Chapter 9

【Third update, a nearly 5,000-word chapter, please give me your recommendation votes, brothers!】

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Liu Jing gently patted Zhao Yun's hand, then stood up and walked out of the cave, "What's going on?"

"Master, look quickly!"

Wu Xiu pointed down the mountain, terrified. Liu Jing followed his finger and felt a heavy heart. He saw a long line of torches on the mountain path, stretching for several miles, like a dragon of fire, with tens of thousands of people. Many torches were already moving up the mountain. This must be the main force of Cao Cao, preparing to search the entire mountain.

The magnificent sight of tens of thousands of people frightened Wu Xiu, his face turned pale, and his legs trembled. He could no longer hold back and turned to beg, "Master, this must be Cao Cao. I don't want to deal with him anymore; he will drag us down. If we take him, we definitely won't be able to escape. We... we..."

Before he could finish, Liu Jing punched him hard, knocking him to the ground. He pointed at him and shouted angrily, "You ungrateful wretch! Without him saving you, you would have died in the chaos. If you dare to speak nonsense again, I will cut you down!"

Wu Xiu slowly lowered his head, a glint of hatred in his eyes. If it weren't for the fear of not being able to explain himself, he would have run away long ago. Why would he come back to find this brat?

Liu Jing turned and walked back into the cave, holding Zhao Yun's hand and smiling, "It looks like we need to find a new place."

Zhao Yun had heard their conversation outside and was moved. He forced a smile, "Actually, Cao Cao won't kill me. It's fine if I'm captured."

Liu Jing ignored him and directly carried Zhao Yun on his back, "Let's go! As long as I don't die, you won't die either."

He carried Zhao Yun out of the cave, with Wu Xiu leading the way. The three continued to climb towards the mountain top.

......

On the mountain path, dozens of generals surrounded a middle-aged man with a long beard, a high nose, and sharp, narrow eyes. He wore a golden helmet, a golden chainmail, and a sword at his waist, riding a horse named Clawed Yellow Lightning.

This man was Cao Cao. Liu Bei had already escaped, and he couldn't catch him, so he led his troops back to Rang Mountain. He heard that the general Zhao Yun was injured and hiding in the mountain, accompanied by a young man, who turned out to be Liu Jing's nephew. Cao Cao was greatly interested.

This place was not far from Jingzhou. If he could capture Liu Biao's nephew, he could use it as an excuse to meet Liu Biao by the Han River and perhaps exchange him for Liu Bei.

In front of Cao Cao's horse, Yu Jin knelt on one knee, deeply regretful. If he had known his lord valued the young man so much, he wouldn't have let him go. He was truly extremely foolish!

He didn't dare to hide anything and recounted Liu Jing's words in detail, saying dejectedly, "I was tricked by him, and he and Zhao Yun escaped right under my nose. I deeply regret it. I am foolish and have failed my lord. Please punish me."

Cao Cao was somewhat surprised. This young man was not only well-informed but also bold and meticulous, with great wisdom. Liu Jing's nephew was indeed impressive, which piqued Cao Cao's interest even more. He was determined to capture this nephew of Liu Jing.

He immediately ordered, "Pass my command: do not set the mountain on fire. We must capture them alive. Whoever captures Zhao Yun will be rewarded with 300 pounds of gold, and whoever captures Liu Biao's nephew will be rewarded with 500 pounds of gold!"

Cao Cao then ordered the general Li Dian, "You lead 3,000 troops to take a shortcut and block their escape route from the south."

"Understood!" Li Dian led 3,000 soldiers along the mountain path to the southwest.

With such a generous reward, brave men would surely appear. Tens of thousands of Cao Cao's soldiers, holding torches, climbed the mountain, making the entire slope look like a forest of fire, a spectacular sight.

......

Liu Jing and the two others had already crossed the slope and reached the other side of the mountain saddle. This side was covered with pine forests. At this moment, Zhao Yun's wound began to fester, and he was in a semi-comatose state, with blisters on his lips, alternating between confusion and clarity.

When he was clear, he remained silent, but when he was confused, he would murmur, "Water! Water!"

His body was burning hot, and he was clearly dehydrated. Liu Jing was extremely anxious. Zhao Yun needed water and medicine urgently. The medicine was gone, but at least he needed water. If he couldn't find water soon, Zhao Yun would die. He stood up and looked around.

He was originally a young hunter with some experience. It had rained two days ago, so there would be no water in the pine forest, but in the saddle-shaped depression, there might be a puddle of accumulated rainwater.

He took the water flask and said to Wu Xiu, "Take good care of General Zhao. He saved our lives, and we must not abandon him. I'll go find water and come back quickly."

Wu Xiu nodded, "Master, go with peace of mind. I will take good care of him."

Although Liu Jing was still worried, he had no choice but to go quickly. He jumped down a small embankment and ran towards the depression.

Watching Liu Jing's retreating figure, Wu Xiu's face changed, becoming abnormally sinister, with a fierce light in his eyes, "Boy, you want to die, but I don't want to die!"

He took out a dagger from his pocket, which he had found in the saddlebag of his horse and kept hidden. He hid the dagger behind his back and slowly approached Zhao Yun...

Liu Jing was lucky. After running about a hundred steps, he found a small puddle with a little shallow rainwater. He was overjoyed and carefully filled the water flask. Unfortunately, there was not much water, and he could only fill it halfway.

Liu Jing knew that if he found one, there would likely be another nearby, but he was worried about Zhao Yun and turned to run back...

Wu Xiu squatted in front of Zhao Yun, his hand holding the dagger hidden behind his back, and called softly, "General Zhao! General Zhao!"

He had seen Zhao Yun's formidable martial arts and was still intimidated. If Zhao Yun could still resist, he would be dead.

At this moment, Zhao Yun was in a clear state. He slowly opened his eyes and asked in a weak voice, "Where is Master Jing?"

"He went to find water. I'm here to take care of you."

After saying this, he gently pressed Zhao Yun's wound. Zhao Yun was in excruciating pain but clenched his teeth and didn't make a sound.

"General Zhao, you seem to be seriously injured. Why don't I help you walk a few steps to get your blood flowing?"

Zhao Yun was very experienced. He saw the fierce light in Wu Xiu's eyes, the distorted muscles on his face, and the sinister look. He immediately understood that Wu Xiu had evil intentions.

Zhao Yun became anxious and immediately whispered, "Master Jing is behind you!"

Wu Xiu was shocked and suddenly turned around. There was no one behind him, and there was no sign of Liu Jing. Wu Xiu's eyes showed a sinister smile, "So, General Zhao, you're joking with me!"

At this moment, he realized that Zhao Yun had seen through him, but he also saw that Zhao Yun was too weak to resist. Wu Xiu sneered, "General Zhao, I'm sorry, but I'll burn more paper money for you."

He raised the dagger high, and Zhao Yun's heart filled with sorrow. He had not died on the battlefield but was about to die at the hands of a villain. At this moment, Zhao Yun's eyes suddenly brightened, and he stared intently at Wu Xiu's back.

Wu Xiu sneered, "You can't fool me anymore. Die!"

Just as he was about to stab down, he felt a sharp pain in his back. He slowly lowered his head and saw a sword tip protruding from his chest.

Wu Xiu turned around and saw Liu Jing standing behind him, staring at him with anger. Wu Xiu pointed at Liu Jing and shouted with his last breath, "You... are... a... fake!"

After shouting, Wu Xiu fell to the ground, dead.

Liu Jing pulled the short sword from Wu Xiu's back, kicked him away in disgust. The body rolled twice, and a paper package fell out of Wu Xiu's pocket. Liu Jing picked it up and smelled it, his eyes brightening. It was a high-quality wound medicine, which Wu Xiu had been carrying.

"Damn!"

Liu Jing cursed. He had been unable to find any medicine, which had worsened Zhao Yun's condition. This bastard had been hiding the medicine and refused to give it.

With the high-quality wound medicine, Liu Jing felt a glimmer of hope. He quickly went to Zhao Yun and asked with concern, "General Zhao, are you okay?"

Zhao Yun whispered, "You saved my life again."

"No!"

Liu Jing said angrily, "I was blind to judge a person by their appearance. I brought this viper with me, almost costing General Zhao his life."

Liu Jing took the water flask and carefully gave Zhao Yun a few sips of water, smiling, "The water is from rain, so it might not taste good. When we reach Xiangyang, I'll buy you some good wine to make up for it."

Zhao Yun smiled slightly, "When that time comes, I'll treat you to a drink!"

Liu Jing then applied the wound medicine to Zhao Yun. The water and medicine quickly took effect, and Zhao Yun's temperature gradually returned to normal, no longer burning hot, which greatly relieved Liu Jing.

At this moment, the sky seemed to brighten. Liu Jing turned around and saw that both mountain peaks were filled with torches. Cao Cao's troops had taken a shortcut and blocked their escape route from the back