Chapter 2 A Cow Cart

  Less than half a time later, more than 12,000 soldiers of Gong Du's army were killed or wounded, and only a few soldiers managed to escape. The captured civilian soldiers were also almost killed in the chaos.

  Cao Jun's cavalry seized a portion of the grain and fodder, burning the rest with fire. Six thousand cavalrymen turned around and headed south towards Ancheng.

  It was already dark, and the vast wilderness was filled with blood, packs of wild dogs appeared, gnawing at corpses, it was especially important to get far away from the battlefield.

  Liu Jian ran out for more than 20 miles in one breath, he was very clever, after rushing into the forest, he circled a big circle and then rushed northwest, that way he could avoid the cavalry.

  He rushed into a low hill, the hill was lush with trees, there was no more danger here, he found a large stone to sit down, panting and resting, and several civilians who escaped with him had all run away, leaving only him alone.

  Liu Jian sighed and came to this era for three days. Until now, he could calm down and think about some problems.

  He had already guessed what time it was now, he was familiar with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and when some civilians mentioned Runan County, 'Runan County, Cao's army, Yellow Turban Army', stringing these clues together, he vaguely understood.

  This should be Liu Bei coming out from Yuan Shao, taking over the remnants of the Yellow Turbans led by Lü Bu and Gong Du in Runan, preparing to attack Xuchang, but was counterattacked by Cao Cao.

  Yes! Now it's Jian'an 6th year, Liu Jian suddenly remembered that next step, Liu Bei should go to join Liu Biao in Jingzhou.

  Then what should he do? Go to Liu Biao for help, or... go to Cao Cao for help. Of course, he should go to Cao Cao for help, but what can he rely on?

  Liu Jian's mind was in a state of turmoil, and for a moment he couldn't make up his mind.

  At this time, his stomach growled loudly, and he reached into his pocket to find that there was still half a bun left, seemingly leftover from lunch. He was overjoyed, as this half bun would be enough to sustain him until tomorrow morning.

  Liu Jian took out a pancake and nibbled two mouthfuls. The Han Dynasty didn't understand the technology of fermentation, so they made solid pancakes that were very hard to bite and dry, making it difficult to swallow. That's why this kind of pancake is also called "water-guided pancake", which must be broken into pieces and soaked in water before eating.

  The cake was really hard to swallow, his throat was dry and burning, Liu Jian stood up and looked around, he needed to find a small stream.

  This is a low and gentle hill, only slightly higher than the plain, but it has an area of more than ten miles in circumference. The entire hill is covered with lush forests, and there is an east-west official road passing through the forest, which is the only way to go west to Jingzhou.

  In the forest at night, there were many strange noises, and from time to time, the mournful cry of an owl could be heard, making one's hair stand on end. Without anything for defense, he didn't dare walk in the forest.

  The war broke out in Junan County, with dead bodies everywhere. Packs of wild dogs roamed the wilderness, and if they were encountered, one would surely die.

  Liu Jian walked along the official road to the west, and after walking for about two or three miles, he found a fork in the road ahead. Listening carefully, it seemed that there was a gentle gurgling sound of water flowing from the front of the fork.

  Liu Jian was overjoyed in his heart and rushed towards the fork in the road. After running for about a hundred steps, he saw a small river that was one zhang wide, winding its way through the forest, with moonlight shining on the riverbank through the treetops, adding an air of mystery to it.

  But Liu Jian suddenly stopped running tens of steps away, his eyes fixed tightly on the back of a bush.

  Behind the bushes was an overturned ox cart, with a large wooden wheel sticking up high. Several dead bodies lay around it. An old man lay under the wheel, hacked to pieces and covered in blood. The carter hung from the shaft of the cart, his back pierced by several arrows. Not far away, a white-clad man was lying on the ground.

  There was another corpse in the car, a young boy about 15 or 16 years old, similar to his age, quite tall, only slightly shorter than him, with multiple gunshot wounds and covered in blood.

  Liu Jian sighed, in a chaotic world, people are not as good as dogs. This group of people seems to have some status, but what's the use of status? In a chaotic world, one still has to be like oneself, able to run and hide, in order to escape with their lives.

  At this time, he suddenly found that the white-clothed man seemed to move slightly, Liu Jian was stunned, and this person hadn't died yet?

  He quickly walked forward, it was a middle-aged man, the back of his head had been hit with a stick, blood and flesh were blurred, other places seemed to be uninjured, he reached out to touch the man's nose, still breathing, seemingly just fainted.

  He tore off the man's lapel, dipped a little water in the river, slowly squeezed it into the man's mouth, and wiped his forehead.

  Perhaps it was the water that took effect, the man slowly opened his eyes, he dazedly looked at Liu Jian for a moment, and said in a low voice: "We've encountered... Cao Jun's cavalry, tell Liu Zhou Mu..."

  Just after he finished speaking, he fainted again. Liu Jian scratched his head, feeling a severe headache. Which of the three governors surnamed Liu was it? Was it Liu Bei, the governor of Yu Province, or Liu Biao, the governor of Jing Province, or Liu Zhang, the governor of Yi Province? These three people all seemed to be governors with the surname Liu.

  Liu Jian put down the man and searched around in the ox cart, but except for some broken and scattered bamboo slips, there was nothing else, which made him a little disappointed. It would be good if he had found a knife!

  He looked around again, trying to see as far as possible, and suddenly he seemed to have seen something in a clump of grass tens of steps away.

  Liu Jian quickly walked forward and found a leather pouch in the grass, which was heavy and surprised him. How could it be lost in the grass?

  He hastily opened the leather case, and a short sword jumped into his eyes. The scabbard of the short sword was decorated with luxury, wrapped in gold silk and silver thread, and inlaid with several precious stones. He drew out the short sword, and the white blade was extremely sharp, obviously a famous sword.

  At this moment, if he had been alert, he would have had a kind of instinct to avoid danger that had been honed in countless hunting trips, and this instinct would have made him involuntarily roll over to the left and tumble out one zhang away.

  "Whoosh! Whoosh!" The sound of breaking air echoed, two arrows shot forward and backward, shooting at the position just now.

  Liu Jian only then discovered that, one in front and one behind, two Cao army soldiers had appeared, holding long spears and crossbows, silently surrounding him.

  These are two Cao army cavalrymen, the leather bag in the grass is their hiding place. When the two of them quietly returned to retrieve it, they found that someone had picked it up, causing the two men to burn with anger.

  "Put it down, kid!" a soldier bellowed menacingly.

  Liu Jian put down his leather bag, but drew out a short sword, his eyes staring fiercely at the other party. The two of them had blocked off all his escape routes, what did they want to do with him if not kill him?

  He has already staked his life on it; even if he dies, he must kill one to make up for the loss.

  "Kid, I really don't want to live anymore."

  One of the soldiers threw down his bow and arrow, let out a loud shout, and charged forward, fiercely thrusting his spear at Liu Jian. These two soldiers were cavalry scouts under Xiahou Yuan, originally from the Qingzhou army, with rigorous training and strong hand-to-hand combat skills. However, their military discipline was relatively lax, and taking advantage of the chaos to kill and loot was a common occurrence for them.

  If they weren't afraid of startling Liu Jian with the sound of horse hooves, the two would have ridden in and started hacking at each other long ago. Although they didn't ride horses now, the two were still extremely ferocious.

  Liu Jian dodged the stab with a swift movement, performed a front roll, and swiftly arrived in front of the soldier, fiercely slashing his sword towards the opponent's calf.

  Whether in his past life or this life, his body was exceptionally agile. In this life, he was a young hunter with rich hunting experience. This experience accumulated like a subconscious mind deep in his brain, and whenever he encountered danger, it would naturally be triggered.

  He could tell at a glance that these two were cavalrymen, with their characteristic bowlegs and stiff knees, which made them less agile on foot - a common weakness among cavalrymen.

  His speed was like lightning, leaving the soldier unguarded, and more importantly, his appearance was that of a mere youth, causing both cavalrymen to have a slight contemptuous intent.

  A shrill cry of despair, the soldier's right calf was severed by a sword. Even Liu Jian did not realize that this short sword was as sharp as it was. His astonishment only flashed for a moment, and then he pounced like a fierce tiger, knocking the soldier to the ground. With his hand raised and his sword falling, he ruthlessly plunged the sword into the soldier's chest.

  He suddenly turned around, staring at another soldier like a leopard, slowly wiping the blood from his face with the back of his hand. This was his experience in fighting beasts; after killing one prey, he couldn't have any attachment, otherwise he would die in the mouth of another beast.

  Another soldier was over a dozen steps away, he also reacted and wanted to save him but it was already too late, Liu Jian killed too quickly, didn't give him any chance.

  Two men faced off, their eyes locked in a fierce stare, neither daring to make the first move. The Cao army soldiers had drawn their knives, one hand holding a long spear and the other a battle sword, covering both short and long distances.

  Liu Jian suddenly bent down to pick up the long spear of a dead soldier, and the two men were like tightly strung strings, only needing one person to make a slight change to trigger the other's attack.

  The soldier let out a loud roar and threw his spear with all his might, directly at Liu Jian. He immediately rushed up and chopped down with his knife.

  Liu Jian bent down to pick up the spear, but it was just a feint. He wanted to provoke his opponent into making the first move, like triggering a wild beast to pounce. Pretending to pick up the spear, he rolled forward with his body and dodged his opponent's spear thrusting through the air. With a swift leap, he stabbed at his opponent's thigh from the side.

  This Cao army soldier was a company commander, eight feet tall, with a tiger's back and bear's waist, much more formidable than the soldier who had just been killed. With one slash of his knife, he knew things were not going well.

  But he didn't panic, the knife flashed and slashed out a horizontal cut, just in time to slash onto the short sword, sending Liu Jian's short sword flying out of his hand, but he himself was knocked to the ground by Liu Jian.

  Liu Jian pressed him to the ground, pinning one of his hands under his knee, grasping his ear and pressing his head firmly into the grass, with their other hand wrestling in mid-air.

  As time passed, Liu Jian suddenly heard a faint sound of warhorse neighing in the distance, and his heart was greatly alarmed. He glanced sideways and found that the white-clothed man had already sat up, staring blankly at them from twenty or so steps away.

  "You idiot, come and help me quickly!" Liu Jian shouted urgently.

  At that moment of distraction, Cao's general let out a loud roar and grabbed his neck with one hand, the enormous strength almost choking him into unconsciousness.

  At the same time, Liu Jian also grabbed an arrow from the ground and inserted it into his opponent's face with a loud shout. The Cao army general let out a miserable cry and desperately tried to strangle him, and the two of them were competing to see who could kill each other first.

  Liu Jian shot arrow after arrow, aiming at his eyes and forehead, Cao Jun's commander was choked with anger, his hands gradually loosening. At this time, someone shouted from dozens of steps behind: "There!"

  Liu Jian suddenly jumped up from Cao Jun's body, grabbed the leather bag on the ground, picked up the short sword with one hand, and rushed forward a few steps, then jumped into the river, swam to the other side in a few strokes, and desperately ran towards the depths of the forest.

  The man in white also got up with a start and ran after him, shouting, "Young master, wait for me!"