Chapter Eleven: Zhang Fei Meets Wang Lin

  Seeing Chen Jun retreat, he was overjoyed and hastily put Xiao Mohe on the ground, feeling a great relief in his heart. Just now, that loud roar, he was majestic and powerful, like a fierce Zhang Fei, scaring off the enemy, but at this moment, he felt extremely weak.

  It's not clear if Zhang Fei was really that loud in history, but he already had a "fierce reputation" outside, and his tall and powerful build could intimidate people. On the other hand, Zhao Yun was different, being less than 1.7 meters tall and looking as beautiful as a woman, without any intimidating power at all. That one loud shout was actually Zhao Yun exhausting his entire body's nine layers of true energy, using a special method to shout it out.

  Xiao Mohe's horse was killed instantly, and he himself became a prisoner. The brave Xiao Mohe was captured with one move, and when he saw the countless Northern Qi cavalry rushing towards him from afar, how could the Chen army soldiers not be frightened and retreat?

  Chen Jun retreated, but Gao Xing didn't dare to relax at all. His right hand still tightly grasped the vital point on Xiao Mohe's neck, in case he suddenly counterattacked. Fortunately, Wang Lin and Changsun Honglie had already led 10,000 Northern Qi soldiers to rush over.

  "Halt!" Wang Lin only said a single word "halt", but he had already leapt off his horse and rushed towards Gao Xing, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.

  "General, Wang Lin has arrived and pays his respects!" Wang Lin came before Gao Xing, first clasping his fists and bowing.

  "It turned out to be the renowned General Wang Lin, and I'm thrilled beyond words! The general is indeed majestic and awe-inspiring, far surpassing his reputation!" High-flying exclaimed with a bright smile.

  "General Gao is overpraising me, I'm just a mere martial man. General Gao lent a helping hand and saved the lives of tens of thousands of sons of our Great Qi, I thank you for that!" As he spoke, Wang Lin bowed deeply with gratitude.

  Delighted, he couldn't help but step aside and hastily dissuade him, saying: "General Wang, you absolutely cannot do this great courtesy, how can I be worthy of it? If it weren't for the general leading the troops to kill us, with just my own strength, how could I resist the tens of thousands of Chen's army?"

  "General Gao is too modest, don't say it was me, Wang Lin, who paid respects to you. Even if I had paid my respects ten times, you would still deserve it! You single-handedly retreated from the tens of thousands of Chen troops, and captured Xiao Mohe alive. Your heroic spirit is truly unmatched, your bravery and strength unparalleled, not even inferior to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei!" Wang Lin said sincerely, looking at Gao with admiration.

  With a happy smile, he said no more. Only to hear Wang Lin continue: "Our army of 40,000 against Chen's army of 30,000, yet suffered a great defeat and fled in disarray. This is the fault of our commanders! Now these nearly 20,000 soldiers owe their lives to General alone, thank you General!"

  Wang Lin's face turned red with shame, and he adjusted his clothes before bowing again. Seeing that Gao Xing was about to dodge once more, Wang Lin's expression turned stern, and he pretended to be angry, saying: "If the general dodges again, it means you look down on me, Wang Lin!"

  With a wry smile, he put down the foot he had raised and said, "General Wang, don't be troubled. You and I are both subjects of the great Qi state. It's only right that I help you - what merit is there in that? You're too polite."

  After the ceremony, Wang Lin stood up and looked at the excited gaze, which became more gentle, with a face of admiration, saying: "General Gao seems young, but his vision is extraordinary, Wang Lin admires!"

  At this time, those red-clad knights had rushed to the front, with only five hundred men. The leader was Shang Buqi. Behind the knights, a thousand infantrymen were rushing over from afar.

  "Are those cavalrymen you brought? I didn't know General Gao was from around here, and yet he arrived so promptly to assist!" Wang Lin looked at the cavalrymen with a puzzled expression.

  "General, what you said is correct. I, Gaoxing, have come to assist you with 1,700 troops under the order of my father."

  "What? Your father is...?" Wang Lin's eyebrows furrowed, and then her eyes suddenly widened.

  Smiling and nodding, Wang Lin continued to ask in a low voice: "Is your Majesty still well?"

  "Thank you for your concern, General! My father is doing well. However, the Chen army's momentum is fierce and Xuancheng is in a precarious position. But our military preparations have been lax for too long, I fear we can't withstand even one blow. My father sent me here to not only cheer you on but also to let the soldiers see some blood and fire, to boost their morale."

  Wang Lin's face was somewhat gloomy, shaking his head and sighing: "The king is devoted to the country, but ends up in such a situation, it's really..."

  Gaoxing laughed and said: "My father has never been very enthusiastic about fame and wealth, it's just that the emperor has always not allowed him to resign." Gaoxing took a look at the Chen Jun prisoners who were still slightly frightened behind him, and asked Wang Lin: "General, what do you think should be done with these captives?"

  Wang Lin said: "These Chen troops were surrendered by General Gao, so it's up to you to dispose of them!"

  "General, you are of the same generation as my father, just call me by name! It's not suitable for me to deal with the captives!" he said happily.

  "Haha......" Wang Lin burst out laughing and said, "If that's the case, then I'll follow your lead. And you don't have to call me General anymore, just call me Uncle Wang!"

  "General, are you alright?!" Shang Buqi didn't even bother to tidy up his troops, jumping off his horse and rushing to Gaoxing's side, his voice a little stiff but full of concern.

  Delighted and smiling, he hastily said: "Don't be polite, this is King Wang Lin of Balings' general, quickly pay your respects! Uncle Wang, this is my deputy general Shang Buqi!"

  He still didn't abandon his military bearing, saluting with a stern expression, not wavering in the slightest due to Wang Lin's identity. His rugged and strict military demeanor earned Wang Lin's admiration, making her like him even more.

  "Don't give up, let's regroup!"

  "Uncle Wang, you'd better deal with these captives. This time I only brought a few days' worth of rations, and if we add these people, I'm afraid we won't be able to return to Xuyi! Besides, with these captives in hand, the Emperor won't pursue us too much even if we lose this battle!" Wait Shang didn't abandon his orders and left, excitedly pointing at the captives and frowning.

  Wang Lin smiled gratefully and lowered his voice, saying: "Xianzhong thought it through, thank you, Uncle. However, the main general this time is not me, and that Wei Pu Hu didn't listen to my advice, so there's no way to avoid defeat! The food for a thousand people, I'll give it to you, Uncle!"

  Delighted, he said: "Thank you, Uncle Wang."

  At this time, Zhangsun Honglie had already reorganized the Qi army that had been killed and came to report to Wang Lin. Wang Lin introduced the two to each other, but did not say that Gao Xing was sent by Gao Changgong, only saying that Gao Xing led his troops to suppress bandits and happened to meet here.

  Looking at Shang, he didn't give up and used a very short time to sort out more than 1,000 soldiers, without any chaos. Wang Lin was surprised and stared with wide eyes, saying: "Nephew is indeed talented, your soldiers may not be elite, but they have a calm atmosphere and strict discipline, given time, they will definitely become an iron-blooded army!"

  Delighted, he shook his head and said: "Uncle Wang has overpraised me, I don't have such skills, it's all thanks to my father's rigorous training!"

  "So it was Lord Hou? No wonder!" Zhangsun Hong's eyes widened in sudden realization, and then his face darkened as he sighed and lamented: "Lord Hou has always been skilled in battle and adept at deploying troops. Yet, during this time of national crisis, he is not being utilized... Alas..."

  Gao Xing and Wang Lin both fell silent, regarding Gao Changgong's situation, everyone was very clear about what had happened, but they didn't dare to discuss it casually, and could only sigh with emotion.

  "Report to General, assembly is complete, please instruct!" Shang Buqi's voice woke up several people.

  "Send someone to take these prisoners away." he said with delight.

  Chang Sun Hong looked puzzled and asked: "General Gao, you only have a little over a thousand men, how can you have the momentum of tens of thousands of cavalry?"

  "Ha ha! Does the general still remember what Zhang Fei did at Changban Slope?"

  Delighted, they had many large trees cut down, pulled by horses to run swiftly, raising a vast amount of dust. The remaining infantry shouted wildly, one wave higher than the other, and from a distance it seemed like ten thousand cavalry were galloping, but in reality there were only five hundred.

  "Ah, I see!" Changsun Hong and Wang Lin looked at each other in surprise, both of them beaming with delight.

  "You little scamp, you're indeed cunning!" Xiao Mohe's face was filled with regret and anger as he glared at Gao Xing.

  "Xiao Mohai, you alone beheaded dozens of our elite soldiers before, with an aura that intimidated all eight directions. Now, how dare you boast about your eloquence!" Zhangsun Hong looked at Xiao Mohai with a hint of indignation.

  Xiao Mohe's face turned red with rage, his eyes bulging as he shouted: "You little scamp, it's all because my horse isn't up to the task!"

  "A soldier may not despise deceit, but once defeated, he is defeated indeed. You have exceptional bravery, but no exceptional tolerance, you are just a rough man!" He glanced at Xiao Moye with disdain and turned his head away, as if looking at him for another second would tarnish his own eyes.

  "YOU!" Xiao Mohe was furious, his face red and ears burning, struggling to get up, but the acupoints were sealed by Gaoxing, unable to exert any strength, could only glare at Gaoxing with raging anger.

  He smiled and said: "You don't accept defeat?" Without waiting for Xiao Moye to speak, he continued: "Even if I didn't cheat, I would still beat you!"

  Xiao Mohe's face was full of disbelief, and he shouted loudly: "Let me go, let's have a rematch!"

  "Ha! You're my captive, why would I let you go easily?" Seeing Xiao Moye's anger rising again, he said indifferently: "But we can have a rematch if you agree to two conditions of mine."

  "What conditions?" Xiao Mohe hastily asked.

  "Firstly, the location and time of our duel will be decided by me. Before we engage in combat, you are not allowed to escape or harm me in any way. Even if you were to kill a villain from my country, it would be unacceptable!"

  "You!" Xue Moye was furious, while Wang Lin and Changsun Hong looked at each other in dismay.

  "Secondly, if I win you, you will have to surrender to me. How about that?" Kaixing said with a smile, looking at Xiao Mohe with a sly gaze.

  "No way, I am Xiao Moye, a real man, how can I betray my master?" Xiao Moye said loudly.

  Laughing happily, "Traitor? Hehe, good birds choose wood to perch, don't you know? Let me tell you one more thing, I can read faces, and your fate is destined to betray Master Chen."

  "Impossible! Are you afraid to compete with me, fearing that I will kill you? Using these ghostly words to deceive me? Rest assured, I won't harm you. If I defeat you, I'll leave on my own accord, I swear!" Xiao Mohe guaranteed.

  "No, no, no." Gao Xing shook his head and continued: "I didn't deceive you. The reason you betrayed Lord Chen is that your wife had an affair with Lord Chen and made a cuckold of you. That concubine's surname was Ren!"

  Looking at Gao Xing's happy and serious face, both Wang Lin and Chang Sun Hong were suspecting whether Gao Xing would really be able to see the future.

  “Not……” Xiao Mohe's face changed, and he was about to retort, but Yu stopped him. Before the expedition, he had just married a concubine named Ren. Ren was only 28 years old, with a beautiful face and figure, icy skin and jade bones, her body slender and charming, full of charm everywhere, which made Xiao Mohe very fond of her. Even officials and generals in the same court who knew about Ren were not many, let alone Gao Xing, who was nearly a thousand miles away.

  "How is it? General Xiao, have you considered it? If you win, I will let you go, and will not make things difficult for you. What do you say?"

  "Alright, it's settled!" Xiao Moye suddenly raised his head, gritted his teeth and said loudly.

  After making a pact with Xiao Mohe, he laughed happily, his eyes gleaming with cunning light. His smile was radiant, comparable to the beauty of a woman, which left Wang Lin and Changsun Hong slightly stunned.

  "Do not abandon, give a horse to General Xiao, do not be slow!" He happily released Xiao Mohe, stretched out his hand and patted the dust on his clothes.

  Xiao Mohan hummed and walked towards Shang Buqi. He smiled happily, without a care, looked at Wang Lin and Changsun Honglie, and cupped his hands: "Uncle Wang, General Changsun, I'm afraid my father will worry, so I'll take my leave!"

  "Alright, give my regards to your respected father, and be careful on the way, young nephew!" Wang Lin said with a smile, patting his excited shoulder.

  "General Wang, what about Xiao Mohai..." Looking at Xiao Mohai who was already surrounded by the Xueyuan guards, Changsun Hong furrowed his brow, wanting to say something, but was directly interrupted by Wang Lin.

  "General Zhangsun, Chen Jun saw that our army was too powerful and fled in the wind. As for Xiao Mohe's departure, you and I don't know." Wang Lin looked deeply at Zhangsun Honglie, shook his head lightly and turned to Gao Xing: "Nephew, be careful on your way, I'll have someone give you some food."

  "Thank you, Uncle Wang, General Changsun. Take care of yourselves, we'll meet again!" After taking the rice and grains from Wang Lin's place, he happily bid farewell with a bow and returned to his camp, leading his troops in an orderly departure.

  They watched with joy as the 1,700 troops marched away in an orderly fashion, and soon disappeared from view. Wang Lin and Changsun Hong both let out a long sigh. Wang Lin said: "General Changsun, we should also hurry up and join forces with General Wei Ba Hu, the crisis at Shi Liang City has not been lifted yet, there are still tough battles to be fought!"

  Chang Sun Hong nodded in agreement, and the two of them reorganized their troops before quickly leaving the area.