A moment later, amidst the angry shouts of the crowd, Xiahou Dun, Xu Chu, and Xiahou Yuan finally squeezed through the crowd and came to stand behind a young man from the Imperial Guard.

And this young man from the Imperial Guard was none other than Cao Cao.

"Phew, I finally squeezed it out!"

Xiahou Dun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and then turned to look north.

"Yeah! There are so many people!! This is the first time I've ever had such a hard time!"

Xiahou Yuan muttered to himself as he rubbed his hand, which had been gripped red by Xu Chu.

Hearing the Xiahou brothers' voices behind him, Cao Cao frowned. These rascals really do seem to be involved in every kind of commotion.

"You three remember this: when you get back, each of you will receive twenty lashes..."

"Big...big brother??"

Hearing Cao Cao's familiar voice coming from ahead, the Xiahou brothers were momentarily stunned.

"Hehe~, you can still recognize my voice? Not bad! When you almost pushed me into the road just now, did you recognize my back?"

Cao Cao stretched out his arms, turned his head and glanced at the Xiahou brothers and Xu Chu, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"I...we really didn't see it! Brother, please...please don't be angry!"

Seeing Cao Cao's amused gaze and cruel smile, not only the Xiahou brothers, but even Xu Chu standing to the side couldn't help but shudder.

"Hmph~, I don't have time to deal with you right now! Stand quietly at the back and don't move!!"

Upon seeing the Han army flags appearing not far away, Cao Cao had no interest in paying them any attention. After issuing a warning, he stood there straight.

"Okay, I got it!!"

The Xiahou brothers and Xu Chu quickly nodded, then turned to look north. The moment they saw the Han flag, their eyes were filled with fervor and longing.

They instantly forgot about Cao Cao's earlier threat to whip them.

"Hansheng! What are they doing...!"

Looking at the dense crowd outside the city gate not far away, Ma Teng, Huang Zhong, and the others couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.