy or eighty people could be seen creeping along the barren slope toward the village.

The clothes were worn and tattered, yet they did not fall apart.

There is a clear order between the beginning and the end.

Some people carried knives, some held sticks, and at the front were two hunting bows, deliberately lowered, with arrows nocked on the strings.

This isn't the first time I've done something like this.

"Yellow Turban stragglers".

Xu Huang uttered four words.

"wait."

Lu Ding said in a low voice.

He was counting.

Count your breaths.

Count the steps.

Count your heartbeats.

As the first enemy stepped into the depression in the center of the wasteland, his foot slipped, and his center of gravity faltered—

Xu Huang moved.

"Come on—!"

His low shout was like thunder.

The next moment, he had already darted out.

It's not running.

It was a collision.

The shout ripped open the chests of more than a hundred people, and all the pent-up energy, fear, hunger, and tension from the past three days exploded at that moment.

There is no formation.

There were no slogans.

It was a brutal charge where people clashed with people and soldiers clashed with soldiers.

The enemy clearly did not expect Zhuangzi to take the initiative to attack.

The front row was instantly scattered.

Some people were knocked over and fell into the pit, and those behind them couldn't stop and stepped on them.

Screams erupted.

The first whiff of blood wafted through the night air.

Xu Huangchong was at the very front.

In his hand was an old gun, its tip worn dark from wear, yet it moved with terrifying steadiness.

a bit.

Throat licking.

One more time.

Abdominal ligation.

There were no unnecessary movements.

It wasn't random stabbing; it was the method used to kill.

A man lunged at him with a knife, but before he could get close, he was shot in the knee.

The sound of bones breaking was so clear it made your teeth ache.

The moment the man knelt down, Xu Huang slammed his spear down with the butt of his spear.

A muffled thud.

The person fell silent.

Lü Ding was swept into the crowd.

Someone bumped into him from the side, and he felt a numbness in his shoulder, staggering a step.

The next instant, a face covered in blood suddenly came close.

The other person had already raised their knife.

too close.

He was so close that he could even smell the rotting odor coming from the other person's mouth.

In that instant, Lü Ding's mind went blank.

No grand pronouncements.

No thought.

Only instinct.

He gripped the dagger tightly and thrust it forward.

The feeling of the blade cutting into flesh was softer than I had imagined.

But it's also stickier.

It felt like sinking into a lump of warm mud.

Blood spurted out, splashing onto his hands and trickling down between his fingers.

The man's eyes widened.

It was as if they couldn't believe it.

Then, his strength dried up, and he slowly collapsed.

Lü Ding stood still.

His chest heaved violently.

The sounds around me seemed to come from near and far.

Shouts of killing, screams of agony, and the sound of bones cracking mingled together.

He looked down at his hands.

blood.

It's real blood.

It wasn't written in the book, nor was it what he imagined.

It's hot and slippery.

"Don't stop!"

Xu Huang's voice boomed from the front.

"Keep up!"

Lü Ding suddenly snapped back to reality.

He wiped his face, unsure whether he was wiping away sweat or blood, and gritted his teeth as he charged back into the crowd.

This time, he did not hesitate.

Second knife.

The third cut.

Some fell, some fled.

Someone knelt down and begged for mercy, but was trampled down by the people behind them.

This is not a dignified battle.

That night, wild beasts tore at each other.

Before an incense stick could burn.

The enemy began to panic.

Some people turned and ran.

Some people dropped their weapons and disappeared into the grass.

Xu Huang did not pursue them too far.

"stop!"

The gun was raised.

The local militiamen stopped, panting heavily.

Corpses lay scattered haphazardly on the wasteland.

Groans rose and fell.

The smell of blood was so strong it was almost overwhelming.

"Call someone."

It was reported very quickly.

Three people died.

Injury eleven.

Lü Ding closed his eyes.

This is the first time.

Blood has been drawn.

The person is already dead.

He walked up to an enemy who was still convulsing.

The man made muffled sounds, his eyes unfocused.

Lu Ding paused for a moment.

Then, he delivered the final blow.

This time, his hand was very steady.

"The body was brought back."

He spoke.

When they returned to the village, the door was already ajar.

The torches were lit.

Xun Heng stood inside the door, his face pale, but he stood extremely straight.

When the first body was carried in, suppressed gasps filled the village.

But there was no chaos.

The granary remained untouched.

Women and children were gathered together.

The wounded soldiers were immediately taken care of.

Xun Heng checked each item one by one, his voice not loud, but steady.

The post-battle inventory continued until dawn.

Twelve enemy corpses.

Seventeen knives and three bows were seized.

"They're not ordinary refugees," Xun Heng said in a low voice. "The money-making chaos is the old pattern after the Yellow Turban Rebellion collapsed."

Lü Ding nodded.

He looked at the people standing in the courtyard.

They were still covered in blood.

But her eyes were different.

"The deceased's family received their food and money in full."

"The injured received meat broth for three consecutive days."

"Everyone who participates in the night battle will receive extra money."

The courtyard was quiet.

Immediately, someone quietly straightened their back.

Lu Ding stood on the steps, gazing at the sliver of gray-white sky in the east, barely bright.

Zhuangzi is still alive.

The person is still alive.

He was no longer someone who only needed to guard a piece of land.

Blood has already been seen.

The sword was already drawn.

But this world never allows you to take only half a step.

On the other side of Nanyuan, the night was receding.

Scattered footprints on the wasteland, blurred by the wind, will not disappear.

Those who escaped will not simply disperse.

They will go elsewhere. Let other places bleed.

At the same time.

In Chenjiazhuang, not far away,

Chen Guang was sitting in the warm pavilion, repeatedly calculating this year's harvest in the account books.

The abacus made a crisp sound.

What he was thinking was—

If we further pressure the tenants, we might be able to save up two more granaries of grain.

He then thought of the grain he had given to Lü Ding and felt a pang of heartache.

Nothing else major has happened in so long, is it possible to cancel the cooperation?