Chapter Twenty-Four: Strange Wind

  As soon as Tao Qian spoke these words, Cao Cao's eyes narrowed slightly and he secretly thought to himself: "This old fellow is not simple!"

  Originally, according to Cao Cao and Xun Yu's plan, they would first question Tao Qian with the attitude of punishing him for his crimes, thus seizing the moral high ground and striking at the morale of the Xu state army. If Tao Qian refused to admit or tried to argue his way out, Cao Cao had prepared multiple methods to make Tao Qian lose both his reputation and his position.

  However, Tao Qian immediately admitted his mistake and shifted the main responsibility to Zhang Kai, clearing himself of blame, while Cao Cao's expedition became unjustified.

  As expected, Tao Qian's words made the Xu state soldiers on the city wall, who had been somewhat wavering in their determination, firm up once again.

  But with Cao Cao himself, plus the wisdom of a few strategists like Xun Yu, Guo Jia and Liu Ye, how could he not have expected this? With a cold smile, Cao Cao hummed softly and shouted: "Old thief, don't try to quibble, you old fool, indulging your subordinates in killing my father, with your ability, how can you be the governor of Xuzhou? Hand over the seal of the governor of Xuzhou, and I will report to the emperor, find a capable successor, and then follow me back to Yan Province, and I will pardon your family members after you apologize for your crime in front of my father's spirit."

  As soon as Cao Cao spoke, Tao Qian had not yet responded, and beside him, Mi Zhu spurred his horse forward a few steps, pointing at Cao Cao with his whip and scolding: "Cao Mengde, you have the heart of a wolf and want to swallow up Xuzhou, thinking that you can deceive us. The Governor has governed Xuzhou with virtue for many years, and the people are devoted to him. But you, as the governor of Yan Province, have been in office for only one year, yet you have committed atrocities within your borders, killing famous scholars and causing discontent among the people. Moreover, you are not the Emperor, so how can you interfere with the affairs of Xuzhou? The Governor will not be swayed by your words!"

  "Hmph!" Cao Cao ignored the righteous words of Mi Zhu and instead turned his gaze to Tao Qian, asking loudly: "Old thief, I'll give you three breaths' time. Will you hand over the seal of Xu State or not?"

  When Cao Pi saw Tao Qian, Cao Zhen and Xu Shu turned their heads at the same time and said: "Sir, don't fall into his trap!"

  Tao Qian, however, shook his head and looked straight at Cao Cao with an unyielding gaze. In a firm tone, he said: "Xuzhou is the place where I have invested my heart and soul for many years. How can I abandon its people and leave them to their fate? I'm afraid that's not something I can do!"

  As soon as this remark was made, Cao Cao's face changed colour and he shouted: "You old scoundrel! Since you refuse to listen to my advice, don't blame me for being ruthless. Who will come and capture this old thief with me?"

  As soon as Cao Cao gave the order, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, two brothers, rode out together, charging straight at Tao Qian. Zuo Ci was shocked to see this, for he had never expected that Cao Cao would take action so quickly.

  Luckily, Cao Bao, being a military general, was relatively calm and turned back to shout at Zou Jing: "Zi Zhong, quickly escort the Governor back to the city, I'll hold off here!" After that, he charged forward on horseback with his spear, heading towards Xiahou brothers.

  Zuo Ci did not dare to be slow, and immediately helped Tao Qian onto his horse, and they set off at once. Fortunately, Tao Qian and the others were not far from the city, and Cao Cao and the others were also out of range of the archers on the city wall.

  At this time, Chen Deng on the city wall had reacted and saw Xiahou brothers rushing into the range of archers. Without hesitation, he shouted loudly: "Archers, target enemy generals, fire!"

  The archers on Pengcheng, upon hearing Chen Deng's order, did not hesitate to pull the large bow in their hands to full draw, taking aim at the Xiahoud brothers rushing forward below, and suddenly releasing the tight grip on the sharp arrow!

  "Hsss... Hsss... Hsss..."

  In an instant, a large swarm of arrows shot out from the city wall, weaving into a net of arrows in mid-air, and swooped down towards Xiahou brothers below.

  Cao Cao, who had retreated to the military camp, gazed at the dense black arrow rain falling from the city wall with narrowed eyes. His face darkened as he muttered: "In a hurry, they can still shoot out more than a hundred sharp arrows, worthy of being the elite Dan Yang soldiers. However..." At this point, Cao Cao's face revealed a playful smile before continuing: "The soldiers are good, but the commander is even better!" As he spoke, Cao Cao's gaze had already fallen on the young man commanding from atop the city wall.

  Not to mention Cao Cao's side, facing the hundreds of arrows covering them, Xiahou brothers were undaunted. The two simultaneously pulled the reins and charged towards both sides, trying to get out of the range of the arrow rain.

  Puff...Ding Ding Ding

  Most of the arrows were deflected by Xiahou brothers, falling onto the dry and hard mud. The remaining small portion that had not yet fallen onto Xiahou brothers' bodies was already blocked out by their weapons.

  Although they were separated, their goals were the same. After passing through the arrow rain, they accelerated their horses to chase after Tao Qian, who was retreating into Pengcheng.

  "You want to be unruly? Take a spear from me, Cao Jiao!"

  As Xiahou Dun advanced, Cao Jiao held a spear and killed him head-on, shouting loudly. However, Xiahou Dun didn't put him in his heart at all, with a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, the long spear in his hand shook violently, and the gun flowers burst out, directly covering Cao Jiao!

  The war horse's speed did not decrease, but Cao Jiao on the horse saw the gun flower coming and his face was full of disbelief, his pupils flashing with endless surprise and deep fear!

  "Come and die!"

  In the midst of galloping warhorses, Xiahou Dun let out a loud roar. Cao Bao, who was charging forward, was frightened to the point where his heart and gall were shattered. Such a fierce general he had rarely seen in his life, could only hold his spear and summon all his strength to resist!

  When... buzz...

  The next moment, the sound of gold and iron clashing rose from below Pengcheng. The two long spears clashed fiercely together. With Cao Bao's abilities, how could he be a match for Xiahou Dun? A hard collision sent Cao Bao flying back ten paces on horseback. Xiahou Dun had only slightly moved his arm, and the faint numbness caused by Cao Bao's full strength had already dissipated.

  His gaze immediately focused on Cao Bao, who was ten steps away and looked disheveled. A hint of disdain flashed across Xiahou Dun's cold face. With a slight squeeze of his horse's belly, his long spear, reflecting the scorching sun, emitted a chilling aura as it pointed directly at Cao Bao's neck!

  Whoosh...

  Cao Jiao's eyes were filled with horror, from small to large, he had never been so close to death as at this moment!

  "Is there really such a powerful martial art in this world?! Am I going to die?!" Cao Jiao cried out helplessly in his heart.

  Not far away, in the Cao army formation, Xiahou Dun held his spear and was about to charge towards Cao Bao, who had been frightened into a daze. A smile flashed across the corner of his mouth as he muttered: "The general has fallen, even if you don't surrender, Old Tao, the army's morale is gone, this battle is no longer in doubt!"

  Just as Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun were about to win, heaven seemed to play a joke on them. The originally calm city below suddenly became windy and stormy, with flying sand and rolling rocks.

  Xiahou Dun's horse had already charged to the front of Cao Jiao, with his long spear bringing a chilling aura that was about to pierce his throat. However, just as the strong wind suddenly blew in, it actually blew Xiahou Dun and his horse half a step to the side. As they say, "a difference of a single hair can lead to a mistake of a thousand miles". On an ordinary day, this half-step seemed very short, but on the battlefield, it was not so. This half-step alone caused Xiahou Dun's spear to strike empty air.

  Cao Jiao heard the wind whistling past his ear, feeling Xiahou Dun's long spear brushing past his ear, and was both shocked and delighted. Seeing Xiahou Dun still busy controlling his warhorse, Cao Jiao knew he couldn't miss this opportunity, so he immediately used his long spear to press down Xiahou Dun's spear, then turned his horse around and left.

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