Underneath Xiapi, a group of soldiers waving the banners of Xiahou De was solemnly looking at this ancient city.
“Brother Liu Mang, are you certain that this is going to work?!” A soldier wearing ordinary Cao army outfit and holding a spear whispered to another soldier.
Surrounding them from all sides was Cao army. If they mess up, they likely will be annihilated.
“Don’t worry! Even if we can’t get our revenge, can’t kill the two traitors Wei Xu and Song Xian, but to break out from here is still feasible!” That’s right, these two soldiers are Liu Mang and Lu Bu who have taken off their armor. In actuality, Liu Mang’s palms were already covered in sweat.
With a height of ten meters and a thickness of seven meters, this was the city defense of Xiapi!
Back during the day it still belonged to Boss Lu, but now Boss Cao had taken over it.
If it wasn’t for Guo Jia’s tactics of redirecting the waters of Yi and Si rivers to flood Xiapi, perhaps Boss Lu really could defend against Boss Cao’s siege.
Alas, there exists no such thing as ‘if’ in this world.
Currently what they are about to do is to break out of this thousand year old ancient city.
“Revenge!” Lu Bu held his head high looking at the tall building in front of him. It was the White Gate Tower, the building that indicates Xiapi, the place that almost cost him his life.
“By the order of the Prime Minister, general Xiahou De is permitted to return to camp!” A messenger with a loud voice shouted on the city gate.
“By the order of the Prime Minister, general Xiahou De is permitted to return to camp!” One by one, the orders quickly transmitted through the banners.
“kakakakaka!” The gates of Xiapi slowly opened.
The expressions of Liu Mang and Lu Bu gradually got more cheerful.
Right at this moment, bold laughters was heard from the walls. Immediately this voice cause Liu Mang and Lu Bu to tighten their hearts.
“Miaocai oh Miaocai, didn’t I say you’re overly concerned? Look at how valiant and formidable looking our Xiahou clan’s tiger cub is!”
“Cao Cao, this is Cao Cao’s voice!” Lu Bu had dealt with Cao Cao before - in Dongzhou’s mansion back in Luoyang, in the Hulao Pass, and a couple months ago when Cao Cao asked him to surrender! Thus, Lu Bu was familiar with Cao Cao’s voice.
“Prime Minister need not praise him too much. This kid is like an ox, refusing to move unless he was to be met with a couple more whips!” Seeing his nephew’s banner and the standing army, Xiahou Yuan gradually calmed down. He even called Cao Cao by his title.
“An unpolished jade is precisely one that requires guidance, ha ha! Come come come, let’s go look at Miaoren! Having cleaned up the Lu Bu army remnants, Miaoren certainly tried very hard!” The laughing Cao Cao brought with him Xiahou Yuan and the other scholars and generals and proceed to walk down the city gate tower and toward the camp.
“Boss Lu remain calm, calm!” Liu Mang placed his hand on Lu Bu’s. Lu Bu was currently trembling. He was trembling with rage. In particular, he was in rage because of a general behind Cao Cao! Liu Mang had already met Wei Xu and Song Xian, thus the only other person who could make Lu Bu anger like so was Hou Cheng!
Liu Mang was very scared that Boss Lu would just rush out screaming ‘Hou Cheng, prepare to die!’ and then they all end up being doomed. Fortunately, boss Lu managed to restrain himself.
Lu Bu already had his hand on his spear. Once Boss Cao walked down the city gate tower, he’ll immediately launch a surprise attack. This way, not only Cao Cao will be out of luck, many of his retainers could be killed too.
Cao Cao was soon to walk down the tower… the most ambitious man of the generation was soon to meet his end in the hands of the turtledove tiger.
[TL: turtledove is a bird that is noted for the apparent affection shown for its mate.]
Suddenly, a sound of notification was heard and a messenger ran over.
“Reporting! Reporting to Prime Minister, general Wei Xu and Song Xian rushed toward Lu Bu’s mansion to capture his family. When they arrived, Lu Bu’s mansion have already been deserted!”
“What?!” Cao Cao really got angry this time. Lu Bu escaping is one thing, but if his family was captured then there still existed a way to suppress that tiger; but now, that method too is lost. Not to mention that there was a beauty that Old Cao wanted for a long time amongst the escapees.
“What a bunch of useless imbeciles!” was something Old Cao did not say. He did want to hurt Hou Cheng and the other surrendered generals’ feelings because of this.
“Where are Wei Xu and Song Xian?!” Cao Cao said dully. His hands was stroking the hilt of his sword attached to his waist. Those familiar with Cao Cao knew that it was the signs of Cao Cao’s suspicion problem. Might Song Xian and Wei Xu be feigning their surrender? Are they giving up Xiapi in exchange for Lu Bu’s escape?! After all, because of Guo Jia’s tactics, Xiapi was already a dead city. To capture it was only a matter of time.
“Generals Wei Xu and Song Xian are currently still on the road rushing here!"
Old Cao’s facial expression became increasingly volatile. He even forgot that he should be receiving Xiahou De and came to a complete stop on the tower stairs. In this moment of delay, another messenger ran over.
“Reporting! Reporting to Prime Minister, General Xiahou Dun reports intelligence from the sheltered defeated soldiers of thousand men general Xiahou De in the western part of the city that general Xiahou De is currently being held captive by the Lu Bu army. General Xiahou Dun wishes that Prime Minister would immediately send troops to rescue general Xiahou De!”
“What? Miaoren was captured?!” Xiahou Yuan was the first to rushed toward the front. He grabbed the messenger and shouted loudly. His voice so loud that even Liu Mang and Lu Bu heard it clearly.
If Xiahou De was to be captured, then who exactly are these Xiahou De soldiers down there?
“Not good!” Cao Cao was alarmed.
“Not good!” Liu Mang was also alarmed. There existed a major loophole in his strategy - the dispersed soldiers of Xiahou De. Although Xiapi was large, there still exists a chance of the soldiers running back to camp when they numbered a thousand.
Once they ran back, then Liu Mang’s plan to use the banners of Xiahou De was certainly seeking death.
Fortunately Xiahou Yuan lost it and roared out, allowing Lu Bu and Liu Mang to hear it. If it wasn’t for Xiahou Yuan’s ‘help’ then boss Cao, having received the news at the perfect moment, could give praise on the outside while secretly covering the location with archers. If that was the case, then they could only get ganged up and killed by Cao’s men!
“Do it!” With the roar from Liu Mang, the Lu Bu army rushed out directly toward the Cao army. The soldiers under Zhang Liao quickly dispersed toward the sides, revealing in the middle the soldiers of Formation Breaker wearing armor and wielding blades and shields.
“Burst the formations, death to all enemies, kill!” Cao Cao’s army was caught unprepared. The guards protecting Cao Cao were immediately clashed away.
“Hurry!” Old Cao was prompt to decide, right away he started crawling up toward the city walls. The stairs of the city walls were narrow without railing, this one move from Old Cao caused multiple people to be forced aside. Fortunately for the generals, they could still stand steady using their well trained bodies. But for those civilian court officials, oh did they suffer.
The first unlucky person was Chen Gui, Chen Hanyu. This old man who calculated so hard for the death of Lu Bu, before he was able to witness Lu Bu’s demise, was instead pushed aside by Cao Cao. This old and feeble man, how could he withstand Cao Cao’s strength? Without much resistance, he was pushed down the city gate tower. When he finally noticed that it was Cao Cao who pushed him down, he was already en route toward the ground. This old man glared so hard. He sold out Liu Bei and then he sold out Lu Bu all so that his Chen clan could embrace Xu Province and become hegemons in Xu Province. Alas, he was no longer able to wait until the day when that happens.
“Curse you, Cao Mende!”
[TL: the old guy actually said: ‘Cao Mende, your death will not be well.’ Basically saying that he is to suffer before he dies. It’s a common chinese curse thing.]
The old man uttered a curse and fell onto the ground, flattened into a meat patty.
Seeing the panicking Cao Cao, Lu Bu grabbed his spear and rushed upward. “Lu Bu is here, traitor Cao, prepare to die!” Although he’s not in possession of the Sky Piercer nor that flowery-patterned battle robe, he was still Lu Bu, he was still that super general. No matter where he goes, no one could stand up to him.