Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Seeing that Sun Jian was quite sincere, Gu Rubing had no other thoughts and directly led Zhao Yun back to the post station.

"My lord, does Sun Jian really intend to continue helping Shi Xie? He told us these things on his own initiative; was he truly forced into it?"

Zhao Yun was so honest with Sun Jian that he even felt Sun Jian's words might be true. He even considered helping Sun Jian to become wealthier so that Sun Jian would no longer help Shi Xie.

“Zilong, you’re too trusting. Do you know that Sun Jian is an extremely shrewd man? The reason he told me first was so that the matter of transporting grain to Shi Xie wouldn’t become a reason for me to blackmail him. That’s all. If Sun Jian hadn’t been able to provide a place for Shi Xie to store the grain, I wouldn’t have bothered watching Sun Jian put on this act.”

Zhao Yun smiled awkwardly upon hearing this.

three days later.

Zhou Yu found Gu Rubing, who was holding a map in his hand.

The map shows the topography of Youzhou, with a circle drawn on it.

"King Lie, according to the location provided by the people who returned, the grain is hidden here, but underground. You can find the entrance to the underground by searching around here."

"underground?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing burst out laughing.

Sun Jian hid the grain and fodder in the mountain wall, and now Shi Xie has actually hidden them underground.

These guys really went to great lengths to prevent themselves from finding the location of the supplies.

With so much grain and fodder hidden underground, I really don't know how long it would take to dig out such a large place.

"Yes, it's underground. We were quite surprised when we first found out about it, but our intelligence is infallible."

"Okay, I get it."

After saying this, Gu Rubing, along with the map and Zhao Yun, prepared to leave.

"Your Highness, please do not pursue the matter further."

Gu Rubing did not speak, but quickly left Constantinople with Zhao Yun.

The two walked for a day and a night.

Gu Rubing was too tired, so the two of them had to stop and rest in a grove of trees.

Looking at the quiet woods, Gu Rubing's tense heart seemed to calm down.

However, this quiet moment did not last long.

A group of people suddenly appeared from the surroundings and quickly surrounded them.

When Zhao Yun saw that the group of people were all masked and were approaching them cautiously, he immediately became nervous, and his hand holding the silver spear trembled slightly.

"My lord, be careful, these people are not simple."

Gu Rubing also sensed that something was off about these people.

Normally, if it were ordinary robbers, seeing that there were only two of them, they would not approach so nervously and cautiously. They would definitely rush over and demand money. But this was obviously wrong. It was as if they knew who they were.

"Who are you?"

Zhao Yun immediately stepped forward, shielding Gu Rubing behind him, and looked at the group of people in front of him.

"This is our mountain stronghold. If you want to get over here, you'll have to hand over your money."

"A bandit gang? You're robbers?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun burst out laughing.

"Yes, I am a robber. Hand it over to me now, or none of you will live."

"You think you can disguise yourselves as bandits? You're Sun Jian's men, aren't you? I knew you had no good intentions all along. You deliberately made us divert the army so you could attack my lord. Well, let's see if Zhao Yun's silver spear will allow it."

Upon hearing Zhao Yun's words, the group exchanged glances, and then one of them immediately nodded and said, "That's right, we are Sun Jian's men. Hmph, my lord said that you cannot live."

“Sun Jian? If Sun Jian had subordinates like you, he would be in real trouble.”

Upon hearing these people's words, Gu Rubing knew that these people were definitely not Sun Jian's men.

How could Sun Jian's subordinates dare to address him by his full name?

Therefore, these people are clearly not Sun Jian's men.

Currently, there is probably only one person who has a grudge against me, can ambush me, and is not one of Sun Jian's men: Liu Zhang.

"So that's how it is, you're Liu Zhang's men."

"We've already said we're Sun Jian's men, why can't you understand?"

"Forget about him, our mission is to kill him. Whatever he says, let's all attack together. There are only two of them. As long as we are fast enough, Zhao Yun will definitely not be able to react."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing almost burst out laughing.

Trying to outrun Zhao Yun? Let alone these people, even legendary generals wouldn't dare to try to outrun Zhao Yun.

Just as these people were about to make a move, in the blink of an eye, they all fell to the ground.

However, Zhao Yun did not relax his vigilance when looking at the corpses.

He sensed that someone was watching them not far away.

"Hey you in the distance, you've been watching the show for so long, isn't it time to come out and make your appearance?"

As soon as the voice faded, a person who looked very familiar to Gu Rubing appeared in front of them.

"Meng Huo?"

Gu Rubing never expected that Shi Xie would send out even a legendary military general in order to kill him.

"Liu Bei, we have been waiting for you here for a long time. I have come here specifically to kill you."

After saying that, Meng Huo immediately summoned the Gu Ancestor.

As the Gu Ancestor appeared, Zhao Yun continued to swing his silver spear.

However, just as Zhao Yun was about to make his move, his hand suddenly stopped.

Because Gu Rubing was too close to them, if they made a move here, they would definitely accidentally hurt Gu Rubing.

Moreover, they were all legendary military generals. This accidental injury was not a simple scratch; it could very well have killed Gu Rubing.

Murdering his lord—Zhao Yun could not escape this charge.

"My lord, please step back a short distance to avoid being accidentally injured."

Gu Rubing knew that his presence would definitely interfere with Zhao Yun, so he sensibly nodded and quickly retreated.

After retreating to a certain distance, Gu Rubing hid behind a tree and observed the battle situation.

With Gu Rubing gone, Zhao Yun was finally able to unleash his full power and begin fighting Meng Huo.

However, just as Gu Rubing was observing very carefully, someone appeared silently behind him.

Gu Rubing also sensed that something was wrong with the aura behind him and immediately turned around.

It turned out that Wang Yue was standing behind him.

Gu Rubing realized that Wang Yue's sword was already very close to his body, and he knew he couldn't dodge it.

He could only turn his body slightly to avoid a fatal blow.

As Wang Yue watched the sword pierce Gu Rubing's body, he was about to leave when he noticed that the wound wasn't on the heart, but slightly to the left. The wound wasn't fatal.

Wang Yue immediately wanted to deliver another blow.

Just then, a wisp of dust hit Wang Yue's arm.

Wang Yue immediately felt a sharp pain. If he hadn't been a famous general with the physique of one, the sword in his hand would probably have flown away.

"who?"

Wang Yue looked to the side and found that it was actually an old man.

The old man had an air of otherworldly wisdom about him.

Gu Rubing also saw this person; he had seen this person before, and it was none other than the Old Immortal of Nanhua.

"You can't kill this man, but I'll protect him."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yue looked at Nan Hua Lao Xian with a gloomy expression. From the moment they exchanged blows, Wang Yue knew that he was no match for his opponent, but he didn't want to let such a good opportunity slip by.

"You can't protect him."

After saying that, Wang Yue swung his Gentleman's Sword and thrust it at Gu Rubing.

However, the sword was easily blocked by the Old Immortal of Nanhua, who also took the sword from Wang Yue's hand.

After looking at the sword in his hand, the Old Immortal of Nanhua smiled and shook his head.

"Gentleman's Sword, you were indeed worthy of this Gentleman's Sword in the past, but you are no longer worthy of it now. However, I can return this sword to you, and I hope you will behave yourself in the future!"

After finishing speaking, the Old Immortal of Nanhua returned the sword in his hand to Wang Yue, then grabbed Gu Rubing with one hand and disappeared into the woods.

Wang Yue watched the departing figure of the Old Immortal Nanhua, remaining silent for a long time, his mind replaying the Old Immortal Nanhua's words.

Am I really unworthy of the title "Gentleman's Sword" because of my current actions?
But haven't I been helping the Han Dynasty all along?
So is it that I am not worthy of the title "Gentleman Sword," or that the Han Dynasty, or even Liu Xie, is not worthy of the name of a gentleman and righteousness?

These questions kept echoing in Wang Yue's mind, and he even forgot to tell Meng Huo to leave before he left.

After Zhao Yun repelled the Gu Ancestor with a single spear thrust, he turned to look at the distance where Gu Rubing had been, only to find that Gu Rubing was no longer in sight.

Even with my eyes closed and trying to sense it carefully, I couldn't feel Gu Rubing's presence.

Zhao Yun suddenly became somewhat impatient.

Just then, the Gu Ancestor's claws reached out, targeting Zhao Yun's heart.

"Get out of here."

Zhao Yun suddenly opened his eyes, which were already glowing red. He smashed the silver spear in his hand directly into the Gu Ancestor's claw.

The Gu Ancestor let out a miserable scream.

Then his entire body shattered.

Meng Huo coughed up a mouthful of blood and was sent flying.

After crashing through three trees, his body finally landed on the ground.

After finally managing to stand up, Meng Huo looked at Zhao Yun in the distance and noticed that Zhao Yun's eyes were now glowing red.

As a legendary general, Meng Huo understood this situation quite well. This was the state in which a legendary general was about to use his last strength. In this state, not only was he no match for Zhao Yun to begin with, but even if he were Zhao Yun's opponent, he would not dare to fight Zhao Yun at this moment, otherwise, he would easily be taken away by Zhao Yun.

After Meng Huo understood, he turned and ran.

Zhao Yun was too lazy to chase after Meng Huo, and instead went to the place where Gu Rubing had disappeared.

He didn't see Gu Rubing there, but instead saw a pool of blood on the ground.

Zhao Yun's face instantly darkened. This was the second time he had lost Gu Rubing, and the third time he had injured Gu Rubing.

"My lord, where are you?"

Zhao Yun's voice echoed through the woods, but no one answered him.

a few days later.

Gu Rubing opened his eyes groggily and found himself inside a cave.

Moreover, this cave was completely unfamiliar to me; I had never seen it before.

Gu Rubing tried to get up, but the pain from his wounds made it impossible for him to move.

"Zi Long!"

Gu Rubing instinctively went to find Zhao Yun, but only the Old Immortal of Nanhua was summoned.

"Haha, Prince Lie, you're awake?"

Upon seeing that it was actually the Old Immortal of Nanhua, Gu Rubing immediately became vigilant.

Gu Rubing knew in his heart that no matter how much the old man smiled, he was ruthless when it came to killing.

"It's you? Where's Zilong?"

“Your subordinates didn’t know you were here. When I saw you, you were already seriously injured, so they brought you here. Although the wounds are not fatal, they are deep and severe. It will take at least half a month to recover.”

"Half a month?"

Gu Rubing was immediately worried upon hearing this.

If I don't show up for half a month, the army will inevitably be thrown into chaos, and I have no way of knowing what will happen then.

"Old Immortal, I want to go back. Do you have any way to do that?"

The Old Immortal of Nanhua shook his head.

“King Lie, you must know that everything in this world has a source, and you must believe in cause and effect.”

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Gu Rubing looked at the Old Immortal Nanhua with a puzzled expression.

"You need to understand that what is destined to happen will happen no matter what. That's cause and effect. Even if you change the timing of what happens, it will still happen sooner or later."

What happened? What happened?
Although Gu Rubing looked puzzled, he was already feeling weak all over and eventually fell into a deep sleep.

Inside the military camp in Youzhou.

Lu Su looked at Zhao Yun kneeling in the camp with a helpless expression.

"Sir, Zilong has been kneeling on the ground for two days without eating or drinking. Even a legendary general cannot go so long without food or water."

Huang Zhong, who was standing nearby, went to Lu Su's side and looked in Zhao Yun's direction with some concern.

“What can I do? Even the Third General told him to get up, but he doesn’t want to. There’s nothing I can do. I’ve already informed Prime Minister Zhuge. He said we should stabilize the situation first. He needs to stabilize things in Jiaozhou first, and then he’ll come and help us.”

Upon hearing this, Huang Zhong nodded.

Jiaozhou and Yizhou have always been Gu Rubing's main targets, with as many as 400,000 troops stationed there. Zhuge Liang was aware of this, and on several occasions when Gu Rubing was short of troops, he asked Zhuge Liang to spare some troops to provide support, but Zhuge Liang refused.

They were afraid that if things went wrong, it would destroy the foundations of Jiaozhou and Yizhou.

"The Third General has already led men out to search, hoping to find some clues about our lord. However, I heard that some counties seem to be stirring up trouble. Apparently, because our lord is not here, they have secretly contacted Cao Cao and Liu Zhang."

"Don't worry, I've already had people keeping a close eye on them. If they make any move, our people will definitely let us know. Sigh, I hope our lord can return soon. We can control the situation for a short time, but if it goes on for too long, even we might not be able to control it." (End of Chapter)