Chapter 9: Is he your second grandfather?

  (Yan Liang needs your support and votes)

  The night is like ink pouring down.

  Outside the camp, in the forest, more than 3,000 people crouched down, crawling in the grass.

  Zhou Cang, with a face as black as coal, held a large knife and gazed coldly at the brightly lit camp outside the forest.

  "Lao Zhou, do you think this battalion of Hebei soldiers has discovered our ambush?" asked Pei Yuanshao with a suspicious look on his face.

  Zhou Cang snorted, "How many times have we ambushed government troops on this road without being discovered? I don't believe the Hebei army can see through our plan just because they're new here."

  As they spoke, Zhou Cang's hand grasped the steel knife tightly, with blue veins bulging on the back of his hand, and a murderous aura surged across his ferocious face.

  "That's what they say, but I've heard that the Hebei army is led by the fierce general Yan Liang. This man has exceptional martial arts skills, and in the Battle of White Horse, even General Guan Yu was defeated by him. You and I are no match for him, so let's just forget about this vote."

  The significance of the Battle of Guandu was extraordinary. Even a bandit like Gao Gan, who had fled to the mountains and forests, was concerned about the progress of the war at all times.

  Those traveling merchants from the north continuously spread the news of Guan Yu's battles throughout the land south and north of the Yangtze River.

  In fact, Yan Liang and Guan Yu only fought to a draw, but after being passed on by word of mouth, it was processed by countless mouths, and the battle became a great defeat for Yan Liang at the hands of Guan Yu.

  Zhou Cang had always idolized Guan Yu, and upon hearing that Guan Yu was defeated by Yan Liang, he naturally harbored deep hatred for Yan Liang.

  And this is exactly why he, a mere bandit, dared to come down the mountain and rob a fully armed regular cavalry troop.

  Zhou Cang wants to avenge his idol Guan Yu's shame.

  "General Guan is a god-like general born from heaven, how can Yan Liang be his match? What we've heard must be rumors. Tonight, I will personally put an end to Yan Liang and shatter these rumors!"

  Zhou Cang's eyes widened into circles, and a fierce aura burst forth from his entire body.

  In his view, he was a thousand miles inferior to Guan Yu. If even he could defeat Yan Liang, how could Guan Yu be defeated by Yan Liang's hands? The so-called rumors would naturally collapse on their own.

  Pei Yuanshao wanted to wait and speak again, but Zhou Cang suddenly drew his long sword horizontally and shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me into the camp, kill all the enemies, and seize their horses, money, and grain!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Cang spurred his horse and rushed out of the forest.

  Behind him, thousands of Yellow Turbans suddenly moved, this group of disheveled bandits, holding all sorts of weapons, charged towards Yan Liang's camp with great momentum.

  Pei Yuanshao had no choice but to also ride out and follow him up.

  The three thousand Yellow Turbans charged like a broken bamboo, and broke through the camp without any effort. Zhou Cang was at the forefront, riding his horse and charging straight towards the commander's tent with his sword in hand.

  It was only strange for Zhou Cang that all the way through, all the camps were empty and desolate, without a single enemy in sight, as if it were an abandoned camp.

  Zhou Cang's heart gradually surged with a faint sense of foreboding, and he realized that he might have fallen into a trap.

  Just then, the central army's large tent appeared before his eyes, and he could even see a military general reading under the candlelight.

  "This must be Yan Liang, never mind whether he is ambushing or not, I'll kill him first with one slash of the knife and then talk."

  Zhou Cang's eyes were bloodshot, his hot blood surging upwards, he slapped his horse and brandished his sword, shouting loudly as he charged into the tent.

  Inside the big account, Yan Liang slowly put down the bamboo slips, slanting his eyes to stare at the black-faced thief who was rushing over, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

  The enemy will launch a surprise attack, but he remains unmoved, without even blinking his eyes.

  "Bandit, surrender!"

  On the ground, pits and steep slopes suddenly appear.

  Zhang Fei swung his long spear and charged forward, but suddenly felt the ground beneath him give way, and he tumbled into a pit along with his horse.

  Just as the warehouse fell into the pit, the sound of cannons suddenly rose around the camp, accompanied by the rumbling sound of horseshoes. Countless iron cavalry emerged from the darkness, like Asura warriors escaping from hell, charging and killing from all sides.

  Thousands of Yellow Turbans who had been duped, were already in a state of panic and their hearts instantly sank into the depths of fear as they were suddenly ambushed.

  These mobs, whether in combat effectiveness or quality, are far from being comparable to Yan Liang's elite cavalry. Now that they have fallen into the ambush, they naturally collapsed instantly.

  A thousand light cavalry charged in, like tigers entering a flock of sheep. The blades hacked at the fleeing enemy, and the hooves ruthlessly trampled over the bloody bodies of the enemy.

  Where the iron horse passes, blood flows like rivers.

  Pei Yuanshao saw Zhou Cang fall into the pit, and in his fright he was just thinking of going forward to rescue him when the enemy's ambushing troops appeared on all sides, and in an instant Pei Yuanshao was frightened out of his wits.

  At this critical moment, he didn't care about his companions' lives and turned his horse's head to escape from the camp.

  It's just that it's too late now.

  Yan Liang emerged from the great account, riding a black war horse, and galloped straight out in pursuit.

  Yan Liang's warhorse was a fine horse from Youzhou, how could it be compared to Pei Yuanshao's inferior cavalry?

  In the blink of an eye, Yan Liang had caught up from behind, his long knife wielding a sharp wind, transforming into a fan-shaped blade that chopped straight towards Pei Yuanshao.

  Pei Yuanshao heard the knife wind sweeping in, and in his haste to escape, he hastily turned his spear around to block it, summoning all his strength to try and deflect Yan Liang's blade.

  The clay chicken and tile dog will fight once!

  A cracking sound was heard, and blood splattered everywhere.

  Yan Liang's blade was like a raging wave, and it cut off Pei Yuanshao along with his spear, slicing him in two at the waist.

  Yan Liang was beheaded with one sword, dragging a bloody big knife, and killing into the fleeing enemy group with a strong wind. Where the blade passed, no life was left.

  In a short time, more than 3,000 Yellow Turbans were killed, with blood flowing like rivers. Only a small number of them managed to escape back into the mountains.

  When Yan Liang, who had killed the enemy general, turned his horse back, Zhou Cang, who had fallen into the pit, was pulled out by a hook and tied up tightly all over his body.

  Yan Liang didn't even give him a second glance and walked straight towards Xu You who was approaching.

  "Master Ziyuan, is this play worth watching?" Yan Liang jumped off his horse and asked with a smile.

  Xu You looked at the corpses all over the ground, and his face clearly showed a few shades of astonishment.

  He was not shocked by the tragic scene on the spot, but was amazed at Yan Liang's plan to lure and kill the enemy.

  In Xu You's view, Yan Liang was indeed brave, but lacked strategic thinking.

  He originally thought that Yan Liang would use direct and forceful means, using his powerful strength to destroy those Yellow Turbans, but unexpectedly, Yan Liang had unexpectedly used this almost bloodless strategy.

  The superior military strategist only attacks by clever tactics, this is the highest form of generalship.

  "General Yan's plan is very... quite good." Xun Yu squeezed out a few words from between his teeth, seeming somewhat forced, yet having to admit it.

  Yan Liang burst out laughing and turned around, shouting: "Bring that notorious thief over here!"

  Several soldiers dragged Zhou Cang over with his whole body tied up.

  Although disheveled and bound like a rice dumpling, the tiger-like warrior still had an angry expression on his face, without any hint of fear.

  "Who are you, a thief? Report your name!" Yan Liang said coldly, looking down at him.

  Zhou Cang glared angrily at Yan Liang, saying in a stern voice: "I am Zhou Cang of Mount Wudang. If you want to kill me, then kill me. I won't even frown."

  It's indeed Zhou Cang, this temperament is really just like in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

  "This is General Yan Liang under the command of Lord Yuan, who has come to take charge of the Yellow Turbans in Runan on behalf of Lord Yuan. You are a member of the Yellow Turbans, why do you oppose me?" Yan Liang asked.

  Zhou Cang learned that the man in front of him was Yan Liang, and he became even more furious, saying: "You insulted General Guan Yu, so I must avenge General Guan."

  In the novel, Zhou Cang admired Guan Yu greatly before joining him, and Yan Liang was naturally aware of this.

  But once he thought of Baima, Guan Yu's actions when he chopped without distinguishing between right and wrong made Yan Liang feel uncomfortable.

  Zhou Cang claimed that he wanted to avenge Guan Yu, Yan Liang said discontentedly: "The matter between the general and Guan Yu, what kind of heart do you have? Is Guan Yu your uncle?"

  "General Guan is a hero in my eyes, I admire him. You offend General Guan, you offend me." Zhou Cang's face turned red with rage as he shouted.

  Zhou Cang cursed, not putting Yan Liang in his eyes at all. The Hebei soldiers on both sides were furious and gnashed their teeth, wishing to cut this bandit into pieces to avenge Yan Liang.

  Xu You beside him couldn't help but say: "He's just an ignorant bandit, why bother talking to him, just behead him with one sword."

  If it were some other Yellow Turban rebel who dared to be so arrogant, Yan Liang would have cut him down with a single sword strike long ago.

  However, the one in front of him is different. This is a martial arts general who has been ranked in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. At a time when half of the world's good talents have returned to their masters, even someone like this second- or third-rate talent is enough to make Yan Liang reluctant to give up.

  "Didn't expect Zhou Cang to have such a strong foundation with Guan Yu. Hmph, I don't believe I won't be able to subdue you..."