I, Zhou Cang, am the number one tank in the Three Kingdoms.

Seeing the old man staring at him nervously, Guan Yu bowed and said politely, "Old man, I am Guan Yu. I am traveling from Guandu to Xudu. It is getting late and it is inconvenient to travel. There is nowhere else to stay nearby, so I am sorry to bother you. Please forgive me and allow me to stay for the night."

After listening, the old man shakily raised his head and looked at the tall and imposing Guan Yu, asking, "Could you be General Guan Yunchang, who slew Yan Liang and Wen Chou?"

Guan Yu smiled slightly and said, "That's right."

Upon hearing this, the old man's cloudy eyes almost lit up. He immediately opened the wooden door, made a "please" gesture, and said, "I have long admired General's might, and I am fortunate to meet you today. Please come in."

Guan Yu clasped his hands in a salute again and said, "Thank you, sir!" He tied his horse to an elm tree outside the gate and followed the old man into the courtyard alone.

He had only stepped halfway in when he hesitated for a moment, then turned back and led the horse in, tying it to the yard.

Despite its enormous size, the manor was overgrown with weeds and appeared quite dilapidated. Guan Yu noticed this but didn't ask any further questions.

The old man seemed to know what Guan Yu was thinking and said to himself, "General, please don't be offended. I originally had two sons, but they both died in the war. Now only my wife and I are left, which has led to the chaos in our home. I am truly powerless to help..."

The old man sighed after he finished speaking, while Guan Yu followed silently behind him. It wasn't that he was indifferent, but rather that there were too many such situations in this chaotic world.

To own such a large estate, one must have originally been a well-off family with many servants. It is truly lamentable that it has been reduced to this state by the war. However, at this time, the country still sees no hope, let alone individuals with meager strength. Faced with any sudden disaster, they can only helplessly accept it.

After leading Guan Gong to the guest room, the old man asked his wife to bring him a bowl of millet porridge and a small dish of taro, which was the best hospitality the two of them could offer.

That night, Guan Yu was extremely tired and went to sleep early, fully clothed.

In the dead of night, Guan Yu suddenly heard what sounded like the neighing of Red Hare in his dream, and he immediately got up to investigate.

Before even stepping outside, they could hear a commotion outside the wall. When they got to the courtyard, they saw flames all around, and the entire manor was surrounded!

Guan Yu rushed to the old man's door, calling out, "Old man! Old man!"

Hearing the knock, the old man quickly opened the door and saw Guan Yu holding his Green Dragon Crescent Blade in one hand and his other hand on his sword. Seeing the flames outside the courtyard, he hurriedly asked, "General, who is outside?"

Guan Yu lowered his head and blamed himself, saying, "I was in a hurry to find my brother and offended Cao Cao's army on the way. It must be Cao Cao's army chasing after us... It is my fault that you were put in danger, old man!" After saying this, Guan Yu knelt down in front of the old man.

The old man hesitated for a moment, then, with trembling hands, helped Guan Yu up, saying, "General, please don't blame yourself. I have no other worries. If I die, I die. But how will you escape?"

Guan Yu's eyes welled up with tears as he helped the old man up, saying, "While I go out to investigate, you two should quickly change your clothes. Don't panic; I have Red Hare, which is more than enough to get you out of here!"

The old man turned to look at his wife, who was still fast asleep, and nodded, saying, "General, please leave quickly and don't worry about us!"

Guan Yu hardened his heart, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and charged toward the gate with his Green Dragon Crescent Blade in hand.

"Thump! Thump!" Guan Yu pounded on the courtyard gate with all his might, but he couldn't break it open no matter what he did. The noise from Cao Cao's army outside the courtyard gradually grew louder and louder. He knew something was wrong. Cao Cao's army probably wanted to set him on fire and burn him to death.

"Guan Yu! You killed my uncle Cai Yang, today I will burn you to death!" A voice full of resentment shouted into the courtyard.

Enraged by this, Guan Yu mounted his Red Hare and shouted, "Cai Yang harmed me without cause, and I had no choice but to kill him. If you want to kill me, then open the gate. If you want to set fire to the place, what have the villagers done to deserve this?"

Upon hearing this, the man outside the courtyard burst into laughter, saying, "Guan Yu! If you hadn't disobeyed military orders and wantonly killed a general, how could this calamity have occurred? Today, I, Qin Qi, will tell you that the villagers harbored a traitor; their deaths are their own business, what do they have to do with me?"

Guan Yu was furious. He saw that Cao Cao's army had begun throwing dry straw and firewood into the courtyard, and the situation was extremely critical.

He immediately spurred Red Hare toward the courtyard gate. Just as it was about to crash into it, he yanked the reins. Red Hare seemed to understand Guan Yu's thoughts, reared up, and then kicked the gate heavily with its front hooves. However, the gate was already completely blocked by Cao Cao's army. It only peeked out slightly by an inch before being slammed shut again.

"Qin Qi! Shameless scoundrel! Open the door and let's settle this once and for all!" Guan Yu was still not giving up and shouted loudly outside.

There were no more shouts outside; amidst the noise, only a faint voice could be heard saying, "Don't talk to him, set it on fire!"

After a brief silence, a dozen torches were thrown in from outside. The fire, which touched the dry straw and firewood, quickly spread and raged in the yard.

Guan Yu was almost in despair. He raised his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and slashed fiercely at the courtyard gate. He slashed several times, but still could not break through the gate. Cao Cao's army had already blocked the gate with a huge object.

As the fire engulfed the dry grass in the courtyard, Guan Yu and his horse found themselves with nowhere to stand.

"Eldest brother...third brother...am I, Guan, truly destined to perish here today?"

Guan Yu, sword in hand, slowly closed his eyes, letting his Red Hare struggle in fright from the flames, seemingly preparing to accept its fate.

Suddenly, the sounds of fighting came from outside the courtyard, and Guan Gong's phoenix eyes snapped open!

Rescue troops have arrived?

"boom"!

With a loud bang, an earthen wall ten steps away suddenly collapsed, and the falling wall directly paved a path for survival in the fire. At the same time, a burly man in black crashed into the yard.

The burly man quickly scrambled to his feet from the ruins, looked around, and his gaze soon settled on Guan Yu.

"General Guan! Escape from here immediately!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Guan Yu immediately charged towards the collapsed gap. Upon reaching the burly man, he pulled on the reins, stopped, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and asked, "I will never forget your life-saving grace! May I ask who you are, brave warrior?"

The burly, dark-skinned man wiped the blood-stained dirt from his face and said, "I am Zhou Cang! I have come to meet the general on the orders of our lord!"

Having narrowly escaped death, Guan Yu wanted to ask more questions, but there was no time to do so, so he asked, "How many troops are outside?"

Zhou Cang said, "Cao Cao's army numbers about a hundred, and I have led twenty horsemen; they are currently fighting outside the courtyard!"

Guan Yu nodded, brandished his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and said, "The two old people are still inside. Go and rescue them quickly. I will kill the Cao soldiers outside!" After saying that, he spurred his horse and charged into the chaotic army.

Zhou Cang let out a long sigh, gripped his Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword), and rushed into the house.

It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early; by a twist of fate, they rescued Guan Yu in this desolate wilderness.

Guan Yu was already seething with anger. When he saw Cao Cao's army, he raised his hand and slashed. His Red Hare was also exceptionally fierce, charging and crashing into things. In a short while, more than twenty of Cao Cao's soldiers were killed by slashing or trampling.

The man and his horse appeared in Qin Qi's sight with lightning speed.

Qin Qi was just about to check which troops were coming to fight when he bumped into Guan Yu. Shocked, he panicked.

Before he could even raise his broadsword, he was already cut in half at the waist by Guan Yu, who was furious.

When the remaining Cao army saw that their commander was dead, they fled in all directions.

With red eyes, Guan Yu brandished his sword and stopped a soldier trying to escape, asking, "Why are you here?"

The soldier threw down his sword and knelt on the ground: "Reporting to General Guan, Qin Qi, upon hearing of Cai Yang's death, disregarded General Zhang Liao's objections and led us here overnight to seek revenge. Having failed to find him, we were about to return to camp when we unexpectedly spotted Red Hare here... General Guan, please spare our lives!"

"Hmph, get out of here!" Guan Yu, having no time to say more to his soldiers, saw that Zhou Cang was nowhere to be seen and spurred his horse to rush back into the courtyard to rescue him, but Red Hare refused to jump into the fire no matter what.

Guan Yu was both anxious and angry. Just as he was about to dismount, he saw Zhou Cang, covered in wounds, run out from the gap in the road.

"Where are the two old men?!" Guan Yu frowned.

"Reporting to Your Majesty... when I rushed into the house, the two elderly people... had already hanged themselves." Zhou Cang's eyes were red, and he had already guessed why the two elderly people had done this.

In order not to worry Guan Yu or delay his escape, the two old men ended their remaining lives by hanging themselves.

"Ah?" Guan Yu cried out and fell off his horse. Zhou Cang caught him quickly and then carefully placed him under a tree.

"My lord! My lord!" Zhou Cang shook Guan Yu's shoulder, calling out anxiously.

Guan Gong slowly opened his phoenix eyes, and two streams of hot tears instantly welled up in his eyes. His lips trembled as a great sorrow surged into his heart.

It was my unauthorized visit that led the elderly couple into danger. I never expected that the two elderly people would commit suicide so that I wouldn't have to worry about them.

With red eyes, Zhou Cang choked out to Guan Yu, "I originally wanted to take their bodies out, but the fire was too big, and they have been buried in the well in the courtyard."

Guan Yu closed his eyes again, sighed deeply, nodded, and then slowly got up with Zhou Cang's help.

After counting the number of people, apart from Guan Yu and Zhou Cang, only six riders remained.

Guan Yu cut off Qin Qi's head and then ordered everyone to pile up a mound of earth at the entrance of the courtyard. He placed Qin Qi's head under the mound to apologize to the two elders and kowtowed three times.

After standing there for a long time, as dawn was approaching, Guan Yu led Zhou Cang and the others away from the manor.

"How did you know I was here, brave warrior?" Guan Yu turned to look at Zhou Cang on the way.

Suppressing his excitement, Zhou Cangqiang replied, "I did not know. My lord originally intended to come and meet you personally, but before he left, Man Chong suddenly led his troops to camp outside Runan City. My lord was in a hurry to defend the city and could not get away, so he sent me here."

Zhou Cang swallowed hard and continued, "We traveled day and night, heading straight for Guandu, when we saw a fire in the distance. Suspicious, we came to investigate. But we overheard Qin Qi shouting that he wanted to burn the general alive, and by some twist of fate, we met you, my lord."

Guan Yu said, "So that's the story. Is the brave warrior named Zhou Cang?"

Zhou Cang said, "Indeed, I am Zhou Cang, courtesy name Yuanfu. I was originally under the command of General Di Gong of the Yellow Turban Army. I was fortunate enough to see your esteemed countenance and long wanted to follow you. However, I was betrayed by the rebels at that time and later became an outlaw on Woniu Mountain..."

As Zhou Cang spoke, he realized that the matter beyond a few words could not be explained in a few sentences, and he suddenly got stuck, unsure how to continue.

Seeing Zhou Cang speechless, Guan Yu asked again, "Oh? So... how does Yuanfu know you, elder brother?"

"Well, it's a long story. After I joined the outlaws at Woniu Mountain, I heard that you, my lord, are currently in Xuzhou..."

The two chatted back and forth on their journey, and before they knew it, dawn had broken...