Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 974: Rush to the Assistance of Shen Yang
More than a hundred miles northwest of Shenyang City, there is a wilderness. Looking around, there is nothing special except a few earthen slopes and hills occasionally.

However, this ordinary wilderness has welcomed a group of uninvited guests.

Zhang Yong, leading an army of 40,000, was rushing forward with all his might.

At this moment, he no longer had the calm demeanor of the past, and his eyes were filled with urgency and nervousness.

"Third brother, third brother...you must hold on..."

The army had been marching for half a day when a river suddenly appeared in front of them, blocking their way.

Zhang Yong looked at the river, which was more than ten feet wide. Although the water was not very deep, it was definitely not something that could be crossed by wading. He immediately stopped his horse and shouted, "Where is the guide?"

A man hurried over and said, "I am here, what can I do for you, General?"

Zhang Yong pointed at the river ahead with his whip and asked, "What's the name of this stream? Is there a place where we can cross it?"

The guide said hurriedly, "This river is called Tao River. It flows northeast and merges into the Ru River. The river is about seven or eight feet deep and cannot be crossed. However, the river is only about two hundred miles long. The army only needs to go upstream for another ten miles. The river there is only six or seven feet wide and the water is no more than four feet deep. It should be crossable."

Zhang Yong made a prompt decision: "It's only a dozen miles, which is much faster than building a temporary bridge here. Pass the order and the whole army will march upstream along this river."

The 40,000 soldiers and horses immediately changed direction and ran towards the southwest.

Deputy General Chen Lie saw Zhang Yong so worried and said to him, "Don't worry, General. Although the three generals have few soldiers, they are top-notch generals. Now the Cao army will only have one day to attack the city. The three generals will be able to hold out until our army arrives. Then we can attack from both sides and defeat Cao's army in no time."

Zhang Yong shook his head and said, "You don't know my third brother's temperament. He is rough by nature, while Xiahou Yuan is a general of Cao's army. He is very wise and has more than three times the number of troops. I am afraid that my third brother will fall into the enemy's trap. If so, his life will be over in an instant."

He became even more anxious because of what he said, and he whipped the horse whip hard, speeding up his pace.

A distance of more than ten miles was just a short distance for this well-trained elite army. The 40,000 soldiers and horses quickly reached the upper reaches of the river.

"General, look, the river is indeed much narrower here, and the water level is only above the knee."

Chen Lie waded into the river himself to take some measurements, and Zhang Yong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, all troops, go..."

Before he even uttered the word "He", Zhang Yong's voice stopped abruptly.

Chen Lie asked in confusion: "General, what's wrong?"

Zhang Yong frowned and pointed with his whip at the other side of the river: "Where is that?"

Chen Lie looked around and saw huge rocks standing on the ground a few hundred steps away on the other side of the river. A rough count showed that there were no less than hundreds of them. Some of these rocks were as tall as a person, while some were more than ten feet tall. There were many weeds and shrubs between the rocks.

He called the guide and asked him about it. The guide said, "General, that strange rock forest has existed since ancient times. It is several hundred steps square and has no name. Although it is a bit strange, it is not weird."

Chen Lie nodded and said to Zhang Yong, "General, General, although this place is strange, I think it is not a big deal. Let's hurry on."

Zhang Yong was unmoved: "This place is so dangerous. Look, there are dense trees on both sides and jagged rocks in the middle. I'm afraid there will be something ominous."

"But our army has already arrived here. If we look for another detour, it will take a long time."

Chen Lie said with hesitation.

Zhang Yong was also in hesitation. Just when he was in a dilemma, an urgent shout suddenly came from behind him.

"General Zhang... General Zhang..."

Zhang Yong looked back hurriedly and saw a man riding a horse at full speed, chasing after the army from behind.

Chen Lie took a look at the armor of the man and the small flag he was holding, and immediately recognized him: "He is a scout from our army."

Zhang Yong's expression tensed up: "It must be sent by Third Brother. Quick, bring him here."

Chen Lie personally brought the scout to Zhang Yong, and without waiting for the scout to speak, Zhang Yong took the initiative to ask questions.

"How is Shenyang City?"

The scout was covered in dirt and mud, looking very embarrassed. However, with the clear river water beside him, he did not bother to wash himself. Instead, he said in a voice that was almost crying: "General Zhang... It's bad. Early this morning, several big families in the city took advantage of our army's fatigue and suddenly launched an attack. They led their troops to try to open the city gate..."

Zhang Yong was extremely anxious when he heard this: "What? Where is the city now? Where is my third brother now?"

The scout said: "General Cheng personally led the troops to resist and finally put down the civil strife, but Cao's army took advantage of this opportunity and launched a full-scale attack. Now the city gate is in ruins and in danger of being breached at any time... at any time..."

"Third brother..."

Zhang Yong cried out in pain, and then his expression became extremely determined: "All troops, listen to my order. Cross the river immediately, pass through the strange rock forest, and rush to Shenyang City as soon as possible!"

"Here!"

Chen Lie immediately went to pass on the order.

The 40,000-strong army marched across the river in a mighty force and soon reached the other side.

"Charge..." Zhang Yong took the lead and rushed into the strange rock forest. Chen Lie and several generals also hurriedly followed. Not long after, the 40,000-strong army entered the strange rock forest.

"Hmm? That's not right..." Chen Lie was the first to notice the problem.

"What's wrong?" asked the other generals around him.

Chen Lie looked around and asked, "Where did the scout go? According to our military discipline, shouldn't the scout go with us to Shenyang City?"

Upon hearing this, the other generals also looked around, but did not find the scout.

"We were in such a hurry just now that we didn't pay attention to this person. This is strange. Where could he go?"

When everyone was wondering, deafening shouts of killing suddenly rang out all around.

"Kill it..."

Zhang Yong hurriedly tightened the reins and looked around warily.

"General, it's bad, there is an ambush in our army..." Chen Lie ran to Zhang Yong, holding his giant sword that could break the army, and stared closely at the ambushes that emerged from the woods on both sides.

A general followed the ambushers and ran out. He smiled at Zhang Yong and said, "General Zhang Yong, how are you?" When Zhang Yong saw him, he was shocked and said, "Xiahou Dun..."

"Yes, it is so-and-so. I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Xiahou Dun laughed loudly towards the sky, feeling extremely proud.

"Okay, okay. I never thought that despite all my calculations, I still couldn't escape Cao's evil plan. I guess that scout was also someone you sent to impersonate me?"

Xiahou Dun did not deny it either: "That's right. My master is very smart. He knew that you would come to help out of brotherhood, and you would definitely cross the river from here after passing by. I only need to send someone to pretend to be a scout to deceive you, and you will come and fall into the trap. Humph, now you have no way to go up to the sky and no way to go down to the earth. If you don't give up, when will you?"

"Bah!" Zhang Yong calmed down at this moment. He raised the axe and pointed it at Xiahou Dun. "Traitors and traitors, everyone has the right to kill them. Even though I, Zhang Yong, fell into your trap today, I will fight to the end. All troops, listen to my orders. The only way to survive is to fight to the death and carve out a bloody path. Kill them!"

At his command, Chen Lie and other generals led a group of soldiers to meet Cao's army.

"Hmph, you don't know how to live or die..." Xiahou Dun snorted, patted his horse, and charged straight towards Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong chopped and killed three Cao soldiers who rushed over, but saw that Xiahou Dun's spear had already stabbed in front of him, so he immediately blocked it with the axe blade.

"Ding..." With a light sound, the two men had already started fighting together.

"System prompt: Zhang Yong vs. Xiahou Dun. Zhang Yong's basic strength is 94 points. The King of Soldiers, King of Armor, and mount have increased by 5 points in total. The special skill 'Ghost Axe' has been triggered, and the strength has increased by 4 points. The current comprehensive strength is 103 points."

"Xiahou Dun's basic force is 98 points. His weapons, armor, and mounts have increased by 3 points in total. His special skill 'Rage' has not yet been triggered. His current comprehensive force is 101 points."

The 40,000 soldiers and horses brought by Zhang Yong were the elite troops of the Han army. Although they did not abandon their weapons and armor and flee for their lives when they were suddenly ambushed, their morale was inevitably greatly reduced.

Cao's army had only 30,000 ambush troops, but they attacked from both sides and soon overwhelmed the Han army, making it unable to resist.

"It's hateful that Cao Cao deliberately chose this place as the ambush site. It's obvious that he thought this place would be unfavorable for our Golden Sword Battalion to perform."

Chen Lie said bitterly.

The golden swords used by the Golden Sword Camp are very slender. Whenever they are chopped out with great force, they inevitably need a wider area around them. If there are ordinary plants blocking the way, the golden swords can easily cut through them, which is not a problem. However, facing these strange rocks, the golden swords can hardly even stretch out.

However, Cao's army mostly used long swords and broadswords as weapons, which were just right for use here. As a result, Cao's army's morale was greatly boosted, while the Han army was defeated.

"Ah..." A scream was heard, and Chen Lie looked instinctively, only to see that a general who had just been talking to him was shot through the chest by a Cao army soldier.

He spurted blood from his mouth and used up his last bit of strength to thrust the spear in his hand forward, piercing the enemy soldier through.

But he was surrounded by Cao's soldiers. Soon, another knife chopped his back, followed by many swords and knives. Chen Lie watched helplessly as this comrade-in-arms of many years slowly fell down.

"Old Huang..."

Chen Lie was furious. He slapped his warhorse, leaped forward, and slashed out with the giant sword in his hand.

The weapons of those Cao army soldiers were still stuck in the body of the Han general named Huang. Before they could pull them out, the giant sword of Pojun had already arrived in front of them.

"Pfft..."

“Ah… spare…”

Chen Lie, who was furious, quickly took the heads of these people.

His giant sword was very convenient for fighting in the stone forest. Chen Lie roamed around the battlefield, assisting other generals and saving their lives many times.

"Well done!" Zhang Yong was overjoyed when he saw this. He looked at Xiahou Dun and sneered, "You thief, do you think you can deal with me, Zhang Yong, with just this ambush? You don't understand how huge the gap is between you traitors and the righteous army of my court. You think you can take my head? You are really dreaming."

As he spoke, he swung his axe and knocked down Xiahou Dun's spear. Then, in a flash, he drew the sword from his waist with his left hand and swung it forward violently.

Xiahou Dun’s eyes widened and he leaned back quickly, barely avoiding the sword.

"Hahaha... People say Xiahou Dun is a general who is always defeated, but he rose to prominence only by relying on his clan bloodline. Now it seems that it is true."

Hearing Zhang Yong's mocking words and seeing that several generals he brought with him were killed without any chance to fight back by an unknown young general holding a huge sword, the undisputed chief general of Cao's camp became furious.

"Wow... I'm so angry! You losers, show me your best skills. If anyone loses today, even if you escape, I will kill you with my own hands when I return! Also, whoever kills the man with the giant sword will be rewarded handsomely!"

His words seemed to be spoken in anger, but they were both kind and severe. As expected, several generals and soldiers in Cao's army seemed to become more courageous, and many of them even approached Chen Lie from all directions.

“Hehe…” Xiahou Dun smiled grimly: “Just wait and see how your beloved general is chopped into meat paste.”

"System prompt: Xiahou Dun has triggered his special skill 'Rage'. His current level of rage increases his force by 2 points and reduces his intelligence by 4 points. Xiahou Dun's current comprehensive force becomes 103 points, and his comprehensive intelligence becomes 65 points."

"Whoosh..." Xiahou Dun wielded the spear in his hand with great force. With one spear, he forced back Zhang Yong, who was about to advance. Then he put his right palm on the end of the spear, pushed hard, and the spear tip stabbed out at a high speed.

In a hurry, Zhang Yong had to use the axe handle to block. The spear tip made a "ding" sound and stabbed the axe handle, causing pain in his hands.

"Good fellow, you have some skills."

He hit the spear head with the axe handle, knocking the spear away. He raised the axe blade high and brought it down heavily, almost splitting Xiahou Dun's head in half.

"Come on." Xiahou Dun was not in a hurry. He raised his hand and blocked it with his spear.

In the imperial palace of Luoyang City, Liu Zheng, carrying a cloth bag on his back, poked his head out of the palace with a sneaky look on his face. Seeing no one around, he tiptoed out.

However, what he didn't expect was that as soon as he walked out of the gate of his palace, a voice came from behind him.

"Zheng'er, where are you going?"

Liu Zheng paused, turned around and saw that it was Queen Zhang Yu.

"Mother... I... I want to go to the Imperial Academy to look for my sworn brother Zhuge Liang... Yes, I want to look for him..."

Zhang Yu smiled slightly: "You are the daughter of the Queen Mother. How can you hide what you are thinking from me? You must have gone to the Imperial Study just now to eavesdrop on the battle reports from the front line, right?"

Seeing that his lie was exposed, Liu Zheng felt helpless and had to admit it.

"This =... I dare not lie to my mother. I am going to Yuzhou. Cao is a wicked villain. He has burned my uncle's granary with a treacherous plan. Shenyang City is in danger. I want to rescue my uncle."

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "You are indeed ambitious, just like your father. However... with your ability, you are a little overconfident."

(End of this chapter)