Your Majesty, please spare Diao Chan; your yang energy is too strong.

Pei Yuanshao and his companion had lost their patience. They immediately drew their sharp blades and spoke with fierce eyes.

"If you want to get over here, you'll have to step over me."

Zhou Cang said firmly.

Holding a large sword, he stood still, exuding an aura of being able to hold off ten thousand men.

"court death."

"Zhou Cang, since you insist on this, then you can't blame us."

"Attack him together and kill him!"

"Then we'll rush straight to Zhou Heng's room and kill him, lest things get complicated."

"Whoever kills Zhou Heng will be rewarded with a top-quality warhorse and ten jars of fine wine."

"Kill."

"kill."

A series of shouts followed.

Immediately, the hundreds of elite soldiers behind Pei Yuanshao and his companion charged towards Zhou Cang.

It's just that it hasn't even reached the halfway point yet.

They all stopped in their tracks, staring in horror at what was behind Zhou Cang.

There it was.

At some point, five hundred soldiers dressed in armor and carrying long spears appeared.

He stood there with a grim expression.

"How can this be?"

Pei Yuanshao and his companion were stunned.

To his utter surprise, the soldier he had painstakingly gotten drunk was now standing there looking perfectly refreshed, showing no signs of intoxication whatsoever.

"Oh, my two brothers, this is the last time I'll call you two brothers."

"With your petty schemes, how could you possibly deceive our lord?"

"Even before you refused to begin, our lord knew you would make a move tonight."

"He said if you wanted to surrender, you would have surrendered long ago."

"The so-called overnight consideration time is nothing more than a delaying tactic to refuse."

"Just like those job offers that tell you to go home and wait for news."

"I don't know what it means to look for a job, nor do I know what it means to go home and wait for news."

"But I trust my two older brothers and they will not let me down. They will do everything in their power to protect you."

"I didn't expect... you still disappointed me in the end."

Zhou Cang sighed, looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, and tried his best to hold back his tears.

After all, we've been brothers for so many years, there's bound to be some affection between us.

"So our supposedly brilliant plan was actually exactly what he expected?"

"I didn't lose unfairly."

Guo Chang gave a wry smile.

"Hey, do you two brothers have any last words?"

Zhou Cang gave them a deep look, then shook his head and said.

"Zhou Cang, are you really so heartless?"

Pei Yuanshao still wanted to play the emotional card.

But Zhou Cang sternly rebuked them: "Shut up! I have already given you a chance. You can choose not to surrender, and I will persuade our lord to give you a way out. But you should never have entertained the thought of killing our lord. Even if I agree to let you live today, ask the five hundred soldiers behind me if they will agree."

Pei Yuanshao was furious: "You....."

Guo Chang stopped the other party, saying, "Brother, there's no point in saying more."

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Cang beside him and said, "I've long heard that you are the most skilled in martial arts among the three of us brothers. I used to be unconvinced, but I never had the chance. Now that I'm about to die, I'll have to learn from your skills."

"it is good."

Zhou Cang gave the other person a deep look, then made a gesture of invitation.

"kill."

Guo Chang roared and charged at Zhou Cang with his spear as if it had shattered the heavens.

It produced a violent whooshing sound, and even from several feet away, one could feel a chilling cold.

"Well done."

Zhou Cang's expression was solemn. Just as the opponent's spear was about to pierce him, he twisted his body to the left to dodge the opponent's fatal blow.

Then he swept his broadsword horizontally, forcing his opponent to jump into the air to dodge.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Cang suddenly changed his move and swung his broadsword upwards.

At this moment, Guo Chang was already in the air, with no way to avoid it.

He could barely manage to pull the spear aside and parry it downwards, narrowly avoiding the next move.

But before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly realized that the other party was about to strike again.

The saying goes, "Take advantage of your illness to kill you."

Zhou Cang gave him no chance to catch his breath.

For a time, the two fought fiercely and were evenly matched, but anyone with even a little martial arts skill could tell the difference.

Guo Chang was almost completely suppressed throughout the entire process.

They could only parry, not retaliate.

"boom."

Once again, weapons clashed, and Guo Chang's weapon was knocked away by Zhou Cang without anyone noticing.

Then a large knife pierced through his chest.

The outcome has been decided.

"Good sword skills."

Guo Chang muttered to himself.

"Ah, may you rest in peace. I will take care of your wife and children."

With a swift motion, the broadsword was drawn, and Guo Chang fell to the ground.

"It's your turn next."

Zhou Cang's gaze fell on Pei Yuanshao, who was standing to the side.

"Zhou Cang, after so many years of feelings, can't you even give me one chance?"

Pei Yuanshao's expression changed.

"Stop talking nonsense and take action."

Zhou Cang did not answer, but just stared coldly at the other party.

"die."

Pei Yuanshao was furious and charged forward without hesitation, brandishing his spear.

"Boom, pfft."

With two loud thuds, Pei Yuanshao also collapsed.

His martial arts skills were the worst among the three brothers.

In the original story, he was killed by Zhao Yun with a single spear thrust because he tried to steal Zhao Yun's warhorse.

Zhou Cang, however, was able to withstand several rounds from Zhao Yun.

It is clear that Zhou Cang's strength is at least several levels higher than Pei Yuanshao's.

And that has indeed proven to be true.

With one stroke, he severed the opponent's weapon; with another, he decapitated the opponent.

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

The next day.

As soon as Zhou Heng opened the door, he saw a person kneeling outside, holding two human heads in his left and right hands.

Who else could it be but Zhou Cang?

"Zhou Cang has failed the lord's trust, and I beg the lord to punish him."

As soon as Zhou Heng opened the door, Zhou Cang immediately spoke.

"Brother, what are you doing? This is the work of Pei Yuanshao and Guo Chang. What does it have to do with you?"

"Brother, please get up quickly."

Zhou Heng quickly stepped forward and helped the other person up.

As for those two heads...

Zhou Heng is not a time traveler, but someone who was reborn in this era and has lived for more than ten years.

The bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no cock crowing for thousands of miles.

I have seen far more human tragedies than this.

What is there to be afraid of?

"Thank you for your trust, my lord. I am ashamed."

The more Zhou Heng trusted Zhou Cang, the more ashamed he felt.

"Alright, I've already said this has nothing to do with you, so let's not talk about it anymore."

"Bury these two people."

"Then we'll reorganize the troops. We still have things to do, so we can't stay here any longer."

"I want you to count all the people, food and supplies in the stronghold as quickly as possible."

Zhou Heng said.

"My lord, I have already compiled the statistics on this matter last night."

"The total population of Zhumashan is 11,346, of which 2,679 are women, 2,743 are able-bodied men, and the rest are the elderly, weak, sick and disabled."

"In addition, there are 3,000 shi of grain, 100 bolts of cloth, 9 warhorses, and livestock..."