Chapter 54, The Spy in the Guo Residence

  "They're back." Xu Feng led the more than 2,000 Yellow Turbans who had retreated earlier, and after sending out twelve scouts to urge them on, they finally received news from Dian Wei's group. The dust was flying in the distance as Dian Wei led the Tiger Guards in a rush towards them. Looking at the remaining Tiger Guards, Xu Feng felt a pang of heartache - so many good brothers had left him forever after this one battle.

  Five hundred Tiger Guards, less than two hundred people left, after one battle, more than half were injured, Xu Feng hastily dismounted and rushed to meet the approaching troops.

  "Everyone dismount." Seeing Xu Feng personally come to greet them, Dian Wei's heart warmed up and he quickly got off his horse. The rest of the officers also followed suit and dismounted their horses. They stood in a neat row, looking at Xu Feng with reverence as he walked towards them briskly. In their hearts, they were all deeply moved and stirred.

  "Soldiers, you have worked hard. Without you, I don't know how many brothers and comrades would have fallen into the hands of the enemy. You are all good men, and those who have died in battle are even more so. I, Xu Feng, am proud to have soldiers like you. Please accept my bow." As he spoke, Xu Feng bowed his head and made a deep obeisance to the crowd, showing his gratitude.

  "General!" The crowd shouted in unison.

  "This time, you've had a good fight. The Tiger Guards are all fine warriors. Go back and rest well. As the old saying goes, 'A visit without a return is not polite.' Today's grudge, I will settle for you another day."

  Xu Feng walked towards the Tiger Guard, patting each of the soldiers on the shoulder as he went. When he reached Pei Yuanshao's side, he saw that Pei Yuanshao's chest was covered in fresh blood, with a clear and visible knife wound that seemed to pierce through to the bone. However, despite this, Pei Yuanshao's expression remained relaxed, his face calm as usual. Xu Feng patted Pei Yuanshao on the shoulder and nodded, "Well done! Go back and rest well, you must recover quickly."

  "Thanks for your concern." The big man's eyes reddened and he almost burst into tears.

  "What kind of hero is this?" Zhang Fei sneered from the side.

  "Zhang Fei, you have deserted your post without reason, do you know your crime?" As he walked up to Zhang Fei, looking at his blood-soaked body and the fierce killing aura surrounding him, Xu Feng felt a great sense of relief in his heart. Having such a brave general was a blessing for himself as well as for the Yellow Turbans. However, Xu Feng couldn't praise Zhang Fei too much, or else this guy's tail would be lifted all the way up to the sky.

  "General Zhang Fei acknowledges the penalty." After a thrilling and intense battle, Zhang Fei felt delighted in his heart and didn't mind Xu Feng's reprimand at all.

  "Who says I want to punish you? Although you left the team without reason, but considering that you have a heart to cover the soldiers' withdrawal and rescue the Tiger Guard with merit, the merits and demerits cancel each other out. This time, the commander will not punish you. Moreover, tonight, you can drink to your heart's content, haha! Go down!" Xu Feng patted Zhang Fei's shoulder and laughed.

  "Really?" Zhang Fei could hardly believe his ears. Xu Feng had always been strict with him, especially when they were in the army, and he never allowed Zhang Fei to get drunk. Even if Zhang Fei wanted to drink, he had to do it secretly behind Xu Feng's back. The feeling of sneaking around was something Zhang Fei couldn't enjoy. He never thought that Xu Feng would actually let him drink to his heart's content. For Zhang Fei, this was the best thing that could happen, even better than getting married.

  "When did I ever tell a lie? Remember, only once, and from then on, without my order, you are not allowed to get drunk."

  "Alright, thank you for your mercy, General. Zhang Fei will never again drink and break the rules." Zhang Fei said with a smile.

  "Come on, Zhang Fei! Drinking alone is no fun. How about we drink together?" Zhang Fei walked out a few steps, then suddenly turned around and said to Dian Wei with a smile.

  "Never mind, next time then." Dian Wei's face was somewhat heavy, having just lost so many Tiger Guards, he really couldn't muster up the spirit, his face had been gloomy all along, even Zhang Fei looked at him and felt a chill in his heart.

  "Go, it's not your fault that the Tiger Guard was defeated. This time it was my own carelessness. However, don't worry, I will avenge this defeat soon." Zhong Dianwei waved his hand and Xu Feng consoled him.

  "Pass on my order, pass it to Zhou Cang, within five days, you must take down Yingyang. Let Ma Yuan and Ma Wu lead their troops back to Yangdi as soon as possible, no mistakes are allowed." Xu Feng's eyes flashed with a cold light, he sternly ordered.

  "Yes." The orderly responded with a loud voice, hastily mounted his horse, whipped it and galloped straight to Changsha.

  "Sun Jian, even if you are the fierce tiger of Jiangdong, I Xu Feng will still pluck your fur and let your blood flow, heh heh, just wait and see. You may have the strategy of Zhang Liang, but I have the ladder to climb over the wall. Who will be the one to kill the deer? Just wait and see."

  Xu Feng and others had just withdrawn from Yangzhai, Sun Jian and others followed closely, the two armies merged into one place, and Yangzhai was surrounded again like a flood.

  "Xue Cheng, how's the progress of the tunnel?" Xu Feng asked anxiously that night.

  "Feng Ge can rest assured, in two more days, the tunnel will be dug through." Xue Cheng replied.

  "Fine, I'll see about that. When the time comes, I'd like to see if Huangfu Laoye Sun Jian can escape safely." Xu Feng's mouth curled up slightly as he sneered at the night sky outside the city.

  Seeing Xu Feng's expression so strange, Xue Cheng secretly wiped a sweat for Huang Fu and others, it seems that your good days are coming to an end.

  "Hou Tai, did Xu Feng really lose the battle today?" In a small house in the Guo mansion, two figures were whispering to each other in hushed tones. It was late at night and the room was not lit, the two people were sneaking around, obviously discussing something that wasn't good.

  "Gongzi, I've already found out that Xu Feng was defeated in battle today and fell into Sun Jian's ambush. The city is now surrounded by the two armies of Huangfu Song and Sun Jian outside the city walls. Yangzhai may not be able to hold on for much longer, and it's likely that the imperial army will break in soon."

  "Alright, this secret letter, tonight at midnight, must be shot out of the city, did you hear that clearly?"

  "Don't worry, young master, Hou Tai guarantees the completion of the task." Hou Tai carefully put away the secret letter and saw that the man had no further instructions. He quietly bid farewell and slipped out unnoticed.

  "That damned old thing, actually wants to rely on Huang Jin, help the rebel Xu Feng, and instead of helping the good imperial army, he insists on doing great evil deeds. Hmph, just wait and see, when the imperial army attacks the city, I, Guo Tu, will definitely repay this humiliation tenfold."

  "General, this little guy is sneaking around, and he actually ran to the city tower to shoot arrows outside. I suspect that this little guy has no good intentions, and may be a spy." Xu Feng was just about to go to bed when Xue Cheng brought in a man wearing black clothes, who looked suspicious with his shifty eyes and evil appearance. Xu Feng immediately became displeased, quickly got up and scolded: "Who are you? What are you doing sneaking around at night and shooting arrows from the city tower? Are you a spy?"

  "General, I'm being framed. I'm just a hunter from the city. For several days, the government army has been surrounding the city and I couldn't go into the mountains to hunt. I was starving, so I wanted to catch some wild game to alleviate my hunger. I'm not a spy or anything." The thin man in black hastily shook his head and explained.

  "Is that so? What's in the sky when hunting at night?" Xu Feng said with a cold smile.

  "At night, there are also many wild tastes, such as nightingales and bats..."

  "Is it? You are a hunter, come on, take your bow and arrow."

  "Agreed."

  Before long, someone brought over a bow and arrow. Xu Feng rushed at the man in black, saying, "There's an eagle on this screen, you're ten meters away, if you can hit it, I'll believe your words, otherwise, be careful with your dog head." Seeing that the man in black had pale palms and no calluses between his fingers, Xu Feng immediately understood that he was lying. A hunter, who often goes hunting and frequently draws a bow to shoot arrows, how could their hands not have thick calluses?

  Thanks for the powerful support from friends, I'm not a full-time streamer, but I won't slack off. Today I really did my best, after all, I can only code during my spare time. Over 9,000 lines of code, please forgive me.