Chapter Forty-Two: The Campaign Against the Yellow Turbans (Part Four)

A silver aura enveloped the arrow, and in an instant, it appeared at the spot where the Yellow Turban camp’s cloud energy had faltered. That spot was, in fact, right at the main gate.

With the first explosion, the already thin cloud energy shattered completely. Then, under the force of the second layer of energy imbued in the arrow, the camp’s main gate was utterly destroyed.

The Yellow Turban soldiers on the walls only felt a tremor, and those below, who were rushing into the camp, merely paused briefly before continuing their surge inside. Without the gate, these soldiers became even more disordered.

On the ramparts of Qingzhou City, Prefect Gong Jing witnessed this scene and waved his hand. “Pass down my orders—let the soldiers ready themselves. Once the Yellow Turban camp is thrown into utter chaos, we’ll charge out. Success or failure hinges on this!” To attain the position of prefect, regardless of the means, one had to possess some measure of ability in these times.

Shouts of battle rang out, and at the destroyed camp gate, the Yellow Turban army plunged into confusion. They had seen the terror of Guan and Zhang, and the fear in their hearts erupted anew. The already chaotic situation now completely unraveled.

Inside the main tent of the Yellow Turban camp, the commander of this force arrived with his personal guards. Seeing the chaos at the camp’s entrance, his mind reeled—he knew what it signified.

“Send down the order! Make them turn and face the enemy, or else—kill them!”

But by then, Liu Bei and his companions had already arrived.

“Yellow Turban rebels, surrender at once!”

Two mighty blows of inner force slashed down among the Yellow Turban troops outside the camp, leaving two distinct scars upon the ground. This was the final straw—the Yellow Turban soldiers stopped heeding commands entirely.

At the brink of life and death, survival comes first.

The makeshift barricades of trees on both sides of the camp gate were pushed over, and the cloud energy that had just shown signs of gathering dispersed completely.

With no cloud energy to protect them, Sun Meng high above looked down and saw everything clearly. The one Yellow Turban commander clad in full armor was conspicuous—far too noticeable.

An arrow flew out, piercing both the commander and the guard who lunged to protect him, then exploded.

“The commander is dead!” someone shouted, and the remaining semblance of formation among the Yellow Turban troops vanished.

On the walls of Qingzhou City, Gong Jing immediately commanded, “The whole army, attack! Kill the rebels and serve the nation!”

The gates of Qingzhou City swung open, and the soldiers, long prepared, surged out with battle cries. The Yellow Turban troops, who should have been excited, were now nothing but panicked. Gong Jing’s forces joined with Liu Bei’s group, but the Yellow Turban army was simply too vast. Some soldiers at the periphery, led by minor captains, scattered in all directions.

After unleashing a dozen pinpoint and scatter shots from above, Sun Meng’s inner force was depleted, so he descended.

Victorious, Gong Jing personally came out to greet Sun Meng and the others.

“My deepest thanks to you heroes for coming to our aid! Please, enter the city—I have prepared a banquet, and await your presence!” Gong Jing turned to Liu Bei as he spoke. There was no helping it; the two men beside him, Guan and Zhang, were simply too distinctive. Having witnessed their inner force attacks from the city walls, Gong Jing understood they had reached the level of martial masters.

Although most of the Yellow Turban army had fled, the spoils and prisoners from this single battle already exceeded a hundred thousand. Compared to the Yellow Turbans of Youzhou, those of Qingzhou were far more formidable; now, within the entirety of Qingzhou, there were only a handful of cities still under Han control.

At the feast, Gong Jing raised a cup to Liu Bei. “Sir, I have not yet learned your esteemed name.”

Liu Bei replied, “I am Liu Xuande, descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan. Previously, I acknowledged my genealogy with my clan uncle; once this chaos ends, I shall go to the ancestral office. These two are my sworn brothers, both masters of the Manifestation Realm.” As he spoke, he introduced Guan and Zhang.

“Guan Yunchang!”

“Zhang Yide!”

Gong Jing exclaimed, “Excellent! Excellent! With talents such as these, it is clear the Han still holds Heaven’s mandate. These Yellow Turban bandits will soon be eradicated! By the way, who was it that sent word to the city during the battle?”

Liu Bei smiled, “It was this man. His strength even surpasses my two sworn brothers. Sun Meng!”

Sun Meng smiled and clasped his hands. “Sir, your decisive act in joining forces to fight the Yellow Turbans is a display of admirable courage!”

Gong Jing laughed and waved his hand. “Not at all, I was pushed into it. Qingzhou is in turmoil, the Yellow Turbans are rampant. I had no power to quell them, so I sought aid. Even now, I can only hold the area around Qingzhou City. I must rely on Brother Zigan to break through Guangzong and slay the rebel leader, so the Yellow Turbans will not remain so arrogant.”

Liu Bei suddenly said, “My teacher is at Guangzong!” Although he had seen the proclamations and understood the Yellow Turbans’ power, he had not known that his teacher was a commander of the imperial forces.

Gong Jing’s eyes lit up. “So Xuande is Brother Zigan’s student! No wonder you are so talented. Zigan’s judgment has always been excellent.”

At this point, Zou Jing turned to Liu Bei. “Xuande, now that matters here are settled, I’ll soon return to report to the prefect. Will you come with me?”

Liu Bei hesitated only briefly before replying, “Please explain my reasons to my clan uncle. My teacher is at Guangzong slaying rebels, and as his disciple, I ought to assist him.” The main force of the Youzhou Yellow Turbans had been all but destroyed; those remaining were mere scattered bandits, and even if he returned, there was little merit to be gained. If he went to Guangzong, with his teacher’s support, he could surely earn substantial credit.

Hearing Liu Bei’s words, Sun Meng smiled slightly. Though he had long known Liu Bei would go to Guangzong, he feared his own intervention might alter events. But once at Guangzong, he would not be following Liu Bei’s every move. Across all the fronts against the Yellow Turbans, aside from Yingchuan, nowhere offered more opportunities for merit than Guangzong!

Zou Jing nodded. “That’s true. Let Xuande win even greater distinction; I will inform the prefect of this.” Then he turned to Gong Jing. “In that case, I shall depart tomorrow.”

The next day, Liu Bei, with his replenished force of five thousand, supplied with provisions and equipment by Gong Jing, bade farewell to Zou Jing and hurried toward Guangzong.

At Guangzong City, the imperial army’s camp had been stationed outside for over a month. Though the rebels inside were cut off from the outside, repeated assaults had failed to break through.

Within the camp, Lu Zhi studied military treatises, pondering how to take Guangzong. Yet most of these books spoke only of general principles; the occasional case study bore little resemblance to the current situation.

He had tried psychological tactics, but as long as Zhang Jiao lived within the city, the Yellow Turban soldiers’ morale and the people’s spirit remained united, never faltering.

He had employed siege strategies, but whenever the Yellow Turbans sallied forth, they would charge fiercely; their strongmen could overturn an army of ten thousand with just five thousand men. Fortunately, they retreated quickly, and with Lu Zhi’s able command, losses were greatly reduced after the first encounter. By the third, the Yellow Turbans refused to leave the city no matter how he tried to lure them out.

As for spies, there was no hope; not a single scrap of information came from inside. Lu Zhi could only deduce the enemy’s reactions from each assault.

“Is this to be a battle of attrition after all?” Lu Zhi sighed. He had long known Zhang Jiao had transformed the entire city into a spell formation; had he realized earlier, he would not have attacked so fiercely.

In the half month before the siege, he had advanced like a whirlwind, reclaiming lost territory with limited spoils but impressive results. But now, after a month without noteworthy achievements, the imperial court’s censure was surely imminent.

At that moment, a messenger outside the tent announced, “Commander, a man named Liu Bei—Liu Xuande—claims to be your student, and has brought five thousand men to reinforce us.”

Lu Zhi frowned. “So it’s him. Seizing such an opportunity is just his nature. Very well, we are teacher and student—let’s help him.” He ordered Liu Bei’s group to be settled in the camp and summoned Liu Bei to see him.

Upon entering the command tent, Sun Meng met Lu Zhi, the scholar-general. Indeed, Lu Zhi was not primarily a martial artist, but specialized in spiritual power, having attained perfection—just a step away from further advancement.

“Ah!” A gleam flashed in Lu Zhi’s eyes. “A master with a stable realm, two who are entering mastery—such rare combat strength! Even among the Yellow Turbans, only Zhang Jiao and his brothers have reached this level. The martial masters among the common folk all guard their own hometowns; if they gathered together, perhaps the Yellow Turbans would be swiftly eradicated.”

“Xuande, who are these companions?”