The fire quickly spread in the watchtower, and Gongsun Zan's family members cried and shouted. Some wanted to put out the fire, while others wanted to escape down the stairs.
Gongsun Zan was so mad that he opened his arms, blocked the stairs, and shouted: "No one is allowed to leave!"
"Today my Gongsun Bogui is buried here. I will never bow to the Yuan family!"
Tian Yu looked at what was happening in the watchtower and wanted to stand up and speak several times, but in the end, he suddenly realized that everything was meaningless.
Gongsun Zan has become like this, what else can he do?
The fire became more and more intense. Some people were on fire, rolling on the ground and wailing. The remaining people kept crying, and the wooden floors and walls began to burn.
Ms. Hou was sitting in the corner holding her baby in her arms, her eyes dull. Now she seemed to have lost all her strength.
Liu He tried to get past Gongsun Zan and fled downstairs, but was kicked down by Gongsun Zan and couldn't get up from the ground.
Yuan Xi loudly ordered the soldiers below to push the cloud tower closer, from a few feet to one foot. The bottom of the tower collided with the bottom of the cloud tower, and the top could no longer get closer.
Yuan Xi shouted to Liu He: "Jump over quickly!"
Liu He reluctantly sat up and struggled a few times, but could not stand up.
Yuan Xi shouted: "Jihou!"
"If you let Liu He go, I will keep your family safe in front of my father!"
Gongsun Zan's family was already in despair. After hearing Yuan Xi's promise, they quickly knelt down and kowtowed, while crying for Gongsun Zan to spare his life.
Gongsun Zan looked ferocious and shouted: "Don't try to bewitch me!"
"Yuan Shao is a hypocrite, and so are you!"
"None of you can be trusted!"
Yuan Xi saw that the fire had spread and had reached the outer wall of the watchtower. The stairs also began to burn. The smoke was billowing, making everyone cough. He sighed in his heart. He tried his best this time, but there was really nothing he could do.
At this moment, on the stairs of the watchtower, a man braved the fire and walked up step by step.
Gongsun Zan, who was blocking the stairs, saw that it was Tian Kai who was carrying a wooden board more than ten feet long on his shoulders.
He shouted: "Tian Kai, are you going to betray me too?"
Tian Kai's body was on fire, and the stairs under his feet were crumbling. He walked a few steps quickly and went to the top floor. The stairs under his feet shook a few times, then collapsed and fell.
When everyone saw this, they became even more desperate, and Gongsun Zan burst into laughter.
Tian Kai walked to the wall and kicked on it.
The wooden wall was already dilapidated due to burning. When Tian Kai kicked it down, he immediately made a big hole.
Tian Kai stuck the board at the edge of the watchtower and pushed the other end towards the cloud tower, causing the board to fall over.
He yelled, "Catch it!"
Yuan Xi and others just woke up from a dream, and quickly caught one end of the board and put it down.
This wooden board was placed between the watchtower and the cloud tower to form a wooden bridge!
Yuan Xi was overjoyed and shouted to Liu He: "Come here quickly!"
Liu He took a deep breath, stood up suddenly, took a few steps forward, and stepped onto the wooden board.
The wind was strong at high places, making his clothes rustle and his body swayed, almost falling off the board.
Liu He's face turned pale, but he did not stop at all. He lowered his body and walked quickly. He crossed the wooden bridge in a blink of an eye and was pulled into the Cloud Tower by Zhao Yun.
Gongsun Zan still wanted to stop him, but was stopped by Tian Kai. He said angrily: "Tian Kai, how dare you collaborate with the enemy!"
"Are you a spy?"
"Do you want to beg for surrender from the Yuan family?"
Tian Kai sighed: "If he dies, the general's family will not survive!"
Gongsun Zan was furious: "I am going to die, why should they live!"
"You have a way out, but I have no way out?"
When he saw his family members rushing towards the wooden board, he was furious. He picked up the ring-headed knife that fell on the ground with both hands. With this force, the blood from the wounds on both arms spurted out again.
He roared and struck the woman's vest who had just stepped onto the board with his knife.
The woman screamed and fell from the board. Her body rolled in the air and fell more than ten feet. Then she collided heavily with the ground and fell out of shape.
Everyone present cried out in unison. They rushed onto the wooden planks and rushed toward the Cloud Tower desperately. Several people in the middle lost their feet and fell.
Gongsun Zan followed up and swung his sword again, but Tian Kai stood in front of the sword. The long sword struck his shoulder, and blood gushed out, but Tian Kai was calm and composed.
Gongsun Zan said angrily: "Tian Kai, why do you want to ruin my business!"
Tian Kai stretched out his palm to hold the blade: "General, you made a mistake on your errand. That's it. At least this last time, don't make any mistakes again."
Gongsun Zan shouted: "How dare you teach me!"
When Tian Kai saw that most of the people had escaped, but Ms. Hou was still dazed in the corner, he said, "Madam, take the child and leave quickly."
Madam Hou just woke up from a dream and stood up holding on to the wall.
Gongsun Zan wanted to stop him, but Tian Kai held the blade tightly, blood dripping down his face, and said loudly: "Jihou!"
"Just let Madam and the children go!"
"At least there is a possibility of survival, which is better than having no hope at all!"
Gongsun Zan also wanted to attack Hou with his sword, but after hearing Tian Kai's words, he couldn't help but be stunned.
He murmured: "At least there is hope."
"At least there's hope?"
He looked up to the sky and laughed: "It's too late!"
He turned the long knife and stabbed into his chest with a puff. After a moment, he collapsed and died, his eyes still wide open.
Hou Shi exclaimed loudly, knelt on the ground, lay on Gongsun Zan's body and cried bitterly.
Everyone on Yuan Xi's side felt sad, as a generation of heroes had come to an end.
As the fire grew stronger, Tian Kai said, "Madam, it's time to leave."
Hou shook his head and said sadly: "If he dies, do I want to stay in this world and be reviled by others?"
Tian Kai pointed to Hou's arms, "Madam, do you want this child to be buried here?"
Hou was stunned. She wiped away her tears, hugged the child tightly, and slowly stood up.
She held the child in her arms and trudged to the front of the board. A strong gust of wind blew her body swaying.
Her face was pale. The board was too narrow. She was holding her child and didn't dare to walk over it!
Yuan Xi saw it and said: "The lives of the madam and the children depend on the madam."
Tian Kai also said from behind: "If you can't get through, you will die."
Ms. Hou started crying again: "Why do you all have to force me?"
"Why do you have to force me too?"
Seeing that Mrs. Hou was still lingering in front of the wooden board, Yuan Xi said, "Madam, Ji Hou has gone. Life or death depends entirely on Madam's thoughts."
He stepped on the template, took two steps forward, stretched out his hand and said, "Madam, General Tian gave his life in exchange for a chance of life for Madam, mother and son, is it just wasted like this?"
Zhao Yun and Sun Li were shocked and quickly grabbed Yuan Xi's other hand hand in hand.
My lord is too good at seeking death. What if he falls?
Yuan Xi was actually a little scared, but now he realized that Liu He and Hou's mother and son could survive, which would be of great use to his future plans in Youzhou!
Otherwise, he would have stood aside long ago.
Hou heard Tian Kai say from behind: "Madam, let's go."
"The general is dead, and my wife does not need to be buried with the Gongsun family."
After hearing this, Mrs. Hou gritted her teeth, rushed up to the board with her baby in her arms, lowered her head and ran wildly.
The wooden board was swaying, and Tian Kai stepped forward and pressed the board firmly.
Hou didn't know how many steps he ran when a strong wind blew, but he felt his body suddenly lost balance and was about to fall.
She was closing her eyes and waiting to die when she suddenly felt her wrist being pulled by someone. Then she took two quick steps and stood in the cloud tower.
She slowly opened her eyes and made sure she had walked over safely. Then her legs and feet felt weak and she collapsed on the ground.
Tian Kai looked at Hou's back and remembered that when he met Gongsun Zan more than ten years ago, Hou was still a newly married girl who loved to smile to everyone.
So many years have passed.
At this time, Tian Yu grabbed the board and shouted to Tian Kai: "Hurry and climb over along the board!"
The fire has swept through the top of the watchtower, the walls, the roof, the floors, Tian Kai and the wooden board in his hand.
Tian Kai let go of the wooden board and saw it falling in flames in the air. He stood up with all his strength and said to Tian Yu, "I'm tired. You still have a long way to go."
Fire spread from him.
Hou Shi came back to his senses slightly at this time, his lips were trembling, and he watched blankly as the flames began to sweep through Tian Kai's body.
Tian Kai turned to Yuan Xi, "Young Master is great, but it's a pity that I couldn't fully enjoy the battle in Qingzhou."
"I hope the young master will treat the country well."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi bowed deeply and said, "Remember Brother Tian's words."
"Brother is a hero in this world. It is a regret in Xi's life that he cannot work with him."
Tian Kai laughed, walked to Gongsun Zan's body and sat down, "Young Master thinks highly of me, so I'll say goodbye."
"I'm a little reluctant, who will win in the end..."
Fire engulfed his body.
Yunlou was slowly pushed away by Yuan Jun soldiers, getting further and further away from the watchtower.
Yuan Xi stood on the edge of the Cloud Tower. The burning watchtower in the distance was like a candle. Tian Kai sat upright, his charred body like a wick, lighting up the entire sky.
He said loudly: "Brother Tian, have a good trip!"
Tian Yu knelt down with a plop, lowered his head deeply, and buried it in his arms.
Yuan Shao stood at the city gate and saw the tallest watchtower left by Yi Jing burning in the flames and collapsing.
His advisers and generals came up one after another to congratulate him.
Yuan Shao felt a little emotional that his biggest enemy over the years had finally been defeated by him.
No matter whether Gongsun Zan dies or surrenders, he will no longer pose any threat to him.
This result was somewhat beyond Yuan Shao's expectations, because in Yuan Shao's expectation, it would take three years to prepare and cut off Gongsun Zan's foothold in Youzhou before he could be sure of victory in the decisive battle with Gongsun Zan.
Moreover, the surrounding princes must keep each other in check so that they can send troops with confidence.
However, something unexpected happened before. The surrounding princes were either seriously injured or too distracted to take care of themselves. They actually created an excellent opportunity for themselves to send troops.
This is more or less related to Yuan Xi's promotion. Yuan Shao even guessed that Yuan Xi had done many unknown things that he didn't know about.
This son gave me too many unexpected surprises.
He began to hesitate, should he really adopt Yuan Xi?
Yuan Xi has great ambitions. Now that he is under his own name, he can still be restrained by his family. If he breaks away from him, will his two brothers really be able to suppress him steadily in the future?
Yuan Shao hesitated as he thought about the past experience of fratricide with Yuan Shu after his adoption.
But at that time, even if I was not adopted, would I be willing to live a life of inaction?
The watchtower collapsed in the soldiers' exclamation. Gongsun Zan's soldiers no longer had the will to resist and surrendered one after another.
The bricks and rubble of the watchtower were piled up into a mound, like a tomb, burying Gongsun Zan's bones and his ambitions.
The overlord who once dominated the four northern states and occupied half of the world, was buried in a place with only a little more dirt when he died.
(End of chapter)
