Chapter 130: A Meeting in the Woods

Cao Cao actually did not know that Guan Yu and Shen Chen were acquainted.

Because he only knew that on that day, Cao Ren went to the Huangmen Pavilion to execute a mission, happened to encounter Liu, Guan, and Zhang, and was pursued by them.

Such a situation was akin to an assassin hunting his prey, just happening to be witnessed by a passerby who could not stand injustice, raised a shout of righteousness, drew a blade, and rescued everyone.

At most, the two sides shared the relationship of a stranger and a life-saver.

More importantly, after that incident, Shen Chen's family migrated to Jingzhou, while Liu Bei served as the Governor of Xuzhou. According to what Cao Cao knew, the two had met only that once and had no further interactions afterward.

Therefore, he had no idea that prior to that, Shen Chen had already interacted with Liu, Guan, and Zhang at Tao Qian's residence, established a certain connection, and formed a friendship.

Now, time had flown, and six years had passed. Cao Cao had almost forgotten the fact that Liu Bei had once saved Shen Chen.

Consequently, he only considered whether Guan Yu might take advantage of this opportunity to escape, failing to consider whether Guan Yu might take advantage of this opportunity to let Shen Chen go, only for Shen Chen to return and bring reinforcements to drive him back.

However, Guan Yu certainly would not leave at this moment, because Liu Bei's two wives were still in Xuchang. Given Guan Yu's character, he would certainly take them along with him.

It was just that Cao Cao only viewed women through the lens of base desire, judging others by his own standards, assuming that Guan Yu would not care about the life and death of Lady Gan and Lady Mi. Like most people in this turbulent era, he regarded women merely as property, failing to comprehend that Guan Yu's actions were driven by a sense of loyalty and righteousness.

Down south, anyone from later generations' Xiangcheng would know that Mount Ziyun stretches for more than a dozen kilometers. Although its highest peak is barely over four hundred meters above sea level, the peaks are intertwined with dense and towering forests.

Only after passing this mountainous region does the road leading towards later generations' Yexian, present-day Kunyang, become extremely flat and open.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Huangmen Pavilion on the road laced up their iron-soled boots and began a brisk, steady trot.

Ancient commoners lacked sufficient nourishment and could hardly train like modern soldiers. Only the soldiers of the Huangmen Pavilion had always enjoyed an abundant supply of meat, eggs, and milk, sustained by the agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing of the entire pavilion, giving them exceptional physical strength and endurance.

In barely half a hour, they had covered seven or eight kilometers. Just as they were about to emerge from the mountainous region of Mount Ziyun, the thunderous sound of distant, galloping hooves came whistling toward them.

"Form ranks!"

Shen Chen shouted loudly at the top of his lungs.

The surrounding messengers immediately blew their bone whistles. Different whistle tones represented different commands, and junior officers such as army marshals and squad leaders at all levels immediately blew their whistles in response, passing the command down the line.

In an instant, the troops began to form ranks with well-drrained discipline. The spearmen and shield-bearers in the front row crouched on the ground, raising their shields, while the pikemen rested their long pikes upon their shoulders.

Cavalry was undeniably formidable. Even though cavalry legions such as Wuhuan elite cavalry, Xiliang iron cavalry, and Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had already appeared by then, it must still be clarified that these cavalry units were light cavalry. They could not be used for frontal charges against infantry formations, but were instead reserved for surprise attacks.

Because once cavalry charged against an infantry formation, even if you managed to dodge the four-to-five-meter-long pike array in the front row and broke through the first rank, upon reaching the second or third rank, your momentum would completely stall.

Once the horses' kinetic energy was exhausted and they were deeply surrounded, the cavalry would be left with no fate other than being hacked to death by a flurry of blades. Therefore, the actual role of cavalry at that time was indeed to utilize mobility to accomplish missions such as surprise raids, reconnaissance, patrols, and scouting, rather than charging directly into enemy formations as people might imagine.

Now, Shen Chen's army had spotted the approaching Cao cavalry from afar and had re-formed its array. Moreover, since they had not yet left the mountainous area of Mount Ziyun and had their backs to the mountains, they were essentially in an invincible position, calmly waiting to see what the enemy cavalry intended to do.

Shen Chen was mounted on a horse. Taking advantage of the main force drawing the enemy's attention earlier, he had actually secretly dispatched several scouts to gallop toward Kunyang to report the news, instructing Lou Fa to lead a thousand soldiers with supply carts to come and reinforce him.

Once out of this mountainous region, they still had to march more than ten kilometers back to Kunyang. To them, this flat terrain was tantamount to a death zone.

Infantry surrounded on all sides by cavalry in open terrain, once depleted of arrows, would meet the fate of Li Ling.

Thus, he had no choice but to divide his forces.

However, if the enemy also divided their forces, Shen Chen would indeed find it quite tricky. That was why he had sent scouts to summon Lou Fa's reinforcements, intending to bring back more supply carts upon returning to Kunyang to support Gan Ning.

Fortunately, he had retreated a day in advance, meaning they were still a day's march away from Cao's infantry. Perhaps by the time they reached Xiangcheng, Cao's foot soldiers would only have reached Linying. Since they were currently at Mount Ziyun, Cao's infantry probably hadn't even reached Xiangcheng yet, leaving them with a sufficient time buffer.

"Enemy within one mile!"

"Enemy within three hundred paces!"

"Enemy within two hundred paces!"

"Enemy within one-and-a-half hundred paces!"

"Archers, prepare!"

Shen Chen stood personally at the edge of the formation, accompanied by Shen Tao, Deng Zhao, Shen Zhen, and others, directing the battle.

Seeing that the enemy was drawing closer and closer, the foremost person was riding a blood-red steed whose body was a size larger than the warhorses beside it. Clad in fluttering green robes, he brandished a Green Dragon Crescent Blade that flashed with a brilliant, dazzling glare under the sunlight.

"Hold!"

Catching sight of the enemy general, Shen Chen immediately called out to halt the soldiers who were about to loose their arrows.

Earlier at the foot of Mount Ziyun when dealing with Cao Cao, Shen Chen had commanded from a small hill in the rear, remaining too far away for either Cao Cao or Guan Yu to see him.

But now at close range, Guan Yu finally spotted where the enemy general was, his eyes narrowing slightly with murder intent spilling over.

He particularly loved reading the Spring and Autumn Annals by lamplight at night, which had left him somewhat nearsighted. Though not extremely severe, if someone was too far away—like now at a distance of a hundred and fifty paces, nearly two hundred meters—he simply could not recognize Shen Chen.

In Guan Yu's eyes, he only vaguely saw a few blurry figures on horseback, presumably generals of Shen Chen's army. At this point, he had not chosen to press forward with his soldiers, but was merely watching from afar.

In fact, the reason he had chosen to divide his forces and come out was because he assumed Shen Chen was still commanding the battle in the rear main force, and this side was merely a detachment sent out to seek help. Therefore, he had only intended to draw away a fraction of Cao's troops and chase them half-heartedly just to put up an appearance.

Later, he planned to make a feinted charge, and after Shen Chen's army's arrows flew over and depleted a portion of his cavalry, he would use the excuse of the enemy's fierce archer fire to withdraw his troops, effectively letting these reinforcements pass through to Kunyang.

What he never expected, however, was that among those few horsemen over there, a young warrior in black suddenly spurred his horse forward and shouted proudly: "Who comes there? I, Shen Chen of Xiangbi, do not take the heads of nameless ghosts under my blade!"

That is Shen Chen?

Guan Yu was greatly startled, hastily narrowing his eyes to look closely until he finally recognized a bit of familiarity.

Time flows like water, and the years fly by. In the short span of six years, Shen Chen had long since changed his appearance. Once just a child standing five feet and six inches tall, six years later, not only had his face transitioned from childish to youthful, but his height had also grown by nearly two feet.

Many people assume that ancients were short in stature, but in reality, records in the *Records of the Three Kingdoms* state that aside from Cao Cao and Liu Bei, most famous figures of that era stood eight feet tall, which meant over one meter eighty-four.

Figures like Cheng Yu even reached eight feet and three inches, translating to a towering giant of one meter ninety-one—a standard fierce-warrior-type strategist.

Meanwhile, an average eight-year-old boy in later generations of China stands around 125 to 130 centimeters tall. Shen Chen was five feet and six inches when he was in Xuzhou, which was roughly 128 centimeters, falling right within that range.

Now, he had reached one meter seventy-two, or seven feet and four inches. This was quite similar to the average height of a fifteen-year-old boy in later China (165-169 cm), meaning Shen Chen did not exceed normal developmental parameters by too much.

Even so, he was worlds apart from how he looked at age eight—completely unrecognizable. Coupled with Guan Yu's mild nearsightedness, failing to recognize him immediately was entirely normal.

Yet now, with two armies arrayed against each other, Guan Yu did not dare to acknowledge him openly, instinctively wanting to conceal his face.

Partly, he felt he had no face to meet Shen Chen.

Over the years, Liu Bei had been stationed in Xiaopei. Because it was relatively close, Liu Bei had frequently written letters to Shen Chen. Although they had not met for six years, Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Shen had long since established ties, linked closely together through successive letters.

Now, times had changed; the Eldest Brother's life or death was unknown, the Second Brother was missing, and Zilong and Ziyi were somewhere out there, while he himself was in the enemy's camp, making Guan Yu feel deeply ashamed.

Yet, what he did not expect was that Shen Chen shouted aloud: "That red-faced, bearded fellow over there! Are you the enemy general? Do you dare step out and fight me?"

Hmm?

Guan Yu frowned.

Red-faced, bearded fellow?

My appearance hasn't changed much; Ah Chen must have recognized me.

Then why not acknowledge me?

Glancing left and right, Guan Yu instantly realized that Shen Chen did not want to expose their relationship, so he shouted back: "What rat of a coward, how dare you act so insolent before me? I am Guan Yu of Hedong! How does your head compare to that of Yan Liang?"

"What? You are the Guan Yu who beheaded Yan Liang at Baima last month?"

Shen Chen feigned extreme shock, then reined his horse around and bolted, fleeing as if abandoning his own troops to dive into a small hill behind him.

"Hahahaha!"

Guan Yu laughed out loud and said, "Nothing more than a cowardly rat. Hearing my name, he is so frightened he abandons his troops and flees. Soldiers, listen up! Keep watch on them; I shall go pursue the rebel chieftain and bring back his head to present to the Excellency!"

"Understood!"

The soldiers roared in unison.

Cao Cao did not know that Guan Yu and Shen Chen had a connection, let alone these soldiers.

Even in the information-rich modern era, you might not know all the friends your friends have, let alone in the information-poor ancient times.

Thus, after the two of them contributed a clumsy, awkward performance comparable to a Razzie Award, the soldiers bought into it completely.

They all believed that Shen Chen had heard the tale of Guan Yu holding his ground among tens of thousands of men to slay Yan Liang last month and had fled in a panic, completely unaware that this was a ruse orchestrated by Shen Chen to meet Guan Yu behind the hills.

Ordinary cavalrymen might not have known, but the left and right deputy commanders had been secretly dispatched by Cao Cao to keep an eye on Guan Yu. Hearing that Guan Yu intended to pursue alone, they hastily said, "General, let us go with you."

"If everyone goes together, who will command the soldiers? Just bring a few escort riders."

Guan Yu nudged the belly of his Red Hare steed, and the divine horse shot out like a red lightning bolt in the direction Shen Chen had fled, tossing those words back over his shoulder.

The deputy commanders thought that made sense. The left deputy commander stayed behind, while the right deputy commander shouted an order and followed with a few men.

If an ordinary warhorse was a bicycle, the Red Hare was a Ferrari.

Just as they were starting up, the Red Hare accelerated off the line and rocketed dozens of *zhang* away in a flash. With a few more galloping bounds, it vanished into the forest in the blink of an eye.

The deputy commander led his men in pursuit, but they couldn't even catch up to the dust, because by the time they entered the mountain forest, Shen Chen and Guan Yu were already entirely out of sight.

"Ah Chen!"

Guan Yu's Red Hare was fast. Scarcely had Shen Chen run into the forest before Guan Yu caught up to him.

Shen Chen led him winding through the mountains for quite a while, ensuring that the Cao soldiers trailing Guan Yu had not followed them, and found a densely wooded spot. There, he reined in his horse, turned back, and said, "It has been many years, Uncle Yunchang. Trust you have been well."

"Sigh."

Guan Yu pulled the Red Hare to a halt, came before him, let out a heavy sigh, lowered his head, and said, "Ah Chen, I truly have no face to see you now."

Originally, everyone had united to resist Cao, yet he had defected to the enemy. How could he not feel consumed by guilt?

Shen Chen smiled, however, and said, "Uncle Yunchang need not blame yourself. To protect the two ladies, you bent your knee to the thieves—an act of towering righteousness known to all. How could I possibly blame Uncle Yunchang for this?"

"It's just..."

Guan Yu said with embarrassment, "My reputation is of no consequence, but lamentably, to this day I still know nothing of the Eldest Brother's whereabouts."

Shen Chen replied, "I actually know. Earlier, when I learned that the Imperial Uncle's forces in Xiaopei had been shattered by the Cao traitor, I immediately guessed he might have gone to Yuan Shao. Therefore, I sent men north, and sure enough, they discovered the Imperial Uncle is indeed in Hebei."

"The Eldest Brother is actually in Hebei?"

A look of joy immediately surfaced on Guan Yu's face. During this time, he had constantly wanted news of Liu Bei, but every time he asked Cao Cao for help in inquiring, Cao Cao claimed he had already sent men out to search and that it would take some time.

Furthermore, Cao Cao had told him that because they were still dealing with Yuan Shao and lacked manpower, it would temporarily be very difficult to find him, leaving Guan Yu deeply worried.

Now that he finally had news of Liu Bei, he was naturally incomparably excited.

Shen Chen immediately said, "Does Uncle Yunchang know why, after slaying Yan Liang at Baima, Cao Cao did not take you to Yanjin to deal with Wen Chou?"

"Why?"

Guan Yu was puzzled.

Shen Chen explained, "Because the Imperial Uncle was right there at Yanjin. Cao Cao originally intended to slay both the Imperial Uncle and Wen Chou at once. Fortunately, the Imperial Uncle did not make the same mistake as Wen Chou by dismounting to loot Cao's supply wagons, and thus he escaped disaster."

"What?"

Guan Yu's eyes flashed with anger. "Cao Cao knew my Eldest Brother's whereabouts all along, yet kept it from me? And he even wanted to secretly harm the Eldest Brother!"

During the Battle of Baima, Cao Cao had kept Guan Yu by his side the entire time, which was why Yan Liang was so swiftly cut down. But come the Battle of Yanjin, why did Cao Cao bring only Xu Huang and leave Guan Yu behind? Wasn't it precisely out of fear that Guan Yu would learn of Liu Bei's whereabouts?

Shen Chen nodded and said, "Precisely. However, please consider the two ladies, Uncle Yunchang, and do not enrage Cao Cao. I have already written letters and sent men north to have the Imperial Uncle head south to Runan under the pretext of allying with Liu Biao. When Yuan Shao's grand army moves south, you can take the two ladies, leave Cao Cao, and come to Runan to join the Imperial Uncle."

"Is that so?"

Guan Yu pondered for a moment and asked, "Ah Chen, are you certain the Elder Brother will come to Runan?"

Shen Chen said, "The Imperial Uncle is the one most eager to defeat Cao Cao, and Yuan Shao surely wants to ally with Liu Biao to attack him as well. Therefore, as long as the Imperial Uncle is willing to go on a diplomatic mission to Liu Biao, I imagine he will agree."

"Good."

Guan Yu nodded and said, "Then I shall return first. Once the Eldest Brother arrives in Runan, you must immediately send someone to inform me, and I will surely come to follow him."

With that, he intended to leave, planning to head straight back to his post under Cao Cao.

Shen Chen, however, said, "You must not."

"Why?"

Guan Yu was utterly perplexed.

Shen Chen explained, "If you return directly with your troops, Uncle, it will inevitably arouse Cao Cao's suspicion. Cao Cao presently likely knows nothing of our connection, assuming that encounter at Huangmen Pavilion was merely a coincidence. But if Uncle Yunchang encounters me and then immediately returns, he will certainly guess that we have an old friendship. Therefore, you must by no means do this."

"Humph."

Guan Yu gave a cold snort. "If he guesses, he guesses. Am I afraid of him? Let him kill or carve me up as he pleases."

Shen Chen smiled. "I know Uncle Yunchang fears no death, but what of the two ladies?"

"This..."

Guan Yu realized upon reflection that if Cao Cao grew enraged and cast blame because Shen Chen was let off, his own death wouldn't matter, but what about the two sister-in-laws...?

Shen Chen thus said, "Therefore, we cannot expose ourselves just yet. We must wait for the right opportunity."

"When will that be?"

Guan Yu asked in surprise, "If I return shortly and report that I failed to catch you, what excuse can I use to give up the pursuit?"

Shen Chen smiled. "Uncle Yunchang need not worry about this. I have already sent scouts ahead to return to Kunyang to fetch supply wagons and battle carts. When the time comes, we will rely on the carts to fight while retreating. Uncle Yunchang only needs to direct the cavalry operations normally, and we will surely drive back Cao's army."

"Very well."

Guan Yu reflected that they originally had only fifteen hundred cavalry, which was already stretched thin trying to deal with three thousand infantry; Cao Cao had merely ordered him to buy time until the infantry in the rear caught up.

Now that Shen Chen's reinforcements were about to arrive, as long as he refrained from personally charging into battle and kept sending Cao's soldiers to their deaths, once Shen Chen's army defeated those Cao cavalrymen, he could then issue an order to retreat. That would be entirely logical, and Cao Cao could pin no blame on him.

Thinking thus, Guan Yu accepted Shen Chen's plan.

Without further ado, the two of them waited in the forest, talking through the details while stalling for time.

Before long—nearly half an hour later—Guan Yu finally prepared to return.

Upon returning to his cavalry array, he found that the right deputy commander and several riders had actually lost their way in the forest and had yet to return. The left deputy commander stepped forward to ask, "General, how did it go?"

Guan Yu sighed. "Ah, don't ask. That little rascal proved utterly cunning, burrowing into the forest and vanishing without a trace. I searched everywhere and almost lost my way."

Mountain forests were naturally dense, and furthermore it was noon with the sun suspended directly overhead, leaving no way to judge directions by it. Thus, getting lost in the jungle was a completely normal occurrence.

The left deputy commander accordingly said, "General need not fret. The woods are thick, so failing to catch him is normal. However, since the rebel chieftain is gone for the moment, shouldn't we press the attack?"

Guan Yu shook his head. "No. Earlier, when five thousand of us besieged three thousand of them, the Excellency was still driven back. Now that we have only fifteen hundred men going up, we will fare even worse. The Excellency merely told us to buy time; we must not let greed for victory ruin the task."

This was the most sound tactical choice, one that even Cao Cao would endorse if he were here.

Hearing this, the deputy commander said no more.

Time ticked away second by second. By afternoon, billows of dust suddenly rolled from afar, and lines of horse-drawn carts came rumbling toward them, appearing a few miles away.