Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The crowd lit torches in the dark, and the cavalry that were chasing them from all sides gradually gathered together. The infantrymen cleaned up the battlefield all around, and occasionally escorted back the survivors.

The sound of galloping war horses was heard in the distance. The soldiers on guard around tightly grasped their swords and looked over. The fiery figure of Red Hare appeared in the range illuminated by the torches, and then a figure wearing a beast-faced armor came into view.

"The general is back..."

In the center of the army, there were several torches tied to wooden sticks. Hua Rong, who was standing among them, smiled and jumped off his horse first. Looking at Lu Bu and his personal cavalry galloping over, several generals jumped off their horses and went forward to meet them.

"See General."

"There's no need to be so polite on the battlefield."

Lu Bu ran over and pulled the reins. Shi Wengong came forward and knelt on one knee to apologize: "I failed to stop the Jin army from coming later. Please punish me, General."

"Just do your best. If the thieves are determined to break out and escape, it will not be easy to catch them." Lu Bu shook his head, looked around, and smiled at the few people: "Finally, the battle is over. Find a few prisoners and identify the bodies."

Shi Wengong's expression changed, and he waved his hand behind him. Several personal guards ran out immediately. Hua Rong and Wei Dingguo looked at each other. This little Li Guang bowed and said, "General, have you caught up with the enemy chief?"

"That's it."

As they were talking, the royal guards came over on their horses from behind, some of them dismounted from their war horses and carried the body off the empty horse.

Several generals stepped forward to take a look. None of them had ever seen this Jin general before. They just exclaimed in amazement: "Is this the Jurchen emperor? He doesn't look very majestic."

Shi Wengong looked at him for a long time and blurted out, "He's also a bald man." Then he stood aside.

Not long after, the cavalrymen who had gone to fetch the people came back. Before they could even open their mouths, the armored Mouke suddenly burst into tears: "Dubojilie!"

They fell to their knees, and wailing and crying came from the mouths of several captives who came over.

Seeing this, Lu Bu raised his eyebrows, and understood something in his heart, but just to be safe, he said to the soldiers beside him: "Ask them if this is Wanyan Aguda."

A soldier stepped forward and kicked the man, "You bastard, the general asks you, is this man Wanyan Aguda?"

The person who was kicked turned around and glared at him angrily, and replied in Jurchen: "￥#￥%#..."

"??"

"??"

Then the two of them stared at each other, neither of them understanding what was being said.

Hua Rong frowned when he saw this and took a step forward: "Is there anyone among you who can speak Chinese?"

All the captives ignored him and just cried bitterly. Some of them heard the voice and turned around with tears in their eyes, looking confused, obviously not knowing what the former was saying.

"We can't speak the same language..." Lu Bu looked at these people expressionlessly, then turned to look at the more captives in the distance: "Go ask, is there no one among these people who can speak Chinese?"

A personal soldier had just received the order when Shi Wengong at the side said, "General, there is no need to trouble you. There are people in the army who are in contact with the Jurchens."

Lu Bu turned to look at him. The cold-faced man called over a cavalryman and said, "Call Sima Zeng."

The cavalry immediately jumped on their horses, and galloped away with a few strokes. Lu Bu smiled and said, "I forgot that the Zeng family are all Jurchens."

"There are many people in the army, so it's normal that the general didn't think of it for a while." A few people chatted for a while, and soon Zeng Tu came over on his war horse. He jumped off the horse and saluted Lu Bu, then smiled at the captains next to him.

"Sima Zeng, ask if the person on the ground is the emperor of Jin." Hua Rong said to him.

The Jurchen man nodded, and quickly walked over to speak a few words to the crying people in a language that the others could not understand. He then turned back and clasped his fists, "General, the dead body on the ground is the Jin emperor, Wanyan Aguda."

Lu Bu breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the equally excited generals and said, "My fellow generals, Liaodong..." He clenched his fists fiercely, "The general will fall into our hands!"

"Congratulations to the General!"

The deafening shouts came amid the weeping of the Jurchens.

Soon, the sound of horse hooves was heard from the rear, and Yu Cheng returned on horseback with another group of personal soldiers. Also brought back was Wanyan Bendu, who had served as a substitute for Wanyan Aguda and had separated from the crowd.

Later, Sun An received news that Shangguan Yi and Wang Jun failed to intercept the defeated Jin army and escaped. However, the overall situation had been decided and it could not affect the entire battlefield at all.

The wind and clouds rolled, the sky turned a pale white, and the golden sun rose in the sky at dawn.

The tired soldiers rose up in a clamor at the general's shout, "The general has ordered that we have won tonight. All those who participated in the battle will be rewarded!" and their excited cheers resounded through the sky.

In late midsummer, the surprise attack that lasted for a day and a night, starting from the time when the Jin army crossed the river to attack the fort, ended with the death of Wanyan Aguda. The defeated soldiers were scattered all over the ground like sand washed away by the flood, while the pursuing Lu Bu army was searching everywhere under the brightening sky. From time to time, people could be seen being caught up and killed in the fields, and their bodies were gone for dozens of miles.

The sky was bright and the army began to return one after another. The hands of the captured Jin soldiers were tied and they were strung together with thick hemp ropes to form a team several miles long. The guarding soldiers walked on both sides with happy faces. They talked loudly about how much spoils they had seized on the battlefield or how many enemy soldiers they had killed, enjoying the wealth and glory that were about to come.

In front, cavalrymen with small triangular flags on their backs came galloping. The yellow soil they raised forced the walking infantrymen to move to the side, and they went straight into the center of the army.

Lu Bu was surrounded by his personal soldiers. His young body still had plenty of energy after a night of fighting. His tiger eyes were full of excitement as he thought about what to do next. He raised his head when he heard the sound of horses coming. The general jumped off his horse and said, "General, there is news from the rear."

The letter with the seal was taken by the personal soldier and handed to Lu Bu.

"It seems there is a lot of news."

Lu Bu took the two letters, pulled his horse to the side, opened them and read them carefully, while Yu Cheng came over and stood by.

"Heh... someone's relatives?"

Pursing his lips, Lu Bu folded the letter and handed it aside. Yu Cheng hurriedly took it, without even looking at it, put the letter back into the envelope and put it away.

Amid the rustling sound of papers, the remaining letter was opened. Fang held the letter in one hand and read a few lines. Suddenly his expression changed. He quickly flattened the letter with both hands and read it again from beginning to end. Hahahaha——" he laughed.

Yu Cheng looked at his master in front of him strangely, somewhat curious about what good news in the letter could make him so happy.

"Yu Cheng." A sudden shout came from Lu Bu, who was reluctant to look away.

Yu Cheng hurriedly stepped forward respectfully: "I am here."

"Let's go back!" He happily put away the letter, with a smile hidden in his bright tiger eyes: "Go back to Liaoyang Prefecture, your brother Deng Fei is still alive."

Surprise was revealed on the young guard's face. (End of this chapter)