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

He paused, then emphasized his words.

"Your tasks are twofold! First, carefully observe the energy flow of that sinister city-protecting formation, record the patterns of its light intensity changes, and search for any possible, even extremely brief, intervals or points where the energy is relatively weak!"

Second, try to ascertain the general layout of the three camps outside the city, especially the areas where supplies such as grain, weapons, and other provisions are stored, as well as the routes taken by the grain transport convoys!

"remember!"

Gu Rubing's gaze, as if it were tangible, fell upon Li Gan and Wang Qing's faces.

"This mission is extremely dangerous. If we are exposed, we will all die! But this intelligence is crucial to the survival of our army! You must be careful, prioritize reconnaissance, and never expose yourselves easily, let alone engage in battle!"

"This subordinate understands! I will certainly not fail my lord's trust!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Gan and Wang Qing's eyes blazed with a resolute fire of being entrusted with a great responsibility, and they clasped their hands tightly to accept the order.

A short while later, a team of twenty people had assembled.

They changed into dark night clothes and smeared their exposed skin and clothing with a special mud mixture of wood ash and certain exorcising herbs to mask their own smell and faint heat.

Each person carried only a short blade, a crossbow, a grappling hook, and a few items for marking and recording, traveling light.

There were no grand words, only silent exchanges of glances between them.

Led by Captain Li Gan, the scout team moved like twenty shadows clinging to the ground, trudging through the night filled with the stench of decay and fel energy. The closer they got to Guzang City, the more intense the suffocating sense of oppression became. Finally, they stealthily reached the outer perimeter of the moat.

The moat was no longer what it used to be; the water flowing in it was no longer clear, but a strange liquid, thick like paste, shimmering with a nauseating dark green glow. On the surface of the river...

Huge bubbles kept rising from the river, bubbling and releasing a pungent, sour smell when they burst, while a thick, highly corrosive stench rose from the surface.

It forms a natural barrier of poisonous miasma, distorting and blurring the surrounding air. Just getting close enough to feel the burning, corrosive sensation on the skin and cause the eyes to water profusely.

Li Gan gave a hand signal, and the team members immediately dispersed and hid, using the sparse, withered and twisted bushes and undulating slopes on the ground to cover their figures.

He held his breath, concealing his presence to the minimum, like a lizard gliding across the desert. With his superb stealth skills and extraordinary courage, he narrowly avoided two groups of the Divine Marching Army patrolling along fixed routes, their eyes vacant but their steps heavy.

Silently, Li Gan climbed up a mound, which was relatively close to the tall, eerie city wall and had a wide view, like a raccoon.

He lowered his body, almost blending into the soil beneath him, revealing only a pair of sharp, hawk-like eyes.

He carefully took out two specially made tools—a brass mirror with finely engraved exorcising runes along its edges, and an ancient compass with a pointer that kept trembling slightly.

This artifact was jointly created by military craftsmen and those with some knowledge of magic, and it can observe and sense the fluctuations of evil energy to a certain extent.

With the help of the bronze mirror's reflection and the compass's direction, Li Gan began to concentrate intently on observing the distant city wall covered in wriggling moss and engraved with countless runes.

His gaze, like the most precise ruler, swept inch by inch over the flickering, dim green and dark red light.

Time passed slowly, and the night wind carried the faint wailing of the demon's lair in the distance. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Li Gan's forehead, not only from tension, but also from the prolonged concentration required to resist the corrupting influence of the evil energy on his mind.

Suddenly, he keenly noticed a pattern!
The eerie light covering the city walls was not constantly strong, but rather, like the breathing of a living being, it had extremely subtle, yet real, cycles of strength and weakness!
Every hundred breaths or so, the light would dim for an extremely brief moment, almost imperceptibly, its brightness decreasing slightly.
At the very moment the light dimmed, the complex runes engraved on the city walls, which flowed with energy like blood vessels, also dimmed in a synchronized and extremely subtle way!

"It follows a pattern!"

Li Gan was shocked and immediately realized the importance of this discovery.

He forced down his excitement and focused even more intently on observing and memorizing this cycle.

He vaguely sensed that this energy fluctuation cycle, like breathing, seemed to subtly match the pulsating frequency of a certain core entity within Guzang City.

His gaze involuntarily drifted beyond the city wall to the tallest and most conspicuous building in Guzang City—originally the residence of the Liangzhou governor, now transformed beyond recognition by Penglai, resembling a menacing bone spur piercing the night sky.

At the top of the building is an enormous, slowly pulsating, dark red crystal, like an evil heart floating above the city!
Visible, distorted, and undulating streams of malevolent energy radiated outwards from the crystal like ripples throughout the entire city of Guzang, maintaining the evil light and the operation of the runes on the city walls!
"That place... is the core of the formation!"

Li Gan was almost certain. Understanding the energy fluctuation cycle and the location of the array's core was crucial to breaking this evil array!
Then, he made another discovery.

While repeatedly observing the energy fluctuations in different areas of the city wall, he noticed that in a certain area located in the northwest corner of the city wall, the flow of evil energy seemed more chaotic and less smooth than in other places, and the light it emitted also appeared relatively mixed and impure.

Looking closely through the bronze mirror, one can even see that the runes in that area appear slightly older than those in other places, and the edges of some rune lines seem to have extremely fine, barely perceptible cracks!

"Could this be a weakness?"

Li Gan's mind raced.

"Was it a flaw left over from when Penglai renovated its city walls? Or was it an oversight during routine maintenance?"

Regardless of the reason, this area with disordered energy and ancient runes is very likely a weak point in the entire solid evil array!

He immediately took out his charcoal pencil and a small piece of extremely durable silk cloth from his pocket. With the faint glow of the night and his extraordinary memory, he quickly marked the observed energy fluctuation cycle, the core location of the array's eye, and the suspicious weak area in the northwest corner with simple symbols and lines.

However, just as he was engrossed in recording this precious information that concerned the life and death of the entire army, a sudden change occurred!

"Crack!"

A soft, crisp sound, like a dry twig snapping, came from beneath his feet! Li Gan's heart skipped a beat, and he knew something was wrong!

He instinctively tried to roll to the side, but it was too late!

The seemingly solid ground beneath his feet, indistinguishable from the surrounding landscape, suddenly collapsed without warning!

Soil and sand fell down, revealing a bottomless, dark pit below!
In the dim light of the dust raised during the sudden collapse, one could glimpse the cold glint at the bottom of the pit, which was covered with sharp iron spikes that stood upright and were gleaming with a ghostly blue poisonous light!
This was actually an extremely insidious and hidden magical trap set by Penglai!

Almost at the same time the trap was triggered—

"Whoosh—!!!"

A sharp, piercing alarm, seemingly capable of tearing eardrums and directly impacting the depths of the soul, suddenly rang out from the top of Guzang City, instantly shattering the silence of the night and spreading throughout the surrounding area!

"Hehehe...a few little mice have sneaked in!" From the city wall came the sorcerer's eerie laughter, sharp as an owl's, full of mockery and cruelty.

"Hu! Hu! Hu!"

The next moment, countless torches burning with green or black flames were instantly lit and thrown out, landing like meteors around the scout team's hiding area, illuminating the land that was originally shrouded in night as bright as day!

Li Gan and his team members were instantly exposed to the blinding flames!

"Fire arrows! Kill them!"

A cold command came from the city wall.

"Whoosh whoosh-!"

A dense barrage of arrows, mixed with some low-level evil magic orbs that emitted corrosive black energy or icy chill, rained down on the mound where Li Gan and the others were located and the surrounding area, like a torrential downpour!

The sounds of air being cut, the buzzing of evil magic, and the thud of arrows piercing the earth all rang out in an instant!
"We've been exposed! Split up and break through! Send the intelligence back!"

Li Gan's eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a hoarse growl.

Without hesitation, he pulled out several smoke bombs the size of longan fruits from his pocket and threw them in different directions without even looking at them!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The fireballs exploded upon landing, releasing large plumes of thick, dark red smoke with a pungent odor, temporarily obscuring part of the enemy's vision.

At the same time, Li Gan quickly rolled up the silk cloth containing the key information, stuffed it into a specially made, oilcloth-lined, waterproof and fireproof small bamboo tube in his bosom, and fastened it tightly.

"go!"

No further words were needed; the surviving squad members demonstrated exceptional military skills and a spirit of sacrifice.

Like startled birds, they darted off in different directions in an instant, using the smoke and the undulating terrain as cover, fleeing for their lives in an attempt to distract their pursuers and create a chance for their comrades carrying intelligence.

A fierce chase and ambush suddenly unfolded under the night sky outside Guzang City, illuminated by firelight!

Scouts lagging behind were constantly pierced through the back by accurate arrows or struck by strange sorcery, turning into burning fireballs or frozen ice sculptures. After a brief but shrill scream, they collapsed heavily to the ground, never to be heard again.

With an indomitable will and a keen sense of the terrain, squad leader Li Gan raced desperately across the desolate wilderness, which was filled with the aura of death.

His lungs heaved violently like a broken bellows, each breath carrying a strong, bloody smell.

He already had several wounds on his body, the deepest one being on his left shoulder blade, which almost went through. Blood soaked through his night clothes and dripped down his arm, leaving intermittent dark red marks beside his staggering footprints.

But his bloodshot eyes remained fixed on the faintly visible camp lights ahead, and his uninjured right hand was tightly clutched to his chest like an iron clamp—there lay a bamboo tube containing intelligence, more important than his life!
Behind them, the sound of rushing air and eerie footsteps followed closely. Several Penglai pursuers, dressed in dark gray outfits that blended almost into the night and moving with ghostly speed, were closing the distance at an astonishing pace.

They held not ordinary swords and knives, but oddly shaped short blades that shimmered with a ghostly blue phosphorescence, or blowguns ready to be fired, their eyes gleaming with a cruel light like a cat hunting a mouse.

"Whoosh!"

A poisoned short arrow grazed past Li Gan's ear, the chilling wind it stirred up making the hairs on his neck stand on end.

He suddenly ducked and rolled away, dodging a dark blue blade of light that swept across him. His movements were stiff and slow due to blood loss.

He could feel the murderous aura behind him getting closer and closer, the chilling touch of death almost touching his back.

Just as he gritted his teeth, preparing to turn back for a final desperate gamble, even if it meant mutual destruction, to destroy the bamboo tube—

"Boo! Hah! Hah!"

Several extremely sharp screeching sounds, as if they could tear through cloth, suddenly came from the direction of the camp!

The arrow was faster than anyone could imagine; it struck with pinpoint accuracy almost as soon as the sound of it was heard!

"Pfft!"

"what!"

One arrow pierced the arm of a pursuer who was raising his blowgun, causing him to fall backward; another arrow pierced the calf of another pursuer, causing him to scream and collapse to the ground.

There was another one that was even more miraculous, directly shattering the tip of the dark blue short blade in the third pursuer's hand, exploding into a cluster of tiny sparks!

This sudden and precise long-range attack instantly disrupted the pursuers' rhythm, forcing them to scramble for cover or swing their weapons to parry the arrows that might follow.

Li Gan's spirits lifted instantly; he knew that reinforcements had arrived!
He mustered his last bit of strength, using both hands and feet, almost crawling forward.

At the edge of the camp, the veteran general Huang Zhong stood with his hair and beard bristling, holding his signature iron-rimmed bow, like a steadfast rock.

Behind him, dozens of elite archers had already drawn their bows and nocked their arrows, the cold arrowheads aimed at the pursuers in the distance. The powerful deterrent made the Penglai pursuers dare not advance easily.

Two soldiers rushed out and helped Li Gan, who was about to collapse to the ground.

"Captain...Captain!"

The soldiers looked at Li Gan's blood-soaked and weak state, their voices choked with sobs.

Li Gan could no longer speak coherently. He simply used his last bit of strength to tremble as he raised the bamboo tube, stained with his warm blood, which he had been clutching tightly in his arms, high above his head, his gaze fixed on the direction of the central command tent.

Upon receiving the news, Gu Rubing strode out. When he saw Li Gan's appearance, his pupils contracted slightly. He immediately stepped forward and took the heavy, wet bamboo tube with his own hands.

"Quick! Take him away and do everything you can to save him!"

Gu Rubing gave the order in a deep voice, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible emotion.

Two soldiers quickly lifted the completely unconscious Li Gan and took him to the army medical station. (End of Chapter)