Chapter 7: The Forbidden Soul-Searching Broth

  Liu Xiang forced himself to calm down and bowed slowly, "I am the nephew of Liu Zhou Mu of Jingzhou, on my way to Xiangyang."

  Yu Jin furrowed his brow, 'Liu Biao's nephew?'

  Cao Cao's nephew Yu Jin might have earned some respect from him, but Liu Biao's nephew was nothing to him.

  Yu Jin still had doubts in his heart, how could Liu Bei's nephew be so sturdy and strong, without any scholarly air about him, and with bloodstains on his clothes, looking more like a Yellow Turban bandit.

  He suddenly stretched out his hand, grasped Liu Xuan's collar and pulled him in front of him, staring at him fiercely: "You must be a fleeing Yellow Turban rebel!"

  Liu Jue had just heard the soldiers call him General Yu, so he guessed that this person might be Yu Jin. Seeing Yu Jin's eyes reveal a murderous intent, his heart suddenly became urgent, and he shouted: "Yu Wenzhen, do you want to harm me?"

  Yu Jin's style name was Wenze, but ordinary people rarely knew it, and many generals were also unclear. Yu Jin was taken aback in his heart, wondering how this young man could know his style name, and he involuntarily loosened his grip on Liu Xuan's collar.

  Yu Jin took another look at this nephew of Liu Biao, and saw that he was indeed a young man, about 15 or 16 years old, but his stature was very tall and strong, looking around eight feet tall, with an extremely robust and sturdy physique.

  "How did you know I was Yu Wenzhi?" Yu Jin asked coldly.

  "Of course I know!"

  Liu Jue's mind turned rapidly, and he said loudly: "I have always admired the heroes of the world. I remember all the heroic deeds in my heart. General Yu was originally a general under Bao Xin, who had repeatedly made military achievements, defeated Lü Bu's two camps in the south of the city, defeated Gao Ya in Xuchang, killed Yuan Shu's subordinate Qiao Rui, and the Battle of Wan City was even more like Zhou Yafu. He was appointed as the Marquis of Yishou Ting by Cao Gong."

  Three Kingdoms is not comparable to later generations, transportation is inconvenient, information is closed, Cao Cao's deeds may be known to the world, and the achievements of people like Yu Jin are probably not known to many people except Cao Cao. However, the young man in front of him knew it very clearly, which made Yu Jin extremely surprised.

  Yu Jin sheathed his sword and gazed at him strangely, asking: "How did you know my secrets?"

  Generally speaking, knowing someone's secrets is a double-edged sword. If you know someone's bad habits, it can easily lead to dislike, but if you know their good qualities, it's a form of flattery.

  Yu Jin's attitude was still cold, but Liu Xuan knew that he was proud of his achievements, and he couldn't help but feel a little complacent in his heart, so his tone slightly softened.

  Observing facial expressions and guessing people's attitudes had always been Liu Jue's strong suit, and at this moment he keenly sensed that Yu Jin's tone had also eased somewhat, and he felt more confident.

  He listened to Jin's tone and it was a bit similar, while Wu Xiu said he was from Taishan County, he immediately had a plan in mind. He calmly said: "I am from Gaoping County, Shanyang County, I have studied in Taishan for many years, often heard people talk about General Yu's deeds, and remembered them in my heart. When General Yu was besieging Zhang Chao in Prong Castle, he suppressed the Qingzhou soldiers who were looting civilians, and was reported to Cao Gong's tent by the Qingzhou soldiers. However, General Yu built a camp to defend against the enemy, without losing his military demeanor, somewhat like Zhou Yafu. He was conferred as the Marquis of Yishou Pavilion, making people all over the world admire him."

  Yu Jin was indeed a native of Taishan Commandery, and Liu Jue's explanation was reasonable, so he believed it.

  What's more important is that Qian Chuan and Wan Chuan are not as good as Ma Pi, Yu Jin was originally a very arrogant person, he hated that people in the world didn't know his deeds, now Liu Xun can talk eloquently, and repeatedly embellish his most proud thing of building a camp in Wan Cheng, his heart is already extremely comfortable.

  Yu Jin had completely put aside his hostility, and even if Liu were a Yellow Turban deserter, he didn't want to kill him. Rarely meeting someone who understood him, he chuckled: "Young Master Liu is indeed an extraordinary person, worthy of being the nephew of Liu Biao, Yu Jin admires you!"

  At this time, Liu Jue took out a letter from Liu Biao's family and gave it to him. Yu Jin looked at it by the firelight and found that he was indeed Liu Biao's nephew. At this time, Cao Cao still needed to win over Liu Biao, so as not to let him form an alliance with Yuan Shao. Yu Jin naturally also knew that he could not offend Liu Biao too much.

  He nodded, "Alright! I've disturbed Mr. Liu."

  Yu Jin waved his hand and ordered: "Mount up and continue the pursuit!"

  He led the soldiers to continue chasing forward, Liu Jiao's back was soaked with sweat. Fortunately, he had already understood Yu Jin's meaning earlier and had begun to suspect him. Luckily, he shouted out Yu Jin's style name in time. If one word was wrong, Yu Jin would definitely order the soldiers to search all around, and then he and Zhao Yun would be finished.

  Although he was fiercely slapping Yu Fan, seemingly lacking a bit of masculinity, this was precisely the only useful method in the critical situation at the time. Because Yu Fan did not suspect that Zhao Yun was hiding nearby, but out of instinct to carefully interrogate and search around, which was also optional, the key lay in the thought of the person who was about to be executed.

  Liu Jue used the little knowledge of the Three Kingdoms he had polished in later generations, his quick wit and eloquence to dispel Yu Jin's idea of carefully searching around, resolving this crisis.

  He saw him walking far away, and hastily ran back to the bush, found Zhao Yun, Liu Xuan carried him on his back and ran up the mountain, but he had just walked up the slope, when a person flashed out from behind a large pine tree.

  Liu Jiong took two steps back in fright, drew out his short sword and stared warily at the other.

  "It's me, Gongzi!" It was Shu Zhan Wu Xiu's voice.

  Liu Xuan put down his heart and found it was him. "How did you end up here? Where's your horse?" Liu Xuan asked in some surprise.

  Wu Xiu lowered his head and didn't dare to look Liu Xuan in the eye, speaking somewhat nervously: "I was knocked off my warhorse, and it ran away. I had no choice but to hide on the mountain."

  Liu Xuan was a very astute person in his past life, and Wu Xi's strange expression couldn't deceive Liu Xuan's eyes. He thought for a moment and immediately understood a few things.

  The war horse was probably deliberately let loose and hidden on the mountain. As long as Cao's army chased him and Zhao Yun, they would withdraw their troops and return to camp, and he would be fine. He must have seen the danger he encountered earlier nearby.

  Liu Jue secretly resented him in his heart. This person was extremely selfish. Zhao Yun had saved his life, but he only cared about escaping with his own life.

  Liu Jue was dissatisfied in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. Now everyone needs to work together, and Wu Xiu happens to be able to help him take care of Zhao Yun. "Let's hurry up the mountain, I'm worried that Yu Jin will turn around and chase us."

  Wu Xu nodded and supported Zhao Yun up a small mountain path.

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  Liu Jue's intuition was not wrong, Yu Jin's crisis has been temporarily resolved, but many things often end in failure due to some unintentional small details, as if there is a will of heaven at work.

  He rushed out for three or four miles, Yu Jin suddenly turned his horse's head and rushed back. He had come to his senses from the flattery and thought that Liu Biao's nephew should not be let off so easily and should be handed over to Lord Cao for disposal.

  He led his troops back to their original position, but Liu Xuan was nowhere to be seen. He felt a bit strange in his heart, where did this kid run off to?

  At this time, a soldier found bloodstains in the bushes and shouted: "General Yu, there are bloodstains here!"

  Yu Jin rushed forward and saw bloodstains scattered among the bushes, clearly indicating that someone wounded had hidden there. Yu Jin suddenly became furious, realizing he had been tricked by this little brat. It turned out that Zhao Yun was hiding right here. He loudly shouted, "Search for him!"

  Soon, the soldiers found the corpses of war horses in the ditch and Zhao Yun's long spear. Yu Jin became even more furious, his eyes bulging with blood red, like a fierce god reborn.

  "Pass on my orders, immediately dispatch five thousand troops to come and search the mountains for me!"

  At this time, Zhao Yun was no longer important. He vowed to capture the young man who had fooled him and personally tear him into pieces. In his life, he had never suffered such a great loss.

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  This mountain is a rocky mountain, about 100 meters high, with dense thorns on the top and various stone crevices and caves everywhere. It's actually very convenient to hide, but this isn't a solitary mountain, it's a range of hills stretching for dozens of miles, with over ten peaks. If you really hide inside, even several thousand people won't be able to find you.

  Liu Xuan was worried about Zhao Yun's injury and didn't dare to go too far. After climbing a few hundred steps, he found a stone cave. The faint moonlight shone into the cave, which was dry inside with no insects or snakes. There were also signs of fire burning at the entrance, indicating that someone had lived there before, probably a medicine collector or woodcutter.

  Liu Xuan put down Zhao Yun and made him lie down properly, but Zhao Yun was still in a daze. At this time, he suddenly heard the sound of "crack! crack!" behind him, turned his head around, and saw Wu Xi striking flint to make fire at the entrance of the cave, which was about to ignite.

  Liu Jiong was furious, his discontent with Wu Xiou suddenly bursting out. He rushed forward and kicked the dry grass and flint away, glaring at Wu Xiou, "Are you crazy?"

  Wu Xiu was stunned for a moment before he came back to his senses, frightened and lowered his head, "I forgot, it's all my fault!"

  Liu Jing restrained his anger and said to him: "You go outside and take a look at the situation, see if Cao's army is going to search the mountain."

  Wu Xiu nodded silently and left. Liu Xuan returned to Zhao Yun's side, took the water bottle from beside him, which was Wu Xiu's war horse's water bottle. This guy drank almost half of it, leaving only a little bit.

  Liu Xuan gave Zhao Yun a few mouthfuls of water, the water took effect, and Zhao Yun slowly came to, looking at Liu Xuan with gratitude, saying in a low voice: "Thank you, young master, for risking your life to save me!"

  "General, don't be polite, you were shot because of me, it's only right that I do my part."

  Liu Xuan felt a little guilty, historically, Zhao Yun was not injured, it was because he saved himself that he got hurt, changing the course of his life, if he died from this, wouldn't there be no Zhao Zilong at Changban Slope.

  Liu Xuan gave him another dose of medicine and simply gave him the last few mouthfuls of water to drink.

  "Is the young master really the nephew of Liu Zhengzhou?"

  "Whatever!"

  Liu Xuan smiled and recited like a lesson: "I am Liu Xuan, from Gaoping County, Shanyang Commandery. I came to Xiangyang to rely on my uncle, the Governor of Jingzhou. On the way, I encountered Cao's army in Runan Commandery. Unfortunately, my family was killed, and only I survived."

  "It was actually Master Jing, I apologize for the disrespect." In the darkness, Zhao Yun smiled slightly, and his bright eyes became calm.

  At this time, a low shout came from outside the cave, "Young master! Young master!" His voice was very tense and his tone had changed.