Soon, within the dark camp, lights blazed, and soldiers were awakened from their sleep. Upon learning of an impending major battle, their sleepy expressions instantly vanished.
They began to assemble and, led by Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Han Dang, and others, exited the military camp.
They stealthily approached the village downstream of the river, forming a three-sided encirclement.
The remaining two hundred battle-hardened soldiers and four hundred militiamen in the camp, led by Liu Jin, also exited the camp and slowly made their way downstream along the river.
Li Family Village, located downstream, had already been occupied by three thousand Yellow Turbans. All the money and cloth within had been plundered.
As for the villagers of Li Family Village, they had all suffered a horrific massacre. Their bodies were discarded at the village entrance, piled into a small hill, bloody and exceptionally terrifying to behold.
Only some young women and girls had been taken by these Yellow Turbans.
At the entrance of Li Family Village, over a dozen Yellow Turbans, armed with sharp blades, stood guard.
The leading Yellow Turban chieftain, hearing the occasional lewd shouts from within the village, had an angry expression on his face.
He spat, a thick wad of phlegm landing on the ground, and cursed under his breath!
'Why do they get to enjoy the women first, after we all stormed this village together?'
'And I'm stuck patrolling outside? This is outrageous!'
The Yellow Turbans nearby all nodded in agreement, their faces filled with anger. Many echoed his curses!
'Exactly, exactly!'
'Those were all untouched maidens! If they get to enjoy them first, we'll only be left with scraps.'
As the few men spoke, they grew increasingly indignant.
Seeing this, the small chieftain's eyes darted around, and he chuckled mischievously!
'Brothers, anyway, in this remote wilderness, no one's going to show up. It doesn't matter if we stand guard or not.'
'Let's seize this chance and quickly enter the village to see if we can pick out a few pretty young wives. It'll be worth enduring this long period of abstinence.'
'We must return quickly afterward, absolutely not letting the Generals find out about this, or our lives will be forfeit.'
The dozen or so men around him all nodded, some even eagerly, with longing in their eyes.
Seeing that everyone agreed, the small chieftain didn't waste any more words. He immediately led the dozen or so men around him and quietly sneaked into the village.
The sky grew increasingly dim.
From the surrounding woods, the chirping of insects occasionally echoed through the dark night sky.
Liu Jin led six hundred men, stealthily approaching Li Family Village. Upon getting closer, he became exceptionally cautious, then crouched in the woods at the village entrance to observe if there were any Yellow Turbans on guard.
Looking at the village before him, illuminated by the moonlight, a small hill appeared at the village entrance.
After a careful look, he realized they were all corpses, bloody, their deaths extremely painful and cruel.
Even Liu Jin, accustomed to gore and bodies, was greatly impacted by the sight before him.
Zhao Ergou, Wu Xing, and the Generals beside him were all shocked by this scene, which quickly turned into anger.
They hadn't expected these beasts to be so cruel. Not only did they kill these common people, but they didn't even bother to bury them, instead piling them up here to display their authority.
Liu Jin's hand, gripping his blade, began to tremble. He clearly couldn't bear it and wanted to charge in and slaughter all these Yellow Turban bandits.
However, he still held back. The agreed-upon time of the third watch had not yet arrived.
If he charged in first, and Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and the others weren't ready, it might allow these Yellow Turbans to escape.
Liu Jin took a deep breath, calming the anger in his heart.
His gaze continued to scan the surroundings, finding no Yellow Turbans patrolling near the village, indicating a very lax defense.
This suited his intentions perfectly. He could charge into the village and slaughter these Yellow Turbans without any effort.
So he crouched in the woods, waiting for the time to arrive.
Time slowly passed!
The crescent moon in the sky was obscured by dark clouds, making the sky even darker.
Zhao Ergou, seeing Liu Jin with his eyes closed in meditation, quickly reminded him!
'Big Brother, the third watch has arrived.'
Hearing this, Liu Jin slowly opened his eyes, a fierce killing intent emanating from him. He coldly ordered the Generals behind him!
'All soldiers, charge into the village and slaughter all these Han rebels! As for how many survive, that's up to fate.'
Those behind him, hearing his cold words, felt a chill run down their spines. Their Military Marquis was truly enraged.
Liu Jin, gripping his great saber, led the others behind him, charging out from the dark night sky.
Just then, over a dozen soldiers, their heads wrapped in Yellow Turbans, suddenly emerged from the village entrance.
Their faces wore smiles, looking satiated, as they explained to those around them the satisfying battle they had just had.
When they saw the surging black shadows charging towards them, the few men were completely stunned.
The leading Yellow Turban small chieftain, recovering from his daze, fear appeared in his eyes. He immediately tore open his throat and shouted loudly!
'Han Army...'
The sound of 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh' echoed through the night sky, as arrows shot towards them.
The dozen or so Yellow Turbans were riddled with arrows in just a few breaths, their eyes filled with pain, blood flowing freely, as they collapsed.
Liu Jin led the Han Army behind him directly into the village, charging into the houses.
Some Yellow Turbans still asleep were directly cut down by the sharp blades, without even a chance to react.
As more and more Han Army soldiers poured into the village, beginning to slaughter the Yellow Turbans, screams gradually began to rise.
The Yellow Turbans still asleep in the houses were startled awake. They scrambled out of their beds and poked their heads out of the houses, only to see the Han Army filling the dark night sky.
Terrified, they trembled and shouted!
'The Han Army is attacking! The Han Army is attacking!'
The sound was exceptionally loud within the village. Many Yellow Turbans, hearing of the Han Army's arrival, trembled with fear, showing no intention of resisting whatsoever.
They all fled into the dark night, fearing being killed by the Han Army.
At this moment, the three divisions of troops led by Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Han Dang had already encircled the village from the west, north, and south.
They surrounded the Yellow Turbans within the village and began a furious slaughter, with no intention of showing mercy.
Bodies continuously fell into the pool of blood, and screams were exceptionally loud.
Inside a house in the center of the village, Wang Shou was slowly awakened from his sleep. When he heard the continuous screams in the dark night sky,
this scene was quite similar to what he had experienced in the mountain stronghold.
He already knew that they were being ambushed again at night.
Without time to think further, he quickly put on his clothes from the bed, preparing to head outside.
