Chapter 65: Linked Killing Moves (1)

  The activities of Zhuge Dan and others were under the surveillance of Sima Yi.

  Sima Yi did not know where Zhuge Liang would land, but he knew that as long as he kept an eye on Zhuge Dan's movements, he could grasp Zhuge Liang's trends.

  The report from his subordinate caught his attention, saying that on the road, Zhuge Dan had received a messenger and left shortly after. They were afraid of startling the snake by hitting the grass, so they didn't intercept the messenger.

  Simayu thought to himself: "Who sent this messenger and what is his purpose? Is it related to Zhuge Liang? If it's Zhuge Liang who sent him, what would he want?" After thinking for half a day, he still couldn't figure out anything, so he decided on one thing: "Just keep a close eye on Zhuge Jun."

  After Zhuge Liang landed, he first arrived at the government office of Chaisang County, where Sun Shangxiang and others welcomed him.

  The report received by Sima Yi was: Zhuge Liang's guard commander is Zhao Yun, with a total of 320 soldiers under his command. Zhuge Jun's guards have 60 people, including 10 female soldiers, all of whom are cavalrymen. There are five carriages.

  There were 132 people who infiltrated Eastern Wu through various means, and there were 149 people lurking within the borders of Eastern Wu who could be mobilized. This was the total force that Sima Yi could use. It seemed that a strong attack would not work, so he could only take it by strategy.

  Simayu called one of his subordinates and ordered him to take action. The subordinate immediately galloped away on horseback.

  These days, Huang Yueying has been restless at home, looking forward to meeting Zhuge Liang. She counts the days every day and worries that they will have an accident, feeling anxious in her heart. In order to alleviate the unbearable wait, she simply goes to the factory to wander around when there is nothing to do, trying to make herself busy.

  That day, after breakfast, she was going to the factory for inspection as usual. Fu Bo came to report that Liu Xun from Yizhou had arrived. She was delighted in her heart, having something to do was better than having nothing to do, and hurriedly went to greet him personally.

  Zhuge Jian and Zhao Yun met for the second time, and during the banquet, he kept glancing at Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun felt his gaze and looked back at him, asking somewhat puzzled: "Mr. Zhuge, is there something wrong with me?"

  Zhuge Jian came to his senses and felt that he had been a bit out of line. He hastily said, "No, General Zhao, don't misunderstand me. I've heard many stories about you and have great admiration for you. Last time we met was too brief, so I didn't get a good look at you, which is why I took the opportunity to observe you carefully this time, and indeed, you have the air of a hero."

  Sun Shangxiang also said, "Jun Ge admires few heroes, especially General Zhao, whom he highly esteems. He often mentions you, saying that you and his sworn brother are both extraordinary figures of the time."

  Zhao Yun was delighted to hear them praise him so much, but hearing the implication in Sun Shangxiang's words, he couldn't help but ask: "The hero you refer to as Zhuge's sworn brother, who is it?"

  There were only four people at the banquet, and Zhuge Jun did not avoid them knowing his relationship with Ma Chao. He said respectfully yet somewhat proudly: "My sworn brother is Xiliang's Ma Chao."

  Zhuge Liang was secretly shocked in his heart: "When did he become brothers with Ma Chao? Unbeknownst to him, Xiao Jian not only possessed enormous wealth but also established close relationships with powerful men like Sun Quan and Ma Chao. It's truly astonishing."

  Zhao Yun had heard of Ma Chao's reputation as "Jinma Super", and when he heard that he was being compared to himself, he became competitive. He asked: "Will your sworn brother come to Eastern Wu this time? I'd like to meet him."

  Zhuge said: "I'm afraid he won't be able to come, he just left here not long ago. We can only wait for another opportunity to introduce him to you."

  Zhao Yun also felt some regret and nodded his head.

  With their hunger and thirst satisfied, the group set off. The leader of the vanguard sent by Sun Quan was named Wang Ben, who led his men to clear the way ahead. Zhao Yun's guards stood watch on either side.

  Zhuge Jun and Sun Shangxiang rode in the same carriage as Zhuge Liang.

  The troops marched into the territory of Gaochun County and approached a small town. As they were about to enter the town, they suddenly heard the sound of fighting.

  Wang Ben hastily passed on the order to be vigilant, then led his men forward to investigate. They saw a young girl tied up on the ground with a cloth stuffed in her mouth. Two young men and women, dressed as hunters, were fighting with over ten servants.

  The young man and woman seemed to have average martial arts skills, although they had knocked down two family guards, but the other side had more people, and they were still surrounded. The young man was already injured, and the two of them gradually felt weak.

  When they saw the sudden appearance of government soldiers, the family guards fled in all directions. The young men and women caught up and killed another one.

  Wang Ben led his men to rush forward and ordered them to untie the girl.

  The girl was about seventeen or eighteen years old, just an ordinary girl, with nothing special in her appearance, dress, and temperament. She cried and said for half a day, and Wang Ben roughly understood the situation.

  This girl's name is Dang Shu, from Xuwancun Village ten miles away. She and her elderly father depend on each other for survival. Because the local tyrant Liu Liu wants to expand his house, he forcibly occupied their home. Her father fought with them, injured Liu Liu's younger brother, and was killed by them. She was also tied up and sold to a brothel in this town.

  Young brother and sister Zhang Li and Zhang Wei, mountain hunters, came to the town to sell their hunted wild game. They encountered injustice on the road and started fighting with them.

  At this time, Zhuge Jun and Sun Shangxiang arrived at the scene. Wang rushed to report the situation to them. Sun Shangxiang was very indignant and wanted to take people to kill that villain.

  Zhuge Jian stopped her and said, "This matter should be handled by the local authorities, it's not convenient for us to intervene. Besides, we still have a mission. How about this, in order to prevent the evil tyrant from retaliating, let's take them with us, when we arrive at Gaochun County, hand them over to the authorities." He finally calmed her down.

  As for bringing them along, he was also a bit uneasy, after all, he didn't understand their situation. He left a thought and said to Wang Ben: "Wang Tongling, send a few people to Xuwang Village to investigate and provide the necessary information to the government."

  Wang Ben sent someone on horseback quickly.

  It is still over 30 li away from Gaochun County, and the team set off again.

  After passing through the town, they walked a few miles and began to enter the mountainous area. Zhao Yun and Wang Ben both ordered their subordinates to be on high alert.

  It's called a mountainous area, but there are no particularly tall mountains here, just hills, not steep. However, the vegetation is lush and easy to set up an ambush.

  The officers and soldiers were vigilantly searching around. Zhang's siblings, relying on their many years of hunting experience, discovered the situation first. Zhang Li pointed to the forest and said: "There is no bird calls in the mountain forest, it's too quiet, there must be someone ambush."

  His words had barely fallen when the bowstring sounded in the forest, and arrows flew like locusts.