noveltune Chapter 35 Brother, you are so generous, I'll accept half a cart of gold.
Chapter 35 Brother, you are so generous, I'll accept half a cart of gold.
Zhou Tai, however, spoke with a suspicious look: "Liheng, you wouldn't be plotting to steal food from Zhang Fei's mouth, would you?"
"I, Gu Cheng, am an upright businessman. There are plenty of ways to make money. Why would I need to resort to such a lowly and crude method as robbery?"
Gu Cheng rolled his eyes at him, annoyed.
Zhou Tai's eyes widened suddenly, and he was completely stunned, unable to process what was happening.
Gu Cheng, with a straight face, said seriously, "What we did was to help those in need. We saved this caravan a whole cartload of gold, so they should at least give us half a cartload as a proper thank you."
Zhou Tai suddenly realized, and couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "I finally understand! Li Heng, you're so smart! You can even spot a way to make money at a time like this. I'm truly impressed!"
Gu Cheng didn't say anything more, he reined in his horse and stood still, gazing at the battle ahead.
On the Great Road.
Lu Lingqi's guards had been slaughtered, with most of them lost.
"These people are highly trained, and their movements are extremely methodical. They are definitely not ordinary bandits. Who are they?"
Lu Lingqi immediately noticed something was wrong and couldn't help but frown.
She wielded her halberd wildly, cutting down several Liu soldiers who charged forward.
"Get out of my way, everyone! Let me take this brat's life!"
A few steps away, a roar as loud as a muffled thunderclap suddenly rang out.
The surrounding Liu army soldiers parted to both sides like a tide.
Zhang Fei, dragging his blood-stained spear, charged fiercely towards Lü Lingqi.
"Zhang Fei!"
"It's Liu Bei's men!"
Lu Lingqi suddenly realized what was happening and blurted out a curse.
In the next instant, Zhang Fei, like a black iron tower, fiercely charged forward.
The blood-stained spear, carrying a terrifying, earth-shattering force, hurtled towards her with overwhelming force.
Without a second thought, Lü Lingqi channeled all her strength into her arms, raising her halberd high to desperately defend herself.
"throat!"
A deafening clang of metal clashing together rang out.
Lu Lingqi's arms were instantly jerked and bent over, her hands splitting open at the base of her thumbs.
The overwhelming force surged into her body through the weapon, causing her internal organs to churn, and a mouthful of sweet, metallic blood rushed to her throat.
"I never expected someone to withstand one of my attacks. When did such a talent emerge under Lü Bu's command?"
A hint of surprise flashed quickly across Zhang Fei's tiger-like eyes.
In the next instant, Zhang Fei flew into a rage, abruptly retracting his eighteen-foot spear, and immediately a barrage of spear shadows swept in like a raging storm.
"Father was right after all; this fellow truly possesses the ability to defeat ten thousand men!"
Lu Lingqi gritted her teeth, but could only forcefully gather her inner energy and desperately wield her halberd to defend herself.
Seven moves later.
"puff!"
Lu Lingqi's defense revealed a fatal flaw, and her right arm was slashed open by the snake spear, leaving a deep, bone-revealing gash.
She couldn't help but let out a painful groan, her body swaying violently on the horse, and the halberd in her hand almost slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground.
"Young master, run! You are no match for him!"
A few steps away, Gao Shun, who was being surrounded and killed by the enemy, saw this scene and was so anxious that his eyes were bloodshot. He shouted loudly.
Lu Lingqi's pride was shattered by the excruciating pain. She gritted her teeth, turned her horse sharply, and leaped out of the battle to break away.
"Stop him! Don't let a single one escape today!"
Zhang Fei spurred his horse on in hot pursuit, shouting angrily.
Upon seeing this, Liu Jun's archers, who were guarding the roadside, immediately unleashed a barrage of arrows, sending a whistling rain of arrows hurtling towards Lü Lingqi.
With her right arm injured, she was unable to deflect all the arrows. One arrow struck her horse squarely in the abdomen.
The warhorse let out a mournful neigh, its forelegs buckled, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Lu Lingqi was thrown back by the enormous force and slammed solidly into the hard ground.
"Let's see where you run now!"
Zhang Fei's bloodshot eyes widened, his fierce light blazing. He spurred his horse and instantly caught up, raising his spear high, ready to take her life on the spot.
A matter of life and death!
With a face full of grief and resentment, Lü Lingqi clenched her teeth, closed her eyes, and prepared to face death.
"Zhang Fei, you scoundrel! Do you dare to fight your grandfather Xu Chu for three hundred rounds?!"
A roar as fierce as a tiger descending a mountain suddenly rang out.
A majestic figure, as imposing as an iron tower, swept past Lü Lingqi like lightning, heading straight for Zhang Fei opposite her.
Xu Chu's elephant-trunk-shaped broadsword tore through the sky, emitting a piercing, explosive sound, and with immense force, it slashed fiercely towards Zhang Fei.
"Who is it?"
Zhang Fei's tiger-like eyes suddenly widened, and he poured all his strength into the serpent spear, fiercely sweeping it upwards to meet the blade.
A deafening, earth-shattering explosion rang out.
The sharp broadsword and the heavy spear clashed violently together.
Both of them swayed slightly, their internal energy surging and fluctuating. In this head-on clash, neither of them could gain the upper hand.
"Where did this guy come from? How can he possess such terrifying brute strength?"
Zhang Fei's expression suddenly changed, and a deep look of horror flashed in his tiger-like eyes.
Lu Lingqi suddenly opened her eyes and was completely stunned by what she saw.
A deafening battle cry suddenly erupted behind her. She turned around sharply and saw a large army charging towards her from the hillside on the side, as if divine soldiers had descended from the heavens.
Half of this force was dressed in the standard armor of Cao Cao's army, while the other half was dressed as ordinary guards.
She looked past the charging soldiers and gazed up the distant slope.
A young gentleman, standing leisurely with his horse reined in, exuding an extraordinary air, suddenly came into her view.
This force that suddenly appeared and turned the tide of the battle was clearly under the command of this young master.
"Who exactly is he?"
Lu Lingqi muttered to herself, a deep sense of astonishment and doubt welling up in her eyes. Amidst the chaos of battle.
Xu Chu and Zhang Fei were locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle, fighting relentlessly.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged more than twenty blows, proving to be evenly matched and unable to determine a winner.
Cao Ang's troops suddenly arrived on the battlefield, catching Liu's army completely off guard.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Jun, who had originally held the upper hand, suffered heavy casualties and was on the verge of a complete collapse.
The situation on the battlefield was thus completely reversed.
"Damn it! We were about to succeed when this group suddenly appeared and ruined our plans!"
Zhang Fei gritted his teeth, cursing inwardly.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, he dared not continue to resist. He immediately launched a series of powerful attacks, forcing Xu Chu to retreat. Then, he abruptly turned his horse around and fled.
"Zhang Fei! If you have the guts, don't run away! Fight me for another three hundred rounds!"
Xu Chu did not spur his horse to pursue, but instead pointed his broadsword at the fleeing Zhang Fei and roared loudly.
Zhang Fei was both ashamed and furious, so angry that his lungs felt like they were about to explode, but in the end he dared not turn back to fight again, and could only spur his horse to gallop wildly with his head down.
After leaving behind the corpses of over a hundred of his men, Zhang Fei led his remaining troops in a hasty retreat towards Xiaopei.
The deafening shouts of battle gradually subsided, leaving only the mournful screams of the wounded soldiers echoing across the empty official road.
"Young master! Are you alright?"
Gao Shun rushed over, dismounted, and quickly helped Lü Lingqi up from the ground.
"It's nothing, just a minor scratch, you won't die!"
Despite the excruciating pain, Lü Lingqi tore off a piece of her clothing and tightly wrapped it around the wound on her arm.
When she turned around again and looked towards the hillside, Gu Cheng had already slowly rode up to her.
When she saw that handsome and refined face, Lü Lingqi was momentarily stunned.
Then.
She immediately stepped forward, cupped her hands in greeting, and said, "Thank you for saving me today, brother. May I ask your esteemed name?"
"My name is Gu Cheng."
Gu Cheng returned the greeting with a cupped hand, then looked her up and down.
He thought to himself, "This young man looks fair and clean, and speaks in a soft tone. I never expected him to have such amazing martial arts skills."
"Gu Cheng?"
Lu Lingqi's mind raced as she desperately searched for the name, but she couldn't recall it at all.
She immediately cupped her hands again and said, "So it's Young Master Gu. It's an honor to meet you. May I ask where your residence is? I will definitely pay you a visit another day to express my deepest gratitude."
"There's no need for a formal visit to express our gratitude."
Gu Cheng waved his hand and said with a smile, "If this young master truly wishes to express his gratitude, he might as well do so now."
"Thank me now?"
Lu Lingqi looked completely bewildered, not understanding the implied meaning in Gu Cheng's words at all.
Gu Cheng pointed to the carriage not far away and said, "If I'm not mistaken, your carriage is probably full of gold."
Lu Lingqi was slightly startled and wondered to herself how this Gu fellow could tell that her car was filled with gold.
Could it be that, like Zhang Fei, he also received advance notice and came specifically to intercept the gold?
"So what if it is, and so what if it isn't? What exactly does Brother Gu want to do?"
Lu Lingqi frowned slightly, instantly becoming alert.
Gu Cheng said calmly, "Brother, there's no need to be nervous. I never intended to steal your gold. I just want you to give me half of your gold as a token of my gratitude."
These words were spoken.
Lu Lingqi's expression changed drastically in an instant, and she gripped the halberd in her hand tightly.
Gao Shun was also taken aback and hurriedly reached out to grasp the hilt of the knife at his waist.
As soon as the two of them made a move, Xu Chu strode forward, standing like an unshakeable iron tower, firmly blocking Gu Cheng's path.
Recalling Xu Chu's terrifying strength, which allowed him to fight Zhang Fei to a standstill, Lü Lingqi couldn't help but feel apprehensive and ultimately dared not make any rash moves.
She immediately glared at Gu Cheng and said in a deep voice, "Brother Gu, you're taking advantage of my misfortune, just like Zhang Fei—you're trying to steal my gold!"
"Brother, you're mistaken."
Gu Cheng's face immediately showed a hint of displeasure.
"Zhang Fei will not only kill all of you, but also rob you of all your gold."
"If I hadn't come to your rescue today, you would have already lost everything, both your wealth and your soul, and gone to the underworld by now."
"If I really wanted to take advantage of the chaos, I could have waited until Zhang Fei had killed you all, and then we could have cleaned up the mess. At that time, wouldn't all the gold have fallen into our hands?"
"In that case, shouldn't you, brother, generously offer half of the gold as a token of your gratitude?"
Gu Cheng patiently explained the reasoning to her, word by word.
Lu Lingqi was speechless and couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.
"Young master, you are injured, and most of our men have been killed or wounded. We must be patient and not act rashly."
Gao Shun leaned close to her ear and whispered a urgent reminder.
Lu Lingqi gritted her teeth, her eyes blazing with resentment as she stared intently at Gu Cheng opposite her.
After a while.
She forcibly suppressed her anger and coldly scoffed, "I've never liked owing favors. It's just half a cart of gold, Brother Gu, please do as you please."
"Very well, this brother is indeed generous and magnanimous. Then I shall respectfully accept your offer."
Gu Cheng turned around, raised his hand and waved: "Brothers, let's move the gold."
Xu Chu immediately instructed his guards to load the half-cart of gold onto his own carriage.
Gu Cheng cupped his hands in a fist salute and laughed heartily: "Brother, then we shall part ways here. I wish you a safe journey."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Cheng turned his horse around and rode away in a cloud of dust.
Cao Ang then recalled his soldiers, and the group headed straight for Hulu City.
"Gu Cheng, who exactly are you to dare take advantage of my misfortune and steal half a cartload of my gold!"
Lu Lingqi stared intently at Gu Cheng's departing figure, secretly gritting her teeth.
Gao Shun sighed and said, "On the other hand, if it weren't for Gu Cheng's help, not only would we have lost our gold, but Zhang Fei would have slaughtered us all. We're lucky to be alive now."
After Gao Shun's words of comfort, Lü Lingqi's unhappiness seemed to have subsided considerably.
"General Gao, immediately send someone back to Xiapi to report to my father that Liu Bei has sent Zhang Fei to intercept our gold."
"Also, send someone to keep a close eye on Gu Cheng and make sure you find out everything about him!"
Lu Lingqi instantly regained her usual domineering aura and issued several orders in succession.
"promise!"
Gao Shun bowed and accepted the order.
"Let's set off immediately. We'll head to Hanoi County right away and bring back the warhorses for our father."
As she spoke, Lü Lingqi was about to mount her horse.
But to everyone's surprise, her arm injury was so severe that she had no strength to grip the reins and couldn't even get onto the horse's back.
"Young master's injuries are too severe. It would be better to go to Hulu County to recuperate first, and then return directly to Xiapi after you have fully recovered."
"As for the task of purchasing military horses, you can leave it entirely to me."
Gao Shun quickly spoke up to persuade him.
Lu Lingqi tried several times but couldn't get on the horse. She could only sigh and say helplessly, "That's all I can do. I'll leave the task of buying the horse entirely to you."
"Rest assured, my lord, I will bring all the warhorses back to Xiapi as quickly as possible!"
Gao Shun solemnly clasped his hands in a gesture of assurance.
Lu Lingqi's gaze was fixed on the direction Gu Cheng had disappeared into, and she sneered, "Gu Cheng, it seems you're also heading to Lakeland City. Very well, we'll meet again sooner or later!"