C342

At that ugly moment, a large gust of wind suddenly rose up. The dark clouds that covered the sky quickly retreated, and the crescent moon blossomed with a faint radiance.

Liu Bei raised his head to look at the moon, then turned to look at the troop behind him, and couldn't help but frown. When the moon came out, the army's speed would increase greatly, but the possibility of revealing their whereabouts would also increase greatly. If they could not quietly surround and trap Gongsun Zan, the moment the other party discovered that something was amiss and escaped, their own army would not be able to catch up.

This time, Gongsun Xu only brought more than a thousand cavalrymen with him. Not only did he come and go as he wished, he even saved Lv Bu who was at the end of his rope. He thought that if the Alliance Yuan Shu went north to the Qing River, at that time, Yuan Shao would work together again from the inside and the outside, making him extremely confident that he could defeat Gongsun Zan. He never thought that Gongsun Xu would only bring a small amount of troops and he would hit him hard on the head!

Liu Bei knew that the group that Gongsun Xu was leading was definitely an elite team, but following this, the overall fighting strength of the Youzhou Army was definitely stronger by more than a level compared to when he was in Ji County! Furthermore, Zhang Yan had also brought the Army of Heishan with him to meet Gongsun Zan. Even if he and Yuan Shu went to the north, they would only be able to gather seventy to eighty thousand troops at most, adding Yuan Shao's army, there were less than two hundred thousand soldiers. Their fighting strength was barely equal to Gongsun Zan's, but their fighting strength and morale were still far from being guaranteed victory!

After thinking about this, Liu Bei could not help but regret that he had acted rashly. If he had known that the Youzhou Army's fighting strength had increased so dramatically, he would have plotted a good fight before making a decision. It was just that at this time, it was already difficult for him to get down from the tiger. Even if he respectfully kneeled down to say some good words to Gongsun Zan, the other party would definitely not let him go, so he could only think of a way to deal with Gongsun Zan. Otherwise, if Gongsun Zan did not die, he would only die!

No one could compare to the importance of Gongsun Xu in Gongsun Zan's heart. If Gongsun Xu was used as bait, there was a high possibility that Gongsun Zan would personally come to save him. At that time, no matter the cost, Gongsun Zan would definitely want to keep him alive!

What happened afterwards was exactly what Liu Bei had thought it would be. Gongsun Zan led the ten thousand light riders to head south. When he first forcefully attacked the camp, he got hit on the head and then brought a few hundred people to rescue the 'hunted Gongsun Xu'. Because of this, Liu Bei quietly laughed out loud several times, he felt that he had already won. Unless Gongsun Zan managed to return to the Qing River overnight, he would definitely lose this time!

It was a pity that Liu Bei did not know that the situation had greatly changed. Thus, he was only a little worried that he would not be able to trap Gongsun Zan in time.

After passing through a patch of forest, Liu Bei looked at the wasteland in the distance, and asked the guard beside him impatiently: "How far is it?"

"My lord, not far ahead is Clear Water Village. We will reach the end of the road after walking six or seven miles to the north."

Liu Bei waved his hand and shouted: "Go at full speed!"

More than 20,000 people began to run and move forward. The vanguard team of a thousand people quickly crossed the Clear Water River and arrived outside of Clear Water Village.

The leader of the Academy Officer asked in bewilderment, "The village seems to be overly quiet!"

"Something is definitely not right!" One of the military lord nodded his head and agreed, "Academy Officer Chu, this subordinate knows that Master left dozens of people in the village the day before yesterday. Logically speaking, they should have come out to receive you, but why are they not here? "Could it be …"

The face of Academy Officer surnamed Chu changed, as he anxiously asked: "Could it be that Gongsun Zan has already passed by here? Gneral Zhou, bring 100 people with you to the village quickly! "

Gneral Zhou cupped his fists in reply, and carefully entered the village with the hundred men.

After a while, the village was lit up by a few lights. Soon after, waves of clamoring could be heard, mixed with the cries of women and children.

Academy Officer Chu shouted at the person beside him in displeasure, "What the hell is Gneral Zhou doing? Get him to report back to the village quickly! "

"What happened in the village?" Academy Officer Chu could not wait any longer and shouted loudly.

Gneral Zhou replied breathlessly: "Lord Commander, Gongsun Zan indeed passed through the village. Those people that Master stayed behind were all killed by Gongsun Zan!"

"That's true!" Academy Officer Chu sucked in a cold breath and hurriedly asked, "How long has it been since Gongsun Zan left?

"Less than two hours!" The Gneral Zhou replied as he pointed behind him and said, "This subordinate has brought the elder from the village here, so this lord will definitely inquire about it personally!"

Academy Officer Chu looked over and saw a few soldiers holding torches. They were currently escorting a Ge Yi old man with staggering steps over. He hastily waved his hand and shouted, "Report this to the lord!"

Liu Bei quickly rode his horse over. He could not care less about maintaining his affection for the people as a child, as he stared at the old man in Ge Yi and asked: "How do you know it's Gongsun Zan?"

The old man did not dare to raise his head as he leaned on the ground and tremblingly said: "My lord, those Youzhou soldiers called the leading general 'Marquis Jin', which is why I know that it's Gongsun Zan!"

Liu Bei knew it could not be wrong, but he still needed to confirm, so he anxiously asked: "What does he look like?"

The old man thought back to it seriously. It was just that at that time, when he was facing Gongsun Zan, he was even more afraid than before, and did not dare to look at Gongsun Zan's appearance. I only remember that the man was extremely tall and big, and the soldiers of the Youzhou were all extremely respectful in front of him, and didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. "

Liu Bei nodded, to be able to be treated so respectfully by the soldiers of the Youzhou, it should be Gongsun Zan. He continued to ask: How many people did Gongsun Zan bring?

"Probably a few hundred people."

"Did any other people come over during this time?"

Without hesitation, the old man shook his head: "Definitely not! Gongsun Zan got us to prepare some food and drinks, then he brought his people and headed towards the north. "

"Did you leave for a long time?"

"About half an hour!"

After Liu Bei heard these words, one of the rocks in his heart dropped. He did not bring his war horse with him, in an hour's time, he could only travel a few miles, but he would definitely be able to catch up. He saw no point in asking any further questions, so he took the reins and moved on.

Old Man Ge, who was lying on the ground, rejoiced inwardly. There was no need to say that this was the prefecture overseer. If he were to blame, the entire village would not be able to take the blame!

"Right!" Liu Bei stopped when he passed by the old man in the Ge Yi and asked: "Previously, I had sent dozens of people to stand guard here, were they all killed by Gongsun Zan?"

The old man jumped in fright and quickly kowtowed again, "Master, this is none of my business. They were indeed killed by the Youzhou s, the little ones did not dare to stop them, they can't do anything either!"

"Get up! I won't punish you! However, you must bury the bodies of those fallen soldiers well. If you slack off, you will be severely punished! " When Liu Bei said the last two sentences, his tone became extremely stern. No matter what, the people that he sent were all killed in Qingshui Village, if he did nothing, it would be too lenient of him to not do anything, and make the villagers in Qingshui Village 'bury' the warriors who were killed, it could be considered as a form of disguised punishment.

The old man hurriedly nodded in agreement, his heart complaining incessantly. The words "Good burial" meant that at least a coffin had to be prepared, it seemed like the younger generations of the village would have to work for a long time in vain, but the village was safe and sound, it was really a miracle, the famous Marquis Jin and Xuzhou's shepherds had all passed through Clear Water Village, but the village did not suffer any invasion, they only paid some food and coffins, it seemed like the ancestors' spirits were protecting the village! After comparing the two, the Marquis Jin appeared to be more magnanimous and tolerant. Before leaving, he even left a few injured war horses in the village. It was completely worth the food he had paid for.

Of course, Liu Bei did not know that the old man was silently cursing him, otherwise he would definitely give the other party a deep lesson. He anxiously chased after Gongsun Zan, and without stopping in the village, he brought a large group of people to chase north.

Liu Bei who had always been cautious, had forgotten one thing. That the old man Ge Yi did not know clearly, that the dozens of people he sent to Qingshui Village were indeed killed by Gongsun Zan's men, but he did not know that those people were killed before Gongsun Zan even arrived, and that the person who killed them was the person Gongsun Zan sent to assist him!

Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan both treated the Pure Water Village as a temporary place to support them, but unfortunately, not only did the people Liu Bei sent to the village have no effect, they made Liu Bei make a wrong judgement on a very important matter, and died in vain.

After the army left the Pure Water Village, Liu Bei sent another one thousand and five hundred people to Academy Officer Chu to have him carefully search for any traces left behind by Gongsun Zan's group. In order to avoid being discovered by Gongsun Zan from far away, Liu Bei ordered the extermination of all the torches. Fortunately, the moonlight was still bright, and the footprints made by the people on the narrow road outside the village were still very clear. Looking at the hoof prints on the ground, Liu Bei was shocked, but immediately reacted, it was most likely because after the people he sent to kill, the war horses were taken away by Gongsun Zan. As the road was very narrow, only a lot of hoof prints could be seen, but it was impossible to distinguish exactly how many horses there were. Liu Bei had preempted them, so he made another mistake that he shouldn't have made.

At this time, the human footprints and the hoof prints were already completely intermixed, and not far ahead appeared the forest that Chu Academy Officer was very familiar with — — At that time, in order to determine the best place to besiege Gongsun Zan, he led a group of people to and fro within a circumference of fifty to sixty kilometers, and finally chose the flat and wide forest in front of them.

In less than half an incense's time, they had reached the edge of the forest. The footprints that had originally been mixed together suddenly split into two, with a small number of footprints circling around the forest as they headed northwest. However, more footprints entered the forest.

"Report to the lord and ask him to make a decision!"