Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

Liu Bei also deeply resented these scoundrels who sided with the eunuch faction for committing evil deeds in Zhuo County. He wished he could kill them as soon as possible.

However, with so many eyes watching, Liu Bei couldn't resort to private punishment unless Cuan Heizi suddenly attacked him, forcing him to defend himself, in which case he could rightfully kill Cuan Heizi.

With this in mind, Liu Bei could only ponder and say to Zhang Fei:

"Now, everything is completely clear. The murderers of Zhang Hun are Wen Xuan, Wu Guang, and Cuan Heizi. Although we cannot use vigilante justice against them, we can take them to the county government and hand them over to the county magistrate for processing. Murderers shall die. These three will also be sentenced to death."

— "Da Pi" means death penalty.

Upon hearing this, Wen Xuan immediately felt a glimmer of hope, and even secretly believed that Liu Bei was helping him. Therefore, he quickly echoed:

"Yes, yes, tie the three of us up in the county office and hand us over to the county magistrate for punishment."

Seeing Wen Xuan's eagerness, everyone present knew that once they were bound and taken to the Zhuoxian County government office, the county magistrate would know that they were retainers of Zhao Xiang, the cousin of the eunuch Zhao Zhong, and would be afraid of their power. Naturally, he would not sentence them to death, and might even deliberately release them on the grounds of "no evidence found".

Liu Bei made this suggestion simply because he had great confidence in the upright and honest character of Xue You, the magistrate of Zhuo County. He believed that Xue You was a member of the Qingliu Party and would certainly not let Wen Xuan, Wu Guang, and Cuan Heizi go free, but would definitely put them to death.

Upon hearing this, Sun Qing sneered:

"Handing them over to the county government would be too lenient on them."

Wang Dang also said:

"We must not hand over the three of them to the county government for punishment."

Upon hearing this, Wen Xuan and Wu Guang's faces turned even paler.

Cuan Heizi sneered:

"So what do you want?"

Sun Qing said in a deep voice:

"Now, everything has been investigated. The culprits are Wen Xuan and Wu Guang of Qingxi Manor. No one else is involved. Now, the two of us must leave Qingxi Manor safely. If you dare to stop us, then it's a fight to the death; we'll perish together with Wen Xuan and Wu Guang. If you can let us leave Qingxi Manor, as long as we can leave safely, Wen Xuan and Wu Guang might have a chance to survive. Now, we must leave Qingxi Manor. — Stand up."

Wen Xuan was terrified of death at this moment, so he did as he was told and stood up from behind the long table.

Sun Qing held a sword to Wen Xuan's neck, taking him hostage, and walked towards the door.

Wang Dang, holding Fifth Light hostage, followed closely behind.

The dozen or so retainers and dozens of servants of Qingxi Manor kept a close watch on them, not letting their guard down for even a moment.

"Don't get too close! Stay away!"

Wang Dang shouted loudly.

Fifth Light, fearing that he might impulsively slit his own throat, hurriedly shouted:

"Everyone, stay away."

Zhao Xiang, the owner of Qingxi Manor, was never in the fortress; all affairs were handled by Wen Xuan.

Fifth Light was the person Wen Xuan trusted and relied on the most.

The two men held absolute power in Qingxi Manor; they were the biggest bosses.

Normally, these retainers and servants would follow Wen Xuan's orders, which had become a habit. They were afraid of him and dared not disobey him in the slightest.

Therefore, under such extreme circumstances, no one dared to act on their own.

Liu Bei, Geng Yong, Qian Zhao, Zhang Fei, and Wutulu followed closely behind the group, heading towards the courtyard gate.

Sun Qing and Wang Dang, holding Wen Xuan and Wu Guang hostage, left the courtyard and came to the main street, walking quickly towards the gate of Qingxi Manor.

We exited the gate of the fortified village.

They descended from Fuluogang.

Arriving at the fields, we continued southward.

The group followed at a distance that remained neither too close nor too far.

They traveled south for about twenty miles and gradually came into a dense forest.

At this point, both Qingxi Manor and Shiwulipu were already dozens of miles away.

Sun Qing and Wang Dang took Wen Xuan and Wu Guang hostage and entered the dense forest. Due to the cover of trees, they quickly disappeared.

The group of retainers and servants from Qingxi Manor who had been following behind them were terrified and, led by the swordsman Cuan Heizi, ran into the dense forest.

Geng Yong and Qian Zhao also hurriedly chased after them.

Liu Bei stopped them:

"I have a feeling there's an ambush in these woods... We don't need to follow too closely."

Zhang Fei was extremely anxious:

"Brother Xuande, this place is far from Qingxi Manor. We can strike in the dense forest where no one can see us and kill Cuan Heizi to avenge my cousin."

Wutulu, standing to the side, looked completely confident.

"Yide, don't worry, they can't escape."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei became even more convinced that Wutulu, Sun Qing, and Wang Dang were in cahoots and had already planned all of today's actions.

Liu Bei frowned slightly. "Let's slowly approach the dense forest and act according to the situation."

All four nodded in agreement.

So Liu Bei and his companions slowly crept into the dense forest and stood behind a large tree to observe.

At this time, the retainers and servants of Qingxi Manor, led by Cuan Heizi, had already rushed into the depths of the dense forest.

The sound of rustling footsteps could be heard everywhere.

Liu Bei was completely focused, his eyes constantly scanning the entire dense forest.

"Click...click..."

A very faint sound came from behind.

But Liu Bei heard it clearly and knew it was the sound of pulling the trigger of a crossbow.

"There are crossbows! Everyone be on guard. Stay behind the trees and don't wander off."

Liu Bei quickly whispered a reminder to Geng Yong, Qian Zhao, Zhang Fei, and Wu Tu Lu.

It's too late to say, then soon!

Amidst the short, buzzing sounds of bowstrings vibrating, the whooshing of countless arrows piercing the air continued.

Immediately following was a chorus of screams of agony.

The retainers and servants of Qingxi Manor, who had entered the dense forest, were searching everywhere for Wen Xuan and Wu Guang, unaware that they had already entered an ambush zone.

In the blink of an eye, a large number of them were shot down by crossbow bolts hidden in the shadows.

"There's an ambush! Quick, hide!"

Cuan Heizi finally realized that they had entered an ambush zone.

While reminding his retainers and followers, he used his longsword to deflect the incoming arrows.

At this moment, three or four of the dozen or so retainers had already been shot dead, and half of the remaining dozen or so had also been hit by arrows. Seven or eight of the dozens of servants had also been shot dead in an instant.

They then realized they had been tricked and had fallen into an ambush set by Sun Qing and Wang Dang, so they all hid behind trees.

However, the sound of crossbow bolts piercing the air continued unabated.

This time, the crossbow bolts were shot down from the sky.

To be precise, the ambushers were hidden high in the tree trunks, firing from above.

Therefore, even though these retainers and servants of Qingxi Manor hid behind the trees, most of them were still shot dead with great precision.

Cuan Heizi was so angry that he yelled loudly:

"You cowards, if you've got the guts, settle this with a fight face to face! What kind of skill is it to hide in the shadows and sneak around like that? Come on, let's have a one-on-one duel!"

A sinister laugh echoed from deep within the woods:

"As the saying goes, an eye for an eye! How did you ambush Zhao Laoqi at the Wu Family Hotel back then? We're just returning the favor in kind."

"So they were bandits from White Stone Mountain!"

Cuan Heizi's eyes darted around as he looked for the ambush, but all he could see were trees.

"You damned devils! I'll raze White Stone Mountain Stronghold to the ground one day and tear you to pieces!"

His response was another hail of arrows.

Liu Bei already knew this must be an ambush set up by the bandits of White Stone Mountain, and silently thought:

"These bandits from White Stone Mountain are indeed exceptionally cunning. They won't be easy to deal with."

As he spoke, he looked at Wutulu.

She just kept staring at him.

Wutulu felt a little embarrassed under Liu Bei's gaze, and a look of shame began to appear on his face.

He knew that Liu Bei suspected him of secretly colluding with the bandits of Baishi Mountain.

Liu Bei stared at Wutulu for a while, then suddenly said:

"Wutulu, don't you have anything to say to me?"

……

All the strongest bows and crossbows in the world came from Han. Xi Zi, Shao Fu, Shi Li, and Ju Lai could all shoot more than 600 paces away.

—The Strategies of the Warring States