Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 325 Injury

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Unlike the bandits who collapsed and suffered heavy casualties, the Western Army continued to advance wave after wave.

The encirclement is shrinking.

The Northern Army's triangular formation could no longer be maintained. Xiang Jing and Kuai En on the right flank were cut off by Fu Hong, and Shen Tianzi and Shen Linzi on the left flank were also scattered by the main force.

Liu Yu had only about 500 armored soldiers left, all of them wounded. Even he had been hit in the shoulder by a spear, and blood was seeping through his armor.

His helmet was nowhere to be found, his hair was disheveled and stained with blood, and it danced wildly in the wind.

The Western Army soldiers stood in layers, their long spears like a forest, pointing at Liu Yu and his troops.

Huangfu Fu drew his sword and stepped forward, shouting, "Liu Jinu, today is your death day!"

Liu Yu sneered, "You're just spouting empty words. Come forward and fight me!"

The soldiers of the Western Army fixed their gazes on Huangfu Fu.

The army revered the strong the most, and even when surrounded, no one dared to fight Liu Yu.

Huangfu Fu took a halberd, gripped it tightly, the veins on his hands bulging, but he still dared not take a step forward. "I am a general in the army, how can I compete with you for the courage of a mere man!"

"Hahaha... Today we'll see who's the real villain!" Liu Yu brandished his long sword and roared, "Kill!"

"kill!"

The soldiers followed them and charged towards the Chu army again.

When the tiger is injured and cornered, it becomes even more ferocious and fearless.

A general from the Western Prefecture saw an opportunity and, tempted by the reward of being ennobled, led several hundred armored soldiers to meet them.

In a single exchange, Liu Yu felled him to the ground, removed his helmet, and with a swift stroke, severed his head, raising it high as he walked step by step toward the Wei enemy army, declaring, "Though I die today, I will take you with me!"

The surrounding Western Army troops were all horrified.

With each step Liu Yu took forward, the Western Army's formation shifted backward one step.

Even Huangfu Fu didn't dare to step forward.

Huan Chong, standing behind, shouted sternly, "What are you all standing there for? Fire the arrows!"

This sentence reminded them, and the Xifu soldiers took out their crossbows, cocked them, and fired without much aiming.

call out--

Liu Yu was hit by two more arrows in the chest, but fortunately Ding Wu, who was beside him, reacted quickly and blocked them with his shield.

But the other soldiers were not so lucky.

Arrows came from three directions, impossible to dodge or block, and one by one they fell to the ground.

"Where shall you die?" Huangfu Fu breathed a sigh of relief, picked up his halberd, and eagerly prepared to fight.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yu's hair and beard bristled, and his eyes widened in fury: "Come here!"

None of the troops dared to move, and Huangfu Fu, his face covered in cold sweat, retreated repeatedly.

"Kill! Kill! Kill him!" Huan Chong roared madly as he rode his tall horse.

Liu Yu looked up and gave him a murderous look.

Call——

The warhorse reared back in alarm, and Huan Chong ducked low to the ground, shrinking back on its back. His shouts abruptly ceased.

The soldiers at the front couldn't even hold their long spears.

During the Chu-Han Contention, the Han army was surrounded on all sides, including the siege of Gaixia. Han cavalry general Yang Xi pursued and killed the Chu army. Xiang Yu glared at him and shouted, causing Yang Xi and his horse to be startled and almost fall off their horses. They retreated several miles, and Xiang Yu, with twenty-eight or twenty-seven kills, cut through five thousand Han soldiers.

Liu Yu's power today is no less than that of the Hegemon-King of the past.

Even Huangfu Fu was scared away.

None of the surrounding Chu soldiers dared to advance.

But human strength has its limits, and Liu Yu had also reached a dead end. Severely injured, he laughed loudly, "My defeat today is my own fault. Ah Gui, watch as your brother paves the way for you!"

With each Western Army soldier killed, Huan Xuan's strength weakened, and Liu Daogui's chances of success increased.

Even when a person is about to die, his words are good.

Liu Yu now places all his hopes on Liu Daogui.

After saying this, he helped Ding Wu up and continued to charge towards the Western Army. The blood on his body pooled together, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

However, the enemy forces were numerous and endless, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not kill them all; even the sword in his hand broke.

He had fewer than two hundred armored soldiers around him...

The battlefield gradually fell silent, littered with corpses.

Liu Yu swung his final sword, but instead of cutting down the Chu soldiers in front of him, he was knocked to the ground by them. Ding Wu and other armored soldiers quickly protected him.

This fall greatly boosted the morale of the surrounding Western Army soldiers, and their fear turned into joy.

"Agui—"

Liu Yu shouted, his voice echoing across the battlefield and piercing the darkness.

dong dong dong-

A sound like muffled thunder came from the sky.

There was no sign of thunder or rain, but the sound came from afar.

From the east, a fiery dragon rushed in, and the huge "Liu" character shone with divine brilliance under the torchlight.

"Reinforcements! The former general's reinforcements have arrived!" The surviving Northern Army soldiers wept with joy.

Even Liu Yu, who had fallen to the ground, rolled over and stood up with the help of Mu Qian and other guards. "Hahaha, Heaven has not forsaken me! Heaven has not forsaken Liu Yu!"

In contrast, the Western Army soldiers were stunned and dumbfounded.

It took a tremendous amount of effort and nearly half of the troops to finally subdue Liu Yu, this fierce tiger, and now Liu Daogui, this hidden dragon, has arrived.

The psychological impact on them is unimaginable.

"Kill! Quickly kill Liu Yu, then follow me to fight Liu Daogui!" Huangfu Fu panicked and shouted orders to the soldiers around him. Killing Liu Yu would be a fair fight against Huan Xuan, even if they were defeated.

But fewer than a hundred people responded to him.

With things having come to this point, he couldn't care less about anything else. He picked up his halberd and charged towards Liu Yu.

Unexpectedly, a crossbow bolt shot him down to the ground.

The surrounding Western Army soldiers could no longer contain their fear and scattered in all directions.

The battle had been raging for two hours. They hadn't actually performed badly, but their opponent was Liu Yu's Northern Army, and reinforcements had arrived at the last moment...

Liu Yu, supported by his soldiers, walked towards Huangfu Fu. "How shall you die?"

Huangfu Fu was shot in the forehead by an arrow, and blood gushed out, but he was still conscious. He sighed and said, "You brothers are destined by Heaven. His Majesty is no match for you. When two armies clash, each fights for its own master. If I die, I entrust my children to you. Is that acceptable?"

"Alright!" Liu Yu drew his sword and thrust it towards his face.

After stabbing him, he collapsed as well...

On the battlefield, the Xifu Army completely collapsed.

Cavalry is inherently a great threat to infantry, and the Western Army had been fighting fiercely for more than two hours and was already exhausted.

The darkness amplified the fear of the cavalry.

Even if what came was not a true cavalry force.

"Surrender without killing!"

Liu Daogui's loud rebuke had some effect; the morale of the Xifu army was completely shattered, and they lost all will to fight, kneeling on the ground one by one.

But some people neither knelt, nor fought, nor fled; they simply sat on the ground.

However, on such a large battlefield, with 40,000 to 50,000 elite troops from the Western Prefecture and 20,000 to 30,000 civilian laborers, many still managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

Liu Daogui had no interest in dealing with them, so he only ordered Liu Zun to lead a thousand cavalry to hunt them down, while he searched everywhere for Liu Yu's whereabouts.

The battlefield was so brutal, with corpses strewn everywhere, some from the Western Army and some from the Northern Army. Every step Liu Daogui took sank into the blood and mud, yet his mood remained heavy.

These were all people from Jin, all of Chinese descent, who had once fought together against the Hu people and won the glorious Battle of Fei River.

Now they are killing each other, resulting in such heavy casualties.

But on the other hand, this great battle was ultimately inevitable. A merciful general cannot command an army, and a short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one. By defeating these 50,000 elite troops of the Western Prefecture, Huan Chu suffered a major setback, and Huan Xuan's days were numbered.

"Have you found your brother?" Liu Daogui asked, stepping through the corpses with uneven steps.

The stench of blood was pungent, and beneath the flesh and blood, it seemed that there were still people groaning, not yet dead.

It was as if a ghost was sighing.

After searching for half an hour, Meng Ganzhi finally found his elder brother.

The person had already collapsed, eyes closed, face as white as paper.

He had countless wounds, large and small, all over his body.

"Where is the doctor? Where is the doctor?" Liu Daogui immediately panicked.

The slight unhappiness in my heart vanished.

Having lost his father at a young age, Liu Daogui was raised entirely by his mother and older brother. Seeing his once fierce brother reduced to this state, Liu Daogui was overcome with emotion.

Several doctors rushed over, taking pulses and examining wounds.

"General Zuo's wounds are too... severe. Years of battles have added new wounds to old ones. Even if he recovers... I'm afraid..." The white-haired doctor spoke haltingly.

Liu Daogui was extremely agitated. "What are you afraid of?"

Another, younger doctor said, "I'm afraid that even if he survives this time, his lifespan won't be long!"

Every time Liu Yu defeated a large enemy with a small force, it seemed incredibly glorious, but each time he risked his life, leaving him with numerous wounds, both large and small.

Even if a person recovers from an injury, they will never be the same as before.

Liu Daogui sat silently in the blood and mud, looking at Liu Yu's face, overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

The doctors brought water, boiled it, and used it to wash the wound, apply medicine, and bandage it.

The soldiers carried away the body, cleaned it up a bit, laid out a simple straw bed, and set up a tent.

As night faded and day broke, Liu Yu still did not wake up.

The doctors have done all they could; whether he lives or dies is entirely up to fate.

For two days and two nights in a row, Liu Daogui stayed in the tent, brewing medicine for him every day. He also handed over military tasks such as cleaning up the battlefield, counting prisoners, and chasing down the Xifu army to Liu Zhong, who arrived later.

On the afternoon of the third day, Liu Yu finally woke up, staring blankly at Liu Daogui with wide eyes.

“Brother…” Liu Daogui thought it was a hallucination and looked at him as well.

"Wolong, Wolong, after meeting you today, I realize you are destined for great things, blessed with a divine mandate. I was wrong, and I must correct my mistakes!" His voice was weak and hoarse, and his lips were cracked.

Liu Daogui quickly fed him warm water, saying, "Brother, now that you've recovered, you still need to oversee the affairs of the Northern Prefecture. Why think so much?"

"Didn't you ever think about it?" Liu Yu's lips curled into a smile.

“A real man’s life revolves around nothing more than power and women. How could I not want them?” Liu Daogui said truthfully.

At this point, there's no need to hide anything.

Sometimes it's better to talk things out openly.

"Hahaha..." he laughed, "If there is fine wine, we brothers should drink to our hearts' content!"

"How can you drink alcohol after suffering such a serious injury?"

"Life is but a few decades long. Eat when you should eat, drink when you should drink. What is there to fear about death? Do you think I can live to be a hundred if I don't drink alcohol?"

His words suggested that he knew his health was not good.

Liu Daogui remained silent for a moment.

He perked up, gently grasped Liu Daogui's hand, and said with unusual seriousness, "Agui, I have a request for you, and you must grant it."

"Okay." Liu Daogui agreed without even thinking...

(End of this chapter)