"Hah …"
After confirming that the person he was chasing was not Cao Cao, Yang Rui was about to charge forward and stab him to death.
Yang Rui's men had spent a lot of energy chasing after this person, but in the end, they had fallen for the other party's trick. Yang Rui was also rather angry.
"My lord, please wait …"
However, at the critical moment, someone shouted for him to stop. Yang Rui had protected the Golden Emperor Sword in his hand by a hair's breadth. He had almost taken the life of the person pretending to be Cao Cao.
When Yang Rui came to a sudden stop and looked back, he saw that the person who had shouted for him to stop was Guo Jia.
"My lord, I see that this person is definitely not a simple person to be able to pretend to be Cao Cao all the way. If he did not have the help of external forces or tools, this person's current appearance should not be his true appearance …"
Without needing Yang Rui to ask, Guo Jia had already taken the initiative to explain to Yang Rui. It turned out that the reason he had stopped Yang Rui was because he felt that the person in front of him was not a simple person. Thus, he became suspicious.
"Hmm? Could it be … "
Hearing Guo Jia say that the person in front of him was suspicious, Yang Rui immediately switched from stabbing to grabbing. He put away the Golden Emperor Sword and grabbed the person's neck with his left hand.
It was only at this moment that Yang Rui realized that this person was actually an extremely thin person. His entire neck was grabbed by Yang Rui's hand. It was just a pinch.
"Haha … haha …"
Yang Rui was also flustered and exasperated. That person's neck was pinched by Yang Rui, and he was instantly unable to breathe. Sounds of labored breathing could be heard from his throat.
By the time Yang Rui placed the person on the ground, he had already collapsed to the ground powerlessly. He was like a ball of soft mud and was not willing to move at all.
"Feng Xiao, this person is indeed a scholar. Take him down and interrogate him. Ask him where Cao Cao went. I reckon that Cao Cao has already gone far away. I'm afraid it will be difficult to catch up with him …"
Yang Rui reached out and removed a mask from the man's face. He didn't even check if it was a Violet-Gold item before handing the man over to Guo Jia for interrogation.
"The rest of you, rest where you are for a short while to quench your hunger and thirst. Be prepared to continue chasing after the defeated army."
Following which, Yang Rui ordered the surrounding soldiers.
Everyone was tired from the chase. Although Yang Rui was annoyed that he had caught Cao Cao's substitute, he didn't do anything else.
"… I am Liu Ye, also known as Ziyang. I am not a cowardly and nameless person. Kill me or cut me up as you please. Do not waste any more time …"
Yang Rui was still thinking about where the problem had occurred and when exactly did Cao Cao have the opportunity to use a substitute. He heard that the substitute had finally regained some strength and was unwilling to listen to Guo Jia's advice. He had already begun to clamor.
At first, Yang Rui was still annoyed. But when he came to his senses, Yang Rui took note of the substitute's words.
This person was actually Liu Ye? The Liu Ye who had built the Thunderclap Chariot for Yuan Shao's alliance?
Yang Rui was immediately interested. He stood up and walked in the direction of that person.
Although Cao Cao had run away, if he could capture Liu Ye, then he would have caught a big fish and would not have lost his net.
Liu Ye was one of Cao Cao's strategists who wasn't very famous. It was rumored that he was the descendant of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu's son, Lord Fuling. He was a famous strategist and was known to be talented. In reality, he was one of Cao Cao's most important strategists.
This point was reflected in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but it wasn't very prominent. In the historical facts, Liu Ye had repeatedly offered advice and it was always effective. It was very important for Cao Cao to control the world's development. Liu Ye, as an elder of three dynasties, was also able to demonstrate his ability.
Other things aside, just the fact that Liu Ye could build the Thunderclap Chariot was enough to attract Yang Rui's attention.
Previously, Yang Rui and his troops had just experienced the power of the Thunderclap Chariot. If it wasn't for the fact that the Yang Rui Black Armored Battalion was a very famous battle formation, Yang Rui's troops would have suffered a large number of casualties at the Icy Sand City Wall before Yang Rui's troops arrived.
Following this, Yang Rui's attitude towards Liu Ye changed 180 degrees. He used all sorts of kind words to persuade Liu Ye to submit to him. However, the result was already predictable.
Accurately speaking, Yang Rui only wanted to show Liu Ye his attitude. He wanted to show Liu Ye that Liu Ye was different from the rest and lay a foundation for persuading him to surrender.
As for being able to persuade Liu Ye to surrender, Yang Rui naturally didn't have much hope. He had done this more than once or twice and had accumulated a lot of experience. However, he had never met someone who could successfully persuade them to surrender on the first try.
This situation had something to do with the game's settings. Most importantly, the game's civilization background was indeed such a situation. It emphasized loyalty and righteousness. People like Lu Bu who were disloyal and unrighteous were few and far between in the Three Kingdoms background.
After persuading Liu Ye to surrender to no avail, Yang Rui ordered for Liu Ye to be tied up. He also ordered the soldiers to "treat Liu Ye with respect" before letting Liu Ye be taken away.
After that, Yang Rui, Guo Jia, Yu Jin, Guan Hai and the others discussed where Cao Cao might have gone. However, in the end, they didn't come up with any accurate conclusions.
Even the highly intelligent Guo Jia was only able to deduce that Cao Cao might have used Liu Ye to escape. From this, he was able to deduce a few possible places where Cao Cao might have escaped. He was unable to gain anything else.
Yang Rui immediately mobilized his troops to the various suspicious places along the way. However, at the beginning, Yang Rui, Guo Jia, and the others didn't have much hope that they would be able to find traces of Cao Cao's escape.
Initially, Cao Cao was right in front of them. With the help of Yang Rui, Guo Jia, Yu Jin, Guan Hai, and the others, they were still able to let him slip through the net. Now, if they turned back to look for him, Cao Cao would be like a bird returning to the forest or a fish returning to the abyss. It would be very difficult to find any traces of him.
Since there wasn't much hope of finding Cao Cao and they had already reached the foot of the Taihang Mountains, Yang Rui, Guo Jia, and the others discussed and reorganized the troops chasing after them. They turned around and headed for the hinterland of Hanoi Prefecture.
At this moment, Yang Rui was somewhat regretful. He didn't listen to Guo Jia's advice and didn't immediately mobilize the Hulao Pass guards to the Yellow River section of Hanoi Prefecture. If they had mobilized at that time, they might have been able to pull Cao Cao out.
Now, it was too late to say anything. Once Cao Cao escaped, it would be impossible to eliminate his forces in one go.
Looking at the direction of Yuan Shao's defeated troops, even if Yang Rui's clone, Zhang Liao, Dragon Soul, and the others had the advantage in numbers and momentum, Jizhou was still very deep. It would be very difficult to uproot Yuan Shao from Jizhou.
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