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

Faced with Zhang Cheng's questioning, Zhou Qi's pent-up grievances surged up instantly, and he burst into tears, saying, "That bastard Guan Xing is inhuman! The very next day, he took it out on the surrendered soldiers and whipped each of us thirty times, under the guise of 'rectifying bullying incidents in the army.'"

After saying that, he pulled open his clothes to reveal his chest, pointed to the scabbed whip marks and complained, "General, look at what we've been beaten like this."

"He beat you all up?" Zhang Cheng exclaimed. "Has Guan Xing gone mad?"

A soldier can be killed but not humiliated. Beating surrendered soldiers like this, aren't you afraid they'll rebel?

Zhang Cheng was a beat slow to react, and only after the words left his mouth did he grasp the key point and quickly asked, "What do you mean by 'rectifying bullying incidents in the military'? What does 'bullying' mean?"

Zhou Qi gave a brief explanation, then said indignantly, "Which general in the army doesn't beat his soldiers? It's just that Guan Anguo has too many grudges. It's one thing for him to beat us under this pretext, but he also made my subordinates who I bullied execute us. Isn't this a deliberate act of humiliation?"

Zhang Cheng finally understood Guan Xing's intention, and gasped in shock. He asked again, "After this incident, are all the surrendered soldiers completely devoted to him?"

Isn't this nonsense!

You are an ordinary soldier being bullied. Between a superior who bullies you and a superior who respects you, who would you choose?

Of course, there are also die-hards who refuse to surrender, and they're standing right in front of us.

Zhou Qi said, cursing, "That's right. Those spineless bastards were taken down by Guan Xing after a few good meals. Only we two hundred people refused to submit. Guan Xing couldn't do anything to us, and when he found out you were coming, he let us go."

Zhang Cheng's heart sank to the bottom. He hadn't expected Guan Xing to be so good at winning people's hearts.

Now Guan Xing has gained another four or five thousand men, while he himself has suffered heavy losses, losing more than half of his troops. With the balance of power shifting, can he still quickly defeat Guan Xing?

Zhang Cheng continued, "What about Guan Xingren? Is he still in the county town?"

Zhou Qi shook his head and said, "I don't know, but I think it should be here?"

When they were driven out of the city, Guan Xing was still there. They had no idea what Guan Xing was doing or what he would do next.

Zhang Cheng thought to himself, "Never mind, let's talk about it when we get to the county town first."

The army continued its advance, only to find the city deserted when it arrived at the city walls. There was no Han army in the city, not even a piece of foot binding cloth could be found.

The damned Han army was like a locust swarm, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake.

After making a few inquiries, Zhang Cheng learned that Guan Xing had gone to Da Mo, but he did not dare to pursue him immediately. Instead, he stayed in the city to think of a solution.

After thinking for a long time, he called Zhou Qi over and said, "Go to Shanyin and have the governor of Kuaiji County requisition troops and provisions and send them to me as soon as possible."

"Guan Xing has already gained momentum and cannot be wiped out in a short time. We must make full preparations and plan for the long term."

Currently, Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke have both been captured, and their 5,000 troops have surrendered to the Han army. By this calculation, Guan Xing now commands 7,000 to 8,000 men, more than Guan Xing. Guan Xing might not be able to win in a direct confrontation, let alone through underhanded tactics.

That damned Guan Xing is running around the mountain like a headless fly. He's being treated like a dog, who can stand it if this goes on for long?

No, we must revise the battle plan; we can no longer let Guan Xing lead us by the nose.

"Yes..." Zhou Qi accepted the order and left, taking more than ten confidants out of the city to Shanyin, the capital of Kuaiji Commandery.

As for the prisoners of war who were driven out with him by Guan Xing, they were naturally reassigned to Zhang Cheng's army in a random manner. Originally, these people were not from the same unit, so it was normal to reassign them, but...

In the eyes of Zhang Cheng's elite Wu army, these people were, after all, prisoners of war who were released by Guan Xing. Who knows if there were any Han spies among them?

Moreover, they had been chasing the Han army from Wushang to Damu to Shexian and then back to Wushang, covering more than a thousand miles, and they were all burning with anger.

This bunch of bastards not only stayed in Wushang with Zhou Xun and enjoyed themselves, but they also surrendered to the Han army without even fighting.

Who can feel balanced?

Wu Jun was unhappy, so he naturally took it out on the released prisoners, and even if he didn't take it out on them, he wouldn't give them a pleasant look.

After half a day, the prisoners were fed up.

I was treated well by the Han army, but I remained loyal and did not surrender. When I came back, you not only did not comfort me, but treated me like this.

Within half a day, most of the released prisoners had the thought that "if I had known this would happen, I should have surrendered to the Han army in the first place."

This kind of thinking would be extremely dangerous in the military.

That night in a certain barracks, the soldiers, unable to sleep, lay on their communal bunks chatting idly. The conversation drifted to the issue of prisoners, and they turned to Li Gou Dan, a prisoner assigned to their barracks, and asked, "Gou Dan, I heard you were beaten by the Han army, each receiving thirty lashes, right?"

"I heard that some people are beaten blindfolded. When they beat you, are you blindfolded or with your eyes open? Is the whip dipped in salt? I heard that it hurts a lot when it's dipped in salt."

"Stop playing dead. We're only asking you because we think highly of you. Don't force us to beat you up."

Exhausted from a long day, Li Gou Dan, his eyelids drooping, said on the verge of tears, "I've never bullied anyone, so I didn't get beaten up. I really don't know if I was dipped in salt or not."

Wu Jun sneered from the side, "You sound pretty regretful. Want us to make it up to you?"

Li Gou Dan shuddered in fright and quickly said with a forced smile, "Brother, you're joking. There really were people who were blindfolded and whipped. One lash went straight from the forehead to the corner of the mouth, leaving people disfigured."

"However, after the battle, General Guan found them the best doctors and used the best medicine. I heard that all the medicine shops in the city were sold out that day."

"Not only that, General Guan also made them that thing called what, oh, a nutritional meal. I heard it was very delicious, but unfortunately I was injured and didn't get to eat it."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he was kicked. Wu Jun, who was standing next to him, kicked him while cursing, "You keep calling him General Guan. Are you a spy who's been bribed by Guan Xing and came back to spy on us? Brothers, beat this traitor up!"

Li Gou Dan's face changed drastically, and he hurriedly protested, "I didn't, I didn't, ahhh, no..."

Soon, Li Gou Dan's screams echoed through the barracks. Feeling the pain in his body, Li Gou Dan felt a deep sense of regret.

If I had known I would be treated like this upon returning, why the hell would I have come back? Wouldn't it have been better to follow General Guan?

At least General Guan genuinely treated us surrendered soldiers as brothers. You damned bastards, believe me or not, I'll leave the city and surrender to the Han tomorrow.

Among the prisoners, there were quite a few unfortunate souls like Li Gou Dan who suffered unfair treatment. Screams echoed throughout the camp, even startling Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng listened intently for a moment, then frowned and asked, "What are you doing in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Why are you howling like a ghost?"

Meanwhile, Zhou Qi, who was on his way to Shanyin to deliver orders, also stopped and found a place to camp in the wild, planning to rest for the night before continuing his journey at dawn.

After resting for a short while, Zhou Shan, a personal guard, brought over two steamed buns and said, "Captain, let's eat."

Zhou Qi had suffered several days of grievances at the hands of the Han army, and upon his return, he was sent to Shanyin by Zhang Cheng. He was already resentful, and when he saw the cornbread, he immediately flew into a rage and cursed, "Why is it this piece of junk? Can't you even get something warm? Make some!"

Zhou Shan dared not refute, and hurriedly gathered firewood to start a fire, cooking some porridge with the brown rice he carried with him.

But Zhou Qi, whose palate had been spoiled by the Han army and who was starving and full of resentment, could not stomach such food. He immediately smashed the bowl of porridge on Zhou Shan's head and cursed, "I've been running all day and this is what you're trying to fool me with? Don't you know how to go catch a fish?"

Zhou Shan screamed in pain from the burns but dared not argue. He had no choice but to do as he was told, but a fierce murderous intent flashed in his eyes as he turned around.

I gave up the generous treatment I received from the Han army to return with you, and this is how you treat me?

In the dead of night, while everyone was asleep, Zhou Shan, holding a dagger, quietly crept up to Zhou Qi. He covered Zhou Qi's mouth and nose with his left hand, and mercilessly slashed his throat with the dagger in his right hand. After confirming that Zhou Qi was dead, he cut off his head and calmly left.