Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 238 - 226 The Restless Burning, Burning, Burning Heart...

Gan Ning, with a subordinate and three horses each, galloped all the way back to where they had docked their boat, then dragged it out from the reeds. He looked at the nearly thousand horses under his charge and felt conflicted, as they couldn’t all be taken along!

"Gan Lan, see if you can find any water bandits—I, as the boss, need to levy some boats." Gan Ning said helplessly, not willing to leave the horses behind.

It must be said that this era had its advantages: there were mountain bandits in the hills, horse thieves on the grasslands, robbers on the roads, and naturally, river bandits in the rivers. Gan Lan didn’t take long to find a gang of river bandits, and under Gan Ning’s command, they took the ships by force in a night of fire and plunder, finally securing transportation for their horses.

Meanwhile, Gongsun Zan, ignoring General Taishi’s plan, took another route, while Taishi Ci, due to his severe injuries, did not double-check and pursued in the direction he had been told, only to find nothing along the way, leaving him dumbfounded.

Wen Chou led his troops in a quest for revenge for Yan Liang, but failing to find any trace of Taishi Ci, he mistakenly followed Gongsun Zan’s trail instead, chasing him down, assuming he was Taishi Ci. Meanwhile, Juo Yi guessed that he might have gone too far, so he turned back to search. All in all, Gongsun Zan had fortuitously become the bait...

"General, after several days of investigation, we’ve finally confirmed that General Gongsun must have gone in the opposite direction," said Taishi Ci’s trusted aide with a fist salute.

"..." Taishi Ci had finally caught on by now and was somewhat speechless about Gongsun Zan. He had gone to block the enemy, what more did Gongsun Zan want?

"General, shall we still head north along the Zhang River?" his trusted aide continued, "Our army’s supplies can last half a month."

"Head north. What the hell is Gan Xingba doing, why hasn’t he shown up yet?" Taishi Ci was visibly frustrated. A few days earlier, they were nearly out of food and had only managed to hold on by robbing a group of bandits. It seemed his injury was no longer greatly affecting his mobility, as long as he didn’t engage in any intense fighting.

On the other hand, upstream on the Zhang River, Gongsun Zan had been growing weaker daily since parting with Taishi Ci. Shortly afterward, he began to have fevers. His previously robust health, which had kept the illness at bay, was now completely overwhelmed by the trigger of a tonic.

Gongsun Zan, feverish and delirious, was having trouble commanding, eventually ceding his authority to Guan Jing, who took charge of everything. The soldiers they had gathered along the way began to desert as Gongsun Zan’s condition worsened.

"Water... water..." Gongsun Zan mumbled, parchedy, struggling to speak.

Seeing Gongsun Zan regaining consciousness, Guan Jing was greatly moved and quickly offered him water, "My lord, you’ve finally awakened."

"Where are we?" Gongsun Zan asked with difficulty, moving his head slightly.

"We’re still in Jizhou. Yuan Shao’s search has been quite ferocious lately; we’ve managed to deceive them a few times, but it seems they’re about to catch up to us," Guan Jing said with a bitter smile, briefing Gongsun Zan on the latest situation.

"Head north to Youzhou, once we reach Zhuo County, we’ll be safe," Gongsun Zan said with difficulty. He was somewhat regretful now as to why he had decided to part with Taishi Ci back then. If he had Taishi Ci’s special tonic, there would have been no need to struggle like this. It was a big mistake to have left without a complete cure...

Gongsun Zan had no idea that his current plight was entirely due to the issue with that tonic. Had it not been for the tonic, even if Gongsun Zan had fallen ill and lain in bed for a few days, once his psychological issues had passed, he would’ve recovered before long with his Qi Refining to Gang physiognomy—just toughing it out was fine, of course, provided that he wasn’t gravely ill.

Guan Jing instructed his subordinates to drive the carriage, then made his way slowly northward. Zhuo County was still very far, especially when taking care of a sick person.

The news of the Handan Granary being burnt had already reached Yuan Shao. Learning that it was destroyed by a band of 300 Gongsun Routed Troops, Yuan Shao went mad. It was the strategic reserve he had prepared for a war of attrition, and now it was meant to facilitate a total occupation of Youzhou. As for depending on the enemy for food, aren’t you aware that Gongsun Zan has already moved all the food stores from the border area of Youzhou and Jizhou?

"Yuantu, are our counterattack plans completely ruined now?" Yuan Shao said with a bitter face as he sat next to a desk.

"It will take at least a month to reassemble the grain and fodder from Bohai Sea and Ye City. We only have enough supplies in the camp for ten days. You could say that even retreating now is a problem," Feng Ji said bitterly. Such a promising situation, gone up in flames.

"Lord, at this point, the only option is to find Gongsun Bogui. Otherwise, we truly would return without any achievements to show, having handed over a great opportunity," Sheni Pei said, his face extremely ugly. He harbored enough hatred for the Gongsun Routed Troops who set fire to the Handan Granary to burn them to ashes.

"It seems we have no other choice. We have already completely lost the possibility of a counterattack along the way. We can only rely on Youruo and Yuanhao now," Yuan Shao sighed and reluctantly agreed to disperse his subordinates to hunt down Gongsun Zan.

"If in three days we do not see Gongsun Bogui’s head, we’ll have no choice but to order a retreat to the south. It’s such a pity—Zhengli’s perfect situation was all lost due to my carelessness. Yuantu, remember to remind me to take this as a lesson before engaging in any future battles," Yuan Shao sighed again, having handed over a great opportunity.

"Gan Lan, how are things lately?" Gan Ning asked while gnawing on a leg of beef.

"We’ve already found the marks left by General Taishi. Traveling for at most another two days should allow us to catch up with General Taishi downstream of the Zhang River," Gan Lan stated calmly, implying that finding the marks meant Taishi Ci was unharmed.

"Oh? What about Yuan Benchu? How did he like the gift I sent him? Burn, burn, burn! This book is indeed correct; nothing is more venomous than fire and water! I didn’t expect that it would really burn everything to the ground. Gan Lan, you did well. You actually remembered to bring the tung oil when we left," Gan Ning patted Gan Lan on the shoulder and said.

"Yuan Benchu already knows about the Handan Granary incident. However, it seems he still regards us as common fleeing River Bandits. In the past three days, he has dispatched a large number of infantry to search for Gongsun Zan, so we don’t have much time left," Gan Lan reported.

"That means Yuan Shao’s main camp is vulnerable..." Gan Ning stroked his chin, "This seems like a good opportunity."

"General, I advise that we not take risks right now. With Yuan Shao’s army mobilized, General Taishi and General Gongsun’s range of activity has been suppressed. Our goal is to rescue, not to challenge, especially since we do not have the strength to face Yuan Shao’s large army. Even now, his cavalry, Vanguard Death Squads, and Great Halberdiers have all been sent out to search for General Gongsun," Gan Lan saw through Gan Ning’s impulsive heart of adventure and warned him righteously. Gan Ning’s father had inserted Gan Lan into Gan Ning’s team precisely to stop Gan Ning from acting recklessly.

(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian ) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)