Chapter 1381: The Great Fire [2]

Yan Liang, who was at the front of the grain transport team, heard the shout from behind and looked back.

He saw Wen Chou galloping on horseback with an anxious look on his face.

The Lord ordered to burn the grain?

What is going on?

Yan Liang was full of confusion.

However, just as Yan Liang was stunned, the gate of Mengjin Pass suddenly opened.

The sound of horse hooves thundered.

Wen Chou, who had rushed over from behind, clearly noticed this scene as well.

Then Wen Chou shouted urgently, "Brother, the Lord was harmed by a treacherous villain and died in Yecheng! He ordered us to burn the grain and not to enter Luoyang!"

This shout from Wen Chou shocked Yan Liang, leaving him frozen in place.

"The Lord... harmed by a treacherous villain?" Yan Liang muttered to himself, his eyes wide.

But before Yan Liang could think more, Zhang Fei, who had charged out of Mengjin Pass on horseback, let out a tiger's roar that awakened Yan Liang.

"How dare you, thief! Watch as your Grandpa Zhang stabs you with one hundred and eighty transparent holes!" Zhang Fei held his serpent-headed spear and charged straight at Yan Liang.

Yan Liang's pupils contracted sharply; now was not the time to be dazed.

"Burn the grain! Burn the grain! Set the grain on fire!"

With an order from Yan Liang, he spurred his horse and met the charging Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

The many personal guards following Yan Liang also charged up with him.

Zhang Fei was in the lead, with Guan Yu following behind him, dragging his blade; the two of them, one after the other, led over a hundred cavalrymen.

The two groups of cavalry on the flat ground in front of Mengjin Pass were like two black arrows released from a bow.

"Well come!"

Zhang Fei let out a loud cry, thrusting his serpent-headed spear with both hands straight at Yan Liang's chest.

"Black beast, get lost!"

Yan Liang let out a roar, his long blade performing a "scooping the moon from the water" maneuver, rising from below to deflect Zhang Fei's serpent-headed spear.

Just as Yan Liang prepared to counterattack with a downward strike of his long blade, Guan Yu, who was following behind Zhang Fei, suddenly opened his phoenix eyes.

"Third Brother, move aside! Let me behead him!"

Hearing the voice from behind, Zhang Fei swerved his horse and brushed past Yan Liang.

Because Guan Yu had been following behind Zhang Fei, his vision was blocked, and Yan Liang hadn't seen the Guan Yu hidden behind Zhang Fei at all.

It wasn't until Zhang Fei swerved his horse that Yan Liang saw there was another person behind him.

However, Yan Liang's move was already spent, and the long blade he had raised was too late to defend.

Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade, which he had been dragging behind him, rose from below in a move identical to Yan Liang's "scooping the moon from the water," while Yan Liang's long blade was still held high in mid-air.

It's over!

Yan Liang exclaimed in his heart and closed his eyes.

The blade's edge was inches away; Yan Liang could already feel the surging killing intent from the long blade as if it were about to explode on his chest.

However, at this moment, a long spear blocked the path of Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

*Clang! *

Sparks flew everywhere.

Wen Chou only felt his hand go numb.

"Don't you dare hurt my brother!" Wen Chou roared.

Gaining this opening, Yan Liang, who had already given up on resisting, suddenly erupted with a strong will to survive.

His long blade crashed down toward Guan Yu.

This time, it was Guan Yu who was startled and dodged, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Brother, don't get entangled in the fight; they have many men," Wen Chou reminded him.

At this time, Zhang Fei, who had ridden past, also turned his horse around and killed his way back.

Yan Liang glanced at Mengjin Pass in the distance, where troops were being mobilized, and nodded.

The two cavalry teams collided, and the area in front of the pass was in chaos.

Soldiers had already begun to set fire to the ox carts and horse carriages transporting the grain.

The grain on the carriages had been loaded from the storehouses of noble clans, so it naturally couldn't be this year's new grain.

The price of new grain was higher than that of old grain.

Therefore, the old grain from previous years was extremely dry, and with this fire, it ignited instantly.

Yan Liang and Wen Chou hurriedly turned their horses around and ordered their soldiers to speed up the burning.

Soldiers were setting fires everywhere along the team, which looked like a long dragon, and Zhang Fei and Guan Yu alone couldn't stop the soldiers from setting the fires.

The few hundred cavalrymen they had brought were also held up.

Although Liu Bei on the ramparts had already assembled his troops and rushed out from Mengjin Pass, it was clearly a bit too late.

Watching cart after cart of grain being set on fire, and seeing the oxen and horses, startled by the flames, running wildly and igniting more carts in the team, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were burning with anxiety.

They wanted to chase Yan Liang and Wen Chou, but even if they caught up to them, it wouldn't be of any use.

What was important was the grain.

They had brought an army of two hundred thousand from Langya State.

They were waiting for this batch of grain.

The fire grew more and more intense, and the grain in the bags crackled as it burned.

Looking at Yan Liang and Wen Chou, who had already run far away, and the grain charred black in the raging flames, Liu Bei's two thick eyebrows locked together.

The thick smoke rising from the burning of a million *shi* of grain rose into the sky north of Luoyang like an impenetrable black cloud.

It caused the commoners on the streets of Luoyang to stop and look up, but they didn't know what had happened.

In the front courtyard of the Grand Marshal's Mansion.

Yuan Kui, wrapped in a thick black autumn coat with a heavy cloak over his shoulders, straightened his back, his gaze also fixed on the direction of Mengjin Pass north of Luoyang.

A servant stood bowing beside Yuan Kui.

Yuan Kui waved his hand and dismissed the servant who had come to report the news.

Compared to a month ago, there were even more silver strands in Yuan Kui's hair.

When the news of Yuan Shu's death first reached Luoyang, Yuan Kui hadn't paid much attention to it.

The Yuan clan had many descendants, and there were not a few who were smarter and more outstanding than Yuan Shu.

But after learning of Yuan Shao's death, Yuan Kui sat alone in his study for two days.

Yuan Ji had already written a letter detailing the events, including how Yuan Shao was assassinated, and sent it back.

Although the letter stated clearly that it was Zhen Jian's son, Zhen Ji, who assassinated Yuan Shao at the tavern,

it also said that Zhen Ji had hidden in Yecheng after escaping.

It said that the choice to host the banquet for Yuan Shao at Wufang Tavern that day was because Wufang Tavern was the best tavern in Yecheng.

It also said that the reason Yuan Shao didn't bring guards was because he had important matters to discuss with him.

It also mentioned Yuan Shao's plan to go to Chang'an to defect to Duan Yu.

But the more it said, the more it sounded like an explanation.

It wasn't hard for him to guess why Yuan Shao had died.

He had sent Yuan Ji to Yecheng to see Yuan Shao's attitude and to make plans for the Yuan clan's future.

The accumulated grievances between the Yuan clan and Duan Yu were too deep.

From Yuan Shu forcing Duan Yu's brother Wang Hunu to his death, it wasn't hard to see from Duan Yu's reaction that there was almost no room for reconciliation between Duan Yu and the Yuan clan.

Even if Yuan Shao had some relationship with Duan Yu. ===== CHAPTER 1383 =====