Chapter 165 Guan Yu's Virgin Heart
Guan Yu's words of dissuasion were of no use; the soldiers continued to do what they were doing.

Seeing that another child was about to be killed, Guan Yu jumped off the earth wall and walked to the scene in three or two steps.

"Oh!"

The wooden shield clashed with the sword, and Guan Yu shouted angrily, "I ordered you to stop! Didn't you hear me?"

Unexpectedly, the soldier turned around and walked away, looking for the next humanoid combat exploit.

Then, Guan Yu saw the second, the third... the soldiers around him suddenly became extremely unfamiliar.

They were no longer the comrades-in-arms with whom he used to chat, laugh and play. In Guan Yu's eyes, they had all become executioners, ruthlessly reaping lives.

No matter whether they were the elderly, the weak, women or children, whether they were common people or landlords, all lives within the fort were killed.

"Stop! Stop it all!"

Guan Yu’s roar was of no use. In name, he was the temporary commander of this army. In fact, from the moment the fort was broken, Guan Yu lost control of this army.

The soldiers are carrying out Jin Mao's orders. Although Jin Mao has never given the order, it is a common practice in the army to show no mercy to the enemy. It is almost engraved in the genes of this army.

Only at this time will the soldiers completely lose control and become killing machines.

As if venting.

Night falls.

Apart from Guan Yu and his companions, the only sound in the fortress was the chirping of insects under the starry sky, and even wild beasts did not dare to approach.

When the dust settled, the soldiers seemed to return to their original state, laughing and cursing as they dug pits and buryed the bodies.

Sparks are still too inhumane for people of this era, and everyone prefers more traditional methods.

Guan Yu sat by the campfire in a daze. In the end, he only saved a frightened little boy. The boy not only talked nonsense but also often had fits. It seemed that it was torture for him to stay alive.

Guan Yu really didn’t know what to do. This was the first time he felt confused since he came under Jin Mao’s command.

At this time, the deputy captain came to sit next to Guan Yu and said, "Captain Guan, if you can't do it, leave the child to me."

Guan Yu regained his shape, grabbed his adjutant by the neck, and shouted with red eyes, "Did you give the order?"

"Is it you!?"

The adjutant was strangled by the neck and could not speak. He tried to pry Guan Yu's fingers apart with his hands but could not break free.

They were about to die, but fortunately someone discovered them early and separated the two, thus avoiding another tragedy.

"Puff! Puff!" The adjutant spat continuously and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He was also very angry. He came with good intentions to help, but almost lost his life.

"Guan Yu!" The recovered adjutant covered his neck and shouted angrily, "Put away your disgusting kindness!"

"If you really want to save people, you should save all the suffering people in the world!"

"Instead of killing your comrades here just for the kindness you show us!"

Guan Yu said: "I heard that the Huns in the north are very cruel, but they all know to keep children shorter than the wheels alive!"

"Are we more cruel than the Huns?"

The adjutant was obviously a former political commissar, and he was no less skilled in bickering: "Then why haven't you heard that when the Xiongnu raided the border, no Han people were left alive?"

"Don't be naive! The Huns only don't kill the children of nomadic peoples. Have you ever seen the Huns who don't kill the children of Han people?"

Guan Yu was speechless.

The adjutant quoted Jin Mao's words: "My lord once said that we should not make enemies easily. Once we become mortal enemies, we must cut off the roots!"

"Believe it or not, as long as you dare to raise this child, one day, you will die at the hands of this child!"

The adjutant cited several examples from the military, all of which were stories about the farmer and the snake, and none of them had a happy ending.

"This is how the world is!" the adjutant concluded, "That's why we have to follow our lord to create a new world!"

Guan Yu was persuaded. Looking at the face of his young adjutant, he couldn't remember his name for a moment. The face looked familiar, but he had never had a close relationship with these people.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Wu Ning, and my courtesy name is Ning Ye." Wu Ning explained, "I took my adoptive father Wu Tian's surname and used my original name Ning Ye as my courtesy name."

"What you said makes sense." Guan Yu said, "But I still want to try a different approach."

Wu Ning didn't say much and went back to the tent to rest.

The next day, early in the morning.

Guan Yu held the child in his arms, rode on his horse, and kept a certain distance from the team transporting food and supplies.

at dusk.

Guan Yu and others met Huang Gai on the south bank of Sheyang Lake.

When Huang Gai learned from Wu Ning what Guan Yu had done, he took the initiative to distance himself from him and said, "Captain Guan, I'll take my leave now."

Guan Yu was confused, but he didn't force himself to board the ship.

Wu Ning reported the battle situation to Huang Gai: "Commander-in-chief, fifteen brothers were injured in this battle, but no one died."

"Seized..."

Huang Gai nodded and said, "You did a good job. I will report it to my lord and remember your great achievement!"

"Thank you Captain!"

The two exchanged pleasantries. Wu Ning, who was still young, couldn't help but ask Huang Gai, "Aren't you afraid of being blamed by the lord for treating Guan Yu like this?"

Huang Gai smiled and said, "Guan Yu is a guest general. We can't ask too much of him, but we can stick to our own attitude."

Huang Gai seemed to like Wu Ning, so he couldn't help but give him some pointers: "I don't know how much the lord likes Guan Yu, we just need the lord's trust."

Wu Ning nodded, not quite understanding.

...

Huaiyin County.

Guan Yu, Huang Gai and others arrived almost at the same time.

However, the atmosphere in the army was a bit strange. Huang Gai thought that the whole army knew about his affair with Guan Yu, and Guan Yu also thought that the whole army knew about his maverick behavior.

When the two arrived at the central military tent with trepidation, they found that it was all a misunderstanding.

"My Lord, I refuse to accept this!"

Before the two entered, Zhang Fei's loud voice shouted: "I did nothing wrong, why did you confiscate all my military merits and even deduct them?"

Guan Yu and Huang Gai walked into the central army tent, only to see Zhang Fei yelling below and Jin Mao sitting at the head with no discernible expression.

"Yun Chang, Gong Fu is back."

Seeing the two of them, Jin Mao smiled happily and stood up to greet them.

"Greetings, my lord (envoy)" the two of them saluted together.

Jin Mao stepped forward and supported the two men's arms, saying, "Come on, come on, sit down and talk."

Then he pointed at Zhang Fei and said, "Stand still!"

Zhang Fei became even angrier: "Why can Guan Lao Er sit here but I can't?"

"You are so partial!"

Jin Mao said unhappily, "You made a mistake and you're so confident about it?"

"Come, tell Yunchang and Gongfu what you have done."

Zhang Fei defended himself: "The first time, I reined in my horse and didn't hurt anyone."

"The second time, they were indeed the rebels who escaped from the fort. What was wrong with me killing them?"

"The third time, I was fooled, and I didn't know that the people in the fortress were not traitors."

"Even if there is a punishment, the person who deceived me should be punished as well!"

Guan Yu and Huang Gai understood that Zhang Fei had committed a crime and was being tried in public.

Jin Mao was too lazy to talk nonsense and directly took out the testimony handed over by Xun You.

"The first time, if your comrades had not raised their spears and lances, would you have been able to stop your horse?"

"The second time, my comrades told you that they were civilians fleeing, but you refused to listen!"

"The third time..." Jin Mao laughed: "Don't you have a brain?"

"Do you believe whatever others say?"

Zhang Fei said with more confidence: "Sir, I don't understand what you are saying."

He argued: "I have to trust my comrades the second time, but I can't trust them the third time. So should I trust them or not?"

"Hey!" Jin Mao pointed at Zhang Fei and said happily, "You black fellow, you are quite good at speaking."

Zhang Fei opened his mouth wide, revealing his big yellow teeth, and said, "I learned this from you."

"Okay, you're right." Jin Mao said, "Then cancel this achievement and demote your rank by two levels. I won't give you the full reward."

"Don't fight alone. I'll give you an adjutant."

"From now on, you should listen to your adjutant. Charge when he tells you to, and retreat when he tells you to. Don't bother thinking."

Zhang Fei's expression changed, and he asked, "Adjutant? Is the envoy finally going to let me lead the troops into battle?"

Jin Mao nodded and said, "That's right, but it's not you who leads the troops to fight, but your adjutant who commands you to fight!"

The soldiers burst into laughter.

Zhang Fei scratched his head and grinned: "It's all the same, all the same."

Zhang Fei is no fool. He leads troops in battle and gains military merits very quickly. Even if he loses all this time, it will be worth it.

Let’s finish talking about Zhang Fei.

Huang Gai stepped out to report the results of the battle to Jin Mao, and at the same time he did not hesitate to mention that Guan Yu had saved a child and that Huang Gai had refused to give him a ride on the road.

Suddenly, nearly forty generals in the camp dared not even breathe.

Huang Gai was really brave. Right after punishing Zhang Fei, he jumped out and said openly that he was not on good terms with Guan Yu.

Smart people think of more, and the look in their eyes when they look at Guan Yu is intriguing.

Before Jin Mao could say anything, Guan Yu stepped out and said, "I acted on my own will. Please punish me, Your Excellency."

Hearing that Guan Yu never mentioned the child, Jin Mao slammed the table in anger.

"How can there be a gap between comrades?"

"Gong Fu, you disappoint me so much!"

Jin Mao decided on the spot: "I will confiscate one year's salary from you. Do you have any objection?"

Huang Gai was secretly delighted, but he bowed and said, "Huang Gai accepts the punishment."

When it was Guan Yu's turn, Jin Mao forced a smile and said, "Yunchang, you did a great job. I will record your great achievement and promote you to the fifth-level lieutenant!"

"You are tired from this operation, so take the child to rest, travel around or something."

"The most innocent victims in the war are the civilians. Yunchang, please work harder to help heal the trauma in this child's heart."

Guan Yu felt bitter. How could he not understand Jin Mao's move of promoting him in name only and demoting him in reality?

And he kept talking about that child, which showed that Jin Mao cared about this matter very much.

But Guan Yu just couldn't understand why they had to kill them all.

Those soldiers who didn't understand naturally understood everything after being reminded by the people around them.

At this moment, they all understood one thing: the rules set by the lord must not be broken easily, otherwise Guan Yu would end up like this.

Zhang Fei standing aside was not as honest as he seemed. He understood all of Jinmao's operations.

For a moment, Zhang Fei didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

(End of this chapter)