Chapter Seventy: Astonished by Zi Long

  Zhou Cang's eyes were both red, he wanted to go up and fight Pan Feng to the death, but he was tightly held back by Pei Yuan Shao. Pei Yuan Shao said: "The head of the household, you can't be impulsive, Wutiger Mountain is no longer tenable, let's leave through the secret passage first, a gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late."

  Zhou Cang watched as the foundation he had worked so hard to establish was destroyed in an instant. Although he felt a sense of regret, there was nothing he could do about it, and he could only lead dozens of his most trusted followers to escape through a secret passageway.

  Guan Hai had already led the charge up to the wall of the camp, swinging his twin halberds and cutting down two ruffians who were still trying to resist. "Those who surrender will be spared!" he bellowed.

  The rascals inside the mountain stronghold were originally a motley crew, and when the second leader fled, those who remained had no will to resist. As soon as they heard that surrender would spare their lives, they immediately knelt down in droves, and the battle ended quickly.

  Guan Hai excitedly rushed to Liu Ze, who had just arrived: "Master, I just shouted and they all surrendered. This Sleeping Tiger Mountain is really weak."

  Liu Ze didn't care about how many people had surrendered, he asked: "Have Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao been captured?"

  Guan Hai shook his head and said, "I just rushed up too, I haven't found these two people yet."

  "Hurry up and find them, even if we have to dig three feet underground, we can't let these two escape!"

  Guan Hai saw Liu Ze's resolute expression and didn't dare say anything more, immediately leading his men to search for Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao within the mountain stronghold.

  "Master, we've found Young Master Zhang, but..."

  "Is he dead?"

  "He didn't die, but that young master's temper is too violent. We kindly saved him, not only did he not show any gratitude, but instead beat and scolded the brothers. In a fit of rage, I tied him up."

  Liu Ze smiled and said, "That young master is treating you as if you were his father's soldiers, he's just throwing a tantrum, don't mind him, find a carriage to send him to County Magistrate Cheng and that'll be the end of it."

  Pan Feng said with some doubt: "That Zhang Gongzi wants us to send him to Zhongshan immediately, isn't sending him to Quyang first a detour?"

  "It doesn't matter if it's far or near, the key is that this is a favor for County Magistrate Cheng. Besides, I don't have the energy to deal with that Grand Minister anyway. Send a few more people over, and make sure nothing goes wrong."

  "Yes!" Pan Feng led the way down, and since Liu Ze attached great importance to it, Pan Feng did not dare to entrust others with the task. He personally led a team of people to escort Zhang Gongzi to Quyang.

  Guan Hai searched the entire mountain stronghold but couldn't find any trace of Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao. He called over a few captured soldiers to ask, and only then did he learn that Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao had escaped through a secret passageway. He hastily reported this to Liu Ze. Liu Ze didn't care about anything else, shouting "Pursue!" as he leapt onto the Night Jade Lion and charged down the mountain. Guan Hai was also unclear about the situation, but immediately gathered his cavalry and followed Liu Ze in pursuit down the mountain.

  As soon as he arrived at the foot of the mountain, Liu Ze met Guan Yu face to face, who had come to transport grain and fodder. Guan Yu had already learned the good news of taking down the mountain stronghold, and smiled: "Congratulations, big brother, you've succeeded without even using any effort, and took down Sleeping Tiger Mountain."

  Liu Ze didn't say much, pulled Guan Yu and left. Guan Yu was very puzzled, asked in surprise: "What's going on?" Liu Ze said: "The two bandit chiefs of Sleeping Tiger Mountain have escaped, hurry up and chase them."

  Guan Yu was even more puzzled, saying: "Brother, the purpose of this trip is to take down Sleeping Tiger Mountain and rescue Zhang Gongzi. Didn't those two bandit leaders run away? Could it be that brother is afraid they will retaliate in the future and wants to kill them all?"

  Liu Bei heard this and knew that Guan Yu had misunderstood, so he said: "No, I think these two men are also heroes of the green forest, with a mind to recruit them under our banner, after all, in the future when we contend for hegemony over the world, it will not do to have no talent."

  As soon as they left the mountain pass, Liu Ze's scouts who were deployed outside the mountain came to report that dozens of cavalrymen had rushed down from the mountain and escaped to the southeast. Liu Ze looked back and saw that Guan Yu was still far behind with his troops, and he only had a few guards by his side. Without waiting any longer, he whipped his horse and chased after them in the direction of southeast. Before leaving, he instructed the officer in charge of supplies to tell Guan Yu to return to Wotou Mountain when he arrived, as someone was needed to take care of things there.

  Zhou Cang had never suffered such a crushing defeat in his life, with several thousand of his men being wiped out by over a thousand enemy soldiers. The Mount Wudu stronghold, which he had occupied for many years, was also lost. Fortunately, he had excavated a secret tunnel many years ago, and it was only through this that he managed to narrowly escape with his life.

  They had left Wohu Mountain for dozens of miles, and the pursuers from Fenghuang Mountain should not have been able to catch up with them. The tense nerves relaxed a little, only to find that after a day of fierce battle, they were now both tired and hungry. When they escaped, they were too busy running for their lives to think about bringing any dry rations. But this was no problem for Zhou Cang - no food? Ha! They weren't bandits for nothing; they could just rob some.

  It just so happened that there was a small mountain village in front, and Zhou Cang's men immediately rushed up, kicking open the door of a villager's house. The family of several people inside were frightened pale, trembling with fear. Fortunately, these robbers only looted food and did not intend to harm their lives. Many people in this mountain village made a living by hunting, although there was no grain, but wild chickens, wild boars and other game were abundant. Those few men rushed out of the door with their loot to report back to Zhou Cang.

  Before they could even open their mouths, a loud shout was heard: "You mountain bandits from where, dare to run amok in Zhaojia Village, under the bright daylight, actually robbing people's homes!"

  Zhou Cang saw him, and behind him appeared a young man, dressed in hunting attire with coarse linen clothes, holding an iron spear in his hand, riding a thin horse. Although he looked lean, he was spirited and shouted loudly. Zhou Cang was furious, thinking that even though he was defeated by Fenghuang Mountain, he was still the master of a camp, and it was not for some rustic village husband to lecture him. He turned to Pei Yuanshao and said: "Yuanshao, take care of him!"

  Pei Yuanshao rode his horse and charged at the young hunter with his spear, shouting: "Looking for death!"

  Peng Duanliao's spear thrust forward, aided by the momentum of his horse, and stabbed straight at the young hunter's chest. The young hunter gave a cold glance, raised his gun to meet it, and lightly deflected Peng Duanliao's spear with his own. Then, like lightning, the iron spear pierced Peng Duanliao's throat before he could even react. Peng Duanliao's eyes widened in death, and he didn't even have a chance to let out a dying scream as his corpse fell under the horse.

  Zhou Cang was furious, Pei Yuanshao had been his brother for many years, and they had gone through several life-and-death battles together. Even today's siege of Fenghuang Mountain had not resulted in any losses, but now he was killed by an unknown hunter in this small mountain village. Enraged, Zhou Cang shouted: "Second brother! Brothers, chop him up for me! Avenge Second Master!"

  Those several dozen rascals all rushed up together, surrounding the young hunter in the middle, and with a flurry of blades, went straight for his life.

  That young hunter had no fear, his eyes full of disdain, an iron spear in his hand dancing like a whirlwind, those dozens of rascals couldn't even get close to him, let alone shoot him, another incense stick's worth of time and more than ten rascals were hung.

  Zhou Cang's eyes turned red with rage, and he was about to charge forward and fight, when suddenly a loud and urgent horseshoe sound came from the northwest. Zhou Cang took a look and secretly cried out in alarm, as it turned out that Liu Ze and Guan Yu were chasing after him. He didn't even have time to call out to his men, and he quickly turned his horse around and fled.

  Guan Yu saw Zhou Cang about to flee and shouted loudly: "Bandit, don't run!"

  He galloped after him. Guan Yu's mount was a superior steed, a large red Heng horse, its four hooves pounding like arrows flying off the string, and in an instant it had caught up with Zhou Cang from behind. Zhou Cang's soul was frightened out of his body, and in his confusion he turned around and struck with his sword, but this blow could not harm Guan Yu in the slightest.

  Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade flashed like a streak of light across the sky, heading straight for Zhou Cang's head. Zhou Cang's vision went dark as he fell off his horse, thinking to himself that his time had come.

  He fell from his horse to the ground, naturally getting a bit battered and bruised, seeing stars before his eyes. But when Zhou Cang reached out to touch his neck, his head was still firmly attached, it turned out that Guan Yu's knife had only cut through his helmet.

  Guan Yu sat on horseback, pointing at Zhou Cang with the tip of his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, shouting: "Zhou Cang, will you surrender or not?"

  Zhou Cang looked up and saw that the man on horseback was majestic and awe-inspiring, like a war god standing there. He was shocked and frightened, and hastily bowed his head: "Zhou Cang is willing to follow General's horse, serving as a humble servant."

  Guan Yu was overjoyed and said: "Good, get up."

  On the other side, Liu Ze saw a group of Louluo surrounding and attacking a young hunter. He waved his hand, and several guards following him charged forward with their swords. These guards were elite warriors from Fenghuang Valley, and in no time at all, they had defeated more than half of the dozens of Louluo surrounding the young hunter, and the rest laid down their arms and surrendered.

  Liu Ze glanced at Pei Yuanshao, who was now lying straight on the cold ground, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, a hole in his throat gushing blood. Ah, what a pity, Pei Yuanshao might not even be considered a third-rate general, but he was still a historical figure with a name, and even an ant's leg is made of flesh, it's still a loss if you can't subdue him, it seems that in the end, he was just a man who died a violent death.

  At this time, Liu Ze was more interested in the young hunter in front of him. He could kill Pei Yuanshao with one shot and remain calm under the siege of a large group of desperate mountain bandits. He must not be an ordinary person, maybe he is also a famous general in the Three Kingdoms.

  Liu Ze dismounted his horse and walked up to the young hunter, cupping his hands in greeting: "This gentleman is truly skilled, but I don't know what to call him?"

  Young Hunter saw Liu Ze wearing armor, naturally took him as an official, apparently he had no great affection for officials, but just now Liu Ze's men did help him out of trouble, out of politeness returned a courtesy, saying: "General Hui, I am a humble commoner, surname Zhao name Yun, style Zi Long."

  Zhao Yun!!! Liu Ze was greatly shocked, never expecting that his idol from his past life would appear before him like this. His blood surged and his brain went blank in just a few seconds. Excitedly grabbing onto his hand, he shouted loudly: "Zhao Yun Zhao Zilong, is it really you?!"