The Three Kingdoms: Home Travel

As Xuchang gradually calmed down, a sudden gong sound echoed throughout half of the city. Chen Lan, still locked in a fierce battle with the Tiger and Leopard Battalion, was startled. She glanced suspiciously in the direction of the sound, only to be astonished to find that it was the very place where she had been blocked by over a thousand Tiger and Leopard Battalion soldiers.

Could it be that a mere thousand-odd Tiger and Leopard Battalion could stop our lord from advancing an inch? Chen Lan was very puzzled, but this doubt was quickly dispelled.

"Yes, just look at those Tiger and Leopard Battalions in front of you and you'll know."

Looking at the remaining two hundred or so menacing Tiger and Leopard Battalion soldiers, and then at the thousand or so soldiers around him who had lost all will to fight, Chen Lan gave a bitter smile and sighed, "How could there be such a terrifying army in the world? Tiger and Leopard Battalion, I, Chen Lan, will remember you. Next time, I won't be so lucky!"

"These words are for your own benefit!" Meng Xu, the commander of the Tiger and Leopard Camp, was covered in countless wounds of all sizes.

He still stood before Chen Lan, holding his long spear, while the Tiger and Leopard Camp soldiers behind him all had bloodshot eyes, as if they wanted to devour someone.

Hearing Meng Xu's words, Chen Lan felt no resentment. She sighed and said, "Let's not waste our breath. We'll meet on the battlefield another day and settle things there! Now that the order to retreat has been given, let's take our leave! Don't bleed to death!"

"Don't bother with that!" Meng Xu said coldly. "With all four gates closed, your chances of getting out are slim to none!"

"Who knows!" Chen Lan smiled faintly, leading her troops to retreat slowly. In such an emergency, she didn't even take away the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

On the other side, Ji Ling was in a similar situation. His three thousand soldiers were also being held back by the five hundred Tiger and Leopard Battalion soldiers.

Although the Tiger and Leopard Battalion suffered nearly half its losses, Ji Ling did not make any progress.

Looking at the valiant Tiger and Leopard Battalion, Ji Ling secretly conceived the idea of ​​forming an elite force.

Yuan Shu slowly retreated to the south gate, which had indeed fallen. Looking at the countless archers swarming the city walls, Li Feng was extremely anxious.

At this moment, Ji Ling and Chen Lan led their remaining troops to the scene. They exchanged a glance, both shaking their heads and sighing inwardly.

"Ah! It's you!" Liu Ai, in Yuan Shu's camp, exclaimed in surprise as he looked up at the city wall. "I remember your name is Gao Shun!"

"It is indeed this humble general!" Gao Shun stood atop the city wall, looking down coldly at Liu Ai, Yuan Shu, and the others. He said calmly, "Lord Zongzheng! How have you been?" "You—you—" Liu Ai was so angry he couldn't speak. How could he not have guessed that this man hadn't gone far, but had led troops to lie in ambush near the south gate, waiting for them to enter so he could seize the gates again. In that case, with all four gates closed, Yuan Shu would be trapped like a turtle in a jar!

Looking at the terrified troops of Yuan Shu below the city walls, Gao Shun didn't waste any words and shouted, "Fire the arrows!"

From their high vantage point, the arrows and crossbows are incredibly powerful!

Within moments, hundreds of Yuan Shu's chariots collapsed to the ground, wailing incessantly.

Ji Ling made a decisive move. He ordered his soldiers to carry iron shields and climb the city wall to fight the enemy.

During this time, Chen Lan glared at Liu Ai and angrily said, "If you hadn't tricked us into coming here, would we be in such a desperate situation? I'll kill you first to vent my anger!"

Liu Ai shouted, "If you kill me, you will all die here!"

Chen Lan abruptly withdrew her strength, and asked in surprise, "Given this situation, what plan do you have to ensure our escape from Xuchang?"

Liu Ai didn't reply, but took a deep breath and shouted to Gao Shun, "General Gao! We still have over three thousand soldiers. If we disregard everything and turn back to kill again, not to mention the likes of Gou Huo and Cheng Yu, even Jiang Zhe, a senior minister under your lord Cao Shijun—I remember Jiang Zhe's two beloved wives never abandoned Xuchang. They must be in his residence!"

Although that's what he said, Liu Ai was also terrified, fearing that Gao Shun was unaware of the danger, and still ordered the arrows to be fired.

Life is unpredictable. Although Liu Ai did not recognize Gao Shun, his words were a lucky coincidence, hitting the nail on the head regarding Gao Shun's thoughts.

As Xiu'er's childhood friend and sworn brother, and deeply impressed by Jiang Zhe, Gao Shun was genuinely afraid they would fight to the death. However, as a general, how could he... Suddenly, shouts of battle erupted outside Xuchang City. Gao Shun was startled and quickly ordered a halt to the archery. He went to investigate.

It turned out that Yang Hong, the chief clerk under Yuan Shu, noticed that the fire in Xuchang was burning for a long time, but there was no fire in the direction of the imperial palace. Suspicious, he sent someone to Xuchang to investigate. Just then, Gao Shun led his troops to seize the city gate. The sounds of fighting filled the air.

Seeing the situation was dire, Yang Hong mustered all the remaining troops in his camp and joined forces with the remnants of the generals at the east and west gates. They then returned to recapture the south gate of Xuchang.

Meanwhile, Yuan Shu's soldiers inside the city naturally heard the commotion outside, and their morale suddenly soared.

To release them or not to release them? Gao Shun was torn, when suddenly he heard a voice shout from afar, "General Gao, let them go!"

Chen Lan, Ji Ling, and the others felt a chill run down their spines. Turning around, they saw Gou Huo and Cheng Yu leading several hundred silver-armored soldiers, along with several hundred lightly wounded Tiger and Leopard Battalion soldiers, slowly approaching alongside countless Cao soldiers and Xuchang civilians. They secretly knew the formidable power of the Tiger and Leopard Battalion, and the silver-armored soldiers were also impeccably disciplined and possessed extraordinary bearing, likely no less than the Tiger and Leopard Battalion. How could they possibly defeat them?

Gou Huo was also helpless. Xuchang only had 20,000 Cao Cao soldiers to begin with, and Yu Jin had taken 5,000 with him. Only 15,000 remained to defend against Yuan Shu's forces. Aside from the guards at the four gates of Xuchang, there were practically no troops left. Even with the addition of the 700-odd elite troops of the Trapped Camp and the 2,000-odd Tiger and Leopard Battalion, Xuchang only had 6,000-7,000 soldiers, almost all of whom were wounded. The situation was even worse for the Tiger and Leopard Battalion. Yang Ding, the deputy commander of the Tiger and Leopard Battalion, had eleven spear wounds and was hit by two arrows; Zhou Shu, the captain of the Tiger and Leopard Battalion, had suffered several knife wounds and was hit by more than ten arrows, and was currently unconscious. The other Tiger and Leopard Battalion soldiers also had many wounds and collapsed in the street, exhausted. Only then did Gou Huo manage to bring over several hundred lightly wounded soldiers from the Starving Blade Battalion, precisely to prevent Yuan Shu from seeing through their true strength.

However, when it comes to the Qingzhou soldiers mentioned by Gou Huo, there are indeed several thousand of them in Xuchang.

At this moment, he was helping Cao Cao's troops patrol Xuchang... "Commander Gou?" Gao Shun, regardless of whether Gou could see him or not, clasped his hands and said, "Commander Gou, would you like me to open the city gates?"

At that very moment, Yang Hong, one of Yuan Shu's subordinates, shouted from outside, "People of Xuchang, listen up! Open the city gates! Otherwise, in a suicidal attack, Xuchang will be reduced to ashes! Think it over!"

"Wenruo!" Cheng Yu coughed and said softly, "If we can kill Yuan Shu here, it would be a good deed. We could then obtain Yangzhou and no longer be trapped here!"

Gou Huo lowered his head and replied in a low voice, "Our lord is now surrounded by enemies on all sides, with Yuan Shao as his only ally. Yuan Shu is his brother, and regardless of how hostile the two are, if we kill Yuan Shu, even if Yuan Shao is not our enemy, the Yuan family will be. The most urgent task now is to protect Xuchang. If Yuan Shu dies here, Liu Biao and Sun Ce can march straight to Yangzhou and occupy it. How can we, with our meager troops, possibly defeat these two? We will not do things that benefit others!"

After pondering for a long time, Cheng Yu suddenly realized and bowed in admiration, saying, "Wenruo's strategy is profound! I admire you!"

Gou chuckled twice and then called out loudly, "Where is Magistrate Yuan?"

Li Feng and a group of Yuan Shu's generals were fiercely protecting the heavily wounded Yuan Shu, fearing that Gou Huo might suddenly perish upon hearing this. Ji Ling stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "My lord is... unwell. If Commander Gou has any problems, please inform this humble general!"

"What a convenient excuse of feeling unwell!" Gou Huo chuckled inwardly. He spoke softly, "My lord, Lord Cao, has no prior grudge against Lord Yuan. This time, Lord Yuan has led his troops to invade our city. Could you please provide an explanation?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Ling paused, her brows furrowing incessantly.

Chen Lan laughed and said, "What's so difficult about that? Bring him up!"

To Ji Ling's astonishment, Liu Guan and Yang Feng were brought forward, tightly bound by Yuan Shu's guards. Looking at the two men, Ji Ling deeply admired Chen Lan's quick wit.

"Hmm?" Gou Huo looked at Liu Ai and Yang Feng strangely, then at Chen Lan and said, "General, what do you mean by this?"

Chen Lan pointed at Liu Ai and Yang Feng, and said coldly, "These two are the ones who used sweet words to deceive my master. Since this lord demands an explanation, I will hand them over to you and let you do as you please!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ai and Yang Feng struggled, but their hands and feet were bound and their mouths were stuffed with a rag, so they could only make grunting noises.

Gou Huo shook his head, smiled faintly, and said, "If the general hadn't mentioned it, one might have thought these two were dead in the city! Since that's the case, General Fang..." "Yes, sir!" Fang Yue accepted the order and stepped forward. He ordered his Cao soldiers to take Liu Ai and Yang Feng from Yuan Shu's soldiers. During this time, he saw Yang Feng still struggling. He sneered and kicked him hard, making Yang Feng gasp for breath.

Chen Lan clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Now that the culprit has been handed over to you, sir, could you please open the city gates and allow us to leave?"

"Alright!" Gou Huo said calmly. "However, it requires Magistrate Yuan to sign a written agreement stating this matter."

"You!" Chen Lan's face showed a hint of anger as she said in a deep voice, "Don't push your luck! If we cooperate with Chief Clerk Yang outside the city, we still have a fighting chance! Besides, we still have three thousand soldiers with us. If we were to commit suicide, hmph! I'd like to see what happens if Governor Cao loses your strategists in the future..." Hehe!

Gou Huo glanced at Chen Lan indifferently and said with a sneer, "Why don't you give it a try?" As Gou Huo spoke, hundreds of Tiger and Leopard Battalion soldiers and hundreds of Trapped Battalion soldiers stepped forward, their faces full of indignation, ready to fight. The atmosphere on both sides instantly became tense.

"Stop! Stop talking!" Yuan Shu, supported on his horse by his general Chen Ji, struggled to speak. "Gongcai (Ji Ling), you... you go in my place!"

"Yes, sir!" Ji Ling obeyed, then said urgently, "My lord, you are seriously injured and bleeding profusely. Do not speak and waste your strength."

"I know...you...you go!"

"Yes!" Ji Ling nodded, strode forward, and shouted at Gou Huo, "Bring me pen, ink, and documents!"

Gou Huo smiled with satisfaction and said slowly, "That's not necessary! I've already prepared it!" He then exchanged a glance with Cheng Yu, who smiled and took out a document from his pocket and handed it over.

Ji Ling was both surprised and suspicious. He picked it up and glanced at it eagerly. He saw that the text only rebuked his lord for advancing his troops too easily and endangering the emperor. There was nothing else to it. After hesitating for a moment, he used his finger to press a fingerprint on the blood on the armor.

"Wait!" Cheng Yu smiled and stopped Ji Ling. Under Ji Ling's surprised and puzzled gaze, he took out a pen from his robes and said with a smile, "This was originally intended for your lord to sign personally, but now you're signing on his behalf. I have to add a line to the document. May I ask your name, General?"

"Hmph! Ji Ling. Courtesy name Gongcai!" Ji Ling snorted coldly.

Cheng Yu then wrote on the side, "Written by Ji Gongcai, a general under Yuan Shijun," and handed it to Ji Ling.

"Scholars are always so meddlesome!" Ji Ling pressed his hand seal heavily. He said coldly, "Can the city gates be opened now?"

Cheng Yu and Gou Huo exchanged a glance. Gou Huo smiled and said, "General Gao, have them open the city gates. Go on your own!"

"Yes, sir!" Gao Shun, standing atop the city wall, clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

"Thank you!" Ji Ling snorted coldly. He ordered his soldiers to open the south gate of Xuchang and slowly walked out with his troops.

"Heh heh," Cheng Yu chuckled coldly as he watched the crowd leave the city gates, saying, "They've endangered the Emperor! This is treason, punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their family!"

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