The First Volume Chapter One That Soul-destroying Sword

  In the fifth year of Jian'an, in April.

  Baima Ferry

  Innumerable birds in flight rise from their perches in the forest, making a confused and alarmed noise as they pass through the western sunset.

  A fierce gust of wind swept in from the Yellow River like a sharp blade, blowing across White Horse City and dispersing the thick smoke on the city walls thread by thread.

  Knives and guns stand upright, military atmosphere is like a forest, 10,000 Hebei soldiers are lined up in formation.

  The awe-inspiring military might, made the arrogant and fierce winds also have to calm down and quieten, in front of the vast army formation, they stopped abruptly, only able to hold their breath and gently stroke those banners.

  A black war flag billowed like a rolling giant wave, and on one side of the red flag was particularly eye-catching, with a huge "Yan" character embroidered on it.

  Under the great flag, a young general with a sturdy build and a cold face was quietly gazing at the western highway.

  He wore a delicate black armor, holding a large iron knife in his hand, and his half-open eyes shot out a sharp gaze.

  He is Yan Liang, the famous general of Hebei.

  A lone horseman emerged from the west, kicking up clouds of dust, and rode through layers of sentries to arrive directly in front of Yan Liang's horse.

  "Report to General Cao: tens of thousands of troops are rushing towards Baima, the vanguard has already arrived twenty miles away."

  Upon hearing the scout's report, Yan Liang nodded slightly and muttered to himself: "Indeed, it is just as I expected..."

  The generals on both sides heard this intelligence and were all shocked by it.

  But on their faces, there was no fear, but rather an unbelievable astonishment.

  "Cao's bandit is attacking Yanjin, indeed it is a case of 'making a loud noise in the east while striking in the west', General, you truly are godlike in your calculations."

  Deputy General Ma Yan couldn't help but applaud with his hands, and the rest of the generals all echoed in agreement.

  Yan Liang's mouth corner only slightly glanced, as if to ignore the praise of his generals, and with a big knife in hand, he shouted: "The Cao army is approaching, the whole army prepares for battle!"

  The signal flag waves, and the order is conveyed layer by layer with a red commander's flag at its center.

  In an instant, the nerves of the 10,000 Hebei soldiers were all tense, and they all gripped their weapons tightly.

  Yan Liang gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his eyes gleaming like a blade, staring straight ahead.

  At the end of the main road, rolling smoke and dust gradually rose, and many war horses and human heads appeared and disappeared in the mist. A hastily advancing army, like a ghost emerging from the underworld, was rushing towards this place with a fierce expression.

  Guan Er Ge, you've finally arrived?

  It was the spring of that year, Yuan Shao, the fourth generation of three dukes, possessed Hebei and the four states of You, Yan, Qing, and Bing. He launched a southern expedition to conquer Cao Cao's territory, selecting 100,000 infantrymen and over 10,000 iron cavalrymen. With a mighty army, he marched southward, advancing to the northern bank of the Yellow River at Linyang, a strategic town, with his military strength directly aimed at Xuchang.

  Yanjin and Baima lie west and east of each other, they are two important ferry crossings on the south bank of the Yellow River. If Yuan's army is to cross the Yellow River smoothly, it must capture one of them.

  Yuan Shao soon dispatched Yan Liang with a force of 10,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Baima in the east, intending to use it as the main crossing point for his army's advance south.

  A few days ago, Yuan Shao suddenly received intelligence that Cao's main force was planning to go north from Yanjin and attack the rear of Yuan's army. Upon hearing this news, Yuan Shao immediately led his main force to hurry towards Yanjin.

  Yan Liang, who was well-read in the Three Kingdoms, knew that Cao Cao's plan was a case of "making a feint to the east while attacking in the west".

  Cao Cao's goal was to take advantage of luring Yuan Shao's main force to Yanjin, and suddenly turn around to launch a surprise attack on the siege of Baima by Yan Liang's troops.

  Actually, Yan Liang now is a person whose body is Yan Liang's but soul comes from a modern man one thousand eight hundred years later.

  He used to be just a small clerk who suffered from office struggles, but after a dinner party, he accidentally hit and killed a large truck driver while driving drunk.

  The moment before he lost consciousness, he vaguely remembered that he was being rescued on the operating table, but for some reason, when he opened his eyes, his soul had crossed into Yan Liang's body.

  That fierce general who was said to be a match for Lü Bu in Yuan Shao's mouth, was inexplicably beheaded by Guan Yu with one knife in the Battle of Guandu, a tragic famous general.

  He made Guan Yu's reputation, but he himself became the unluckiest person in the Three Kingdoms.

  After merging with Ben Zun's consciousness, Yan Liang quickly adapted to the current situation and designed several routes for himself.

  Yan Liang initially wanted to change the outcome of the Battle of Guandu with his historical knowledge, helping Yuan Shao unify the world. However, after careful consideration, Yan Liang abandoned this idea.

  Yuan Shao, although possessing four states and claiming to be the number one vassal in the world, was outwardly generous but inwardly suspicious. The internal struggle between the Ru Nan scholars and the Hebei scholars never ended. On the surface, it looked strong, but in reality, there were contradictions everywhere, with crises lurking all around.

  Such a powerful but hollow group, even if Yan Liang used his knowledge of history to help the Yuan family win the Battle of Guandu, would probably still be unable to escape its ultimate demise.

  Yan Liang had also considered following the trend of the times and directly surrendering to Cao Cao.

  However, he thought again and again. Yuan Shao treated himself with kindness at the moment, if he betrayed Yuan Shao without reason, in this era of loyalty and righteousness, even if he sought talents like Cao Cao, on the surface he would respect him, but privately he would surely have some shame.

  Yan Liang could no longer bear living under suspicious eyes.

  Moreover, having had enough of looking at leaders' faces with a sense of oppression in one's past life, must one still continue to look at people's faces in this life?

  Yan Liang had had enough, he absolutely did not want to work for others again.

  "I have inherited Yan Liang's extraordinary martial arts skills, and I also have the reputation of a famous general. Moreover, I possess knowledge that transcends thousands of years of history. Why can't I, in this era of heroes competing for dominance, fight to secure my own place?"

  The wind hit the hilt of the knife in his hand, making a crisp rustling sound, and Yan Liang came back from his reverie.

  The dark line at the edge of the sky grew thicker and heavier, a distant and drawn-out horn sounded from the horizon, hollow as if coming from another world.

  In the infantry formation of the Hebei army, soldiers gripped their weapons tightly, eyes wide open, and anxiously looked out for the enemy who was about to arrive.

  Contending for dominance is still too early, what's urgent now is how to dodge Guan Erge's soul-stirring slash.

  Yan Liang's sword eyebrows condensed into a line, and he tightened his armor again. The veins on the back of his hand stood out like tree roots, and he gripped the steel knife even tighter.

  The earth is shaking, eardrums are rumbling, the yellow sky sets off the withered fields, fierce winds are whistling by my ears, and the wind slaps my face like a knife.

  Yan Liang felt his blood vessels gradually boiling, and a strange excitement surged in his chest.

  For some reason, he didn't have a hint of fear, but instead had an urgent desire to meet the nemesis of his fate.

  Guanshan Guan Yu, let your horse go, I'll have a good meeting with Yan Liang.

  At the end of the road, the dark line grew thicker and heavier, its southward movement speeding up, against the backdrop of distant thunder and trembling earth, the enemy's silhouette finally burst into view.

  That was not an ordinary Cao army, but a cavalry, Cao Cao's most elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

  Yan Liang's mouth curled up in a cold smile, and what he saw was exactly as he had expected.

  Cao Cao used his main force to pretend to attack Yanjin, but instead used a small number of cavalry to launch a surprise attack on Baima, intending to take advantage of the speed of the cavalry to catch them off guard. This is indeed a brilliant tactic for using cavalry.

  In contrast, Yuan Shao had several times more cavalry than Cao Cao, with excellent armor and mobility, but instead of using them for mobile warfare, he used them to besiege the White Horse.

  The ability of using troops is clearly distinguished by superior and inferior.

  "Cao Cao, you are indeed formidable, but unfortunately, no matter how much you calculated, you never could have anticipated that Yan Liang would be the biggest variable."

  Yan Liang's long sword swept horizontally, the military flag fluttered, and the war drums thundered to life. The will to fight of the 10,000 Hebei soldiers surged, their spirits focused as they prepared for a fierce battle cry.

  More than ten miles away.

  The rushing Cao army weakened its momentum, and thousands of light cavalry formed a battle array, facing off against the Hebei army at a distance of one li.

  Under the large flag with the character "Zhang" written on it, Zhang Liao reined in his horse and stood still, gazing at the formation of the Hebei army in front of him, his eyes gradually filling with a hint of solemnity.

  The sound of horseshoes rang out, and a rider galloped from the rear army.

  That man was nine feet tall, with a majestic physique like a mountain, his bright red face was like a burning flame.

  His black beard reached down to his abdomen, his phoenix eyes half-open and half-closed, majestic without being angry, the aura made all the Cao army officers lower their heads and not dare to look up.

  "Wen Yuan, why didn't you launch a surprise attack according to the Prime Minister's order?"

  That man rushed to the front of the formation, his voice like a loud bell, shaking people's eardrums slightly.

  Zhang Liao pointed to the army of Hebei and said, "Yunchang, look at this. The enemy's formation is strict and their flags are neat, it seems they have been prepared for a long time. In my opinion, we should wait until the Prime Minister's infantry arrives before making any plans."

  Guan Yu raised his head and glanced at the enemy formation, his eyes showing disdain. The corners of his mouth moved slightly as he said: "The Prime Minister's plan is like a god, how can Yuan's army have any defense? I think the Yuan army in front of us is just a bunch of useless trash, all bark and no bite."

  A kind of pride and arrogance that looks down on the world with disdain.

  "Although that's true, Yan Liang is a valiant general from Hebei after all, so it's better not to underestimate him." Compared to Guan Yu, Zhang Liao had to be much more cautious.

  Guan Yu let out a cold snort, his gaze piercing through the vast wilderness and fixing on the enemy general under that red great banner.

  Guan Yu knew that he was the legendary General of Hebei, Yan Liang.

  "What a Hebei Xiaojiang, in my eyes, is nothing but a rebel who will be beheaded, just wait and see me take his head."

  Before his words had fallen, Guan Yu urged on Red Hare, and like a red lightning the horse shot out.

  "Yun Chang——"

  Zhang Liao was greatly shocked and wanted to stop him, but Guan Yu had already gone more than ten steps away.

  One man and one horse, under the gaze of the generals of both armies, galloped across the vast plain towards Yan Liang.

  The red hare horse galloped like the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it was only over two hundred paces away from the River North army formation.

  The Hebei army soon produced a small commotion, and Deputy General Ma Yan pointed ahead and said: "General Yan, look quickly, there is a lone rider in the Cao army formation who is rushing towards us."

  No need for him to remind, Yan Liang, who had always been on high alert, had already noticed.

  In his field of vision, that robust figure was gradually approaching. On the lower half of that person's body, there seemed to be a dazzling giant snake like fire swirling around, as if in a dream or fantasy.

  It wasn't until they got closer that they saw clearly that the raging flames were actually a gigantic crimson warhorse.

  The war horse's long, sturdy legs, the strip-shaped muscles attached to them, seemed to be cast in steel, its sleek skin shining like a fierce flame, and in the whistling wind, the red mane dancing with the wind seemed to be a thousand fiery snakes slithering.

  The White-Haired Girl, Red Hare Horse!

  Guan Yu, you've finally arrived.

  Yan Liang's heart suddenly tightened up. Although he had inherited Ben Zun's martial arts skills, he had never fought with anyone since crossing over and didn't know his true abilities.

  In this case, Yan Liang would never be stupid enough to go and block Guan Yu's one sword.

  Just as Yan Liang was about to give the order, a hail of arrows shot and killed Guan Yu who was rushing over. However, Ma Yan said: "General Yan, I remember that Liu Shuaijun mentioned before he left that he had a sworn brother named Guan Yu, with a face like a date, a long beard down to his belly, and liked to wear a green hat. He might be among Cao's army. If he comes over, we should take good care of him."

  Yan Liang's mind suddenly shook, and the doubts that had been troubling him for a long time were instantly resolved.

  It's no wonder that Yan Liang, who was said to be a match for Lü Bu by Yuan Shao, would be killed in one move by Guan Yu. It turns out they were all doomed by Liu Bei's parting words!

  Yan Liang was suddenly enlightened when Guan Yu had already charged within over a hundred steps, the upside-down Qinglong knife reflecting a fierce chill.

  Although a hundred paces away, Yan Liang seemed to have already felt Guan Yu's extremely strong killing intent.

  Life and death, at this moment.