Chapter 51: Flying General Shows Off His Might (Part 2)

  The moon is bright and the stars are sparse, the insect sounds are gradually stopping, in Lü Bu's temporary camp, except for the slight footsteps of the patrolling soldiers, there was no other movement. Listening carefully, you could even hear the snoring sounds coming from the tents of the outer guards.

  Lü Bu's commander tent was in the center of the camp, with a faint light flickering unsteadily inside, casting Lü Bu's tall sitting posture on the wall of the tent.

  Because it was only a temporary camp, the red Hare horse tied to the flagpole outside the tent had not been unloaded from its saddle and bridle, and stood quietly there, except for occasionally neighing, it did not move.

  Too quiet!

  "Hmmph!"

  "Pffft!"

  A few faint sounds of heavy objects falling to the ground, in this quietness, were surprisingly piercing to the ears. Chi Tu Ma immediately perked up its ears, and its long hooves scratched anxiously on the ground. In the darkness, a black shadow suddenly appeared around it, slowly approaching, making Chi Tu Ma vigilant. The person seemed somewhat familiar to Chi Tu, so it didn't immediately let out a warning whinny, but instead stared at the person. With Chi Tu's thinking, perhaps it couldn't understand why this person, who usually followed its master during the day, came here in the middle of the night.

  "It's almost five watches, and it will be dawn soon. General Song, let's make our move!" A man dressed in the uniform of a vanguard camp lieutenant whispered to the armor-clad Song Xian beside him, who was actually an officer from the vanguard camp sent by Yuan Shao to assist Gong Ji.

  "Wait a bit longer!" Song Xian said, seeing that Chi Tu Ma did not issue an alarm, hesitating for a moment, gritting his teeth.

  "General Song!" The voice of the school lieutenant was somewhat anxious, and had already quietly surrounded Lü Bu's command tent. If they didn't take action now, once the outer guards woke up and were discovered by Lü Bu, their plan would be ruined.

  "Silence!" Song Xian said in a low voice to the man, not heeding his urging. Instead, with a hint of embarrassment on his face, he glanced at over a dozen trusted attendants following closely behind him, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately remaining silent.

  "General Song, things have come to this, aren't you going to regret it?" The captain saw that Song Xian was hesitant and indecisive, his tone changed from the negotiating tone earlier, with a face full of mockery, coldly laughing.

  "Wait a bit! General... Lü Bu hasn't rested yet, it's absolutely impossible to act rashly! What did the two gentlemen instruct you? Are you going to disobey military orders?" Song Xian didn't notice the disdainful gaze of this centurion, and sternly shouted in a low voice, his fingers gripping the long knife tightly turned white, and a struggling glint flashed through his eyes filled with blood.

  "When will General Song wait? Until Lü Bu wakes up and gets ready?" The lieutenant colonel sneered.

  "The brothers who went to stir up trouble at the Wei camp haven't returned yet, and we'll wait a bit longer!" Song Xian gritted his teeth and said.

  "It's probably too late!" The captain's gaze looked southwest for a moment, then bowed down to listen for a while, and a hint of a triumphant smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, he pushed Song Xian away and shouted in a low voice to the people beside him: "Brothers who are about to board the camp, Lü Bu is inside the account, kill him for me!"

  "Hsss...!" Chi Tu heard the sound of the long knives being drawn from their scabbards in front of him and immediately let out a warning whinny, constantly kicking the tent fabric surrounding Lü Bu's command center with his hind hooves, as if to alert Lü Bu inside.

  "Give me the ball!"

  The loud cry of the red hare seemed to have become the horn for this group of people's attack. In an instant, a burst of killing sounds rose into the sky, and the two hundred pioneer camp soldiers surrounding Lü Bu's command tent suddenly became like mad tigers, rushing towards the center.

  "Bang......"

  Before the vanguard soldiers could close in, a clear and shrill guqin sound suddenly came from Lü Bu's command tent. Amidst the shouts of killing from hundreds of people, it was so out of place that it immediately made the vanguard soldiers' footsteps pause.

  "Lü Bu, stop right there! The whole army will follow me to kill Lü Bu! Kill!" The centurion who had spoken earlier did not expect that Lü Bu had not yet appeared, but just the sound of his guqin was enough to make these seasoned soldiers, who had followed Yuan Shao through thick and thin and were known as dead men walking, halt in their tracks. The centurion's face changed color instantly, and he hastily shouted out loud.

  The lieutenant is resentful in his heart!

  The script isn't like this!

  It should have been himself leading these men to attack Lü Bu's camp, and even if Lü Bu had the strongest military strength, he would still be held back in a hasty battle. Then Song Xian and others would stir up the Imperial Guard Camp, as long as they persisted for a short while, reinforcements would arrive, and with one blow, Lü Bu's Imperial Guard Camp would be taken down. By then, even if Lü Bu were to revive, he would have no power to turn back the tide.

  What is this situation now?

  "Lü Bu is lawless! Brutal and bloodthirsty! Quickly follow me to kill Lü Bu, otherwise we will surely suffer his punishment!" Song Xian's traitorous intentions had already been exposed, at this moment except for putting up a hard resistance there was no other choice, seeing these soldiers becoming cautious to the extreme, in his anxious heart he repeatedly shouted loudly.

  "Kill! Kill!"

  "Execute the rebel Song Xian!"

  Just as the more than 200 soldiers who had been the first to scale the walls were stirred up and their blood was boiling, with every one of them having red eyes and being ready to charge into Lü Bu's command tent, suddenly behind these men stood rows upon rows of Lü Bu's elite personal bodyguards, holding spears at the ready. The gleaming spearheads, illuminated by the torches, emitted a chilling light that made one's heart skip a beat.

  The vanguard soldiers surrounding Lü Bu's camp were counter-encircled by Lü Bu's personal bodyguards!

  "General Song, what's going on? Didn't your men go to instigate the explosion of the camp? How could this happen?" The face of the officer who first climbed up the camp turned pale with shock. He had just felt that something was not right, and now his worst fears had come true.

  "Is it over?" Song Xian's face suddenly turned pale, his eyes fixed on a tall and robust man, wearing a helmet and armor, holding a halberd, who walked out of the commander's tent with a steady pace.

  "Lord... Lord!" Lü Bu was extremely prestigious in the army, let alone being a personal guard. Seeing Lü Bu appear, Song Xian, who had been self-righteously standing tall, and his trusted subordinates all trembled and knelt down under Lü Bu's slightly playful smile.

  "Song Xian! I didn't think you'd actually turn against me! I, Lü Bu, have done nothing to wrong you. Why must you rebel?" Lü Bu's expression remained unchanged as he slowly dismounted from Red Hare, his eyes never leaving the approaching soldiers of the First Legion, and spoke to Song Xian in a calm and collected tone.

  "Lü Bu! You scoundrel! Listening to slanderous words! Reward and punishment are unclear! Wrongly expelling a great general! My fellow companion Wei Xu is your wife's younger brother, loyal and devoted to you, yet you treat him like this. What about us?" Song Xian supported himself with his long sword, and suddenly spoke out in anger.

  "Wei Xu? I didn't expect it was because of Wei Xu! You are indeed a man of great loyalty and righteousness, a true Han hero, worthy of being one of my top generals." Lü Bu paused for a moment, unafraid amidst the heavily surrounded camp soldiers, stroking the small branch of his Guandao spear. He seemed to be oblivious to the gleaming blades around him, then suddenly burst out laughing: "Fine! Since that's the case, you surrender now, and I'll spare your life!"

  "Lu......" Song Xian did not expect Lü Bu to say such a thing, and he turned his head to look at the several trusted subordinates who were kneeling behind him. A self-mocking smile appeared on his face as he shouted: "Lü Bu! Although you have over a thousand elite soldiers, take a look around you! Even if you have the bravery of a hegemon, it will be hard for you to escape this fate of being splattered with blood within five steps! Don't pretend anymore!"

  "Lü Bu, you good-for-nothing! Today is the day of your doom!" A loud and arrogant voice came from afar.

  At the moment when both sides were at a stalemate, a dense horseshoe sound came from afar and suddenly tore open an unprepared gap in Lü Bu's personal guard camp, and the battle was fought in one place!

  Man borrows horse's strength, horse borrows man's prestige. The scattered and surrounded Imperial Guardsmen who had never ridden horses before were no match for these sudden killers, and instantly fell at a disadvantage.

  The sound of clashing swords, the cries of the crowd, Song Xian seemed to be frozen in place, his astonished gaze fixed on a familiar figure amidst the cavalry troops of the Imperial Guard, who were tangled together in chaos.

  "Wei Xiu!? You?! How can you be here?" Song Xian's voice was filled with surprise and incredulity, asking loudly in disbelief.

  "Haha! Big brother! Are you unharmed?" The voice was like that of a wild goose, rough and hoarse. The man wearing the armor of a Hebei soldier was none other than Wei Xun, the main culprit behind the fall of Chang'an City!

  "General Wei! How timely your arrival is!" Xian Deng, the camp school lieutenant, seemed to have expected Wei Xu's arrival and smiled with a hint of pride: "Lü Bu has already been surrounded by my elite soldiers, General Wei's merits will have to be discounted!"

  "Wei Xiu! You and them?" Song Xian was like suddenly waking up, pointing at Wei Xiu who had already arrived in front of him, stuttering and unable to speak.

  "Brother, don't be surprised, I'll tell you about this later!" Wei Xu rushed to Song Xian and cupped his hands, not caring about the soldiers from his own army who were fighting in a mess behind him. Instead, he rode his horse to the outer circle of the vanguard soldiers surrounding Lü Bu, his hand involuntarily touching his forehead, and a sly smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "General Lü! Lü Bu! Lü Fengxian! My good brother-in-law! You also have today? How many years have I waited for this day? Do you know?"

  "Hah! Wei Xu? You dare to speak to me like this?" The surroundings of Lü Bu, although being surrounded by the vanguard camp, were intimidated by Lü Bu's reputation and did not dare to get too close. Instead, they allowed the Red Hare-mounted Lü Bu to move forward a few steps.

  "Ah......" Whether it was the vanguard of the besieging army or Wei Xu, they were all startled by Lü Bu's quick steps and took a deep breath of cold air, retreating several steps.

  "You! You......" Wei Xu did not expect that he would be frightened by a small movement of Lü Bu, and he was somewhat enraged. Pointing behind him, he shouted: "Lü Bu, don't talk nonsense, you have no more soldiers or horses to use, today you are unable to escape!"

  Cavalry has always been the nemesis of infantry, let alone the Western Liang Iron Cavalry that once shook the world. Although Wei Xu's cavalry was exhausted from a long journey, the sudden attack still caused confusion among the Imperial Guard soldiers who had never ridden horses before, resulting in casualties!

  When he heard the cavalry under his command shouting loudly and the chaotic situation of Lü Bu's personal guard, Wei Xu was overjoyed, waving the long knife in his hand and shouting: "Lü Bu, you scoundrel, your death is imminent! I know your martial arts are unparalleled, but what does that matter? Without soldiers, do you still think you're an enemy of ten thousand people? Today, I want to see if this flying general can fly out from under my knife! Kill him for me!"

  "Hahaha!" Lü Bu seemed to have heard the biggest joke of the late Han Dynasty, as if he hadn't seen the Imperial Guards soldiers who were in a melee with Wei Xu's cavalry. He was furious and laughed loudly, raised his horse and spear, and shouted: "Wei Xu, you rebel! Do you think that relying on this group of mice can stop me? Even if there are thousands or tens of thousands more, I, Lü Bu, am not afraid!!"