The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Guan Xing's retreat was voluntary, not a hasty escape. Naturally, he didn't want the Wu army to be constantly trailing behind him. He wanted to create some distance and gain some room to maneuver.

Therefore, he did not want Wu Jun to enter the stone gate easily; he had to cause them some trouble.

Under his orders, Xie Chong personally led people to push the cylindrical stones to the doorway, then flipped them over and placed them upright to block the stone door.

Guan Xing also started to help, piling up several huge stones at the entrance. After confirming that Wu Jun couldn't get in anytime soon, he looked at the entrance of the passage, clapped his hands, and laughed, "Let's go."

Following his gaze, the thatched hut inside the cave had been demolished, and the enlarged cave entrance was easily visible.

The opening was now more than two meters wide, and there was a wooden plank inside that served as a slide. Guan Xing waited until everyone had gone down before sitting on the plank and sliding down to the bottom of the cave. He stood up and said, "Go up to the roof, remove the ladder, take out the plank to block the opening, and let's go."

Soon, the cave entrance, like the stone gate, was completely blocked. Guan Xing led his army away happily, humming a little tune.

On the way, Xie Chong couldn't help but praise, "Captain, your decision this morning to have everyone retreat to the lower cave to wait for orders was absolutely brilliant. Otherwise, we would have been delayed by at least half an hour to enter the cave."

Guan Xing laughed smugly, "Of course! The Wu army has already set up catapults, so we have to do something, right? We can't just sit around and wait to be attacked."

Yesterday, seeing Wu Jun using ballistae and smoke, Guan Xing knew that the cave might not be able to be defended. So after breakfast this morning, he ordered his soldiers to pack up and move to the lower cave to prepare for their escape. Now it seems that he made the right decision.

They did the right thing, and Wu Jun should be crying.

The main hall of the cave.

Wu Jun's suicide squad tried punching, kicking, and ramming the stone gate several times, but failed. They gave up on the gate and turned to the road to prepare to help the main force get up the mountain.

Actually, there was no need for a guide. The Han army had already withdrawn, and there was no one blocking the way. They could just walk up.

Zhuge Ke led his troops into the hall with ease, but when he saw that more than half of the suicide squad members had been killed or wounded, his heart clenched with pain.

These daredevils were all Wu Jun's vanguard, the elite of Wu Jun's elite. The loss of any one of them would be an irreparable loss for Wu Jun.

Zhuge Ke asked with a pained expression, "What's the situation? Where are the Han troops? Where is Guan Xing?"

The suicide squad leader gave a brief report on the situation, then pointed weakly at the stone gate and said, "The Han army has fled inside, and the gate is blocked. We'll probably have to use battering rams to get in."

Zhuge Ke frowned and asked, "What are they doing inside the stone gate? Is there a secret passage inside that leads down the mountain?"

The suicide squad leader replied, "That's what I think too. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense. A mere stone gate can't stop us. Hiding behind the gate is a dead end. Guan Xing couldn't possibly not understand this, unless he has other means of support, such as an escape route."

"Damn it..." Zhuge Ke's heart sank to the bottom. He walked to the edge of the cliff and said to the group of Wu soldiers who were still struggling to climb with ropes, "Stop climbing. The Han army has all retreated. Go down and bring me a battering ram."

Wu Junqi was stunned for a moment, and his fingers loosened, causing him to slide down the rope with a whoosh.

Sure enough, the speed down was faster than the speed up.

After descending the mountain, Wu Jun reported the news to Zhang Cheng, who then personally led a group of men to cut down the tree and carried a trunk as thick as a water bucket up the mountain.

Upon seeing him come up, Zhuge Ke hurriedly went to greet him and report the situation.

Zhang Cheng's face grew increasingly dark. Finally, he slammed his fist into the stone wall and cursed in regret, "How could I not have thought of that? How could someone like Guan Anguo put himself in such a deadly situation? He must have something else to rely on to dare to come up here. Damn it, I should have thought of that sooner."

What's the point of offering this hindsight advice now?

Zhuge Ke pointed to the open stone gate and said, "I went inside this stone gate and found a natural cave. It's huge, and there's even a water source. But I didn't find any trace of the Han army. So I guess there's a passage down the mountain behind the blocked stone gate. Otherwise, Guan Xing wouldn't have abandoned this side and chosen that side."

Zhang Cheng said impatiently, "Then what are we waiting for? Break down the stone door!"

Zhuge Ke rolled his eyes at him and said, "You can't catch Guan Xing, so why are you taking it out on me? Believe me or not, I'll tell my sister about you later."

Although Zhuge Ke was displeased, he knew that his brother-in-law was angry, so he did not dare to argue and acted quickly, leading his personal guards to carry tree trunks and start ramming the door.

Even the strongest defenses cannot withstand violent attacks. In addition, the stone gate built by Yan Zhen was not very sturdy, and it was knocked off the wall in a few blows and fell onto the stone pillars behind it.

Seeing that the impact was effective, Zhuge Ke was in high spirits and continued to ram the stone door and the stone pillar behind it, knocking them back half a meter and creating a huge gap that could be squeezed through.

Then it was simple: several Wu soldiers squeezed through the stone gate, moved the stone pillars, and completely opened the stone gate.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Cheng rushed forward and, leading Zhuge Ke, saw the artificially enlarged opening on the ground as soon as they entered the stone gate.

Zhang Cheng walked to the cave entrance and looked down. He saw that the bottom was completely blocked and there were obvious traces around the cave entrance. He immediately said, "No need to look anymore. The Han army must have gone down from here. Yuan Xun, find a way to move the stones inside and let's see where Guan Xing went."

The miserable Zhuge Ke grumbled and went back to doing hard labor. This time the work was not easy. It was difficult to find a foothold to stand on. It took Zhuge Ke half an hour to clear the stones.

In such a long time, the Han army would have long since fled far away.

Zhang Cheng, however, was not giving up. He led his army into the cave and gave chase with all his might.

The traces left by the Han army were very clear, with footprints all over the ground. There was no need to deliberately track them; just follow the footprints.

As Zhang Cheng walked, he emerged from the cave and stood in the pine forest. Looking at the lush green scenery, he cursed angrily, "Damn it, who searched the mountain yesterday? How could they not have seen such a large cave entrance?"

He specifically sent people to search the area around Jitou Ridge yesterday, and the search team actually missed this place. They deserve to die.

Zhuge Ke advised, "This place must have been deliberately disguised by Guan Xing. It's normal that the scouts didn't find anything. Besides, now is not the time to assign blame. Let's think about how to deal with Guan Xing."

"General, where do you think Guan Xing will go? Could he be taking advantage of our time at Jitou Ridge to launch a counterattack on Wushang City?"

It's very possible.

Don't forget that Guan Xing, that scoundrel, is best known for his feints, luring you to another place before returning to destroy your lair.

That's how Jianye was lost.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cheng was startled. After a moment's thought, he firmly shook his head and said, "No, Guan Xing only has two or three thousand men, a third of whom are recruited from the Poisonous Bee bandit army. With such a small force, a daytime frontal attack would not be enough to take Wushang City."

"Moreover, Guan Xing should know that this passage won't hold us off for long. If we can't take Wushang in a short time, we'll be caught in a pincer attack from both inside and outside with Zhou Xun. Guan Xing isn't that stupid."

Zhuge Ke frowned and asked, "Then where will he go?"

“Yeah, where could they be going?” Zhang Cheng was also puzzled. After thinking for a long time without figuring it out, he simply said, “Never mind, let’s just follow their footprints. We’ll find out once we catch up.”

"Look..." Just as Zhuge Ke was about to give chase, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, "General, do you think Guan Xing might take advantage of our time in the cave to circle around and attack our main force?"

That's very possible. Both of their commanders are here now, and there's no one to command them at the camp.

"Holy crap..." Zhang Cheng was startled by this guess and quickly said, "That damn Guan Xing is really cunning. Let's split up. You take the scouts and follow their footprints to see where Guan Xing went. I'll go back to the camp to take command."

Without waiting for Zhuge Ke's reply, he quickly turned around, crawled into the cave, and returned the way he came.