Chapter 196: Peerless Fierce General

"Oh! It seems Brother Ning'an has guessed the reason why these Yellow Turbans came here?"

Xi Zhicai asked with some curiosity.

"Does Brother Zhicai know where this place is?"

"I only know that this is the land of Pei Guo; as for exactly what place it is, I am not very clear."

"This place is Qiao Xian, and this fort should be the Xu Jia Bao."

Su Fan said with certainty.

"Xu Jia Bao. It seems Brother Ning'an is quite familiar with this place, or perhaps Brother Ning'an knows the people inside?"

"The two sides do not know each other, but I have heard of this Xu Jia Bao."

"Listening to Brother Ning'an's tone, this Xu Jia Bao is clearly not simple, and to make these Yellow Turbans so humble, there must be an expert inside."

Xi Zhicai was also a meticulous person and soon guessed some things.

"Brother Zhicai guessed it right away. Correct, this Xu Jia Bao, although the population is not large, perhaps only ten thousand people, the young and strong are all practicing martial arts, the martial style is extremely fierce, and there is a Gang Refining expert in the fort, and not just an ordinary Gang Refining martial artist."

"The potential is extraordinary, with the bearing of a peerless fierce general."

Su Fan said directly.

"Bearing of a peerless fierce general?"

Xi Zhicai stared at Su Fan with wide eyes. Through their interaction these days, he knew that Su Fan was not a person who exaggerated.

If it were true, then it would be extraordinary. He looked seriously and deeply at that fort a few times.

"In that case, these Yellow Turbans must also know that there is a fierce general in this fort. They came over with a cart of treasures, wanting to recruit the Gang Refining fierce general inside."

Xi Zhicai narrowed his eyes, his tone carrying a bit of disdain. If there really was a peerless fierce general in that fort, of course, even if he wasn't now, he was still a Gang Refining expert.

If placed in the border army, he could at least become a military officer. Once he performed meritorious service, being enfeoffed as a marquis or general was not impossible.

How could he follow the rebels?

Even if the Taiping Dao's momentum was great, in the eyes of people with lofty ideals, they were still just bandits.

"It seems Brother Zhicai doesn't think highly of them?"

Su Fan laughed.

"Could it be that Brother Ning'an thinks they have a chance?" Xi Zhicai also asked with a laugh in return.

"Haha! Of course I don't think highly of them, unless Bo Cai came in person and brought a large army; perhaps then there might be some possibility."

Martial artists are all proud. Even if Xu Chu didn't have any ability to command troops in battle, his personal martial prowess was fierce.

A mere Yellow Turban Colonel coming to ask him to join the Taiping Dao—what a joke. Do you really think Gang Refining martial generals are a dime a dozen?

Even if Bo Cai came alone, it would be very likely that it wouldn't work, unless he directly surrounded them with a large army and threatened the other side; then there would be some possibility.

Although the Xu Clan of Qiao Xian was not a great aristocratic family, in the area of Qiao Xian, they were definitely powerful local magnates. With Gang Refining martial artists, even the County Magistrate of Qiao Xian would not easily provoke them.

In a place where there is such an expert, the government will treat them with respect. After all, sometimes when strong bandits appear in the area, these experts are the government's best 'hired hands'.

If the Xu Clan wanted to be officials, the County Lieutenant might be a bit difficult, but starting from something like a Military Officer would be no problem.

No powerful magnate would look favorably upon Yellow Turban bandits, unless they were at the end of their rope; even many people at the end of their rope would not choose to join them.

In the history of the *Romance*, many fierce generals, such as Guan Yu and Dian Wei, were once wanted by the government for killing people, yet they did not choose to join the Yellow Turbans, which shows this.

In the eyes of true talents, the Yellow Turbans are truly unpopular.

Sure enough, not long after, Su Fan and Xi Zhicai saw people on the fort wall constantly throwing out the black boxes that the other side had carried in earlier, one by one.

"Using money to recruit a fierce general—I don't know who could have thought of this. It shouldn't be Bo Cai. If he only had this much brain, it would be impossible for him to suppress the Imperial Army so tightly."

"If I am not mistaken, it should be that Yellow Turban Channel Commander named Peng Tuo."

Xi Zhicai was full of mockery.

"General, this Xu Jia Bao is so unappreciative, let's kill our way in."

After being mocked by the guards of Xu Jia Bao, the Yellow Turbans outside the fort, especially the subordinates of that Colonel, were all filled with righteous indignation.

"Slap!"

"Kill your way in? You try killing your way in and see. There is a super fierce person inside, a Gang Refining expert fiercer than our Channel Commander. Just with us, even if ten times as many came, we couldn't break in."

Colonel Li backhanded the subordinate who had just spoken with a slap.

"Stupid, that Gang Refining expert in Xu Jia Bao is someone even the Great Channel Commander Bo Cai treats with caution. We came today just to gain some favor from Xu Jia Bao."

He had seen with his own eyes the Gang Refining expert from Xu Jia Bao make a move, so he looked coldly at the person who had just spoken.

"Go! We are retreating."

He was actually full of anger in his heart.

However, just as they turned to leave, suddenly dozens of cavalrymen in the distance blocked their path.

"Who are you people? Get out of the way quickly."

Colonel Li looked at these dozens of knights, looking at their exquisite equipment, and a trace of greed arose in his heart. Even he himself didn't have as good equipment as these people wore.

That black iron armor looked like a top-tier item at a glance.

"Boss, the armor on these people is top-tier refined armor..."

Before the subordinate could finish, he knew what these people were thinking, but how could he himself not want to take these people's equipment and warhorses for his own?

"Daring to block our path, do you know who we are? Hand over your equipment obediently, and we will let you leave."

These Yellow Turban soldiers quickly surrounded Su Fan's group slowly.

"Bandits will always be bandits; a dog can never change its habit of eating excrement."

Xi Zhicai said coldly.

"Seeking death!"

Xi Zhicai's voice was not small, instantly infuriating these Yellow Turban soldiers.

In the past, Guangling didn't care about this County Lieutenant at all, because to tell the truth, the power of a County Lieutenant was not great. The military power of a county, however, was useless; you couldn't rebel.

Colonel Li did not like Xi Zhicai's gaze; the way the other man looked at him was as if he were looking at a dead person.

As soon as Colonel Li gave the order, someone stepped forward, but Gao Niu made a move. The other man looked like a Military Officer, but he couldn't even withstand one move from Gao Niu and was killed.

Bang!

In an instant, this Military Officer at the fifth layer of Strength Refining became a corpse.

Only then did the Yellow Turban Colonel look squarely at Gao Niu. Upon this look, his expression changed instantly.

"Ninth layer of Strength Refining."

"Who are you people?"

"Who are we? Unexpectedly, you have forgotten me so quickly." Xi Zhicai said with a cold face.

"Hmm!"

The Yellow Turban Colonel was really a bit confused, but seeing Xi Zhicai's familiar face, he suddenly thought of something.

"It is actually you, the fish that slipped through the net."

After saying this, he had killing intent on his face: "Haha! Originally, you ran away, and I couldn't do anything to you in this vast world, but unexpectedly, you are so stupid as to think that relying on him, a ninth-layer Strength Refining expert, you want to take revenge."

"Truly ridiculous."

"Brothers, kill them for me!"

The Yellow Turban Colonel drew his blade and sneered repeatedly.

Gao Niu's ninth-layer Strength Refining strength did indeed make him very wary; after all, he had only barely reached the eighth layer of Strength Refining and was not stable.

If it were one-on-one, he would definitely retreat immediately, but now he had thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers by his side, so why would he be afraid of the former?

After all, a ninth-layer Strength Refining expert is not a Gang Refining martial general. If it were a first-layer Gang Refining martial general, he would also leave without hesitation.