Chapter 52: Kill, Not One Can Be Spared

  Wan Cheng, inside a dilapidated mansion.

  Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong paced back and forth in the courtyard, occasionally going to the gate to look out.

  After receiving Cao Cao's letter, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan led fifty brave warriors to rush to Nanyang overnight. They took advantage of the Yellow Turbans' rebellion outside the city, burning, killing and looting, and smoothly infiltrated Wan City, secretly investigating the bandits who impersonated the Cao and Xiahou families.

  Cao Ren took a few militiamen out to gather information, and Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong were extremely impatient.

  "Murderous thieves, how dare you use my name to bring this calamity upon me? But if I get my hands on you, I'll make these damned bandits wish they were dead."

  Cao Hong also gritted his teeth and said: "If it falls into the hands of a certain person, I will definitely cut the thief into thousands of pieces to vent my hatred."

  Two men were scolding each other when Cao Ren strode in hastily.

  "Filial son, have you ever inquired about news?"

  Xiahou Yuan hastily went forward and asked impatiently.

  Cao Hong also stepped forward and asked: "Elder brother, is there any news of bandits?"

  Cao Ren first ordered the soldiers to close the gate of the courtyard, then said: "Miao Cai, Zi Lian, I have already investigated the bandit's trail. The bandit is heading towards this street and will arrive soon. We only need to hide in this courtyard, wait for an opportunity to ambush him, and we can capture him alive. After finding a chance to leave the city, we can interrogate him thoroughly to see who wants to frame us."

  Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong exclaimed in unison, clenching their fists tightly.

  Soon, Zhou and nine attendants brought hundreds of soldiers to turn over the street corner this way, and Xi Chang was sandwiched between Chen Liang and another attendant, even if he wanted to run, there was no chance.

  "Here, young master."

  The soldier in charge of watching the wind saw that Zhou Wu and his party were less than twenty steps away from the gate, and quickly turned around to whisper to Cao Ren.

  "Alright, go and kill him."

  Cao Ren let out a loud roar and burst out of the door, charging towards Zhou Wu and his men with his horse sword.

  "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

  Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong led fifty militiamen, rushing out of the courtyard and shouting loudly as they killed their way forward.

  "Huh?"

  Zhou Wu's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his right hand already on the hilt of his sword.

  "Take this, rebel, and die quickly."

  In a flash, Cao Ren had rushed forward, shouting loudly and swinging his sword straight at Zhou Wu.

  "Looking for death."

  A follower beside him shouted loudly and pounced on Cao Ren like a leopard, striking him with his sword.

  Right!

  In the midst of the clashing steel, Cao Ren's entire body shook, and his long knife was abruptly held in place.

  That attendant's face changed drastically, and he felt a surge of wild power rebounding back. He couldn't help but retreat three big steps, his arms holding the knife weakened, and he was shocked in an instant. He didn't expect that among the bandits, there would be such a person.

  Zhou Wu was also shocked. The twenty attendants' martial arts skills may have had some differences, but the gap was absolutely limited. This guy could easily defeat an attendant, and he might not be a match for himself either. He immediately asked, "Who are you?"

  "So be it! Cao Ren is here, rebel bandits come quickly to accept your death!"

  Cao Ren let out a loud shout, and a fierce killing intent flashed through his tiger-like eyes as he swung his sword again, charging straight for Zhou Wu.

  "What is it, Cao Ren?"

  Zhou Wu was truly shocked, and in the blink of an eye, he had already vaguely guessed that it might be the master who had come. The young master wanted to shift the blame to the Cao family and the Xia Hou family, no matter what the reason was, these two families were destined to be enemies.

  Since we're enemies, there's no need for courtesy.

  "Form ranks, let's go kill."

  Zhou Wu immediately shouted and killed his way over with a swing of his horse whip.

  Right!

  Right!

  In the midst of clashing steel, two attendants were successively beaten back by Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong.

  Obviously, none of the ten attendants including Zhou Wu were a match for Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong.

  "Get down to business, everyone work together."

  Zhou Wu dodged Cao Ren's horizontal slash and let out a loud roar.

  "Kill them, take down these sons of bitches."

  The followers all understood what was going on. Since the master had come to their doorstep, it would definitely be a life-or-death situation.

  Chen Liang and three attendants attacked Xiahou Yuan, while another three attendants surrounded Cao Hong to kill him.

  Zhou Yu personally led three attendants to surround Cao Ren, planning to take care of Cao Ren first and then kill the remaining two.

  Hundreds of Yellow Turbans then surged forward, and Cao Ren's fifty militiamen were killed in the chaos. The empty streets immediately became chaotic, with shouts and screams rising and falling, echoing far and wide.

  Xie Chang retreated to the corner of the street with a shocked and frightened heart, wondering how there could be two Cao Ren, one of whom must be an impostor.

  But this is an opportunity to extricate oneself.

  Xie Chang was just about to make a run for it when two Yellow Turbans, one on either side of him, closed in. One of them, with a scar above his eyebrow, sneered: "Mr. Xie, if you try to escape, I'll have no way to explain myself to our leader."

  "This..."

  Xie Chang secretly called out in distress, but there was nothing he could do about it.

  A scholar meets a soldier, and even with reason, it's hard to make things clear.

  Even if he was a genius, at this time there was nothing he could do.

  Hundreds of people were killed in a narrow alleyway, and in an instant, the streets were stained with blood.

  Cao Ren was shocked at once.

  I didn't expect this group of bandits to be so formidable. If there was only one person, he would have been confident in killing the thief within 50 moves, but with four people working together, it's not just a matter of killing the thief, but also fearing for his own safety.

  What's even more deadly is that if time drags on and a large group of rebels arrives, it will be hard to escape.

  Right!

  Right!

  Right!

  In the midst of the incessant clanging of metal, Cao Ren exerted himself to parry the long blades that hacked at him from all sides. Ordinarily, with his strength and martial arts skills, dealing with a single attendant would be no problem at all; simultaneously handling two people shouldn't be too difficult either.

  But being surrounded by four attendants, he was unable to exert his strength and had a hard time coping.

  Cao Ren had already felt his arms go numb from continuously parrying the four long knives.

  But before he could even catch his breath, the four long knives had already struck again from all sides.

  Zhou Wu and his three followers gazed coldly, their faces revealing murderous intent. With a swift retreat, they brandished their swords once more and charged forward in unison.

  "Excellent talent, son of integrity, quick wit and sharp tongue, swift retreat."

  Cao Ren exerted himself to block the four long knives, his arms were already numb and almost couldn't be lifted up.

  In the flurry, he took a glance and found Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong each surrounded by three bandits, also struggling to defend themselves. Without hesitation, he let out a loud shout and prepared to retreat first before making further plans.

  These bandits are not only individually skilled in martial arts, but also coordinate with each other seamlessly.

  Cao Ren could hardly believe his eyes, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out who these bandits were or what deep-seated grudge they had against the Cao and Xiahou families that made them want to bring such a great disaster upon the two clans.

  I thought that with just a few bandits, relying on my own and Miao Cai's and Zi Liang's martial arts skills, I could easily take them down.

  Unexpectedly, he fell into a huge crisis, which made Cao Ren's heart sink.

  "Think you can run? It's not that easy!"

  Zhou Wusen suddenly let out a loud shout and swung his sword straight at Cao Ren.

  Three attendants also rushed up with a fierce aura, swinging their swords and chopping straight down.

  The sharp blade glinted with a light that seemed to pierce one's eyes.

  "Pull back quickly."

  Cao Ren let out a loud shout, exerting great effort to lift the three long knives. His right arm was momentarily numb and unable to hold the knife, just as the fourth knife came crashing down. In this life-or-death moment, he didn't have time to think much, so he quickly rolled on the ground to dodge it.

  Xiahou Yuan's eyes were wide with rage, he took a knife to the back, and with great effort killed off three attendants. Disregarding the blood flowing from his back, he rushed over and grabbed Cao Ren, shouting: "Hurry up!"

  "The clever one leaves first."

  Cao Ren sprang up, saw that Xiahou Yuan's back was bleeding profusely, and his face turned pale in an instant. He pushed Xiahou Yuan away with one hand, used his sword to block the two long knives that were chopping from left and right, then borrowed the momentum to jump backwards, avoiding the two long knives that killed him afterwards.

  At this moment, Cao Ren also took a knife on his left shoulder and fought back three followers who rushed over.

  "Zi Lian!"

  Cao Ren saw that half of Cao Hong's body was stained with blood, the knife wound on his shoulder blade was shocking, and the rolled-up flesh exposed the fractured bones. His left arm was almost severed, and he let out a loud cry to the sky, tears of blood streaming from his eyes.

  "Brother, hurry up and go."

  Cao Hong let out a loud roar, almost biting his steel teeth to pieces.

  "Go."

  Cao Ren, though filled with grief and indignation to the point of death, knew that if they didn't leave now, the three of them and the fifty village braves would likely die here today. He made a swift decision, let out a loud shout, endured two slashes of the sword, and with great effort fought off Zhou Wu and the two attendants who had rushed up, then turned to flee.

  "Kill them all, don't let one escape."

  Zhou Wusen suddenly let out a loud shout and took off in a flash, followed by nine attendants who chased after to kill.