Chapter 86: The First Battle of Yu Jin

  Liu Jue and Zhao Yun lay in ambush at Bird's Nest Valley, the very place where he was ambushed last night, only this time with roles reversed, from being the one ambushed to becoming the ambusher.

  About a hundred paces south of them, there was a small mountain path that crossed from the northwest to the southeast, which was another small path coming from Baozhuang Slope.

  Just a short while ago, they watched as the large army of Cao marched out from the mountain pass and headed south. Several miles to the south, an open sack was waiting for them.

  "Halt the war horse, do not let it neigh!"

  Zhao Yun gave a low command, although he had been through hundreds of battles, but at this time he was also a little nervous, after all, the distance was too close, he worried that the horses would make a sound and alert the Cao army, then they would lose all their previous efforts, and even fall into a dangerous situation, leading to a final defeat.

  Zhoa Yun swiftly glanced sideways at Liu Xuan, seeing him calm and serene, gazing forward at the forest path in deep contemplation.

  Zhoa Yun nodded secretly, this time seeing Liu Xuan, he found that compared to three months ago, not only had his martial arts improved greatly, but he was also more calm and wise. From the way he discussed and planned today, it was almost unbelievable that he was only seventeen years old.

  "What are you thinking?"

  "I am thinking of yesterday's night raid, my first command of an army, its stunning and thrilling, making it unforgettable to this day."

  "You always surprise me, no one knows your secrets like I do."

  Zhao Yun sighed faintly, "You are a genius, not just in martial arts, but in everything I know, you surpass ordinary people."

  Liu Jiong smiled faintly, "Big brother is overpraising me. I'm not superior in all aspects. For example, when it comes to winning women's hearts, I'm no match for Liu Quan. And when it comes to making friends with men, I'm not as good as Lao Hu."

  Liu Cong turned his head and took a look at Liu Hu and Wei Yan who were whispering to each other, Liu Cong felt very fortunate, he seized the opportunity and snatched Wei Yan away from Liu Bei's side.

  Just then, a thunderous shout came from afar, Liu Jiao and Zhao Yun both tensed up at the same time, this was the start of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's ambush.

  Soon, there were scattered Cao troops retreating in this direction. Suddenly, Zhao Yun discovered that the Cao soldiers were all rushing towards the fork in the road, which was their route of retreat.

  "I'm going to block the intersection!"

  Zhoa Yun waved his hand and led five hundred soldiers to rush towards the fork, quickly blocking the fork. Soon, a fierce battle also broke out in front of the fork.

  The fork was blocked, and more and more Cao troops rushed towards Lin Dao's side, in groups of thousands, with over 2,000 people.

  "Brothers, kill!"

  Liu Cong let out a loud shout, brandished his spear and charged forward on horseback, over a thousand soldiers yelling as they attacked the Cao army. Liu Cong led the charge, with Liu Hu and Deng Wu close behind, shouting loudly as they rushed into battle.

  Deng Wu was originally the commander, but Liu Jiong's outstanding performance last night won him over and he handed over command to him.

  The ambush troops rushed into the midst of Cao's defeated army. At this time, Cao's army was like a startled bird, and the Jingzhou army killed them, making them even more terrified, scattering and fleeing in all directions. However, the forest path was narrow, and they were blocked from both front and back, with no place to escape. The Cao army surrendered one after another.

  Liu Jue's war horse was extremely fast, and with a spear thrust, he directly stabbed one of Cao Jun's great generals who was fleeing on horseback. This man was also a surrendered general of Yuan Shao's army, named Zhong Yi, who is now under Yu Jin's command, holding a 50-jin large axe.

  He saw that there were ambush troops killing, and his heart was in a panic, but he saw that the enemy general who came to kill him was a young general. Suddenly, he felt at ease, sneered, swung his axe and chopped towards Liu Jing.

  Liu Jiong's long spear swept across, deflecting the large axe with a smooth motion. His warhorse was extremely fast, and in an instant, he crossed paths with Zhong Jin. With a reverse stroke of his spear, he stabbed straight at Zhong Jin's nape, the speed of the spear as swift as lightning.

  Zhong Jian didn't expect Liu Xuan's war horse to be so fast, and was shocked. He swung his axe back and chopped down, a fierce gust of wind blew in, directly chopping at the head of Liu Xuan's spear, but unexpectedly this was just a feint.

  Zhong Jun was struck by a single axe, and suddenly felt a chill on his back. Liu Xuan's spear pierced through his back and emerged from his chest, and Zhong Jun let out a miserable cry as he was knocked off his horse by Liu Xuan.

  Cao Jun was in great disarray once again, with countless numbers surrendering. Liu Jiong drew out his long spear, gazing at the blood-stained tip, and suddenly his confidence doubled.

  At this time, dozens of defeated soldiers fled here, among them were several small soldiers on horseback. Liu Jiong rode forward, his long spear horizontal, and shouted loudly: "Those who surrender will be spared!"

  The little soldier covering his head with a cloth, perhaps it was Liu Xuan's voice that made him stunned, he pulled away the cover, and faced Liu Xuan face to face, both of them were stunned at the same time, this little soldier turned out to be Yu Jin in disguise.

  It can be said that enemies meet on a narrow road, and Yu Jin would never have dreamed of running into Liu Xuan here. Of course he recognized him; Liu Xuan's appearance was etched in his mind, and even if he were to burn it into ashes, he would not forget.

  Although he was defeated at this time, why did he come to Nanyang? Wasn't it just to avenge his shame? At this moment, even if the sky fell, he didn't care.

  "Xu Gongzi, it's been a long time!"

  Yu Jin let out a cold laugh, drew the golden-backed tiger-toothed knife from its scabbard on his horse's back, and charged towards Liu Jing with his horse, shouting loudly: "Give me your head!"

  Yu Jin wielded his sword with great force, its momentum like a raging fire. The sword flashed once, and slashed horizontally towards Liu Xuan's neck.

  At the moment he saw Yu Jin, Liu Xuan also gripped his gun tightly, his heart racing with excitement, despite having just killed a high-ranking general of Cao's army, and despite Zhao Yun saying that he could exchange blows with Yu Jin for five rounds.

  But after all, this is Yu Jin, a famous and powerful general in the Cao army. His martial arts skills, his experience, whereas I have only learned less than half a year of martial arts.

  But Liu Jue had no room for hesitation, and didn't even have the opportunity to retreat. Yu Jin suddenly launched a surprise attack, aiming straight for his head, and he could only fight with his back against the water.

  A warrior's fierce fire of courage was burning rapidly in Liu Xuan's heart, he no longer hesitated, no longer feared, and swung his spear to meet the battle.

  Liu Jue's eyeballs almost popped out, staring at the forest of knife edges slashing towards his neck. His strength burst forth in an instant, and with a loud "Dang!" sound, he parried Yu Jin's swift and fierce slash with his long spear.

  Yu Jin's heavy sword weighed sixty catties, and with all his might, he chopped down with a force of almost five or six hundred catties. Although the power of this sword was extremely heavy, it was far inferior to Zhao Yun's mountain-like pressure.

  Liu Jiong's arms were numb with shock, but he still gritted his teeth and took this blow.

  Two horses galloped swiftly, momentarily crossing each other, and both sides fought a round.

  Liu Xuan's whole body was already soaked through, as if in a dream. Suddenly, he was shocked to find that he had actually won the first round.

  But Liu Jue's surprise was far less than Yu Jin's shock, this knife made Yu Jin understand Liu Jue's martial arts, equivalent to the level of a tooth general, two or three levels lower than himself.

  But...

  Yu Jin also knew Liu Xuan's true nature. Half a year ago, he was just a young man who couldn't even ride a horse and had no martial skills at all.

  Yu Jin couldn't believe it, in just a short half year, he was actually able to withstand his own fierce slash.

  He stared blankly at Liu Xuan, and a strange sense of fear welled up in his heart. If it went on for a few more years... he couldn't bear to think about it anymore.

  Liu Jue slowly straightened his waist, a kind of unprecedented confidence filled his heart. This morning he was still extremely disappointed for not being able to defeat Zhao Yun in one move, but now in the exchange with Yu Jin, he discovered that he wasn't as weak as he had imagined.

  Why so timid? Just a moment ago, didn't he kill one of Cao's army generals?

  Perhaps he could really fight with Yu Jin for five rounds, a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. Liu Xuan's confidence greatly increased, and he shouted loudly, "Yu Wenze, take another shot from me!"

  He galloped his horse at full speed, with his long spear thrusting straight at Yan Liang. He employed the Wind and Thunder Change technique, causing his spear to quiver and shoot out four spearheads.

  A sly smile spread across Yu Jin's face as he had already discovered Liu Xuan's weakness, which was his lack of experience in facing enemies. When strong, take the initiative, but when weak, use strategy to counterattack. In an unknown situation, it is best to adopt a defensive stance and respond to changes with stability.

  He just fought one round with himself and is about to take the initiative? Or is he still a bit too tender.

  Yu Jin let out a cold laugh, his left hand shook, and a meteor hammer rolled out of his sleeve. He quickly put the ring on his middle finger, grasping the meteor iron hammer without making a sound.

  Just as Liu Xuan's long spear was still four feet away from him, his meteor hammer shot out instantly, and the black shadow flew out, 'Whoosh!' The iron hammer chain wrapped around the gun head.

  Yu Jin swung his left arm outward, pulling open the long spear, and with a fierce swing of his right arm, the big knife came crashing down, swift as lightning.

  At the moment when the gun head was entwined by the chain hammer, Liu Jiong realized that something was wrong. This was something he had never thought of before. He didn't expect that a great general of Cao's army would still have hidden weapons.

  He only realized that his offense was a mistake, if he took the defense, then Yu Jin's every move would be seen very clearly. He had no experience, but at this time, he had to pay an extremely heavy price for the lack of this experience, which is life.

  Liu Xuan closed his eyes in despair, waiting for the fatal blow that would end his life. His heart was filled with boundless sorrow, and all his grand ambitions had turned to nothing but illusions at this moment.

  Just as Yu Jin was about to be killed, a wolf-tooth arrow flew in from afar and shot straight at his throat. Yu Jin was shocked and chose to save his life instead of killing Liu Gong, dodging the arrow with a flash of his body.

  "Plop!" Blood splattered everywhere, the arrow shot deep into Yu Jin's shoulder socket, the intense pain made Yu Jin let out a loud cry, almost falling off his horse.

  Dozens of steps away, Zhao Yun smiled coldly and drew his bow again, with the bowstring full like a full moon. He took aim at him, and Yu Jin was so frightened that his soul flew away, forgetting about Liu Xun. He threw away his chain hammer and turned his horse's head to flee.

  Zhou Yu's second arrow shot out, aiming directly at Yuan Jin's neck. However, Yuan Jin was destined to live, and just as the arrow was about to hit him, one of his personal guards rushed over and blocked it with his body. The guard let out a blood-curdling scream as he fell to the ground.

  Yu Jin was shocked to the point where his heart almost stopped beating, and he wildly hacked with his large knife, disregarding everything as he desperately ran north. Several dozen of his personal soldiers fought to the death to protect him, cutting a bloody path as they escaped towards the north.

  Zhoa Yun drew out the third arrow, but slowly withdrew his bow. Yu Jin's back was protected by a shield, and other parts were blocked by his bodyguards. This arrow could not harm him, but the first arrow hit Yu Jin's shoulder, which also counted as revenge for the battle of Ru Nan.

  Zhoa Yun was worried about Liu Jiong, and rode his horse at full speed to arrive, "Younger brother Jiong, how are you?"

  Liu Xuan narrowly escaped death, and after a while, he finally appreciated the beauty of life. He let out a bitter laugh, "Even if I die, I don't want my head to be split in two, it's too miserable."

  "Don't talk nonsense, remember today's lesson. The first enemy general you killed wasn't some kind of martial arts expert either. You just took advantage of the horse's speed and caught him off guard. But when facing a truly powerful opponent, never launch a preemptive attack. Use stillness to control movement, and counterattack after they make the first move."

  Liu Jie nodded, "I really remembered, but... didn't big brother say I could withstand Yu Jian for five rounds? That's why I dared to fight him."

  Zhoa Yun was speechless for half a day, he was referring to pure martial arts at the time, who would have thought that Liu Xuan would remember this sentence and use it as his trump card to dare to fight fiercely with Yu Jin, this guy...

  Zhao Yun sighed helplessly and smiled bitterly, "I'll also learn a lesson from this, and in the future I won't speak carelessly to you again."

  "I was just joking with big brother, I will remember the lesson of this battle firmly."

  Liu Jingshuang smiled brightly and regained his confidence, shouting to the soldiers: "Quickly clean up the battlefield and take all the captives to XinYe County."

  ．．．．．．．．

  Yu Jin was wounded and fled for tens of miles, where he encountered Xiahou Dun leading a large army to reinforce him. Yu Jin could no longer hold on and fell off his horse, crying out loud, "Your subordinate has been ambushed by Liu Bei's troops, the entire army is defeated!"

  Xiahou Dun was stunned, after a long while, he let out a deep sigh, "I regret not listening to Man Cheng's words, which led to this defeat. How can I explain this to the Prime Minister?"

  A middle-aged scholar with a sinister gaze and a gaunt face smiled and said, "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in the military, General Xiahou, why take it to heart?"

  Xiahou Dun shook his head and sighed again, saying to the middle-aged scholar: "If Wenhe had arrived a step earlier, I wouldn't have suffered this defeat. What should I do now?"