Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

Two days later.

As the first rays of sunlight pierce the darkness of dawn, all the gates of Xiaquyang are opened.

All the Taiping Dao believers in the city left the city and gathered in the south.

The followers of the Taiping Dao in the various camps outside the city also gathered around the altar built in the south of the city.

The generals of various units led their Yellow Turban armies, forming a vast yellow sea south of Xiaquyang City.

In a large camp of about 10,000 people in the north of the city, a burly middle-aged man was riding a tan warhorse, and his troops were slowly leaving the camp behind him.

A middle-aged man stood in front of the camp gate, with a young man beside him and more than a hundred elite soldiers.

"Father, after today, are we going to head south and attack Luoyang?"

Chu Yan turned to look at Zhang Niujiao beside her and asked.

Riding on his horse, Zhang Niujiao looked at the altar that stood more than thirty meters high in the distance, then shook his head slightly and said, "The Great Teacher's magic is divine, how could we possibly fathom it?"

"But no matter what, just follow the Great Teacher."

"Later, you, along with Yu Du, Sui Gu, and Zhang Baiqi, must manage the troops well. Under no circumstances should any trouble arise while the Great Sage Teacher is casting his spell."

Upon hearing Zhang Niujiao's words, Chu Yan quickly nodded and said, "Please rest assured, Godfather."

Zhang Niujiao nodded slowly.

Previously, Zhang Niujiao had been stationed in the Heishan area of ​​Changshan Kingdom, and had more than 10,000 followers under his command.

However, Li Zhao, the governor of Ji Province, had been in Changshan State before, and Zhang Niujiao was killed by the county soldiers under Li Zhao's command and had to hide in Heishan.

Later, for reasons unknown, Li Zhao suddenly died under mysterious circumstances.

Only then did Zhang Niujiao lead his people out of Black Mountain.

Upon hearing that the Great Teacher Zhang Jiao had gathered followers of the Way of Peace in Xiaquyang, Zhang Niujiao also led his followers to the area.

Now, Zhang Niujiao has been appointed by Zhang Jiao as the leader of the Black Mountain tribe, and leads his troops as the Black Mountain Camp.

After seeing that all the troops in the camp had left, Zhang Niujiao, who was riding a horse, slowly spurred his horse forward and walked down to the altar.

Along with Zhang Niujiao's Black Mountain camp, there were also various directions in Xiaquyang with limited assets.

North of Xiaquyang City, Youzhou Camp.

Cheng Zhiyuan, the commander of the Youzhou camp, and Deng Mao, the vanguard general under his command, were also standing in front of the Youzhou camp gate at this time.

Cheng Zhiyuan, a burly man who had just turned thirty, had a full beard and the typical build of a strong man from Youzhou. He held a heavy iron spear that weighed more than twenty kilograms.

The Youzhou camp had a large number of people, numbering over 100,000.

They were all Yellow Turban followers brought by Cheng Zhiyuan from Youzhou.

Youzhou was known for its fierce and valiant people. After the Taiping Dao uprising, Cheng Zhiyuan defeated and killed Guo Xun, the governor of Youzhou, and became famous in one battle.

Afterwards, he successively captured more than a dozen county towns, and his army was considered strong and well-equipped.

Compared to other leaders, Cheng Zhiyuan's Youzhou camp was almost the largest Yellow Turban army besides Zhang Jiao's.

"General, look at those people with the bull horn. Why are they on equal footing with you?"

Deng Mao muttered quietly beside Cheng Zhiyuan, "If we're talking about strength, who else besides the Great Teacher can compare to the Commander?"

"If you ask me, now that the General of the People and the General of the Earth are gone, the Commander-in-Chief should appoint a General of the People or a General of the Earth to serve as such. That would be appropriate."

“Zhang Niujiao and his men number only about ten thousand, yet they are treated the same as the commander-in-chief. This is clearly unfair.”

Cheng Zhiyuan, with a full beard, turned to look at Deng Mao and said sharply, "Shut your mouth. How dare you say such things?"

"The Great Teacher has his own arrangements; just obey."

Deng Mao's eyes darted around, but instead of shutting up, he leaned closer and said, "General, this humble general is only thinking of your best interests."

"It is a fact that the commander-in-chief has a strong and well-equipped army."

As Deng Mao spoke, he looked at the altar in the distance and chuckled, saying, "Did the Great Commander see the daughter of the Great Teacher of Virtue that day?"

"The Great Teacher has bestowed the title of Holy Maiden upon his daughter. I have heard that the Holy Maiden is still unmarried. The General is so valiant."

"If the commander-in-chief can marry the saintess, wouldn't he be able to inherit the title of Great Teacher of Virtue in the future?"

"Why doesn't the General take this opportunity to propose marriage to the Great Teacher?"

As soon as Deng Mao said this, Cheng Zhiyuan's gaze fell on the blurry figure on the sacrificial altar in the distance.

His eyes also became thoughtful.

Marry the saintess.

Inheriting the legacy of great and virtuous teachers.

Cheng Zhiyuan gripped the heavy iron spear in his hand.

Seeing that Cheng Zhiyuan was somewhat tempted, Deng Mao's expression became even more lewd as he said, "General, that Holy Maiden is really beautiful. She'll get married sooner or later, so why can't it be you, General?"

"The commander is so majestic and extraordinary, only a saintess of such status is worthy of him."

"If the General marries the Holy Maiden, he will be second only to the Emperor, above all others. And if in the future..."

Cheng Zhiyuan immediately raised his hand and then looked around warily.

"With so many people around, it's no good to say everything," Cheng Zhiyuan said in a low voice. "We can talk about it later."

Deng Mao chuckled and immediately nodded, shutting his mouth.

West of the city.

Groups of weary travelers, resembling starving people, were also gathering towards the north of the city.

Compared to Cheng Zhiyuan and Zhang Niujiao's Yellow Turban followers, this group of Yellow Turban followers looked more like starving refugees.

The Yellow Turban Army was mostly composed of displaced people.

What are refugees?

People who have lost their land and their homes and are wandering around are called refugees.

This group, numbering in the tens of thousands, consisted of the elderly and children, and were all emaciated Taiping Dao believers. Compared to the Taiping Dao believers of the Black Mountain Camp and Youzhou Camp, they looked even more like refugees.

Almost everyone was wearing straw sandals, and a large portion of the area didn't even have straw sandals.

Their clothes were tattered and worn, covering their thin bodies, making them look like starving people who could be blown away by a gust of wind.

Most of the weapons they had were sharpened wooden sticks; having farm tools was considered good enough.

The vast majority of them were families.

Among tens of thousands of people, there were only a few dozen thin horses, and some pulling carts with women and children sitting on them.

At the very front of the procession, two young men, their eyes gleaming with piety, dragged their weary steps as they watched the distant altar of worship with fervent devotion.

The feet inside the straw sandals were already raw and bleeding from the hard straw ropes.

Even so, their steps remained firm.

"Brother, we've arrived! We've finally arrived."

Guan Cheng stared at the altar that stood more than thirty meters high in front of him, his voice filled with emotion.

Guan Hai, who was standing to the side, nodded vigorously and said excitedly, "Seven or eight years ago, the Great Teacher went to the North Sea. It has been seven or eight years since we last met. I wonder if the Great Teacher still remembers us."

"I will definitely remember," Guan Cheng said with burning eyes. "The Great Teacher has the world in his heart and fights for the people of the world. How could he not remember us?"

Just as Guan Hai and Guan Cheng were talking, more than a dozen fast horses galloped toward them.

Upon arriving before the two men, a young general, clad in bamboo armor and wielding a long spear, immediately stopped his horse.

"Where did you come from?" the young general asked, looking at Guan Hai and Guan Cheng.

Seeing the yellow turban wrapped around the young general's head and the warhorse beneath him, Guan Hai immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "I am Guan Hai from Beihai, and this is my younger brother Guan Cheng. We are disciples of the Great Teacher of Virtue and have come from Qingzhou."

Qingzhou?

Upon hearing the words "Qingzhou," Pei Yuanshao was visibly taken aback.

"So far?" Pei Yuanshao said in surprise, "You came all the way from Qingzhou?"

Guan Hai and Guan Cheng both nodded hurriedly: "After hearing the Great Teacher's order, we rushed all the way from Qingzhou, but..."

At this point, Guan Hai said with a somewhat downcast expression, "Many people starved to death along the way."

Pei Yuanshao immediately nodded and said, "Don't worry, now that we're here, the Great Teacher will definitely not sit idly by and will not let any of you starve to death."

"Since you are disciples of the Great Teacher of Virtue, I will go and inform him now. You will then come to the altar of Heaven."

"But remember, you must keep your followers in check. The Great Teacher will be performing a ritual later, so there must be no disturbance," Pei Yuanshao said.

Guan Hai and Guan Cheng immediately nodded excitedly and said, "We understand, we understand."

Pei Yuanshao then led a dozen or so riders toward the altar of Heaven.

.............

Below the altar for worshipping Heaven.

Several thousand elite Liangzhou soldiers, disguised as Yellow Turban rebels and led by Hao Zhao and Zhang Xiu, surrounded the altar of Heaven in layers.

The two men had been by Zhang Jiao's side for a long time, and outsiders thought they were Zhang Jiao's trusted generals, leading the elite troops under the Yellow Turban Army.

Little did they know that their primary task was not to protect Zhang Jiao, but to control him.

As the divine envoy, Jia Dong was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground.

He went east once, and west once.

The few hundred meters from the north gate of Xiaquyang to the altar of Heaven were filled with believers of the Taiping Dao.

Only one passage was left in the middle, leading directly to the altar for worshipping Heaven.

Many Yellow Turban generals had gathered at the foot of the altar.

There were Zhang Niujiao and Chu Yan from the Black Mountain Camp, Cheng Zhiyuan and Deng Mao from the Youzhou Camp, and Guan Hai and Guan Cheng who had just arrived from Qingzhou.

Also present were Bian Xi and Zhou Cang, followers of Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, and dozens of Yellow Turban leaders of all ranks gathered below the altar.

In the distance, on the city wall above the North Gate of Xiaquyang, directly opposite the Altar of Heaven.

Duan Yu then led Li Ru, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu to stand on the city wall.

Opposite is the towering altar for worshipping heaven.

Liu Baitu, dressed in a black robe, slowly walked up from below the city and handed Duan Yu a small notebook with a black cover and white paper inside.

Liu Baitu handed over the intelligence book from the Military Affairs Department.

But Jia Xu preferred to call it the 'Book of Life and Death'.

"My lord, this is the feedback from the various camps. Except for the Beihai camp, which has just arrived and we have no intelligence yet, we have already gathered intelligence from the other camps."

"The key is the Youzhou camp," Liu Baitu said.

Duan Yu nodded and took the 'Book of Life and Death' from Liu Baitu's hands.