NOVPUBCao Lie and his party had fled for dozens of miles when unexpectedly, at a mountain pass, they were blocked, "This tree was planted by me, this road was constructed by me, to pass from here, leave behind the toll!"
The standard script of highway robbers. Cao Lie sneered, quickly drawing a heavy crossbow and firing it towards the opposite side, not expecting to see the cold expressions on his adversaries’ faces. A chill ran through him, and seeing the flickers of cold light approaching him, how could he not realize that they had come for them specifically?
"Get down!" Cao Lie shouted, flipping off his horse as the first to respond. The next moment, three spear-sized crossbow bolts from siege crossbows pierced through the horses, also claiming the lives of two men.
"Take them down!" With a cold laugh from the other side, a group of people charged directly towards Cao Lie. The gleaming blade edges and the well-trained assault formation made Cao Lie instantly realize that his enemies were military-bred, and moreover, elite soldiers.
"Scatter and break through, we must inform Lord Cao of today’s events!" Without a moment’s hesitation, Cao Lie roared and charged directly towards his foes.
Outside a village temple, Zhang Kai idly nibbled on his dry rations. The chill of winter made him shiver involuntarily, as his gaze drifted towards the light of the fire inside the temple, his eyes gradually revealing a hint of ruthlessness.
Gathering his subordinates, Zhang Kai whispered, "Cao Song’s party has almost no guards by now, and the treasure they are transporting is countless—money, grain, jewels, and rare treasures! Think about it, why should our brothers lead such perilous lives? Now we have a golden opportunity! We could totally become wealthy landowners, vanish to Yangzhou after this heist, where we could gamble carelessly, visit brothels, and take a few concubines. We could live comfortably, but only if we kill Cao Song’s family and take their treasure. All of this could come true! So, do we do it or not?"
Those who followed Zhang Kai were not Governor Tao’s elite; they were mainly the remnants of the Yellow Turbans who had joined Zhang Kai. Not to mention, even the Elite of Danyang were suffering under Cao Bao’s embezzlement of military rations, from a life of no worries about food and clothing and occasionally having spare money to gamble with, to now not having enough for the next meal and no salary to send home, their resentment was enormous.
The bandit army, with malicious intentions tickled by Zhang Kai’s words, began to harbor greed towards Cao Song. However, once the numbers increased, among the blindly following crowd, there were bound to be a few clever individuals, "Boss, even if we rob all these treasures, how will we transport them to Yangzhou? If Governor Tao becomes enraged, we won’t be able to escape Xuzhou at all, so how will we reach Yangzhou to enjoy ourselves?" said one of the soldiers, cringing and taking a step back from Zhang Kai as he asked.
As soon as these words came out, the previously excited bandits ready to take down Cao Song were doused with cold water from head to toe like the depth of winter; money is good, but one needs to be alive to enjoy it. Without life, it all becomes empty talk.
"You don’t need to worry about that. There are plenty in Xuzhou who want Cao Song dead. After we kill Cao Song, naturally someone will help us deal with Tao Gongzu. Moreover, at that time, Tao Gongzu, faced with Cao Cao who has lost his father, will be too preoccupied with his own affairs to pay us any mind," Zhang Kai confidently stated.
In truth, Zhang Kai heard these points from the person who’d persuaded him to kill Cao Song. Zhang Kai himself did not really understand any of this, and the other party had also assured him that they would absolutely get him out of Xuzhou. Without this assurance, Zhang Kai wouldn’t have had the courage to even consider targeting Cao Song.
After exchanging glances, his men nodded to each other; accustomed to living on the edge of a knife, why not gamble for wealth and honor?
With their goal aligned, Zhang Kai quietly deployed his men and encircled Cao Song’s party.
For some reason, after sending out that letter, Cao Song, resting in the dilapidated temple, began to feel a premonition of dread, and so, agitated and troubled, he walked out of the decrepit temple.
The first thing Cao Song saw as he stepped out of the temple was Zhang Kai’s soldiers changing guard, and suddenly, a sense of panic surged within him. In the next moment, he raced back towards the inside of the temple.
"Damn it, Bandit Cao has noticed," Zhang Kai murmured, spotting Cao Song’s frantic behavior and realizing that their plot had been exposed. He then leaped forward and bellowed, "Fellow soldiers, follow me to exterminate Bandit Cao!"
In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Zhang Kai had already charged in with his five hundred private troops. The heavily guarded escort of Cao Song had almost all been slain, leaving only hundreds of servants, who stood no chance against Zhang Kai’s bloodthirsty troops, being chopped to the ground without much resistance.
"Father, escape quickly!" bellowed Cao De, wielding his sword as he rushed out. However, as he stepped through the doorway, he was struck by a crossbow bolt as long as a spear. The immense kinetic force carried Cao De away and pinned him to the wall.
"My son..." Cao Song’s eyes were about to burst with rage as he let out a tragic cry.
"Old Master, escape quickly!" The guard captain of the Cao family bellowed, then ordered two of his subordinates to take Cao Song to the back courtyard with haste, while he himself charged towards the entrance, fighting desperately to hold the enemies off for a moment longer.
"Run!" When Cao Song reached the backyard, he saw his most beloved concubine in a panic, clutching at jewels and finery as she wailed miserably. Enraged at her lack of initiative, he yelled at her.
"Old Master, leave from the backyard swiftly; we will hold off the Xuzhou Bandit Army!" The Cao family guards, originally on guard in the backyard, rushed over upon seeing Zhang Kai’s forces about to break in, and charged at them with a shout.
"Aren’t you going to run?" Cao Song angrily said to his concubine.
"But, what about our wealth?" The rather plump concubine, regaining some composure upon seeing Cao Song, asked about their finances despite the chaos.
"At a time like this, forget the trifling wealth—as long as we’re alive, we can always regain it!" shouted Cao Song in fury, but still remembered to grab his concubine and urge her to run quickly.
The walls of the backyard weren’t high, but the guards completely forgot one thing: a height they could easily leap over was akin to a gulf impassable for an old man in his sixties and a plump concubine.
However, Cao Song and the concubine were fortunate. The dilapidated temple was just that, a dilapidated temple, and the wall had a hole in it, which they both saw and rejoiced at.
"Crawl through quickly." Cao Song urged his concubine, pushing her to get through. Unfortunately, after more than half her body had gotten through, she got stuck and no amount of effort from Cao Song could squeeze her through.
The greatest tragedy in life is to see hope in despair only to have it instantly shattered, and Cao Song was now in such a predicament.
The sounds of killing grew ever closer from behind. Left with no choice, Cao Song abandoned the attempt to push his concubine through and ran in another direction, hoping to find another hole through which he could escape. Sadly, as he reached the latrine, he was caught up by a subordinate general of Zhang Kai and cut down with a sword.
"I’ve killed the man." After finishing the deed, Zhang Kai, collecting all the money, grain, and precious treasures, returned to the steward.
"General Zhang is indeed a man of his word; rest assured, my patriarch will surely keep his promise," said the steward in the grey robe as he handed something over to Zhang Kai, "Take this, and as you travel south, no one will dare to stop you!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
