Chapter 9: Lü Bu Among Men

  The north wind blows, war drums beat.

  The sound of killing shakes the sky under Tiger Trap Pass, and the iron armor is loud and clear.

  Lü Bu rode alone, challenging dozens of Eastern Wu generals one by one. The various Eastern Wu nobles were terrified, and his prestige was unmatched at the time. The Western Liang generals and soldiers watching from Tiger Trap Pass were stirred to hot blood, and they too wished to charge down and engage in a fierce battle.

  Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, among other lords of Guandong, were utterly humiliated, their faces ashen with shock.

  Someone sighed, "Among men, there is Lü Bu; among horses, there is Red Hare. Indeed, the name is not in vain."

  Yuan Shao's anger rose from his heart, and he scolded with a dark face: "Who can be an enemy of Lü Bu?"

  As soon as the words fell, a loud and powerful voice rang out, "The young general is willing to go."

  Everyone looked at him in surprise and saw a man emerging from behind the back of Gong Sun Zan, the governor of Pingbei.

  He is nine feet tall, with a beard two feet long, phoenix eyes, sleeping cicada eyebrows, and a face like a ripe date, extremely majestic and extraordinary.

  Yuan Shao asked: "Who is this?"

  Gongsun Zan said: "This is Liu Xuande's brother Guan Yu."

  "What office does he currently hold?"

  Sun Gongzi said: "Follow Liu Xuan De as a horse archer."

  Yuan Shu, who was standing beside him, became extremely angry and shouted: "Does he think that we, the lords of various regions, have no great generals? How dare a mere horse archer speak such arrogant words? Take him away!"

  Cao Cao hastily persuaded him to calm down, saying: "General, please restrain your anger. I observe that this man has great bravery and strength, and since he dares to come out and fight, he must have martial valor. Why not let him go into battle? If he can defeat Lü Bu, we can boost the morale of our three armies. If he cannot, we can then ask for his crime."

  Yuan Shao said with displeasure: "If we send just one archer out to fight, we will inevitably be ridiculed by the Xiliang rebels."

  Cao Cao said: "This man's appearance is not ordinary, how would the Western Liang rebels know he's an archer?"

  Guan Yu's eyes widened in anger and he shouted loudly: "If you are not an enemy, then behead me!"

  He hastily descended from the chariot, mounted his horse with sword in hand and rushed out of the camp straight to Lü Bu.

  Lü Bu thought another one was coming to send himself to death, a disdainful cold smile spread across his lips, he dragged the halberd of Fang Tian, urged on Red Hare, and slowly approached Guan Yu who came to meet him.

  But as soon as they clashed, he almost suffered a great loss.

  Fortunately, Lü Bu was truly unmatched in bravery and martial prowess, and his Red Hare horse was swift. After Guan Yu's Heaven-Defying Halberd had been knocked aside by a single stroke that seemed to come crashing down like Mount Tai, he barely managed to dodge out of the way at the last second. When he turned back to fight again, he had already put away his underestimating attitude.

  "Eat a certain spear!"

  Lü Bu urged his horse on, and the Heaven Halberd came crashing down with a loud thud.

  "What's wrong with meeting you again!"

  Guan Yu let out a loud cry, and with a fierce expression, he swung his sword to meet the attack.

  Two men clashed swords, straight killing until the sky was dark and the earth was dim, watching the Western Liang generals and the Guandong nobles as if they were drunk.

  Lü Bu fought over a dozen battles in a row, yet he remained as fierce and powerful as ever, growing more courageous with each fight.

  Guan Yu was equally relentless, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade flashing with a speed as swift as cold lightning, each stroke taking lives.

  Cao Cao's eyes gleamed with excitement as he repeatedly praised: "I didn't expect Liu Xuande to have such a fierce general under his command. This Guan Yu is truly exceptional, able to rival Lü Bu in strength. He is indeed a tiger general of the age!"

  Yuan Shao forced a couple of laughs and reluctantly praised him a couple of times.

  Yuan Shu let out a cold snort, his eyes gleaming with jealousy, his face full of displeasure.

  Cao Cao looked at him with disdain in his eyes and secretly cursed, "Yuan Shu is truly a man without any dignity."

  At Tiger Trap Pass, Dong Zhuo was greatly shocked. "Who is this Guan Yu that he can rival my son Lü Bu?"

  The Western Liang generals looked at each other in dismay, exchanging glances, none of them had expected that among the rebel army from Guandong there would be such a fierce general.

  Lu Zhen glanced at him and said to Dong Zhuo: "My lord, this Guan Yu is the sworn brother of Liu Bei, the magistrate of Pingyuan, with the bravery of a thousand men. There is also Zhang Fei, who is also Liu Bei's sworn brother, wielding an 18-foot-long spear, also with the bravery of a thousand men, and his martial arts are not inferior to Guan Yu's. It would be very unfavorable for my lord to eliminate the rebels in Guandong. To avoid future troubles, it is better to get rid of them and eliminate future worries."

  "What?"

  Dong Zhuo exclaimed: "Is there still a Zhang Fei under this Guan Yu?"

  "Exactly."

  Dong Zhuo's eyes flashed with a murderous intent, and in a low voice he said: "Li Jue."

  "The end will be there."

  Li Jue hastily stepped forward with quick steps and cupped his hands in salute.

  Dong Zhuo said in a stern voice: "Wait for my order later, lead the Flying Bear Army to attack, and be sure to kill Guan Yu."

  "I will obey orders."

  Li Jue loudly acknowledged the order, swung his cloak and hastily ran down from the city tower.

  In front of Tiger Trap Pass.

  Lü Bu and Guan Yu had been fighting for fifty rounds, still without a victor.

  However, Lü Bu was still getting more and more courageous in battle, while Guan Yu was already slightly panting, apparently somewhat inferior.

  In the allied army of the vassals, Liu Bei saw that his sworn brother Guan Yu had been fighting for a long time without success. He only had two men who could be used, and he was afraid that something would happen to Guan Yu, so he secretly signaled with his eyes and let Zhang Fei go to support Guan Yu.

  "Lü Bu is going crazy! Yan people, Zhang Fei is here!"

  Zhang Fei let out a loud roar, his voice like thunder and lightning, causing everyone's eardrums to ache from the top to the bottom of the pass. By the time the various lords and generals of Xiliang rushed to steady their eyes and look over, Zhang Fei had already charged into the arena on horseback, spear in hand.

  Lü Bu was undaunted and fought the two men with all his might.

  Like a revolving lantern, they killed several rounds, and at this time, Liu Bei also came out with a pair of swords.

  Three brothers surrounded Lü Bu and killed him with one blow. All that could be heard were the sounds of shouting like thunder, as if the sky was collapsing and the earth was shattering, a terrifying scene.

  Lü Bu fought for dozens of rounds, feeling somewhat unable to parry, and hastily made a feint to force Liu Bei back. The Red Hare had already flashed out like lightning, turned a corner, and headed straight for his own camp.

  "The three surnames' family slaves ran away."

  Zhang Fei let out a loud roar and galloped after them, killing as he went.

  Lü Bu was on the verge of having a stroke from rage, and this had really struck a sore spot with him.

  If it weren't for these three people being difficult to deal with, they would have turned back and killed that black guy.

  In the distant and prolonged sound of cowbells, a sudden and loud hoofbeat rang out.

  Li Jue led several thousand Western Liang iron cavalrymen out of the city and charged straight at Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

  "Not good, Second Brother and Third Brother retreat quickly."

  Liu Bei was greatly shocked and hastily put away his pair of swords, shouting loudly.

  "Waiting for someone to die a painful death."

  Zhang Fei charged forward without regard, his horse leading the way as he killed into the Western Liang army.

  Guan Yu's eyes flashed with a cold light, he turned his horse's head and closely guarded Liu Bei's side.

  At this moment, a shocking war drum sound tore through the sky and rushed straight into the firmament.

  The 8,000-strong Eastern Han army pressed forward rapidly and clashed with the Western Liang cavalry in a chaotic melee, with cries of killing and wailing filling the air.

  Lü Bu retreated to the rear, caught his breath, and immediately charged with his halberd on horseback to kill Zhang Fei. However, everywhere was a melee of soldiers from Guandong and Xiliang, where was Zhang Fei's shadow? He could only vent his anger by killing a few Guandong soldiers.

  "Third brother, where has third brother gone?"

  In the chaos of battle, Liu Bei was cutting down Western Liang cavalry under Guan Yu's protection while anxiously looking around in all directions.

  Guan Yu swung his sword and beheaded three Xiliang soldiers who were charging towards him, while calmly responding: "Elder brother can rest assured, the third brother has the bravery of a thousand men, I'm sure nothing will happen to me. Once we drive back the Xiliang rebels, I'll meet with elder brother."

  "It can't be helped."

  Liu Bei sighed and was still very worried in his heart.

  Firstly, the brotherly affection is deep; secondly, there are really no usable people under his command, only Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who serve as his left and right arms. If one of them were to be injured, it would be like cutting off one of his own arms.

  Liu Bei was worried about Zhang Fei, and Zhang Fei's excitement from killing had already made him forget Liu Bei's instructions.

  This guy is warlike by nature, after a fierce battle he felt unsatisfied and unexpectedly rode alone to the city gate, preparing to take advantage of the situation to kill into the city gate and seize the city, indeed people have big guts, land has big yields.

  Just as they were about to reach the city gate, they were surrounded by the Western Liang army.

  Not only did they fail to take advantage of the situation and advance into the city, but they were almost completely besieged by the Western Liang army.

  Fortunately, this fellow was indeed brave and fierce, and he actually managed to kill his way out of a bloody path, right up to Liu Bei's face.

  "Third brother, come quickly."

  Liu Bei suddenly saw Zhang Fei and was overjoyed, hastily shouting loudly.

  Guan Yu also shouted loudly: "Second brother must not be rash, come quickly to protect your elder brother."

  Zhang Fei burst out laughing and immediately urged his horse forward, charging towards them.

  The two armies clashed in a chaotic battle, and it wasn't until nearly noon that they finally withdrew, leaving behind almost a thousand corpses.

  The Kwantung Army had intended to take advantage of the situation and seize the city, but unexpectedly, a hail of arrows rained down from the top of the city wall, shooting one person and causing him to fall off his horse.

  Yuan Shao had no choice but to lead his main army to press forward and launch a fierce attack on Tiger Trap Pass.

  For over ten days, the allied army of vassals launched fierce attacks on Guan City day and night, preparing to break through the pass and rush towards Luoyang.

  Beneath Tiger Trap Pass, corpses piled up like mountains, fresh blood converged into a small river, dyeing the earth red.

  The Kwantung Army launched a fierce attack on the fortress, suffering heavy casualties.

  The Western Coolies army was no better off, facing the twice-as-large Guandong Allied Army, and in half a month, the number of casualties had also reached a staggering 20,000, with those lightly injured too numerous to count.

  By the end of April, the Kanto Allied Army could no longer withstand the heavy casualties and retreated ten miles to set up camp.

  Dong Zhuo had just let out a sigh of relief when three days later an extremely ominous piece of news arrived.

  According to reports, Liu Yan, the governor of Yi Province, ordered his eldest son Liu Fan to lead an army of 30,000 soldiers to Hanzhong and press in on Baozhong Gorge.

  Dong Zhuo was shocked and pale upon hearing the news, and hastily summoned his generals to discuss countermeasures at the temporary residence.

  "What's to be done with Liu Yan, a mere commoner who dares to rebel against his superiors?"

  Dong Zhuo's thick eyebrows were deeply furrowed as he scanned the various strategists and generals below the hall, his voice sternly asking.

  All the generals were silent and did not speak, frowning in contemplation.

  Luo Zheng was also shocked, remembering that when the vassals overthrew Dong, there seemed to be no Liu Yan, the governor of Yi Province.

  Could it be that your arrival triggered a butterfly effect?

  "Your Excellency, I have recently received a detailed report. In the streets of Luoyang, there is a children's rhyme that says: 'One Han in the west, one Han in the east. The deer runs into Chang'an, only then can we avoid disaster.' I think that 'one Han in the west' refers to Emperor Gaozu of Han, who ruled from the western capital of Chang'an and passed on the throne for twelve generations; 'one Han in the east' refers to Emperor Guangwu of Han, who ruled from the eastern capital of Luoyang and also passed on the throne for twelve generations. This is indeed a sign of the heavenly mandate returning. At present, the rebel army's momentum is strong, and we also have Liu Yan attacking our side and rear, making it difficult to defend against them. Why not move back to Chang'an, in accordance with the children's rhyme, so that we can avoid disaster?"

  "This..."

  Dong Zhuo was taken aback and found it very difficult to decide.

  The various generals under the hall heard the words and responded in unison: "What the military advisor said is absolutely right, please Prime Minister issue an order to move the Emperor."

  For the past half month, the arrogance of the Western Liang generals has been completely defeated by the Eastern Wu coalition army. They have all sobered up and no longer harbor grandiose ambitions, nor do they want to continue fighting to the death with the Eastern Wu army. Moving the capital to Chang'an is undoubtedly the best solution.

  "My lord, absolutely not!"

  Just as Dong Zhuo was still hesitating, a loud shout suddenly came from below the hall.

  Everyone hastily turned their heads to look, and it was Luo Zheng, the swift cavalry commander, sitting at the gate.

  Li Jue, who was sitting on the left side of the upper seat, showed a displeased expression and shouted: "You are just a small captain, how dare you not know the rules and shout loudly here. There is no place for you to speak here, get out."

  Li Ru's eyes also showed a cold color, and he glanced at Luo Zheng with some displeasure.

  The other generals showed a different expression on their faces and looked at Dong Zhuo without making a sound.

  "Dong Zhuo shouted: 'Don't you retreat yet?'"

  Luo Zheng took a deep breath and said loudly: "General has a plan to defeat the enemy, why doesn't the lord listen to General's words?"

  Dong Zhuo paused for a moment and said in a deep voice: "What plan do you have? Try saying it."

  Li Ru and a group of generals also showed unusual expressions, their eyes all fell on Luo Zheng's body.

  Luo Zheng said something reasonable at this time.