As Cao Cao set out on his campaign, the battle between Hao Meng and Yan Liang had already begun. Unlike Hou Cheng and Wei Xu, who were considered weak among Lü Bu's Eight Tiger Generals, Hao Meng was a true fierce warrior under Lü Bu's command. Especially when fighting with his life on the line, Hao Meng, with the support of his personal guards and the manipulation of the battle's momentum, managed to temporarily hold back Yan Liang's onslaught.
"Charge!" Hao Meng threw away his spear, gripping a war blade tightly as he fiercely slashed towards Yan Liang, roaring wildly. Unlike Hou Cheng and Wei Xu, who were intimidated by Yan Liang's overwhelming power, Hao Meng knew that if Yan Liang destroyed his banner, he would surely die. Fighting back with all his might, however, gave him a slim chance of survival.
Yan Liang's spear skillfully deflected Hao Meng's guards, and the force of his attack tore through Hao Meng's armor, leaving bloodstains on Hao Meng's chest.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Hao Meng, now seemingly crazed, swung his broken weapon towards Yan Liang, his eyes bloodshot. Without a desperate fight, death was certain, but with it, there was still a glimmer of hope.
"Surrender!" Yan Liang, after breaking Hao Meng's war blade in half and killing his horse with a single strike, urged him to yield. Hao Meng was thrown to the ground, but in a desperate move, he dragged one of Yan Liang's guards off his horse and managed to climb onto another steed.
"Surrender, Hao Meng. I will recommend you to my lord, Yuan Gong, for your bravery," Yan Liang offered. Though Hao Meng's strength was insignificant to him, Yan Liang admired Hao Meng's resolve in the face of death.
Hao Meng's eyes flickered with hesitation. A good death was better than a bad life, and he had never considered himself a hero who would rather die than submit. Surviving had always been his priority, and now seemed like the perfect opportunity. But just as he was about to speak, he caught sight of a large banner from the corner of his eye.
"We men of Bingzhou would rather die standing than live kneeling!" Hao Meng roared, charging towards Yan Liang with his broken blade. His defiant cry ignited the spirits of the demoralized Bingzhou wolf cavalry.
"Seeking death!" Yan Liang, angered by Hao Meng's defiance after offering him a way out, thrust his spear at him.
With a resounding crash, Yan Liang's horse staggered backward. Yan Liang looked up in shock at the figure before him—a warrior clad in simple armor, yet exuding a pressure no less intense than Lü Bu's.
"Break through to the west! The Trap Formation will pierce through Ju Yi's defense within a tea's time. Lead the troops out and eliminate those scattered forces," Gao Shun, standing in the air, calmly ordered Hao Meng.
"Understood!" Hao Meng responded with a shiver of fear. If he had surrendered earlier, his head would have already rolled by now. At that moment, Hao Meng's humility matched that of Cao Xing.
"Yan Liang of Hebei!" Yan Liang, filled with fighting spirit, declared.
"Nothing but brute strength!" Gao Shun sneered after ensuring Hao Meng's safety. With that, he flew away, leaving Yan Liang stunned.
As the wind blew past, Yan Liang realized the opponent had already left. The warrior who could fly with the aid of the battlefield's energy had mocked him and then simply flown away.
"Scoundrel!" Yan Liang, his mind finally catching up, roared in anger, his eyes burning with fury.
Gao Shun, expressionless, flew out of the battlefield, thankful that the battlefield's energy was thin enough for him to escape. Otherwise, even with the army's spirit protecting him, he wouldn't have made it.
"All troops, charge! Break through the enemy!" Gao Shun shouted, and the 800 Trap Formation soldiers split into two groups. One charged towards Ju Yi's position, while the other tore through the opposing army.
A series of explosions echoed as the Trap Formation tore a path through Yan Liang's forces, cutting through like a knife through butter, leaving a trail of blood in their wake.
On the other side, the Trap Formation clashed head-on with the Xian Deng, both sides leading with powerful crossbows. After a fierce exchange, the Trap Formation soldiers emerged unscathed, stepping over the bodies of the Xian Deng and calmly cutting down their enemies.
"Attack!" The Xian Deng soldiers who remained turned to countercharge, only to be met by the Trap Formation soldiers' coordinated strikes. A few silver flashes later, the enemy's front ranks were cleared, and the Trap Formation pressed forward, boosting the morale of the wolf cavalry trapped in the middle.
While Gao Shun's troops were cutting through their opponents with ease, the other half of the Trap Formation encountered a real challenge—Ju Yi himself, leading the Xian Deng in direct combat. However, even against Ju Yi's seasoned forces, the Trap Formation showed no signs of struggle.
"Whose troops are these?" Ju Yi, eyes cold, led his men into battle. For a moment, he had no time to coordinate with the rest of Yuan Shao's forces.
If Ju Yi hadn't glanced over at the right moment, he might have missed the sight of his elite Xian Deng being mercilessly slaughtered. The scene was like adults bullying children.
The Xian Deng's attacks were effortlessly deflected by the Trap Formation's shields before they were cut down. The Trap Formation soldiers took arrows head-on, shrugged them off, and then retaliated with deadly accuracy.
Ju Yi's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight. His elite troops were being humiliated, and his fury reached a boiling point. Activating the Xian Deng's battle spirit, he led his personal guards into the fray.
"Battle spirit." Gao Shun's deputy, Li Ren, remarked with a hint of excitement. Since the destruction of the Feixiong Army, they hadn't faced a unit with a battle spirit. To grow stronger, the Trap Formation needed to crush formidable foes.
"Kill!" Ju Yi's Xian Deng soldiers, now shrouded in blood-red energy, charged forward. Their accumulated killing intent, bloodlust, and ferocity were unleashed in full force.
Without waiting for orders, the front line of the Trap Formation simultaneously drew their blades, slashing into the blood-red mist surrounding the Xian Deng. A flash of silver light pierced through, dispersing a small portion of the blood mist, though this time, no casualties resulted.
"Fools!" Ju Yi sneered as the killing intent in the air coalesced into blood arrows. The weapons of the Xian Deng soldiers glowed with a faint red hue.
"Not bad. They're no weaker than the Feixiong Army we destroyed before," Li Ren sneered. But that was as far as their strength went. The Feixiong had been annihilated, and now, years later, the Trap Formation had only grown stronger.