During the time Zhang Xun was organizing his troops, Zhang Fei had already begun his task of provocation for the day, acting recklessly.
Just as Zhang Fei was flaunting his bravado, Zhang Xun flung open the city gates and charged out, all the while bellowing as he rushed forward, "Don’t even think of escaping, Zhang Fei! A reward of a thousand gold and a hundred thousand in cash for the one who brings me the dog-head of Zhang Fei!"
No sooner had these words been spoken than the entire army of Zhang Xun howled and charged towards Zhang Fei. It must be said that Zhang Xun possessed some ability, for despite leading the charge himself, the formation behind him remained unbroken.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei was enraged. He turned his horse around, prepared to charge, but seeing the cloud Qi above the enemy’s heads, he ultimately suppressed the fury in his chest and turned to run toward the left side of the main camp.
"Hahaha, Zhang Fei, you really are helpless! Attack, exterminate Zhang Fei!" Zhang Xun laughed heartily, then spurred his horse fiercely as he chased after Zhang Fei.
"Retreat, retreat quickly!" the agonized cry of Zhang Fei spread across the entire battlefield, as he and his force of over a thousand men swiftly fled toward the left side of the main camp.
"Pursue!" called out Zhang Xun in great joy, as he rode after Zhang Fei.
"Order Li Feng to destroy the outer military camp. I’m going to pursue and kill Zhang Fei," Zhang Xun said to the messenger beside him.
In the Central Army Tent, Jia Xu sat in the primary seat, commanding his subordinates Sun Guan and Zhao Yun—who had just finished spring planting and rushed to the battlefield—to lead their troops and prepare for a surprise attack on Qiao County. As for an ambush, that was utterly unnecessary. Zhang Fei would not be in danger within the first hour, but the unguarded Qiao County would certainly fall within that time.
"Zhongtai, take three thousand cavalrymen and directly assault when the enemy opens their gates again to send troops to attack our main camp. Don’t worry about the horses!" Jia Xu issued his military orders to Sun Guan.
"Understood!" Sun Guan saluted with his fist.
"Zilong, organize your troops and stay concealed within the main camp. The front camp will definitely suffer some damage, and you’ll lead your troops hidden in the rear camp. When Zhang Xun comes back to attack, you’ll lead your forces to strike his rear. If nothing unexpected happens, Zhang Xun won’t have time to send scouts to check if there are issues in our camp, and the fire in the front camp will mislead him," Jia Xu delegated another task to Zhao Yun.
Indeed, as soon as half of Li Feng’s infantry had exited the city gate, Sun Guan, leading from the front, charged directly at the gate. While the enemy was congested, trying to return to the city, he fiercely collided with Yuan Shu’s Army, and then the battle began.
After Sun Guan’s vanguard cavalry collided with Li Feng’s troops, the infantry quickly surged forward, and both sides brutally clashed at the city gate.
Li Feng knew that he absolutely could not allow the enemy to break through. Even if all his men fell here, as long as the gates stood, there would be a chance of redemption once Zhang Xun returned. But if the gates were lost and the enemy entered the city, morale would collapse completely, like a mountain crumbling—there would be no returning from such a defeat!
Li Feng, with his keen eyes, spotted Sun Guan at once. Slashing down the enemy commander had become his only way to boost morale in this dire moment. Thus, he made a grueling advance towards Sun Guan. However, Sun Guan’s eyesight might not have been excellent, but his trusted aides were seasoned bandits and reacted instantly to Li Feng’s move, promptly spotting the leader.
In the melee where both sides’ Cloud Qi clashed, their Inner Qi was mostly nullified, leaving them to contend purely on their strengths. It was quite obvious that Sun Guan was far stronger than Li Feng, who was bested and knocked off his horse in just twenty moves. Alas, Li Feng’s guards fought desperately to rescue him and prevented Sun Guan from finishing him off there and then.
At that moment, Sun Guan’s response normalized, as he understood one thing clear: Killing Li Feng was not necessary; entering the city was.
"Li Feng is dead, surrender immediately!" After Li Feng was cut down from his horse, Sun Guan roared at the earliest opportunity, and then the troops of Yuan Shu’s Army led by Li Feng couldn’t help but turn to look in Sun Guan’s direction, only to see Li Feng’s steed standing alone in front of Sun Guan. The courage they once had to fight valiantly was instantly drained, and their morale was gone. They were easily scattered by Sun Guan leading Liu Bei’s Army.
"Those who surrender shall not be killed!" Sun Guan bellowed loudly, and then charged towards the city – Qiaoo County was on the verge of being captured.
"General, flee quickly!" Li Feng’s trusted aide helped Li Feng onto a horse, "Hurry, inform General Zhang that there has been a change in Qiaoo County!"
"It’s all over!" Jia Xu stood at the entrance of the military camp, clapping his hands with a folding fan—a must-have for any Mount Tai scholar—in hand, a faint smile on his face. "Enter the city!"
The moment Li Feng, covered in blood, came rushing back, Zhang Xun realized that something was terribly wrong. Watching Zhang Fei escaping like a rabbit in the distance, he was almost exploding with rage. After Li Feng finished speaking, Zhang Xun felt so dizzy and off-balance that he nearly fell from his horse!
"Turn around!" Zhang Xun roared in anger.
He desperately hoped that Qiaoo County was still resisting at this time, allowing him to enter and block the thieves who dared to steal the city from both inside and out!
Zhang Xun returned in a great hurry, even demanding to speed up when some men were left behind. By the time he arrived at Qiaoo County, the flags over the city had already been changed to bear Liu’s character, while the burning Yuan Character flag was being gleefully tossed by Sun Guan into the moat.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Xun felt a stifling sensation in his chest, a sweetness in his throat, and he swayed unsteadily atop his horse, the world before him going dark. He took a deep breath to suppress all his emotions, preparing to withdraw and return to Runan. To act against his nature, without any preparation and attack the city, would be suicidal!
"Hahaha, Zhang Xun, today I have already taken Qiaoo County. If you think you can capture it, you are welcome to try!" Sun Guan laughed loudly from atop the gates of Qiaoo County.
Zhang Xun, who was already suffering a splitting headache, felt the fires of anger ignite in his chest upon hearing Sun Guan’s taunts, and he bellowed with all his might, "Attack the city!"
"Hahaha, Zhang Xun, oh Zhang Xun, I’m standing right here, allowing you to attack. If you can take Qiaoo County, I’ll hand over my head to you!" Sun Guan laughed loudly, completely unconcerned by Zhang Xun’s frantic expression.
Zhang Xun was furious, but he was persuaded by Li Feng not to attack. However, the situation had already reached this point, and it wasn’t easy for Li Feng to advise otherwise. He could only plan to take some time to make siege equipment and try to talk some sense into the enemy, to avoid excessive casualties beneath the walls of Qiaoo County.
"It’s done." Jia Xu slowly opened his folding fan, a mocking smile on his face. As a portion of the large army began to use the timber from the Vanguard Camp to prepare siege equipment on the spot, Jia Xu had already vividly glimpsed the future. With his intelligence combined with his Spiritual Talent, Jia Xu knew that as long as he remained cautious, achieving a flawless strategy was not impossible.
Jia Xu had never told anyone what his Spiritual Power Talent was; not once. Even when he was young and suspected his spiritual power might be Precognition, he didn’t show the slightest joy, as if he possessed no Spiritual Talent at all.
As he grew older, Jia Xu relied on his intelligence to deduce that his Spiritual Talent was not foreseeing the future, but rather piecing together future developments based on the intelligence he collected, both intentionally and unintentionally—that is, using the information at hand to construct potential future scenarios. Of course, there might be some bits of intelligence that Jia Xu overlooked, but once his Spiritual Talent was activated, they would also be included in calculating and piecing together the shape of things to come.
Thus, the more information Jia Xu had, the closer to reality his constructed future would be. Therefore, Jia Xu was confident that as long as he stayed cautious, activating his nauseating Spiritual Talent once a day, no one in the world could defeat him head-on on the battlefield. (To be continued. If you work, you are welcome to vote for it on . Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)